General Does a Detached Scout/Courier come stocked?

[Black Vulmea]

Because TL=F is ... not ubiquitous/everywhere.

I didn't suggest it was - I'm talking specifically about a detached duty Scout.

TL=F is fine for the Imperial Navy and Imperial Marines ... but is logistically problematic for the Imperial Scouts.

The Imperial service that literally and specifically is charged with moving the mail around the entire Imperium can't buy and stockpile TL F gear? That makes no sense to me.

 

[Condottiere]

Assuming standardization was a mix of technological level eleven and twelve equipment, at the start of the Imperium.

Express boats need technological level thirteen jump drives.

Could be minimum technological level equipment, exceptional being mission critical, such as spying on the Zhodani.

 

[Spinward Flow]

I'm talking specifically about a detached duty Scout.

So was I.

The Imperial service that literally and specifically is charged with moving the mail around the entire Imperium can't buy and stockpile TL F gear? That makes no sense to me.

Apparently, you've never seen an Express Boat or even an Express Boat Tender before.
Guess what tech level those are?

Spoiler:

TL=A

If you don't believe me, I have LBB S7, p46 on my side of the argument as evidence.

Spoiler:

Express boats need technological level thirteen jump drives.

If they were using LBB5.80 custom drives ... sure!
But they're NOT.

Spoiler:

The Express Boats use a LBB2.77 Jump-B (TL=9) standard drive (no power plant or maneuver drive required!) and a model/4 computer (TL=A).
The Express Boat Tenders use LBB2.77/81 Jump-H/Maneuver-H/Power Plant-H (TL=A) standard drives and a model/3 computer (TL=9).

 

[Black Vulmea]

Apparently, you've never seen an Express Boat or even an Express Boat Tender before.

The Donosev survey scout in Supplement 9 is TL F and they operate a few TL E Azhanti High Lightnings per Supplement 5. The IISS fleet is not a crapsack.

The TL F standard Scout vacc suit comes from Grand Survey. It's not something I just dreamed up.

 

[Janitor_Prime]

 

[Grav_Moped]

So was I.

Apparently, you've never seen an Express Boat or even an Express Boat Tender before.
Guess what tech level those are?

Spoiler:

TL=A

If you don't believe me, I have LBB S7, p46 on my side of the argument as evidence.

Spoiler:

If they were using LBB5.80 custom drives ... sure!
But they're NOT.

Spoiler:

The Express Boats use a LBB2.77 Jump-B (TL=9) standard drive (no power plant or maneuver drive required!) and a model/4 computer (TL=A).
The Express Boat Tenders use LBB2.77/81 Jump-H/Maneuver-H/Power Plant-H (TL=A) standard drives and a model/3 computer (TL=9).

The XBoats themselves also work in LBB2'81 at TL-A if you waive the "10Pn fuel tankage" requirement, but NOT the implied 40Td/4wk fuel consumption rate that the tankage requirement implies.

40Td fuel for Jump-4, 10Td fuel for 1 week of Pn-4, 1Td fuel for power during a +10%-duration Jump. Using refined fuel and jumping from outside 100D, it literally cannot misjump under LBB2'81 rules. Therefore, Jump will never be longer than 1 week +10% of a week. With a tender at each end of the jump, it cannot burn more than 51Td fuel during even a Jump-4.

There's room for the PP-B (required in '81 though it wasn't in '77), and for the pilot in a half-stateroom, with 1Td left over.

Based on rules mechanics, it works. Because the 10Pn fuel requirement is not based on any in-universe mechanical requirement, it must be a regulatory issue. Since the regulator (the Imperium) is also the operator of these ships (through its Interstellar Scout Service), it should be trivial to get the necessary waiver to the regulation to allow building them.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Based on rules mechanics, it works. Because the 10Pn fuel requirement is not based on any in-universe mechanical requirement, it must be a regulatory issue. Since the regulator (the Imperium) is also the operator of these ships (through its Interstellar Scout Service), it should be trivial to get the necessary waiver to the regulation to allow building them.

Considering that Express Boats have no maneuver drive and "outsource" all of their maneuver and sustainment (life support, etc.) to other craft ... it's a reasonable expectation.

 

[Diveguy]

Don't forget, the scout accepting the ship has to sign for it and it's contents. Anyone who has ever served in the military can tell you about trying to find / scrounge everything you signed for so you can turn it back in.

in fact this could be the start of an adventure as the scout tries to acquire some odd, rare piece of equipment that was supposed to be on the ship before it get turned over to the scout base for its annual inspection.

Thus implying the existence of the Scout Service E4 mafia.... and why you always change the default lock codes when parking at a Scout base.