Art Sneak Peak

[Colin]

The starship construction rules had to be cut due to a lack of space. They will be published at a later date, possibly as part of some Traveller design rules omnibus edition. Adavanced hull masking includes provision for radiators in the snes hat they take up hull area. Radiators as a means of disposing of waste heat are an optional rule. Basically, the stutterwarp itself acts as a sort of quantum heat sink (insert frantic waving of hands), diposing of most waste heat.

Colin Dunn
2320AD Writer and Line Editor

 

[knirirr]

Originally posted by Colin:
The BC-4? Maybe in a ships book, but not at this time.

No problem - this is all excellent stuff, and I can do without one old and slow freighter.

For the French dreadnoughts, how about naming them after Napoleonic victories, e.g. Austerlitz, Wagram and Marengo? This would allow the RSN to retaliate with such names as Trafalgar, Nile &c.

 

[Colin]

That's not a bad idea, but I wouldn't mind moving ship names forward. There's 300 years of history between now and 2320, which is rather more than between now and the Napoleonic era.

Colin Dunn
2320AD Writer and Line Editor

 

[knirirr]

That is a good idea.
The Napoleonic idea occurred to me because the French government may wish to bolster pro-Imperial feeling. The third empire hasn't been around for long and the second isn't anything they'd want to brag about. Also because I happen to be a re-enactor of that period, and therefore biased.
Perhaps it would be appropriate to use victorious military actions of the Kafer war where French units were in command as a source of names.
British ship names seem to keep recurring over centuries (Dreadnought and Royal Sovereign spring to mind), though.

 

[Whipsnade]

Originally posted by ElHombre:
kind of like the US names its battleships after states. (and their battlecruisers after territories...)

One early US battleship was named Kearsarge. Tell me, which state is that?

The only USSF battleship named in GDW's 2300AD materials is called Columbia. Is that a state too?

Also, which territories were named Lexington and Saratoga? Those WW2 CVs were originally laid down as battlecruisers and, while their role changed, their names didn't.

Let's not bring up the hoary old chestnut about there being a 'system' for naming US warships. There isn't one, other than the usual system that selects names in order to keep Congress happy and curry other political favors.

By all means propose and devise naming schemes for the various 2320 powers, just don't pin it all on some fairy tale about purported USN naming conventions.


Have fun,
Bill

 

[Colin]

Columbia is a district... Point taken. However, having a naming convention as a guideline can be useful, especially in the support of fan-made material. And the conventions do change over time, as well.

Colin Dunn
2320AD Writer and Line Editor

 

[Whipsnade]

Originally posted by Colin:
Columbia is a district... Point taken. However, having a naming convention as a guideline can be useful, especially in the support of fan-made material. And the conventions do change over time, as well.

Colin,

It is important, so that means you should do it right.

Your best solution is to follow acual historical examples and not fairy tales people splutter about the USN 'system'.

- Important and heroic names get used often, look at just how many navies sported a ship named after Prince Eugen of the Thirty Years' War and how many times Royal Sovereign got used.

- Use naming conventions within classes and not types. Look at the Flower-corvettes of RN WW2 fame or the follow on River-class frigates. All were named for either flowers or rivers but that didn't that EVERY RN corvette and frigate was named for a flower or river. There were other classes of those two types with other naming conventions. Look at RN destroyers during WW2; Tribal-class, S-class, etc.

- Throw in some outliers. The Los Angles-class SSNs have a member vessel named Rickover, the Ohio-class SSBNs contain a vessel named Henry Jackson, there was a one-off member of the permit class named L. Mendel Rivers, and so forth. Mix things up a little so that ex-navy PCs have some knowledge to throw around; i.e. Yeah, you might think that the Snead Hearn is some dinky destroyer escort 'cause of the name, but she's really a cruiser.

Things like this make it some more real than some boring prattle about ALL battleships being named for mountain ranges or ALL frigates being named for breeds of housecats.


Have fun,
Bill

 

[ElHombre]

well somebody wanted to make a point.

the point is that any naming convention just sets a series of guidlines and that's all. PC's can name the flagship of the fleet the MGEAHURT SNOZZBURGER for all anyone cares so long as people have fun.

 

[jcrocker]

If there is a kick-ass new American Battleship, though, odds are good that the name "George Washington" will make the naming committee's short list. Same with "Elizabeth I" for the Royal Navy.

And from a player point of view, we don't have to wonder who the cruiser "Obediah Marion Sanchez" was named after. If that could be included in the write-up, great, but place names and famous historical ones seem more convenient.

 

[Maksim-Smelchak]

Beautiful artwork!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

 

[FlightCommanderSolitude]

Back to the artwork ...

These are really great renders, kudos to the artist! I never got into 2300 when it came out, but I might just pick up 2320 when it comes out because of artwork like this and ted Lindsey's cover!

They almost look painterly. Usually, renders look like just that - the lighting is all off, the shapes lack detail, the textures and decals are rough. But these vessels, like Mr Lindsey's, are excellent. Well done!

 

[Libris]

Originally posted by Jon Crocker:
If there is a kick-ass new American Battleship, though, odds are good that the name "George Washington" will make the naming committee's short list. Same with "Elizabeth I" for the Royal Navy.

I don't recall many British war ships being named after queens only liners. Warships as far as I can determine tend to be named after kings. I on the otherhand tend to like the 'inspiring' name system; Indomitable, Invincible, Inflexible, Dreadnought, Warspite, Repulse, Revenge, Victorious, Ark Royal, Royal Oak, Excalibur. and so forth.

 

[kafka47]

What about some names that would suggest the new humility that America faces in the world of 2320AD...perhaps, the USS Booker T. Washington, USS Malcolm X, the Thomas Paine, Alan Bloom or perhaps the Cronkite. America is no longer the superpower that it once was and the Twilight war would have brought about a revisiting of values perhaps even of history. Therefore, I would strongly suggest that some of the ship names follow this tradition as a way of marking off one period from another.

 

[BMonnery]

The three "Battleships" (actually Battlecruisers, as they've Bismarck, not Richelieu sized) were Columbia, Intrepid and Hornet. They probably have old US spacecraft names.

One of the things that annoyed me is the lack of recycling of historic US spacecraft names. USS Odyssey and USS Eagle for example....

I wonder what the point of the "Dreadnought" is. Within 2300 such a ship would have no role. Cruisers and Destroyers fill the Line of Battle ship role.

 

[BMonnery]

Oh yes, many RN warships were named after Queens.

Starting with:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Queen_Elizabeth_%281913%29

 

[Colin]

The dreadnought is the only ship really capable of carrying the heavy energy weapons. It is also a "showboat" vessel, showing off the wealth and technical prowess of the nation that built it. Only France so far has built any dreadnoughts, and that's been since the end of the Kafer War.

 

[Jame]

Originally posted by Colin:
Those aren't missile cells. Those are the extendable spin habitats, in their closed position. The missiles are housed in the big engineering section aft of the spin habs.

Yes, the missile cells, the short white things in the after section: the set of three at the top and the set of three on the bottom. Not the two big things at forward, the ones that are the same gray as the rest of the hull.

I'm getting 2300AD soon, so I'm going to get into that before I try out 2320.

 

[Colin]

Hmm. My apologies. Those could well be missile cells, I guess. They look more like tankage in most views, but I'm honestly not sure.

 

[ElHombre]

Originally posted by BMonnery:
The three "Battleships" (actually Battlecruisers, as they've Bismarck, not Richelieu sized) were Columbia, Intrepid and Hornet. They probably have old US spacecraft names.

One of the things that annoyed me is the lack of recycling of historic US spacecraft names. USS Odyssey and USS Eagle for example...

maybe even USS Gumdrop and USS Spider.

that is a good idea, though. the US navy can keep its own naming conventions while the ASF starts its own just to assert its independence of the other services.

 

[Jame]

Originally posted by Colin:
Hmm. My apologies. Those could well be missile cells, I guess. They look more like tankage in most views, but I'm honestly not sure.

Well, you did get me more interested in this stuff, and you answered my question about the habitat.