The Arcus´ picture from the TOG Fighter Briefing.
The Arcus is a standard TOG two-seater ground attack and atmospheric superiority fighter first introduced in 6805.
Etymology[]
The Arcus (pl. arcûs) was named for the deeply recurved bow carried by mounted auxilia (support soldiers) from Asia Minor that supported the ancient Roman infantry legions.
Deployment[]
The fighter is issued only to Legion fighter wings, and has never been reported attached to a Naval wing. Arcus units are well trained in planetary and orbital operations, but are notoriously poor at deep space missions. Most Imperial Navy tacticians blame this on the TOG Legions´ supposedly lower standards for recruiting pilots. In reality, the problem is more likely the result of inter-service rivalry.
Deep space fighter operations demand an experienced controller to vector the fighters onto an interception course with their target. The Imperial Navy refuses to allow a ground Legion the necessary equipment or facilities to properly train their ground personnel in such procedures. By charter (which was put in place after Grand General Constantin´s defection to make it harder for ground Legions to defect with their own FTL transports), the Navy is responsible for all operations in deep space. In near-orbit, they share responsibility with the Legions, while the Legions are solely responsible for all operations within planetary atmosphere. The Navy argues that giving Legions access to equipment to control deep space operations violates this charter.
The result of this policy is that Arcûs and other organic or attached Imperial Legion fighters must switch to Navy controllers as soon as they exit atmosphere and operate in deep space. With the pilots unfamiliar with the new controller´s operating procedures, and vice versa, this seriously affects the effective execution of highly exacting manoeuvers such as deep space interception.
Worse, when repeatedly diving in and out of atmosphere (a common occurrence in fighter battles near planetary bodies), the pilot needs to repeatedly switch between his Naval and planetary controller. The procedure requires a link-up, short report and protocol check every single time, and the two controllers may be at odds concerning their evaluation of the tactical situation.
As a result, the Arcus is only encountered in point defense and ground attack / support roles, and few, if any, ever bother to leave atmosphere. This, in turn, has the Navy accusing the Legion fighter complements of deliberately obstructing their cooperation.
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Legionnaire RPG Values: Arcus Standard Variant[]
| Hit Location | Sub-Location | Damage Boxes / Damage |
|---|---|---|
| [1] Structure | - | [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][] |
| [2] FTL Drive | - | None |
| [3] Shields | - | [][][][][] [][] |
| [4] Engines / Thrust | - | [][][][][] ::: Thrust 5 g |
| [5] Armour | - | [][][][][] [][][][][] |
| [6] Crew | [1-5] Pilot
[6-10] Gunner |
[][][][][]
[][][][][] |
| [7] Weapon Computers | - | [][][][] |
| [8] Sensors | - | [][][] |
| [9] Life Support | - | [][][] |
| [10] Weapons | [1] MDC 8 | Damage 5 |
| - | [2] MDC 8 | Damage 5 |
| - | [3] 7.5/5 Laser | Damage 7 |
| - | [4] 7.5/5 Laser | Damage 7 |
| - | [5] 3/4 Laser | Damage 3 |
| - | [6] EPC-9 | Damage 3 |
| - | [7] NPC-9 | Damage 3 |
| - | [8] Hardpoint | * |
| - | [9] Hardpoint | * |
| - | [10] Hardpoint | * |
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Leviathan Values: Arcus Standard Variant[]
Fleet Action[]
Arcûs rarely, if ever, see fleet action. Developed exclusively as a planetary defense and ground support craft, they are issued only to grav and ground Legions and almost never carried aboard Leviathans. On the few occasions that they have engaged capital ships (usually near atmosphere or planetary bodies) they acquitted themselves well, all things considered. An excellent dogfighter, the Arcus is well suited to strip a capital ship of its fighter escort.
Raiding Action[]
While not exactly much of a raider itself, when assigned a fixed installation to defend the Arcus is a good choice. Its lack of thrust restricts it to guarding a single objective; neither the fighter itself nor the logistics of its use lend themselves to deep-space interception.
| Group (72 Fighters) | Armour | Missile Attack Value | CRA | LRA | Thrust |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armour Row 6 | [][][][][][] [][][][][][] [][][][][][] [] | 100 | 180 | 176 | 5 |
| Armour Row 5 | [][][][][][] [][][][][][] [][][][] | - | 150 | 147 | - |
| Armour Row 4 | [][][][][][] [][][][][][] [] | - | 120 | 118 | - |
| Armour Row 3 | [][][][][][] [][][][] | - | 90 | 88 | - |
| Armour Row 2 | [][][][][][] [][] | - | 60 | 59 | - |
| Armour Row 1 | [][][][][][] | - | 30 | 29 | - |
| Flight (24 Fighters) | Armour | Missile Attack Value | CRA | LRA | Thrust |
| Armour Row 3 | [][][][][][] [][][][] | 50 | 60 | 55 | 7 |
| Armour Row 2 | [][][][][][] [][] | - | 40 | 37 | - |
| Armour Row 1 | [][][][][][] | - | 20 | 18 | - |
| Squadron (6 Fighters) | Armour | Missile Attack Value | CRA | LRA | Thrust |
| Armour Row 1 | [][][][][][] | 10 | 15 | 14 | 9 |
| Single Fighter Values | Armour | Missile Hardpoints | CRA | LRA | Thrust |
| Arcus (standard variant) | 100 | 3 | 50 | 46 | 5 |
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Variant: High-Thrust Modification[1][]
Rather than replacing its lasers (which is the standard procedure for a high-thrust variant fighter), the Arcus´ strike version guts almost the whole turret by removing both particle cannon and installing hardpoints in their place. It was felt that the NPC and EPC, which were of limited use in atmospheric battles anyway (since their beams quickly diffract and lose their energy in the denser lower atmosphere of Human-habitable worlds) would make a smaller dent in the fighter´s offensive potential.
This is a "field refit" often done between missions. Since the increased missile load aids the high-thrust Arcus in its primary missions, which are air superiority and ground support, most Legions simply keep their Arcûs in this configuration and only refit them with the particle cannon when they are temporarily assigned to the defense of orbital installations.
Despite this variant being classed as a "high-thrust modification" in line with similar refits on other fighter craft, the Arcus´ thrust is not measurably affected by the change in weaponry.
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Legionnaire RPG Values: Arcus High Thrust Modification[]
| Hit Location | Sub-Location | Damage Boxes / Damage |
|---|---|---|
| [1] Structure | - | [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [] |
| [2] FTL Drive | - | None |
| [3] Shields | - | [][][][][] [][] |
| [4] Engines / Thrust | - | [][][][][] ::: Thrust 5 g |
| [5] Armour | - | [][][][][] [][][][][] |
| [6] Crew | [1-5] Pilot
[6-10] Gunner |
[][][][][]
[][][][][] |
| [7] Weapon Computers | - | [][][][] |
| [8] Sensors | - | [][][] |
| [9] Life Support | - | [][][] |
| [10] Weapons | [1] MDC 8 | Damage 5 |
| - | [2] MDC 8 | Damage 5 |
| - | [3] 7.5/5 Laser | Damage 7 |
| - | [4] 7.5/5 Laser | Damage 7 |
| - | [5] 3/4 Laser | Damage 3 |
| - | [6] Hardpoint | * |
| - | [7] Hardpoint | * |
| - | [8] Hardpoint | * |
| - | [9] Hardpoint | * |
| - | [10] Hardpoint | * |
---
Leviathan Values: Arcus High Thrust Modification[]
A capital ship encountering flights of high-thrust Arcûs when engaging a planetary or orbital target is in for a hard fight because of the fighter´s increased missile load. Arcûs usually fire their missile salvo early and retire to reload at their base, which is rarely far away. Arcus squadrons have also been known to stand-off capital ships close to atmosphere, loitering out of weapons range but threatening to dive in and attack should the ship enter atmosphere and attempt to provide ground support fire.
| Group (72 Fighters) | Armour | Missile Attack Value | CRA | LRA | Thrust |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armour Row 6 | [][][][][][] [][][][][][] [][][][][][] [] | 100 | 144 | 122 | 5 |
| Armour Row 5 | [][][][][][] [][][][][][] [][][][] | - | 120 | 102 | - |
| Armour Row 4 | [][][][][][] [][][][][][] [] | - | 96 | 82 | - |
| Armour Row 3 | [][][][][][] [][][][] | - | 72 | 61 | - |
| Armour Row 2 | [][][][][][] [][] | - | 48 | 41 | - |
| Armour Row 1 | [][][][][][] | - | 24 | 20 | - |
| Flight (24 Fighters) | Armour | Missile Attack Value | CRA | LRA | Thrust |
| Armour Row 3 | [][][][][][] [][][][] | 100 | 48 | 41 | 7 |
| Armour Row 2 | [][][][][][] [][] | - | 32 | 27 | - |
| Armour Row 1 | [][][][][][] | - | 16 | 14 | - |
| Squadron (6 Fighters) | Armour | Missile Attack Value | CRA | LRA | Thrust |
| Armour Row 1 | [][][][][][] | 25 | 12 | 9 | 9 |
| Single Fighter Values | Armour | Missile Hardpoints | CRA | LRA | Thrust |
| Arcus (High Thrust Modification) | 100 | 5 | 40 | 34 | 5 |
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Annotations[]
- ↑ In the TOG Fighter Briefing, the stat line says that there is no high-thrust variant of the Arcus. In the accompanying text, though, a high-thrust variant is mentioned that replaces the EPC and NPC with hardpoints. The high-thrust variant given here has stats extrapolated from the description and is therefore pure conjecture.