You make an excellent point that I had forgotten. We did exactly that in
TNE, where there were some kind of starship capabilities that you couldn't
fit on just any old thing, because surface area is a requirement. To have
good PEMS sensors without having to erect the masts, you needed a ship
with at least one long axis, something spheres don't have.
I have never liked spheres, ever since spending time in that geodesic dome.
> Large spherical warships don't work in TNE either due to the surface area
> being so small for a given volume. Try fitting everything required on the
> surface of a Tigress for example. Something has to give. The spinal weapon
> compared to other configurations is also going to be shorter so range may
> be
> less as well.
>
> Technically looking at the illustrations of the Tigress they type is some
> sort of hybrid configuration - spherical/slab perhaps which will increase
> surface area a bit. Be interesting to see if people did TNE
> interpretations
> of the Tigress, and for that matter the old Voroshilef class and what
> trade
> offs were made.
>
> My version at
> http://www.skaran.net/bannerscampaign/equipment/craft/imperial/tigress.html
> Became J4 3G and lost its EM Masking due to surface area problems. In my
> version of the TU the Tigress was routinely known as 'Target 1" as with
> its
> large size and no EM Mask it stood out on sensors quite well.
>
> Antony
>
>
>