 August 19, 2013 - 12:49pm | I think the order of battle listed for Space Fleet and the various militias is strictly about the ships that impact the campaign game in KHs. Thus its quite possible that Space Fleet and the militias have any number of support ships. For example its highly likely that most militias and planets not even listed as having militias have shuttles with boarding parties. That might not be true in the case of light population planets and is likely not true for outposts. Clearly the KHs freighters with cargo pods attached for shuttle bays would be one type of support ship I"m wondering what would be the minimum hull size for an assault scout tender that would have a bay that could hold an assault scout with associated support equipment that would enhance the ship's ability to repair, rearm and refit an assualt scout. Many of the militias and space fleet for that matter would be expected to have this class of ship to support its operations. A common patrol group for Space Fleet, described in KHs is a frigate and two assault scouts but you could equally assume that there is an attached AS tender. there has been a fast fleet collier submitted to FE magazine that is currently in the cue for submission. Fleet colliers that can keep up with fast moving fleets and can rearm and resupply them are essential for Space Fleet though not so much of a militia organization . In all likelihood a militia forced to deploy its military strength beyond its system would simply aquire a freighter and most likely an ion drive powered ship to do so but would not emply an atomic powered fleet collier. Boarding shuttles and fighters or HS2 gun boats are another set of support craft. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 August 19, 2013 - 3:45pm | Well if you assume the wingspan of an Assault Scout is 30m and it is 50m in length per the size of a HS 3 ship (The drawings on the KH map and deck plans actually suggest that it is smaller) and we look at ship volumes then you'd need at least a HS 9 ship to hold one inside an interior bay (HS 9 ships are 35m in diameter). You could concievably get three 60 m bays inside that HS 9 ship but that would only leave about 30m of ship for the crew and techs and supplies. That's not really feasable so you'd probably have 2 bays in a HS 9 ship. Or maybe even just one. A HS 10 ship with two bays is probably more reasonable as that gives you 120 m x 40m diameter of space for crew and supplies. At HS 12 (i.e. the size of a LC, 300m long and 50m in diameter) you could easily get two AS per level (you could almost do that with the HS 10 ship but it might be tight). Then you could have bays for 4 or 6 AS an still have 180 or 120 meters (respectively) of ship body for supply and crew. So I'd say the MHS for an Assault Scout tender is 9. HS 10 is more likely, and Spacefleet may employ a HS 12 tender or maybe a HS 15 one (where you can put 4 AS on a single level and have lots of non-bay area for storage and crew on the same level (equivalent to about 1/2 a destroyer in volume). I sense a new deck plan for me to draw  Ad Astra Per Ardua! My blog - Expanding Frontier Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine |
August 19, 2013 - 3:56pm | Well for an AS tender I think we cant think in terms of carriers. Instead one bay for intensive repair and potentially one smaller bay for rapid reload plus at least one (two might be better) external docking buffer though the AS completely lacks a proper airlock so... I would think a HS9-11 ship with a significant tech and engineering section plus some hull space dedicated to supplies and ammo. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
August 19, 2013 - 3:58pm | As to the order of battle, I agree that the stuff listed in the KH game is the minimum and that there are undoubtedly other ships. The ships in the game are really there to make the game balanced, not to represent the actual order of battle for the full militias. At least that's my take. Ad Astra Per Ardua! My blog - Expanding Frontier Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine |
 August 20, 2013 - 3:00am | Yeah, KH was really lacking in Axillary Ships, and it would be nice to have one AS Service Ship per fleet, so they can quickly rearm for battle. I can also see ships shat specialize in roles like fuel/ammunition transport, armed supply transport, medical treatment, ship repair, etc. |
August 20, 2013 - 4:06am | There was an article on Freedom class ships that were modular/build in components and bolt together ships that were implimented during SW1, the idea being to get as many built as fast as possible. They had quirks like a constant persistant slow air leak that was near impossible to track down. they were the back bone of Space Fleet in its early days but were eventually sold off due to the space and performace penalties that were part in parcel of having a modular design. many got re fitted for other roles than the cruiser role. Hospital ship being one. Chance Folmar wrote it as a discount hull that the PCs could potentially come by. I salvaged his article from a lost website but we haven't had a chance to publish it yet. He actually provided stats for several different versions of this ship. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
