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Shore Boat and derivatives

I

Icosahedron

SOC-14 1K
A series of small craft designed with LBB5 for some happy smiley discussion - comments please.


SHORE BOAT

The shore boat is one of a variety of small craft built within the ubiquitous 10Ton
wedge hull. It utilises the basic propulsion package of 1Ton power plant, M-drive,
and fuel tank, providing 3G acceleration; and has a basic computer. It has a crew
of 1 or 2, in addition to which there are 10 passenger couches which are easily
removed to customise cargo space. It is not intended for combat and carries no
armour or weaponry, though the base hull has a hardpoint fitted. Its main purpose is to transport a small landing party or cargo between an orbiting ship and a planetary surface. Modified versions are available containing a fitted compartment for a ground vehicle.


LIFEBOAT

The small lifeboat is a version of the shore boat with accommodation comprising an ELB for the pilot and 5 more ELBs for a total of 20 passengers.


SQUAD BOAT

The squad boat is a military version of the shore boat. It has a crew of 1 and only
8 passenger couches. the 1.5 Tons saved allow the fitment of a fixed weapon and
0.5 Tons of cargo space for personal weapons or equipment. The squad boat is
not armoured. As its name suggests, its purpose is the transport of a 9-man
squad to and from orbit and the provision of close-support on the ground. It
is only used for small commando raids, since the transport of massed troops in
individual craft would be prohibitively expensive. Layout is the same as the shore
boat.


ORBITAL PATROL BOAT

The OPB is a high performance version of the squad boat, having an uprated
M-drive of 1.7Tons giving 6G acceleration, and armour factor 1. It has a crew of 2
but can be operated by 1. There are no passenger couches, but two ELBs are
fitted for rescue or prisoner transport, and there is 0.3 Tons of cargo space. Its
primary use is as an orbital range patrol craft for coastguard and police
personnel.


CABIN BOAT

The cabin boat is based on the shore boat, but the passenger couches are
replaced by a 2Ton cabin comprising a bedsit area, a utility kitchen, and a WC.
There is 3 Tons of cargo space. Versions of the basic design include a garage
version containing a ground car fitted compatment and 1 Ton for cargo; a Twin
version containing a second cabin in place of the fitted compartment; and a
luxury version containing a single starship type cabin rather than two small craft
cabins. Cabin boats are not intended for combat and are not armed or armoured.
They are used mainly as relatively cheap personal transport between planets and
are common as interplanetary private hire craft.


INTERPLANETARY PATROL BOAT

The IPB is a paramilitary version of the single cabin boat. Instead of 3 Tons of
cargo space, it has a weapon mount, factor 1 armour, and an ELB. It is used by
coastguard, police, and sometimes the military. There is a crew of 2.
 
What Andrew said...

They do seem small, at first I thought there was a typo and that these were 100dT wedges, and frankly having only one ELB for the Patrol Boat seems a bit little for a police type vessel, I would think that there would be at least 5 or 6 ELBs, but that's just me, but when it might be a long way back to the Main world and you don't want to run out of room for scumbags.

And you could use one or two for Frozen Watch backups. :D
 
Last edited:
Good points, thanks for the comments.

Depends on your definition of a wedge, I suppose. 30 years ago I was thinking along the lines of the Trek shuttles (anyone know the dT of those?). The old Galileo is obviously 'streamlined', since atmospheric entry is its sole purpose, and it's obviously not a cone or disc, so do you call it 'wedge' or 'close but streamlined'? I went for wedge.

I saw the Patrol Boat as an interplanetary version of the beat patrol car rather than a SWAT truck. Just a couple of guys doing the rounds making sure the outworld colonists are ok. For bringing bad guys in, you're probably thinking of my 50dT Coastguard Cutter... :)
 
Patrol Wagon.

Well, as for the ST shuttle, I'd go with Closed, Streamlined, but not Wedge.

Also, I figured that it was a beat car, a SWAT van carries at least an Element of six troopers and a Frozen Watch of 12 more. Or mine would, and it would have less storage for badguys. SWAT like ALS ambulances, does the real techincal stuff and doesn't transport, you call a beat car or BLS bus for that.

Still I stick with my thoughts on the numbers of cops and freezers, but hey that's just my thoughts.
 
Sorry, but I need to go with Icosahedron on the wedge issue. The SDB is a wedge and the ST shuttles are shortened versions of the SDB shape.
 
Andrew Boulton said:
The Suleiman is the classic wedge.

A 10dt one would be 16.2m x 11.1m x 4.6m
Click to expand...

I thought that was a flattened cone? The pointed nose gives it away. A Lotus Esprit is a wedge to me.

Not bad, I figured overall dimensions for my craft to be 14m x 7.5m x 3m, but since that comes out to 22.5dT, it's a demonstration of the broken rules for Traveller carried craft. I reckon you need at least 200% for even close-packed, hinge-winged storage of mundane shapes, and much more for hangar space.
Unfortunately, many of my designs rely on these broken rules.


Magnus Thornwood said:
Still I stick with my thoughts on the numbers of cops and freezers, but hey that's just my thoughts.
Click to expand...

I agree. The design exists, but it's not necessarily popular with procurement staff. I've never actually used an IPB in a game - usually, if I need to bring the police or coastguard in, they always just happen to have a bigger vessel than the players... :devil:
 
The type S has config 1 - needle/wedge - it's the Kinunir that was given the flattened cone config 2.
High Guard allows you to build a 10t wedge so it all must fit somehow ;)

No one says the wedge has to fly narrow side to the front - the blunt end could be the passenger/control section with the power plant and drive going into the narrowing space.

By the way I like the utility of this design - thanks for posting it.
 
Last edited:
Icosahedron said:
it's a demonstration of the broken rules for Traveller carried craft. I reckon you need at least 200% for even close-packed, hinge-winged storage of mundane shapes, and much more for hangar space.
Click to expand...

That's why TNE/T4 increased it to 200% for minimal hangers and 400% for spacious ones.
 
mike wightman said:
The type S has config 1 - needle/wedge - it's the Kinunir that was given the flattened cone config 2.
High Guard allows you to build a 10t wedge so it all must fit somehow ;)
Click to expand...

Perhaps the type S is a cross between needle and wedge.

My thoughts exactly.


No one says the wedge has to fly narrow side to the front - the blunt end could be the passenger/control section with the power plant and drive going into the narrowing space.
Click to expand...

Nobody says the engine has to go at the rear, either - especially if it isn't a torch ship. I liked the passenger plane (I forget its designation) from Thunderbirds that had its cockpit in the tailfin like a bridge. I used to love those 'specifications' pages in the annuals - must have been my first expression of 'deckplan gearheardedness'. :)


By the way I like the utility of this design - thanks for posting it.
Click to expand...

You're welcome. Yeah, the combination of the 'round figure', versatility of internal space and small 'hangar' requirement is what drew me to make it a standard IMTU. I had a 10dT Fighter, too, but that really didn't fit with my (Procurement dept's) plans at all - so much that I've lost the description. I have 'ground attack' fighters of 6 - 8 dT and 'dogfighters' of 20dT.

Andrew Boulton said:
That's why TNE/T4 increased it to 200% for minimal hangers and 400% for spacious ones.
Click to expand...

Hmm, unfortunately I didn't learn about TNE and T4 until looong after I'd designed most of my ships, and for some strange reason I didn't houserule it early enough either. Someday I might redesign all my ships... or not...
Maybe if I convert to MGT or T5. ;)
 
On the "it all fitting" vein, the problem with cargo is, for bulk cargo, one of geometry. We can design a 10 dton "clasic" wedge, but fitting cargo into it requires disassembling it into small bits.

Really carrying cargo, which will be either containerized, palletized, or the quivalent, requires the ST shuttlecraft approach, which also fits more efficiently inside another ship.

This is why the Sherman tank had (tactically unsound) verticle side armor: they were designed to fit into a Liberty ship.

Geometry: it's not just a good idea, it's the law.:smirk:
 
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