The Stinger is a medium Commonwealth starfighter. Its construction involves many components made out of second-rate materials in an attempt to produce a viable weapons platform despite the shortages in critical raw materials brought about by the TOG invasion.
(The stats of the fighter given in the Renegade Legions Fighter Briefing are incomplete.The fighter presented in this article is therefeore a fan attempt to reverse-engineer the Stinger using the fighter construction rules given in the Interceptor basic rules. The engine types used, power output and acceleration are pure conjecture and have been chosen in order to come as close as possible to the original values.
The thrust value of the Stinger is given in the Leviathan rulebook as 8g, but there is no way for the fighter to attain this acceleration and still remain in the medium fighter power range, much less retain the mass of 143 and the price of 2,973,400 talents as given in the Renegade Legions Fighter Briefing. The Stinger presented here has its acceleration decreased to 6g in order to meet the construction system´s restraints and match the original price and tonnage.)
Production History[]
With over 65 percent of Shannedam County´s strategic raw material reserves in the hands of TOG forces, the Commonwealth suffered a terrible blow to its ability to manufacture war materials. In response, remaining locals arms manufacturers jointly began the Stinger program as a attempt to produce a medium fighter using non-strategic materials such as plastics, ceramics and nickel / iron steel. Guttel & Garsh, Inc., the prime contractor, was reasonably successful in achieving this objective. Eighty-five percent (85%) of the Stinger´s airframe is constructed of these common materials, while the electronic and computer components utilise silicon chips instead of bio-molecular processors wherever possible. The EPC barrel is plated with chromium rather than stress-aligned titanium. Only the laser systems seem to have escaped the engineers´ efforts for using non-standard materials, mainly because there is no equivalent for Gennium-Arsenic crystals available.
These substitute materials have caused operational and logistical problems for units employing Stingers. The EPC barrels become pitted and worn after a number of firings, and so must be replaced regularly. Many other systems, as well, are not as hard-wearing as those on standard fighters, and the fighter uses up a lot of spare parts and technicians´ hours during its operational life.
The ship is very bulky in relation to its actual tonnage, unable to fit into a standard 150-ton fighter bay. Spare parts for the Stinger are non-interchangeable with other fighters and very specialised, and technicians need to be re-trained in obsolescent silicon chip technology. All this has not exactly endeared the Stinger to pilots and ground crews.
Design Philosophy and Operational Role[]
Produced as a desperation measure, the Stinger was never intended for any specialised role. Its weaponry is general-purpose, with a conservative laser / EPC mix to undercut armour. Reasonably well armed and armoured despite the sub-standard materials, its main deficiency is in the engines, which can hardly generate enough propulsion to move its bulk.
Due to the specialised nature of the parts required, and the difficulty of distributing them throughout the CAF supply system, so far the Stinger has largely failed to reduce the shortage problems and created some of its own. Where it excels logistically is in embattled systems where local production facilities have to keep the defending forces supplied. Being tied to local supply has largely kept the Stinger out of deep space operation, even though its mission profile makes it suitable for a wide variety of tasks. It is hoped that this will change soon as the replacement parts for the fighter gradually enter the general distribution system in large enough quantities.
Despite its inauspicious origins, the Stinger performs well in the role of planetary and orbital defense. Its Safeguard-II anti-missile system makes it particularly effective against TOG high-velocity missile strikes. Its armour is on par with many heavy fighters, and three hardpoints of its own allow it to retaliate in kind.
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Legionnaire RPG Values: Stinger Standard Variant[]
| Hit Location | Sub-Location | Damage Boxes / Damage |
|---|---|---|
| [1] Structure | - | [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][] |
| [2] FTL Drive | - | None |
| [3] Shields | - | [][][][][] [] |
| [4] Engines / Thrust | - | [][][][][] [] ::: Thrust 6 g |
| [5] Armour | - | [][][][][] [][][][] |
| [6] Crew | Pilot | [][][][][] |
| [7] Weapon Computers | - | [][][][] |
| [8] Sensors | - | [][][] |
| [9] Life Support | - | [][][] |
| [10] Weapons | [1] 7.5/2 Laser | Damage 4 |
| - | [2] 7.5/2 Laser | Damage 4 |
| - | [3] EPC-14 | Damage 5 |
| - | [4] EPC-14 | Damage 5 |
| - | [5] Safeguard-2 | Damage 0 |
| - | [6] Hardpoint | * |
| - | [7] Hardpoint | * |
| - | [8] Hardpoint | * |
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Leviathan Values: Stinger Standard Variant[]
As stated above, Stingers are rarely carried aboard capital ships or carrier squadrons where maintenance can be tricky due to lack of specialised spare parts. Where they are, they usually perform well, both due to their strong armour and their large missile loadout.
| Group (72 Fighters) | Armour | Missile Attack Value | CRA | LRA | Thrust |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armour Row 6 | [][][][][][] [][][][][][] [][][][][]- - | 100 | 144 | 50 | 6 |
| Armour Row 5 | [][][][][][] [][][][][][] [][]-- | - | 120 | 42 | - |
| Armour Row 4 | [][][][][][] [][][][][]- - | - | 96 | 34 | - |
| Armour Row 3 | [][][][][][] [][]-- | - | 72 | 25 | - |
| Armour Row 2 | [][][][][][] -- | - | 48 | 17 | - |
| Armour Row 1 | [][][][][]- | - | 24 | 8 | - |
| Flight (24 Fighters) | Armour | Missile Attack Value | CRA | LRA | Thrust |
| Armour Row 3 | [][][][][][] [][]-- | 50 | 48 | 17 | 8 |
| Armour Row 2 | [][][][][][] []- | - | 32 | 11 | - |
| Armour Row 1 | [][][][][]- | - | 16 | 6 | - |
| Squadron (6 Fighters) | Armour | Missile Attack Value | CRA | LRA | Thrust |
| Armour Row 1 | [][][][][]- | 10 | 12 | 4 | 10 |
| Single Fighter Values | Armour | Missile Hardpoints | CRA | LRA | Thrust |
| Stinger | 85 | 3 | 40 | 14 | 6[1] |
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Variant: High Thrust Modification[]
This field refit replaces the maintenance-intensive laser cannon with missile hardpoints and re-calibrates the acceleration compensator to account for the higher g-force. In other fighters, this modification is usually done out of tactical expediency, to turn the fighter into a missile-delivery platform for strike missions. With the Stinger it is actually more often done because of critical supply shortages; the lasers are the one system on the ship still dependent on high-end strategic supplies only manufactured on key military industrial locations. Removing them makes it easier to keep the fighter combat-ready on the embattled border.
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Legionnaire RPG Values: Stinger High Thrust Modification[]
| Hit Location | Sub-Location | Damage Boxes / Damage |
|---|---|---|
| [1] Structure | - | [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][] |
| [2] FTL Drive | - | None |
| [3] Shields | - | [][][][][] [] |
| [4] Engines / Thrust | - | [][][][][] [][] ::: Thrust 7 g |
| [5] Armour | - | [][][][][] [][][][] |
| [6] Crew | Pilot | [][][][][] |
| [7] Weapon Computers | - | [][][][] |
| [8] Sensors | - | [][][] |
| [9] Life Support | - | [][][] |
| [10] Weapons | [1] EPC-14 | Damage 5 |
| - | [2] EPC-14 | Damage 5 |
| - | [3] Safeguard-2 | Damage 0 |
| - | [4] Hardpoint | * |
| - | [5] Hardpoint | * |
| - | [6] Hardpoint | * |
| - | [7] Hardpoint | * |
| - | [8] Hardpoint | * |
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Leviathan Values: Stinger High Thrust Modification[]
While still not common aboard capital ships, high-thrust Stingers are employed aboard strike carriers - FTL-transiting into an enemy-held system, launching and executing a quick missile strike against an installation before looping back to their mothership. Its large missile loadout makes the Stinger an excellent vessel for this kind of operation, as long as it does not engage in prolonged combat that would cause it to need resupply.
Its large frame means that it is usually carried by capital carriers rather than the nimble corvette- or escort-class platforms; where they were assigned to small craft, the size of their fuselage relative to their mass caused problems with storage and launch.
| Group (72 Fighters) | Armour | Missile Attack Value | CRA | LRA | Thrust |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armour Row 6 | [][][][][][] [][][][][][] [][][][][]- - | 100 | 101 | 22 | 7 |
| Armour Row 5 | [][][][][][] [][][][][][] [][]-- | - | 84 | 18 | - |
| Armour Row 4 | [][][][][][] [][][][][]- - | - | 67 | 14 | - |
| Armour Row 3 | [][][][][][] [][]-- | - | 50 | 11 | - |
| Armour Row 2 | [][][][][][] -- | - | 34 | 7 | - |
| Armour Row 1 | [][][][][]- | - | 17 | 4 | - |
| Flight (24 Fighters) | Armour | Missile Attack Value | CRA | LRA | Thrust |
| Armour Row 3 | [][][][][][] [][]-- | 100 | 34 | 7 | 9 |
| Armour Row 2 | [][][][][][] []- | - | 22 | 5 | - |
| Armour Row 1 | [][][][][]- | - | 11 | 2 | - |
| Squadron (6 Fighters) | Armour | Missile Attack Value | CRA | LRA | Thrust |
| Armour Row 1 | [][][][][]- | 25 | 8 | 2 | 11 |
| Single Fighter Values | Armour | Missile Hardpoints | CRA | LRA | Thrust |
| Stinger High Thrust | 85 | 5 | 28 | 6 | 7 |
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Annotations[]
- ↑ The Leviathan rulebook gives the Stinger´s thrust as 8g, but this cannot be achieved without upgrading the fighter´s engines into the "heavy fighter" category. This would also cause changes to the cost and tonnage of the fighter. The number here is the one borne out by "reverse engineering" using the Interceptor fighter construction rules.