Actually I never said I *needed* smaller or fewer ships. I said I was leaning that way because at the time it made more sense to me and seemed more manageable. That and it was obvious the game had started with smaller ships and then switched with HG to much larger ships (which I think has been clearly established to have been in response to market demands due to the popularity of Star Wars at the time). What I am most interested in so far as OTU is getting a clearer picture of how many ships there are, tonnages, and what they are doing and why they are doing it. Just to clarify, I ask about this sort of thing because the better I understand it, the better and more consistent I can present this "universe" to others.
In the last couple of pages there has been a lot of discussion about what planets could afford which has been interesting. I still think that planets in "core" areas would tend to spend only 1% rather than 3%... but this would go up towards the fringes of the Imperium. Again with the exception of balkanized worlds and so forth (i.e. special circumstances). But, from what Rancke and McPerth point out with TCS and Striker (which I have no problem using, I don't see any reason not to use them to help sort things out) even at only 1% of GWP many planets can still afford a LOT. So let's go with that.
Here's a few questions on that premise to kick arround.
Anyone feel up to taking a few examples... pick a planet, any planet, give its location (sector, subsector, etc.), UWP, its military budget and an example of what it could afford (build a paper fleet). If you can find an official example, or a clear example from one of the various Traveller based wargames, even better.
Second question... what are these ships doing? In my previous "theorem" I postulated a lot of 400 dT ships patrolling around like squad cars in space. If they use some of that budget for other types of ships with larger tonnages... what do these ships do? What kind of "routine" duties do they have? Kick it around and let's see what we can come up with.
Third, if planets, even towards the Core have individual fleets of destroyers, cruisers, battleships and strike carriers... why? Is the Imp Navy too small or too unreliable to depend on for defense so that they feel they need these fleets? Is it politically motivated (planet's asserting "planet's rights")? Is a planet in say, Massila, really that worried about invasion, and if so, by whom?
My original assumption, which may be in error, was that worlds in more "protected" areas of the Empire would spend less on defense fleets (especially big ships) because they didn't have to worry about invasion, major attack etc. Instead their focus would be on dealing with piracy, smuggling, etc. Since it appears (here again, correct me if the assumption is wrong) that most pirate ships probably mass under 1,000 dT and virtually none would be over 5,000 dT, then larger numbers of fast patrol craft would be more effective and "controlling" and monitoring traffic in a system. But, if these planets feel the need to have bigger ships, then what reason for that can we extrapolate. That is, are there bigger pirates out there for which that kind of firepower would be needed (and if so, where do they come from)? Is the Imperium a more "warlike" place where feuds between member worlds are possibly settled by small scale shooting wars?
The answers to these sorts of questions help me build a more complete "picture" of the Imperium. While its true I could just decide on my own how I think things are or should be, that has the flaw of all those things I didn't think of (case in point, all the items already pointed out), which players have an almost inevitable knack of asking about. I'd rather bring up these sorts of discussions here and see what you brainiacs come up with. There may not be an "official" explanation, or one might not be possible because different points are in contradiction, but even knowing that gives me useful information in developing a more complete background.
Congrats, you're all really my lab rats
LOL
