Why wouldanyone want a Type-Y?

[Sir Brad]

Honestly it is a poor play thing for any one of station and is ill equipped to ferry a noble on official business as it is short legged and even when "Fully Armed" it is just in a token manner

having only one suite the owner can not appropriately host important guests on an interstellar journey, due to it's short jump legs it can not travel between the scattered "Rivera Worlds" that rarely adjoin one and other in most sub-sectors in a timely manner it lacks the hold space to conduct worthwhile lawful trade carrying anything that would not make it a prime target for Pirates. if you want to play at being an explorer the short jump legs mean the folks at the explorers club will have lost interest in your expedition before you can return.

As a Dispatch it's a bigger failure, again the Jump Legs are its first and biggest downfall, then low Acceleration and lack of potenchial armament reinforce it's lack of suitability for the role, lack of luxury appointments for a team of dignitaries and senior officials.


The Type Y strikes me more as the mobile home for a reclusive egoistical billionaire than a Yacht for the 1% or a personal dispatch for a "working" noble or entrepreneur.

 

[atpollard]

And if it is the ship that I think it is, wasn't it a little on the ugly side?
More Chevy than Cadillac.

 

[Sir Brad]

just about every one else has a Dispatch type craft in the 200t range and they are all well designed, but not the 3I (or whatever the major power is IYTU), go figure?

 

[GypsyComet]

The Type Y strikes me more as the mobile home for a reclusive egoistical billionaire than a Yacht for the 1% or a personal dispatch for a "working" noble or entrepreneur.

Remittance Men were often "gifted" a horse and paid to not come home. The Type Y is the horse...

 

[aramis]

Honestly it is a poor play thing for any one of station and is ill equipped to ferry a noble on official business as it is short legged and even when "Fully Armed" it is just in a token manner

Keep in mind: someone travelling aboard a ship in interstellar flight has covered their upkeep costs for the time aboard simply with mid passage.

It's not like modern air travel; it's far more akin to 1920's dirigible travel.

The short legs are not a big issue - if they have to actually GO somewhere rapidly, they hire a berth aboard a Type M. (I doubt there's enough traffic flow to justify J4 or J5 liners as commercial ships.)

If the Emperor wants them there faster, he provides military courier access (such as the J-6 network mentioned in TTA and in Survival Margin).

The Yacht is the "let's escape the fief for a couple weeks and go visit our buddy next door" and "Let's make our progress through our subordinate fiefs on the other worlds in system" ship.

Realistically, a longer legged, more capable yacht is frightfully more expensive. The 200 Tonner is a decent in-system cruiser with enough legs to travel around the Core sector just fine. Or the Spinward Main.

And, it's also possible to hire a tramp to meet you in deep space with a load of fuel for the second parsec... (I've used that as a patron encounter in merchant games a couple times.)

 

[Sir Brad]

but Remittance men could support themselves and their horses with their Stipend and odd jobs or could enlist in the Dragoons or Calvary, being tied to the ship cuts off enlistment as an option, Agents at Large need to be more mobile than what a Type Y lets them be.

If the Type Y is to be my Horse, I'd ask for a better one or a much larger Stipend.

 

[wbyrd]

I have it on good authority that a 200 ton fast yacht will be on the market within the next year. Also a friend in the business tells me that a 500 ton Yacht is also expected to be released.

Just in time for delivery before the next social season....you may want to talk to your purchasing agents early I understand the manufacturer is hoping business will be brisk for the new designs.

Unfortunately, a shift in "construction protocols" has caused a minor delay in the release date of several new designs....some minor retooling of the designs were called for by the implementation of new design sequences......

 

[Reban]

One really aught to own a Yacht if one aspires to be a member of the Yacht Club. :coffeesip:


The Type Y may be as much a social accessory as a practical vessel. Set aside the idea of the Yacht as transport for a moment and consider present day luxury yachts and look at the role of the Yacht Clubs in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Those yacht clubs and their associated meets and regattas played a part in the social scene and where the Royal Yacht went the accompanying yachts formed an extended royal court.

Of course to be admitted you had to have a yacht or be a guest aboard. So the Type Y maybe as much a calling card that says "Hey I'm important" as about getting from A to B.

 

[Sir Brad]

but that's about being seen and having your ride seen without Streemlining it's not like you can sit on the balcony of the Casino or club and say "That one is Mine!".

a Luxury conversion of the A2 can function as a local dispatch and in general a much nicer ride (once you get the Premier or Statesman package fitted out).

 

[McPerth]

but that's about being seen and having your ride seen without Streemlining it's not like you can sit on the balcony of the Casino or club and say "That one is Mine!".

a Luxury conversion of the A2 can function as a local dispatch and in general a much nicer ride (once you get the Premier or Statesman package fitted out).

I'd rather adapt a Safari ship than an A2 trader, as I understand it as more luxurious from the begining (and the cature hold and trophy lounge can give you space without having to use the cargo hold), but that does not void your point, and may well just be a matter of personal taste...

 

[Ran Targas]

Maybe it's a throwback model kept popular because it represents the aristocratic life style and has extreme intrinsic value; the accommodations are extremely opulent, the ship's basically assembled by hand by masters of their crafts, made of the finest possible materials, and designed for maximum comfort. Like a Rolls Royce or custom limousine or high end tour bus, it's not the performance but the style that keeps these ships a status symbol.

 

[CosmicGamer]

No scheduling issues or waiting with the commoners for the general transports. Designed as a luxury ship for taking high level corporate management and nobles to and from in system locals? May also be used between nearby worlds. There are many locals where the higher jump is unnecessary. Could also be a TL issue where TL9 or 10 is available but not TL11.

But you are right, I can not seam to justify the low maneuver capability. Maybe someone can dig into info on when the maneuver 2 drives were available?

 

[Brandon C]

Yeah, I like the GT version better. Drops the ATV (why is it there, really?) and upgrades to J-3 as the two biggest changes.

The Ct/MgT versions could easily be improved to J-2 by dropping the ATV and using the space for a Jump Drive B, Power Plant B, and the extra fuel (this will require more work in CT, as the book 2 formula for PP fuel fuel is flawed).

Probably is worth considering that the noble most likely using this is SOC 10. A Baron or Count will use something rather larger ...

 

[Scratches]

The Type-Y is a bait-and-switch. It's showcased in the brochure but nobody actually buys the base model except maybe some of the nouveau riche who don't know any better.

 

[kilemall]

It comes with a 6G getaway vehicle that masquerades as a small craft.

 

[Brandon C]

This thread has reminded me that the Type Y, as designed, is inappropriate to the noni-3I pocket empires campaigns I prefer to run in Traveller.

I have designed to armed and (lightly) armoured variants, one J2/2G and the other J3/2G for MgT. When I finish the CT versions, I'll post them.

 

[esampson]

Yeah, I like the GT version better. Drops the ATV (why is it there, really?) and upgrades to J-3 as the two biggest changes.

The Ct/MgT versions could easily be improved to J-2 by dropping the ATV and using the space for a Jump Drive B, Power Plant B, and the extra fuel (this will require more work in CT, as the book 2 formula for PP fuel fuel is flawed).

Probably is worth considering that the noble most likely using this is SOC 10. A Baron or Count will use something rather larger ...

The CT type Y is already capable of covering 2 parsecs. It simply has to do it in successive jumps. In fact, with drop tanks it is capable of covering 3 parsecs and it is conceivable for it to cover 4 if you use a collapsible tank in its cargo bay (just retask one or more of the 12 normal sized staterooms as storage) so really, unmodified, the type Y has excellent range. It may not get you there fast but when you're in a yacht the point isn't speed. It's style.

Maybe it's a throwback model kept popular because it represents the aristocratic life style and has extreme intrinsic value; the accommodations are extremely opulent, the ship's basically assembled by hand by masters of their crafts, made of the finest possible materials, and designed for maximum comfort. Like a Rolls Royce or custom limousine or high end tour bus, it's not the performance but the style that keeps these ships a status symbol.

Exactly. Sure, you can show up in your modified A2, if you want to be a boor. How many people do you see in the real world who use converted cargo vessels as yachts?

Showing up in your type K wouldn't be as bourgeois but a type K is basically a yacht, just one with a different name. It also lacks the double stateroom for the owner, has 2 fewer normal staterooms, has about 20% of the cargo space, and costs about 40% more than the type Y.

In many ways they type K may be seen as a 'nicer' ship (especially when you look at the price tag), but you also run the risk of being seen as nouveau riche. It may be the difference in showing up in an ultra flashy high end sports car rather than a more stately and sedate Rolls Royce or Bentley.

 

[SanDragon]

I think I'd rather have a nice Auburn, Cord, or Duesenberg.

"It's a duesy!"

 

[Patron Zero]

..... How many people do you see in the real world who use converted cargo vessels as yachts? .....

Well the late actor John Wayne purchased a retired US Navy mine-sweeper and had such renovated into a yacht.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_YMS-328

 

[kilemall]

One thing I had going on for one of my players with a yacht was the possibility of having royalty on board, relatives actually.

If one of the royals were on board (likely a low key diplomatic mission away from the usual royal yachts and warships), a Royal Marines weapons team would also come on board, arm up the turret if it wasn't so and bring on 1-3 missiles.

Very special missiles.

The nuclear kind.

With SS3 rules in play, these would be million credit missiles, each with a heavy warhead tip and full evasion and smart terminal guidance features.

And each one could lay waste to a corsair singlehandedly.

There would be a whole 'secret cargo' brought on board, warnings to the pirates/assassins not to close, then assuming they continued to threaten a whole loading sequence complete with arming codes and drama!, very dead corsairs and a very pissed off pirate clan making a special note in their Black Book of Death Marks.