far-trader
SOC-14 10K
Originally posted over on the MgT forums as it was kicked to life by a question there. I'd always intended to share it here as well but have been slow getting around to it. Enjoy...
...first though, a caveat:
I haven't run the numbers to see how it works financially, and don‘t intend to try. In my opinion that was never an issue with any ships higher than J1 in CT because they operated under different principles. Would this design make it on CT rates? I doubt it. Will it make it on MgT rates? Possibly. More to the point though it operates with cargo factors at each port. It’s “freight” will mostly be company speculative cargo. It will also be able to easily make 35 (full or nearly so) trips a year unlike a Free-Trader that has to spend a week in each port doing business to try to fill the ship. This ship only needs 3 days in system. 1 day to approach and unload. 1 day for crew leave rotations. 1 day to load and depart. In the rare instances where jump takes 8 days instead of 7 shore leave is canceled to stay on schedule, and will be made up for with the equally rare times when jump takes just 6 days instead of 7.
Some background and design notes from my original fixing. The ship is described as 3000tons, unstreamlined, with J4 and M1. It has 1200tons of cargo and 30 staterooms for passengers. It carries three 40ton shuttles for ground interface. If I recall correctly Al Morai maintains the equivalent of Class B starports in a couple systems with Class C starports to provide refined fuel so no onboard fuel processors (that was one of the big reasons I went with a CT Book 2 build over a Book 5 build). Not surprisingly the build didn't want to add up (do they ever?). I don't recall it working in Book 5 either. But I got close (in both). For the CT B2 version (my fav) I only had to fudge the staterooms to 30 total (15 crew and 15 passengers) and it could technically carry 30 passengers in double occupancy.
Now, on to the MgT translation of my old CT B2 version...
This is my first MgT HG build (not counting slapping a few HG items on Core stuff). Please tear it to pieces (with kindness
) and let me know if there are any screw-ups beyond my own stated fudges and compromises. I’m still feeling out the rules. Questions and comments welcome as well.
Some design notes to begin with:
MgT Core only doing 2000ton hulls is annoying in this case as I wanted to make it a standard core design. Being a distributed hull and bulk transport I decided to break it into parts to do it. A 2000ton main hull and a 1000ton cargo hull. And when that didn’t work I was forced to look at High Guard. I was a little surprised that CT Book 2 beat MgT Core hands down on this design, on both volume and cost. I was more surprised though at just how hard I had to beat MgT High Guard to come close to a simple CT Book 2 design. But I got there (or near enough).
First bit of hammering I had to do, after a quick basic build left me well over tonnage, was on the jump drives. Fortunately this ship is easily a TL15 build so I can live with that.
I’ve dropped the left over tonnage into the Engineering section to make each section equal in tonnage, because it worked out kind of nice that way. Make of it what you will, anything but a fuel processor. Maybe some repair drones, emergency power, escape pods for the Engineers, and/or a solar panel. Or just what it is, wasted space (odd corners and such, perfect for a still or a bit of small parcel trade maybe… ).
I originally had a Core bridge and figured it would be a problem getting in at 3000tons even with a compact version. Then I found the Command/Bridge idea. Wow, that is a huge saver in tonnage and really in cost. Is that right? Ah, no it is not. Errata Alert: Checking the example build, the text (HG pg 65) is a typo. It is not “MCr .1” (note the decimal) but “MCr 1” (no decimal). Still a big space saver!
I went with advanced electronics to better match the CT feel I had going for it. Not sure the weapons will be as effective in HG combat as they were in CT but it’s not a combat vessel. And they do have escorts when needed.
I added 3tons of Luxuries (as much as I loathe the idea ;-) ) to make up the required Steward levels. The ship could operate with a full 15 middle passengers without any actual Stewards. To allow for potentially 15 high passengers though a Chief Steward (Skill 3) and Steward (Skill 2) are carried. Passengers are typically collected and delivered planetside by the Passenger Shuttles, and their baggage is stored aboard the ship while travelling.
I have also “rebuilt” the Shuttles with MgT HG and they came out pretty darn cool imo. Kept the spirit of the originals quite nicely. I went with simple docking clamps for the flavour as much as the cost and space savings.
The primary cargo is split into two holds. One of 1000tons for major and minor freight, which is taken on and delivered in orbit. The other is 200tons for minor and incidental freight taken on and delivered planetside by the Cargo Shuttle. It takes a full day to unload and deliver, and another day to collect and load 200tons at 25tons per trip. In addition there is a secure mail hold and passenger baggage hold.
I managed to keep the crew the same size and general spirit as the CT version, though slightly different specifics, by using Core rules. The HG rules didn’t look like they make sense for a commercial ship.
Crew: Pilots x3, Navigators x1, Engineers x5, Medic x1, Gunner x3, Steward x2 (Skill 3, Skill 2 and 3tons of luxuries).
Note: The Luxuries will permit full middle passage booking without the Stewards. With the Stewards full high passage booking is possible.
Note: Normally only 1 turret is armed and only 1 Gunner is required (as a requirement for the mail contract), staterooms are provided for the other 2 but normally run empty.
Note: The Senior Pilot is also the Ship’s Officer (Captain) and all 3 Pilots also serve as shuttle pilots as needed.
Note: This crew roster permits the ship to operate at average performance.
...first though, a caveat:
I haven't run the numbers to see how it works financially, and don‘t intend to try. In my opinion that was never an issue with any ships higher than J1 in CT because they operated under different principles. Would this design make it on CT rates? I doubt it. Will it make it on MgT rates? Possibly. More to the point though it operates with cargo factors at each port. It’s “freight” will mostly be company speculative cargo. It will also be able to easily make 35 (full or nearly so) trips a year unlike a Free-Trader that has to spend a week in each port doing business to try to fill the ship. This ship only needs 3 days in system. 1 day to approach and unload. 1 day for crew leave rotations. 1 day to load and depart. In the rare instances where jump takes 8 days instead of 7 shore leave is canceled to stay on schedule, and will be made up for with the equally rare times when jump takes just 6 days instead of 7.
Some background and design notes from my original fixing. The ship is described as 3000tons, unstreamlined, with J4 and M1. It has 1200tons of cargo and 30 staterooms for passengers. It carries three 40ton shuttles for ground interface. If I recall correctly Al Morai maintains the equivalent of Class B starports in a couple systems with Class C starports to provide refined fuel so no onboard fuel processors (that was one of the big reasons I went with a CT Book 2 build over a Book 5 build). Not surprisingly the build didn't want to add up (do they ever?). I don't recall it working in Book 5 either. But I got close (in both). For the CT B2 version (my fav) I only had to fudge the staterooms to 30 total (15 crew and 15 passengers) and it could technically carry 30 passengers in double occupancy.
Now, on to the MgT translation of my old CT B2 version...
This is my first MgT HG build (not counting slapping a few HG items on Core stuff). Please tear it to pieces (with kindness
) and let me know if there are any screw-ups beyond my own stated fudges and compromises. I’m still feeling out the rules. Questions and comments welcome as well.Some design notes to begin with:
MgT Core only doing 2000ton hulls is annoying in this case as I wanted to make it a standard core design. Being a distributed hull and bulk transport I decided to break it into parts to do it. A 2000ton main hull and a 1000ton cargo hull. And when that didn’t work I was forced to look at High Guard. I was a little surprised that CT Book 2 beat MgT Core hands down on this design, on both volume and cost. I was more surprised though at just how hard I had to beat MgT High Guard to come close to a simple CT Book 2 design. But I got there (or near enough).
First bit of hammering I had to do, after a quick basic build left me well over tonnage, was on the jump drives. Fortunately this ship is easily a TL15 build so I can live with that.
- Sidebar: Quick question. Pretty sure I’ve got this right but, when calculating the cost of an advanced drive component (HG pg 53), do you first calculate the size AND cost for the standard component, then adjust the size AND cost by the values in the table? Or do you first calculate the size of the standard component THEN calculate the smaller size THEN calculate the cost based on the smaller size THEN adjust that by the table? For example:
Jump Drive 4 for the 3000ton ship is normally 150tons and MCr300.
Building it at TL15 and using the advanced tech advantage (+2) is 90% tonnage and 125% cost.
So is the “better” Jump Drive:
A: 135tons (150tons x 0.9) and MCr375 (MCr350 x 1.25)
B: 135tons (150tons x 0.9) and Mcr337.5 (135tons x MCr2 x 1.25)
I’ve dropped the left over tonnage into the Engineering section to make each section equal in tonnage, because it worked out kind of nice that way. Make of it what you will, anything but a fuel processor. Maybe some repair drones, emergency power, escape pods for the Engineers, and/or a solar panel. Or just what it is, wasted space (odd corners and such, perfect for a still or a bit of small parcel trade maybe… ).
I originally had a Core bridge and figured it would be a problem getting in at 3000tons even with a compact version. Then I found the Command/Bridge idea. Wow, that is a huge saver in tonnage and really in cost. Is that right? Ah, no it is not. Errata Alert: Checking the example build, the text (HG pg 65) is a typo. It is not “MCr .1” (note the decimal) but “MCr 1” (no decimal). Still a big space saver!
I went with advanced electronics to better match the CT feel I had going for it. Not sure the weapons will be as effective in HG combat as they were in CT but it’s not a combat vessel. And they do have escorts when needed.
I added 3tons of Luxuries (as much as I loathe the idea ;-) ) to make up the required Steward levels. The ship could operate with a full 15 middle passengers without any actual Stewards. To allow for potentially 15 high passengers though a Chief Steward (Skill 3) and Steward (Skill 2) are carried. Passengers are typically collected and delivered planetside by the Passenger Shuttles, and their baggage is stored aboard the ship while travelling.
I have also “rebuilt” the Shuttles with MgT HG and they came out pretty darn cool imo. Kept the spirit of the originals quite nicely. I went with simple docking clamps for the flavour as much as the cost and space savings.
The primary cargo is split into two holds. One of 1000tons for major and minor freight, which is taken on and delivered in orbit. The other is 200tons for minor and incidental freight taken on and delivered planetside by the Cargo Shuttle. It takes a full day to unload and deliver, and another day to collect and load 200tons at 25tons per trip. In addition there is a secure mail hold and passenger baggage hold.
I managed to keep the crew the same size and general spirit as the CT version, though slightly different specifics, by using Core rules. The HG rules didn’t look like they make sense for a commercial ship.
Code:
Al Morai World class Bulk Transport
+2,880.0tons Hull - Dispersed MCr144.000
Section 1 - Engineering
-15.0tons Command Module - Engineering MCr15.000
-135.0tons Jump Drive 4P (Advanced +2) MCr375.000
-30.0tons Maneuver Drive 1G MCr15.000
-67.5tons Power Plant 4E (TL15) MCr450.000
-45.0tons Fuel x2 weeks
-1,200.0tons Fuel x4 parsecs
-7.5tons Unused/Wasted
Section 2 - Main
-15.0tons Command Module - Bridge MCr15.000
Computer Core/6 (TL Discount) MCr42.500
-3.0tons Advanced Electronics MCr2.000
Hardpoints x3
-1.0tons Single (Sandcaster Option) MCr0.200
-1.0tons Magazine
-1.0tons Triple (Beam Laser Option) MCr1.000
-1.0tons Triple Beam Laser Fitted MCr4.000
-120.0tons Staterooms x30 MCr15.000
Crew x15
Pass x15
-3.0tons Luxuries x3 MCr0.300
-15.0tons Docking Clamps x3 (40tons each) MCr3.000
+120.0tons Shuttles x3 (see below) MCr50.000
-1,000.0tons Main Cargo Hold (bulk freight)
-200.0tons Auxiliary Cargo Hold (small freight)
-15.0tons Baggage Hold (high passenger baggage)
-5.0tons Secure Hold (mail)
3,000.0tons Total MCr1,132.000- Sidebar: Which raises another question. Standard design discount of 10% or not? What does everyone think? I feel not because that is for the modular lowest sourced bidder designs of the Core rules. While HG, especially with the TL tweaks, is more of a customized build each and every time. Comments? And see the poll above if you missed it
Crew: Pilots x3, Navigators x1, Engineers x5, Medic x1, Gunner x3, Steward x2 (Skill 3, Skill 2 and 3tons of luxuries).
Note: The Luxuries will permit full middle passage booking without the Stewards. With the Stewards full high passage booking is possible.
Note: Normally only 1 turret is armed and only 1 Gunner is required (as a requirement for the mail contract), staterooms are provided for the other 2 but normally run empty.
Note: The Senior Pilot is also the Ship’s Officer (Captain) and all 3 Pilots also serve as shuttle pilots as needed.
Note: This crew roster permits the ship to operate at average performance.
) and the ship’s Stewards as required. The remaining 15tons is given over to a cargo hold for baggage transfer and a compact 3ton enclosed grav-car for planetside transport. The additional cost is MCr1.0 before the standard design discount of 10% and not including the vehicle.
