Solomani Confederation (Military)

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Engineering and the Marathon Jump Drive

A. I've always liked trying to make the smallest starship.

B. With no minimum jump drive tonnage, I think it was twenty five tonnes.

C. Fifty tonne modular cutter would have been an easy conversion.

D. Under current rules, a one hundred twenty tonne monojumper is the cheapest, feasible design.

E. Though, obviously, you could just put the Venture drive module into a hundred tonne hull for the same performance, and two tonnes less gas consumption.

F. But, I think, that by 800, the Confederation Navy, pretty much came to the conclusion, that the minimum size for a starwarship would be two hundred tonnes, even if it's only for reconnaissance.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Engineering and the Marathon Jump Drive

G. It's not that sub bihectatonne starwarships are unknown within the Confederation.

H. The Confederation Navy was required to assume the roles and missions that were, pre Autonomy, handled by the Imperium Scout Service.

I. That meant a consolidation, and merging, of these roles and missions with the Navy's own.

J. A hundred tonne hull doesn't have the space to be versatile in the missions it's expected to carry out.

K. Also, at factor two acceleration, can't make a run for it.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Engineering and One-shot Jump Drives

A product of desperate shipyards, jump drives can be constructed to be used just once. With many corners cut in both design and manufacture, it is a brave Traveller who entrusts their voyage and life to these drives, but they provide very cheap access to the stars. Though they are coined ‘one-shot’ jump drives, the truly freckles can push their operation into additional jumps.

A one-shot jump drive is identical to those listed on page 14 of High Guard, with the following changes.

• Total tonnage consumed is reduced by 20% (the minimum of 10 tons still applies)

• Cost is reduced by 75%

Using a one-shot jump drive imposes DM-2 to Engineer (J-drive) checks. If the jump drive is used a second time, this increases to DM-4, and for a third time it increases to DM-8. No one will survive a fourth jump with these drives.


1. I was thinking about this.

2. Beyond a life(star)ship (or a quick getaway starship).

3. If you use the Venture jump drive module as the basis. you return to default two hundred parsec tonnes.

4. If you use energy inefficiency, overhead drops to four tonnes, four tonnes core would be two hundred parsec tonnes, six tonnes three hundred parsec tonnes.

5. If you use size reduction factor three, overhead drops to three and a half tonnes, three and a half tonnes core would be two hundred parsec tonnes, six and a half tonnes 371.4285714285714 parsec tonnes.

6. Twenty percent size reduction would be two and four fifth tonnes overhead, balance seven and one fifth tonnes core, 514.2857142857143 parsec tonnes.

7. Reduced size is the exception to minimum tonnage for jump drives, so you could leave them at seven tonnes, unless it doesn't, in this case.

8. If so, two and four fifth tonnes overhead, four and one fifth tonnes core, three hundred parsec tonnes.

9. Cost would be three eighths megastarbux per tonne.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Engineering and One-shot Jump Drives

A. Commercially, it's for those extraordinary occasions that require an interstellar response.

B. A technological level eleven Venture jump drive module, could, with drop tanks, do three biparsec jumps on a hundred tonne hull.

C. That would be ten tonnes, at 2.8125 megastarbux.

D. A life(star)ship for the more equipped starliners.

E. In theory, three times monoparsec jumps should be sufficient in the vast majority of cases, when a starship misjumps into an empty hex.

F. Or an uncolonized system.

 

[Condottiere]

Tonnage TL - Range - Model

3'150 - 14 - 5 - Beijing b/ei
3'150 - 14 - 4 - Prometheus a/rs
3'150 - 12 - 3 - Victory b/ei
0'315 - 14 - 5 - Dingir b/ei
0'315 - 12 - 3 - Texas b/ei
0'035 - 15 - 6 - Quicksilver b/ei
0'035 - 14 - 5 - Courier b/ei
0'035 - 13 - 4 - Marathon b/ei
0'035 - 12 - 3 - Striker b/ei
0'035 - 11 - 2 - Dassault b/ei
0'010 - 11 - 2 - Scout b/ei
0'010 - 09 - 1 - Venture b/is

Tonnage TL - Range - Model

3'150 - 14 - 5 - Beijing b/ei
3'150 - 14 - 4 - Prometheus a/rs
3'150 - 12 - 3 - Victory b/ei
0'315 - 14 - 5 - Dingir b/ei
0'315 - 12 - 3 - Texas b/ei
0'035 - 15 - 6 - Quicksilver b/ei
0'035 - 14 - 5 - Courier b/ei
0'035 - 13 - 4 - Marathon b/ei
0'035 - 12 - 3 - Striker b/ei
0'035 - 11 - 2 - Dassault b/ei
0'010 - 11 - 2 - Scout b/ei
0'010 - 11 - 2 - Salvation b/is o/s
0'010 - 09 - 1 - Venture b/is

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Engineering and One-shot Jump Drives

G. The second scenario would be when you need to bug out in a hurry.

H. And leave the system.

I. Onboard a Personnel Relocation Emergency StarShip.

J. Sometimes referred to as Button.

K. PRESS Button, in case of coup.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Engineering and One-shot Jump Drives

L. In theory, a normal Scoutship could serve just as well.

M. Though, if you jump from and near the planet, you're likely to wreck the jump drive.

N. And, it should be in pristine condition, when you're ready to leave.

O. You could have a larger starship, and in the hangar, another one with a normal, or likely stealthed, jump drive, to go dark.

P. Presumably, you'd want to keep PRESS Button classified, to surprise the revolting peasants.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Engineering and One-shot Jump Drives

Q. So, why are we here in the Confederation military thread?

R. Well, the Confederation Navy has special units, that they position about one parsec from a planet they plan a major attack, or even a frontal assault.

S. As they would like it to be a surprise, with minimal reaction time for the defenders, they want to jump in as close as possible to the planet,

T. If not hit the ceiling, and precipitate.

U. They use Kamikaze jump drive modules.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Engineering and One-shot Jump Drives

V. Going by the dice modifier degenerative pattern, the the fourth attempt would be at minus sixteen.

W. Can the one shot jump drives be repaired?

X. Is it worth the cost?

Y. I'd say they could be repaired.

Z. But, it's not worth the likely cost versus, at best, a reset to minus two engineering check.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Engineering and One-shot Jump Drives

1. Why would a Navy have one shot jump drives?

2. Because they expect to not be able to recover them.

3. At least, most of them.

4. At the same time, Navy personnel aren't really suicidal.

5. Or, not that much above the norm.

6. The idea would be to jump en masse as close as possible to the target.

7. In the course of events, the jump drive is likely to be (heavily) damaged.

8. If it's a large attack, or raid, remaining non jump units would congregate around functioning jump drive starships.

9. Then depart.

 

[Condottiere]

Starwarships: Raptor Class Utility Vehicle

1. The problem with the Raptor is that it's too small for Traveller jump capability.

2. Of course, we could inflate them up to a hundred tonnes.

3. My take on scoutships, is that the Confederation Navy is going with relatively large ones, around two hundred tonnes.

4. Doesn't mean that they don't appreciate that smaller ones might be suitable for certain roles and missions.

5. I'm going to say that these tend to be disassembled, until that role is required.

6. This is due to the fact that two hundred tonne scoutships are considered capable of independent operations.

7. Whereas Raptors tend to be assigned to larger craft, as part of their complement.

8. The end (reassmbled) result is not going to resemble the above illustration.

9. But the unassembled vehicle probably would, and function as a smallcraft.

 

[Condottiere]

Starwarships: Raptor Class Utility Vehicle

A. We could use the breakaway hull feature.

B. The problem with that, is, I'm not inclined to pay an extra forty kilostarbux per tonne.

C. Nor write off a fiftieth of the volume.

D. At least, not for the equivalent of a Huey.

E. Or generously, Blackhawk.

F. Maybe, Osprey?

 

[Condottiere]

Starwarships: Raptor Class Utility Vehicle

G. The problem with modules, is that it requires existing tonnage.

H. Also, no engineering nor control centres.

I. Welding on hull sections smacks of desperation.

J. That leaves docking clamps.

K. And pods.

 

[Condottiere]

Starwarships: Raptor Class Utility Vehicle

L. Classically, optimum starship performance at around hundred tonnes was acceleration factor three, and jump factor three.

M. Currently, you can equip any hull with a one and a half tonne single cockpit, instead of a bridge.

N. At least with a cockpit, you know you have twenty four hours of oxygen.

O. With a bridge, it's probably about as much as a canary gets down a coalmine.

P. With a dual cockpit, that would be forty eight manhours of oxygen.

 

[Condottiere]

Starwarships: Raptor Class Utility Vehicle

Q. Now, adding a dose of Traveller reality.

R. The Confederation Navy doesn't need a quadroparsec smallcraft.

S. Despite the fact that with ten percent jump drive and forty percent fuel tank, you could feasibly squeeze that in a hundred tonne hull.

T. That particular niche is well covered by the Marathon class courier.

U. Which leaves one to three parsec range.

 

[Condottiere]

Starwarships: Raptor Class Utility Vehicle

V. Do we need a utility craft with triparsec range?

W. Again, easily covered by the Marathon class courier.

X. Also, apparently, the default range of the Confederation Navy starwarships.

Y. So, likely, light patrol units could be tasked with any mission in that range.

Z. If not the heavier ones.

 

[Condottiere]

Starwarships: Raptor Class Utility Vehicle

1. The Raptor is a convenience, not really a necessity.

2. The Marathons are much more practical, and have more capability.

3. They certainly surpass the legacy Suleimans from the Imperium.

4. Probably, the only starwarships that the Imperium didn't feel the need to pull out after the Solomani Sphere became autonomous.

5. But did, anyway.

6. Under that assumption, that the Imperium took everything with them that wasn't bolted down, except the ecks boat network, in order to maintain regular surveillance on the nascent wayward province.

7. The Confederation navy would need to find a substitute for the Suleimans, as both reconnaissance and communications boat.

8. And since we start off at technological level twelve.

9. The technological level thirteen qudroparsec Marathons aren't going to come into the picture, for a whiile.

 

[Condottiere]

Starwarships: Raptor Class Utility Vehicle

A. You have to replace the Suleimans.

B. You start off with their minimum preperformance.

C. At about their same cost.

D. If not lower.

E. Or you surpass them.

F. And ...

 

[Condottiere]

Starwarships: Raptor Class Utility Vehicle

G. That would be jump factor two, and acceleration factor two.

H. Armour factor four.

I. Twenty seven tonnes allocated between accommodations and cargo.

J. Dual one tonne turret.

K. And a four tonne dock for an air/raft.

 

[Condottiere]

Starwarships: Raptor Class Utility Vehicle

L. The thirty five tonne primary hull would give you two firmpoints.

M. If you armour it, you need to double volume allocation.

N. A one tonne manoeuvre drive, at technological level ten, would give you 2.857142857142857 gees of acceleration.

O. With a one and a half tonne cockpit, with turret, without armour, you have thirty one and a half tonnes left over for power plant, accommodations, and cargo.

P. And, presumably, unless the mission called for it, you don't need a complementary air/raft.