The tonnage isn't as much as issue as performance and the need to keep the crew low.
Dragoner,
Sadly, performance is directly linked to tonnage.
I'd reall like it to have 2Jx performance at the highest J capacity possible.
Then you're looking at less than jump-3 because 2J3 equals 1J6 and that means we're right back to the 96% figure I posted earlier.
The only issue I have with that is that it needs to be more covert, a carrier to deliver it, to me seems like more people to talk and a bigger mission plan because you would be detailing more fleet elements to it.
That's a very good point. If your "insertion" vessel needs to catch a lift to the system, that lift mission becomes a potential source for leaks.
With the Intelligence Corvette, I want it to operate fairly independently, thus being more covert.
Then you need to look at Abomination's suggestion. Rather than rely on stealth and speed to make your insertion, you rely on stealth and misdirection instead. The SOE and OSS landed many more agents with "civilian" craft than with MTBs and PT boats.
I guess tonnage might not be such an issue as performance.
The trouble is that performance and tonnage and crew size are inextricably linked. Want jump-6 or some variety of 2J3 along with 6gees? You'll need a much larger vessel which will require a much larger crew.
Instead, let's look at the problem with your "boomerang" fuel requirement first and foremost while dropping jump range to a minimum and building at TL 15.
- Jump-1: 2%
- 6-gees: 17%
- Power plant: 6%
- Jump fuel: 20% (two jump-1)
- Power fuel: 6%
That's only
51%, or
51 dTons out of a 100 dTon hull, the smallest hull that can jump. Continuing with a 100 dTon hull, the bridge will require a flat
20 dTons, leaving us
29 dTons to work with. Your single turret will use another
1 dTon leaving us
28 dTons with which to play.
Energy points is your next major concern. The power plant already provides 6 energy points (EP). You only need a code 1 computer to meet your jump requirements, but you'll want the biggest computer possible for the various stealth-like benefits and the bigger computers suck up EPs quickly. Weapons other than missiles and sandcasters need EPs too. Another big EP load is agility and you're going to want the maximum agility rating of 6.
Each EP you add will cost
2 dTons, one for the power plant and one for it's fuel. An agility rating of six is "free" but uses all current EPs. The classic single turret weapons selection of one missile, sandcaster , and laser needs one EP which requires
2 dTons leaving us with
26 dTons. Let's set our computer choice aside for the moment to tackle to the crew.
The required crew is easy. At 100 dTons all you actually need is a pilot. That single turret needs a gunner. Both of them can share a single stateroom. Every two members of your "intelligence" team will need a single stateroom too. A 2-man crew and a 6-man team need 4 staterooms at
4 dTons apiece. That leaves us
10 dTons.
Back to the computer now. While you only need a computer code of 1 for jump purposes, you want a big computer because of the many combat benefits it provides. The largest computer you can install is a code 4 at
4 dTons and another
4 dTons for the EPs. That leaves you
2 dTons for cargo.
All things considered, a code 4 computer is rather "small". You can get a larger computer
if you reduce the size of your team. If you want longer legs, you'll be looking at a large ship with larger crew requirements. Fuel refining requires more fiddling as the smallest plant is 5 dTons. You'll need to drop a stateroom or reduce the computer's size.
There's your "intelligence" corvette. Jump-1 with boomerang fuel, 6-gees, an agility of 6, 4 staterooms, a mid-range computer, three weapons, a smidgen of cargo, and all in 100 dTons. She'll be carried to a point in the deep dark somewhere near her target world, perhaps even parked out there for repeated use by various crews and teams. She'll jump the rest of the way on her own, speed inward to land, and most likely squat at the bottom of some body of water while the "intelligence" team performs their "fact finding" mission.
Regards,
Bill
o:
