AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
OK, I admit I was wrong; Size is a reliable indicator of ... size.
That is just CT/MT and just TL-15. Even CT/MT at TL-12 give different results.
MgT2 and T5 does not have any limitations on bays, more than a hardpoint and can fit the bay in the hull. (MgT1 had bays on small craft IIRC...)
MgT2 has magic sizes, related to crit resistance and hit point allocation. E.g. between 2000-3000 Dt is a favoured size; big enough not to crit:ed by turrets, small enough to be difficult to hit with spinals.
T5 does not have any size limitations I can see with my limited experience, especially as you can combine as many weapon mounts from as many ships as you want in a single attack with CommCasters. At a guess many small ships defeats a big ship just because you have more targets to be destroyed.
Neither T5 nor MgT2 has much use for bays, as they don't really do enough damage to justify the size, except perhaps missile bays. So, quite like CT in that regard.
As for CT/MT warships the dominating effect is the to hit size DM. Natural sizes are Small Craft, Up to 2000 Dt (aka Missile Frigates), Up to 20 kDt (aka Riders), Tenders, and above 75 kDt Sitting Ducks (aka Battleships).
For commercial ships I would look at scale advantages with size as most Traveller design systems penalise small ships, especially LBB2, e.g. with fuel, bridge, and crew requirements. Generally scale advantages are mostly played out by about 10000 Dt. At about 10000 Dt or larger it is often nearly as cheap to operate two smaller ships, as one twice as large ship, both alternatives with the same payload.
My commercial scale would be something like:
<100: Small craft.
<300: Tiny ships; Very inefficient, only used for the low unit cost.
<1000: Small ships; Inefficient (might just as well be 2000 Dt or even 2500 Dt [i.e. ACS], if you prefer)
<10000: Ships; Somewhat inefficient (unless Z-drive magic)
≥10000: Large ships; Efficient
≥100k: Very large ships, or "Why bother?"
Subdivided into:
Liner: Mostly passengers.
Trader: Both passengers and cargo (I agree that is a bit weird).
Freighter: Mostly cargo.
For Warships I basically use a modified CT scale:
<100: Small craft: 10 Dt Light Fighter, 30 Dt Medium Fighter, and 50 Dt Heavy Fighter
<1000: Corvette
<3000: Frigate (CT/MT: 1000-1999 Dt, MgT2: 2000-2999 Dt)
>3000: Destroyer, or "Why Bother?"
No jump: Rider
Spinal: Cruiser
Spinal + 100 kDt: Battleship (useful in MgT2 only)
But that is just size, it says very little about what the ship is used for. E.g. a Frigate is often a secondary combatant intended for main battles.
In T5 I expect Corvettes to be very effective in large numbers?
