Traveller canon lacks a Scout Service ship capable of transporting more than a few personnel along all links in the Jump-4 XBoat network, aside from the Jump-5 Lightning Class Cruisers. Even the Donosev Class Survey Scouts are only capable of Jump-3.
Thus, the Type ST Transport Scout.
[Note: please note the mouse-over comments such as this one. ]
Using a 199-ton custom streamlined hull, the transport scout is intended for personnel transfer duties along the XBoat network, as well as exploration, survey, and courier missions. It has jump drive-D, maneuver drive-B, and power plant-D, giving performance of jump-4 and 2-G acceleration. A 110-ton fuel tank provides fuel for three weeks of power plant operation at full output and one jump-4. Adjacent to its bridge is a Model/4 computer. There are four staterooms and no low berths. One unarmed triple turret is installed on one of the ship's two hardpoints; a second could be installed but would increase the ship's size to 200 tons. One air/raft may be carried in a specially-fitted hangar within the ship, though it is replaced by a modular stateroom when transporting passengers along the XBoat network. Cargo capacity is 3 tons. The hull is streamlined, and incorporates fuel scoops. The drives can tolerate unrefined fuel without difficultly. Sensors are Scout/Military grade unless specified otherwise.
The Transport Scout crew consists of a pilot, though the optional addition of a second turret not only requires a gunner for it, but also a medic and an engineer for regulatory reasons. The ship costs MCr122.31 in serial production, MCr136.9 individually.
Configured for personnel transport (with a stateroom replacing the air/raft), it can carry 4-9 passengers in addition to the pilot.
In the context of the game, it's how you build a Jump-4 version of the Type S Scout/Courier without resorting to LBB5 (it has the same capacity and crew requirements as the Type S). If you're running a Scout campaign and need to give your players Jump-4 to make a scenario work (and just slinging a drop tank under a Type S won't suffice for whatever reason), this does it. In-universe, it's useful for personnel transfers to or from the boonies, or for long-range/rift exploration missions.
It probably won't be loaned out through the Detached Duty program except as a reward for extraordinary accomplishments. But if your players somehow rack up a big win for the Scouts or the Imperium, it's an option...
This design bends the rules a bit in order to work under LBB2 (2nd Ed.). The first exploit is building it to 200 Td but including a hardpoint without a turret. Since that puts it below 200Td, it doesn't need a medic or engineer. Adding that second turret puts it at 200Td and thus requires medic and engineer crew positions (plus a gunner or two). The second is that it exploits the "Type Y Yacht Loophole" (in its strict interpretation) to reduce the normal 4-week power plant fuel requirement to three weeks, saving 10Td of fuel allocation. I'll cover that in the next post.
This is simply a way to shoehorn a Jump-4 Scout/Courier into the LBB2 framework. If the rules exploits don't fit with your version of the Traveller Universe, the same performance in 199 tons (with slightly different fuel, drives, and cargo) is possible under most other Traveller ship construction rulesets. Just build to J-4/2G with 4 staterooms and include an air/raft.
If all you need is J3/2G, it's possible in an otherwise stock Type S at TL-13 using LBB5 '81. There's room for a fuel processor, and it could even use the LBB2 100 ton standard hull (same total drive size as a matched set of Size A Drives) if you allow that as a house rule.
Thus, the Type ST Transport Scout.
[Note: please note the mouse-over comments such as this one. ]
Using a 199-ton custom streamlined hull, the transport scout is intended for personnel transfer duties along the XBoat network, as well as exploration, survey, and courier missions. It has jump drive-D, maneuver drive-B, and power plant-D, giving performance of jump-4 and 2-G acceleration. A 110-ton fuel tank provides fuel for three weeks of power plant operation at full output and one jump-4. Adjacent to its bridge is a Model/4 computer. There are four staterooms and no low berths. One unarmed triple turret is installed on one of the ship's two hardpoints; a second could be installed but would increase the ship's size to 200 tons. One air/raft may be carried in a specially-fitted hangar within the ship, though it is replaced by a modular stateroom when transporting passengers along the XBoat network. Cargo capacity is 3 tons. The hull is streamlined, and incorporates fuel scoops. The drives can tolerate unrefined fuel without difficultly. Sensors are Scout/Military grade unless specified otherwise.
The Transport Scout crew consists of a pilot, though the optional addition of a second turret not only requires a gunner for it, but also a medic and an engineer for regulatory reasons. The ship costs MCr122.31 in serial production, MCr136.9 individually.
Configured for personnel transport (with a stateroom replacing the air/raft), it can carry 4-9 passengers in addition to the pilot.
In the context of the game, it's how you build a Jump-4 version of the Type S Scout/Courier without resorting to LBB5 (it has the same capacity and crew requirements as the Type S). If you're running a Scout campaign and need to give your players Jump-4 to make a scenario work (and just slinging a drop tank under a Type S won't suffice for whatever reason), this does it. In-universe, it's useful for personnel transfers to or from the boonies, or for long-range/rift exploration missions.
It probably won't be loaned out through the Detached Duty program except as a reward for extraordinary accomplishments. But if your players somehow rack up a big win for the Scouts or the Imperium, it's an option...
This design bends the rules a bit in order to work under LBB2 (2nd Ed.). The first exploit is building it to 200 Td but including a hardpoint without a turret. Since that puts it below 200Td, it doesn't need a medic or engineer. Adding that second turret puts it at 200Td and thus requires medic and engineer crew positions (plus a gunner or two). The second is that it exploits the "Type Y Yacht Loophole" (in its strict interpretation) to reduce the normal 4-week power plant fuel requirement to three weeks, saving 10Td of fuel allocation. I'll cover that in the next post.
This is simply a way to shoehorn a Jump-4 Scout/Courier into the LBB2 framework. If the rules exploits don't fit with your version of the Traveller Universe, the same performance in 199 tons (with slightly different fuel, drives, and cargo) is possible under most other Traveller ship construction rulesets. Just build to J-4/2G with 4 staterooms and include an air/raft.
If all you need is J3/2G, it's possible in an otherwise stock Type S at TL-13 using LBB5 '81. There's room for a fuel processor, and it could even use the LBB2 100 ton standard hull (same total drive size as a matched set of Size A Drives) if you allow that as a house rule.
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