Re: Carrier design in FT

Jared E Noble wrote:
> 
> It seems to me that to represent PT boats, (or pseudo fighters) you
need to
> make small combat capable ships , probably non-FTL, that are armed
> primarily with expendable weaponry- sub-packs, missiles, SMRs (but the
SMR
> is getting pretty big).  The horrible bathtub fleet everyone loves to
hate.
> 
> But then for the tender, I see 2 ways to do it - either design:
>  Tender: (by the FB definition a ship that provides internal hangar
space
> for the ships it tends and FTL for the whole shebang),
> or
> Tender-Tug: Uses FT Tug style FTL to carry the additional Mass of a
number
> of the PT boats, no internal protection or carriage.
> 
> Now to make the whole system viable, Allow PT boats to dock with the
Tender
> as fighters can, and allow reloads at whatever rate you have chosen
for
> fighters.  For Tender-Tugs, I think you need to provide some way of
> "External Docking" - and then allow a reload.  My feeling is that this
> reload would be slower than properly supported tenders.
> 
> Then, allocate space for all those weapon reloads, and maybe draw a
box
> around them on the SSD to denote that they are carried cargo.  You
could
> load up on SMs without a launcher, maybe carry missiles and subpacks
at a
> small space savings? (3 missiles in 5 mass?)	Or take a slight cost
savings
> instead, to reflect the lack of a launch system.  I would personally
like
> to see a good way of supporting "Docking" and reloads.  I think lots
of fun
> could come from it.  If you have a generalized reloading procedure,
then
> you can also keep your bathtubs FTL capable but make generalized
> Ammo/Resupply ships - and with most SML mounting ships in the fleet
book
> you are limited to 3 turns of ammo (admittedly three potentially nasty
> turns) but the capablility of rearming never hurts.
> 
> Jared
Also, I would think that you could make a gunship/fighter, using the
same rules as the fighters, but taking twice as much damage to put down
and carrying heavier weapons/external packs.  This would also cut down
on the number of sheets needed, and give newbie players a nice
introduction to the game, while still letting them play with someof the
other rules in the form of the external packs. (a single SMR rocket?)