Steam Workshop: Bfc 109 Cosmo Messer E

My first attempt at building a fighter completely from scratch. The Cosmo Messer is based on the Cosmo Zero from the Star Blazers (Space Battleship Yamato) series, and tries to strike a balance between performance and aesthetics.

Description

My first attempt at building a fighter completely from scratch. The Cosmo Messer is based on the Cosmo Zero from the Star Blazers (Space Battleship Yamato) series, and tries to strike a balance between performance and aesthetics.

Overall the handling is good, but not excellent. Acceleration is also good, but deceleration is inferior to more balanced designs. Lastly, the Cosmo Messer E’s standard weapons are light but can easily be expanded. The F, G, and K versions will have a lot more firepower out of the box, including loadout options.

There are no subgrids or modded weapons on this version.

Lore

The Cosmo Messer represents the Kaiser faction’s first foray into aerospace fighter design. Heavily inspired by the legendary BF 109 Messerschmitt, the Cosmo Messer strongly evokes the bygone era of dogfighting monoplanes. Since the Kaisers began favoring paired fighter tactics, most of the small ships sortie in even numbers. Their newer ships were designed accordingly, while their older ships were retrofitted to carry at least two of these craft.

Due to the Messer’s high mass and thruster layout, it leans heavily on ‘boom and zoom’ tactics to destroy targets. High speed passes also aid pilots in breaking off combat more quickly when the need arises.

Due to the uncertainties of deep space warfare at the time, various systems once only used on larger Kaiser vessels were tested on the Cosmo Messer. Some that made it to the production models include additional cameras, a ship integrity monitor, a projector for repairs afield, a lateral collision avoidance system, redundant hydrogen storage tanks, and a consolidated battery system.

The Cosmo Messer E was relatively successful, effectively ending the threat of ‘budget bombers’ in Kaiser space, however, the introduction of more and more powerful ships by other factions necessitates improvements to the Cosmo Messer far beyond what can truly be considered the E series.

Specs

The Cosmo Messer doesn’t require WeaponCore since it only uses vanilla weapons. The ship’s toolbar (second page) is set up for both uses though, so just delete the options you don’t need. The F series also won’t require WeaponCore but the G and K series will. Just a heads up.

Primary Mission: Short Range Fighter
Crew: 1 Pilot
Armament: 4x Gatling Guns, 1x Rocket Launcher
Power Plant: 1x Hydrogen Engine (500kw), 4x Medium Warfare Batteries (12Mw)
Thrusters: 36x Hydrogen, 31x Ion, 67 Total
Wingspan: 42ft (13.1m)
Length: 69ft (21m)
Height: 18.4ft (5.6m)
Grid Mass: 69,062
PCU: 6,800

Scripts

• Whip’s scripts: Turret Based Radar, SIMPL
• Whip’s Radar WC Addon by Sigmund Froid
• Automatic LCDs 2 by MMaster
• Easy Automation by Coren
• Easy Throttle Control by DoktorKrove

Controls

Page 1: In Flight Navigation
Num1 – Flight Mode Normal
Num2 – Flight Mode Cruise+
Num3 – Flight Mode Governor
Num4 – Check Wrist
Num5 – Facepalm
Num6 – Electro Optical Sensor
Num7 – Tailfin Camera
Num8 – Rearview Camera
Num9 – Ventral Camera

Page 2: Combat Systems
Num1 – Gatling Guns (Group) Toggle Mouse Shoot Mode (WEAPONCORE)
Num2 – Integrated Rocket Launcher Toggle Mouse Shoot Mode (WEAPONCORE)
Num3 – Gatling Guns selector (VANILLA)
Num4 – Rocket Launcher selector (VANILLA)
Num7 – Flight Mode Normal
Num8 – Flight Mode Cruise+
Num9 – Rearview Camera

Page 3: Launch/Landing Systems
Num1 – Connector Switch Lock
Num2 – Mag Plate On/Off
Num3 – Mag Plate Switch Lock
Num4 – Tailfin Camera
Num5 – Rearview Camera
Num6 – Ventral Camera
Num7 – All Thrusters On/Off
Num8 – All Lights On/Off
Num9 – Landing Guide On/Off

Page 4: Auxiliary Systems
Num1 – Maintenance Projector On/Off
Num3 – Antenna On/Off
Num4 – Beacon On/Off
Num5 – Remote Autopilot On/Off (Not programmed)
Num6 – Remote Autopilot On/Off (Not programmed)
Num8 – Hydrogen Engine On/Off
Num9 – O2/H2 Generator On/Off

Page 9: Connector/Mag Plate Extended Functions
Num1 – Connector On/Off
Num2 – Connector Lock
Num3 – Connector Unlock
Num4 – Connector Collect All On/Off
Num5 – Connector Throw Out On/Off
Num6 – Mag Plate On/Off
Num7 – Mag Plate Lock
Num8 – Mag Plate Unlock
Num9 – Mag Plate Autolock On/Off

Piloting Notes:
1: The Cosmo Messer E has only 2 side facing ion thrusters; it is not advised to turn off the hydrogen thrusters separately. Use Governor flight mode instead (Page 1 Num3) for low speed, smooth maneuvering.
2: The landing guide is helpful for landing in unfamiliar spaces. Activate the landing guide (Page 3 Num9) and keep the red areas from clipping through walls or objects. This will prevent lateral collisions.
3: For high speed braking, point the bottom of the ship in the intended braking direction. Additionally, flipping the ship can stop it much more quickly than relying on the reverse thrusters.
4: Follow a target’s movements slowly while firing the gatling guns, as the Messer’s long nose can catch rounds from the gatling guns during high speed turns and lateral drifting.
5: For connector landings involving multiple Messers, let the connector move the plane into position, then turn off thrusters and other systems before fully connecting. This prevents power toggles from affecting other docked Messers. Disconnect before toggling systems for takeoffs.
6: Can maintain altitude in up to 1.2 Gs of gravity. This is the upper limit; forward thrusters will be needed to gain altitude (nose up slightly).

You can also find this guide in the text area of the cockpit on the ‘numpad’ screen.

Acknowledgements

• AQD – No Armor Edges by Enenra (For making my builds much better to look at)
• The Paint Gun and BuildInfo by Digi (It’s just not as smooth sailing without these)
• Star Blazers (SBY) for the inspiration