Rethinking Dreadnought Design

[Vladika]

Well, yes and no. If they can hit them, probably.

The real issue is what is your conception of the "right" outcome when a space leviathan comes up against a small, agile, lesser-armed vessel?

Do you want it to be an age-of-sail like outcome, in which a single-master with a couple of swivel-guns should pack up and go home in face of a 74? (This is what HG2 delivers)

Or do you want it to be like 20th century naval warfare, where (given the right conditions) a PT boat can make a good run and deliver a crippling or a fatal blow to a Mogami class cruiser (as depicted in They Were Expendable and Star Wars)


I rather fancy that Traveller was originally intended to be age-of-sail-in-space; but that many players prefer the possibility of blowing up the Death Star with a single shot from an X-wing fighter. And therein lies the root of much disaffection ...

The BR, or Monitor, with the Meson "J" Spinal IS that PT Boat...

 

[Amber Chancer]

The BR, or Monitor, with the Meson "J" Spinal IS that PT Boat...

That's my attitude, too, Vlad ... but with its crew of a couple of hundred, it still isn't quite the same as Han Solo letting the Force be with him, is it?

 

[Vladika]

That's my attitude, too, Vlad ... but with its crew of a couple of hundred, it still isn't quite the same as Han Solo letting the Force be with him, is it?

Wasn't that "Fluke Skybaulker" and the "Farce"?

If we get BR-109 do we get a new Emperor in a few decades?

 

[Amber Chancer]

Well actually, it wasn't either, was it? It was Guy Gibson.

As my mother pointed out way back in the 80s ... Star Wars was really just the Dambusters with mechanical camels.

 

[JimMarn]

Hmm... Most pirate ships were not the same size at 1700s British first ships of the line. They were small sloops that could run circles around men-o-war.

From a history channel documentary, arcaheologists used scuba gear to work on a pirate ship wreck. The sloop had been extensively modified to carry deck guns larger than the original builder had intended. The could dish out a much larger than expected broadside. Like many ships back then, they hoisted flags on neutrals or countries allied to the ship they are about to attack, to fool them into letting them get close.

 

[kliner]

CAM-K1466J3-C59900-45409-0 MCr. 8,646.7 10,000 Tons
Bearing 1 141 9 Crew 110
Batteries 1 141 9 TL 15
Cargo: 29 tons Fuel: 4,600 tons EP: 600 Agility: 2 Shipboard Security Detail: 10 Pulse Lasers
Craft: 2 x 50T Cutters
Fuel Treatment: Fuel Scoops and On Board Fuel Purification
Backups: 1 x Model/9fib Computer 1 x Factor 9 Nuclear Damper 1 x Factor 9 Meson Screen
Architects Fee: MCr 86.467 Cost in Quantity: MCr 6,917.360