300t SDB

[DFW]

http://www.4shared.com/document/jTNZ4xc4/SDS_300t.html

Still working on the deck plans. Will post when completed.

 

[simonh]

Another nice practical design.

One thing that struck me the the amount of fuel. One third of the ship is fuel tanks and it's not even jump capable. Yet 12 weeks endurance to me seems like a reasonable requirement in a military vessel, especially an SDB. That's not in any way a criticism of the design, but I think it is a problem with the rules.

Simon Hibbs

 

[hector]

A power plant J requires 18 tons of fuel every two weeks, which, multiplied by 6, is the full 108 tons of fuel. After 12 weeks, there won't be any more fuel even if they wanted to jump. Where's the problem?

 

[DFW]

Thanks. I just realized that I screwed up on the armour. It can only have a rating of 15 (due to TL restrictions) Need to revise & repost. I'll probably take the reclaimed tonnage and put into hardening the the M-drive or something similar.

Yeah, the fuel requirements are high with the J PP. I figured that it might be required to hide for extended periods of time as an SDB rear guard action. Otherwise, I would have kept it to ~4-6 weeks of fuel.

I guess PPs burn at max even if just hovering in a GG using 2-3 Gs thrust and minimum life support. :?

 

[hector]

GG?

 

[DFW]

GG?

Sorry. A Gas Giant like Jupiter or Saturn.

 

[hector]

Ah. Remember they'll also be using the computers and sensors (the only way you'll actually see a ship at the kind of range these vehicles fight at is if it's a capital ship, which would probably blow you up anyway), which will be fairly large power drains.

 

[DFW]

Ah. Remember they'll also be using the computers and sensors (the only way you'll actually see a ship at the kind of range these vehicles fight at is if it's a capital ship, which would probably blow you up anyway), which will be fairly large power drains.

Actually, you can see something the size of the space shuttle out to Pluto from Earth with our current TL 7 sensors. TL 15 sensors will give you many times that range on passive.

Anyway, fixed the design and it is at the original link I posted above.

 

[simonh]

A power plant J requires 18 tons of fuel every two weeks, which, multiplied by 6, is the full 108 tons of fuel. After 12 weeks, there won't be any more fuel even if they wanted to jump. Where's the problem?

I think the power plant fuel consumption given in the rules is too high.

Yeah, the fuel requirements are high with the J PP. I figured that it might be required to hide for extended periods of time as an SDB rear guard action. Otherwise, I would have kept it to ~4-6 weeks of fuel.

4 weeks seems to be the Traveller standard for military vessels, but I think it's lower than you'd actually want. As you say, SDBs particularly need to be able to hide out and conduct guerilla warfare raids over extended periods of time. I suppose hidden fuel caches would help, but you wouldn't want to rely on them more than is absolutely necessary.

Fuel scoops might be useful. As would rules for running in low power mode to eke out fuel reserves, I suppose that's a common sense thing though. Can't always expect the author to consider every possible eventuality.


Simon Hibbs

 

[GJD]

Can you use fuel scoops for PP fuel?

If you are doing GG or deep ocean patrol, you could resupply in the field? Life support and supplies would obviously need to remain at 12 weeks worth (or more, for saftey's sake I would think).

G.

 

[rust]

Can you use fuel scoops for PP fuel?

Since jump fuel and power plant fuel are identical, it should be possible to
use fuel scoops.

As for deep ocean patrols, whether these are possible would depend on
your interpretation of Third Imperium gravitics, because almost all of the
Third Imperium starships would normally not have the mass to stay sub-
merged - although the SDB with its heavy armour could be one of the ex-
ceptions.

 

[DFW]

Can you use fuel scoops for PP fuel?

If you are doing GG or deep ocean patrol, you could resupply in the field? Life support and supplies would obviously need to remain at 12 weeks worth (or more, for saftey's sake I would think).

G.

Yes, streamlined hulls come with scoops default. However, this design isn't system specific and needs to work with situations where there isn't fuel available off the main world.

 

[DFW]

Can you use fuel scoops for PP fuel?

Since jump fuel and power plant fuel are identical, it should be possible to
use fuel scoops.

As for deep ocean patrols, whether these are possible would depend on
your interpretation of Third Imperium gravitics, because almost all of the
Third Imperium starships would normally not have the mass to stay sub-
merged - although the SDB with its heavy armour could be one of the ex-
ceptions.

Good point. However, most star ships and this design could simply flood their fuel tanks with water instead of h2. This would be sufficient to sink most ships when you consider super dense armoured hulls (all space ships hulls are considered armoured from our perspective).

 

[phavoc]

Something to keep in mind is that SDB's are going to have knowledge of hidden cache's of parts, fuel, supplies and munitions that are hidden throughout the solar system.

So they won't always be going to a world or gas giant to resupply/refill.

 

[DFW]

Something to keep in mind is that SDB's are going to have knowledge of hidden cache's of parts, fuel, supplies and munitions that are hidden throughout the solar system.

So they won't always be going to a world or gas giant to resupply/refill.

Yep, good points.

 

[locarno24]

If you want more powered-down lurking time, would solar panels not be a good idea?

I realise that with panels extended the ship must be easier to see, but even so it gives the opportunity to stay in a patrol position for some time.

 

[DFW]

If you want more powered-down lurking time, would solar panels not be a good idea?

I realise that with panels extended the ship must be easier to see, but even so it gives the opportunity to stay in a patrol position for some time.

Not a good idea for the reason you mention. Also, they are often far out in the system where solar energy is too weak.