CT Only: Spinward Flex Courier

[Spinward Flow]

I've listed the reconstructed line-item breakdowns of two canonical Far Traders, one from each edition of LBB2.
The '77 version is J2/1G, the '81 version is J2/2G. I don't know whether either matches the S7 version.

You have ... but both of them differ in their details.
You can't have 10 staterooms and 1G maneuver on the exact same ship that has only 6 staterooms and 2G maneuver. That's two different ship designs. Can you "trade" one for the other? Of course! But the passenger capacity changes when you do that, which means the revenue capacity changes too.

In other words, you can't have it "both ways" (in a quantum uncertainty sense) at the same time depending on which version of the ship is advantageous to have at any given time (it's 1G when we need more passenger capacity and 2G when we need to land on high gravity worlds of size: 9-A).

As for which version matches Supplement 7 ... that's easy.
10 staterooms and 61 tons of cargo means BAA drives which means Jump-2, Manevuer-1, Power Plant-1 ... which means it's a LBB2.77 Far Trader ... just like how the X-Boats are also a LBB2.77 design (that don't need 40 tons of power plant fuel for a power plant-4 to power a jump-4 drive that needs another 40 tons of fuel to jump and 20 tons for a bridge and...).

Like I said, nail in the coffin for which one is represented in Supplement 7.

A Far Trader with BAA drives could externally transport up to 200 tons of cargo through jump-1 ... but it can't maneuver with that external load (A drives not valid for 400 tons), so a Far Trader would have 0G maneuver with such an external load.



Now ... if you want to get "clever" (kinda? sorta? maybe?) ... you could say that a Far Trader can haul 4 lots of 50 tons internally to a marshaling point in orbit somewhere 100 diameters away from the nearest mass (so shuttle relays) and have 200 tons of external load to Jump-1 somewhere with ... and then go back to pick up the final internal cargo load of ~60 tons ... make a final transit to the jump point and hook up with the 200 tons of external load.

At that point you've got ~60 tons of internal cargo and 200 tons of external cargo and the drive performance of the Far Trader is Jump-1, Maneuver-0, Power Plant-0 ... and the Far Trader initiates jump-1 with effectively 260 tons of cargo (~60 internal and 200 external).

After breakout from jump at the destination, the Far Trader has to "jettison" the 200 tons of external cargo load ... deliver the ~60 tons of internal cargo from the jump point to a starport either in orbit or on a planetary surface (if the surface gravity is low enough), then shuttle back and forth to pick up the 200 tons of external cargo they left behind so as to deliver it in "batches" of 50 tons each, so 4 extra trips to and from the jump point to deliver everything internally after jump (because the Far Trader cannot maneuver with an external load).



Which brings up the age old saying about keeping all your eggs in one basket ... until someone steals the basket.

Because if your starship is running relays to shuttle external cargo from a jump point to its final destination ... what are the chances that someone (else) is going to show up and "five finger discount" help themselves to some of that cargo you left behind up at the jump point between relay runs? In other words, if you don't have the means to GUARD an external cargo while you're away from it(!), the opportunity for some of that cargo to be lost while you transit relay up and down to transport it all increases ... and the longer it takes you to complete all those extra trips increases that opportunity for loss/theft even more.



So what would you want in such circumstances? :coffeesip:
Duh ... an armed small craft that can stand watch over an external cargo you leave in orbit while your starship runs relays to deliver all of the external cargo you hauled out to the jump point for interstellar transport.

And I'm sorry, but an Air/Raft isn't going to be a very effective "guard" craft 100 diameters distant from a planet (just sayin' ).

Note that a Far Trader using LBB2 jump drives could jump-1 with up to 200 tons of external load ... while a Spinward Flex Courier with LBB5 jump drives could jump-1 with up to only 97 tons of external load ... because of how the 2 systems work differently in this regard. The difference is that a Far Trader would need to "leave" their 200 tons of external load at the jump point and need multiple trips to maneuver it "piecemeal" in the internal cargo bay down into a lower orbit and/or land it on a world (because Maneuver-0 with external load). By contrast, a Spinward Flex Courier would be capable of 4G maneuver with up to 97 tons of external load (which if using the Major Cargo Only rule amounts to a 90 ton external limit in actual practice because major cargoes increment in 10 ton units exclusively) and can haul that external cargo from the jump point at 100 diameters distant down to a 10,000km orbit to deliver to an orbital starport directly or load up to 40 tons of that external cargo into the internal cargo bay for atmospheric entry to land it on the surface in relays from a low orbit.



CAN it be done?
Sure, of course it can (theoretically)!

Are you willing to RISK trying to do it?
Well ... that's a judgement call ...
{Referee starts rolling lots of dice...}

 

[Spinward Flow]

Garda-Vilis ^X B978868 – A S (G) to Choleosti C200100 – 9 (Non-industrial, Vacuum World, G)
World size: 8 (14,300km)
100 diameters = 1,430,000km

Origin (Garda-Vilis): Starport B - Scout Base, Size 9, Population 8
Destination (Choleosti): Starport C, Size 2, Population 1
DM: -3 (passenger), -4 (cargo), +1 (tech level), +0 first die (speculative cargo)
Passengers: 3D-1D High, 3D-1D Middle, 4D Low
Cargo: 1D+4 Major, 1D+5 Minor, 1D-2 Incidental
Starship Encounters: B 2D+1 (departure)
Gas Giant: Garda-Vilis data entry contains no information on distance to gas giants (2) from the mainworld

Passengers
3D-1D-2 = 9-1-2 = 6 High
3D-1D-2 = 11-2-2 = 7 Middle
4D-2 = 17-2 = 15 Low

Cargo
1D+1 = 4+1 = 5 Major (60, 30, 60, 40, 60 ton lots)
1D+2 = 5+2 = 7 Minor (5, 5, 30, 30, 20, 30, 20 ton lots)
1D-5 = 1-5 = 0 Incidental

Speculative Cargo
64 Computer Parts. Cr 150,000 per ton (base price), DM: +0 price modifier. 30 tons
Buy price (2D+0=9): 120% base price (MCr 5.4 total)



Far Trader

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Garda-Vilis/Vilis occurs at 2h 133-1105, ~1,430,000km from Garda-Vilis.
Transit to Garda-Vilis orbit is 1,420,000km to the highport 10,000km above Garda-Vilis, which at 1G takes 398 minutes (7 hours). During this descent to Garda-Vilis orbit (2D6+1=8) there is a starship encounter with a 200-ton Free Trader that runs passengers and cargo on the Vilis Trace departing for a jump point. The Free Trader captain relays a tip about the availability of a speculative cargo of computer parts which they declined to purchase due to the seller's above average asking price being a bad market match with the Free Trader's scheduled next destination (Vilis) for such a speculative cargo.

By 9h 133-1105 the Far Trader has successfully docked at their assigned berth in the Garda-Vilis highport in orbit.
The Far Trader has 60 tons of cargo to unload and 7 high passengers disembark within 2 hours by 11h 133-1105.
Of the 4 low passengers, their survival (5+ on 2D6) rolls are 4, 8, 5 and 6, resulting in 1 fatality again and 1 "touch and go" recovery that the crew medic manages to save.

Berthing Fees: Cr 100 for 6 days​

Since the Far Trader with its 1G maneuver drive will not be able to lift off from the surface of Garda-Vilis (surface gravity is higher than 1G) the Far Trader captain needs to book orbital shuttle services to transfer all 10 surviving passengers from Arkadia plus the 60 tons of cargo to the surface of Garda-Vilis to comply with customs regulations on their transport. Orbital shuttle fees are (2D6=7) Cr 70 per passenger, due to higher demand for shuttle services at this time of year, plus Cr 10 per ton of cargo.

Orbital Shuttle costs: Cr 700 (10 passengers)
Orbital Shuttle costs: Cr 600 (60 tons)​

Fuel state aboard the Far Trader is that 20 tons were used for a single jump-1 and the power plant has been operational for 10 days (3.6 tons), leaving only 26.4 tons of unrefined fuel remaining in the fuel tanks upon arrival at Garda-Vilis highport. Since the next system on the trade route is Choleosti, only 1 parsec from Garda-Vilis, the Far Trader captain opts to sell the 26.4 tons of remaining unrefined fuel to the starport and replace it with 25 tons of refined fuel for the jump to Choleosti. Draining the internal fuel tanks of 26.4 tons of unrefined fuel takes 1 hour, followed by loading of 25 tons of refined fuel, which also takes 1 hour. This fuel swap will prevent the chance of a misjump en route to Choleosti. Routine 16 hour drive maintenance will be completed while the captain negotiates for cargo and passengers, and because Choleosti has a type C starport with no highport, all passengers and cargo will need to be brought up from the surface of Garda-Vilis to the Far Trader in orbit by orbital shuttle (at the Far Trader's expense) for delivery to the surface of Choleosti.

Unrefined fuel sale revenue: Cr 2640 (26.4 tons)
Refined fuel purchase cost: Cr 12,500 (25 tons)​

Since Garda-Vilis has an interstellar community tech level (TL=10) and a type B starport, arrangements for bookings of passengers and cargo can all be completed within 1 day by 14h 134-1105 for arrival at the Garda-Vilis downport by 15h 138-1105 for loading onto orbital shuttles (1 hour) before transport to the highport in orbit 1 hour after receiving clearance to launch from the downport. Once the orbital shuttles have arrived with all passengers and cargo, those passengers and cargo will need to be unloaded from the shuttles (1 hour) and loaded onto the Far Trader in orbit.

Crew members who want to go down to the surface of Garda-Vilis, rather than remain in the highport, will need to pay for their orbital shuttle fees themselves, both down and back up (a Cr 140 round trip). All crew are to report fit for duty by midday 138-1105 (ship time), although if the steward/medic is planetside at that time they can be shuttled up to the highport with the first passengers to liftoff from the downport so as to guide them to the Far Trader's berth at the highport.

While negotiating for cargo, the captain of the Far Trader proactively follows up on the tip given to them by the Free Trader for the consignment of computer parts and the intel on the cargo turns out to be substantially accurate. It's 30 tons of TL=10 computer parts on offer above regular market value, however prospects are decent that a good sell price for them can either be obtained on Choleosti and/or on Margesi, with Margesi being an even better market to sell the computer parts into than Choleosti (and the captain has a business card from a reputable brokerage firm on Margesi if prospects are poor at Choleosti). The Far Trader captain accepts the offer to purchase the speculative cargo lot of 30 tons of computer parts at MCr 5.4 (half up front, half on delivery of the goods) with the intent of transporting the lot to Choleosti for sale (and if a sale can't be made there, it's on to Margesi where a certain brokerage firm has given good value for money in the past).

The captain books 6 high passengers, 1 middle passenger, 4 low passengers, along with 30 tons of speculative cargo (which the captain has to "buy" cargo space for to balance the books on the subsidy) and a single major cargo of 30 tons, all of which will need to be shuttled up from the surface of Garda-Vilis to the highport for transfer to the Far Trader.

Life Support cost: Cr 20,000 (10 staterooms), Cr 400 (4 low berths)
Passenger revenue: Cr 68,000 (high), Cr 4000 (low)
Cargo Transport revenue: Cr 60,000 (60 tons)
Orbital Shuttle costs: Cr 600 (60 tons cargo), Cr 770 (11 passengers)
Speculative Cargo purchase: MCr 5.4 (30 tons)
Speculative Cargo transport cost: Cr 30,000 (30 tons)​

Passengers and cargo are loaded onto multiple shuttles for the transit to orbit, starting at 15h 138-1105 over the next 6 hours, with passengers and cargo arriving piecemeal in waves as availability permits. All passengers and cargo finish transferring aboard the Far Trader by 21h 138-1105.

Clearance for departure from the Garda-Vilis highport for an outbound trajectory to the jump point is delayed by 2 hours due to a surprise immigration and customs inspection of departing ships searching for suspected contraband and/or persons of interest. Heightened tensions planetside have resulted in a tightening of security checks at the starport. At 23h 138-1105 the Far Trader successfully undocks and begins the outbound transit of 1,420,000km to the jump point, which at 1G takes 398 minutes (7 hours). During this transit to the jump point (2D6+1=4) there are no starship encounters.

At 6h 139-1105, the Far Trader initiates jump-1 to Choleosti/Vilis.
Time spent in jump will be 158 hours.
On 141-1105, the captain pays out another half-month of crew salaries prior to breakout at Choleosti.

Crew Salaries (2 weeks): Cr 6950​

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Choleosti/Vilis (near the gas giant Monoda) will occur at 20h 145-1105.

Total gross costs in Garda-Vilis system: Cr 5,472,620
Total gross revenue in Garda-Vilis system: Cr 134,640
Remaining revenue after subsidy: Cr 67,320
Net profit in Garda-Vilis system: Cr -5,405,300
Total net profit from 0h 001-1105 through 20h 145-1105: Cr 13,065,175​

 

[Spinward Flow]

Garda-Vilis ^X B978868 – A S (G) to Choleosti C200100 – 9 (Non-industrial, Vacuum World, G)
World size: 8 (14,300km)
100 diameters = 1,430,000km

Origin (Garda-Vilis): Starport B - Scout Base, Size 9, Population 8
Destination (Choleosti): Starport C, Size 2, Population 1
DM: -3 (passenger), -4 (cargo), +1 (tech level), +0 first die (speculative cargo)
Passengers: 3D-1D High, 3D-1D Middle, 4D Low
Cargo: 1D+4 Major, 1D+5 Minor, 1D-2 Incidental
Starship Encounters: B 2D+1 (departure)
Gas Giant: Garda-Vilis data entry contains no information on distance to gas giants (2) from the mainworld

Passengers
3D-1D-2 = 9-1-2 = 6 High
3D-1D-2 = 11-2-2 = 7 Middle
4D-2 = 17-2 = 15 Low

Cargo
1D+1 = 4+1 = 5 Major (60, 30, 60, 40, 60 ton lots)
1D+2 = 5+2 = 7 Minor (5, 5, 30, 30, 20, 30, 20 ton lots)
1D-5 = 1-5 = 0 Incidental

Speculative Cargo
64 Computer Parts. Cr 150,000 per ton (base price), DM: +0 price modifier. 30 tons
Buy price (2D+0=9): 120% base price (MCr 5.4 total)



Spinward Flex Courier

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Garda-Vilis/Vilis occurs at 12h 126-1105, ~1,430,000km from Garda-Vilis.
Transit to the surface of Garda-Vilis is 1,430,000km, which at 6G takes 163 minutes (3 hours). During this descent to Garda-Vilis (2D6+1=8) there is a starship encounter with a 200-ton Free Trader that runs passengers and cargo on the Vilis Trace departing for a jump point. The Free Trader's captain relays a tip about the availability of a speculative cargo of computer parts which they declined to purchase due to the seller's above average asking price being a bad market match with the Free Trader's scheduled next destination (Vilis).

By 15h 126-1105 the Spinward Flex Courier has successfully landed and docked at their assigned berth at the Garda-Vilis downport.
The Spinward Flex Courier has (up to 5 tons of) x-mail and 40 tons of cargo to unload, which takes 90 minutes and is completed by 17h 126-1105.

Berthing Fees: Cr 100 for 6 days
X-mail Delivery revenue: Cr 25,000 (LBB2.81, p9)​

Fuel state aboard the Spinward Flex Courier is that 19.4 tons were used for a single jump-1 and the power plant has been operational for 10 days (4.2 tons), leaving only 26.9 tons of refined fuel remaining in the fuel tanks upon arrival at Garda-Vilis downport. The captain plans to fly the Spinward Flex Courier to the planetary ocean on day 3 (129-1105) for wilderness refueling before returning to the starport to await the arrival of any cargo and x-mail. This will provide ample time to complete the 16 hour routine drive maintenance and fuel purification prior to departure from Garda-Vilis.

Since Garda-Vilis has an interstellar community tech level (TL=10) and a type B starport, arrangements for bookings of passengers and cargo can all be completed within 1 day by 18h 127-1105 for arrival at the Garda-Vilis downport by 19h 131-1105 for loading into the Spinward Flex Courier.
On 127-1105, the captain pays out another half-month of crew salaries so the crew can "waste their pay" on Garda-Vilis, if they're so inclined.

Crew Salaries (2 weeks): Cr 3500​

All crew are to report fit for duty by afternoon 131-1105 (ship time) to ready the ship for departure and assist with cargo loading.

While negotiating for cargo, the captain of the Spinward Flex Courier proactively follows up on the tip given to them by the Free Trader for the consignment of computer parts and the intel on the cargo turns out to be substantially accurate. It's 30 tons of TL=10 computer parts on offer above regular market value, however prospects are decent that a good sell price for them can either be obtained on Choleosti and/or on Margesi, with Margesi being an even better market to sell the computer parts into than Choleosti (and the captain has a business card from a reputable brokerage firm on Margesi if prospects are poor at Choleosti). The Spinward Flex Courier captain accepts the offer to purchase the speculative cargo lot of 30 tons of computer parts at MCr 5.4 (half up front, half on delivery of the goods) with the intent of transporting the lot to Choleosti for sale (and if a sale can't be made at a profit there, it's on to Margesi where a certain brokerage firm has given good value for money in the past).

The captain books (up to 5 tons of) x-mail, along with 30 tons of speculative cargo (which the captain has to "buy" cargo space for to balance the books on the subsidy) and two minor cargoes of 5 and 5 tons bound for Choleosti.

Life Support cost: Cr 4000 (2 staterooms)
Cargo Transport revenue: Cr 40,000 (40 tons)
Speculative Cargo purchase: MCr 5.4 (30 tons)
Speculative Cargo transport cost: Cr 30,000 (30 tons)​

Loading of x-mail and cargo into the Spinward Flex Courier begins at 19h 131-1105 and takes 90 minutes, being completed by 21h 131-1105.

Clearance for departure from the Garda-Vilis downport for an outbound trajectory to the jump point is delayed by 2 hours due to a surprise immigration and customs inspection of departing ships searching for suspected contraband and/or persons of interest. Heightened tensions planetside have resulted in a tightening of security checks at the starport. At 23h 131-1105 the Spinward Flex Courier is cleared for liftoff and begins the outbound transit of 1,430,000km to the jump point, which at 6G takes 163 minutes (3 hours). During this transit to the jump point (2D6+1=4) there are no starship encounters.

At 2h 132-1105, the Spinward Flex Courier initiates jump-1 to Choleosti/Vilis.
Time spent in jump will be 158 hours.
Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Choleosti/Vilis (near the gas giant Monoda) will occur at 16h 138-1105.

Total gross costs in Garda-Vilis system: Cr 5,437,600
Total gross revenue in Garda-Vilis system: Cr 65,000
Remaining revenue after subsidy: Cr 32,500
Net profit in Garda-Vilis system: Cr -5,405,100
Total net profit from 0h 001-1105 through 20h 145-1105: Cr 13,072,850​

 

[Spinward Flow]

So events at Garda-Vilis were somewhat surprising for me to see unfold ... particularly since the way everything shook out meant that Team Spinward Flex Courier were able to extend their lead over Team Far Trader by a mere Cr 200 through the Garda-Vilis system. I don't know about anyone else, but I consider that a rather remarkable outcome(!) ... but the balance sheets don't lie (or at least, they aren't lying YET... ).

The Far Trader generated more than 2x the gross revenue of the Spinward Flex Courier (Cr 134,640 vs Cr 65,000) before the 50% subsidy rake ... while also having a lot more expenses to pay for in orbital shuttle services, refined fuel, life support, crew salaries and speculative cargo transport fees. It's really fascinating to watch these two starships get put through their (economic) paces like this.

Trouble is, opportunities for Team Far Trader to catch up to Team Spinward Flex Courier may be drying up as we head into the return leg of the race here. In terms of meaningful chances, there's only Choleosti, Margesi, Vilis, Saurus (Tavonni doesn't really count), Lanth and D'Ganzio left to run ... a mere 6 more trading opportunities ... and this was the stretch of the route where Team Spinward Flex Courier built up their profit lead while flying in the opposite direction. If Team Far Trader can't take the lead in profitability by the time they reach Saurus, it's unlikely they will be able to at Lanth or D'Ganzio ... and Saurus is only 3 more jumps away after breakout at Choleosti. They've been able to make up their lost profit margin deficit from Garda-Vilis through Ficant and back to Garda-Vilis, but can they continue their streak after coming so close ... or will Team Spinward Flex Courier start to pull away from them again and open up their profit margin lead once more?

Also, at this point in the race, Team Spinward Flex Courier is going to reach breakout from jump at Choleosti 7 days and 4 hours ahead of Team Far Trader ... and the 6G vs 1G maneuver drive advantage is going be a rather large difference in the transit time from the jump point to the starport again (6 hours vs 13 hours). So even with everything else being equal, the Spinward Flex Courier is going to add at least another 14 hours to their time lead on Team Far Trader in the Choleosti system (assuming no pirate encounters) due to their powerful maneuver drive performance. With the way the race is structured, those gains of an hour here, a few hours there, reducing the time spent in transit to and from the jump points is actually starting to add up to meaningful quantities of time advantage. A mere 10 day shorter route run time, amortized over 40 years of starship operation, can add up to 1-2 (possibly even 3?) extra laps along the entire trade route depending on the turnaround time after completing overhauls at D'Ganzio. We'll need to check the data sheet projections after both starships have crossed the finish line to determine the answer to this particular question!

The speculative cargo of computer parts was something of a surprise when it showed up on the market. Last time, Garda-Vilis offered up 8 tons of ammunition that both starships needed to get to Ficant in order to unload it at a profit. Will a good price for those computer parts be had at Choleosti, or will both captains need to carry the load of those computer parts all the way to Margesi? Will those computer parts wind up being sold for a profit, or at a loss? Either possibility can still come true!

At any rate, still an impressively interesting turn of events and results thus far in the Race to Profitability! Be sure to stay tuned for future updates!
Same jump time.
Same jump channel.

 

[Grav_Moped]

You have ... but both of them differ in their details.
You can't have 10 staterooms and 1G maneuver on the exact same ship that has only 6 staterooms and 2G maneuver. That's two different ship designs. Can you "trade" one for the other? Of course! But the passenger capacity changes when you do that, which means the revenue capacity changes too.

In other words, you can't have it "both ways" (in a quantum uncertainty sense) at the same time depending on which version of the ship is advantageous to have at any given time (it's 1G when we need more passenger capacity and 2G when we need to land on high gravity worlds of size: 9-A).

As for which version matches Supplement 7 ... that's easy.
10 staterooms and 61 tons of cargo means BAA drives which means Jump-2, Manevuer-1, Power Plant-1 ... which means it's a LBB2.77 Far Trader ... just like how the X-Boats are also a LBB2.77 design (that don't need 40 tons of power plant fuel for a power plant-4 to power a jump-4 drive that needs another 40 tons of fuel to jump and 20 tons for a bridge and...).

Like I said, nail in the coffin for which one is represented in Supplement 7.

A Far Trader with BAA drives could externally transport up to 200 tons of cargo through jump-1 ... but it can't maneuver with that external load (A drives not valid for 400 tons), so a Far Trader would have 0G maneuver with such an external load.
...

Obviously. But I think we're talking past each other. If external loads aren't allowed (and LBB2 doesn't address them), the '77 version of the A2 is better than the '81 version because it has a significantly higher payload fraction. On the other hand, if external loads are allowed then the '81 version (2G) is the more profitable of the two because it can be operated in a 400Td J1/1G configuration.

You've been using the '77 version for comparison. Of course the '81 version loses money under the LBB2 trade rules without speculative cargo (it might be profitable on a standard subsidy contract but I haven't run the numbers). That said, if you're going to allow external loads, you really should be comparing against a ship (version) that can actually carry them rather than ruling it out.

The important difference between LBB2 and LBB5 jump drives when considering external stores is that LBB2 drive outputs scale linearly, LBB5 ones don't. A Size B Jump Drive is J2 in 200Td, J1 in 400Td. A LBB5 drive sized for J2 in 200Td (6Td) can only push 300Td at J1.

 

[Spinward Flow]

If external loads aren't allowed (and LBB2 doesn't address them), the '77 version of the A2 is better than the '81 version because it has a significantly higher payload fraction. On the other hand, if external loads are allowed then the '81 version (2G) is the more profitable of the two because it can be operated in a 400Td J1/1G configuration.

In which case, considering the fact that the "rules" for the Race to Profitability were set to NOT include external cargo hauling as part of the competition, that just means Advantage: 77 Far Trader version for the purposes of this specific race setup.

As for the 81 Far Trader version with BBB drives capable of "towing" up to 200 tons of external (major) cargo ... it is true that such a configuration would be exchanging passenger capacity for external towing capacity (4 staterooms of 16 tons internal vs 200 tons external) on a "full manifest" basis would yield a Cr 40,000 vs Cr 200,000 revenue advantage to the 81 Far Trader with BBB drives running in a 200+200=400 ton J1/1G profile. However, that option runs into a pretty serious limitation rather quickly ... the details of the trade route.

In this specific case, the trade route is mostly 2 parsec jumps, except for the part of the route on the Vilis Trace (Choleosti, Garda-Vilis, Arkadia to be specific). So while such an external cargo towing capacity could be used quite successfully between those 3 systems, an 81 Far Trader lacks the fuel capacity to jump more than 1 parsec while laden with external cargo (60 tons of fuel on the BBB drive version, and jump-1 for 400 tons is 40 tons). This means that an "uprated" LBB2.81 Far Trader with BBB drives can operationally only make use of its external cargo towing capacity on interstellar jumps of only 1 parsec due to fuel limitations to the range ... unless an aftermarket option for additional fuel capacity is added (inflatable fuel bladder in the cargo hold is the most reasonable and flexible option).

So a LBB2.81 Far Trader with BBB drives would need to carry additional fuel in its cargo bay in order to be able to jump-1 twice to ferry external cargo across a 2 parsec distance between star systems. Best way to achieve that range performance upgrade would be to remove one of the low berths and replace it with storage for a 40 ton inflatable fuel bladder.

Point being, if such a Far Trader needed to ferry a cargo load of up to 200 tons externally it could do it by sacrificing its entire internal cargo hold capacity temporarily for fuel so as to perform 2J1 on a lot of the D'Ganzio to Ficant route.

Mind you, this is EXACTLY the same thing the Spinward Flex Courier is designed to be capable of doing, so as to be able to achieve 2J1 with up to 97 tons of external cargo while having sufficient fuel reserves to accomplish the feat ... so it is certainly doable. The tradeoff though is that a (aftermarket modified) LBB2.81 Far Trader with BBB drives and 40-ton inflatable fuel bladder only has accommodations for 3 high/mid passengers and 3 low passengers, and can transport either 45 tons of internal cargo by 1J2 or up to 200 tons of external cargo by 2J1 ... which is a pretty steep commitment to make at the ship design and construction stage of things.

In the right market(s), I imagine that such an arrangement could work out brilliantly ... but it won't be quite so wonderful in just any old market anywhere. 200 tons of major cargo isn't necessarily something that will be available in every port of call (for one thing, no major cargo gets shipped to amber zone worlds, only minor and incidental cargoes). So depending on your trade route (planned and/or unplanned), that extra external cargo carrying capacity may wind up being more trouble than it's worth when wheeling and dealing your way through backwater (and amber zone) world markets, since the whole point of the BBB drive configuration Far Trader is to place heavier bets on the availability of major cargo tonnage needing to be shipped.

You've been using the '77 version for comparison. Of course the '81 version loses money under the LBB2 trade rules without speculative cargo (it might be profitable on a standard subsidy contract but I haven't run the numbers). That said, if you're going to allow external loads, you really should be comparing against a ship (version) that can actually carry them rather than ruling it out.

Because the LBB2.77 Far Trader version is the one I have (easy) access to via LBB S7. This was documented before the race even began.

The rules for the Race to Profitability clearly state that all cargo shipped interstellar MUST be carried internally in cargo bays, so as to favor the LBB2.77 Far Trader as much as possible in how the race is structured in order to highlight the unique design features of each starship (and the thinking that informs those design choices) in a campaign style context. So while the Spinward Flex Courier is unable to make use of this capacity in the context of the race, the LBB2.77 Far Trader "loses nothing" by being incapable of towing external loads via maneuver or jump during the race.

Advantage: Far Trader ... and yet, even with that advantage, the Far Trader is still losing the Race to Profitability at this point ... both in total profit margin to date (absolute value) and in profit over time (rate of return value).
Go figure.

Two of the contributing factors behind that "poorer showing" by the Far Trader in this competition are bound up in the lack of a fuel purification plant ("forcing" the purchase of refined fuel from starports to avoid misjump opportunities) and a 1G maneuver drive which cannot usefully wilderness refuel at Lanth or Saurus (1G surface gravity) or Garda-Vilis (over 1G surface gravity, so orbital shuttle services are also required) or from the gas giant at D'Ganzio (takes too long to transit ~600,000,000km at 1G).

The important difference between LBB2 and LBB5 jump drives when considering external stores is that LBB2 drive outputs scale linearly, LBB5 ones don't. A Size B Jump Drive is J2 in 200Td, J1 in 400Td. A LBB5 drive sized for J2 in 200Td (6Td) can only push 300Td at J1.

I am WELL aware of that difference in performance profiles when operating under external loads.

 

[Spinward Flow]

If external loads aren't allowed (and LBB2 doesn't address them), the '77 version of the A2 is better than the '81 version because it has a significantly higher payload fraction. On the other hand, if external loads are allowed then the '81 version (2G) is the more profitable of the two because it can be operated in a 400Td J1/1G configuration.

I've been mulling over this point for the past day and wondering if there is a more "provable" way to make the case concerning it. On a conceptual level, absent any "terrain" considerations for astrogation and the like, what you're saying here Grav_Moped makes perfect sense.

However, a LBB2.81 Far Trader "optimized" for external loads (meaning some significant aftermarket modification, ideally speaking) is going to be a rather different beast of a starship than the "standard" LBB2.77 Far Trader. A Jump Tug/Maneuver Tug Far Trader optimized for external loads would have to use a modified business model that is intended to service a somewhat different market segment than the more standard internal only Far Trader.

The problem that you rapidly run into with such a conversion is that your preferred routes for best use cases will tend towards jump-1 main routes, which are inherently limiting to freedom of navigation, rather than being able to make use of jump-2 trade routes like I'm using here with the D'Ganzio to Ficant to D'Ganzio linear reversing route.

Another complication would be that there is no Major Cargo shipping to Amber Zone worlds (and no cargo at all to Red Zone worlds, per LBB2.81, p11 and LBB7 p39, so the cargo restriction is consistent across LBBs).



However, if you're willing to run a route that is a mix of jump-1 and jump-2 ... so sometimes there is external cargo hauling (jump-1) and sometimes there isn't (jump-2) ... things can get very complicated/interesting in something of a hurry rather quickly. Add in "flex fuel" capacity using an inflatable fuel bladder combined with a large enough cargo bay capacity (like I'm doing with the Spinward Flex Courier here) and matters can get very interesting in a flexible internal/external cargo loading route planning scenario.

In fact ... with external loading "permitted" it's even possible to have an external passenger module (40 tons, close structure configuration, 10 staterooms) that can be carried internally in the cargo bay when jump-2 performance is needed, or externally when jump-1 performance is acceptable and the internal cargo space is needed for something else (cargo, fuel, etc.). Furthermore, since Major Cargo does not get shipped to Amber Zone worlds, you can set up your route to be jump-2 inbound to an Amber Zone world (no external Major Cargo load) and jump-1 outbound from an Amber Zone world (external Major Cargo likely).



Should be an interesting challenge to simulate as a test case.
However, given the extensive modification that a Far Trader would need to undergo in order to make such a starship configuration possible, I'm thinking that wholesale aftermarket "rice" modification of the Far Trader for such an external cargo hauling specialized role would make a lot of sense ... meaning the Far Trader entered into the competition wouldn't be "stock" from the shipyard like it is for the race against the Spinward Flex Courier.

Yes ... a(nother) race between a heavily modified Far Trader rebuilt for external cargo loading and a Spinward X-Courier (the 5G, TL=11 version) with both starships "responsible" for a 40-ton passenger module that they alternately transport either internally or externally sounds like an EXCELLENT idea! I'll be able to take everything I've learned running this first Race to Profitability from D'Ganzio to Ficant and then apply it to setting up and running a second race somewhere else in the Spinward Marches to test the proposition of direct comparison of advantages under slightly different conditions with a different astrogation route setup.

It means I'll need to play Naval Architect again for the LBB2.81 A2.2 Far Trader design so as to give it the necessary modifications to compete in the race, but it should be interesting to see the results!
Guess I'll post that race in the Spinward X-Courier thread once I've finished this race and tallied the results over here, so ... something to look forward to, I guess.

 

[Grav_Moped]

A Jump Tug/Maneuver Tug Far Trader optimized for external loads would have to use a modified business model that is intended to service a somewhat different market segment than the more standard internal only Far Trader.

The problem that you rapidly run into with such a conversion is that your preferred routes for best use cases will tend towards jump-1 main routes, which are inherently limiting to freedom of navigation, rather than being able to make use of jump-2 trade routes like I'm using here with the D'Ganzio to Ficant to D'Ganzio linear reversing route.

That's where I was going with the exercise. A "mostly-optimized Type R," even with collapsible tanks to make 2-parsec hops, absolutely isn't practical for this mission. But it's a way to turn an otherwise inherently unprofitable ship into one that can more than sustain itself.

The canon Type R has its own issues, some of which show up in the Big Far Trader (Type R2) thread (though in fairness, it promptly derails into "ok, why can't it get by on a 1G maneuver drive?" and thence to discussions of Entry, Descent, and Landing.

 

[Spinward Flow]

That's where I was going with the exercise. A "mostly-optimized Type R," even with collapsible tanks to make 2-parsec hops, absolutely isn't practical for this mission. But it's a way to turn an otherwise inherently unprofitable ship into one that can more than sustain itself.

I know, which is why it's an interesting theoretical test case to explore.

The canon Type R has its own issues, some of which show up in the Big Far Trader (Type R2) thread (though in fairness, it promptly derails into "ok, why can't it get by on a 1G maneuver drive?" and thence to discussions of Entry, Descent, and Landing.

Yeah, that thread derailed REALLY quickly. o:
However, if you change the justification for 2G maneuver from "I want to VTOL on size:8+ worlds with no problem" into instead being "I want to have at least 1G maneuver while hauling external loads" then that changes the underlying calculus as to the justification for the "overpowering" of the maneuver drives above the 1G performance baseline. After all, the maneuver drives only produce 1G or more acceleration under external load if you start with a 2G or higher maneuver drive.

Speaking of which ... Type-S Scout/Courier have AAA drives that yield Jump-1, Maneuver-1, Power Plant-1 when towing an external load of up to 100 tons. Kind of makes me wonder if a Scout/Courier towing a 100 tons externally might in some places with type A/B starports (eliminates piracy encounters) with highports in orbit make for an excellent light transporter of Major Cargo. Being able to earn up to Cr 100,000 per Jump-1 for 100 tons of external cargo on the overhead costs for a Scout/Courier (slightly used ) starts looking like a compelling use case scenario for being able to make some quick credits should the need arise.

Hmmmm. :CoW:

 

[Spinward Flow]

Speaking of which ... Type-S Scout/Courier have AAA drives that yield Jump-1, Maneuver-1, Power Plant-1 when towing an external load of up to 100 tons. Kind of makes me wonder if a Scout/Courier towing a 100 tons externally might in some places with type A/B starports (eliminates piracy encounters) with highports in orbit make for an excellent light transporter of Major Cargo. Being able to earn up to Cr 100,000 per Jump-1 for 100 tons of external cargo on the overhead costs for a Scout/Courier (slightly used ) starts looking like a compelling use case scenario for being able to make some quick credits should the need arise.

Hmmmm. :CoW:

Crumbs.
This idea just is NOT going away.
Now I'm going to have to look into the possibility of refurbishing a 40 year old surplus Type-S and refitting it into being optimized as a light external cargo transporter tug. Icing on the cake would be if the refit version winds up costing less than the standard version (by swapping out stuff that has price tags on them for stuff that doesn't).

The real trick would be figuring out what size of cargo bay could be achieved, and if "the size is right" could it be used as an inflatable fuel bladder flex fuel option to extend the range. Due to the way that the fuel formuia in LBB2 works (egregiously inefficient for 100 ton starships), I might have to resort to a LBB5 upgrade to a custom design in order to make everything fit.

Blorpfh.

 

[mike wightman]

Been there, done that...

a 95t podule that the type s sticks into adding 95t - configurable as you see fit with cargo, passengers, mail vault or whatever - was my idea for this a few years ago. Inspiration was the hyperdrive frame that jedi starfighters use tor FTL only in this case it is a jump equipped starship that docks with the podule.

Another ship I considers was the x-boat - lots of them around and you get a jump 4 engine. The podule can be bigger and include an m-drive or you can just weld smallcraft and cutter modules to the hull

 

[Grav_Moped]

Been there, done that...

a 95t podule that the type s sticks into adding 95t - configurable as you see fit with cargo, passengers, mail vault or whatever - was my idea for this a few years ago. Inspiration was the hyperdrive frame that jedi starfighters use tor FTL only in this case it is a jump equipped starship that docks with the podule.

Another ship I considers was the x-boat - lots of them around and you get a jump 4 engine. The podule can be bigger and include an m-drive or you can just weld smallcraft and cutter modules to the hull

It's worth mentioning that an LBB2 XBoat can sling 100Td at J2. The LBB5 version can only drag 66.5Td along that far. Yeah, we all knew that...

 

[Spinward Flow]

It's worth mentioning that an LBB2 XBoat can sling 100Td at J2.

The problem with that plan?
Being able to maneuver after breakout from jump ... o:

You're supposed to make deliveries to the starport (if you're a merchant), in orbit or on the mainworld's surface ... not to empty space ... a 100+ diameters away from anything useful.

Also, how do you plan to refuel that XBoat after breakout without a maneuver drive?
I'm uh ... asking for a friend ... who keeps needing to be, y'know ... rescued ...



CAN it be done?
Sure it can.

SHOULD you try and do it?
Um ... o:

 

[Grav_Moped]

The problem with that plan?
Being able to maneuver after breakout from jump ... o:

You're supposed to make deliveries to the starport (if you're a merchant), in orbit or on the mainworld's surface ... not to empty space ... a 100+ diameters away from anything useful.

Also, how do you plan to refuel that XBoat after breakout without a maneuver drive?
I'm uh ... asking for a friend ... who keeps needing to be, y'know ... rescued ...



CAN it be done?
Sure it can.

SHOULD you try and do it?
Um ... o:

There's a genre of ships built with surplus XBoats as a core (it comes up every once in a while). Typically the add-on component includes a maneuver drive. Yeah, rules as written says you can't, but the Rule of Cool says house-rule it and let it fly.

The obvious example uses the 95Td Shuttle from LBB2. Not terribly efficient operationally, but if you pick up the XBoat cheap ('cause it's worn out) it might make sense.

 

[Spinward Flow]

There's a genre of ships built with surplus XBoats as a core (it comes up every once in a while). Typically the add-on component includes a maneuver drive. Yeah, rules as written says you can't, but the Rule of Cool says house-rule it and let it fly.

The obvious example uses the 95Td Shuttle from LBB2. Not terribly efficient operationally, but if you pick up the XBoat cheap ('cause it's worn out) it might make sense.

I think I might have just stumbled upon the ultimate expression of this idea after doing the ST Scout/X-Courier and the way it works with an X-Boat is even more bonkers than that ship wound up being.

• 1 X-Boat (surplus)
• 1 100-ton Standard Hull non-starship with -CC drives in it (15 tons) for Maneuver-6, Power Plant-6 and needs 60 tons of fuel for the power plant (which is also enough to refuel the X-Boat in 1 trip), leaving 25 tons for bridge, computer, staterooms, fire control, cargo, etc.

With just the X-Boat and Non-starship docked together the combination achieves Jump-2, Maneuver-3 at 200 tons of displacement in a "clean" configuration. However, the towing capacity of the combination would be 200 tons of external cargo yielding a Jump-1, Maneuver-1, Power Plant-1 performance at a combined 400 tons of displacement.

The problem with that plan is that 1 X-Boat costs about MCr 70.65 (new, in quantity), while 1 ST Scout/X-Courier costs MCr 32.1 (new, in quantity) ... meaning that all else being equal, it's cheaper to buy 2x ST Scout/X-Courier to transport 200 tons of external cargo than it is to buy even 1x X-Boat which then needs another hull (more expense!) to be docked to it just in order to be able maneuver 200 tons of external cargo. What you wind up with then is something on the order of 3x the cost of the ST Scout/X-Courier in order to haul 2x the external cargo ... which just isn't going to work economically when comparing the two options against each other.

Bottom line being, using surplus X-Boats to sling external cargo 1-2 parsecs is way more expensive than it's worth. Not a good use case business scenario, all things considered.
Better than nothing if you have no alternatives ... but if there are Type S Scout/Couriers available for conversion (and in Imperial space, you better believe there's plenty of them available for conversion!) ... not so much. :toast:

 

[Grav_Moped]

You've just discovered the awesome power of the LBB2 Standard Hull Discount.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Choleosti C200100 – 9 (Non-industrial, Vacuum World, G) to Margesi C575677 – 6 (Agricultural, Non-industrial, A)

Origin (Choleosti): Starport C, Size 2, Population 1
Destination (Margesi): Starport C, Size 5, Population 6, Amber Zone
DM: -6 (passenger), +0 (cargo), +3 (tech level), -1 first die (speculative cargo)
Passengers: No High, 1D-2 Middle, 2D-6 Low
Cargo: No Major, 1D-4 Minor, No Incidental
Starship Encounters: C 2D (10 is pirate)
Gas Giant: Choleosti data specifies the mainworld is a moon of the gas giant (1) in-system.
Gas Giant (Monoda): 1D=4 is a Small Gas Giant (LBB6, p28)
Small Gas Giant radius is 20,000km to 60,000km (LBB6, p39), so (2D6-2)*4000+20,000=(4-2)*4000+20,000=28,000km radius (56,000km diameter)
100 diameters from gas giant = 5,600,000km
Choleosti orbit of gas giant (2D=5=close) at (2D6=6) 7 radii from Monoda, 196,000km (LBB6, p28).

Passengers
1D-5 = 3-5 = 0 Middle
2D-9 = 8-9 = 0 Low

Cargo
1D-1 = 2-1 = 1 Minor (20 ton lot)

Speculative Cargo (buy)
22 Copper. Cr 2000 per ton (base price), DM: +0 price modifier. 50 tons
Buy price (2D+0=5): 80% base price (Cr 80,000 total)

Speculative Cargo (sell)
64 Computer Parts. Cr 150,000 per ton (base price), DM: +3 price modifier. 30 tons
Buy price (2D+3=11): 150% base price (MCr 6.75 total)



Far Trader

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Choleosti/Vilis occurs at 20h 145-1105, ~5,600,000km from Monoda, the small gas giant that Choleosti orbits at 168,000km above the planet's cloud tops (196,000km from the center of Monoda).
Transit to Choleosti downport is 5,404,000km, which at 1G takes 775 minutes (13 hours). During this descent to Choleosti (2D6=7) there is a starship encounter with a 400-ton Subsidized Merchant departing for the jump point, bound for Vilis. The Subsidized Merchant captain warns that they booked all the available departing passengers and cargo and are leaving with unused shipping capacity.

Although most type C starports have a highport and a downport, the limited population of 13 permanent inhabitants on the Choleosti moon, most of which maintain the automated starport, means the starport has no orbital highport facilities, requiring moonfall to the surface in order to access starport services.

By 9h 146-1105 the Far Trader has touched down in their assigned berth at the starport on Choleosti.
The Far Trader has 30 tons of cargo to unload and the 6 high passengers, 1 middle passenger disembark within the 90 minutes it takes to unload the cargo by 11h 146-1105.
Of the 4 low passengers, their survival (5+ on 2D6) rolls are 12, 5, 8 and 8, resulting in 1 "touch and go" recovery that requires an extra 1 hour to resuscitate successfully. All 4 low passengers are able to disembark by 12h 146-1105.

Berthing Fees: Cr 100 for 6 days​

Fuel state aboard the Far Trader is that 20 tons were used for a single jump-1 and the power plant has been operational for 13 days (4.7 tons), leaving only 0.3 tons of refined fuel remaining in the fuel tanks upon arrival at Cholesti Station. Since the gas giant Monoda is known to have a heavily contaminated atmosphere, which the specially built fuel purifiers of Cholesti Station is able to handle (albeit only up to unrefined standards), the captain decides to purchase 45 tons of unrefined fuel at the type C starport rather than risk skimming the nearby gas giant and having an even higher probability of a drive failure or misjump than is nominal when using unrefined fuel. The fuel transfer into the Far Trader's internal fuel tanks takes 1 hour. Routine 16 hour drive maintenance will be completed while the captain negotiates for cargo and passengers.

Unrefined fuel: Cr 4500 (45 tons)​

Owing to the fact that Choleosti is a moon with such a low population (code: 1) and an early interstellar tech level (TL=9), it takes only a few hours for the captain to realize that there is only a single minor cargo of 20 tons that has been sitting at the starport (for weeks already) waiting for a starship bound for Margesi. It also seems that the Subsidized Merchant captain was not lying about taking all the available passengers since no one wants to book passage to Margesi. Not wanting to waste more time on Choleosti than necessary, the captain prioritizes 16 hour routine drive maintenance with the intent to liftoff once drive maintenance has been completed by 3h 147-1105.



The captain also puts out the word of the speculative cargo of 30 tons of computer parts in the Far Trader's cargo hold, asking if there are any interested buyers and within 1 hour the starport chief operations officer (1 of the 13 permanent residents on the moon) has made an above market price offer for the computer parts of MCr 6.75 in order to keep the starport's automated services and facilities operational. As a courtesy to the starport's COO, the captain accepts the offer and declines to entertain any other offers. The speculative cargo of computer parts is unloaded by 16h 146-1105.

Speculative Cargo sale: MCr 6.75 (not subject to subsidy)​

At 23h 146-1105, 4 hours before liftoff, word comes in late of a discount priced speculative cargo opportunity for 50 tons of Copper, which the captain quickly realizes would need to be sold at 110% market rate on Margesi in order to make a profit on the deal, which the captain considers an unnecessary risk for not enough reward and declines to purchase the 50 ton lot of Copper.

The captain is only able to book one minor cargo of 20 tons and no passengers.

Life Support cost: Cr 6,000 (3 staterooms)
Cargo Transport revenue: Cr 20,000 (20 tons)​

Cargo loading takes 60 minutes and is completed by 1h 147-1105, 2 hours prior to completion of routine 16 hour drive maintenance.



Clearance to liftoff from the Cholesti Station is granted at 3h 147-1105 (with a word of personal thanks for the badly needed computer parts). The Far Trader begins its outbound transit to a jump point, a distance of 5,404,000km, which at 1G takes 775 minutes (13 hours). During this ascent away from Choleosti (2D6=10) a 400-ton Patrol Cruiser approaching on an intercept vector makes contact with the Far Trader 5 hours into the transit.

• Patrol Cruiser (comm): Attention Far Trader. This is the Choleosti system defense Patrol Cruiser. We have you on our scanners and are vectoring towards you. You are hereby ordered to cut your maneuver drives and prepare to be boarded for inspection of your passengers and cargo manifests for possible contraband. If you do not comply, we are authorized to open fire on your vessel. You have 1 minute to respond.

• Far Trader (comm): We read you Patrol Cruiser. We will comply with your orders. Shutting down maneuver drives. Be advised, we have no passengers aboard and only 20 tons of cargo bound for Margesi.

• Patrol Cruiser (comm): Acknowledged. Have everything in order for our inspection before we dock with your ship. Patrol Cruiser out.

The Patrol Cruiser docks with the Far Trader and the boarding party consists of 8 armed pirates, who immediately take control of the Far Trader and confine the Far Trader's 3 crew members to quarters. The pirates confiscate the 20 ton minor cargo (meaning the Cr 20,000 revenue for transporting it has to be refunded at the captain's expense), a process which takes 120 minutes for the transfer between cargo holds (type X starport "facilities" take 6 minutes per ton, so 2 hours to transfer 20 tons in space). The pirates also demand a ransom of (1D=6) MCr 6 to return control of the Far Trader to the captain. The Far Trader captain strongly suspects that these pirates are fully aware of the sale of computer parts to the Choleosti starport COO (and the price paid for those computer parts) less than 1 day ago, meaning there might be some back channel conspiracy involved, but suspicions are not proof. With no options in a 3 vs 8 fight and at a severe disadvantage, the Far Trader captain reluctantly agrees to pay the ransom.

Once the pirates have secured their confiscated cargo and ransom, they shut down the Far Trader's power plant cold, evacuate to their Patrol Cruiser, undock and accelerate away while the Far Trader's engineer initiates a power plant cold restart, which takes long enough for the Patrol Cruiser to accelerate beyond the range of the Far Trader's sensors before power can be restored. The disruption to the Far Trader's transit to the jump point costs an extra 8 hours and a substantial quantity of credits.

Confiscated Cargo Transport cost: Cr 20,000
Ransom cost: MCr 6​

At 0h 148-1105, the Far Trader initiates jump-2 to Margesi/Vilis with no passengers or cargo and (2D=7) a misjump does not occur.
Time spent in jump will be 166 hours.
Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Margesi/Vilis will occur at 22h 154-1105.

Total gross costs in Choleosti system: Cr 6,030,600
Total gross revenue in Choleosti system: Cr 20,000
Remaining revenue after subsidy: Cr 10,000
Speculative cargo sale (not subject to subsidy): Cr 6,750,000
Net profit in Choleosti system: Cr 729,400
Total net profit from 0h 001-1105 through 22h 154-1105: Cr 13,794,575​

 

[Spinward Flow]

Choleosti C200100 – 9 (Non-industrial, Vacuum World, G) to Margesi C575677 – 6 (Agricultural, Non-industrial, A)

Origin (Choleosti): Starport C, Size 2, Population 1
Destination (Margesi): Starport C, Size 5, Population 6, Amber Zone
DM: -6 (passenger), +0 (cargo), +3 (tech level), -1 first die (speculative cargo)
Passengers: No High, 1D-2 Middle, 2D-6 Low
Cargo: No Major, 1D-4 Minor, No Incidental
Starship Encounters: C 2D (10 is pirate)
Gas Giant: Choleosti data specifies the mainworld is a moon of the gas giant (1) in-system.
Gas Giant (Monoda): 1D=4 is a Small Gas Giant (LBB6, p28)
Small Gas Giant radius is 20,000km to 60,000km (LBB6, p39), so (2D6-2)*4000+20,000=(4-2)*4000+20,000=28,000km radius (56,000km diameter)
100 diameters from gas giant = 5,600,000km
Choleosti orbit of gas giant (2D=5=close) at (2D6=6) 7 radii from Monoda, 196,000km (LBB6, p28).

Passengers
1D-5 = 3-5 = 0 Middle
2D-9 = 8-9 = 0 Low

Cargo
1D-1 = 2-1 = 1 Minor (20 ton lot)

Speculative Cargo (buy)
22 Copper. Cr 2000 per ton (base price), DM: +0 price modifier. 50 tons
Buy price (2D+0=5): 80% base price (Cr 80,000 total)

Speculative Cargo (sell)
64 Computer Parts. Cr 150,000 per ton (base price), DM: +3 price modifier. 30 tons
Buy price (2D+3=11): 150% base price (MCr 6.75 total)



Spinward Flex Courier

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Choleosti/Vilis occurs at 16h 138-1105, ~5,600,000km from Monoda, the small gas giant that Choleosti orbits at 168,000km above the planet's cloud tops (196,000km from the center of Monoda).
Transit to Choleosti downport is 5,404,000km, which at 6G takes 317 minutes (6 hours). During this descent to Choleosti (2D6=7) there is a starship encounter with a 400-ton Subsidized Merchant departing for the jump point, bound for Vilis. The Subsidized Merchant captain warns that they booked all the available departing passengers and cargo and are leaving with unused shipping capacity.

Although most type C starports have a highport and a downport, the limited population of 13 permanent inhabitants on the Choleosti moon, most of which maintain the automated starport, means the starport has no orbital highport facilities, requiring moonfall to the surface in order to access starport services.

By 22h 138-1105 the Spinward Flex Courier has touched down in their assigned berth at the starport on Choleosti.
The Spinward Flex Courier has (up to 5 tons of) x-mail and 10 tons of cargo which takes 45 minutes to unload by 23h 138-1105.

Berthing Fees: Cr 100 for 6 days
X-mail Delivery revenue: Cr 25,000 (LBB2.81, p9)​

Fuel state aboard the Spinward Flex Courier is that 19.8 tons were used for a single jump-1 and the power plant has been operational for 9.5 days (4 tons), leaving only 26.7 tons of refined fuel remaining in the fuel tanks upon arrival at Cholesti Station. Since the gas giant Monoda is known to have a heavily contaminated atmosphere, which the specially built fuel purifiers of Cholesti Station is able to handle (albeit only up to unrefined standards), the captain decides to purchase 18 tons of unrefined fuel at the type C starport rather than risk skimming the nearby gas giant for contaminated fuel that can damage the onboard fuel purification plant. The fuel transfer into the Spinward Flex Courier's internal fuel tanks takes 1 hour and purification is completed after an additional 1 hour. Routine 16 hour drive maintenance will be completed while the captain negotiates for cargo and passengers.

Unrefined fuel: Cr 1800 (18 tons)​

Owing to the fact that Choleosti is a moon with such a low population (code: 1) and an early interstellar tech level (TL=9), it takes only a few hours for the captain to realize that there is only a single minor cargo of 20 tons that has been sitting at the starport (for weeks already) waiting for a starship bound for Margesi. Not wanting to waste more time on Choleosti than necessary, the captain prioritizes 16 hour routine drive maintenance with the intent to liftoff once drive maintenance has been completed by 14h 139-1105.



The captain also puts out the word of the speculative cargo of 30 tons of computer parts in the Spinward Flex Courier's cargo hold, asking if there are any interested buyers and within 1 hour the starport chief operations officer (1 of the 13 permanent residents on the moon) has made an above market price offer for the computer parts of MCr 6.75 in order to keep the starport's automated services and facilities operational. As a courtesy to the starport's COO, the captain accepts the offer and declines to entertain any other offers. The speculative cargo of computer parts is unloaded by 3h 139-1105.

Speculative Cargo sale: MCr 6.75 (not subject to subsidy)​

At 10h 139-1105, 4 hours before liftoff, word comes in late of a discount priced speculative cargo opportunity for 50 tons of Copper, which the captain quickly realizes would need to be sold at 110% market rate on Margesi in order to make a profit on the deal, which the captain considers an unnecessary risk for not enough reward and declines to purchase the 50 ton lot of Copper (which is larger than the Spinward Flex Courier's internal cargo capacity anyway).

The captain is only able to book (up to 5 tons of) x-mail and one minor cargo of 20 tons.

Life Support cost: Cr 4,000 (2 staterooms)
Cargo Transport revenue: Cr 20,000 (20 tons)​

Cargo loading takes 60 minutes and is completed by 12h 139-1105, 2 hours prior to completion of routine 16 hour drive maintenance.



Clearance to liftoff from the Cholesti Station is granted at 14h 139-1105 (with a word of personal thanks for the badly needed computer parts). The Spinward Flex Courier begins its outbound transit to a jump point, a distance of 5,404,000km, which at 6G takes 317 minutes (6 hours). During this ascent away from Choleosti (2D6=10) a 400-ton Patrol Cruiser approaching on an intercept vector makes contact with the Spinward Flex Courier 5 hours into the transit.

• Patrol Cruiser (comm): Attention … Spinward- flux? ... Flex Courier. This is the Choleosti system defense Patrol Cruiser. We have you on our scanners and are vectoring towards you. You are hereby ordered to cut your maneuver drives and prepare to be boarded for inspection of your passengers and cargo manifests for possible contraband. If you do not comply, we are authorized to open fire on your vessel. You have 1 minute to respond.

• Spinward Flex Courier (private comm to Cholesti Station): Starport Control, this is Spinward Flex Courier en route to jump point. Do you even HAVE a system defense Patrol Cruiser under your authority? o:

• Cholesti Station Control (private comm to Spinward Flex Courier): No. Why do you ask?

• Spinward Flex Courier (private comm to Cholesti Station): Just checking. SFC out.

• Patrol Cruiser (comm): Repeat. You are hereby ordered to cut your maneuver drives and prepare to be boarded for inspection of your passengers and cargo manifests for possible contraband. If you do not comply, we are authorized to open fire on your vessel! Respond immediately! :rant:

• Spinward Flex Courier alters course to vector away from suspicious Patrol Cruiser at 6G acceleration in order to make a break for the jump point.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Spinward Flex Courier



Begin combat. (LBB5.80, p38-49)

1. Battle formation: Patrol Cruiser and Spinward Flex Courier are the only combatants, both are on the front line.
2. Initiative determination: Spinward Flex Courier has higher agility and gets +1 DM on initiative roll.
   Patrol Cruiser (1D=3)
   Spinward Flex Courier (1D+1=2)
   
   Patrol Cruiser wins initiative.​
3. Range determination: combat automatically begins at long range on first round.
4. Pre-combat decision: Spinward Flex Courier is Breaking Off by Acceleration from long range. Patrol Cruiser does not use Emergency Agility.
   Patrol Cruiser: computer 3, agility: 2
   Spinward Flex Courier: computer 2, agility: 6
5. Combat step: both ships fire all weapons at each other.
   Patrol Cruiser (TL=10, LBB2.81 p20): 6 Pulse Lasers (1 battery, code: 3), 6 Missile Launchers (1 battery, code: 3)
   Spinward Flex Courier (TL=13): 1 Missile Launcher (1 battery, code: 2), 1 Sandcaster (1 battery, code: 3)
   • Hit determination
     • Patrol Cruiser Pulse Lasers: code 3 = 7 to hit
       DMs: +1 (relative computer) -6 (target agility) -1 (size modifier) -1 (long range modifier) = -7
       Pulse Lasers require 14+ on 2D to hit. Lasers cannot hit so they are reserved for missile defense.
     • Patrol Cruiser Missile Launchers: code 3 = 5 to hit
       DMs: +1 (relative computer) -6 (target agility) -1 (size modifier) = -6
       Missile Launchers require 11+ on 2D to hit. 2D=7. Missile Launchers miss.
     • Spinward Flex Courier Missile Launcher: code 2 = 6 to hit
       DMs: -1 (relative computer), -2 (target agility), -1 (size modifier) = -4
       Missile Launcher requires 10+ on 2D to hit. 2D=5. Missile Launcher misses.
   • Defensive Fire: no attacks hit targets, so Patrol Cruiser laser defense is not needed and Spinward Flex Courier sandcaster defense is not needed.
   • Passive Defense: skip.
   • Damage Determination: skip.
6. Damage Step: skip.
7. Breakthrough Step: skip.
8. Pursuit Step: Spinward Flex Courier (agility 6) successfully breaks off by acceleration from Patrol Cruiser (agility 2) and escapes the battle.
9. Terminal Step: skip.

End combat.



Evasion of the Patrol Cruiser adds 2 hours to the transit time to the jump point for the Spinward Flex Courier due to alteration of course trajectory.

At 22h 139-1105, the Spinward Flex Courier initiates jump-2 to Margesi/Vilis.
Time spent in jump will be 166 hours.
On 141-1105, the captain pays out the another half-month of crew salaries prior to breakout at Margesi.

Crew Salaries (2 weeks): Cr 3500​

Breakout from jump at ~100 diameters from Margesi/Vilis will occur at 20h 146-1105.

Total gross costs in Choleosti system: Cr 9400
Total gross revenue in Choleosti system: Cr 45,000
Remaining revenue after subsidy: Cr 22,500
Speculative cargo sale (not subject to subsidy): Cr 6,750,000
Net profit in Choleosti system: Cr 6,763,100
Total net profit from 0h 001-1105 through 20h 146-1105: Cr 19,835,950​

 

[Spinward Flow]

And there we have it.

Choleosti (Traveller wiki link)

Choleosti population lives underground and operates the largely automated port. In fact, there is more to Choleosti. While the permanent population, an extended family who have claimed part of Choleosti as their property, is small, the actual number of people in the system at any particular time usually numbers in the hundreds.

The sole established entity is the Cholesti Station. The Station survives by providing fuel and minor repairs to any and all who stop by. It is often thought of as a pirates haven, but receives enough business from the subsector navy to keep the pirates polite. The station is on the major moon of the large gas giant. The heavily contaminated nature of the gas giant makes the prepared fuel attractive. The Cholesti Station specially-built purifiers do not feature this problem. The station posses 1 million tons of local storage of fuel and capacity for additional 100,000 tons per week means even large Imperial fleets don't have to stay long. In exchange for free refueling of Imperial Naval and scout vessels, the Imperium maintains a platoon of well armed marines to 'assist' with keeping the peace. They patrol infrequently, usually staying in their small base adjoining the Station unless trouble breaks out.

Emphasis added on the quote from the Traveller wiki page to explain both how (and why) events turned out so differently for the two starships in this Race to Profitability.

In other words, it shouldn't take too much reading between the lines to figure out the backstory behind what went down. :coffeesip:



The way I figure it ... even if the Far Trader had been armed (which it isn't in this race), they wouldn't have been capable of trading fire with a Patrol Cruiser and expect to escape unscathed. For one thing, under LBB5.80, if the Patrol Cruiser's turrets are organized into a single pulse laser battery (these are discount pirates out on the fringe of Imperial space, which is why they don't have beam lasers) and a single missle rack battery, those weapons have code: 3 each at TL=10. Against a hull size code: 2- ship, that's an automatic Critical Hit against a 200-299 ton hull ... and TWO automatic Critical Hits against a 100-199 ton hull ... if either of those weapons hit.

And this is where having a better computer (model/2 in a Spinward Flex Courier vs a model/1bis in a Far Trader) starts to pay off in combat situations.
The relative computer size modifier against the Spinward Flex Courier was only +1/-1 in favor of the model/3 on the Patrol Cruiser.
In the same combat situation, the Far Trader would have been at +2/-2 relative to the model/3 on the Patrol Cruiser.

And then there's the difference between Agility=6 and Agility=1 due to maneuver drives and power plants.

So the To Hit rolls for the Patrol Cruiser were 14+ with pulse lasers and 11+ with missiles at long range against a model/2 and Agility=6 Spinward Flex Courier.
Against a Far Trader, those To Hit rolls would have been 8+ for pulse lasers and 5+ for missiles respectively at long range ... due to model/1bis and Agility=1 Far Trader. :toast: :toast:

Now add in the fact that even if the Far Trader didn't get hit (or damaged) in the first round of combat ... it would have NO WAY OF ESCAPING the battle except by jumping ... within 100 diameters of the gas giant, due to the scenario described. It could be done, I suppose, by the end of round 2 of combat (at a greater risk of a misjump) after needing to declare the intent to break off by jumping in the pre-combat decision step of round 1 in order to build up the necessary EPs to jump at the end of round 2. The problem is, that means the Far Trader would be exposed to attacks for 2 combat rounds, not just 1 ... so 4 shots instead of only 2 ... and if the Patrol Cruiser won initiative in round 2 and chose close range in round 2, their To Hit rolls would have been 7+ for pulse lasers and 6+ for missiles in round 2.

When ANY hits from the Patrol Cruiser's weapons means an automatic critical hit (weapon code:3 vs hull code: 2) and the Patrol Cruiser gets to attack with dice rolls of 8+/5+ (long range) or 7+/6+ (short range) ... if I'm the Far Trader captain on the receiving end of that incoming fire ... the situation is NOT LOOKING GOOD for being able to escape unscathed. o:



Contrast that Far Trader scenario with what just happened in the Spinward Flex Courier scenario.
Because the starship had a powerful maneuver drive (and no energy weapons) the captain had high confidence in not only being able to evade incoming fire but also break off by acceleration from the battle so as to limit exposure to incoming fire to the absolute minimum. Furthermore, the objective wasn't to "disable" the Patrol Cruiser or otherwise "win" the engagement ... instead, the overriding objective was to escape and get out of weapons range. The Spinward Flex Courier successfully "foiled" the pirate attack simply by outrunning it, which any starship with a 4G or less maneuver drive would NOT have been able to do. :coffeegulp:

Although, if the Patrol Cruiser's missiles shot HAD hit, the roll needed to penetrate the sandcaster defense would have been 4+ on 2D, so the sandcaster would have been unlikely to save the Spinward Flex Courier from taking 2 automatic critical hits (weapon code: 3, hull code: 1), in addition to surface damage if the (HE, not nuclear, see: discount pirates above) missile shot had hit. So a lucky/unlucky missile hit would have really ruined the Spinward Flex Courier ... but fortunately, that was a rather unlikely (not impossible, just unlikely) outcome of the battle.

And it's precisely this kind of performance producing this result which is why I spent so much time extolling the virtues of having a powerful maneuver drive (and high agility) when it comes to the challenge of being a trader operating out on the fringes of Imperial space, where pirate attacks are a concern ... not just for "merchant prince" captains, but also for the accounting departments of the merchant lines who are backing them in the market space.



At this point in the race, following that pirate attack, it is exceptionally unlikely that Team Far Trader will be able to close the gap in their profit margin relative to Team Spinward Flex Courier. That pirate ransom demand just blew a massive hole into the Far Trader's balance sheet, and I sincerely doubt they will be able to recover from this setback.

Worse, I've had the feeling that this sort of event was for all intents and purposes pretty much inevitable and was going to happen at some point along the route (although exactly where was always going to be a random chance). The problem is, due to the minimalist drive performance installed into a Far Trader (and a lot of other merchant starships, go figure...) in pretty much any pirate attack situation the Far Trader would be taking a BIG RISK in fighting back, rather than just surrendering.

100 ton Pirate Scout Courier? 2G ... the 1G Far Trader can only escape by jumping or damaging the pirate's maneuver drive/fuel capacity.
400 ton Pirate Patrol Cruiser? 4G ... the 1G Far Trader can only escape by jumping or damaging the pirate's maneuver drive/fuel capacity.
800 ton Mercenary Cruiser? 3G ... the 1G Far Trader can only escape by jumping or damaging the pirate's maneuver drive/fuel capacity.

So although a 5G or 6G maneuver drive is a tremendously expensive investment upfront at the time of construction for a starship (not to mention the architect's fees!), if that ... investment ... in powerful maneuver drives can save you anywhere from tens of thousands of credits all the way up to the entire full cost of the starship (in the event the ship gets "totalled" by critical hits in combat) ... well ... shouldn't that be considered money well spent?



Or to harken back to the old saying ... you have to SPEND money in order to MAKE money ... or words to that effect.