The Borderland: Errata

[Geir]

Might as well start:
p. 35 map of the Acrid system has the wrong UWP for Acrid (listed as X800000-0, but should be AAC1388-D).

Mostly looking at pictures and not reading, but the trend towards ignoring UWP (like too many people at Acrid, a TL12 culture imbedded in TL6 Umemii, and, again too many people on Cordan) persists. As I said, haven't read many words, but I suspect it's an update and expansion of the 10-year-old Borderland profiles. But of course I bought this hardcover anyway, because... completeness, hording, one of those things.)

Edit: Okay, that was a little harsh, also includes the Voidsedge cluster, which if it's not new, I never saw before - so that's half of a big book. And every world gets a map, so that's nice.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Because it is annoying to have ships in the books that don't follow the build rules or actually have all the needed elements, I have decided to make a run through the ships in this book and post what the build looks like and where they violate the rules with the hope that they can be corrected.

First up, the Agrivoyager Stellar Meadow.

The ship uses a core/40 computer but only needs 10 bandwidth. Seems like a waste. The price is close (only MCr10.2 over the real cost), but it can't even house the basic crew a commercial ship requires under the rules, much less the larger custom complement that is listed in the book. The custom complement is 119 but the ship can only house 80. If some of the cabins were double occupancy, that would solve the issue. Or take some of the cargo to use for staterooms. That might be the cleanest option.

The standard commercial crew is only 92, so I'm not sure why there are extra people in some areas and fewer than are required in others. It seems like running with the default commercial crew rules would make more sense than randomly changing things.

Here is the crew breakdown for the custom crew the book calls for and the basic commercial setup the rules call for.



As you can see, the ship as designed is short an engineer, has 13 extra mechanics, 7 extra gunners, 6 extra administrators, and an extra leader.

Here is the ship as designed.



And here it is with some mods by me. I added the required staterooms and reduced the cargo to account for them. I boosted the common area to match what was needed. I did downgrade the computer to a Comp/10 and thus saved ~MCr45.



And here is the ship with a by the book crew complement. I reduced the cargo to balance the required staterooms and common area. As per the book, the captain is the senior officer from the officer pool, thus not explicitly enumerated but present. I also dropped the power plant to match the ship's needs and moved the extra tonnage to cargo. No way a merchant would squander power like that, in my opinion.

 

[Terry Mixon]

The Standard Agripod. All tonnage is used, but it can't house the custom crew or even the full commercial crew. Also, it has no programs that require bandwidth but goes with a Comp/15 for MCr2 when a Comp/5 is just as good and far cheaper. The cost should be BCr 3.2296 but it lists as BCr 3.4396. Something is off there.

Here is the crew breakdown. The custom crew is one engineer short and has no medic. It also has no administrators, though it has 8 workers.


Here it is as designed.



Here is a revised version that adjusts the common area and adds staterooms to fit the custom crew. Also, the computer is dropped to a Comp/5. I reduced the biosphere by 55 tons to make it all fit.



And here it is with the by the book commercial crew. The biosphere was reduced to fit the mandated staterooms. You have maneuver/0, so you get a pilot. That could be backed out of course. I dropped the power to match what was needed as a merchant isn't going to waste money and space. The recovered space went mostly to the biosphere with .6 tons going to cargo.

 

[Terry Mixon]

The Resort Agripod. The custom crew is short an engineer, and a mechanic, as well as 2 medics and 4 admins. It has the extra 8 workers, though. There are enough cabins for the custom crew and a pile of passengers. There are 185.63 tons of space unallocated, so that should be addressed. The cost is off as well. The book calls of BCr 3.3667 and the actual cost is BCr 3.273885.

Here is the crew comparison.



Here is the as designed writeup.



And here is a revised version. It now can precisely house the custom crew. It ended up with a little extra cargo space, so now food and such can be on hand. I once again cut the computer to a Comp/5 as there is no software requiring more.



And here it is with the by the book crew plus the Workers. I dropped the power to what the standard agripod uses so that it can be used in either configuration.

 

[Terry Mixon]

The T12-Class Fighter. As designed, it is over tonnage by .96 tons. It also uses a Comp/15 where it only needs a Comp/5 and could save Mcr2. It is over power budget by 5 (and only using Fusion 8 for power generation) so I might be able to recover the tonnage. The cost is MCR2.808 over what it should be, too.

Here it is as designed.



And here it is with minor tweaks to make it legal. Dropping the hull to standard rather than streamlined balanced the tonnage (thanks @Arkathan!), so that must have been the original choice. I left the aerofins though that likely isn't much help on a fighter that is no longer designed for atmospheric use.



No need for a version with by the book crew as this one has it.

 

[Terry Mixon]

The USI-175-Class System Defense Boat. It's got a few issues. First, it can't house the stated crew, much less the occasional additional crew member. Second, it isn't using 2.01 tons of capacity. Third, it is mixing and matching hardpoints and fixed mounts. Sadly for the original designer, a fixed mount still takes up a hardpoint, so the original design is using too many hardpoints as it only has 1. It uses a Comp/15 when a cheaper Comp/5 would do, too. The cost is MCr1.6 short of what it should be, too.


Here is my attempt at rectifying the errors in this design. I removed the offending fixed point to drop the hardpoint usage to 1 for the small bay weapon. Then I added a third stateroom and one ton of common area. I had to cut the cargo area to .62 tons and that means no extra missiles there. No space (or need) for the occasional second gunner either. I also dropped the computer to a Comp/5.



And here it is with the by the book crew. I could have added all three mandated sensops, but that made it impossible to house everyone so I only added two. I dropped the power to what was needed and switched to double occupancy staterooms to make it all work. There is now some extra cargo space.

 

[Terry Mixon]

The Impulse-Class Gunboat. It is under priced by MCr13.9975. It also has a Comp/20 and no software. It's a fighting ship, so it should at least have Fire Control/1. Even then, it should use less computer.

It can't house the custom crew of 24, much less the military mandated 32.



Here is my attempt at rectifying these issues. I added Fire Control/1 and dropped the computer to Comp/5. I added 8 tons of barracks to house the marines and dropped the stateroom count to 16. The common area tonnage dropped to 18 tons. I took the extra 10 tons that left and added it to cargo.




And here it is with a by the book crew. I used my own method of military (and large merchant ship) housing to have officers, pilots, and astrogators in single cabins and the enlisted in double cabins. It seems double staterooms never get used, so this makes sense to me. If you prefer something different, that will require some jiggering.

 

[Terry Mixon]

The Prowler-Class Gunship Carrier. The first thing that leaps out at me is that the custom crew is wildly off base from what this military ship requires. Here is the custom crew vs the military-mandated crew. As you can see, it has 9 extra engineers, 7 too few mechanics, 1 too many medics, 3 too few gunners, 11 too few sensops, and 1 too few administrators.

Also, without a listing of parasite craft, I can't judge how many additional pilots and engineers are required. Luckily it has more staterooms than it needs. That could come down if I knew what the count was on extra pilots.



Here is the as designed writeup. It is MCr10 overpriced. It lists as having 40 emergency low berths, but based on the tonnage, that is 10 emergency low berths that can house 40 people. The computer is underpowered for the software and could use an upgrade, too.



Here is my modest revision with the computer bumped up to a Core/40.



And here is a version with a by the book crew. I put the enlisted in double occupancy staterooms and dropped the common area to fit. I left ten extra staterooms for the undefined small craft pilots.

 

[Terry Mixon]

The Geiser System Craft. It's over tonnage by 2.25 tons. It also can't house the custom crew complement. It's overpriced by KCr300 as well. In addition, it can't use the fire control and evade software at the same time. It needs a computer upgrade from Comp/10 to Comp/15. Finally, it can have a free fuel scoop, but does not.



Here is my go at rectifying things. I added 4 tons of barracks for the marines and dropped the common area to 6 tons. The cargo area had to go down to 1.25 tons to balance. I upped the computer to a Comp/15 and now it can jink and fire at the same time. I added the free fuel scoop as well.



It can't house a by the book crew no matter how I try, so it will just have to be custom.

 

[Terry Mixon]

And that is the last of the ships reviewed and checked by Junior Assistant Naval Architect Mixon. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

 

[MasterGwydion]

How did this book get published with so many errors in ship design? Was there no quality control process? Or is Terry wrong?

 

[Terry Mixon]

How did this book get published with so many errors in ship design? Was there no quality control process? Or is Terry wrong?

I'm sure I'm wrong about some things. Just not all the things. It saddens me that not a single design was error free. And what really bugs me is the wild abandon they use with crewing. None of these ships uses the crew rules as written. None. Why even have the rules if you're going to ignore them in every single case and just make up what you think the crew should be on the fly? Argh!

Here are the As Designed and Revised spreadsheets for each ship. Feel free to double check me.

 

[MasterGwydion]

I'm sure I'm wrong about some things. Just not all the things. It saddens me that not a single design was error free. And what really bugs me is the wild abandon they use with crewing. None of these ships uses the crew rules as written. None. Why even have the rules if you're going to ignore them in every single case and just make up what you think the crew should be on the fly? Argh!

Here are the As Designed and Revised spreadsheets for each ship. Feel free to double check me.

I was more, hoping that you were wrong. I have seen too many of your designs to actually think you could be this wrong. I am just disappointed in Mongoose's quality control... again...

 

[Condottiere]

It might be a cunning plan to ensure no plagiarism takes place.

 

[Geir]

The T12-Class Fighter. As designed, it is over tonnage by .96 tons. It also uses a Comp/15 where it only needs a Comp/5 and could save Mcr2. It is over power budget by 5 (and only using Fusion 8 for power generation) so I might be able to recover the tonnage. The cost is MCR2.808 over what it should be, too.

Here it is as designed.

View attachment 3862

And here it is with minor tweaks to make it legal. Cutting 5 off the power and bumping it to Fusion 12 recovered enough tonnage to make it all fit. I dropped the computer to a Comp/5 to save funds, and even though it has an error, the numbers match up when I add them all together. There must be a tiny fraction over, but I can live with that. It is streamlined and can get a free fuel scoop, so I added one.

View attachment 3866

Not arguing with the math, but the description talks about fitting the TL8 powerplant into the hull as one of the design issues, so trying to keep it at TL11 (the TL for Tanith - and coincidently the TL for a lot of my ships from The Beyond which need a HG'22 update) should be the desire - you could instead through advantages into the TL8 plant to make it closer to the needed 14.6 - assuming you keep the M-6 - maybe anything past M-5 makes the lights dim or the sensors glitch?). Triple size reduction lowers it to 1.4 tons for 20 power or 1.05 tons for 15 power - or 1.022 tons for the 14.6 you actually need (assuming you don't have an energy inefficient prototype M6 drive) and a smaller power plant also reduces fuel requirements.

Since TL12 doesn't allow M-6, unless it's a prototype (add MCr5.75 and take a disadvantage - probably the 100D limit, or else the power requirement increases to 9.36 and you need another 2.16 power points or 16.76 total), so that's something else to mess with. I agree it needs tweaks, but the spirit of the thing should be to put it together with TL11 components. That might mean dropping the acceleration by one, which also helps with power. (and the thing ought to say "TL11" at the top to indicate that it's a copy made at a lower TL shipyard. )

 

[Condottiere]

Why can't you manufacture a fault free manoeuvre factor/six drive at technological level twelve?

 

[Arkathan]

Why can't you manufacture a fault free manoeuvre factor/six drive at technological level twelve?

You can, but it sounds like the original is TL 11.
I think Geir typo'd the start of the second paragraph.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Not arguing with the math, but the description talks about fitting the TL8 powerplant into the hull as one of the design issues, so trying to keep it at TL11 (the TL for Tanith - and coincidently the TL for a lot of my ships from The Beyond which need a HG'22 update) should be the desire - you could instead through advantages into the TL8 plant to make it closer to the needed 14.6 - assuming you keep the M-6 - maybe anything past M-5 makes the lights dim or the sensors glitch?). Triple size reduction lowers it to 1.4 tons for 20 power or 1.05 tons for 15 power - or 1.022 tons for the 14.6 you actually need (assuming you don't have an energy inefficient prototype M6 drive) and a smaller power plant also reduces fuel requirements.

Since TL12 doesn't allow M-6, unless it's a prototype (add MCr5.75 and take a disadvantage - probably the 100D limit, or else the power requirement increases to 9.36 and you need another 2.16 power points or 16.76 total), so that's something else to mess with. I agree it needs tweaks, but the spirit of the thing should be to put it together with TL11 components. That might mean dropping the acceleration by one, which also helps with power. (and the thing ought to say "TL11" at the top to indicate that it's a copy made at a lower TL shipyard. )

I'll admit that I didn't read the color text. I'll look into it in a few hours.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Not arguing with the math, but the description talks about fitting the TL8 powerplant into the hull as one of the design issues, so trying to keep it at TL11 (the TL for Tanith - and coincidently the TL for a lot of my ships from The Beyond which need a HG'22 update) should be the desire - you could instead through advantages into the TL8 plant to make it closer to the needed 14.6 - assuming you keep the M-6 - maybe anything past M-5 makes the lights dim or the sensors glitch?). Triple size reduction lowers it to 1.4 tons for 20 power or 1.05 tons for 15 power - or 1.022 tons for the 14.6 you actually need (assuming you don't have an energy inefficient prototype M6 drive) and a smaller power plant also reduces fuel requirements.

Since TL12 doesn't allow M-6, unless it's a prototype (add MCr5.75 and take a disadvantage - probably the 100D limit, or else the power requirement increases to 9.36 and you need another 2.16 power points or 16.76 total), so that's something else to mess with. I agree it needs tweaks, but the spirit of the thing should be to put it together with TL11 components. That might mean dropping the acceleration by one, which also helps with power. (and the thing ought to say "TL11" at the top to indicate that it's a copy made at a lower TL shipyard. )

Looking at the description, it is TL12, except for the powerplant. The easiest way to recover the tonnage to make everything fit is to drop 1 point of armor. That might not be what they were looking for, but it'll be my solution. Thanks for pointing my mistake out.

 

[Terry Mixon]

You can, but it sounds like the original is TL 11.
I think Geir typo'd the start of the second paragraph.

The book lists it as TL12.