Deepnight Revelation Alternative Secondary vessels: Part One - Scouts

Alternative Deepnight Revelation Ships

Those of you who have participated in the Deepnight Revelation kickstarter might know me as the guy who makes editing and editorial remarks long enough to require two posts on this and other Mongoose kickstarters. I've certainly had some strong opinions on the ship designs presented therein, including the titular ship.

But on my own "practice run" (or solo campaign, whatever you want to call it) of the campaign, or at least the fist several months of it, which barely crosses the Imperial border, I've noticed some operational issues, beyond my rant about not enough fuel processors on the big ship to keep up the pace.

This involves the secondary vessels, which in this campaign includes eight 200-ton scouts, 16 60-ton pinnaces and 20 20-ton utility boats. Once the changes required to conform with High Guard rules are all made, they are all usable vehicles, and the campaign is playable as is, but for my purposes I'm going to invoke Rule 0 on this and given the importance and length of this 20-year mission, I'm going to show you my alternative secondary craft that I think make the campaign more playable, at least the way I would want to run it.

This post will cover the scouts. The next one will cover the pinnaces and utility boats.

As is, the given scout design is a craft capable of two jump-2 to perform exploration to the flanks of the main vessel whether across two parsecs or across widely separated stars in a single system. Or whatever else you want to do with it.

The problem with jump-2 is that the main ship is jump-4 and will likely be pushing forward rapidly much of the time. If a jump-2 vessel goes off to the side, it will be hard-pressed to catch up until perhaps the end of a transit. And it can't scout ahead, since most jumps by the main vessel will be 3 or 4 parsecs.

Instead, I would make the scout ships jump-4. It's not that much more than two jump-2, except 10 tons of jump drive, and some advanced drives and compromises make it possible to build a functional scout.

The best use for the scouts is actually to scout, as in give things a first look-see. So here is the standard operating procedure I've been using:

1. Main ship jumps into a new system.
2. Immediately two fully fueled jump-4 scouts exit the docking bays and prepare to jump to the next planned destination.
3. Main ship picks up the two scouts from the last cycle and collects and evaluates their initial reports on the system.
4. Main ship proceeds to refuel and perform other activities in the system.
5. If events force a change of plans, such as a new destination or a protracted stay in-system, a single scout is dispatched to jump after the two forward scouts to redirect or recall them.
6. Main ship jumps to its next destination, while in jump space, preparing two fully-fueled scouts for their next mission.
7. Repeat.

You can also use the scouts to get far ahead of the main ship by performing a rapid transit of multiple systems. This could be useful when traveling in or toward civilized space in the early part of the journey to send diplomats ahead to arrange for the arrival of the main ship, or, later in the journey to scout out a major destination point.

Another type of scout that could be used, with more compromises, is a ship capable of 2 jump-3. These are able to perform the same task as a jump-4 ship if the next destination is three parsecs away and would be especially useful if refueling at the destination star system was uncertain. The scouts could jump out, look around and jump back with their report before committing the main ship to a problematic location. They could also be used to get a head start on a search for fuel resources.

The dual jump-3 ships could also cross 6 parsecs in two jumps without the need for a fuel cache. Which bring up another peripheral point-bootstrapping your way across a rift: attach a jump net to the outside of a vessel, then fill it with collapsible fuel tanks and reel in the excess net after each jump. To start your jump range would be reduced, but with a big enough jump net, you can cross ten or more parsecs in multiple straight jumps without all the very time-consuming back and forth of building a cache. A thought.

Without further ado, here are the two scout designs, both derivations of the Marathon X-courier from my The Beyond Sector sideshow:

Deepnight Antelope-class Deep Scout

The Deepnight Corporation and the IISS have cosponsored design and procurement of a variant of the Marathon, the Antelope-class Deep Scout, designed for rift exploration operations. Though it lacks a Mail Distribution Array and has even more specialized drives, the Antelope is equipped with a Deep Space Maneuvering System and extensive sensors and scientific equipment, along with a workshop capable of manufacturing spares if necessary.

Aladdin-class Swift Scout

When the Marathon-class X-Courier first entered service in 1037, a senior IISS administrator asked the Ling Standard Products project director, "Four (parsecs) is nice. Can we do six?" The result was the prototype Aladdin, capable of two three parsec jumps. Though not equipped with a communication array, the Aladdin was intended to be a courier of messages, small packages, or personnel to deep missions in the Great Rift. The smaller jump drive left space for the architects assigned to the project to increase the maneuver drive capability to 5g, which was not part of the original specification and increased the cost of the vehicle by more than MCr 9. This almost caused cancellation of the order, but proved popular with scout operators, earning the ship the moniker "Swift".

The Aladdin initially had limited application and sold poorly, mostly to the IISS and the Deepnight Corporation. After a surge of orders to replace loses following the Fourth Frontier War, Ling Standard Products updated the Aladdin design by converting 51 tons of fuel tankage into two large cargo bays supplemented by collapsible fuel tanks. This allowed the Aladdin to carry nearly as much cargo as some jump-2 far traders while still making a single jump-3. Although exorbitantly expensive compared to standard trading vessels, even those equipped with jump-3 drives, the Aladdin's "swift" drives allowed it to occupy a niche for fast cargo delivery. That the Aladdin makes an excellent blockade-runner and smuggler is self-evident, but not mentioned in sales literature, though it has certainly contributed to low but steady sales rates in certain areas of the Imperium, especially in border regions. Most privately owned first generation Aladdins and even some IISS vessels have undergone refits to support the cargo bay conversion.