secretagent wrote:
"Here then is my crime. I don't use all the OTU and I am still fidgeting with the design."
Mr. Agent,
That is no crime at all. All of us fiddle with the rules and backgrounds in order to create something closer to our needs or the needs of our group. That's Traveller's bedrock strength; many from one, MTU, YTU, and the OTU. It's all good.
However, when we discuss our tweaks and adjustments, we usually let people know. My great mistake was in not asking you one question first; "Is this IYTU?". I assumed (a shocking and stupid habit) that you were working within the confines of the OTU and not within the boundaries of YTU; a setting that far better suits your needs because you have customized for yourself.
"I have been attempting to creat something to break the hold of the battleship/dreadnought much as some tried to do in the 1870's and 1880's."
That's a tall order. In our history, the folks of 1870-80 failed in their attempt to break the hold of the battleship. They had to wait until the late 1920s, for aircraft to be invented and developed sufficiently.
Subs and PT boats never did well against large combatants. Yes, there were some exceptions but those depended more on very unique local conditions; like the RN failing to deploy nets across Prien's route into Scapa because they thought no sub could travel there. Subs and PTs could slap around the small stuff, they could do all the 'brown water' fighting that was needed, but tackling the big boys was deadly for them.
One of the IJN's biggest mistakes in the Pacific War was tasking her subs specifically towards warships. Their failures in that role far outweighed any of their successes. They even failed as picket lines, Midway and Saipan show that.
US PT boats developed a nifty reputation in the southwest Pacific and Phillipines for their night fighting while flitting around the islands, but they rarely figured in any battle involving major combatants. Even at Suraigo(?) Strait, where the deck was stacked *heavily* in their favor, they failed to record a single torpedo hit on the IJN column.
"I have tried to stay within the general boundaries of High Guard and not create a "super ship" that breaks the rules but at the same time has certain advantages that would liven up play."
That's very tough and no one has succeeded in doing so... yet. That's why I pounced on your thread, I thought someone may have found the answer. And someone had, but only in their TU.
You may want to look at the Eurisko designs for some pointers or try designing at lower TLs. At TL 15 HG2 design resembles rock, paper, scissors.
"I'm sorry that the idea has no use to you or your game but such is life. I was not suggesting that you use it or that it would change the face of Traveller for all time."
I'm sorry if that impression came across. It wasn't my intention. We all customize our TUs. IMTU, low berth travel is cheaper and safer than in the OTU; much like curent day Western air travel. Over the years, I've posted ship designs, adventure hooks, and other materials on the TML to that effect, but I always ensure people know it is 'IMTU'. That way no one gets confused, no one need to post "Whipsnade, you blithering idiot, A isn't B, it's A!"
"I see you are an engineer by training."
Yup, it took them a *lot* of bananas but they eventually succeeded.
"I happen to have been and still very much am a historian by training and outlook. So, I ask you, with your engineering bent, what weapon would fit into a ship this size or a ship under 3000 tons that would have a fair to remote chance of damaging a larger warship?"
Strictly in the OTU? Sadly, none. But that shouldn't stop us from having fun. If the OTU is in the way of having fun, CHUCK IT OUT!
Your idea on intermittent dampers is neat, so expand it. Take dampers out of the picture entirely and even fighters can carry a nuc missile that has a chance of applying some serious hurt to a warship.
Jigger the agility and size bonuses too, that way smaller, more agile vessels are harder to hit. Or go the other way and limit gees and agility that vessels over a certain size can achieve. Limit how many batteries`can be tasked for defense against a single missile hit.
An old dead tree issue of JTAS had a HG2 variant article that introduced another range band; close. Warships; i.e. fighters, missile boats, could make close attack runs and recieve 'to hit' and 'to pen' bonuses.
IMEHO, HG2 crams too much into that single computer factor; sensors, fire control, ECM, ECCM, etc. Chop it up into various abilities or create masking and jamming abilities that vessels can mix and match.
You can tweak the black globes too. Limit them to vessels below a certain size; the copies made from the Ancient's originals can only project a sphere of a certain diameter. Have high flicker rates play merry hell with the sensor and weapons lock rolls you devise. Allow them to shed EPs much faster and at high flicker rates.
Another method may be to allow any weapon that hits and penetrates to have a chance of causing a critical hit. As it stands now, no weapon factor of 9 or under can do that. Armor levels skew the chances even further. You could easily rule that a natural 2 thrown on 2D6 is a critical hit no matter what the size of the battery or levels of armor present.
The sky is the limit. Tweak, bend and break to your heart's content. Then, please share your creations with us, along with the rules changes that allows them to exists.
Sincerely,
Larsen
