Ship Design Philosophy

[wbnc]

Spaceships: Torpedo- And Dive-Bomber Concept

While torpedo-bombers seem a rather quaint term for the torpedo boat, it suits the Solomani view of a more dynamic focus on smallcraft carriers playing a more decisive factor in naval battles.

The Solomani also introduce a new smallcraft subvariant they term dive-bombers. The primary difference between torpedo- and dive-bombers is the variant of ordnance they carry, and the range that they release it.

While I don't see any stated acceleration on torpedoes, but I'll presume it's ten gees, which will provide a clean release from the torpedo-bomber, at the range of it's choosing.

Ortillery torpedoes do have the same speed as multi-warhead missiles, which is eight gees. Since they have to be released within close or adjacent range, dive-bombers tend to have an approach speed as fast as possible, meaning that it would be somewhat higher than eight gees. That might create problems with a normal release, as the torpedo would be travelling slower than the dive-bomber, so the bomb release is angled slightly away from the direction of approach, thus the appearance of the ortillery torpedo falling into it's target, while the craft pulls away.

Bombers are something missing from most Traveller sources. Small craft are a bit of a love/hate relationship for me in general. hey really ad to a game when you have them. But they are neither starships or vehicles so you have to do some foot work to get them to work properly in a survivable way against starships, and keep them from being overpowered against vehicles and structures.
I've been working on a 100 Dton Jump bomber, which is tricky to pack any effective firepower into such a small starship. A single 5 ton bay, or barbette ( High guard rules) Make it a bit more effective than a triple turret....but it leave no room for defensive lasers and sand casters.
The primary advantage of small craft fighters and bombers is you can group them together into groups and mass tier firepower...( treat as a barrage)
I don't remember the exact rules off the top of my head but grouping small craft gives them a bit more sting for their size.
Of course once again you have to give up offensive firepower to mount defensive weapons...
However if you are going against ground targets you can use a sandcaster to attack with. It's pointless against starships with any sort of armor but it can do some significant damage to vehicles and ground troops.

• Nomal Sand: 1 pt damage vs starships ( 50pts versus vehicle, 8d6 vs personnel)
• Pebble Sand: 1d3 pt damage vs starships ( 50-150 pts versus vehicle, 8d6 vs personnel)

A pebble barrel might as well be a cluster bomb when used against ground targets. of course you have to close to adjacent range band to use it but if your using a small craft or small starship for ground support you are in adjacent range when you enter the atmosphere.

 

[AndrewW]

Bombers are something missing from most Traveller sources. Small craft are a bit of a love/hate relationship for me in general. hey really ad to a game when you have them. But they are neither starships or vehicles so you have to do some foot work to get them to work properly in a survivable way against starships, and keep them from being overpowered against vehicles and structures.

There is a small craft in Supplement 10: Merchants and Cruisers designed for a ground support roll.

I've been working on a 100 Dton Jump bomber, which is tricky to pack any effective firepower into such a small starship. A single 5 ton bay, or barbette ( High guard rules) Make it a bit more effective than a triple turret....but it leave no room for defensive lasers and sand casters.

Of course once again you have to give up offensive firepower to mount defensive weapons...

You can also mount vehicle weapons on small craft.

 

[wbnc]

Bombers are something missing from most Traveller sources. Small craft are a bit of a love/hate relationship for me in general. hey really ad to a game when you have them. But they are neither starships or vehicles so you have to do some foot work to get them to work properly in a survivable way against starships, and keep them from being overpowered against vehicles and structures.

There is a small craft in Supplement 10: Merchants and Cruisers designed for a ground support roll.

I've been working on a 100 Dton Jump bomber, which is tricky to pack any effective firepower into such a small starship. A single 5 ton bay, or barbette ( High guard rules) Make it a bit more effective than a triple turret....but it leave no room for defensive lasers and sand casters.

Of course once again you have to give up offensive firepower to mount defensive weapons...

You can also mount vehicle weapons on small craft.

There are nice versions to be had. No doubt. I hope that if given the chance I can add a few more to the Mix I added a few to the Commercial Vessel source book(*) I just finished. I love small craft in games. They add a lot of flexibility/mobility to a small party and can give them some pocket close air support in a pinch.
(*) for full disclosure, I have a book coming out for MGT, from Mongoose ...hopefully in the next couple of months.


I was only commenting on the amount of finesse it takes to use them in a game without them looking lackluster, or overpowered compared to starships or vehicles. Unfortunately the system wasn't ever intended or expected to be a detailed space/vehicle combat game...hmmmm is there an opportunity there ...oh sorry scheming out loud again

And yep you can mount vehicle weapons to small craft, and if you have the Central Supply Catalog, or other sources there are some lethal rockets, bombs, and cannons to be strapped to your small craft.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Bombers

Bomber is a sort of catch-all term. But it implies that it's a platform for delivering physical ordnance to a target. At some point it's just PT boat, an arsenal ship, or a missile destroyer or cruiser.

In terms of doctrine, committing the smallcraft is a matter of timing.

The rules regarding weapon slots makes it hard to have a mixed armament, and speed, which would allow you to fight your way to the target and then drop a worthwhile amount of ordnance.

Bomber by itself conjures visions of the Flying Fortress, the Stratofortress or the Lancer, which you might assign the word heavy to, and can assume they have bays and be heavily protected.

It could also be a Hercules dropping a daisy cutter, or some transport aircraft dumping barrel bombs out of sheer desperation.

Medium implies to me the words tactical or attack, so fairly fast and close to the action; maybe a thirty to fifty tonne missile bay.

Light bomber might just be a turret, one or two weapon slots, or a heavy fighter with one slot given over to physical ordnance, which would make it a fighter-bomber.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Alphabet Engines

Exactly what tech level are they manufactured at?

 

[Subzero001]

Spaceships: Alphabet Engines

Exactly what tech level are they manufactured at? from HG
Jump 1 drives start at TL 9
Jump 2 drives start at TL 11
Jump 3 drives start at TL 12
Jump 4 drives start at TL 13
Jump 5 drives start at TL 14
Jump 6 drives start at TL 15

So the manufacturing levels I would say starting around 12 to 15 dependent on the space-station / planet TL they are built at in the Imperium? (giving the common jump 1 and 2 drives a minor price brake to the max of 30%) We have the Dariens that have access to TL16+ along with a few planets at TL16 so these high grade units would cost more but have their advantages as well if building lower tech level units for instance for price break or higher prices for smaller units. I know the scouts prefer a lower TL units in-case of malfunction or maintenance.

 

[Subzero001]

Spaceships and other:

I understand how one refines fuel to make a "higher" grade fuel than the dirty fuel started with fuel processors.

How does one "produce" anti-hydrogen i.e. antimatter in the traveller universe? from my understanding we can create small amounts of antimatter now and if used it would create 99.9% efficiency ratio to energy.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Alphabet Engines

With alphabet jump drives, you could have a paradox: how can the same drive that is limited to jump one at one tonnage, travel six parsecs at another? Unless the drive was built with tech level fifteen technology.

And if all alphabet jump drives are built at tech level fifteen technology, they would have to be exported from planets that have achieved tech level fifteen.

You'd lose standardization as each planet would start building their Adventure Class alphabet jump drives varying in tech level, size and cost, and you'd have to keep notes as to their exact capability at various tonnages.

You can't really apply the tech level discounts or adjustments if you don't know at what base level the engines are constructed at.

As regards anti-matter fuel, I'll speculate it's refined by a process that's from a technology that's discovered at tech level sixteen, maybe the same thing that creates black globes.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Gravitational Compensation

Since not all ships are designed to go all out, commercial ships might get a hull discount if they have lower factored gravitational compensators.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Launch Facilities and Gee Forces

When your commanding officer is angered enough to have you catapulted off his ship, you get to experience between two and four gees.

Add that to gravitational compensation of six gees onboard modern fighters, and you'll be departing that launch tube between eight and ten gees, which will get you out of the way of the fastest battlecruiser.

Ordinary launch facilities don't give you that extra push, which may mean the launching ship may have to slow down to accommodate the launch, and would explain partially the additional time taken for the operation, as the smallcraft revs up it's engine(s) and the blast shields are deployed.

Of course, it depends on the direction the launching vessel is travelling and the orientation of the launch facility.

 

[wbnc]

Spaceships: Launch Facilities and Gee Forces
Ordinary launch facilities don't give you that extra push, which may mean the launching ship may have to slow down to accommodate the launch, and would explain partially the additional time taken for the operation, as the smallcraft revs up it's engine(s) and the blast shields are deployed.

Of course, it depends on the direction the launching vessel is travelling and the orientation of the launch facility.

Reminds me of the launch tubes on the Battlestar Galactica. they fired the fighters out the side of the ship which allowed them to launch large numbers of fighters in short order but it also fired the fighter out of the way of the ship.

Trivia ( related to discussion)
The problem of a "cold shot" used to be a major hazzard for carriers. in short a malfunction of the catapult fired the fighter just barely hard enough for it to clear the flight deck, and hit the water just ahead of the ship.
Resulting in a very small fighter getting ran over by a very large carrier...Bambi, meet Godzilla....

 

[Condottiere]

Technically speaking, the ordinary launch facility would need a hot shot, the launch tube would throw you out before you hit the afterburners, so that might be considered a cold shot.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Alphabet Drives


Alphabet Fusion Power Plants

Base technical level is eleven


Alphabet Grav Drives

Base technical level seems to vary between eight and nine, the safe number would be nine


Alphabet Reaction Drives

Base technical level is seven


Alphabet Jump Drives

Nine seems too low, fifteen would be the safe number, but too high, and while twelve is a nice compromise, doesn't really explain how those drives can still transition four, five and six parsecs in small enough hulls; unless you subcategorize as to exactly under what technical process/level each drives was manufactured at, which caps actual performance

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Armaments

Tractor and pressor beams are just focussed gravitation, artificial gravitation field in the case for tractor beams, that makes targets fall towards it, and gravitational thrust for pressor beams, which should make them available at tech level nine.

 

[F33D]

Spaceships: Armaments

Tractor and pressor beams are just focussed gravitation, artificial gravitation field in the case for tractor beams, that makes targets fall towards it, and gravitational thrust for pressor beams, which should make them available at tech level nine.

Gravity is caused by a curvature of space. "pressor beams" would require creating a space curvature BEHIND the target. There is no "gravitational thrust" as you envision.

 

[Condottiere]

I'm thinking that like grav drives, pressor beams create that thrust directly from and away from the oriiginating device.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Alphabet Jump Drives

Manufacturer: Junkers Raumschiff- und Motorenwerke AG

Jumo
J00sE8.81 14-tonnes MCr 10.5
J00sE9.91 7-tonnes MCr 7.00
J00sE9.A1 7-tonnes MCr 6.65
J00sE9.B1 7-tonnes MCr 6.30
J00sE9.C1 7-tonnes MCr 5.95
J00sEA.A1 6.65-tonnes MCr 7.70
J00sEA.B1 6.65-tonnes MCr 7.315
J00sEA.C1 6.65-tonnes MCr 6.93
J00sEB.B1 6.30-tonnes MCr 8.75
J00sEB.C1 6.30-tonnes MCr 8.3125
J00sEC.C1 5.25-tonnes MCr 14.0

Notes:
1. All Jumo J00sE8 and J00sE9s are open sourced.
2. Junkers only manufactures J00sE9.C for the Solomani Navy and commercial entities to satisfy Confederation onboard lifeship regulations.
3. Junkers will accept individual orders for J00sEC.C.

 

[F33D]

I'm thinking that like grav drives, pressor beams create that thrust directly from and away from the oriiginating device.

Grav drives, to work, would have to create a curvature for the ship to "fall into". In front of the direction of motion. Grav drives don't create "thrust".

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Grav drives, to work, would have to create a curvature for the ship to "fall into". In front of the direction of motion. Grav drives don't create "thrust".

Depends on the grav drive.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Alphabet Jump Capable Fusion Power Plant

Manufacturer: Junkers Raumschiff- und Motorenwerke AG

Jumo

P00sE8.8 3.125-tonnes MCr 5.5
P00sE8.9 3.125-tonnes MCr 5.225
P00sE8.A 3.125-tonnes MCr 4.95
P00sE8.B 3.125-tonnes MCr 4.675
P00sE8.C 3.125-tonnes MCr 4.4
P00sE8.D 3.125-tonnes MCr 4.125
P00sE8.E 3.125-tonnes MCr 3.85
P00sEB.B 2.5-tonnes MCr 5.5
P00sEB.C 2.5-tonnes MCr 5.225
P00sEB.D 2.5-tonnes MCr 4.95
P00sEB.E 2.5-tonnes MCr 4.675

Notes
1. Jumo P00sE8.8 is open sourced.
2. A 0.1-tonne super charger which costs an additional MCr 0.5 has been added to enable the power plant to energize a jump drive to enable a clean transition.
3. Jumo power plants can be used to most existing manufacture of jump or manoeuvre drives, but are best calibrated to other Jumo drives, and usually6 can be used interchangeably.