Editing C-Basic Beam Warship Tutorial (section)

===Ship Creation===

Open the F5 Class Design window and press New Ship Class (at the bottom). Add one each of the two lasers and two fire control systems, then click Show Bands on the right-hand side to get extra info on our laser ranges. Your design should appear as below. 

 Ark Royal class Cruiser      1,084 tons       50 Crew       154.6 BP       TCS 22    TH 0    EM 0
 1 km/s      Armour 1-9       Shields 0-0       HTK 9      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 1-9      PPV 8
 Maint Life 10.57 Years     MSP 89    AFR 9%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 22    Max Repair 28.8 MSP
 Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
 Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Morale Check Required    
 
 Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres    Range N/A
 
 15.0cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 180,000km     TS: 3,000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 10        6 6 6 4 3 3 2 2 2 1
 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 90,000km     TS: 3,000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 5        3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0
 Beam Fire Control R192-TS3000 (1)     Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 3,000 km/s    ECCM-0     71 67 63 59 55 52 48 44 40 36
 Beam Fire Control R48-TS12000 (1)     Max Range: 48,000 km   TS: 12,000 km/s    ECCM-0     79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
 
 This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
 This design is classed as a Warship for auto-assignment purposes

For the lasers the information presented includes the name, how many of that system are in the design, the range, the tracking speed, the power requirements in terms of power to fire and power required per 5 sec, the range modifier, the rate of fire and the damage output in 10,000 km steps. We'll get back to why weapons (as well as fire controls) have a tracking speed in a moment. The fire control information includes the name, how many of the system are in the design, the maximum range, the tracking speed and the chance to hit in 10,000 km steps. On the right hand side there is a section called Range Bands. If you change the Range Band to 20,000 km then the ten damage steps following each of the lasers and the ten to-hit chances following the fire controls will change from 10,000 km steps to 20,000 km steps. Compare the following to the original above.

 15.0cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 180,000km     TS: 3,000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 10        6 4 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0
 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 90,000km     TS: 3,000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 5        3 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
 Beam Fire Control R192-TS3000 (1)     Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 3,000 km/s    ECCM-0     67 59 52 44 36 28 20 12 5 0
 Beam Fire Control R48-TS12000 (1)     Max Range: 48,000 km   TS: 12,000 km/s    ECCM-0     58 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

If you choose other range bands, the damage and to-hit chances will change accordingly. Underneath Range Bands is Target Speed. If you change Target Speed it will affect the to-hit chances of the fire control systems. For speeds of up to 3000 km/s there should be no change, as the both fire controls can handle those target speeds. Speeds of 3,000-12,000 km/s should change the to-hit chances for the R192-TS3000 fire control as that is only designed to handle targets up to 3000 km/s, but the faster tracking fire control will be unaffected. Over 12,000 km/s, the other fire control is affected too, because its max tracking speed is only 12,000 km/s. The Range Bands and Target Speed settings allow you to check how your weapon and fire control designs would perform against targets at different ranges and different speeds.

Earlier I mentioned that weapons have a tracking speed as well. While the fire control tracking speed is mainly concerned with tracking the target and calculating where to fire the weapons, the weapon tracking speed is the capability of the weapon to fire instantly in that direction when ordered to do so by the fire control. The base weapon tracking speed is equal to either the speed of the ship or your Empire's best Fire Control Speed Rating tech, whichever is greater. Your best Fire Control Speed Rating is 3000 km/s at the moment and as that is higher than the current ship speed of 1 km/s (it has no engines), then 3000 km/s is the weapon tracking speed. Now we add one of our nuclear thermal engines to the class, and it should appear as below. Note that because the ship speed is now 3567 km/s, that is higher than the Empire's Fire Control Speed Rating of 3000 km/s so the weapon tracking speed is now 3567 km/s. In essence, a faster ship has a better chance of quickly pointing its weapons in the right direction.

 Ark Royal class Cruiser      2,153 tons       74 Crew       243.9 BP       TCS 43    TH 154    EM 0
 3567 km/s      Armour 1-14       Shields 0-0       HTK 14      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 1-4      PPV 8
 Maint Life 2.40 Years     MSP 70    AFR 37%    IFR 0.5%    1YR 17    5YR 249    Max Repair 76.8 MSP
 Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
 Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Morale Check Required    
 
 Nuclear Thermal Engine  EP153.60 (1)    Power 153.6    Fuel Use 111.54%    Signature 153.60    Explosion 12%
 Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres    Range 18.7 billion km (60 days at full power)
 
 15.0cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 180,000km     TS: 3,567 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 10        6 6 6 4 3 3 2 2 2 1
 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 90,000km     TS: 3,567 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 30,000 km    ROF 5        3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0
 Beam Fire Control R192-TS3000 (1)     Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 3,000 km/s    ECCM-0     71 67 63 59 55 52 48 44 40 36
 Beam Fire Control R48-TS12000 (1)     Max Range: 48,000 km   TS: 12,000 km/s    ECCM-0     79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
 
 This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
 This design is classed as a Warship for auto-assignment purposes

When a fire control tries to direct a weapon, the lowest tracking speed of the fire control or the weapon is used to calculate the chance to hit the target. In other words, it is no use having a fast fire control tracking speed if the weapon can't point in the right direction quickly enough and it is no use having a fast weapon tracking speed if the fire control can't make use of it. You need to match weapons with appropriate fire control systems as part of your class design process.