Mongoose 2300AD Progress Report

[rust]

One problem is that weapon pods can't fire missiles/guns when the rotors are in the lowered position, so this will have an internal weapons bay, much like the F-22, with missile racks.

You could use an interrupter or synchronizer to enable at least guns to
fire "through" the rotor blades, this was a rather common technology be-
fore jet fighters were introduced. However, it would probably not work
with missiles, their initial velocity after leaving the missile pod would al-
most certainly be too low for this.

 

[Ishmael]

I'm not worried about guns as I've always figured this sort of system to have a dedicated gun turret such as the 30mm cannon of the AH-56 or the 25mm gun of the ah-64.

I'll just go with a 30mm chaingun turret with an attached grenade launcher.
Like the AH-56, it'd have a separate minigun chin turret.

Oh well...wing pylons can hold ECM pods and drop tanks....

somebody looked into my brain and did a far better job of showing it...

I might have a go at doing something like this with an Apache ( minus tail rotor )

 

[Colin]

I like the looks of that gunship, both Ishmael's and the line drawing.

I'm personally not convinced that tilt-rotors are a good choice for gunships. I can see them on an ad-hoc basis, field conversions of civilian designs, or else some sort of multi-purpose aircraft for colonial militias. Purpose-built core-world gunships would tear them apart.

Which may be the point. One of the issues facing the colonial militias on Aurore is the lack of advanced equipment. The militias often had to make do with equipment little more advanced than what was used during Twilight.

 

[Ishmael]

update... pretty much as is and ready to start texturing.
The cylinders are placeholders for weapons such as rocket pods or Anti-tank missiles. Underbelly hardpoints are for droppable ordinance such as a Paveway II.
The hardpoints on the 'wing' are for ecm pods such as the ALQ-131 or ALD-188 ( or fuel tanks, though not droppable )
Chin turret has FLIR and a 3 barrel autocannon, perhaps 10mm...helmet sights.
Landing gear are housed in the wingtip rotor pods and are extended for landing when the rotors are rotated for vertical landing....tailwheels in the tail , of course.

Are there any references for markings anywhere?

 

[middenface]

Tis looking nice. I like the front profile, got that gunship look.

Got a rush job in the ship yards... so I'll be getting back to this as soon as.

Markings>? Tail boom, topside of wings. Perhaps nose art or something near the cockpit.

Just found Sketchup has a repeat function.... makes drawing gridded guidelines so easy...

 

[Colin]

Back to updates.
Traveller has the Universal World Profile (UWP) a shorthand method to quickly describe a world.
The scope of 2300AD is smaller, with nations and individual colonies taking on a larger role. So, 2300AD has the Universal Nation Profile (UNP), and the Universal Colony Profile (UCP). The numbers used for both are almost identical.

A-BCDEFG-H J K 1 2

A Interface transport commonly available
B Area of Nation/Colony
C Transportation Infrastructure
D Telecommunications Infrastructure
E Population Value, as an exponent of 10
F Government Type
G Law Level
H Technology Level
J Trade Code 1
K Trade Code 2
1 Population Code multiplier
2 Number of Extra-solar colonies (not present in UCP)

 

[GJD]

Will you still keep the UWP for the planet the UNP/UCP is located on? You will still need some way to show hydrol, atmos type and so on for the colony worlds.

 

[Colin]

Absolutely. UWP is still useful as shorthand for the planet, and contains important physical information. However, the UCP and UNP will contain more game-useful information.

 

[Sturn]

I'm loving what has been leaked so far.

Does B "Area" refer to land area the colony is capable of exploiting/controling?

 

[GJD]

I'm loving what has been leaked so far.

Does B "Area" refer to land area the colony is capable of exploiting/controling?

in 100Km homogeneous hexes? ;p

 

[zero]

Are the infostructures similar to a more descriptive way of saying the TL differs from the main-world one to these?

Like I see our communications tech on our TL 7.5 world being close to TL 9 (ymmv) due to Traveller being written in the 70s and we have alot of tech now (especially communication-wise) that would have been classed futuristic then.

 

[aelius]

Colin, one interface system that was never really mentioned in 2300 was the High Energy Laser Launch system. It has most of the advantages of a catapult without the high G forces that make the catapult unsuitable for passengers.
Even though it was never mentioned for 2300 it fits with the type of tech that is used in the setting and I was wondering if you were considering using it.

 

[Colin]

I will be mentioning it in the spacecraft chapter, along with a sample light craft. The need to spin them at extremely high RPMs make them unsuitable for passengers, though. They are more like a catapult variation.

 

[aelius]

Cool, I didn't know about the high spin rate.
One suggestion about ships. Traveller products usually have ship floorplans as a feature, kind of a tradition. I think the Thorez class courier would make a fine sample ship for this purpose. It is small enough to be easily done, and the ship is very flexable. It is even capable of rough field landings on planets, unlike most starships in 2300. It also has a modular bay for different mission setups. Cargo, passengers or light attack craft. The Thorez can do it all. You might be able to guess that I kind of like the design. :wink:
Perfect for a rambunctious bunch of PC's who must have their own transportation instead of just buying a ticket on a passenger ship like any sensible person. :lol:

 

[Colin]

If all goes according to plan, all the ships in the core 2300AD book will have deckplans. I'm really looking forward to seeing them. The deckplans in Cthonian Stars are pretty good, from a 2300AD standpoint, complete with gravity wheels.

 

[Colin]

As far as world tech levels go, they refer more to local capabilities than knowledge. A colony on a TL8 world may well have an advanced comm net, but one that only covers the immediate area around the landing site. Such a system would have been built at earth, and carried out with one of the colony vessels. This all ties into the colony creation system, which is current in the alpha stage, likely for inclusion into a later book.

 

[Morte]

I've been working on 2300AD for a couple of months now, and things are starting to gel quite nicely.

Why do I have this sense of deja vu?

Looking forward to it, Colin.

 

[tzunder]

Back to updates.
Traveller has the Universal World Profile (UWP) a shorthand method to quickly describe a world.
The scope of 2300AD is smaller, with nations and individual colonies taking on a larger role. So, 2300AD has the Universal Nation Profile (UNP), and the Universal Colony Profile (UCP). The numbers used for both are almost identical.

I like this a lot. Could I ask how well detailed the Solar System will be in the core book since I am keen to do some gaming in and around Sol and Cthonian Stars is probably too Mythos for me.

 

[Colin]

The core book contains a paragraph or two on most of the planets in the solar, including UWPs and/or UCPs as appropriate. Most colony worlds don't get much more, not in this book.

 

[Colin]

I've been working on 2300AD for a couple of months now, and things are starting to gel quite nicely.

Why do I have this sense of deja vu?

Looking forward to it, Colin.

Don't it, though? Thanks.

Writing is done, I'm now knee-deep in editing.