Greetings, Sophonts!
I'm pretty new to the list and I've just gotten ahold of T:TNE...
Some comments:
[email removed] writes:
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> Ok, I'd probably (in my campaing) say that it is a BAD IDEA to run
> the main drive of a ship inside any atmosphere denser than code 1. And
> that the drive has much too short range to be used in space combat
> unless you manage to bluff your way in to 1km or less from the enemy.
Why should it be bad??? Your reasoning is specious, as can be seen by
looking at pictures of any Saturn launch. The blast punches DOWN!
Hard! Way too hard for anything trivial like atmosphere to slow it
down. It only takes about 0.0025 seconds for the blast to reach from
50,000 meters to ground level. Even at mind-boggling pressures, it
isn't going to spread much till it hits ground ("not much" means that it
should still be focused on an area no more than 10Km across...).
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So basically, with Fusion drives for take-off, you're going to want
landing pads about 10Km across for each ship! Not to mention the fact
that they're going to need some *major* resurfacing after each use...
I think the only practical thing to assume here is that (primarily) the
scramjet technique is going to be used to bootstrap yourself into orbit.
Maybe the Customs Inspectors in orbit turn off your fusion drive or
something. Of course, *that* would only work in some sort of civilized
area, not what T:TNE offers up for a campaigning atmosphere.
Of course, what GDW should do if they're going to give the ships this
sort of drive is address the above issues in the combat rules....Which
isn't happening...
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> (Another thing that strikes me is that the reflected energy might be
> bad for the ship. In space, everything goes away from the ship, so
> only the actual engine nozzle or whatever needs to be able to
> withstand it. But if you run it in air the air will form a nuke-type
> fireball *just aft of the drives* that will return entirely too much
> of the thermal radiation to your ship. Likewise for hosing a space
> station at 200m)
DREAM ON, Bertil! Look at a REAL rocket launch! MUCH lower exhaust
velocity, MUCH lower pressures, and they DO _NOT_ form fireballs - they
form long tongues af flame. Which this will do as well. Only this will
make them longer, hotter, FAR more lethal!
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How long are these going to be, exactly? This could cause some *major*
traffic hazards :) I think the fusion drives would, "realistically",
change the nature of both combat and general starship practices pretty
heavily. Things ought to be different, but probably the official GDW
word won't be that much different (sort of like how they probably won't
notice the "demise" of Gas Giant refueling...)
Bertil Jonell [email removed] writes:
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think "BAD IDEA to run the fusion drive in an atmopshere and BAD IDEA
to run it within a km or three from a solid object" takes care of this.
Possible holes: Vacuum worlds, 'Suicide ships', and the rockets in
missiles:
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I think "BAD IDEA" to run the drive anywhere it's going to hit
something, unless you want that thing to get vaporized. :) Take-off/landing
from a Vacuum world is still going to produce a nice molten puddle where
ever you are trying to set down...
Maybe we're safe in assuming that the ships have small (chemical?)
attitude control thrusters, or the like, for small course adjustments
during sensitive stuff (like docking). If so, you could play lunar
lander (with your CG turned on :).
General ruminations:
"There seem to be more holes in it than a whole planetfull of moths could
account for..."
The actual skill system seems fine and I haven't given the combat much of a
look yet, but the background sucks Zucchai Crystals...And whose bright
idea was it to stick the starship construction in a seperate boxed set?
Grrrr....
My overall impressions of the game have been highly negative, mostly
because I seem to be having some sort of allergic reaction to the
background historical information in the book, linked to a general
inability to digest the Virus...
Dane
[email removed] [email removed]
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Terra/Solomani Rim (1827 G867975-8)