Deepnight Alternative Secondary Vessels: Part Two - smallcraft
Deepnight Alternative Secondary Vessels:
Part Two - smallcraft
Deepnight Revelation carries a total of three dozen
smallcraft: 20 20-ton utility boats and 16 60-ton pinnaces.
I don't care for them much, so here are mine.
General comment: None of the original smallcraft were armed. I mean, I'm
not expecting a fleet of fighters here, but we are going off in unexplored
space facing a potential hostile entity, and that's just the main mission. So
at least give them a fixed mount and put a laser on it.
First, the utility boat. I did a smallcraft for The Beyond
called the Mule, an overly equipped do-it-all tiny craft that I thought was a
lot of fun. For Deepnight, I've made a variation of that design, a little less
extreme, but usable for all the odd jobs in and around the main ship.
My issues with the boat in the campaign are numerous: Aerofins
are a 5% luxury it doesn't need; it doesn't have enough cargo capacity to carry
any of the vehicles in the Campaign Guide; it likely doesn't need to waste an
extra ton on fancy sensors- not it's job.
My version - I called it a Dzo (that's a yak-cow hybrid, sticking
with the "mule" the theme). I gave it overpowered drives so it can
tow or haul stuff outside atmosphere, not because I think it needed to be particularly
speedy. I gave it a mining laser because, see above, and because it could come in
useful for… mining, and its fairly cheap.
Dzo-class Utility Tug
Next the 60-ton "pinnace"
Yeah, a lot of the same issues, really. This one needs the Advanced
sensors so I kept that. I object to a 60-ton craft being a "pinnace"
when it's bigger than a 50-ton cutter. So, I called it a cutter. Maybe it
should be a runabout, though the tug fits that name better in my mind.
But speaking of cutter, I thought this ship needs to be
modular too. One main reason: ocean refueling. Deepnight Revelation can't do it
itself. So it's going to be smallcraft that have to do it for them. But as
designed, running 24-hours a day, it takes more than a week to refill tanks
using all the pinnaces and boats it has. I suppose the scouts could help too,
but anyway. Long time, no rest.
So step one. We need a fuel module. Might as well make it a
cargo-fuel modules, but why waste the 2 tons on equipment: make it a cargo
module with a collapsible tank thrown in the tiny-tiny hold on the main ship.
We can go up to 70% modular, so that's what I did: 60-ton ship of which 42 tons
is module. Every cutter gets one of these as the default install.
But we need other modules to swap in (these could be carried
in the hold or one of the hangers - there's a bit of room for moving things
around and swapping in space and the tugs are designed to help with that)
So what's next... passenger. Need that. With some buffer for
cargo and comfort, I can put 72 acceleration seats in a module. I could go to 144
passengers or even a little more with acceleration benches, but I didn't see
the need - 7 modules could hold the entire crew, 6 would be the absolute most
you would need for an evacuation if you take into account the other small craft
and scouts.
Next- science. Need a lab module. I made it deployable with
its own sensors, powerplant, lab and a garage/cargo bay. Plus a couple of
staterooms. This module could take the place of, or supplement the forward base
modules.
Finally. Say you're stuck in deep space and need to refuel
off some rock. I could add a Deep Space Maneuvering System, but the way I
designed the engines, it's not practical- unless you add an extra set of
engines. So, I made a reaction drive module. 5g acceleration maximum and a
total of 30-g hours (hey, anyone remember New Era and g-hours?). It might have
made sense space-wise to add the extra drives, powerplant and DSM, but it would
be a lot more expensive, so I'm sticking with this one for now. If you need more
fuel or if you want to haul or retrieve cargo or fuel, well that's why the cutter
has external cargo mounts.
So what does this thing look like? Pretty much a cross between
a Space 1999 Eagle and a Firefly-class transport. More Eagle than Firefly, so I
named it an… Eagle-class cutter.
(Note on external cargo mounts: the rules say that
streamlined ships can't "use" external cargo mounts. I interpret that
to mean you can't attach stuff and be considered streamlined. You could
interpret it to see mean that you can't put them on a streamlined ship at all,
but then I say they're removable. Put them on and you lose streamlining, but
take them off and store them in the hanger and you're fine.)
Here are the deckplans for cutter and module, split into two
parts:
And as a bonus, this one took me a long time to design the
way I wanted, so I had to model it. In Bryce, because that's the 20-year old
tool I own and know best. Did not spend any effort doing much with the texturing,
but the engines and side and floor panels do swing.
Looking at all of your ship designs, I see a very practical view of the task and a very logical process from actual requirement to final design.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the problems with any long duration/long distance trip would tend to be the ongoing quarterly and yearly maintenance plus any failures that need addressed. Where's the space for spares for major systems like engines, weapon mounts, etc? We always under-estimate how much of vessels in those configurations will need (compared to regular mission profiles).
And what happens when you hit a bad spot and you lose a quarter or a third of your scouts, utilities, or of some key crew positions? Have you got the frozen watch to cough out new folks and a place to bring them up to speed and teach them new protocols that have developed en-route?
Your large expedition needs to be able to sustain a fairly decent loss % among its small craft and to be able to handle failures in major systems without degrading to the point where the mission is compromised.
This way of thinking is where the old saying "Amateurs focus on tactics, professionals focus on logistics" comes from.
Nice design. Boxy, but honestly, if you aren't doing groundside assault landings, boxy is good.