Type SL Scout (Long-range): My First Attempt at a CT Ship

[scott]

At this point I'm waiting for T5 before I get too serious about creating anything, but I decided it would be fun to work on a ship for MTU. The setting would be a much smaller cluster of worlds than the Imperium, located at the edge of a large rift. To get Scouts across the rift for exploration, they'd need a ship that could make long jumps, and that could always jump back to its last fuel source if an unexplored system didn't pan out. Otherwise it'd be much like a Type S -- small crew, minimal facilities.

Which means a ship that is almost entirely fuel tanks. I like to think of it as the bloated tick of starships--a tiny head and a swollen body.

The best I could come up with was the following -- a 2,000-ton monstrosity, but pretty simple, since it's mostly fuel. I'm sure I goofed up a detail or formula somewhere, but I think this is close enough to mess with. Some of the smaller details (small craft, distribution of space) might change.

The ship would need a good array of sensors, since it would need to be able to both do regular survey tasks *and* have astrographic equipment to look for gas giants 4-6 parsecs away.

Water recycling and maybe some sort of "food synthesizer" would be good, too, for very long expeditions.

2,000-ton Type SL Scout (Long-range)
Crew: 4 (Scout/Pilot/Navigator; Scout/Navigator/Sensor Spec; other Scout as needed; Engineer)

Cockpit: 30 tons (smaller than req'd in rules, but there's not much ship to control)
Sensors & Control Area: 15 tons
Staterooms: 4 (can sleep 2 each in rescue situations, etc.)
Common Area: 35 tons
Low berths: 4
Supply Storage (for daily operations): 30 tons
Cargo: 10 tons
Small craft: Slow boat, Air/Raft
Jump fuel: 1600 tons
Performance: 2xJ4, 1G

I'm not sure if I could justify this thing being fully streamlined, but at least partial streamlining would be good to allow skimming for fuel.

Now to figure out how to translate all this into deckplans and drawings.

 

[DangerousThing]

I like the possibilities.

Really long dark corridors, intersections with broken lights, an alien monster slowly eating the crew one by one...

I *think* that you can do this ship a lot smaller in CT. Did you use book 2 or HG rules for this?

 

[VonPickles]

Well here is my go at a "Long Range" Scout
I left 2 turrets blank for mission defined rolls, and didnt include a Air/Raft but have left enough space for one!


Ship: Deep Reach
Class: Long Range Scout
Type: DSS4
Architect: Dorubuni Technical Fabrications
Tech Level: 14

USP
S-2642442-100000-00000-0 MCr 151.902 210 Tons
Bat Bear Crew: 5
Bat TL: 14

Cargo: 4.600 Fuel: 113.400 EP: 8.400 Agility: 2
Fuel Treatment: On Board Fuel Purification

Architects Fee: MCr 1.519 Cost in Quantity: MCr 121.522

With Drop Tanks

S-2621142-100000-00000-0 MCr 151.902 294 Tons
Bat TL: 14
Bat Bear Crew: 5
Drop Tanks Cost: MCr 0.084


Detailed Description
(High Guard Design)

HULL
210.000 tons standard, 2,940.000 cubic meters, Flattened Sphere Configuration

CREW
Pilot, Navigator, 2 Engineers, Medic

ENGINEERING
Jump-4, 2G Manuever, Power plant-4, 8.400 EP, Agility 2

AVIONICS
Bridge, Model/4 Computer

HARDPOINTS
4 Hardpoints

ARMAMENT
2 Empty None Turrets

DEFENCES
Armoured Hull (Factor-1)

CRAFT
None

FUEL
113.400 Tons Fuel (5 parsecs jump and 28 days endurance)
No Fuel Scoops, On Board Fuel Purification Plant, 84.000 ton drop tanks

MISCELLANEOUS
5 Staterooms, 4.600 Tons Cargo

USER DEFINED COMPONENTS
None

COST
MCr 153.421 Singly (incl. Architects fees of MCr 1.519), MCr 121.522 in Quantity

CONSTRUCTION TIME
59 Weeks Singly, 47 Weeks in Quantity

COMMENTS



Long Range Scout Class DSS4

HULL
Hull: 0.000 Td; MCr 16.800
Armour Factor-1: 4.200 Td; MCr 1.680

ENGINEERING
M-Drive Factor-2: 10.500 Td; MCr 7.350
J-Drive Factor-4: 10.500 Td; MCr 42.000
P-Plant Factor-4: 16.800 Td; MCr 50.400; +8.400 EP

FUEL
P-Fuel: 8.400 Td; MCr 0,000
J-Fuel: 105.000 Td; MCr 0.000
Scoops: 0.000 Td; MCr 0.000
Purification: 4.000 Td; MCr 0.028
L-Hyd Drop Tanks: 0.000 Td; MCr 0.094

AVIONICS
Bridge: 20.000 Td; MCr 1.050
Computer Model/4: 4.000 Td; MCr 30.000; -2 EP

WEAPONRY
2 x Mixed Turrets: 2.000 Td; MCr 0.000

SCREENS

CRAFT

ACCOMODATIONS
5.0 x Staterooms: 20.000 Td; MCr 2.500
Cargo: 4.600 Td; MCr 0.000

 

[scott]

I like the possibilities.

Really long dark corridors, intersections with broken lights, an alien monster slowly eating the crew one by one...

Sounds like the crew is :toast:

I *think* that you can do this ship a lot smaller in CT. Did you use book 2 or HG rules for this?

This was book 2--but the only way I could find to make it to make it smaller was to drop to jump-3, which I didn't really want to do.

 

[scott]

Well here is my go at a "Long Range" Scout
I left 2 turrets blank for mission defined rolls, and didnt include a Air/Raft but have left enough space for one!

Yours is a lot more detailed and interesting, but it seems like the fuel use is a *lot* smaller than what the Book 2 tables were showing. Were you using a different rule set?

 

[Dragoner]

Looks like he is using HGS, which is High Guard:

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=26283

 

[Carlobrand]

At this point I'm waiting for T5 before I get too serious about creating anything, but I decided it would be fun to work on a ship for MTU. The setting would be a much smaller cluster of worlds than the Imperium, located at the edge of a large rift. To get Scouts across the rift for exploration, they'd need a ship that could make long jumps, and that could always jump back to its last fuel source if an unexplored system didn't pan out. Otherwise it'd be much like a Type S -- small crew, minimal facilities.

Which means a ship that is almost entirely fuel tanks. I like to think of it as the bloated tick of starships--a tiny head and a swollen body.

The best I could come up with was the following -- a 2,000-ton monstrosity, but pretty simple, since it's mostly fuel. I'm sure I goofed up a detail or formula somewhere, but I think this is close enough to mess with. Some of the smaller details (small craft, distribution of space) might change.

The ship would need a good array of sensors, since it would need to be able to both do regular survey tasks *and* have astrographic equipment to look for gas giants 4-6 parsecs away.

Water recycling and maybe some sort of "food synthesizer" would be good, too, for very long expeditions.

2,000-ton Type SL Scout (Long-range)
Crew: 4 (Scout/Pilot/Navigator; Scout/Navigator/Sensor Spec; other Scout as needed; Engineer)

Cockpit: 30 tons (smaller than req'd in rules, but there's not much ship to control)
Sensors & Control Area: 15 tons
Staterooms: 4 (can sleep 2 each in rescue situations, etc.)
Common Area: 35 tons
Low berths: 4
Supply Storage (for daily operations): 30 tons
Cargo: 10 tons
Small craft: Slow boat, Air/Raft
Jump fuel: 1600 tons
Performance: 2xJ4, 1G

I'm not sure if I could justify this thing being fully streamlined, but at least partial streamlining would be good to allow skimming for fuel.

Now to figure out how to translate all this into deckplans and drawings.

Book 2: I'm seeing a need for a larger crew to keep the engines running. I get a crew of 10 with no less than 7 engineers and a medic in addition to the pilot and navigator. 10 staterooms for same, and 35 tons available for other stuff - some of which I'd take as weapons and a few gunners, 'cause an unarmed scout that big just seems like an invitation to the predators. Not a lot of spare room there.

 

[scott]

Hmm--looks like I missed a couple of steps. Not that I'm surprised--like I said, this was my first try.

I can see the need for more engineering crew. But what about the idea of this being essentially a bloated Type S--could you run with a smaller crew if the machinery that usually goes with a ship of this volume isn't really there? The bigger engines might need more crew, but if a huge part of the volume is just fuel tanks, do the usual formulas work?

 

[Carlobrand]

Hmm--looks like I missed a couple of steps. Not that I'm surprised--like I said, this was my first try.

I can see the need for more engineering crew. But what about the idea of this being essentially a bloated Type S--could you run with a smaller crew if the machinery that usually goes with a ship of this volume isn't really there? The bigger engines might need more crew, but if a huge part of the volume is just fuel tanks, do the usual formulas work?

Book 2 judges engineer need by the volume of the drives, not the volume of the ship itself. Thus, a big ship using 105 tons of drives and power plant would need the same number of engineers as a small ship with 105 tons of drives. If for example you cut loose that extra 800 tons of tankage but left the drives as-is, you'd end up with a 1200 ton ship whose 800 tons of fuel constituted 66+% of the ship - but you'd still need the same number of engineers.

Book 2 is fairly simple; other ship machinery isn't factored into the engineering equation, just the drives. So, shrinking the ship does not shrink the need for engineers, not if the drives are unchanged.

 

[scott]

Maybe I just need a different rulebook.

 

[Orr]

Maybe I just need a different rulebook.

Book 2 is as easy as it gets so if you can't handle Book 2's design system you're going to have even more trouble with High Guard or MT or FF&S or any of the others.

I also think you've got your priorities mixed up with regards to your design. You're trying to combine two different jobs, rift crossing and scouting, and ending up with a design which does neither job well. It's like you're designing an American tank to fight WW2 in Europe that also can cross the Atlantic on it's own.

You need to design a jump shuttle that carries scouts and other cargo across the rift.

 

[Selandia]

Book 2 is as easy as it gets so if you can't handle Book 2's design system you're going to have even more trouble with High Guard or MT or FF&S or any of the others.

I also think you've got your priorities mixed up with regards to your design. You're trying to combine two different jobs, rift crossing and scouting, and ending up with a design which does neither job well. It's like you're designing an American tank to fight WW2 in Europe that also can cross the Atlantic on it's own.

You need to design a jump shuttle that carries scouts and other cargo across the rift.

Amen

One could easily find situation when a long range scout/courrier may be J4 and making sense, but tasking them to be 4+4 is stretching things a lot, like making a city bus that could cross USA NY - SF on its fuel tank AND is pulling a fuel trailer for the return run.

Selandia

 

[scott]

Book 2 is as easy as it gets so if you can't handle Book 2's design system you're going to have even more trouble with High Guard or MT or FF&S or any of the others.

Thud not good at ship design. Ugh.

I also think you've got your priorities mixed up with regards to your design. You're trying to combine two different jobs, rift crossing and scouting, and ending up with a design which does neither job well. It's like you're designing an American tank to fight WW2 in Europe that also can cross the Atlantic on it's own.

Well put--I like that.

You need to design a jump shuttle that carries scouts and other cargo across the rift.

That's the same idea that slowly dawned on me last night when I should have been working on other stuff. I faintly remembered reading something about jump shuttles for SDBs and went from there.

One could easily find situation when a long range scout/courrier may be J4 and making sense, but tasking them to be 4+4 is stretching things a lot, like making a city bus that could cross USA NY - SF on its fuel tank AND is pulling a fuel trailer for the return run.

Ha! OK, point taken.

I'm thinking that even a J3 scout will be fine once the party is across the rift, so some specially-built rift-crossing rig sounds like a good solution. I'll start working on that.

Thanks for the suggestions!