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K'Vort Class Cruiser
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I know the topic of the K'Vort is fairly common, but since there are current dicussions sprouting in other threads, I figured its about time to have a fresh discussion entirely on the K'Vort.
The K'Vort Class Cruiser is missing from the Klingon Fleet, and should be the next ship to make its way to Klingon players. But how should be represented in game? What should it look like? How large should it be? What boff layouts should it have? What special abilities should it have? etc etc.
I'd like to start by giving my own thoughts on the matter.
Firstly, does the K'Vort exist in the prime timeline.
I know there are some who will raise the question whether the K'Vort Class actually exists in the prime timeline as it is a fairly common argument that it was only ever confirmed on-screen during an alternate timeline sequence in the episode "Yesterday's Enterprise".
However, during several DS9 episodes, K'Vort-Class Cruisers were actually named (though not seen) so we do have official canon confirmation that they do actually exist within the prime timeline. In one episode, Worf is said to have launched in an escape pod of a destroyed K'Vort-Class.
Secondly, its role - Cruiser or Raider (existing Birds of Prey in STO are all raiders).
The K'vort is always listed as a Cruiser, and everytime we have seen a big Bird of Prey in action throughout TNG it certainly behaved like one - fairly slow, quite powerful. We know that 2 K'Vort-Class cruisers can destroy a Galaxy-Class (Yesterday's Enterprise), and we know that 2 K'Vort's can also disable and potentialy destroy a Vor'Cha (Redemption Part 2). It, therefore, should exist within the Cruiser ship line.
Next, how powerful it is (weapon slots, hull, turn speed)
The K'Vort is described to be a "Light Cruiser" which, in STO's sense, places it somewhere between a Vor'Cha and a Qin Raptor. With that in mind, I think it should have the same weapon layout as a Vor'Cha (4 fore, 4 rear), with a turn rate of 12, and hull of 32k. This means it has the same firepower as a Vor'Cha, but is weaker in defense, but slightly quicker turn rate.
Next, boff layout.
Since the K'Vort is a cross between a cruiser and a Bird of Prey, I think the boff layout should represent that. As such, it should have the following boffs:
Commander Engineering
Lt. Commander Engineering
Lt. Science
Lt. Tactical
Ensign Universal
Next, special console.
The K'Vort should have a special console that gives the captain a "Wing Position" special ability. Unlike standard Birds of Prey, the K'vort's wings do not change in-and-out of combat but instead the captain can activate the special ability to raise or lower the wing while in system space. The neutral wing position is raised, and the wings will revert to raised (if lowered) during the warp animation. This fits closer with canon as K'Vorts have only been seen firing with wings raised, but the mechanisms to lower them still exist.
Next, Cloaking device.
Since the K'Vort is a Cruiser, and not a Raider, I think it should just have standard cloak and NOT use Battlecloak. Instead, its "uniqueness" comes from the fact that the wing position can be fixed.
And finally, the size.
The most commonly accepted K'Vort size is around 320-340m, giving it a length pretty similar to that of the Intrepid class (a little bigger than the T5 Hegh'ta Bird of Prey).
The K'Vort Class Cruiser is missing from the Klingon Fleet, and should be the next ship to make its way to Klingon players. But how should be represented in game? What should it look like? How large should it be? What boff layouts should it have? What special abilities should it have? etc etc.
I'd like to start by giving my own thoughts on the matter.
Firstly, does the K'Vort exist in the prime timeline.
I know there are some who will raise the question whether the K'Vort Class actually exists in the prime timeline as it is a fairly common argument that it was only ever confirmed on-screen during an alternate timeline sequence in the episode "Yesterday's Enterprise".
However, during several DS9 episodes, K'Vort-Class Cruisers were actually named (though not seen) so we do have official canon confirmation that they do actually exist within the prime timeline. In one episode, Worf is said to have launched in an escape pod of a destroyed K'Vort-Class.
Secondly, its role - Cruiser or Raider (existing Birds of Prey in STO are all raiders).
The K'vort is always listed as a Cruiser, and everytime we have seen a big Bird of Prey in action throughout TNG it certainly behaved like one - fairly slow, quite powerful. We know that 2 K'Vort-Class cruisers can destroy a Galaxy-Class (Yesterday's Enterprise), and we know that 2 K'Vort's can also disable and potentialy destroy a Vor'Cha (Redemption Part 2). It, therefore, should exist within the Cruiser ship line.
Next, how powerful it is (weapon slots, hull, turn speed)
The K'Vort is described to be a "Light Cruiser" which, in STO's sense, places it somewhere between a Vor'Cha and a Qin Raptor. With that in mind, I think it should have the same weapon layout as a Vor'Cha (4 fore, 4 rear), with a turn rate of 12, and hull of 32k. This means it has the same firepower as a Vor'Cha, but is weaker in defense, but slightly quicker turn rate.
Next, boff layout.
Since the K'Vort is a cross between a cruiser and a Bird of Prey, I think the boff layout should represent that. As such, it should have the following boffs:
Commander Engineering
Lt. Commander Engineering
Lt. Science
Lt. Tactical
Ensign Universal
Next, special console.
The K'Vort should have a special console that gives the captain a "Wing Position" special ability. Unlike standard Birds of Prey, the K'vort's wings do not change in-and-out of combat but instead the captain can activate the special ability to raise or lower the wing while in system space. The neutral wing position is raised, and the wings will revert to raised (if lowered) during the warp animation. This fits closer with canon as K'Vorts have only been seen firing with wings raised, but the mechanisms to lower them still exist.
Next, Cloaking device.
Since the K'Vort is a Cruiser, and not a Raider, I think it should just have standard cloak and NOT use Battlecloak. Instead, its "uniqueness" comes from the fact that the wing position can be fixed.
And finally, the size.
The most commonly accepted K'Vort size is around 320-340m, giving it a length pretty similar to that of the Intrepid class (a little bigger than the T5 Hegh'ta Bird of Prey).
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In my timezone it's almost time for me to leave home and get some work done so if you had not opened up this thread I would have done so in a few hours myself, honoing Katic's request to take the discussion of missing ships like the K'Vort elsewhere.
Things I can agree on without reservation:
The ship exists with this name in the prime timeline:
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070106192644/memoryalpha/en/images/8/82/IKS_Koraga_display.jpg
Size: about 350 meters is about right.
There's also Suricata's anlysis that backs this up:
http://suricatasblog.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/klingon-bird-of-prey-paradox/
(Battle) Cruiser:
It was referred to a "cruiser" in "A Matter of Honor", where the ship also had some 30 or more crew and a mess hall gigantic compared to that on the Rotarren and it was referred to as "K'Vort" in the Gorkon Novel series.
The three ships that attacked the Enterprise in "Yesterday's Enterprise" were also called "Battlecruiser".
Some things I've been thinking about and where we might disagree:
Special ability:
One of the ships that attacked Gowron's ship in "Redemption" fired a torpedo that looked quite different from any torpedo ever used by other Klingon ships and when it impacted the shields of Gowron's Vor'cha, the shields did not just flare up like they were struck in a way similar to the Disruptor hits we saw earlier, it looked like the shields were somehow "fractured" by the hit.
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/9442/vlcsnap2011071414h49m29.png
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/8059/vlcsnap2011071414h50m03.png
http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/6018/vlcsnap2011071414h50m16.png
http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/1593/vlcsnap2011071414h50m28.png
http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/1943/vlcsnap2011071414h50m32.png
http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/2369/vlcsnap2011071414h50m34.png
http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/6422/vlcsnap2011071414h50m37.png
The not only bothered to create a new weapons effect instead of simply taking a Starfleet Photon Torpedo and make it green but they also bothered to create a totally new shield effect for the confrontation.
So I'd like to propose that a unique kind of torpedo attack for the K'Vort would be interesting and quite fitting.
As for a possible T5 configuration my propsal is one that would also differ quite a bit from yours.
It is based on the idea the the K'Vort was not seen in the various battles in DS9 but mentioned on mission like the Koraga was because it was used for such "intelligence" missions because it was suited for them as well as fighting ships bigger than themselves somewhat better than fighting ships much smaller than themselves like they would have been firced to do when going up against the Dominion.
So my proposal:
Engineering: Commander, Ensign
Science: Lieutenant Commander
Tactical: Lieutenant
Universal: Lieutenant
It's essentially an "Inverse Nebula" as far as it config is concerned, with a focus in Engineering and survivability but also capable of the "intelligence" part I was referring to earlier yet with some of the customization options we know from the smaller BoPs in STO without going overboard with it.
I'd propose an armament of "only" 4/3 reflecting that as a ship with a BoP-like hull shape it would have a "forward-oriented" armament.
A higher turnrate than the Vor'cha to offset this reduced allround firepower could easily be used to balance the ship while simultaneously reflecting that as a smaller and possible lighter ship it would be more maneuverable than the Vor'cha but also with some weaknesses when it comes to fighting off ships even more maneuverable than themselves like I mentioned above when it comes to Jem'Hadar Fighters.
I am sorry but my time's up right now so I can't go into more detail regarding my idea at the moment.
I thought that was a re-use of stock footage from ST:3 when Kruge's BOP fired a similar torpedo at the Enterprise. From what I understand, TNG was kinda notorious for re-using footage from the movies.
Also, they might be related to the torpedoes from "Errand Of Mercy" as they were described as magnetic pulse weapons.
http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Magnetic_pulse_weapon
I think I heard somewhere that Leonard Nimoy was kinda disappointed that the K'Tingas in the opening scene of ST:TMP used photon torpedoes to attack V'ger, rather than something consistent with the weapons described in "Errand Of Mercy" and insisted the BOP's weapons be more like the Magnetic Pulses.
You've got to be kidding, this is what it looked like in Star Trek 3, please tell me how what I posted can be a re-use
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090610112921/memoryalpha/en/images/9/9b/Klingon_Bird-of-Prey%2C_forward_torpedo.jpg
If he said so, it's the first time I heard of it.
Can you please link to a source?
The reason why the BoP was in that movie in the first place had entirely different reasons, same goes for the green weapon the ship used.
When Star Trek 3 was conceived, the enemy was supposed to be a Romulan.
However due to budged problems, that was later changed to the Klingons because uniforms for them were readily available from Star Trek 1.
Otherwise they would have had to design and produce entirely new Romulan uniforms for the ship's crew.
However by that time the "Romulan Bird of Prey", along with Romulan Markings and a Romulan cloaking device and a Romulan Plasma Torpedo Launcher special effect had already been created.
When the script was rewritten, there was supposed to be a line that Krige stole the ship from the Romulans.
But that was dropped.
That's what that weapon in Star Trek 3 actually is: a Plasma Torpedo launcher.
Compare the link I provided above with this:
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060927175617/memoryalpha/en/images/9/91/Romulan_bird-of-prey%2C_TOS-firing_torpedo.jpg
It's just an updated version for the big screen.:)
As for the name "magnetic pulse" in that episode of TOS, please keep in mind that in the very same episode Kirk refers to Klingon hand weapons as "Klingon Phasers".
It's still Season 1 and many terms we use today did not exist back then.
Also what is a Photon Torpedo?
It's matter and antimatter seperated from each other by magnetic fields.;)
Excelsior expy (role, overall setup, but its own special?) yes/no?
the K'vort was initally something of a retcon back in the days of TNG when the special effects shots led to inconsistant bird of prey sizes. so I think argueing their performance is slow and clumsy is a bit off, I'd argue the INTENT is for them to be fairly manuverable (in fairness a lotta their manuverability issues was proably just due to limits on the special effects.) honestly, I always thought the K'vort should just be a skin for the tier 5 bird of prey. Ultimately, the thing that sets the K'vort apart is it's "a big bird of prey that is bigger then the B'rel"
tmaking it a tier 5 skin would be approperate.
The reasons for the K'Vort were not the need for a retcon, but somewhat different ones.
The K't'inga model was unavailable for filming, as you can note in episodes like "The Emissary" the K't'inga is cut out of scenes from Star Trek 1 and then sometimes "cloaked" and then weapons effects are added.
It looks pretty poor.
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081004040039/memoryalpha/en/images/1/15/IKS_T%27Ong_firing_phasers.jpg
However the Vor'cha model was unavailable.
So only the BoP model was there to use for the first three seasons.
The large-scale BoPs were not a result of bad scaling:
They were deliberate.
Otherwise Kargan constantly calling the IKS Pagh a "Klingon cruiser" would not have been n the episode.
Please keep in mind the Pagh was the first BoP-style ship to appear in TNG and it already begins with the designation "cruiser".
So it cannot be a retcon from day 1 can it?
Because that would defeat the "re" in "retcon".
As mentioned by a couple other posters, I think it fits in the Commander level tier 3 selection perfectly. I think you could kind of look at the K'Vort like the KDF Akira...a sort of heavy escort that almost can function like a cruiser. I would be happy with the same console slot and Boff layout as the Akira, maybe alternatively making one of the Boff slots universal.
The reasoning for the K'Vort's off-screen introduction doesn't really matter. Its the role it fills canonicaly that is important.
Personaly, I've always looked at as the K'Vort filling a gap between the K't'inga and the Vor'Cha. The K't'inga is too old, the Vor'Cha too expensive, and so the K'Vort becomes the backbone battlecruiser of the fleet - which explains why its just a big Bird of Prey since its far more cost effective to super-size an existing design, especialy one that has proven to be as successful as the B'Rel, compared to designing an entirely new ship.
I can see it being a very easy modification for the Klingon shipyards to start churning out a big B'Rel as aposed to having to develope an entirely new production run for the Vor'Cha and Negh'var.
That is, afterall, a tried and tested practice in ship building here on Earth. There is a very good reason why the HMS Victory, the largest of Britain's ships of the line, follows identical but super-sized plans to the 6th rate ships that were being built 100 years prior.
As for the T5 variant being a clone of the Excelsior - can someone remind me what that difference is? Is that not the boff layout that I mention in the initial post?
For weapon layout - A 4/3 weapon layout will not work in a cruiser.
If the K'vort is to be a cruiser, there are a couple of cruiser-specific things it has to have:
1. A focus on engineering boffs
2. A slower turn rate compared to escorts/raiders
3. 8 weapon slots
T5 battlecruisers have 8 weapon slots because its the only way to balance the DPS compared to a T5 raptor with a commander and lieutenant tactical boff.
So in short, if the K'vort is going to be a cruiser, then it must have (at T5) a Commander engineering boff and 8 weapon slots.
Messing with turn rate will not justify losing that 8'th weapon, neither will messing with hull, neither will giving it any kind of special torpedo ability. The Galaxy-X proved that.
Com. Tac, LtC Eng, Lt Eng, Lt Sci, Ensign Tac.
With no battle cloak so you get the extra console, either tac or eng, more shields/hull than the BoP we have now also since no battle cloak. Weapon slots, ehh I don't care to much.
Although I wouldn't mind seeing it as a battle cruiser. Healing out of a K'vort would be fun.
If the K'Vort is going to be a Cruiser, and I think we are all in agreement that it should be a cruiser, then we have to accept that it needs to be comparable to other cruisers of the same tier.
That means there a few fundamental basics that it must have;
1) It must have a Commander Engineer boff slot. Its also likely that Cryptic would require it to have a Lt. Commander boff slot as well.
2) It must have a slower turn rate than an escort.
3) It must have 8 weapon slots in order to maintain a DPS balance due to the focus on engineering boffs.
Those are quite clearly the 3 rules of any T5 Klingon cruiser.
So for the question on boff layouts, that only really leaves the decision on what that ensign boff should be - and it seems the popular decision there is for it to be universal, which works well with the Negh'Var and Vor'Cha.
I see what you're saying, but it must also be more manouverable than a Vor'cha, and I'm not sure there's much room between Vor'cha and the less manouverable escorts as it is, although this could be the inertia thing kicking in here rather than just turn rate. It'd be a tough thing to get right but I think it could be done.
Considering it is a BoP, and that at T3 the K'tinga having four forward weapons slots when nothing else at T3 does causes no problems, what about a 5/3 arrangement for the weapons? It wouldn't need extra tactical bias from BO powers compared to other cruisers, because that bias would come from it's emphasis on forward weaponry. And as a bird of prey, it should be focused forwards. I think a straight cut n' paste of the Excelsior with the exception of science and tactical being swapped (I'll explain in a moment), with the more klingon inertia rating, and a 5/3 weapons slot arrangement would be cool. A Lt Com science station (as opposed to the Excelsior's tactical) would also give the KDF a ship which would have some utility for science captains, as they don't exactly have oodles of choice as things stand currently.
Now, back to my crazy 5/3 idea. While 5 forward mounted DHCs does sound really bad initially, it's worth considering the disparity between this and a Qin heavy raptor is less than the disparity between the K'tinga and the raptor from T3 (20% vs 25%), and that a Raptor is more manouverable (thus granting DHCs more utility) and can have things like CRF3 and Attack Pattern Omega3 which increases damage a lot (to say nothing of boosting manouverability, defense and granting tractor immunity), and with tactical initiative that can be rolled around again quite quickly. By only having a Lt tactical slot on this ship, we'd mitigate the potential havoc of 5 fore weapons by having it not combinable with the higher tactical buffs like Attack Pattern Omega which boosts a ships firepower albeit temporarily. So with more firepower unbuffed, but less firepower than a similarly buffed raptor, I think balance would be maintained, and we'd have something that fits in with "enormous bird of prey". Also, if it's tactical consoles were also more in line with a cruiser, I beleive this would help as well. I think this would fit opposite the T5 Excelsior in the same way the K'tinga does the T3 one.
I'm just thinking "out loud", or whatever the keyboard equivilent is though, so do tell me if I'm being mental here. I'd just rather see something different and unique rather than yet another ship with a minor difference. Save minor differences for when there's 5 cruisers like Starfleet has.
*scratches head* *looks at dontdrunkimshoot's posts in the T5 K't'inga thread* *scratches head again*
Hmm, okay now I'm confused by your positiotn in this matter my friend.
Putting the K't'inga at tier 1 would put it below the Connie refit.
And I thought you conssidered the K't'inga to be superior to her.
Anyway, I agree to some degree with you:
putting the K'Vort where the K't'inga is now would be okay, even using the same stas would be okay especially since the K'vort is so...well it's got a pair of giant forwad guns and probably little else.
But why would you want to put the K't'inga at tier 1?
Would tier 2, opposite its old nemesis be enough?
Cryptic could probably disconnect the D7 skin from the K't'inga and put that one at tier 1.
Since we don't have mix and match anyway the K'tanco could stay where it is right now as well as the third skin for the K't'inga.
Again I agree to some degree:
The K'vort is somewhat smallish for a cruiser and it probably has a lot more firpower forward than allround.
But regarding it sperformance in Yesterday's Enterprise there are a few things to consider:
1.
It was an alternate timeline where the Federation had been at war with the Klignons for 20 years, meaning that the Galaxy class was built to incorporate several changes compared to the Galaxy we know.
It was also referred to as "battleship" in that episode.
Also Yar mentioned that as a result of the war military technology had advanced considerably.
Assuming that was the case on both sides there is however the detail that when a ship is updated with new tech, it is not going ot be asa effective asa ship build with those advacnes alerady in ind.
Which is what the Klignons probably had to do to their K'vorts in that timeline, because those ships probably predated the Galaxy and the entire conflict.
Even though the special effects in that episode were the same as those in other episodes in the regular timeline I'd assume that the "Yesterday's Enterprise" could have wiped the floor with the Galaxy from the regular timeline.
2.
Tranlating stuff from Star Trek into a computer games is a complicated and rather fuzzy business.
But I assume the K'vorts we saw in the shows would be roughly comparable to the tier 3 version we would see in this game, without a T5 version in existence at the time.
Just like the Galaxy from season 3 would be roughly comparable to the T4 model in STO and also without a T5 version anywhere to be found.
So the fact that the K'vort was obviously not comparable to the Galaxy in Star Trek is not exactly a perfect example to refute the idea that such a ship would ever be built.
As for being some kind of Starship killer, probably.
That is what I tried to convey in my first post in this thread, but "cheap"?
I'm not entirely sure what that means.
I seriously doubt the Klingons simply built those gums from spare-parts lying around unless they were spares from a starbase armament:
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2869/klingonbopktingacomp.jpg
I'd say those would qualify to be properly translated into 3 Dual Heavy Cannons forward in STO.
And given the fact they were still around during the Dominion War like the K't'inga that you also agreed was a candidate as a decent T5 ship given the proper specs why not the K'vort?
Also depending on the size of the available shipyards it's probably still easier to build and upgrade those ships that build the gigantic Negh'var.
And as a dedicated killer for bigger ships they'd still be perfect.
One of the concepts from World War two was that of the Tank Hunter/Tank Destroyer: a vehicle that mounted a heavy gun much larger than that a regular tank carried in its turret.
The U.S. version also carried its gun in a turret but the whole vecicle was comparatively lightly armored and in several cases the turret didn't even have a roof because it would have required too much space.
The versions used for example by the Germans, the Russians the also the British instead had the weapon fixed in the chassis, which allowed the vehicle to be properly armored and also gave them a lower silhouette.
The Germans whose army had a rather "diverse" list of vehicles can be used as a good example:
The last models of the Panzer IV used a 75 mm Gun with a barrel-length of 48 in its turret
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Panzer_IV_Ausf_J_Parola_1.jpg
The late versions tank hunter model Jadgdpanzer IV used the 75mm Gun with a barrel-length of 48 of 70
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Jagdpanzer_IV_CWM_2.jpg
The Panzer V "Panther" used the gun employed by the Jadtpanzer IV in its turret
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-H26258%2C_Panzer_V_%22Panther%22.jpg
The "Jadgpanther" used an 88mm gun with a Barrel Length of 71
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Jagdpanther_Thun_1.jpg
The "Tiger II" used the same gun as the Jagdpanther in its turret
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Tiger_II_mg_7800.jpg
The Jagdtiger however used a 128mm (5inch) gun that was comparable to those used by naval vessels
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Jagdtiger_1.jpg
I think you get the idea.
I'd say the K'vort with its gigantic forward guns is pretty much the Klingon "Jagdtiger":
It's big yet not as big as the Vor'cha and unlike ships of similar size without a large number of omnidirectional guns but instead with lots of firpower directed forward enabling it to take on ships biggern thanitself just like the tank hunters that could defeat conventional tanks biggern than themselves assuning they got them in their sights.
i'll just add to that comment, there's more changes then that i would make, i just dont feel like typing them at the time. i would also remove the miranda and constitution from the game, or make them some non default optional ships to avoid the crying. also move the excelsior down to the tier 2 fed cruiser, and leave the normal tier 3 cruiser were it is. the saber, the tier 2 escort ships, i would make the default federation tier 1 ship, and i would make the steamrunner and norway the tier 2 escort. also i would make the defiant tier 3, the fleet escort tier 4, and the akira would take its place at tier 5 as the engineering counterpart to the science Prometheus. so ya in my dreams right.
well cheap as in with out its big old wings it looks kinda small but brings ENORMOUS firepower into play, far more firepower then a ship its size and class would normally have, for much cheaper then a full sized battleship like the negvar. i doubt the vorcha has 2 guns that match it, but more firepower overall. i bet it wasn't till the negvar that guns that large were mounted on another klingon ship.
though those 2 even bigger under slung guns on the negvar are probably the most powerful weapons on any starship in the alpha and beta quadrants, and in the league only occupied by a d'derdrex's main gun and a galaxy classes main array.
i still think a tier 5 is a bad idea, without breaking some serious weapon slot issues and cruiser/escort boundaries. theirs already great big bops at tier 5 already anyway, a kvort too is just to much.
Frankly the Intrepid Class should have been a Cruiser and not a Science Ship, and it should probably have had exactly the stats that the T5 Excelsior has. There is absolutely no issues with the Intrepid fitting into that kind of range of firepower, even despite its size.
The same is true of the K'Vort since its pretty much identical in size to the Intrepid.
it is also not necessarily true that the K'Vort "only has 2 big guns". There are plenty of places where disruptor banks, and disruptor strips, could be placed on the hull, giving it more than enough room for the T5 cruiser 8-weapon slot.
I also do not see there being much problems with the K'Vort turn rate being slightly faster than a Vor'Cha. It prompts you to use a turn rate console which imo is a good tool in order to maintain tanking balance vs battlecruiser DPS.
Whether or not its 5 front and 3 rear, or 4 front and 4 rear, is obviously open to debate. Though I'm not entirely convinced that having 5 forward guns wont make it a little too over-powered.
As for looks? This is the kind of visual I have in my head for a K'Vort:
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6029/5943252860_07bb33d114_b.jpg
Visually its almost identical to the B'Rel, but the biggest differences are (beside its size):
4 running lights on each rather than 2
2 disruptor banks beneath running lights on each wing
2 heavy disruptor cannons on each wing (as a posed to just 1 on the B'Rel)
Dual torpedo launcher on the front of the head (as a posed to 1 launcher on the B'Rel)
Shuttlebay above the engine manifold at the rear
2 disruptor strips on the back of each wing
3 disruptor strips on the "beak" of the head
And as far as that engine manifold, it should be:
Red Bussard Ramscoop on top
Yellow warp plasma vents in the middle
Red Impulse Engine beneath
Torpedo Launcher on either side
I'll draw up a rear view later to demonstrate the above.
Remember that the K'Vort is the size of the Intrepid, and the Intrepid has phaser strips all over it with both fore and rear torpedo launchers, so its more than plausible that the K'Vort sports the same sort of weapons array. Also, if we assume that the K'Vort was built in the period between Star Trek VI and TNG (I call it Enterprise C/Ambassador Class era) then its quite plausible for the K'Vort to have been the first Klingon ship to sport disruptor strips as the first signs of joint Fed/Kling technology.