mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
A survey of who is a small ship heretic, and who likes hundred kiloton battlewagons.
Ship paradigm IYTU
- Thread starter mike wightman
- Start date
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
I like a universe where the Kinunir is a force to be reckoned with 
Madarin Dude
SOC-13
I like small ships. When you think of it weapon technology will advance and the big ships can be taken out by something small so it is a good bet to not put all your eggs in one basket so to say. (an example is what can an excocet missile do)
The game mechanics do not reflect this but this is how I think. I would make it a rare sight to see something over 10K tons. I forgot the displacement of the Kinunir.
I also liek to think of a ship as something you and your drinking buddies can crew.
The game mechanics do not reflect this but this is how I think. I would make it a rare sight to see something over 10K tons. I forgot the displacement of the Kinunir.
I also liek to think of a ship as something you and your drinking buddies can crew.
Andrew Boulton
The Adminator
Ya gotta have big ships, even if it's just to see the look on the players' faces when a Tigress comes out of jump nearby...
RainOfSteel
SOC-14 1K
Big ships, giant ships, tremendous ships, and huge fleets of them that, should they move into orbit about a world, will blot out the sun from the sky.
Yeah, in a TU where everybody thought after the last big conflict "Hey, in the future, everybody's gonna use meson guns anyway, so we don't need armor anymore", or so to speak.
Regards,
Tobias
P.S.: Personally, I find a universe in which spaceships are considerably smaller than modern ocean-going ships tremendously unimpressive. Thus, even if I were designing an ATU - big ships for me!
Jeff M. Hopper
SOC-14 1K
I wish I could vote for both on the poll.
The small ships are good for the player character groups because they might actually be able to own them and have enough crew to fly them.
I like the big ships for fleet battle wargames and as "dragons". A "dragon" is a big damn scary thing that the PCs cannot defeat until the end of the campaign, so they act as plot devices or scenery more than anything else most of the time.
The small ships are good for the player character groups because they might actually be able to own them and have enough crew to fly them.
I like the big ships for fleet battle wargames and as "dragons". A "dragon" is a big damn scary thing that the PCs cannot defeat until the end of the campaign, so they act as plot devices or scenery more than anything else most of the time.
RandyT0001
SOC-13
Small starship TU from 100 to 10,000 dton, no spinal mounts, some adjustments to combat (no +6 to damage tables for non-spine weapons, a few other changes).
Well, the question is somewhat vague. Do people read it as "What is the main focus of the campaign IYTU?" or "Do these exist IYTU?" I've interpreted a "small ship heretic" as someone who clings to the size limits of Book2.
Of course big ships are usually scenery, but so are a lot of other things, yet they exist IMTU.
Regards,
Tobias
^ I just think a realistic economic model would encourage small ship navies. I know all the game mechanics allow (and in some cases favor) big ship navies, but these are still games! And these games would quickly become "Accountancy in Space" if you had to track the costs of operating a million destroyers. The reality is even a high pop world would not want to expend the funds and resources necessary to outfit their navy with all battlewagons.
I also think the effectiveness of smaller warships is grossly underestimated by the rules. Escorts cheaply perform much needed reconnaissance as well as extending the sensor coverage well beyond the capability of the main force. Escorts also have a significantly lower sensor signature than a battlewagon, allowing for greater surprise and tactical advantage.
Count me as a small ship fan!
I also think the effectiveness of smaller warships is grossly underestimated by the rules. Escorts cheaply perform much needed reconnaissance as well as extending the sensor coverage well beyond the capability of the main force. Escorts also have a significantly lower sensor signature than a battlewagon, allowing for greater surprise and tactical advantage.
Count me as a small ship fan!
Not if using the basic parameters (ship prices and populations) that are given in the OTU.
The very fact that a spaceship is within the financial reach of private possession for a motley crew of PCs makes it impossible that such a ship is a "force to be reckoned with" in the TU. This is simple logic.
Okay, there seems to be some misunderstanding here? Does anyone honestly think that to be a "big ship fan" means to postulate that small ships don't exist?
The poll question should have been:
"Do you think that ship sizes should be capped at about ~5000 dtons?"
"Yes, Book2 rules! Nothing larger than 5000 tons should roam the skies!"
"No, Book5 rules! Large ships should exist too!"
Except that in a "small ship universe", these are not "escorts", but "battleships".
And of course escorts can perform a lot of valuable functions. I doubt any "big ship proponent" will dispute that. But using Traveller's baseline technical assumptions, it is logical that larger ships are more efficient.
Regards,
Tobias
EDIT: This was already done better.
Andrew Boulton
The Adminator
Non-ag worlds need to import a lot of food. This needs big ships. Therefore big ships must exist.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Small ship heretic = LBB2 sized ships only.
Hundred kiloton battlewagons = unlimited ship size.
Hundred kiloton battlewagons = unlimited ship size.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Ok, I'll change it back again.
RainOfSteel
SOC-14 1K
This tells the players that it is time to go. </font>[/QUOTE]So . . . you're saying subtlety is a lost art?
