Dual Reply: TL6 and Starships

> Matt Johnston writes:
> >The settlement is a religious commune...these natives have regressed
> >to TL6 and they have found a way into the base, where they worship
> >the shiny surfaces and corridors.

Somebody didn't do their homework here.  TL6 is post-WWII technology.
These people who worship "shiny surfaces and corridors" can make
stainless steel, radios, television, primitive computers, and can
potentially place artificial sattelites in orbit around their world.

Colin Roald writes:
> >We force our way in and confront the priests...they demand answers
> >and we tell them that we are angels from the Gods and from there we
> >enter the complex.
>
> I would love to see one of these scenes end with the priests frowning, like
> what kind of backwoods bozos do you think we are, and ordering the
> blaspheming (or maybe just insane) intruders confined.

Given that these priests are TL-6 or so, I'd guess that the temple
guards produce UZIs from underneath their ceremonial cloaks, and gesture
for the player characters to come along quietly ... or else.


Anthony Neal [email removed] writes:
> 	I've been looking through a few designs and have been thinking about
> my own designs (Mediocre, really) and have become confused as to what
> various classifications mean. I have heard of Battleships, Carriers,
> Cruisers (Light and Heavy) and Dreadnoughts (sp?) and Frigates and
> Destroyers and, well, What are the requirements for a ship to be classed
> as any one of these?

I'd say that there is no "official" answer.  Fighting Ships of the
Shattered Imperium presented some standard designs for starships of
Rebellion-era fleets, but every ship design in there has at least one
design problem, and may are just flat-out illegal under the
MegaTraveller rules.  So chuck that.

In addition, what is a "battleship" at TL-12 probably can't stand up to
a light cruiser at TL-15, so all terms are relative to the TL of the
culture that produced it, and the resources it has available.

With this in mind, I'll propose a bunch of general suggestions:

Battleship: A heavy ship-of-the-line.  Carries the best weapons and
defenses which are available at the constructing TL.  May sacrifice
speed and/or maneuverability to carry these weapons and defenses.

Dreadnought: A relatively high-tech battleship - Carries the best
weapons and defenses which are available at the constructing TL.
Improved speed and/or maneuverability over a battleship.  (for
MegaTraveller purposes, I'm treating a dreadnought as equivalent to a
"Fast Battleship" (*see note)

Battlecruiser: Smaller than a battleship/dreadnought, but carries the
same weapons and is capable of the same speed/maneuverability
performance (typically by sacrificing defenses).

Armored Cruiser: Smaller than a battleship/dreadnought, but carries
(approximately) the same defenses.  May sacrifice weapons or
speed/maneuverability.

Cruiser: Smaller than a battleship/dreadnought.  Intended for long
duration missions "on station" or on patrol, and typically has less
powerful weapons and defenses than any of the above.

Light Cruiser: Small version of a cruiser.

Destroyer: An escort vessel.  Intended to protect ships of the line (all
of the above) from fighters, SDBs, missiles, and/or other Destroyers.

Escort: An escort vessel.  Intended to protect merchant or supply
vessels from pirates, privateers, and raiders.

Carrier: A capital ship (light cruiser sized or better) intended to
carry fighters (small craft).

Tender: A capital ship intended to carry riders (large non-starships,
typically in the battlecruiser, battleship, or dreadnought classes).

Rider: a capital ship (light cruiser or better) which is not equipped
with a jump drive (and is therefore more combat efficient).  Carried
into (and sometimes out of) battle by tenders.

Intruder: Typically similar to a cruiser, but intended for
deep-penetration raids, strikes, and reconnisance behind enemy lines
during wartime.

Raider: Typically similar to a destroyer or light cruiser, but intended
for raids behind enemy lines agains supply or merchant ships, to cut the
enemy's SLOC (Space Lanes of Communication).

Frigate: (this is my own, non-standard definition) A ship specifically
designed to be able to out-fight anything that it can't run away from.
Generally similar to a cruiser, but with more emphasis on
speed/maneuverability.

SDB (System Defense Boat): a non-starship (typically of less than
light-cruiser size) intended for the defense of a planet or star system.
Jump drives are not needed for this mission, with a corresponding
increase in the weapons and defense fit.

Monitor: a non-starship (typically of capital ship size: light cruiser
or larger) intended for the defense of a planet or star system.  Jump
drives are not needed for this mission, with a corresponding increase in
the weapons and defense fit.

*NOTE:

Current navies are not all that clear on the definitions of Frigate,
Destroyer, and Escort.  Different navies apply these designations to
different types of craft, with overlapping sizes, missions, and
armaments.

Historically, the Destroyer is a recent development; originally designed
as a "Torpedo-Boat Destroyer", destroyers are generally used as
screening craft for larger ships.  As torpedo-boats learned to dive (and
became submarines), destroyers became more specialized anti-submarine
craft.  In this role they were used to protect both merchant/supply
convoys and groups of surface warships during both world wars.

Escorts were originally developed as cheap, quick-to-build vessels for
the protection of merchant convoys.  High speed (a design requirement
for destroyers) was not so much in demand, and the weapons fit is
typically lighter.

Again speaking historically, the Battleship was developed out of the
sailing ship-of-the-line.  As iron (and later steel) armor was
developed, steam replaced sails as a power source, and broadsides of
cannon gave way to guns in turrets and barbettes.

HMS Dreadnought caused a revolution in naval architecture just prior to
WWI.  This was the first battleship to have an "all-big-gun" design: all
of it's primary weapons were turreted, and were the same (large)
caliber.  Shots were fired in salvoe, and gunnery corrections were
applied to all the guns together (resulting in more hits at greater
range than would be possible if several different types of guns were
firing at the same time).

Battlecruisers were developed at about the same time, on the theory that
the greater speed allowed by the lighter armor would protect the ship
just as well or better (wrong!).

The "Fast Battleship" was developed between WWI and WWII; improved
technology in effect giving a Dreadnought-type battleship
battlecruiser-like speeds.


> 	My common sense tells me that factors such as size, firepower, maneuver
> drive and jump capability, as well as duration of operation, must all
> contribute to this classification process. But how?

Well, the above is a starting point, for the rest of TML to comment on
and generally pick apart.  It represents (in part) my own prejudices and
design philosophies, and (in part) information gleaned from various and
sundry bits of military history.


[email removed]
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                                                 Science-Fiction Adventure
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