Harold, Jeff
Good points, and ones I will endeavor to address in detail in the Ship Request Document.
My current thoughts are that this is a ship which will not seek out combat, but will sometimes have it forced upon it. Main goal is to quickly, and affordably do basic surveys of a sector-sized area of space (in concert with other ships of the class). It should be capable of covertly investigating anything of interest it detects on its surveys.
The design itself could be fresh, or based on a "historical" 3I ship - but the requirement would come from the Regency wishing to have a good overview of the former 3I, and a desire not to have to use major combatants to do so. Timeline would be a few years before the outward movement beyond the Regency border was authorized*.
I'm also wondering about life support and provisions: my own feeling is that TNE life support is not the severely time-limited ones of CT and MT, but some advanced hydroponics or reserved cargo may be necessary. Thoughts on that are welcome (and on any other points!).
I am thinking of allowing some TL-16 components, namely those featuring on the Darrian Patrol Cruiser - but with the provisio that no vital equipment is acceptable, so not TL-15 fusion power plants.
*and as I'd have to refresh my memory on that it might be next week before the requirement is issued.
>I'd definitely be up for this, but I agree that the parameters need to be carefully spelled out in advance.
>"Scout" can mean a lot of different things, after all...
>Question is are these the first ships that start the process of reaching out to what's left of civilization in the post-Third Imperium universe, or are they
>a well established design that have been used in the intervening years as ships that go out and look for potential build ups of vampire activity well
>beyond the border before they become an issue? In the former case, you'll want to allow extra room for scientific equipment, personnel and such
>(think the original USS Enterprise NCC-1701) while making sure it had enough firepower to "run and gun" to get away if necessary, in the latter case
>the ship will be absolutely maxed out on sensors and be perhaps more of a "Russian fishing trawler" c. 1975 or maybe the starship equivalent of a
>SR-71, in which case it wouldn't need a lot of weapons, since it can see you long before you can see it and it can avoid contact.
Good points, and ones I will endeavor to address in detail in the Ship Request Document.
My current thoughts are that this is a ship which will not seek out combat, but will sometimes have it forced upon it. Main goal is to quickly, and affordably do basic surveys of a sector-sized area of space (in concert with other ships of the class). It should be capable of covertly investigating anything of interest it detects on its surveys.
The design itself could be fresh, or based on a "historical" 3I ship - but the requirement would come from the Regency wishing to have a good overview of the former 3I, and a desire not to have to use major combatants to do so. Timeline would be a few years before the outward movement beyond the Regency border was authorized*.
I'm also wondering about life support and provisions: my own feeling is that TNE life support is not the severely time-limited ones of CT and MT, but some advanced hydroponics or reserved cargo may be necessary. Thoughts on that are welcome (and on any other points!).
I am thinking of allowing some TL-16 components, namely those featuring on the Darrian Patrol Cruiser - but with the provisio that no vital equipment is acceptable, so not TL-15 fusion power plants.
*and as I'd have to refresh my memory on that it might be next week before the requirement is issued.
>I'd definitely be up for this, but I agree that the parameters need to be carefully spelled out in advance.
>"Scout" can mean a lot of different things, after all...
>Question is are these the first ships that start the process of reaching out to what's left of civilization in the post-Third Imperium universe, or are they
>a well established design that have been used in the intervening years as ships that go out and look for potential build ups of vampire activity well
>beyond the border before they become an issue? In the former case, you'll want to allow extra room for scientific equipment, personnel and such
>(think the original USS Enterprise NCC-1701) while making sure it had enough firepower to "run and gun" to get away if necessary, in the latter case
>the ship will be absolutely maxed out on sensors and be perhaps more of a "Russian fishing trawler" c. 1975 or maybe the starship equivalent of a
>SR-71, in which case it wouldn't need a lot of weapons, since it can see you long before you can see it and it can avoid contact.