Ship Design Philosophy

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Hulls and Concrete

1. The nationwide concrete cost ranges between $150 and $180 or more per cubic yard.

2. The average ready mix price was $166.39 per cubic yard in the first half of 2024.

3. Expect to pay $6.00 to $9.50 per square foot for materials and labor.

4. If you're ordering concrete directly from a ready mix supplier, the pricing will be by yard. But if you're working with a contractor, their costs will be by square footage.

5. Concrete prices differ by region, with a nationwide average of $166.39 per cubic yard in the first half of 2024 and a range of $150 to $180 per cubic yard.

6. When estimating the cost of concrete for a home improvement project, it is important to factor in additional items like the ready mix delivery fee and labor costs.

7. Estimating concrete prices is not an easy exercise, as many factors are involved in pricing concrete. Some of these factors include the following: grading, subbase preparation, concrete forms and finishing, reinforcement, and the local cost of concrete.

8. A porous material has pores, or holes, through which water or gas can pass through. Traditional concrete is a porous material with little holes that can draw in water. These holes are formed during curing when the mixture of cement, water and aggregates hardens and the excess moisture escapes, leaving behind a network of capillaries. The openings to these tunnels appear on the surface as pores.

9. Collapsible fuel tanks (also called fuel bladders) are large flexible bladders that expand when filled with liquid-hydrogen fuel.

 

[Condottiere]

14m³ = 18.311yd³

times one hundred fifty

2'746.65

divided by five

549.33 starbux

assuming twenty percent waste space

109.866 starbux per tonne of spacecraft volume

plus five hundred starbux per volume tonne of fuel bladder

 

[Condottiere]

Startrucks: μονόξυλον

G. Other hull materials were considered, most notably concrete, graphite composites, and plastic.

H. The beauty of planetoids is, they're free and already in space.

I. Four kilostarbux per tonne is the cost of the finished product.

J. Actual mining costs are minuscule, comparatively.

K. Which leaves the cost of furnishing, plumbing, and gravitational tiles.

 

[Condottiere]

Startrucks: μονόξυλον

L. For all intents and purposes, the lead starship μονόξυλον was not that much different from the Venture test bed.

M. The hull was replaced by nickel iron shell, and lost twenty percent usable volume.

N. Usable volume of ninety six tonnes ensured that the bridge cost half of that of the Venture.

O. Further, smallizing the bridge, cut the cost by a further half.

P. Maintaining engineering below seventeen and a half tonnes, permits dispensing with a dedicated engineer.

 

[Condottiere]

Startrucks: Deep Trader

1. Interesting adjective.

2. Free would be one parsec range, and Far, two parsec range.

3. I guess, commercially, Deep is three parsec range.

4. Long Haul appears to indicate four parsec range.

5. I suppose we could use Distant to indicate five parsec range.

6. Don't think there are too many commercial freighters which have a six parsec range.

7. Speed adjectives don't seem favoured for commercial starships.

8. Far Flung for six parsecs.

9. Feels more thrown, than jumping, though.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Burst Lasers

1. Are laser bays street legal?

2. 'Cos I'm not too sure what I would be supposed to do with them.

3. Unless, they're kosher for civilian spacecraft.

4. Considering barbettes, can't use them for point defence.

5. Maybe, bay variants of the laser drill.

6. You could then try to slice through your target.

7. Just before ramming.

8. Power, range, and damage, probably correspond to the beam and pulse laser models.

9. What might be disputable is armour piercing bonus.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Laser Drill Bays

1. Beam/pulse/drill - technological level ten/nine/eight

2. Beam/pulse/drill - range medium/long/adjacent

3. Beam/pulse/drill - turret power.damage.cost four.one.half/four.two.one/four.two.three twentieths

4. Beam/pulse/drill - small bay power.damage.cost fifteen.two.one and a half/fifteen.four.three/fifteen.four.nine twentieths

5. Beam/pulse/drill - medium bay power.damage.cost twenty three.three.five/twenty three.six.ten/twenty three.six.one and a half

6. Beam/pulse/drill - large bay power.damage.cost hundred.three,fifteen/hundred.six.thirty/hundred.six.four and a half

7. Railgun/laser drill - armour piercing turret.small.medium.large four.ten.ten.ten/four.ten.ten.ten

8. Railgun/laser drill - turret range.power.damage.cost short.two.two.one/adjacent.four.two.three twentieths

9. Railgun/laser drill - small bay range.power.damage.cost short.ten.three.thirty/adjacent.fifteen.four.nine twentieths

A. Railgun/laser drill - medium bay range.power.damage.cost short.fifteen.five.fifty/adjacent.twenty three.six.one and a half

B. Railgun/laser drill - large bay range.power.damage.cost medium.twenty five.six.seventy/adjacent.hundred.six.four and a half

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Laser Drill Bays

I tend to think, more commercially applicable, than militarily.

What you'd want to know, is how much material is removed, by applying damage.

One kilometre range is a lot of tunnel.

Is it melted, or blasted?

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Laser Drill Bays

A fusion drill would imply that the material would melt away, possibly explosively.

I would think that the laser, relatively, would be colder, so the question would be how the structure of the material is disrupted, so that it's removeable.

Still, that a potential damage of six to thirty six hundred points of damage, in six minutes.

Possibly more, if the laser drill beam is sustained for any length of time, at a particular spot, or small area.

 

[Condottiere]

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Laser Drill Bays

In terms of bang for buck, it's harder to get a better deal than a laser drill.

The two downsides being adjacent range, and minus three hit penalty.

If the target's not moving, better than ortillery bombardment and/or strike.

Range can be improved to close.

Also, three quarter energy efficiency, so sustained drilling.

If you think it's worthwhile, twenty five percent on budget drill; inaccuracy doesn't matter.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Laser Drill Bays

At this point, fusion bays can do everything a laser drill bay could, and better.

Or, at least, from a healthy stand off distance.

Still, four and a half megastarbux is really attractive, for the potential damage a laser drill large bay could inflict, even at minus three hit penalty, plus one for close range.

This would be industrial spacecraft size mining operations, that slice through asteroids.

 

[Condottiere]

Orientation.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Laser Drill Bays

Possibly, the effective use I found for a firmpointed monoturret is emplacing a laser drill on it.

You're only allowed one sopacecraft weapon system on it, so, in theory, you could stuff in two more quarter tonne groundscale weapon systems.

The laser drill has a default range of adjacent, which is what firmpointing degrades it to in any case, and you are more energy efficient, at three power points.

You have valid options for improvement, and the budget version's penalties don't matter that much, assuming you really are anxious to trim the sticker price by thirty seven and a half kilostarbux.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Burst Lasers

A. Aimed as a midpoint between pulse and beam lasers, burst lasers are a rapid-firing turret weapon that have gained some popularity with the Trojan Reach and beyond.

B. Presumably, that would be plus three to THAC0.

C. Auto X: These weapons fire multiple rounds with every pull of the trigger, filling the air with a hail of fire. A weapon with the Auto trait can make attacks in three f ire modes: single, burst and full auto.

D. Attacks using the Auto trait lose any benefits gained from aiming.

E. Which resolves that.

F. Or, at least, I think that was the intent.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Burst Lasers

G. Single: Attacks are made using the normal combat rules.

H. The problem with this, is, that there's no inherent bonus for laser accuracy.

I. Burst: Add the Auto score to damage. This uses a number of rounds equal to the Auto score.

J. Commits capacitors, anyway.

K. You get the damage bonus, in lieu of the THAC0 bonus.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Burst Lasers

L. Full Auto: Make a number of attacks equal to the Auto score.

M. These attacks can be made against separate targets so long as they are all within six metres of one another. Full auto uses a number of rounds equal to three times the Auto score.

N. This could depend, for point defence, how close salvoes school together.

O. Also, applicable for separate attacks against the same, really large, target.

P. I tend to think light fighters are fried.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Burst Lasers

Q. It's been an interesting question whether the beam laser's THAC0 bonus of plus four adds to the number of missiles destroyed during point defence.

R. Essentially, that assumes that the beam laser fires more than once during those six minutes.

S. Dedicated point defence has a twenty tonne battery of mini (presumably) lasers that deal with this.

T. A point-defence laser battery consists of linked short-ranged laser turrets controlled by their own automated computer.

U. Accuracy versus automatic is, you definitely hit one target, to you get to try again.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Point Defence Batteries

1. It is a weapon system.

2. I would use it for perimeter defence on a ground base, against intruders.

3. Slice and dice.

4. Customization has it's possibilities.

5. Accuracy and inaccuracy probably only increase or reduce hits by one.

6. Inflation and deflation varies between fourteen to twenty four tonnes.

7. Though, technically being turrets, you probably can't use deflation.

8. Since intense focus can be applied to energy weapon systems, the result could be more effect against torpedoes.

9. Though, considering the powered down nature of the lasers, maybe only armour piercing minus one per staging.