CT Only: Spinward Yacht

[Spinward Flow]

Built using a custom 200 ton streamlined hull, the Spinward Yacht is a noble's plaything used to entertain friends, impress adversaries and undertake political, commercial and sometimes even small scale military support and relief missions in the frontier provinces of Imperial charted space.

The first ship of the class, the Noblesse Oblige, was completed and delivered by Ling Standard Products at the Strouden/Lunion/Spinward Marches shipyard in 1056 for a landed baron and immediately created a notable (and noteworthy) splash among the lucky few who were able to view the ship up close and in person. It did not take long for word to get around among the various subsector nobles, at which point orders for duplicates of the new yacht design were placed and deliveries began almost 2 years later. Since the 1060s, the shipyard at Strouden has never had less than 2 concurrent orders under construction for duplicates of the design, with 4-6 per year tending to be the average over time since then, keeping the class in continuous mass production up through the present day.

As of 1105 more than 200 ships of the class have been produced by the Strouden shipyard for various imperial nobles of the Spinward Marches sector (and some in the neighboring Deneb sector). Recent orders have included new replacements for ships purchased up to 40 years ago, so some of the first run of ships from the 1060s are beginning to show up in surplus markets. This trend is expected to continue as the first run of ships of the class age out and need to be replaced, allowing the shipyard to keep the design in mass production at Strouden for the foreseeable future. Starting the 1090s, Ling Standard Products began offering copies of the ship design at their other shipyards in other sectors, starting with the Deneb sector, as demand for the ship class has grown beyond the nobility of the Spinward Marches.

The ship mounts custom drives which give it a performance of jump-1 and 1G acceleration. Fuel tankage is 42 tons with an on-board fuel purification plant capable of supporting the power plant for 4 weeks while allowing two successive jump-1 before needing to refuel. Adjacent to the bridge is a model/2 computer. Two triple turrets are installed on hardpoints, mounting a triple missile rack and a triple sandcaster. A 40 ton custom Pinnace docks with the ship.

Accommodations aboard the yacht total 13 staterooms and 4 half stateroom cabins with no low berths or additional cargo space. Four staterooms are occupied by the ship's crew of 4: the pilot/navigator, engineer, steward and medic. An additional stateroom can be occupied by a military attaché officer who may be assigned to travel with the noble. The remaining 8 staterooms can be occupied by the noble's friends and guests as high passengers. The yacht also features an auditorium space for the passenger guests, which is often appointed as an extravagant dining room, complete with ventral and dorsal retractable metal bulkheads to expose the synthetic sapphire glass floor and/or ceiling to space (or a planetary environment) for what has been called an almost incomparable experience, especially with lighting and gravity control localized to the room. Needless to say, these retractable metal bulkheads need to be closed when entering planetary atmospheres.

There are 4 cabins which are half sized staterooms given to the fire team of marines assigned to the ship who provide security in addition to manning turrets and providing drivers and gunners for the GCarrier embarked in a hull compartment of the yacht. The GCarrier can be used for planetary excursions outside the ship involving the noble, the noble's butler steward, the ship steward, all 8 of the noble's guests and 3 marines assigned as driver, gunner and security detail for the excursion party (for a total of 14 aboard the GCarrier). The two turrets on the yacht are manned by gunners drawn from the marines aboard during a call to general quarters for ship to ship combat. A strongroom for mail to hold secure commercial, diplomatic and/or military communications is also fitted, which the marines can provide security for, if necessary, when there are passengers aboard the yacht.

The ship's Pinnace also mounts custom drives which give it a performance of 6G acceleration. Fuel tankage is 2.4 tons capable of supporting the power plant for 4 weeks before needing to refuel. There is no bridge, but a model/1 computer is installed. A dual turret is fitted, mounting a single missile rack and a single sandcaster. While the Pinnace is docked with the Yacht, the Pinnace's maneuver drive is powerful enough to augment the in-system performance of the Yacht, increasing overall output to slightly over 2G acceleration. Since the hull configuration of the Yacht and the Pinnace duplicate the contour lines of the venerable Scout/Courier, the maneuver performance profile of the Yacht with the Pinnace docked is conspicuously similar to that of a Scout/Courier. Depending on the calibration and sophistication of a scanning ship's sensors, as well as the skill of the crew monitoring them, it is possible for the Yacht with a docked Pinnace to be misidentified by sensor returns as a Scout/Courier. However, the ship's transponder will correctly identify the ship as a yacht, although pirates with hostile intent in the habit of spoofing their own signals may second guess themselves when confronted with the ambiguity of sensor returns and possibly choose not to attack.

The Pinnace has acceleration couches for a crew of 2: ship's boat pilot and gunner. Two marines will be drawn from the Yacht's complement to crew the Pinnace. A cabin for one appointed up to starship standards is provided to allow the crew of marines to rest and refresh themselves on interplanetary trips lasting longer than 12 hours. This cabin can also be used to station a marine as a permanent bodyguard for the noble aboard, even while the Yacht is in jump space. Depending on the nature of an interplanetary mission, the military attaché officer may often times be called upon to accompany the noble, in which case they will have to make do with the cabin accommodations during the journey. An additional 2 acceleration couches and cabin appointed up to starship standards is provided to allow passengers to be shuttled by the Pinnace (usually up to 2 at a time, although up to 4 passengers are possible for trips of 24 hours or less). A double starship stateroom suite is provided for the noble owning the Yacht with an adjoining adjacent starship stateroom occupied by the noble's butler steward retainer, who is dedicated to the noble's service exclusively. The Pinnace carries a Speeder in a hull compartment for which either the noble's butler steward or the military attaché officer can be the chauffeur driver depending on the needs of the occasion (and who needs to be impressed upon arrival at the destination).

 

[Spinward Flow]

Spinward Yacht
TL=13 (LBB5.80)
Ship Type: YP (Yacht, Provincial)

Tonnage: 200 (custom hull)
Configuration: 2 (Streamlined, Fuel Scoops, 22 MCr) (LBB5.80, p21-22, p27)
Jump-1 (4 tons, MCr 16)
Maneuver-1 (4 tons, MCr 6, EP: 2, Agility: 1)
Power Plant-1 (4 tons, MCr 12, EP: 2)
Armor: 0
Fuel: 42 tons (2 jump 1 and 4 weeks of operations)
Fuel Purification Plant (5 tons, MCr 0.03) (LBB5.80, p27, 36)

2x Triple Turret (2 ton, MCr 2.2) (LBB2.81, p15, 23)
Missile Rack: 3 (Code: 3, Battery: 1, MCr 2.25)
Sandcaster: 3 (Code: 4, Battery: 1, MCr 0.75)
Bridge (20 tons, MCr 1)
Computer: 2 (Code: 2, 2 ton, MCr 9, TL: 7, EP: 0)

Crew: 4 (Pilot/Navigator, Engineer, Steward, Medic)
Marines: 5 (Military Attaché Officer, Fire Team of 4 Marines) (LBB4, p33)
Staterooms: 13 (52 tons, MCr 6.5)
Cabins: 4 (8 tons, MCr 1, Marine Fire Team accommodations)
Auditorium: 1 (4 tons, MCr 0.5)
High Passengers: 8

GCarrier: 1 (8 tons, MCr 1, seats 14 including driver and gunner) (LBB3.81, p23)
Mail Facility: 5 tons (LBB2.81, p9)
Pinnace (40 tons, MCr 0.08, standard launch facility) (LBB5.80, p32)

Yacht  YP-2211121-040000-00002-0      MCr 64.248   200 tons
  batt bearing     1         1    TL=13. GCarrier. Pinnace.
  batteries        1         1           Crew=4. Marines=5.
Passengers=8 (high). Mail=5. Fuel=42. EP=2. Agility=1. FPP.
When Pinnace is docked performance increases to RP-2212221.

Tonnage:           200 tons (custom). 2800 cubic meters.
Dimensions:        Maximum— 47 m by 30 m by 10 m.
Crew:              1 officer, 3 ratings. 1 military officer, 4 marines.
Performance:       Jump-1. 1G. Power plant-1. 2 EP. Agility 1.
Electronics:       Model/2.
Hardpoints:        2. Two triple turrets.
Armament:          One triple missile turret organized into one battery.
Defenses:          One triple sandcaster turret organized into one battery.
Craft:             One 40-ton pinnace. One GCarrier.
Fuel Treatment:    Integral fuel scoops and purification plant.
Cost:              MCr 78.816 standard. MCr 63.0528 in quantity.
Construction Time: 48 weeks singly, 39 weeks in quantity.

Total Yacht Cost (first in class): MCr 80.31
20% Down Payment (first in class): MCr 16.062
Architect Fees (first in class): MCr 0.8031
Annual Overhaul (first in class): Cr 80,310 (LBB2.81, p8)
Construction Time (first in class): 48 weeks

Additional Ships Cost: MCr 64.248
Additional Ships 20% Down Payment: MCr 12.8496
Additional Ships Construction Time: 39 weeks
Additional Ships Annual Overhaul: Cr 64,248 (LBB2.81, p8)

 

[Spinward Flow]

Spinward Pinnace
TL=13 (LBB5.80)
Ship Type: KP (Pinnace, Provincial)

Tonnage: 40 (custom hull)
Configuration: 2 (Streamlined, Fuel Scoops, 4.4 MCr)
Maneuver-6 (6.8 tons, MCr 3.4, EP: 2.4, Agility: 1)
Power Plant-6 (4.8 tons, MCr 14.4, EP: 2.4)
Armor: 0
Fuel: 2.4 tons (4 weeks of operations, up to 24 weeks of Maneuver-1)

Dual Turret (1 ton, MCr 0.6) (LBB2.81, p15, 23)
Missile Rack: 1 (Code: 2, Battery: 1, MCr 0.75)
Sandcaster: 1 (Code: 3, Battery: 1, MCr 0.25)
No Bridge
Computer: 1 (Code: 1, 1 ton, MCr 2, TL: 5, EP: 0)

Crew: 3 (Ship's Boat Pilot, Gunner, Steward)
Acceleration Couches: 4 (2 ton, MCr 1, Ship's Boat Pilot, Gunner crew plus 2 passengers)
Cabins: 2 (4 tons, MCr 0.5, starship rated, 1 for crew, 1 for passengers)
Staterooms: 3 (12 tons, MCr 1.5, one double suite of 2 staterooms, starship rated)
High Passengers: 1 (Noble aboard exclusively served by personal butler steward retainer)
Speeder: 1 (6 tons, MCr 1, seats 2 including driver, 100kg cargo) (LBB3.81, p23)

Pinnace  KP-0206601-030000-00002-0     MCr 22.64   40 tons
  batt bearing       1         1                    TL=13.
  batteries          1         1                   Crew=3.
Passengers=3. Cargo=0. Fuel=3. EP=2.4. Agility=6. Speeder.

Tonnage:           40 tons (custom). 560 cubic meters.
Dimensions:        Maximum— 28 m by 18 m by 6 m.
Crew:              3.
Passengers:        3.
Performance:       6G. Power plant-6. 2.4 EP. Agility 6.
Electronics:       Model/1. Functions as Model/0 due to lack of bridge facilities.
Hardpoints:        1. One dual turret.
Armament:          One missile rack.
Defenses:          One sandcaster.
Craft:             Speeder.
Fuel Treatment:    Integral fuel scoops.
Cost:              MCr 3.25 standard. MCr 29 in quantity.
Construction Time: 24 weeks singly, 20 weeks in quantity.

Total Pinnace Cost (first in class): MCr 28.3
20% Down Payment (first in class): MCr 5.66
Architect Fees (first in class): MCr 0.0283
Annual Overhaul (first in class): Cr 28,300 (LBB2.81, p8)
Construction Time (first in class): 24 weeks

Additional Boats Cost: MCr 22.64
Additional Boats 20% Down Payment: MCr 4.528
Additional Boats Construction Time: 20 weeks
Additional Boats Annual Overhaul: Cr 22,640 (LBB2.81, p8)

 

[Spinward Flow]

Total Yacht plus Pinnace Cost (first in class): MCr 80.31 + 28.3 = MCr 108.61
20% Down Payment: MCr 21.722
Architect Fees: MCr 1.0861
Annual Overhaul: Cr 108,610 (annual) (LBB2.81, p8)
Construction Times: 48 weeks (Yacht), 24 weeks (Pinnace)

Additional Yacht plus Pinnace Costs: MCr 64.248 + 22.64 = MCr 86.888
20% Down Payment: MCr 17.13776
Additional Yacht plus Pinnace Construction Times: 39 weeks (Yacht), 20 weeks (Pinnace)
Additional Yacht plus Pinnace Annual Overhaul: Cr 86,888 (LBB2.81, p8)

Bank Financing (first in class): Cr 226,271 per 2 weeks
Bank Financing (additional Yachts plus Pinnaces): Cr 181,017 per 2 weeks

Life Support: 46,000 per 2 weeks (16 staterooms, 6 cabins, 1 auditorium) (LBB2.81, p7-8)
Crew Salaries: Cr 13,538 per 2 weeks (LBB2.81, p8, 11, 16, 23, LBB4, p19)
Fuel: Cr 500 per ton (refined), Cr100 per ton (unrefined), Cr 0 (skimmed) (LBB2.81, p7)
Berthing Costs: Cr 100 for 6 days, plus Cr 100 per day after 6 days (LBB2.81, p8)
Surface to Orbit Shuttle Costs: Cr 20 to 120 per passenger (LBB2.81, p9)

Mail Delivery: Cr 5,000 revenue per ton, standard Cr 25,000 for 5 tons (LBB2.81, p9)
Interplanetary Charters (pinnace only): Cr 40 revenue per hour, minimum 12 hours (LBB2.81, p9)
Interplanetary Charters (yacht): Cr 200 revenue per hour, minimum 12 hours (LBB2.81, p9)
Interstellar Charters (yacht): Cr 72,000 revenue per 2 week block (LBB2.81, p9)


Spinward Marches systems with type A or B starports and Tech Level 13+ in 1105 capable of performing annual maintenance (19 total in the sector):

1. Chronor / Cronor
2. Jacent / Darrian
3. Darrian / Darrian
4. Collace / District 268
5. Efate / Regina
6. Uakye / Regina
7. Pixie / Regina
8. Boughene / Regina
9. D'Ganzio / Lanth
10. Tenalphi / Lunion
11. Lunion / Lunion
12. Strouden / Lunion
13. Glisten / Glisten
14. Macene / Rhylanor
15. Fulacin / Rhylanor
16. Rhylanor / Rhylanor
17. Palique / Mora
18. Mora / Mora
19. Trin / Trin's Veil

One Way Nonstop Interplanetary Travel Times at 1G in 12 hour blocks (LBB2.81 p10)

• 12 hours (0.5d): 4,665,600 km (0.031 AU)
• 24 hours (1.0d): 18,662,400 km (0.124 AU)
• 36 hours (1.5d): 41,990,400 km (0.280 AU)
• 48 hours (2.0d): 74,649,600 km (0.499 AU)
• 60 hours (2.5d): 116,640,000 km (0.779 AU)
• 72 hours (3.0d): 167,961,600 km (1.122 AU)
• 84 hours (3.5d): 228,614,400 km (1.528 AU)
• 96 hours (4.0d): 298,598,400 km (1.996 AU)
• 108 hours (4.5d): 377,913,600 km (2.526 AU)
• 120 hours (5.0d): 466,560,000 km (3.118 AU)
• 132 hours (5.5d): 564,537,600 km (3.773 AU)
• 144 hours (6.0d): 671,846,400 km (4.491 AU)
• 156 hours (6.5d): 788,486,400 km (5.270 AU)
• 168 hours (7.0d): 914,457,600 km (6.112 AU)

One Way Nonstop Interplanetary Travel Times at 2G in 12 hour blocks (LBB2.81 p10)

• 12 hours (0.5d): 9,331,200 km (0.062 AU)
• 24 hours (1.0d): 37,324,800 km (0.249 AU)
• 36 hours (1.5d): 83,980,800 km (0.561 AU)
• 48 hours (2.0d): 149,299,200 km (0.998 AU)
• 60 hours (2.5d): 233,280,000 km (1.559 AU)
• 72 hours (3.0d): 335,923,200 km (2.245 AU)
• 84 hours (3.5d): 457,228,800 km (3.056 AU)
• 96 hours (4.0d): 597,196,800 km (3.992 AU)
• 108 hours (4.5d): 755,827,200 km (5.052 AU)
• 120 hours (5.0d): 933,120,000 km (6.237 AU)
• 132 hours (5.5d): 1,129,075,200 km (7.547 AU)
• 144 hours (6.0d): 1,343,692,800 km (8.982 AU)
• 156 hours (6.5d): 1,576,972,800 km (10.541 AU)
• 168 hours (7.0d): 1,828,915,200 km (12.225 AU)

One Way Nonstop Interplanetary Travel Times at 6G in 12 hour blocks (LBB2.81 p10)

• 12 hours (0.5d): 27,993,600 km (0.187 AU)
• 24 hours (1.0d): 111,974,400 km (0.748 AU)
• 36 hours (1.5d): 251,942,400 km (1.684 AU)
• 48 hours (2.0d): 447,897,600 km (2.993 AU)
• 60 hours (2.5d): 669,840,000 km (4.477 AU)
• 72 hours (3.0d): 1,007,769,600 km (6.736 AU)
• 84 hours (3.5d): 1,371,686,400 km (9.169 AU)
• 96 hours (4.0d): 1,791,590,400 km (11.975 AU)
• 108 hours (4.5d): 2,267,481,600 km (15.156 AU)
• 120 hours (5.0d): 2,799,360,000 km (18.712 AU)
• 132 hours (5.5d): 3,387,225,600 km (22.648 AU)
• 144 hours (6.0d): 4,031,078,400 km (26.945 AU)
• 156 hours (6.5d): 4,730,918,400 km (31.623 AU)
• 168 hours (7.0d): 5,486,745,600 km (36.676 AU)

 

[Spinward Flow]

And this is where I get to ramble on for a bit about the thought processes behind this particular design. The forum complained about this part being more than 10000 characters long, so it will require multiple posts to complete.



1. Notes for Referees:

The ship and pinnace are built at tech level 13 because that is the tech level at which missile racks get their +1 DM to factor and it is when power plants become more size (and therefore, cost!) efficient relative to tech levels 9-12. The combination of cost savings (MCr and tonnage!), weapon code modifiers and the relatively wide availability of annual maintenance locations throughout the Spinward Marches (as detailed above) was ultimately the deciding factor that tech level 13 was the best mix of hi/low tech levels for the nobility living on the frontier of Imperial controlled space in 1105.

While I did use the online TCS Ship Designer and Small Craft Designer to juggle numbers and load outs of myriad different options in order to hone in towards a final design, I only used the online pages as "guidelines" for the build details, preferring to record the final design details in a text editor saved in .rtf format and use those figures and stats to finalize the design and cost after doing manual calculation crosschecks for accuracy and completeness.

https://tca-2014-12.herokuapp.com/ship_designs
https://tca-2014-12.herokuapp.com/small_craft_designs

The "docked ship and pinnace have 2G maneuver" detail is a result of combining the maneuver drive tonnage (4 and 6.8 respectively) and recognizing that combined this is 10.8 tons of maneuver drive, which for a 200 ton ship amounts to 5.4%, which is sufficient to qualify for a 2G maneuver drive. So when operating independently the ship has 1G and the pinnace has 6G, but when the pinnace is docked with the ship and the pinnace's drives are "slaved" to computer commands from the starship computer the combination is capable of 2G and Agility-2. Considering that there are plenty of worlds with a larger than 1G surface gravity, I considered it important to have a reserve maneuver capacity to achieve liftoff and escape velocity so as to break orbit from such worlds when the yacht has a streamlined design and can potentially land and/or conduct wilderness refueling on worlds with liquid water oceans, which in turn helps defray operational costs significantly.

With respect to gas giant skimming, 1G will usually be inadequate to achieve orbit. Using the Terra system gas and ice giants as reference (that some of us will be familiar with), the "surface" gravity at 1 bar of atmospheric pressure (slightly less than Terra sea level) within the atmospheres of the outer system planets are as follows:
Jupiter: 2.528g
Saturn: 1.065g
Uranus: 0.886g
Neptune: 1.137g
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_gravity

So a ship with only 1G of acceleration will have serious trouble skimming fuel from anywhere other than Uranus in the Sol system. And given that Uranus lies in Orbit 8 of the Terra system (LLB6, p56), that's a long haul from Orbit 3 with Terra in it (anywhere from roughly 17.5-21.5 AU away from Terra, depending on orbital positioning). At 1G of acceleration, that's a LONG HAUL to get all the way out to Uranus for a gas giant skimming refuel (it would take longer than a week, one way, at 1G!). By contrast, going from Terra to Jupiter would involve a journey of 4-6.5 AU, but without a refueling shuttle capable of breaking Jupiter's gravity in order to reach orbit, there would be no point in going there (other than sightseeing of course). Note that since the original type-Y (LBB2.81 p19-20) is unstreamlined, it can get away with being limited to 1G acceleration because it remains orbital and never lands (although it can of course dock with a starport's highport and other ships).

This is the other priority for including a relatively large pinnace aboard the yacht design. The pinnace can, if necessary, provide wilderness refueling options that would otherwise be inaccessible to the main yacht. I seem to remember a notation somewhere (I forget where) in one of the LBB about a massive gas giant with a 5.5g gravity well which only 6G maneuver ships were capable of refueling at (since all other ships could not achieve orbit after descending into the gravity well). So the pinnace can act as a back up skimming option to refuel the yacht when in a system where there is no liquid water available for ocean refueling, but there is a gas giant in system, and the starport is class E with no fuel facilities. Note that in circumstances where the gravity well of a gas giant exceeds 1.5g at fuel skimming depth, the pinnace will need to make 18 fuel skimming runs in order to transport 42 tons of fuel to the yacht (plus presumably 1 more skimming run to top up the pinnace itself). Fortunately, with a 6G maneuver drive and only 2.4 tons of fuel tankage to fill on the pinnace, such a skimming operation ought to be relatively safe, but could easily take 2 days to complete from a parking orbit radius of 400,000 km (~10x Jupiter's planetary radius) or less. So ocean refueling at a mainworld would definitely be the preference when skimming for fuel, since gas giant skimming will take days to complete and a long duration interplanetary journey if the mainworld is not a moon in orbit around the gas giant.

However, above and beyond that, the fuel tankage on board the yacht is sufficient for 2 jump-1 and 4 weeks of operations, meaning it is perfectly possible to transit through a system with a class E starport and no water or gas giant to refuel at (or even deep space parsecs) so long as there are opportunities to refuel after the next jump to the next parsec. Needing to refuel every 2 parsecs instead of merely after every 1 parsec jump offers a degree of relative freedom in navigation that can be a necessary reserve almost anywhere off the Spinward Main (and even on some sections of the Main).

Also, if absolutely necessary, the pinnace can act as a temporary lifeboat in the event of an abandon (yacht) ship condition, although doing so would begin to overwhelm the life support capacity of the pinnace if evacuating all 17 sophonts from a disabled yacht (crew, marines, passengers). However, since the staterooms (technically 3, although one is a double stateroom suite for the noble) and cabins (2) are all starship rated, meaning they are built with reserve life support capacity for interstellar travel in mind rather than the standard small craft cabins with more limited life support reserves, an overloaded pinnace evacuating from a yacht disaster can theoretically support 8 sophonts for 4 weeks in double occupancy conditions of staterooms and cabins, or 20 sophonts for 11 days with a few hours to spare. Fortunately, 7 days at 6G maneuver yields in excess of 36 AU of travel distance one way, so hopefully any disaster conditions requiring this option will be survivable by anyone who can board the pinnace.

Additionally, if disaster strikes the yacht while either in or approaching orbit around a planet with a survivable biosphere, the yacht can be evacuated using the GCarrier for the passengers, the passenger steward, the engineer and medic, the military attaché officer (if any) and two of the four marines (since as a gravitic vehicle it can maneuver in a gravity well) with the pilot/navigator and last 2 marines (ship's boat pilot and gunner) evacuating aboard the pinnace with the noble. At the very least, the GCarrier would have its own power supply and (limited) life support capacity to extend collective survival durations if a need for an outside rescue arises. The important point I want to make here is that in an abandon ship situation, the crew and passengers have OPTIONS for how to abandon ship.

And speaking of the pilot/navigator for the yacht, yes I know that a navigator is not required for ships 200 tons and under (LBB.81, p23), only for ships over 200 tons in the Rules As Written (RAW). However, if you read the description for the Navigation skill (LBB1.81, p21) the RAW strongly infer and imply that the skill is needed not only for setting courses (other than pre-planned flights of course) but also for transits through unfamiliar star systems. Additionally, the Navigation skill is used to interpret data provided by the ship's scanners and detectors (which sounds… useful). So even though an actual navigator crewman is not mandated for a 200 ton starship, I figure it is still best to make sure the pilot has the skill to pull double duty, so as to be able to navigate star systems that have not been visited by the yacht or its crew previously. Yes, data tapes for that info could almost certainly be obtained and loaded for most systems in the Spinward Marches, but those tapes would all be reliant upon the most recent survey data (and how old was that before you bought the tape for it)? Far better, I'm thinking, to have a pilot who is also qualified as a navigator who can rely on current information provided by the scanners and detectors to plot their course and fly their pattern(s). Also, if the yacht exits jump space anywhere other than precisely where expected (for insert reasons here), you're going to need a skilled navigator to remove the "debuff" condition of being lost or having strayed off course (Referees take note). So basically the Navigator skill is "required" for what amounts to free flight in both interplanetary and interstellar travel, which is best to have as an option when plans need to change (perhaps quite suddenly).

 

[Spinward Flow]

2. Notes for Referees:

Just as a quick aside here about the configuration, displacement and dimensions calculations. The original Scout/Courier (LBB S7, p15-17, p46) is defined as being a cone shape 37.5m long by 24m wide by 7.5m high with flat slab sides on a rhombus pyramid shape. If you take those dimensions (37.5x24x7.5) for a squared rectangular box shape you have 6750m³ which oh so conveniently is very nearly 5x 1400m³ (it's actually 1350m³ at 20% of 6750m³, so close enough for deck plan work). I then used these proportions to scale up to the 47m long by 30m wide by 10m high for the 200 ton yacht and also scale down to the 28m long by 18m wide by 6m high dimensions of the 40 ton pinnace (which are basically 60% of each of the yacht's dimensions, which is 0.6x0.6x0.6=0.216 of the volume, which is close enough for deck plans). I envision the ventral hull surface being the "reentry" surface where the landing gear deploys from in a trapezoidal 4 legged stance (2 forward, 2 rear, more widely spaced at the rear) with the dorsal hull surface being where the pinnace docks into a cutout "notch" (on "top") running all the way cleanly to the aft of the yacht so that when the pinnace is docked it looks like it is all one ship in common without misalignment of form factors. The yacht's two triple turrets and the pinnace's solo dual turret are positioned on the dorsal hull, with the yacht's turrets located port and starboard on the upper hull and the pinnace's along the centerline. This arrangement keeps the ventral hull "clean" of protrusions that could disrupt aerodynamic flows during atmospheric entry/reentry while keeping all of the rounded turret shapes shielded from the most violent aerodynamic drag and thermal forces that could occur. The Scout/Courier planform shape has been tried and true for centuries, so use what works reliably and just scale it up to 200 tons and down to 40 tons and you're good to go!

Getting back to the topic of interior fit and finishings, another "oddity" of this yacht design is that the residential suite of rooms for the noble are not actually aboard the starship, but rather are aboard the pinnace. This means that the owner of the yacht can, quite literally, "retire" to their own private stateroom(s) away from their guests in a way that the standard type-Y yacht of LBB2 cannot even begin to contemplate. Also note that the noble, with their double suite of staterooms, is attended by a personal butler steward who is dedicated to the noble's service as a sort of bodyman retainer who (usually) does not leave the noble's side. By contrast, the 8 guest high passengers on the yacht must share a steward among them (which is only to be expected), so the necessary degree of "opulence" is achieved with respect to the noble owning the yacht relative to everyone else.

The marines assigned to the yacht (planetary, subsector, sector or imperial depends on the noble in question) can then provide the necessary security on ship to ensure that guests "behave themselves" while aboard (and if they don't there's always stateroom arrest, complete with posted guard until they can disembark). The fire team of marines (1 corporal, 1 lance corporal, 2 privates) provide a number of shipboard services, including manning the turrets in ship-to-ship combat (1 per turret), providing a crew for the pinnace when it isn't docked (ship's boat pilot and gunner), a crew for the GCarrier (driver, gunner, security detail) during excursions planetside as well as security on ship with guests/passengers aboard. For a Marine character generated using LBB4, Ship's Boat and Gunnery skills can be obtained from the Shipboard skills table (LBB4, p8) when given a unit assignment of Ship's Troops (LBB4, p6) on a 2D result of 6 or 8. Obtaining the Vehicle skill (specifically grav vehicle) will require cross-training with the Artillery, Cavalry, Infantry or Support arms, with Cavalry (1D6 result 1-3) and Support (1D6 result 1 or 3) offering the best opportunities for Vehicle skill if the world tech level is 11- per the Rules As Written (RAW). If the GCarrier is armed with a turret weapon, such as a VRF Gauss Gun (LBB4, p39, 50-52), then the marine gunner will need Heavy Weapons skill, which is a marine Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) skill (LBB4, p6). These marines all get single occupancy cabins (half staterooms) aboard the yacht, rather than double occupancy full sized staterooms (LBB2.81, p14). Note that if actual marines are not available (for whatever reason) they can be replaced easily enough with mercenaries.

The embarked marines will usually be trained and equipped with either snub pistols (LBB4 p37) or laser carbines (LBB1.81, p40) at tech level 8, laser pistols (LBB Striker3, p31) at tech level 9, or either x-ray laser pistols (LBB Striker3, p31) or gauss pistols (LBB Striker3, p33) at tech level 13, so as to not be hampered by weapon recoil in zero-g conditions during possible close quarters combat aboard ship. In terms of personal protection, marines will often wear either Cloth or Ablat (LBB1.81, p41, errata LBB4 p43) until tech level 11 when Combat Armor (LBB1.81, p41-42) becomes available. At tech level 13-15 it is theoretically possible to have marines equipped with Battle Dress (LBB1.81, p42), which in turn also theoretically enables use of PGMP and FGMP high energy weapons (LBB4, p37-38), although under most circumstances this would be considered overkill and potentially self defeating given the danger space of needing to be more than 5 meters away from the target in order to avoid splash damage onto the weapon user. Also, use of PGMP and FGMP weapons inside the confines of a ship will rapidly destroy partitions and seriously damage bulkheads, so collateral damage from using these advanced high energy weapons can be a serious concern. However, if the mission calls for it, the 8 passengers embarked on the yacht could be 2 additional fire teams of marines (including a Sergeant and a Lance Sergeant) and at tech level 12+ the PGMP and FGMP become standard issue infantry and squad support weapons (LBB4, p43-44), so something to keep in mind as a Referee.

A military attaché officer is also often times assigned to the yacht (usually at the request of the owning noble) and by default becomes the senior military officer aboard that the marines must answer to, even if the officer is drawn from a difference service (navy, army, scouts, etc.). The noble who owns the yacht then technically "ranks" the military attaché officer as the highest ranking civilian aboard (except when the military attaché officer has a higher social standing than the noble, which although rare can happen). In all other respects, the noble acts as the ship owner/captain, with the pilot/navigator (the only officer among the standard crew) standing in as executive officer in the crew command hierarchy. The remaining crew of engineer, passenger steward and medic are all ranked as ratings.

Note that since a military attaché officer can be stationed aboard, it is also possible for the yacht to be chartered (or commandeered if you prefer) as a (temporary) military transport for a squad of marines or commandos to deploy and/or infiltrate positions on other worlds or moons within a star system (interplanetary travel) or in nearby star systems (interstellar). Such mission opportunities would of course usually be handled through the military attaché officer if one is aboard ship in attendance of the noble and could have a wide variety of motivations, ranging from clandestine operations to counter insurgency special operations to needing to collect stragglers who were late for their assigned transport and missed their ride. Likewise, "mercy mission" evacuations and/or deliveries could also be attempted, of civilians and/or military personnel using the yacht, pinnace, gcarrier and speeder, utilizing the expertise (if any) of the military attaché officer (if aboard) to coordinate with local forces in a liaison capacity.

In terms of crew salaries for the marines, I simply assigned them Gunner salaries (Cr 1000 per month each) (LBB2.81, p11) and allocated a ticket salary for a Colonel (Cr 2000 per month) (LBB4, p19) to the military attaché officer. Technically speaking this means that the marines and military attaché officer will wind up being overpaid, but it's a close enough approximation for what I'm trying to accomplish here (and if they are overpaid, some of that can be clawed back to give to the regular crew members for higher skill levels above 1, so it kind of balances out with squoosh factor). If however, as a Referee, you want to be more accurate and precise about the accounting for this aspect of starship economics, you'll almost certainly want to have actual character sheets written up for each of the crew members and marines aboard a specific yacht and pinnace in order to achieve "true" salary numbers for everyone aboard.

The GCarrier on the yacht and the Speeder on the pinnace can be launched and recovered while the yacht and/or pinnace is in flight (albeit relatively steady flight), since both are gravitic vehicles capable of flight themselves (including reaching orbit within an hour for the Speeder). This means that neither the yacht nor the pinnace need to land in order to launch or recover these vehicles, a mere flyby at a nearby drop or rendezvous point will be adequate. For wilderness excursions (including sport hunting trips), not needing to land either the yacht nor the pinnace to launch or recover the GCarrier or Speeder can simplify plans and grant a wider latitude in options for how to best employ these vehicles. Additional adventure ideas and possible exploits made possible by these design considerations are left to the discretion of Referees and Players to enjoy.

 

[Spinward Flow]

3. Notes for Referees:

Incidentally, if there is a situation where cargo space is NEEDED but the Spinward Yacht doesn't have any cargo space available by default (because this design is more about people than freight), there is always the option to park the GCarrier and/or Speeder outside the yacht and/or pinnace so as to have 8 tons and/or 6 tons of cargo space available. So as long as you can (presumably temporarily) warehouse those vehicles in order to return and reclaim them later, you can "flex" to have some cargo space on a temporary basis if you absolutely have to have it.

Since the Spinward Yacht is designed and delivered armed, unlike the original type-Y (LBB2.81, p19-20) which had 1 hardpoint and 1 ton of fire control but no turret installed, I considered it important to upgrade the computer from a model/1 to a model/2, despite the increase in cost (an extra 1 ton and MCr 7). I figure that the added computer "power" and tech level 13 missile racks and sandcasters combination makes the Spinward Yacht a far less tempting target for pirates to attack (or harass), not to mention with a fire team of marines on board, far less "juicy" of a target to attempt to board for prisoners, ransom or even salvage. So although the computer upgrade is not strictly necessary for interstellar jumps, on balance I figured it would more than return its investment over time with respect to reduced risk in relation to potential piracy.

The auditorium space in the yacht has enormous (over 36m2 when including mounting space around the usable window area) single sheet flat industrial synthetic sapphire glass for both the floor and ceiling, assuming a higher tech material isn't in use for this application by tech level 13.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapphire#Windows

And just as a side note, the noble's double suite of staterooms features a duplicate of the auditorium retractable bulkheads and industrial synthetic sapphire glass floor and ceiling in one of the two staterooms, except here it is a private residential space (the noble's suite of rooms) rather than a shared communal space for a group of passengers (as it is on the yacht), hence why I keep the classification of 2 staterooms rather than using 1 stateroom plus 1 auditorium on the pinnace. Where tonnage, construction cost and life support upkeep are concerned, the results are the same either way, so for the sake of simplicity I classify the arrangement as 2 staterooms on the pinnace.

As far as starship economics goes, I was honestly surprised to discover that this ship design is capable of operating at a profit with interstellar charters, provided the ship is paid off (or subsidized, but seriously, what self-respecting noble would "own" a subsidized yacht?). The interstellar charter prices are based on a 90% capacity, regardless of how many passengers are carried, so you only "lose money" on a charter carrying 8 high passengers. Interstellar charters also break even with the revenue generated by carrying 4 high passengers and 4 middle passengers, or 7 high passengers and no middle passengers when the yacht isn't chartered. However, on passenger revenue alone, the yacht can make a profit in excess of Cr10,000 per 2 weeks, provided the ship is paid off (but not if subsidized) and passengers are being billed for travel. Being privileged enough to also generate revenue from delivering mail (Referee discretion on this option) in addition to passengers would only increase the profitability of operating the yacht during diplomatic and/or commercial missions. Note also that interplanetary charters lasting 320 hours or more (2 weeks exactly in-system would be 336 hours) will generate Cr 64,000 of revenue, sufficient to pay for life support, crew salaries, berthing costs and annual maintenance shares of a paid off ship.

The subsidized yacht option will struggle to make ends meet on life support, crew salaries, annual maintenance costs and berthing fees (and sometimes the need for fuel when wilderness refueling is not available) due to the 50% rake of ticket sales going to the subsidizing government. At that point, subsidized mail deliveries will need to be relied upon to make up the difference is starship operating costs (at Cr 25,000 per delivery, LBB2.81, p9), but even then it's still possible to struggle to break even with a subsidized Spinward Yacht. For those Referees who prefer to keep their Players within reach of bankruptcy (with insolvency nipping at their heels) as a motivator to take "side adventures" beyond running a route of 2-12 systems, setting them up with a subsidized yacht can still fit that bill for a campaign if that's what you really want to do. Your crew of characters will be traveling IN STYLE for sure, but it will be a thin veneer over a balance sheet that is slowly draining into the red. Since a subsidized ship only needs to be on its route 70% of the year (LBB S7, p22), that does leave at least 12 weeks per year "free" for your Players to go adventuring "off route" (provided they don't stray too far, since Jump-1 isn't particularly speedy). However, if you're running a "tethered" campaign in which your Players cannot stray too far outside of their usual stomping grounds, as a Referee that gives you the opportunity to get really detailed about a manageable number of star systems that you Players can get to know really well that become "real places" to everyone, rather than tramping all over the sector and letting every new place become nothing more than a UWP code. So as a Referee, there are pros and cons to the option (isn't there always?).

I've included information on Bank Financing of this class of yacht simply for the sake of completeness. However, I figure that most nobles capable of owning a yacht would rather pay the full sale price upon delivery than deal with usury financing rates from a bank (although, you never know, some nobles might be in debt enough to need financing in order to purchase a yacht of this class, just to "keep up appearances" with their neighbors). So it is not impossible for a ship of this class to be repossessed by a bank (from a noble would could not or would not pay) and wind up on the second hand ship market or pressed into what amounts to commercial service for the bank itself (as a "brass hat" prestige vessel). Stranger things have been known to happen from time to time. :rofl:

But seriously, a far better option (for everyone concerned) than resorting to Bank Financing would simply be to go the Subsidized route, which might not be as strange as it sounds. Essentially the noble would be in the "employ" of a planetary government, lending the "prestige" of the noble's rank to the diplomatic, business and military interests of the planetary government in question. In modern real world (out of game) terms, the noble would essentially be a prestigous lobbyist "working" on behalf of the planetary government whose job it is to "make the rounds" of other nearby local systems to facilitate trade, treaties and cooperation agreements with other governments. Unless someone else does some investigative digging into the noble's financial history, from the outside who would know the difference between an independent noble with a yacht and a subsidized noble with a yacht? Essentially the whole thing becomes a situation of needing to know who's who in order to know what's what, as the old saying goes.

So in terms of means and motivations to purchase a yacht of this type, there isn't necessarily a narrow range of customers who would be interested in acquiring a vessel like this in order to grease the wheels of both interplanetary and interstellar diplomacy, commerce and possibly even military coordination and alignment. Everything about this ship is really bankrolling (so to speak) on the prestige and social status of the noble who "owns" the ship (either outright or otherwise), with all the wining and dining and dress to impress (in so many words) being the point and purpose of owning such a ship in the first place. Yes, this yacht would represent the "low end" of the yacht market, in terms of tonnage (larger yacht classes could of course "do more" with their extra displacement), but it certainly makes a decent enough impression with its amenities relative to the options of other ships in this range (so it gets the job done). And at less than MCr 87 per copy after the first ship in class has been built, there is certainly something to be said for the upgrade over the LBB2.81 unstreamlined type-Y competition in this displacement class. Yes, you pay +70% more for a Spinward Yacht, but you also get so much more with a Spinward Yacht (armament, computer upgrade and additional accommodations for the gunners adds MCr 13.2 to the final price!) that I'm of the opinion that the higher price for delivery is well worth the investment.

However, as always, your mileage may vary depending on your circumstances.

 

[Spinward Flow]

4. Notes for Referees:

Cross comparison: LBB2.81 p19-20 type-Y versus Spinward Yacht

• Tech Level: 9 vs 13
• Hull: standard unstreamlined vs custom streamlined
• Jump: 1 vs 1
• Maneuver: 1 vs 1 (or 2 with Pinnace docked)
• Power Plant: 1 vs 1
• Computer: 1 vs 2
• Fuel: 50 tons with no purification vs 42 tons with fuel scoops and purification
• Endurance: 2 Jump-1 with 4 weeks maneuver vs 2 Jump-1 with 4 weeks maneuver
• Crew: 4 (yacht) and 1-2 (ship's boat) vs 4 (yacht) and 3 (pinnace)
• Marines: 0 vs 4 (provides ship's boat pilot and gunners as well as vehicle driver and gunner)
• Military Attaché Officer: 0 vs 1
• Passengers: 7 (if armed) or 8 (if unarmed) high vs 8 high
• Double Stateroom for noble: yes (yacht) vs yes (pinnace)
• Auditorium: no vs yes
• Small Craft: 30 ton unarmed Ship's Boat vs 40 ton armed Pinnace
• Vehicles: Air/Raft (yacht) and ATV (ship's boat) vs Speeder (pinnace) and GCarrier (yacht)
• Cargo: 11 tons vs 0 tons (or 8 tons and 6 tons with no vehicles in berths)
• Mail: no vs yes (although if Referee disallows, there's 5 tons of cargo space)
• Cost: MCr 51.057 vs MCr 86.888
• Construction Time: 44 weeks vs 39 weeks (yacht) and 20 weeks (pinnace)

 

[kilemall]

Very well thought out and I've done similar especially for the TL decision tree (although with different criteria).


However, I would NEVER allow the 2G add-on bits

 

[Spinward Flow]

Very well thought out and I've done similar especially for the TL decision tree (although with different criteria).

Apologies for the verbosity, but I felt like a proper explanation of the thinking was warranted. This was my motivation for citing chapter and verse for lots of different rules that come from all over the place in order to create this more cohesive whole of understanding. I know that I personally can't always remember where to look up info to cross check it for veracity, so I figured that citing references for various and sundry bits might help other people find info beyond just myself. As you can probably tell, I'm rather proud of the results for this one, relative to the "competition" of the LBB2.81 type-Y.

Besides, it was fun to think of all the ways a Spinward Yacht could be used in a campaign by a Referee, aside from just merely being a mustering out benefit for Nobles.

However, I would NEVER allow the 2G add-on bits

Which is fair. It's definitely something you can't reason your way to with LBB2 drives (that system doesn't work that way), but with LBB5 custom drives a case can be made (so I made it). The important point is to be transparent about the thinking so that Referees can judge for themselves to accept or reject the rationale being proposed.

The "docked ship and pinnace have 2G maneuver" detail is a result of combining the maneuver drive tonnage (4 and 6.8 respectively) and recognizing that combined this is 10.8 tons of maneuver drive, which for a 200 ton ship amounts to 5.4%, which is sufficient to qualify for a 2G maneuver drive.

 

[Grav_Moped]

...The important point is to be transparent about the thinking so that Referees can judge for themselves to accept or reject the rationale being proposed.

This.

So very much this.

(And I'd probably buy off on combining maneuver drive tonnage. Might even be able to get there with T5's "nexus linkage" build mechanic if the drives are the same size...)

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Configuration: 2 (Streamlined, Fuel Scoops, 22 MCr) (LBB5.80, p21-22, p27)

Scoops cost extra on ships, only free on small craft. (LBB5, p27).

2x Triple Turret (2 ton, MCr 2.2) (LBB2.81, p15, 23)

Hardpoints and turrets have no separate cost in HG, only the weapons costs.


Saves you MCr 2, I hope you don't mind...


Note the Missile factor in the USP:

Missile Rack: 3 (Code: 3, Battery: 1, MCr 2.25)

Yacht  YP-2211121-040000-0000[U]2[/U]-0      MCr 64.248   200 tons

 

[AnotherDilbert]

The "docked ship and pinnace have 2G maneuver" detail is a result of combining the maneuver drive tonnage (4 and 6.8 respectively) and recognizing that combined this is 10.8 tons of maneuver drive, which for a 200 ton ship amounts to 5.4%, which is sufficient to qualify for a 2G maneuver drive.

Unfortunately:

Spare jump drives, maneuver drives, power plants, computers, and screens may be installed in a ship to take over in the event that the main unit is disabled.
These are backup devices only and may not be in operation at the same time as the main device. The higher-output device is the mainstay and operates under normal conditions; the backup device does not consume fuel or energy points while it is not in use.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Scoops cost extra on ships, only free on small craft. (LBB5, p27).

Hardpoints and turrets have no separate cost in HG, only the weapons costs.
Saves you MCr 2, I hope you don't mind...

Note the Missile factor in the USP:

And ... the edit window just closed on me overnight ...
Besides, CT is less classic without the occasional bit of errata, wouldn't you say?

 

[Spinward Flow]

The "docked ship and pinnace have 2G maneuver" detail is a result of combining the maneuver drive tonnage (4 and 6.8 respectively) and recognizing that combined this is 10.8 tons of maneuver drive, which for a 200 ton ship amounts to 5.4%, which is sufficient to qualify for a 2G maneuver drive. So when operating independently the ship has 1G and the pinnace has 6G, but when the pinnace is docked with the ship and the pinnace's drives are "slaved" to computer commands from the starship computer the combination is capable of 2G and Agility-2.

Unfortunately:

Spare jump drives, maneuver drives, power plants, computers, and screens may be installed in a ship to take over in the event that the main unit is disabled.
These are backup devices only and may not be in operation at the same time as the main device. The higher-output device is the mainstay and operates under normal conditions; the backup device does not consume fuel or energy points while it is not in use.

Again, this is where Referee adjudication comes into play, since the whole thing is an edge case scenario. It isn't strictly speaking a "backup drive" combination, but more of a "tandem drive" cooperative situation, which CT doesn't account for all that well since most of the combinations don't add up right for one reason or another. LBB2 standard drives just "don't combine" through the chart in any sort of predictable/clean fashion (they just ... don't). It's easier to do this sort of thing using LBB5 custom drives, so long as the tonnage thresholds are met (since drives are all about % of total displacement involved). In most cases though, you can't combine a main Maneuver-1 and a backup Maneuver-1 into a combined Maneuver-2 drive, simply because 2%+2%=5% does not work. There are enough oddities and edge cases involved with combining drives like this that I'm not at all surprised that the RAW basically amount to an edict of "don't go there" for it.

This was why I appealed to the combined tonnage of maneuver drives (4 on the starship plus 6.8 on the pinnace) to reason that when docked there are a combined 10.8 tons of maneuver drive available, which at 200 tons total displacement (the pinnace counts as "internal" displacement while docked) exceeds the 5% tonnage threshold for 2G output performance. It's an extrapolation of the rules to account for "combiner" ships, where a smaller ship docked with a larger ship doesn't mean the smaller ship simply becomes dead cargo weight. So long as the total meets the needed thresholds for drive tonnage, it works ... if the Referee signs off on the idea.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Besides, CT is less classic without the occasional bit of errata, wouldn't you say?

Absolutely...

It isn't strictly speaking a "backup drive" combination, but more of a "tandem drive" cooperative situation, which CT doesn't account for all that well since most of the combinations don't add up right for one reason or another.

It isn't unreasonable, but explicitly banned in CT.

Mongoose allows exactly this (Breakaway Hulls) but at a bit of surcharge.
T5 allows Nexus.

 

[Condottiere]

Jump driving isn't clear cut, as might be the case with extra power plants or manoeuvre drives.

Arguably, the case for add on jump drive tonnage is something that develops in later editions, or more precisely, after more editions are published.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Here is what happens when I ditch the (complications of the) Pinnace entirely ... along with the Jump-1, Maneuver-1, Power Plant-1 default.
The main casualty is ... the Auditorium has to go ... but having Jump-2 and 3G instead makes up for it.
The hull configuration changes from Cone to Flattened Sphere (I'm thinking 3 decks of flying saucer for this version). mega:

The end result is almost the same in quantity production versus the Pinnace version ... MCr 86.888 (ship+pinnace) vs MCr 86.584 (this solo yacht) ... on the purchase price, and the life support costs actually go down on this version (don't need to account for extra life support for the Pinnace).
So it kind of balances out in the long run (as in, over 31+ years) between the two versions. However, in this case, I'd say that overall the modest increase in price is worth the upgrade in interplanetary travel times and faster jump times over 2 parsecs.



Spinward Yacht
TL=13 (LBB5.80)
Ship Type: YP (Yacht, Provincial)

Tonnage: 200 (custom hull)
Configuration: 6 (Streamlined, Fuel Scoops, 16.2 MCr) (LBB5.80, p21-22, p27)
Jump-2 (6 tons, MCr 24)
Maneuver-3 (16 tons, MCr 8, EP: 6, Agility: 3)
Power Plant-3 (12 tons, MCr 36, EP: 6)
Armor: 0
Fuel: 46 tons (1 jump 2 and 4 weeks of operations, up to 12 weeks powered down)
Fuel Purification Plant (5 tons, MCr 0.03) (LBB5.80, p27, 36)

Bridge (20 tons, MCr 1)
Computer: 2 (Code: 2, 2 ton, MCr 9, TL: 7, EP: 0)
1 Triple Turret Missile Rack: 3 (Code: 3, Battery: 1, 1 ton, MCr 2.25)
1 Triple Turret Sandcaster: 3 (Code: 4, Battery: 1, MCr 0.75)

Crew: 5 (Pilot/Navigator, Engineer, Purser, Steward, Medic)
Marines: 5 (Military Attaché Officer, Fire Team of 4 Marines) (LBB4, p33)
Staterooms: 16 (64 tons, MCr 8, one double stateroom suite for the noble)
Cabins: 4 (8 tons, MCr 1, Marine Fire Team accommodations)
High Passengers: 9 (1 noble plus 8 guests)

GCarrier: 1 (8 tons, MCr 1, seats 14 including driver and gunner) (LBB3.81, p23)
Speeder: 1 (6 tons, MCr 1, seats 2 including driver, 100kg cargo) (LBB3.81, p23)
Mail Facility: 5 tons (LBB2.81, p9)

Yacht  YP-2623322-040000-00003-0      MCr 86.584   200 tons
  batt bearing     1         1    TL=13. GCarrier. Speeder.
  batteries        1         1           Crew=5. Marines=5.
Passengers=9 (high). Mail=5. Fuel=46. EP=6. Agility=3. FPP.

Tonnage:           200 tons (custom). 2800 cubic meters.
Dimensions:        Maximum— 30 m by 30 m by 10 m.
Crew:              2 officers, 3 ratings. 1 military officer, 4 marines.
Passengers:        1 noble, 8 high.
Performance:       Jump-2. 3G. Power plant-3. 6 EP. Agility 3.
Electronics:       Model/2.
Hardpoints:        2. Two triple turrets.
Armament:          One triple missile turret organized into one battery.
Defenses:          One triple sandcaster turret organized into one battery.
Craft:             One GCarrier. One Speeder.
Fuel Treatment:    Integral fuel scoops and purification plant.
Cost:              MCr 108.23 standard. MCr 86.584 in quantity.
Construction Time: 48 weeks singly, 39 weeks in quantity.

Total Yacht Cost (first in class): MCr 108.23
20% Down Payment (first in class): MCr 21.646
Architect Fees (first in class): MCr 1.0823
Annual Overhaul (first in class): Cr 108,230 (LBB2.81, p8)
Construction Time (first in class): 48 weeks

Additional Ships Cost: MCr 86.584
Additional Ships 20% Down Payment: MCr 17.3168
Additional Ships Construction Time: 39 weeks
Additional Ships Annual Overhaul: Cr 86,584 (LBB2.81, p8)

Bank Financing (first in class): Cr 225,480 per 2 weeks
Bank Financing (additional ships): Cr 180,384 per 2 weeks

Life Support: 40,000 per 2 weeks (16 staterooms, 4 cabins) (LBB2.81, p7-8)
Crew Salaries: Cr 13,688 per 2 weeks (LBB2.81, p8, 11, 16, 23, LBB4, p19)
Fuel: Cr 500 per ton (refined), Cr100 per ton (unrefined), Cr 0 (skimmed) (LBB2.81, p7)
Berthing Costs: Cr 100 for 6 days, plus Cr 100 per day after 6 days (LBB2.81, p8)
Surface to Orbit Shuttle Costs: Cr 20 to 120 per passenger (LBB2.81, p9)

Mail Delivery: Cr 5,000 revenue per ton, standard Cr 25,000 for 5 tons (LBB2.81, p9)
Interplanetary Charters: Cr 200 revenue per hour, minimum 12 hours (LBB2.81, p9)
Interstellar Charters (8 high passengers): Cr 72,000 revenue per 2 week block (LBB2.81, p9)
Subsidies reduce gross revenue receipts by 50% (LBB2.81, p7 and LBB S7, p22)

Spinward Marches systems with type A or B starports and Tech Level 13+ in 1105 capable of performing annual maintenance (19 total in the sector):

1. Chronor / Cronor
2. Jacent / Darrian
3. Darrian / Darrian
4. Collace / District 268
5. Efate / Regina
6. Uakye / Regina
7. Pixie / Regina
8. Boughene / Regina
9. D'Ganzio / Lanth
10. Tenalphi / Lunion
11. Lunion / Lunion
12. Strouden / Lunion
13. Glisten / Glisten
14. Macene / Rhylanor
15. Fulacin / Rhylanor
16. Rhylanor / Rhylanor
17. Palique / Mora
18. Mora / Mora
19. Trin / Trin's Veil

One Way Nonstop Interplanetary Travel Times at 3G in 12 hour blocks (LBB2.81 p10):

• 12 hours (0.5d): 13,996,800 km (0.093 AU)
• 24 hours (1.0d): 55,987,200 km (0.374 AU)
• 36 hours (1.5d): 125,971,200 km (0.842 AU)
• 48 hours (2.0d): 223,948,800 km (1.497 AU)
• 60 hours (2.5d): 349,920,000 km (2.339 AU)
• 72 hours (3.0d): 503,884,800 km (3.368 AU)
• 84 hours (3.5d): 685,843,200 km (4.584 AU)
• 96 hours (4.0d): 895,795,200 km (5.988 AU)
• 108 hours (4.5d): 1,133,740,800 km (7.578 AU)
• 120 hours (5.0d): 1,399,680,000 km (9.356 AU)
• 132 hours (5.5d): 1,693,612,800 km (11.321 AU)
• 144 hours (6.0d): 2,015,539,200 km (13.472 AU)
• 156 hours (6.5d): 2,365,459,200 km (15.811 AU)
• 168 hours (7.0d): 2,743,372,800 km (18.338 AU)

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Tonnage: 200 (custom hull)
Configuration: 6 (Streamlined, Fuel Scoops, 20.2 MCr) (LBB5.80, p21-22, p27)

MCr 16.2 = 200 Dt × MCr 0.1 × 80% + scoops

Maneuver-3 (16 tons, MCr 8, EP: 6, Agility: 3)
Power Plant-3 (12 tons, MCr 36, EP: 6)

You could save 10 Dt and MCr 13 if you are satisfied with M-2. A bit pricey for an extra G?

You can always make the ship a little bigger or a little smaller to get the desired payload capacity.

With 2 G and 170 Dt hull you would get the same payload and save another MCr 12.




A small craft is still nice to have. A tiny, but fast, craft could get you places in a hurry:

GF-0606601-000000-00000-0        MCr 7,5          10 Dton
bearing                                            Crew=1
batteries                                           TL=13
                          Cargo=0 Fuel=1 EP=0,6 Agility=6

Single Occupancy                                    0,1       7,5
                                     USP    #     Dton       Cost
Hull, Streamlined   Custom             0           10            
Configuration       Flattened Sphe     6                      0,8
                                                                 
Manoeuvre D                            6    1       1,7       0,9
Power Plant                            6    1       1,2       3,6
Fuel, #J, #weeks    J-0, 4 weeks                    1            
                                                                 
Bridge                                                           
Computer            m/1                0    1       1         2  
                                                                 
Couch                                      10       5         0,3
                                                                 
Cargo                                               0,1          
Collapsible Tanks   4 Dton                  1       0,0       0,0
                                                                 
Nominal Cost        MCr 7,50             Sum:       0,1       7,5
Class Cost          MCr 1,58            Valid      ≥0          ≥0
Ship Cost           MCr 6,00

Not luxurious, but can get 10 people to/from the jump point in a hurry.
Better than a Speeder?

 

[Spinward Flow]

MCr 16.2 = 200 Dt × MCr 0.1 × 80% + scoops

True.
Except that LBB2.81 p13 stipulates a minimum of MCr20 price for metal hulls, and LBB5.80 p 18 stipulates that LBB2 is not superceded by any system given in LBB5.80. So I take that as a minimum MCr 20 price for the hull, regardless of configuration, and the fuel scoops get added on top of that (Cr 1000 per ton of ship) because, like you said, those are only free on small craft.

Result: MCr 20.2 for the hull and scoops

Fortunately, the edit window is still open for a few days yet if the consensus of this forum is to alter this point of cost assumptions like you propose. Since it would make the design MCr 4 cheaper to build the first ship in class I'm not averse to the idea, but I would prefer to hear other opinions first before making such a change. Ye ken hoo i'tis.

You could save 10 Dt and MCr 13 if you are satisfied with M-2. A bit pricey for an extra G?

I have an answer to that, previously posted.

With respect to gas giant skimming, 1G will usually be inadequate to achieve orbit. Using the Terra system gas and ice giants as reference (that some of us will be familiar with), the "surface" gravity at 1 bar of atmospheric pressure (slightly less than Terra sea level) within the atmospheres of the outer system planets are as follows:
Jupiter: 2.528g
Saturn: 1.065g
Uranus: 0.886g
Neptune: 1.137g
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_gravity

So a ship with only 1G of acceleration will have serious trouble skimming fuel from anywhere other than Uranus in the Sol system. And given that Uranus lies in Orbit 8 of the Terra system (LLB6, p56), that's a long haul from Orbit 3 with Terra in it (anywhere from roughly 17.5-21.5 AU away from Terra, depending on orbital positioning). At 1G of acceleration, that's a LONG HAUL to get all the way out to Uranus for a gas giant skimming refuel (it would take longer than a week, one way, at 1G!). By contrast, going from Terra to Jupiter would involve a journey of 4-6.5 AU, but without a refueling shuttle capable of breaking Jupiter's gravity in order to reach orbit, there would be no point in going there (other than sightseeing of course).

For gas giant fuel skimming, you can use 2G to skim Saturn, Uranus and Neptune "type" gas giants ... but if you want to skim for fuel at a Jupiter "type" of gas giant, you're going to need at least 3G (otherwise your de-orbit for fuel is going to be a one way trip!). :toast:

This isn't something explicitly spelled out in the Traveller rules (as written) anywhere ... this is me looking around and applying a bit of "game reality testing" to the proposition. I know that a lot of older LBB2 designs rely on 1-2G maneuver drives and even propose that you can fuel skim gas giants (any of them) with as little as a 1G maneuver drive. A prime example of this would be the Express Boat Tender (LBB S7, p46) with its configuration 4 and 1G maneuver. I look at that and immediately ask myself, what gas giants are low gravity enough to reliably skim for fuel with only 1G of thrust available? Since configuration 4 is only partially streamlined, it can't make planetfall for ocean refueling (not streamlined enough for atmospheres that yield liquid water instead of ice caps).

A 1G maneuver is "plenty" for an orbital ship that never lands or enters an atmosphere ... but for a ship intending to skim fuel, you really ought to have more than just 1G available to you.

I would argue (so, house rule) ... that you need at least 2G to make orbit from planets that have surface gravity above 1G (for what should be obvious reasons). For ease of computations, 1G would only be adequate to make orbit from planets with a UWP size code of 7-, since 8 is Terra sized (and therefore 1g surface gravity). This in turn implies that for any UWP size code of 8+ (including most "generic" gas giants!) you're going to need 2G of maneuver drive to lift off and reach orbit.

For "massive" gas giants (think Jupiter class), you're going to need 3G maneuver drive to ascend and reach orbit.
For gas giants with even higher "surface" gravity than Jupiter, you're going to want 4G maneuver or more in order to be able to reliably skim fuel from them.

No, the Rules As Written (RAW) do not explicitly "say" that anywhere, but my own common sense (and ship design sensibilities) do ... and I would rather have a faster interplanetary trip to skim for fuel at "most" gas giants than have a slower interplanetary trip to skin for fuel at "less conveniently located" gas giants, costing a lot more time to get to. Yes, the difference is some tonnage and MCr, and 3G isn't strictly "needed" for ocean refueling ... but there are a lot of Desert worlds out there, not to mention type A, B, C atmosphere worlds with hydrographics 1+ that don't have water oceans on them, but do have a gas giant in the system that fuel can be skimmed from and they might need more than 2G in order to ascend and reach orbit again after a skimming run.

In other words, the 3G "price point" is about expanding the range of options for where to go (and why) so choices aren't "made for you" due to the limitations of the ship's design compromises limiting your navigation options.

Hope that made sense.

A small craft is still nice to have. A tiny, but fast, craft could get you places in a hurry

Hence the first draft build with the Pinnace.

Not luxurious, but can get 10 people to/from the jump point in a hurry.
Better than a Speeder?

There's a couple of points I'll respond with to this notion.

First of all, I view the Speeder as more of a "personal prestige vehicle" for the noble. It's the proverbial fancy car for the fabulously wealthy, and I really do view it as being a chauffeur thing, with the noble's personal butler steward doing the driving most of the time. So it's a vanity vehicle more than anything else.

As for transporting 10 people, if you want to evacuate the yacht in one trip you'll need a capacity to carry 19 people (5 crew, 5 military, 8 passengers, 1 noble). Doing it in 2 trips would mean 10 people per trip (the pilot has to remain on board at least).

But doing that with acceleration couches quickly runs into an endurance problem that has nothing to do with fuel capacity.

Staterooms: Crew and passenger couches allow temporary transportation, up to a maximum of 36 turns in combat (12 hours), and 24 hours for routine operations. For longer periods, staterooms must be provided. Small craft staterooms allow sleeping and privacy at two tons each, Cr100,000. Such staterooms may allow double occupancy (each person has the facilities for half a day) on non-commercial flights. Low berths and emergency low berths may also be installed.

So if you're using acceleration couches only, you've only got up to 24 hours of life support available to you. There's a limit to how far you can "go" with that much life support when it comes to interplanetary travel.

One Way Nonstop Interplanetary Travel Times at 1G in 12 hour blocks (LBB2.81 p10)

• 12 hours (0.5d): 4,665,600 km (0.031 AU)
• 24 hours (1.0d): 18,662,400 km (0.124 AU)

One Way Nonstop Interplanetary Travel Times at 2G in 12 hour blocks (LBB2.81 p10)

• 12 hours (0.5d): 9,331,200 km (0.062 AU)
• 24 hours (1.0d): 37,324,800 km (0.249 AU)

One Way Nonstop Interplanetary Travel Times at 6G in 12 hour blocks (LBB2.81 p10)

• 12 hours (0.5d): 27,993,600 km (0.187 AU)
• 24 hours (1.0d): 111,974,400 km (0.748 AU)

Of course, in extremis situations, such as fleeing a disaster that has disabled the ship, you can appeal to the notion that active cooperation on conservation of life support will extend endurance beyond 24 hours, but even then you're talking some pretty risky gamble planning assuming no one is going to "go a little bit nuts" from the stress if the trip is "taking too long" to finish (not all passengers and crew are going to maintain discipline and morale, for example). And that's even before assuming you need to go back for a second trip to pick up the OTHER people you left behind the first time! o:

This is why I installed cabins (as in starship half staterooms, rather than small craft cabins) into the Pinnace for that design (1 cabin for the 2 crew, 1 cabin for the 2 passengers) even though the crew and the passengers all had acceleration couches ... so as to extend the interplanetary travel endurance beyond the 24 hour limit of acceleration couches only. Because space ... is BIG ... mind wobblingly almost impossibly BIG. So I'm starting from an assumption that if there is an abandon ship situation, you aren't necessarily going to be in orbit around a (habitable) biosphere.

If you're skimming a gas giant and get attacked by pirates and the yacht is disabled ... having a small craft to evacuate SOME of the crew and passengers might sound like a good idea, but if the small craft can't cross an orbit (or 2, or 3) in 24 hours ... even if the small craft can get there "fast" at 6G it might not be able to get there "fast enough" to arrive within 24 hours before the life support starts running out for the acceleration couches. It would be decent for evacuating to somewhere "nearby" but wouldn't have the life support endurance to "go far" with that evacuation (never mind the 4 weeks of power plant fuel available).

Which is a very long winded way of saying that I would want more of a safety margin than you're offering here for the cost (2G vs 3G maneuver drives). In my judgement, the return on investment for the change is not marginal or good enough to seem sound to me. Your mileage may vary, of course.