CT Only: Book 2 Starships & Book 5 HG2 Construction Times

[snrdg082102]

Evening all,

Would the build/construction time listed in the Drive Potential table on page 22 of Book 2 be appropriate to use in Book 5 HG2 for hulls less than or equal to 5,000 tons?

How do I figure out the build/construction times for hulls over 5,000 tons using Book 5 HG2?

MT: Referee's Manual pushed the 36 month build/construction to from a hull tonnage from 5,000 to 60,000 tons.

Would that be a better hull tonnage for the 36 month build time?

I did check TNE and T4 FF&S without finding any mention of construction times. The reference is probably there and just hiding from me until I'm looking for something else.

GT: Starships bases construction time on the hulls surface area.

I had the same result in T20 as I did for TNE and T4.

Finally, Mongoose Traveller bases construction on the cost of the hull. 1 MCr = 1 day of construction time.

Any help will be appreciated.

 

[atpollard]

As a practical matter, build time is variable.

In the real world, the typical unit for construction is man-hours (or man-days, man-weeks, man-years).

So, just for the sake of discussion, let's set the production capacity of a worker at about 1000 credits per worker per week. Flipping that around, a ship requires 1 man-week of construction per 1000 credits of ship. A 10 MCr Free Trader requires 10,000 man weeks of construction labor.

So 1 man building the 10 MCr Free Trader in his back yard will need 10,000 weeks to finish the job. At the other extreme, an assembly line of 10,000 workers could have 1 ship per week rolling off the assembly line.

So how many men are you throwing at the job?
That will determine how long it really takes.

 

[snrdg082102]

Howdy atpollard,

As a practical matter, build time is variable.

In the real world, the typical unit for construction is man-hours (or man-days, man-weeks, man-years).

So, just for the sake of discussion, let's set the production capacity of a worker at about 1000 credits per worker per week. Flipping that around, a ship requires 1 man-week of construction per 1000 credits of ship. A 10 MCr Free Trader requires 10,000 man weeks of construction labor.

So 1 man building the 10 MCr Free Trader in his back yard will need 10,000 weeks to finish the job. At the other extreme, an assembly line of 10,000 workers could have 1 ship per week rolling off the assembly line.

So how many men are you throwing at the job?
That will determine how long it really takes.

One of the projects I've got going is mapping out locations mentioned in Guurrdon's Tale from CT AM 3. I opted for the Corsair described on page 13 of CT AM 3 and then built a spreadsheet for Book 2's design sequence.

The only item I didn't match, even after checking the Consolidated CT Errata, was the price. Which is close in my opinion. Per Book 2 page 22 the first 400-ton Corsair took 16 months to build and after the orders poured in the construction time dropped to 14 months.

Next I modified the Book 2 spreadsheet using Book 5 HG2 rules for everything but the JD, MD, and PP. Then I used HGS to build the hull a third time.

Book 2 had the build times, Book 5 HG2 mentions construction time without any solid details, and HGS has the build time as 82 weeks singly and 65 weeks in quantity.

Can you tell what method was used to calculate the construction time in HGS?

Thanks for the reply atpollard.

 

[Shonner]

You are all over the place. Which game are you playing?

 

[shield]

Construction times and possible insreases in construction speed are detailed in Adv 5 - Trillion Credit Squadron. It covers all ship tonnages from less thatn 50tn to 1,000,000 tns

 

[snrdg082102]

Hello Shonner and Shield,

You are all over the place. Which game are you playing?

Sorry about being confusing Shonner but I was, before readings Shield's post about CT Adventure 5, searching for the method to determine construction time under the design sequence in CT Book 5 HG2. One of the projects I'm working on is mapping the details from the adventure Gvurrdon's Adventure/Story in CT AM 3.

My choice of ship was the 400-ton Corsair described on Ct AM 3 Vargr page 13. The first step was to run the hull through CT Book 2 Starships design sequence and with the exception of price I was able to recreate the hull as described.

Next, I moved to CT Book 5 HG2 and used the rule that CT Book 2 Straships jump drives, maneuver drives, and power plants can be used in HG2 subject to Book 2's rules. This is where I ran into the issue of calculating construction time and started my search of the construction rules, totally overlooking this part that Shield points out, in CT Adventure 5. I did remember the bits about back-up systems and a couple of other rules I incorporated into the my cobbled together spreadsheet.

Finally, I've used Andrea Vallance's High Guard Shipyard to replicate the CT AM 3 Vargr Corsair using HG2.

Construction times and possible increases in construction speed are detailed in Adv 5 - Trillion Credit Squadron. It covers all ship tonnages from less than 50tn to 1,000,000 tns

Thanks Shield for pointing me in the right direction.

 

[mike wightman]

Use the construction times from LBB2 and remember you as the referee can designate a hull as a custom hull for a given polity and thus use the standard hull construction time rather than the drive potential table construction time.

 

[snrdg082102]

Almost noon PDT Mike Wightman,

Thank you for the feedback and suggestion on which construction time frame to use.

Use the construction times from LBB2 and remember you as the referee can designate a hull as a custom hull for a given polity and thus use the standard hull construction time rather than the drive potential table construction time.

The CT AM 3 Vargr Corsair uses the construction time from the Drive Potential Table versus the Standard Hulls table on LBB 2 page 22 because the hull is streamlined.

Comparing the LBB2 Drive Potential Table Build Time and CT Adventure 5 Construction Table they appear to be the same, except that the table in CT Adventure 5 uses weeks instead of months.

When designing a hull using LBB 2 I'll stick with LBB 2 construction time, for the hybrid LBB 2 Drives/Power Plant mixed with HG2 or a straight HG2 ship I'll use the construction table in CT Adventure 5. Using CT Adventure 5 design rules I'll try to follow the construction times per Adventure 5.

Of course I do use Andrea Vallance's High Guard Shipyard to cross check my pure HG2 designs.

Again thank you for the help.