Dispersed Structure is a configuration. The ship can only have one configuration.
Furthermore, the craft carried in the dispersed structure has to be counted in the hull size
When the Patrol Corvette isn't docked with anything, it's hull configuration code is 1 (Needle/Wedge).
That's the "clean" configuration.
If the Patrol Corvette docks with another craft of any kind, with the intent to tow it ... the combination is no longer streamlined (even if the other craft has a streamlined hull type). The idea is that the standard drives are perfectly capable of ... driving ... larger hull sizes (at lower performance output) than what is available at 400 tons.
The representation for that capability (game mechanically) is a Dispersed Structure style of docking arrangement that is purely external (much like external demountable fuel tanks). The cost for such facilities (per LBB5.80, p32) is Cr2000 per ton, regardless of whether the docking facilities are Dispersed Structure or Ordinary Launch Facilities (or even inside or outside the hull). A 600 ton docking capacity (internal or external) costs MCr1.2 as an explicitly designed integral element (rather than an ad hoc arrangement).
If it helps, think of it as being akin to the structural equivalent of a tow hitch. The tow hitch itself costs "next to nothing" in internal volume for the vehicle with one (the towing is external) but there is an added expense in the form of structural engineering to ensure that use of the tow hitch THERE doesn't damage the chassis/frame of the vehicle when it gets used. Use of that towing capacity for external loads affects drive performance (and handling in a lot of cases) and the combination isn't guaranteed to be overall streamlined (think about it) ... but that's the basic idea.
Now, a "proper" Dispersed Structure configuration hull will account for carried craft on an "internal" basis so that when those craft are docked and being towed, drive performance is not reduced by their presence, even though the sub-craft are in fact mounted externally on the hull. That way, the parent craft has the same drive performance whether it is loaded with sub-craft or empty of sub-craft.
According to LBB5, p32, small ships should be crewed using LBB2 rules, so the ship needs 4 gunners (LBB2'81, p16), not just one, regardless of how many batteries are involved.
LBB2.81 doesn't envision or incorporate the concept of batteries at all, so things start breaking down when blending the two systems.
The way I think of it is that
mixed turrets containing more than one weapon type (the classic sandcaster/laser/missile mix) requires 1 gunner per mixed turret, with the gunner assigned to that turret responsible for all of the weapons fired from that mixed turret. Mixed turrets are only possible (per LBB5.80, p30) on ships with 10 turrets or less. Additionally, CT Errata, p14 says this:
Page 29, Batteries (clarification): The text is somewhat confusing. In order to use the HG Combat rules, all ships must organize their weapons into batteries. All weapons in a mixed turret must be organized as single weapon batteries, even if a mixed turret has more than one of the same weapon in it, and weapons in a mixed turret cannot be organized into batteries with weapons from other turrets (including other identical mixed turrets).
So basically, mixed turrets are individual weapons that cannot be organized into batteries with other weapons (in the same turret or in other turrets). Every weapon is a "solo" weapon in mixed turrets, and mixed turrets require 1 gunner per mixed turret.
So far so good.
But then, what about single weapon type turrets that are combined into batteries for combined salvo fire?
Well, in that case you should be looking at having 1 gunner per battery. That 1 gunner is directing the fire of all the turrets in that battery (which is the LBB5.80 ruling). However, LBB5.80, p33 adds additional petty officers overseeing multiple batteries of the same type (so 2+ batteries of lasers, for example) and a Chief Gunner overseeing the entire department. Those additional command staff in the Gunnery Section make sense on larger combatant craft (the primary direction of LBB5.80 design), but can be dispensed with on smaller ships that have 10 or less turrets (which could be mixed turrets, not just single weapon types).
So just like how you don't need multiple gunners per turret loaded with mixed weapons ... you don't need multiple gunners per battery organized from multiple turrets.
If you have 2 triple turrets organized as 2 batteries ... you need 2 gunners, one for each battery.
If you have 2 triple turrets organized as 1 battery ... you only need 1 gunner for the one battery.
And if a weapon type has only a single battery (or a single mixed turret with multiple batteries in it) then you don't need an additional petty officer overseeing direction of fire from those multiple batteries of that weapon type.
Ergo ... on a ship with 2 triple (beam) laser turrets organized into 1 battery and 2 triple missile turrets organized into 1 battery ... there are realistically only 2 gunner positions to fill (one for each battery), not 4 (one for each turret).
Which then leads into your next point about crew sizes that then blends in with the Gunnery Section ...
Engineers should be calculated at one per 35 Dt drives, so the ship needs three engineers, by LBB2'81, p16.
The clarification that I would make here is that a ship with 75+7=82 tons of drives (including the small craft) has
three engineering positions that need to be filled.
Not 3 crew members ...
3 positions ... and I'm wanting to be extremely pedantic on this point because it's about to become very important.
LBB2.81 p16:
One person may fill two crew positions, providing he or she has the skill to otherwise perform the work. However, because of the added burden, each position is filled with skill minus one, and the individual draws salary equal to 75% of each position; thus, to fill two positions, the character must have at least skill level-2 in each (except steward: level-1).
So you can have two crew ... Pilot-1 and Navigator-1 ... or you can have one crew member filling both positions, requiring Pilot-2 and Navigator-2 in order to get Pilot-1 and Navigator-1 qualifications from a single person working two positions simultaneously.
So one crew member can fill two positions simultaneously, if they're sufficiently skilled in both positions.
So then why can't you have someone with Engineering-2 filling the requirements for two Engineering-1 positions?
My argument is that you CAN have an Engineer/Engineer position for a single crew member ... just like you can have a Pilot/Navigator position for a single crew member.
You'll need to pay them more salary for doing the work of two roles (in this case, the work of two engineers and apply the 75% pay for each position rule as quoted above and if they're the most experienced engineer, the chief's bonus of +10% on top of the
total salary pay for the double position assignment) ... but if they've got the skills to do it, they should be able to do it ... just like a Pilot/Navigator, or a Steward/Medic or any of the other multi-position per person assignments possible.
You'll notice that I chose to "double up" the position assignments in the crew roster for the Chief Engineer and the Chief Gunner.
The Chief Engineer fills two engineering positions as an Engineer/Engineer.
The Chief Gunner fills two gunnery positions as a Gunner/Gunner.
So what I've actually got in terms of crew is ... 3 Engineering
positions being filled by 2 persons (and the chief requires Engineering-2 skill in order to do this and they get paid accordingly, check the math formula provided) ... and 2 Gunnery
positions being filled by 1 person (who is also the Chief Gunner and requires Gunnery-2 skill in order to do this and they get paid accordingly, check the math provided). And those 2 Gunnery
positions do not require extra petty officers per weapon type plus another leadership position on top of all of that because ... it's the Chief Gunner filling those 2 positions responsible for single batteries of different weapon types (as explained above).
A Chief Engineer is required (anyway) because there is more than one
person filling an engineering position on the crew (so one of them has to be a chief) ... and a Chief Gunner is required (anyway) because there is more than one
person filling a gunnery position on the crew (the second gunner is crew for the LSP Armored Fighter A).
You can have a ship that requires 10 positions and operate it with 5 crew members who are all performing two roles each.
Number of positions that need to be filled does not ipso facto equate to number of crew required ... however your crew will need more skills than the minimum skill-1 if they're filling 2 positions per person.
