FFS modifications
Configs, Surface Navy
Reading preview
Source wording preserved. The original download is available separately.
Date: Fri, 04 Aug 1995 16:47:17 -0500 From: library@dss.gov.au (DSS Library) Subject: Configs, Surface Navy HULL CONFIGURATION >From TNE: "Hull form is the basic geometric shape of the hull". (FF&S, p 10) Here is a table showing the various configs of some classic ships: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Ship HG Config MT Config TNE Config ----------------------- ----------- ----------- ---------- Scout Courier 2 Cone 1 Needle Wedge Donosev Survey Scout 7 Dispersed 4 Box Close Free Trader ? 1 Needle Wedge Far Trader 2 Cone 3 Cylinder Wedge Fat Trader (Subs Merch) 2 Cone 1 Needle Cylinder Lab Ship 7 Dispersed 1 Needle Open Safari Ship ? 6 Dome/Disk ? Patrol Cruiser 1 Needle 1 Needle Needle Gazelle Close Escort 4 Close 1 Needle Wedge Fiery Close Escort 2 Cone 1 Needle Wedge System Defence Boat 1 Needle 4 Box Slab Type-M Subsidised Liner 4 Close 4 Box Slab Corsair ? 4 Box ? Kinunir 2 Cone ? Wedge Midu Agashaam 2 Cone ? Wedge Chrysanthemum DE 4 Close ? Close Chatl Leader Scout 1 Needle ? Needle Ninz Scout 1 Needle ? Wedge Fer-de-lance DE 4 Close ? ? PF Sloan FE 3 Cylinder ? ? Gionetti Lt Cruiser 2 Cone ? ? AHL Frontier Cruiser 4 Close 4 Box ? Plankwell Dreadnought 4 Close ? ? Kokirrak Dreadnought 4 Close ? ? ---------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: 1. I think that the MT "Needle" is actually taken to read "Needle/Wedge", when you look at the ships that are included as "Needle". Maybe this is why FF&S split up the Needle/Wedge config? 2. The HG Fiery Config is derived from a sentence in Supp 7 which says that the ship is similar to the Scout/Courier. 3. Not even the self-titled adventure has HG stats for the "Safari Ship"! 4. The "Gionetti" looks like an Imperial Star Destroyer, only smaller. The Kokirrak looks the same, but has two "wings" (with boxes on their ends). ---------------------------------------------------------------- It appears that "config" is whatever you want, that seems reasonable at the time, and that suits your particular streamlining need. (The classic) P. F. Sloan-class Fleet Escort was detailed in _JTAS #25_. and perhaps some insight can be gained from reading the designer's notes - by none other than Marc Miller himself. "Producing deck plans from a set of HG statistics can be an intimidating experience..." (p 20) - no kidding! "The primary reference for the Sloan class Fleet Escort is a Paul Jaquays illustration in _Traveller Supplement 9: Fighting Ships_. Accompanying the picture is a detailed HG description, including USP and some background details." (p 20) Marc then ran through how he broke down the picture into components, gave them approximate ratios, and computed the tonnage of each component. Here's another pearl of wisdom for would-be designers: "I treat required tonnages as requirements for TOTAL ship tonnage. Within the ship, I did not feel compelled to make each stateroom four tons, nor the bridge precisely 100 tons; instead, the sum of the tonnage is distributed around the ship as support facilities or corridors". (p 20) Some examples of support facilities are: armoury, vehicle deck, mess deck (including mess hall and galley), ship's locker, troop assembly areas, captain's office, recreation areas, etc. Finally, _Book 2: Starships_ states that deck plans are acceptable if they are within 10% to 20% of the actual stats. _Traveller Book 2: Starships_, GDW, 1977, 1981, USA. _Traveller Book 5: High Guard_, GDW, 1980, USA. _Traveller Supplement 7: Traders and Gunboats_, GDW, 1980, USA. _Adventure Class Ships Vol. 1_, FASA, USA, 1982. _Adventure Class Ships Vol. 2_, FASA, USA, 1982. _Challenge #25_, "Fleet Escort Lisiani", Marc W. Miller, GDW, 1986, USA. _The MegaTraveller Journal_ #2, "Starship in Detail: Fiery-class Gunned Escort", Rob Caswell, Digest Group Publications, USA, 1991. _Assignment: Vigilante_, Charles E. Gannon and Dave Nilsen, GDW, USA, 1992. _Fire, Fusion and Steel_, GDW, 1993, USA. _Brilliant Lances_, GDW, USA, 1993. "WET" SHIPS (SURFACE NAVY) Joni Virolainen asked if there were any official design sequencs for surface ships. The only ones I know of are for MT and were: 1. _Challenge_ #53, 54, "Wet Navy, Pts 1 & 2", Terrance R. McInnes, GDW, USA, 1991. 2. _Challenge_ #61, "Equalizer Project", Terrance R. McInnes, GDW, USA, 1992. - includes complete details for 9 Large Watercraft, incl. a carrier, battlecruiser, sub, etc. 3. _Challenge_ #61, "Wood and Wind, Steel and Steam", Charles E. Gannon, GDW, USA, 1992. Perhaps these could be converted using "standard" MT-to-TNE conversion routines? - Hyphen (David Jaques-Watson)