I do want to be clear that, for my purposes, ships under 100 tons with jump drives do not need to be "inflated" to 100 tons nor do their bridges need to be to 20 tons (a small craft with a normal bridge per CT:HG is sufficient).
Jump capable ships under 100 tons
- Thread starter Brandon C
- Start date
I do want to be clear that, for my purposes, ships under 100 tons with jump drives do not need to be "inflated" to 100 tons nor do their bridges need to be to 20 tons (a small craft with a normal bridge per CT:HG is sufficient).
Okay, it was just a thought. (Occurs to me belatedly I could tandem two cutters and accomplish the same thing, but that's for another thread.)
That's okay. The reason I was posting in this forum rather than The Fleet was that I was looking more for comments on the social impact than the technical challenge.
Oh. Well, I don't see much of a social impact. Only the rich, businesses and governments can afford them. For the rich , it's equivalent to being able to buy a small personal jet instead of a larger and more opulent corporate jet. Businesses about the same - buy one if you send people traveling enough to warrant the cost, but it doesn't change commerce. Governments can afford bigger and rarely need smaller, but it gives them that "personal jet" option if they want it. Also a cheap scout/raider, cover more ground for the same price but less versatile.
Timerover51
SOC-14 5K
I would tend to agree with Carlobrand about the impact. The primary thing that I can see that he did not mention was a special courier service for financial data independent of the X-Boat routes. The ships are not going to cost that much less, between the power plant, jump drive, and maneuver drive.
TNE allowed for sub 100 ton jump craft.
Though If I were going play with the idea I would start with Book2 and CE. The numbers are readily constructable. But this is in line with my recent experimentation with Smallcraft, if one looks one sees that the most common Shipsboat, Pinnace and Cutter are all based on A class drives.
Though If I were going play with the idea I would start with Book2 and CE. The numbers are readily constructable. But this is in line with my recent experimentation with Smallcraft, if one looks one sees that the most common Shipsboat, Pinnace and Cutter are all based on A class drives.
GypsyComet
SOC-14 1K
With small hulls but minimum jump drive sizes also comes large potential ranges, and the possibility of drop tanks nearly as large as the ship.
Oop, forgot that angle. Information can be more valuable than cargoes.
But ... but ... the prestige! The status!
You could save a little bit of space by having the little ship draw jump fuel exclusively from drop tanks. Ties it to civilized systems, increases overhead some, but that's OK for some roles.
I decided to actually do some designs to see what kind of numbers I got. first, we have three cargo haulers.
All three ships are J1, 1G and PP 1. Crew is four (pilot, navigator, cargo handler, engineer). Other than the minimum 2 ton jump drive, the only rule change is that fractional power plant fuel under 1 ton is permitted. Also, I used standard starship staterooms in all craft.
The 100 ton baseline ship costs MCr 33.5 and carries 45 tons of cargo. There are 4 staterooms.
The 50 ton ship costs MCr 22.5 and carries 21 tons of cargo. There are two staterooms.
The 25 ton ship costs MCr 17.125 and carries 8.25 tons of cargo. There are two staterooms. As a sidenote, this is probably a good base for a dedicated mail carrier, devoting 5 tond to mail and 1 ton to armament (a missile rack).
The price per available ton indicates that a profit can't be made at standard cargo rates, especially as ship size decreases. However, the right speculative cargo could be workable, perhaps.
All three ships are J1, 1G and PP 1. Crew is four (pilot, navigator, cargo handler, engineer). Other than the minimum 2 ton jump drive, the only rule change is that fractional power plant fuel under 1 ton is permitted. Also, I used standard starship staterooms in all craft.
The 100 ton baseline ship costs MCr 33.5 and carries 45 tons of cargo. There are 4 staterooms.
The 50 ton ship costs MCr 22.5 and carries 21 tons of cargo. There are two staterooms.
The 25 ton ship costs MCr 17.125 and carries 8.25 tons of cargo. There are two staterooms. As a sidenote, this is probably a good base for a dedicated mail carrier, devoting 5 tond to mail and 1 ton to armament (a missile rack).
The price per available ton indicates that a profit can't be made at standard cargo rates, especially as ship size decreases. However, the right speculative cargo could be workable, perhaps.
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I got curious and wanted to see what a jump fighter would look like if I dropped the requirement for a bridge. The pilot does not use drugs to get through hump, though; he has a half stateroom (standard) to twiddle his thumbs in.
The fighter is J1 and 4G with PP-4. It is armed with three missile racks (treated as a turret) and has a Model 1 computer. Cost is MCr 17.95 and there is 0.3 tons left over.
While it is capable of jump, it is clearly inferior to the Book 2 fighter, which can hit 6G burns.
As an alternative to requiring a bridge, I might rule that without a bridge the Generate program can't be run, requiring the craft to use pregenerated jump cassettes.
The fighter is J1 and 4G with PP-4. It is armed with three missile racks (treated as a turret) and has a Model 1 computer. Cost is MCr 17.95 and there is 0.3 tons left over.
While it is capable of jump, it is clearly inferior to the Book 2 fighter, which can hit 6G burns.
As an alternative to requiring a bridge, I might rule that without a bridge the Generate program can't be run, requiring the craft to use pregenerated jump cassettes.
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