Traders and Gunboats questions

[Brandon C]

Since I would have to mail order this without being able to look through it, I have a couple of questions for the hivemind.

1) How many of the ships are over 5,000 tons? I'm a small ship universe guy and big ships aren't useful to me.

2) What new ship design components are included? I know there are drop (re-entry?) capsules.

 

[atpollard]

Partial answer:

2 ships at 2000 tons
2 ships at 1200 tons
everything else is smaller.

An index might help:

Spoiler:

Advanced Systems Defence Boat (SDB-II) 86
Animal-class Safari Ship 50
Antique Fighter 22
Antique In-Systems Hauler 37
Antique Systems Defence Boat 88
Armed Fast Smuggler 60
Assault Fighter 24
Assault Gunship, Type RG 94
Assault Shuttle 26
Auxiliaries 68
B
Bombardment Ship (Siege-class) 96
Business Shuttle/Yacht 6
C
Civilian Ships 37
Colonial Cruiser 98
Contents 1
Countermeasure Drone 3
Covert Insertion Craft 10
Covert Insertion Craft, Type XI 10
Credits 1
Criminal Vessels 57
D
Defence Frigate 83
Destroyer Escort (Convoy Variant) 104
Destroyer Escort (Patrol Variant) 108
E
Escort Frigate 101
Express Boat, Type X 40
Express Boat Tender, Type XT 54
F
Fast Trader, Type A3 42
Fiery-class Gunned Escort 112
Freight Handler Pod 5
I
Interceptor mk.III 36
J
Junk Fighter 28
L
Labourer-class Salvage Hauler 64
Large Freighter 44
Light Assault Transport 68
Light Scout, Type ST 114
M
Minesweeper, Type M/R 74
Mine Drone 4
Missile Corvette 116
Missile Systems Defender (MSD-II) 90
Modular Clipper 46
Modular Skiff 12
N
Naval Auxiliary, Type NA 76
O
Orbital Defence System 30
P
Patrol Cruiser, Type T 118
Pirate Cruiser (Cutlass-class) 62
Pirate Raider (Ambush Frigate) 57
Q
Q-Ship 71
R
Recon Drone 4
Retrieval Boat 14
S
Sanatorium Hospice Boat, Saint-class 52
Security Pursuit Ship 78
Ship to Ship Shuttle 15
Slow Boat 16
Slow Pinnace 18
Small Craft - Civilian 5
Small Craft - Military 22
Solar Sailing Yacht 20
Space Control Router 8
Space Surveillance Craft 17
Strike Boat 32
Subsidised Liner, Type M 80
Suicide Drone 3
Superiority Fighter, Type 7 34
Systems Defence Boat (SDB) 92
System Defence Ships 83
V
Vulture-class Armed Salvage Ship 66
W
Warships 94
Watchdog-class Fleet Picket 121

 

[aramis]

I don't recall any new components. And, at least in the PDF I got, many of the plans were very sparse.

 

[Brandon C]

I don't recall any new components. And, at least in the PDF I got, many of the plans were very sparse.

On Amazon, the main complaints were about the deck plans as well.

 

[Brandon C]

Partial answer:

2 ships at 2000 tons
2 ships at 1200 tons
everything else is smaller.

Ah, good, then in theory I can use anything in the book (with minor changes).

 

[aramis]

On Amazon, the main complaints were about the deck plans as well.

In the PDF, they are rasters and only medium resolution rasters, at that. And not very detailed, even.

It's the product that showed "a deck plan for every included ship" to be a bit of a waste.

 

[Kilgs]

I liked it but it continued a major gripe in the ship books... no added components. The only books that added components (IIRC) were Merchant Prince, Beltstrike, Scoundrel, High Guard and maybe Scout? But Dilettante was my last purchase so maybe later ones did.

Each of the above books only adds one or two things. Fairly limited.

 

[Brandon C]

Each of the above books only adds one or two things. Fairly limited.

Well, High Guard does add a fair amount of stuff

 

[Antony]

Incidently can some one work out how the antique in-system hauler carry a years supply of fission fuel for its power plant? If I interpreted the construction rules does it not only have power for 2 weeks which kind of makes it a little limited in scope for a slow in system vessel?

 

[Brandon C]

Incidently can some one work out how the antique in-system hauler carry a years supply of fission fuel for its power plant? If I interpreted the construction rules does it not only have power for 2 weeks which kind of makes it a little limited in scope for a slow in system vessel?

Fission plants use fuel differently than fusion plants. Fission fuel is rated in tons per year, not per 2 weeks.

Fusion plant-C
6 tons per 2 weeks, 156 tons per year. Using refined fuel, that's MCr 0.079 per year.

Fission plant-C
6 tons per year. Fuel costs MCr 6 per year.

(p.42 of High Guard has errata for for fission plants, basically making them simpler to use)

 

[Antony]

Thanks for that, but it does make the fusion plants very inefficient fuel wise then.

 

[Brandon C]

Thanks for that, but it does make the fusion plants very inefficient fuel wise then.

Not really. A fission plant is double the size of a fusion plant, so unless the fusion plant has many weeks of fuel, the fusion plant won't eat up more space. And as for cost, the fusion plant is much eacper per week of operation.

 

[Brandon C]

Ordered the book today, should get it in a couple of days. Thanks to those of you who commented here or in PMs.

 

[GypsyComet]

I liked it but it continued a major gripe in the ship books... no added components.

I think Mongoose's approach was that the books of ships were supposed to provide examples of ships using the rules up to that point, not add even more components. Think of them as the parts of the ships chapters in the books with components (HG, etc) that wouldn't fit into those books.

 

[aramis]

I think Mongoose's approach was that the books of ships were supposed to provide examples of ships using the rules up to that point, not add even more components. Think of them as the parts of the ships chapters in the books with components (HG, etc) that wouldn't fit into those books.

It's better than the CT approach of including new stuff without stats...

– Jump Nets
– Capture Tanks
– Mining Laser
– Labs
– Smelter

 

[flg]

Not really. A fission plant is double the size of a fusion plant, so unless the fusion plant has many weeks of fuel, the fusion plant won't eat up more space. And as for cost, the fusion plant is much eacper per week of operation.

Realistically, one ton of hydrogen fuel should be able to power a fusion plant for decades.

The rules may say otherwise, but the rules do not reflect reality.

 

[flykiller]

Realistically, one ton of hydrogen fuel should be able to power a fusion plant for decades.

the fuel, sure, theoretically. the technology that generates the fusion, maybe not, practically. even after a star goes nova there is lots of hydrogen left-over.

 

[whulorigan]

the fuel, sure, theoretically. the technology that generates the fusion, maybe not, practically. even after a star goes nova there is lots of hydrogen left-over.

But that is because fusion in a star is only occurring in a limited region of the stellar core where the pressure and temperature are high enough. The majority of the hydrogen in a main-sequence star never gets fused, unless it is a red-dwarf (where convection is the primary method of energy transfer, as opposed to larger stars which are primarily radiative). That is why red-dwarfs live far longer than larger main sequence stars (hundreds of billions to trillions of years) - their entire fuel-supply gets cycled around the star (including the core).

 

[whulorigan]

Fission plants use fuel differently than fusion plants. Fission fuel is rated in tons per year, not per 2 weeks.

Thanks for that, but it does make the fusion plants very inefficient fuel wise then.

Note that MgT: Compendium I has some alternate rules for fusion-fuel usage. Basically the Compendium I rules suggest that the two-week rating for fusion fuel is for a TL8 plant, and that with each increasing TL of the Power Plant, the fuel-usage rate drops. So a TL12 Plant is rated for 12 weeks (IIRC) instead of two, and a TL15 plant is close to a year or more duration.

(BTW, inefficient fusuion-fuel usage is one of my pet-peeves / gripes - it's a belief-suspender snapper for me. )

 

[flg]

the fuel, sure, theoretically. the technology that generates the fusion, maybe not, practically. even after a star goes nova there is lots of hydrogen left-over.

These are totally unrelated statements - technologically-induced fusion doesn't work in the same way as stars (for reasons that whulorigan stated). I could believe that the technology is slightly inefficient, but a fusion reactor will not get through hundreds of kl of liquid hydrogen as fuel in two weeks. That much fuel, it could run for centuries - the power plant would need maintenance far sooner than the fuel runs out (and I can believe that the two week limit is for that maintenance, rather than for refuelling - though missing it wouldn't prevent the plant from working).