External Cargo Mounts and Critical Hits

[PsiTraveller]

Suppose a ship was built that had a Core Ship of 1000 Tons with 1100 Tons of External Cargo Mounts on it. When fully loaded the Ship is 2100 tons.

For combat the ship only has 10 Hardpoints and the Hull points of a 1000 Ton ship.

At 2100 Tons is the ship immune to Critical Hits from turrets and barbettes or is the 1000 Ton of core ship only taken into account? (From Highguard Critical hits on Large ships section)

Is the answer dependent on if the racks are full or not? (so at 1000 Tons running empty of cargo the ship is vulnerable but at 2100 Tons the ship is immune to critical hits)

 

[AnotherDilbert]

The Hull is 1000 dT, so the ship is 1000 dT, as far as I can see. It does not matter if you strap a few thousand dT onto the ship.

For an interesting thought experiment, use breakaway hulls...

 

[wbnc]

My general take on external cargo is that it isn't part of the ships structure, just bolted onto it. So it offers no additional strength to the vessel.

 

[Condottiere]

They're separate modules, so it's relevant only if it's a randomized shot, or the cargo gets in the way.

 

[phavoc]

The Ship Itself Is 1000 dtons. No matter how much external cargo you carry it's still 1000 dtons. If you pulled 2000 tons on a tow cable your ships engines are pulling 3000 tons, but that doesn't affect the ships damage capabilities.