[GK Games] Ships of Clement Sector 12: Broken Hill-class Prospector Now Available!

[Gypsy Knights Games]

Now available from DTRPG at this link!

Gypsy Knights Games is proud to present the twelfth entry in our line of products dedicated to the starships of Clement Sector.

In 2285 AUship held a series of meetings with several large Australian resource companies operating large holdings both in Earth system and other interstellar locations. As the meetings progressed a specialized design began to evolve that would eventually become the Broken Hill-class prospector. Construction of a prototype commenced in July 2287 and by the middle of 2288, the five hundredth anniversary year of the settlement of Australia, orders were placed by all four participant companies. This entailed an order of sixteen ships with options for additional hulls should the design prove itself in service.

The prospector allows for up to four mining cutters to dock and transfer mined ore to the two ore holds. There are two cargo locks on either side of the access and docking spine that directly deliver ore to a hold via a dump chute. The prospector can only carry two mining cutters externally but the added flexibility of allowing two more cutters to simultaneously dock to transfer ore during mining operations is a definite bonus.

Ships of Clement Sector 12: Broken Hill-class Prospector comes complete with beautiful views of the ship. The prospector is presented with full deckplans and statistics to make your use of our product simple, easy and fun. In addition, the ship comes with a set of adventure hooks to get your characters right into the action as well as a short story written by Bradley Warnes.

In addition, Ships of Clement Sector 12: Broken Hill-class Prospector also includes the Venture-class Troop Transport. A variation of the Broken Hill-class prospector, the Venture-class troop transport is marketed as an affordable transport vessel for small system defense forces and private security contractors (mercenaries). The distributed hull design and large small craft carrying capacity of the Broken Hill allows for relatively inexpensive conversion into a light military transport.

Though designed specifically with our Clement Sector setting in mind, this ship could easily be used in any Traveller setting.

Get on board! Adventure awaits!

"Traveller" and the Traveller logo are Trademarks owned by Far Future Enterprises, Inc. and are used with permission. The Traveller Main Rulebook is available from Mongoose Publishing.

 

[Annatar Giftbringer]

Wonderful, love it!

Though I must say, I was surprised by the lack of specialized mining/prospecting equipment. I mean, apart from the lab and the cutter modules, there's really nothing marking it as a mining vessel. No mining drones, no ore handling/refining/melting equipment... Granted, the probe drones would come in handy when prospecting, but switch the cutter modules and basically the entire ship changes role. Which is interresting. The lack of specialization makes it a better vessel, in a way. more general-purpose. The large ore-hold could easily hold supplies for a mining outpost or colony near the next prospecting area, for instance, with the entire cargo area available (rather than having parts of it taken up by an ore refinery or similar).

Also, combining the Broken Hill with a Goldrush or two should speed things up a bit! On its own, the only mining gear there is are two mining lasers and the cutter crews, but an additional mining cutter and some drones... One might almost believe it was planned, with the additional docking/loading stations for cutters

I love the layout and deckplans of this ship! Really feels like a believeable ship meant for work, and extended trips, with lots of space devoted to common areas and lounge. The 10 ton mini-launch is a great tool and addition to the setting! Hope to see more of it in the future!

 

[madmike]

Thanks for the kind comments Annatar.

In regards to smelting and refining equipment, they simply do not exist within either first edition or A&F 1e. Even if they did or I created an optional component (I have done this sort of thing in the past) then then I would have to increase the hull tonnage of the ship or reduce ore hopper storage capacity. I decided to go for that cargo space and thus a more versatile ship in the end.

Even if I redo this for 2e I still would not change a thing as I have in mind a possible bigger refinery ship for a future release. The prospectors primary task is to mine ore, test it for quality and purity and bring that ore back to enable claims to be lodged by the company operating it. If a claim is then lodged over the find area, they can then be used as a base of operations for a bigger project, taking that mined ore to a much larger mining station, new mining colony or a refinery ship.

Now in regards to mining drones, I decided that they did not need to be added either as the two mining cutters can undertake that task by traditionally prospecting. There is nothing stopping a company or captain augmenting or replacing the far more versatile probe drone for expensive and more specialised mining drones should the need or policy arise. There would however be a need to provide increased drone magazine capacity and a new launcher mount.

I really do put a lot of thought into ship designs, their use and any variations. To that end I try and make both the design and deck plans suit that role.

The transfer launch will be seen in a lot more designs, especially now as the upcoming HG (and A&F) 2e allow for increased passenger capacity negating the need for larger small craft.