What does a stutterwarp physically look like?

Just supporting evidence against the rewriting of the stutterwarp.

Drive bay of a French Aconit class escort

Drive on a LC-20

Drive bay of a US Hampton class escort

Effect on French Arm Astrography of Easy "Drive Tuners"

It's worth considering the effect of the MGT:2k3 "drive tuner" on the astrography of 2300AD, and the tug more generally. Hence I will compare conventional and "tug" journeys along the French Arm:

Sol To Beowulf

Earth to Queen Alice's Star (7.7 ly)

Sol -> Sol shelf = 1.45 AU = 2.25 vly
Sol shelf -> Nyotekundu outer system = 7.64 ly
(Discharge, 1.6 days)
Nyotekundu -> Bessieres outer system = 4.01 ly
(Discharge)
Bessieres -> Nibelungen outer system = 7.11 ly
(Discharge)
Nibelungen -> Augereau outer system = 4.24 ly
Round trip to discharge point = 2x 1.37 AU = 4.25 vly
(Discharge)
Augereau -> QAS outer system = 5.79 ly
QAS outer system -> Beowulf = 1.52 AU = 2.36 vly
(Discharge)

Distance = 37.65 vly and 5 discharges
For warp 1 vessel = 45.65 days

Earth to QAS with tugs (avoiding Augereau)

Sol -> Sol shelf = 1.45 AU = 2.25 vly
(Tug stop, assume 4 hrs)
Sol -> Bessieres outer system =  8.25 ly
(Discharge)
Bessieres -> Nibelungen outer system = 7.11 ly
(Discharge)
Nibelungen -> QAS = 8.96 ly
(Tug stop)
QAS outer system -> Beowulf = 1.52 AU = 2.36 vly
(Discharge)

Distance =  28.93 vly, 3 discharges and 2 tug stops
For warp 1 vessel = 34.06 days

The construction of the tug links saves 11.59 days for a warp 1 vessel, and roughly means 4 trips can be made in the time of 3 previous. The starship thus has a 33% higher income.

From Beowulf to BCV-4

Beowulf -> QAS outer system = 1.52 AU = 2.36 vly
-> Kimanjano outer system = 7.25 ly
(Discharge)
-> BCV-4 outer system = 5.69 ly
Outer system -> BCV-4 = 1.37 AU =  2.12 vly
(Discharge)

=  17.42 vly and 2 discharges
For warp 1 vessel = 20.62 days

Via Tug
Beowulf -> QAS outer system = 1.52 AU = 2.36 vly
-> BCV-4 outer system = 10.17 ly
(Tug stop)
Outer system -> BCV-4 = 1.37 AU =  2.12 vly
(Discharge)

= 14.65 vly, 1 discharge and 1 tug stop
For warp 1 vessel = 16.42 days

From BCV-4 to Aurore


BCV-4-> outer system = 1.37 AU = 2.12 vly
-> Dunkelheim = 7.52 ly
Round trip to Dunkelheim = 2x 1.38 AU = 4.42 vly
(Discharge)
-> Hochbaden = 4.94 ly
Round trip to Hochbaden = 2x 1.68 AU = 5.21 vly
(Discharge)
-> Aurore = 4.83 ly

= 29.04 vly and 2 discharges
For warp 1 vessel = 32.24 days

Via Tug
BCV-4-> outer system = 1.37 AU = 2.12 vly
Outer system -> Nous Voila = 8.13 ly
(Tug Stop)
(Outer System Discharge)
Nous Voila -> Aurore = 8.51 ly
(Tug Stop)
(Tithonus is in outer system)

= 18.76 vly, 1 discharge and 1 tug stop
For warp 1 vessel = 20.53 days

Terra to Aurore stopping at Beowulf and BCV-4 with Warp 1 Vessel

Conventional = 98.51 days
With Tugs = 71.01

"The Canal"

Or, avoiding the French Arm proper would be:

Sol -> Bessieres -> DM+15 2620 -> DM+11 2576 -> Aurore = 37.31 ly (outer body status of DM+15 2620 and DM+11 2576 unknown)

It's likely the journey to Aurore for a warp 1 vessel could be cut to ca. 45 days, less than half the current travel time.

DM+15 2620 is a conventionally reachable star a mere 4 "jumps" from Sol out on the Ariadne Finger.
DM+11 2576 is out in the Wolf Cluster and so unexplored as of 2300AD.

Effects

It's clear that if "drive tuners" make tugging easy and risk free that a system of stutterwarp "canals" will develop to make travel shorter, easier and more efficient. The effect of "small canals" above is to cut ca. 30% off the journey time from Earth to Aurore and points inbetween. The "grand canal" more than halves the journey time. With the decreased journey time comes a related increase in journey frequency and hence volume of good carried.

There are also strategic reasons for building such routes - bypassing the two German colonies between Nous Voila and Aurore is an obvious one for the French, Nibelungen can also be cut out for a slight drop in efficiency.

The real question remains how to implement such a system. Given what was written in the Traveller's Digest it's simply an option of building a big "heighliner" tug that runs out typically 2-3 ly out of the departure system and either brings online a bunch of carried ships, or separates in two and goes home whilst the other part brings the drive online and carries on. The heighliner can mate with a new carrier and launch again.

On the Sol-Aurore "canal" you'd pick up the Heighliner at Bessieres and ride it through. If you're carrying a ship onboard it simply keeps the drive offline and brings it up at Aurore. More likely the heighliner simply carries a lot of goods and people like a cross between a cruiseliner and an oiler tanker.....

Conclusion

Since that genie is out of the bottle in MGT (and arguably GDW 2300AD) the people, nations and corporations of that universe will run with it. The "arms" structure will break down over the coming decades and nations with the capacity to exploit the new capabilities (France and America most obviously) will become more dominant whilst the weak starfarers (Germany and Manchuria most obviously) will wither. Brazil of course gets a new lease of life with its canal to Paulo......

Bigger Lasers

I'm been experimenting with bigger arrays for SC lasers. The physics indicates a larger array could have more peak power and focus at longer ranges thus:

This would nicely fit with a model of guns of "inches of calibre" (WW2 etc. naval guns) = "meters of diameter".

The mass of the weapon is proportional to the 4th power of the diameter. If a 6m x1 laser is 1 ton then it stands to reason a 12m x4 capital ship laser is 16 tons and a 18m x9 super laser on a future Yamato or N-3 is 81 tons. I personally think this is a little light, and would heavy up the lot, especially as the little 3m missile defense lasers would come in at 62.5 kg! Realistic masses are probably a lot greater. Classic SC of course will upmass the mount.

Example: a 12m x4 dbl in a jack mount with UTES and a dedicated +2 target computer would mass 4x(16+16+2+1) = 140 tons. The 8 MW required to power the mount would mass 267 tons, and the necessary crew etc. raise the mass penalty for the mount to ca. 450 tons.

Hitting

Since we've extended the range we should extend the "to hit" penalties. I previously suggested (for missiles) a simple -1 per hex. Thus at maximum range a 12 m laser is -4, and with a good TC (+2) and crew (+2) achieves one hit per volley 40% of the time.

The addition of doubles (or triples or greater) should simple allow for two rolls per turn. However a simple rules modification allows for the possibility of multiple hits per array, and simply adding +1 for extra pump per array - the number of hits achieved is equal to the number of points on the dice the roll was pass by. So if the requirement is for a 7+, then a 7 achieves a single hit, an 8 two, a 9 three etc.

This allows for easy battery rules. Add together all guns of one type directed by a single director and use this as a modifier (so 4 doubles = +7). A  lot of hits from one roll can result.

A battery system would allow for greater range penalties, and I'd suggest using squares:

Which makes shooting at 4 hexes just about worth it, with the chance of some hits with a large battery at 4 hexes, but little real range advantage for a 15m laser, since it can't hit at that range.

Armour and Damage

1 damage point is inflicted for every 10 penetration (or part?) left over after rolling for armour penetration. If damage is more than 2 roll over to another hit. One hit is always absorbed as hull damage (either the first one, or the second if a surface feature is hit) before internal damage is taken.

The system prompts a redesign of armour value if cruisers carry larger weapons. If a Suffren has 12 m 4 MW arrays then much higher armour is called for, except since these are like old school "battlecruisers" they're not immune to their own guns. In fact a more sophisticated model is likely necessary, but more on that in the future.

Effects

It's a lot like the late 19th century. The optimal solution would be a few large guns (12 m) for range (with a director), a lot of small guns for missile defence (3m quadruples and hextuples at the like on local control) and a question on whether a middle battery of 8-10 m lasers is useful or whether just to "Dreadnought" up to the maximum number of 12 m guns. Perhaps Richelieu was the first "Dreadnought" with 4 x4 doubles as a single battery backed with 8-9 x1/4 quads for missile defence.

German Stahlhammer class Überraschungsangriff Raumschiff (Frigate in the Invasion Orbat)
(literally "sneak attack spaceship")

Notes

This is based upon Karl Bergman's article in Challenge 40. The ship itself is totally rewritten to be a U-boat analogue. The history didn't reflect the established history of the WoGR, which was essentially a revolution that overthrew the Federal Republic (with an uninterrupted history back to 1949, although the capital moved to Munich during the Twilight War - see here). Remember 2300AD isn't kind to the new DDR and it's probably swept away soon after Beowulf...

History

By mid-2292 the new German Democratic Nation (Deutsch Demokratischen Reich, DDR) had committed all its resources to the struggle with the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland, BRD) and their allies of the French Union (Union Française, UF or "France") on Earth and along the French Arm. German hit-and-run and seizure raids using the new Hamburg and Helmut Korell class warships were unexpectedly unsuccessful with no colonies other than Hochbaden defecting to the DDR. The German high command decided to issue a specification for a stealthy
vessel to compromise the Bundesrepublick's supply of troops and food from their colonies. Foremost among DDR concerns was the prospect of the Bundesrepublik and French fleets gaining time and respite to dig in and reinforce its positions beyond Alpha Centauri.

The prestigious firm of Luftstahl Industries, A.G. at Hochbaden was commissioned to develop a prototype for a stealthy, survivable, heavily-armed ship, with projected delivery to active units no later than early 2293. Of course it was impossible to build any warships at Earth due to the blockade by Bundesrepublick forces and their French allies.

Faced with a virtually impossible production schedule, Luftstahl Industries engineers hastily modified a number of light freighters used in trade along the Aurore finger, adding combat electronics, missile launchers, and a drastically improved heat exchanger. The first armed conversion (christened the Stahlhammer or "Steel Hammer") flew successfully on 7th March, 2293, just in time for the allied offensive into the Hochbaden system. It was the Stahlhammer that ambushed the French courier Marathon in one of the decisive events of the Battle of Sturmwelt when the surviving DSKM ships made their last stand against the might of the Raumwaffe's Weltraum-Flotte (minus detachments guarding the newly liberated Dunkelheim). What should have been a trap for the DSKM failed when the message to the French 4e Flotte out of Aurore (powered down just outside the Hochbaden system) failed to arrive.

For the rest of the year the Stahlhammer and her sisters ranged forward more, ambushing French and Federal German ships at Aurore and especially around Dunkelheim where the DSKM was able to effectively blockade the colony. Linking up with the besieged defenders of Halbinsel on Joi raiders spread throughout the French arm. Whereas the Manchurians had only given up cruiser rules reluctantly, the DSKM never even gave lip-service to such rules, nuking any vessel that came into their sights and completely destroying trade along the French arm.

In December a Franco-German armistice was signed and de-facto acceptance of the occupation of southern Germany was offered. Formal world recognition of a reunited Germany of course was a different matter, and even today most governments maintain their embassy with "Germany" on Tirane, and thread a delicate path a la China and Taiwan (or pre-unification Vietnam, or Korea).


Due to peacetime cutbacks in staff and funding, the DSKM was somewhat reluctant in accepting more Stahlhammers. Although German crews found the ship unpleasant to fly, and unusually slow and unmaneuverable for a transport, the DSKM had 12 of the original 14 Stahlhammers survived the war and are employed both for escort and light patrol duties, now that their raison d'être is not a current staff requirement.

Meanwhile, Luftstahl lndustries was convinced that it had an excellent design on its hands (as well as one that had not yet fully paid for its own development costs, as the new DDR government simply expropriated the vessels). Accordingly, Luftstahl began aggressively hawking the Stahlhammers design on the international market. After touchy contract negotiations, the Manchurians began producing the design under license, adding armour and additional weapons systems and renaming it the Chien Tsu as a cheaper alternative to Tunghu. The Brazilians also purchased a license to build
the design, outfitting their version as intelligence-gathering and raiding platforms and christening the variant class Almirante Montoya.

Basic hulls are currently being produced by Luftstahl lndustries at Hochbaden and Beta Canum Venaticorum, and by the Pu Lien Li and Rotanova shipyards off Terra. While private interest in the design is limited, many orders from the naval sector concerns ensure that the Stahlhammer
and its variants will remain in production for many years to come.

Design

The ship is essentially a small ore freighter common on the Hochbaden-Aurore run converted to an ersatz warship. The hull is LP synthetic and 5x 9m sections, with 3 forming the "shaft" and two (crosswide) the hammerhead. The major conversion was replacing the majority of the cargo area with a fuel tank and adding additional heat exchangers (hull masking) aft. Forward the major change was the addition of a large active array (which can't be powered up at the same time as the stutterwarp) and passive search array and fitting a missile launcher with magazine space for 10 small (4 m) missiles.

Operationally these ships sat off gas giants and other discharge points and when a merchant ship or lone warship appeared fired off a single missile at it when discharging. A hit from a "contact nuke" is invariably fatal, even to a grande frégate like a Suffren, Lion or Richelieu. The difficulty with a major warship is of course landing the hit through their defenses.


The Kafer War

The Stahlhammer comprised 2/3rds of the DSKMs light ships during the Kafer war and did not have a happy war. The DSKM attempted to do with these ships to the Kafers what they'd done in the last war. None survived - Kafer transports were so well protected that the attacking DSKM U-Schiffs simply got killed. Another nail in the short and sad life of the DDR.

Performance

 

Warp efficiency: 1.22 (fully fuelled and armed, and loaded with provisions) upto 2.14 (unfuelled, unloaded and unarmed)

Power Plant: 1 MW MHD Turbine and 1 MW folding solar array

Fuel: 1,200 tons (12 weeks full power)

Range: 7.7 light years

Endurance: six months life support

Mass: 1,618 tons unloaded but fully fuelled and armed (310 tons bare)

Cargo Capacity: 250 cubic meters (ca. six months provisions for crew of 20)

Crew: 20 (10 Bridge, 3 TAC, 6 Engineering, 1 medical); Passengers:nil

Comfort: -2;

Emergency Power: 10 days

Total Life Support: 20 for 180 days

Cost: MLv6.52 (excluding launched weapons etc.)

Ship Status Sheet

Move: 2-4, typically 3

Screens:nil

Radiated Signature:-2(1)

Radial Reflected: 4

Lateral Reflected:5

Target Computer: 0;

Radial Profile: -1

Lateral Profile:0

Armour:0

Hull hits:10/2

Power Plant Hits:4/1

Active: 5, no backup

Passive: 10, no backup

Other:

Weapons

nil

 

Ordnance Load

1 missile bay with 10 magazine slots for SR-9 or 10 missiles

Sensors and Electronics:

Active-5

 Passive-10
Navigation Radar
DSS
Gravitational

Crew Hits:
Bridge: Captain, Navigator, Helm, Communications, Computer
TAC: Remote Pilot, Active Operator, Passive Operator

 

Damage Control: 3 (1 team)