It's been a while since the last slightly-less-than-a-billion-credit-squadron game...
Was wondering if anyone wished to partake?
What kicked the memory loose was seeing a rather neat little article on Walt Smith's Traveller Page for a 'trade war' scenario.
I was initially looking at his 'Economics of Piracy' Article, which is nice reference for anyone currently engaged in Drinaxian-Type Buccaneering.
Anyway, would anyone be interested in putting up fleets for a quick trade war type malarky?
The rules, as reproduced from the above source and slightly modified (in bold where I've changed it, mostly just to fit MgT rules):
Trade War
A High Guard/Trillion Credit Squadron Scenario.
Somewhere on the Imperial frontier, two budding trade companies are having a dispute about access to a valuable resource planet. The local Imperial presence has turned a blind eye, and a series of miscalculations, called bluffs and provocative incidents have led two squadrons of armed merchants into a shooting war.
Overview:
This scenario is intended to match two squadrons of armed civilian merchants against each other, with trade rights as the goal. Each side will have to follow some very strict design limitations, to reflect the Imperial regulations on merchant vessels and some of the realities and customs of merchant economics.
Setup:
Each ship sets up either in line of battle, and the range is initially Long. All ships are fully fueled. No small craft have been launched. Any ship capable of jump may jump out during the battle as per standard High Guard rules (the engagement occurs outside the 100D limit). Ships reaching Distant range may break off after declaring their intent to do so and applying one turn of further acceleration (unless pursued by something faster), as long as they have more than 1 day's operational endurance.
Special Rules:
No special actions (e.g. Close Attack Run or Damn The Torpedoes) as the crew are not naval officers.
End of Game:
The game ends when one side has no ships remaining, or when both sides break off (Both players will be asked for instruction as to at what level of damage to their own ship(s) they will seek to avoid further action.
Squadron Parameters:
Budget of MCr2000. Tech Level 12. Squadron Jump-2+, all vessels 1G+. Squadron refueling required (At least 50% of the fleet's jump and p-plant fuel capacity must be refuellable by fuel scoops and fuel processors). No fleet may contain more than 20 ships (including small craft). Neither architect's fees nor 'standard design' discounts apply.
Frontier Merchants:
The Imperium has set both customary and legal limits on merchant ships, differentiating "armed merchants" from "starmercs". Further limits are set by customs, practices and economics of the trading business. For purposes of this scenario, all ships must follow these design guidelines.
Equipment Availability: All ships are considered built at a Tech Level 12, Starport A base. Lower tech hulls and compact drive systems are available for purchase at modified costs as described in High Guard.
Drive Limitations: No Power Plant or Maneuver Drive may be installed with a higher rating than the ship's Jump Drive. Small Craft may not install a Power Plant or Maneuver Drive with a rating greater than four.
Fuel: Each ship must carry at least enough fuel aboard to allow one month's fuel for the power plant and one jump at the maximum rating of the Jump Drive. No special fuel tanks (drop tanks, collapsible tanks, etc.) are allowed.
Computers: No computer may be installed with a higher rating than the ship's Jump Drive rating. Bis computers are not required. Small craft are limited to computer ratings of two or less.
Auxiliary and Backup Systems: Backup drives, sensor installations and computers are allowed, but each must be at least one factor lower than the primary system.
Weapons: Only beam lasers, pulse lasers, sandcasters (any ammo type), turret-mounted conventional missiles, and magnetic harpoons (see S&P 57) may be used. High Guard weapon upgrades may be used as normal
Defenses: The maximum armour permissible is a single layer of Crystaliron (Armour/4). Reflec hull may be used. Reinforced Hull and Reinforced Structure may be purchased as normal.
Other equipment: All other non-armour, non-weapon starship options of TL12 or less from High Guard and Merchant Prince are available.
Crew: 'Average' crew requirements (including officers) must be met. Each crew member must be allocated a full-sized stateroom. Small craft must have a dedicated crew on board their launching ship, including a single technician. No frozen watches are permitted. Additional crew may be carried to allow casualty replacement or for boarding actions, but each such crewman must be allocated a full sized stateroom.
Crew Skill: Crew are 777777 with Jack of All Trades/3. In addition, you may have a total of 4 crew in your fleet with a single skill at level 2.
Boarding actions: Crewmen with access to an armoury (1 per 50 crew) will gain the 'superior weaponry' benefit in boarding actions against those without. Crew nominated as 'ship's troops' with a dedicated armoury (1 per 10 crew) will gain the superior weaponry benefit in boarding actions against both.
Lifeboats: Every ship must carry small craft and/or escape pods with enough passenger capacity to allow full evacuation of the ship. If a small craft is a dedicated lifeboat (that is, any cargo space it has will not be counted for victory conditions), then it does not need any dedicated crew.
Cargo: Each ship and armed small craft must dedicate at least 25% of it's total hull to cargo. Dedicated lifeboats (above) are an exception to this rule.
Was wondering if anyone wished to partake?
What kicked the memory loose was seeing a rather neat little article on Walt Smith's Traveller Page for a 'trade war' scenario.
I was initially looking at his 'Economics of Piracy' Article, which is nice reference for anyone currently engaged in Drinaxian-Type Buccaneering.
Anyway, would anyone be interested in putting up fleets for a quick trade war type malarky?
The rules, as reproduced from the above source and slightly modified (in bold where I've changed it, mostly just to fit MgT rules):
Trade War
A High Guard/Trillion Credit Squadron Scenario.
Somewhere on the Imperial frontier, two budding trade companies are having a dispute about access to a valuable resource planet. The local Imperial presence has turned a blind eye, and a series of miscalculations, called bluffs and provocative incidents have led two squadrons of armed merchants into a shooting war.
Overview:
This scenario is intended to match two squadrons of armed civilian merchants against each other, with trade rights as the goal. Each side will have to follow some very strict design limitations, to reflect the Imperial regulations on merchant vessels and some of the realities and customs of merchant economics.
Setup:
Each ship sets up either in line of battle, and the range is initially Long. All ships are fully fueled. No small craft have been launched. Any ship capable of jump may jump out during the battle as per standard High Guard rules (the engagement occurs outside the 100D limit). Ships reaching Distant range may break off after declaring their intent to do so and applying one turn of further acceleration (unless pursued by something faster), as long as they have more than 1 day's operational endurance.
Special Rules:
No special actions (e.g. Close Attack Run or Damn The Torpedoes) as the crew are not naval officers.
End of Game:
The game ends when one side has no ships remaining, or when both sides break off (Both players will be asked for instruction as to at what level of damage to their own ship(s) they will seek to avoid further action.
Squadron Parameters:
Budget of MCr2000. Tech Level 12. Squadron Jump-2+, all vessels 1G+. Squadron refueling required (At least 50% of the fleet's jump and p-plant fuel capacity must be refuellable by fuel scoops and fuel processors). No fleet may contain more than 20 ships (including small craft). Neither architect's fees nor 'standard design' discounts apply.
Frontier Merchants:
The Imperium has set both customary and legal limits on merchant ships, differentiating "armed merchants" from "starmercs". Further limits are set by customs, practices and economics of the trading business. For purposes of this scenario, all ships must follow these design guidelines.
Equipment Availability: All ships are considered built at a Tech Level 12, Starport A base. Lower tech hulls and compact drive systems are available for purchase at modified costs as described in High Guard.
Drive Limitations: No Power Plant or Maneuver Drive may be installed with a higher rating than the ship's Jump Drive. Small Craft may not install a Power Plant or Maneuver Drive with a rating greater than four.
Fuel: Each ship must carry at least enough fuel aboard to allow one month's fuel for the power plant and one jump at the maximum rating of the Jump Drive. No special fuel tanks (drop tanks, collapsible tanks, etc.) are allowed.
Computers: No computer may be installed with a higher rating than the ship's Jump Drive rating. Bis computers are not required. Small craft are limited to computer ratings of two or less.
Auxiliary and Backup Systems: Backup drives, sensor installations and computers are allowed, but each must be at least one factor lower than the primary system.
Weapons: Only beam lasers, pulse lasers, sandcasters (any ammo type), turret-mounted conventional missiles, and magnetic harpoons (see S&P 57) may be used. High Guard weapon upgrades may be used as normal
Defenses: The maximum armour permissible is a single layer of Crystaliron (Armour/4). Reflec hull may be used. Reinforced Hull and Reinforced Structure may be purchased as normal.
Other equipment: All other non-armour, non-weapon starship options of TL12 or less from High Guard and Merchant Prince are available.
Crew: 'Average' crew requirements (including officers) must be met. Each crew member must be allocated a full-sized stateroom. Small craft must have a dedicated crew on board their launching ship, including a single technician. No frozen watches are permitted. Additional crew may be carried to allow casualty replacement or for boarding actions, but each such crewman must be allocated a full sized stateroom.
Crew Skill: Crew are 777777 with Jack of All Trades/3. In addition, you may have a total of 4 crew in your fleet with a single skill at level 2.
Boarding actions: Crewmen with access to an armoury (1 per 50 crew) will gain the 'superior weaponry' benefit in boarding actions against those without. Crew nominated as 'ship's troops' with a dedicated armoury (1 per 10 crew) will gain the superior weaponry benefit in boarding actions against both.
Lifeboats: Every ship must carry small craft and/or escape pods with enough passenger capacity to allow full evacuation of the ship. If a small craft is a dedicated lifeboat (that is, any cargo space it has will not be counted for victory conditions), then it does not need any dedicated crew.
Cargo: Each ship and armed small craft must dedicate at least 25% of it's total hull to cargo. Dedicated lifeboats (above) are an exception to this rule.
