HG ship design questions

[Xerxeskingofking]

well, several battleships underwent armour upgades in the interwar years, so it;s certainly possible to increase the armour protection. I don't think thiers any documented cases of composite armour being added to a design, however.

the japanese Kongo class had about 4,000 tons of extra armour added to it, and the Hood had some armour upgrades (though both were still under-armoured by WW2 standards)

 

[Condottiere]

I have suggested elsewhere that armour could be welded on.

I've always had this idea, which I know predates me reading Weber, and was inspired by one of the post Smith Lens novels (I think), that you armour one half (or bottom) of the ship completely shut, and on the otherside (or top) have the weapons, so that after firing, you flip the armoured side to the enemy.

 

[atpollard]

well, several battleships underwent armour upgades in the interwar years, so it;s certainly possible to increase the armour protection. I don't think thiers any documented cases of composite armour being added to a design, however.

the japanese Kongo class had about 4,000 tons of extra armour added to it, and the Hood had some armour upgrades (though both were still under-armoured by WW2 standards)

This makes me wonder about making retrofitting armor limited to a maximum Armor Factor of TL/2. (compared to new construction where Armor Factor is limited to TL).

For the issue of High Tech Armor installed over a Low Tech Hull, the Armor Factor might be restricted based on the TL of the hull ... so adding TL 14 Armor to an inexpensive TL 8 hull would be limited to a maximum Armor Factor of 8 if installed during initial construction, or Armor Factor 4 if the ship's armor is upgraded after construction.

This is, of course, moving beyond the Rules-As-Written and into In-My-Traveller-Universe territory.

 

[bobh]

Max weapons on a 'small craft'

I'm fiddling with a excel sheet to automate small craft creation and I've reached 'weapons'.

page 61 under Armaments

"One ton fire control equipment must be installed for each turret or fixed mount (see page 111 of the Traveller main rule book)."

Hg explicitly indicates in the chart on page 61 that a small craft can have > 1 turret/fixed mount

Page 111 states one hardpoint per 100 tons of ship and each weapons system takes up one hardpoint. No mention of fire control tonnage. So i'm guessing this is a vague reference to turrets and fixed mounts in general rather than one saying 'hey theres rules on fire control tonnage there, go look.'

The Hg errata mentions nothing about this apparent conflict (1 hardpoint per 100 tons vs the chart indicating up to 5 ship weapons may be installed on a 100 ton small craft)

Questions:

Why refer to p.111 if all you are doing is saying 'theres stats on turrets and fixed weapons there, go look' and there is nothing there about fire control tonnage?

Do Hg charts and explicit text overrule the main rule book on hardpoint limits?