Now, one thing that bothers me about those PP fuel burn rates is that in normal operation (that is, RAW), PP fuel burn is at nameplate Pn rather than Pn-as-used (2nd Ed).
Obviously a simplification to avoid excess word count (to keep the page count within acceptable limits) as an editorial decision. If all you're using
Traveller for is "tabletop wargame" then such details fall below the granularity of what a Referee (or Players, for that matter) Need To Know™. However, that bit of
premature optimization discounted the need for "extended endurance on station" without refueling, which gets away from the "tabletop wargame" (combat) side of things that most
murder hobos Players care about and starts drifting into the
verboten realm of Space Life Simulator that
Traveller wasn't aiming to be about.
It does (based on fuel consumption) need to be running at Pn=Jn during the time in Jump (2nd Ed).
Citation
REQUIRED.
Prove your assertion that power plants need to be running "full blast" during the entire duration of jumps, "destroying" precious fuel for an entire week to generate EPs that (probably) aren't needed by any onboard systems.
Assertions are one thing.
Proofs are another (more important) thing.
It needs to be either Pn=2Jn for a prompt Jump, or Pn=Jn for a normal Jump (but with a delay to get the capacitors charged -- there's math I'm choosing not to do right now that would express this in terms of Energy Points).
LBB5.80, p39 ... Breaking Off by Jumping.
A starship needs a power plant capable of generating sufficient EPs in order to deliver 2x0.01MJn to the jump drive in 2 combat turns or less in order to jump. If a power plant cannot deliver the required amount of EPs within 2 combat turns, that jump (number) may not be attempted.
So to use a Type-S Scout/Courier as a highly simplified example ... the A/A/A drives installed yield codes: 2/2/2 in a 100 ton hull.
- A J2 in a 100 ton hull requires 2*0.01*100*2=4 EP delivered to the jump drive within 2 combat turns in order to J2.
- A J1 in a 100 ton hull requires 2*0.01*100*1=2 EP delivered to the jump drive within 2 combat turns in order to J2.
The installed power plant has a generating capacity of EP=2 ... and a stock (unmodified) Type-S Scout/Courier has no EP consuming systems other than the maneuver drive. Therefore ...
- A Type-S Scout/Courier requires 2 combat rounds of EP=2 generation dedicated to the jump drive in order to J2.
- A Type-S Scout/Courier requires 1 combat round of EP=2 generation dedicated to the jump drive in order to J1.
Note that any EP consuming maneuver agility, weapons, screens or computers cannot be "demanding" EP during the preparation to jump, because there's no EP generation reserve capacity to do more than prepare for jump during those 1-2 combat turns. If nothing is shooting at you
that's not a problem ... but if you ARE being shot at ... dropping your maneuver agility to 0 in order to jump away
might not be the best option under the circumstances.
All of the above outlines the "peak load" demand from the power plant in order to be able to jump (at all).
There is absolutely nothing in the above cited section stating that the power plant EP demand for the jump drive is CONTINUOUS throughout the entire jump until breakout.
If you want to prove me wrong (convincingly) on that point,
CITATION REQUIRED.
Again, I fall back to the analogy of "limited delta-v maneuvering" (common in the chemical rocketry era) in normal space.
While a craft is "coasting" on momentum only,
with no acceleration at all in normal space, the power plant does not need to be working "at full blast" the entire time. When power demand during an inertial cruise phase drops to "near zero" for Basic Power only with the maneuver drive "shut down" and no weapons or screens powered up (in normal space) because there is no maneuver acceleration happening (and no combat happening), the fuel demand of a power plant drops down to the Basic Power only level. The only onboard system that ought to be be consuming EP=1+ during such an inertial cruise phase would be the computer (assuming model/3+).
The SAME conditions apply to a starship during jumps, where a starship is "inertial coasting" the whole way to the destination breakout point.
- While a starship is in jump, there is no need for maneuver ... so shut down the maneuver drive (Agility=0 means EP=0).
- While a starship is in jump, there is no need for weapons ... so shut down the weapon systems (EP=0).
- While a starship is in jump, there is no need for screens ... so shut down the screens (EP=0).
- While a starship is in jump, there IS a need to keep the main computer powered ... so keep generating EPs for the computer to stay online (model/1-2 computers consume EP=0).
Travellerwiki article:
Jump Drive
During the week in jump the responsibilities of the crew are directed toward maintaining life support within the ship, repair and maintenance of some ship systems, and care of the passengers.
To me, that sounds like Basic Power fuel consumption demand persists during jump (obviously), but other types of EP demand (aside from keeping the computer operational) cease to be a factor.
ETA: the same scaling effect applies to LBB5 ships, but it's not obvious until you're dealing with ships having Pn ratings well above 6 because the LBB5 power plant fuel requirements are so much lower in ACS-sized ships.
Hence why I prefer the interpretation that the fuel tonnages "required" by LBB2 and LBB5 represent construction REGULATIONS for minimums, rather than any kind of direct reference/calculation to fuel consumption rates. The regulations stipulate a quantity that ought to be sufficient margin for (relatively) safe operation on the regular ... and nothing more. The "required tonnage" is specified as the minimums required to achieve reasonable safety margins.
How the fuel gets "used" during craft operations can vary WIDELY ... up to and including Type-S Scout/Couriers, with their 40 ton fuel tanks, being capable of J2+1 without refueling, even though the
construction regulations stipulate mandatory minimums for J2 only ... because Fuel Is Fungible between jump range and normal space operational endurance.
