Tow & Warp

[Virmilyn]

Question to the experienced.

Ship A

Has a TransWarp Drive, one engine(2AP), plus other gear

 

Ship B (much bigger)

Has TransWarp Drive, lots of engines(4AP), Tractor Beams, plus other gear.

 

Ship B can Tow Ship A. They are in the same fleet.

My understanding is that AP is stored per ship. And executing a warp is zero AP.

 

So, is this fleet 4AP capable? It should be.

I can tow the smaller ship between Warp Points.

 

Anyone try this?

[Lord Xaar]

Question to the experienced.

Ship A

Has a TransWarp Drive, one engine(2AP), plus other gear

 

Ship B (much bigger)

Has TransWarp Drive, lots of engines(4AP), Tractor Beams, plus other gear.

 

Ship B can Tow Ship A. They are in the same fleet.

My understanding is that AP is stored per ship. And executing a warp is zero AP.

 

So, is this fleet 4AP capable? It should be.

I can tow the smaller ship between Warp Points.

 

Anyone try this?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Towing only comes into play if there is a vessel without engines in the fleet.

 

Otherwise the fleet AP is that of the lowest AP ship in the fleet. (So in your example your fleet would have only 2 AP).

 

-LX

[sir smeg]

I'm curious if Ship A is not Jump capable, would the fleet still be able to make jumps or would Ship A limit the fleet to the current system.

 

[Krelnett_of_Kraan]

No one can tow anything through a warp point (yet)

[ali-t-akua]

I'm curious if Ship A is not Jump capable, would the fleet still be able to make jumps or would Ship A limit the fleet to the current system.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Your fleet is limited to the system and cannot jump.

[Virmilyn]

Towing only comes into play if there is a vessel without engines in the fleet.

 

Otherwise the fleet AP is that of the lowest AP ship in the fleet. (So in your example your fleet would have only 2 AP).

 

Bumber

 

Doesn't this sound reasonable though?

 

If the entire fleet is Trans warp capable the higher AP ship(s) with towing capacity should be able to tow the smaller ship(s) to the warp point then they can warp on there own power. Then at the other end get towed to the next destination/warp point.

[Lord Xaar]

Virmilyn,

 

The concept is reasonable enough, however I think it makes movement a lot easier than the mechanics are meant to allow.

 

Basically, this scheme gives ships "free" AP. A high AP fleet tows a lower AP fleet (all TWD-capable), the low AP fleet could then be let loose to continue moving. If one wants ships to have a certain AP they should be required to invest in the engines needed to give that AP - not "bum a ride"...

 

It would get even more interesting if a TWD-capable fleet could tow non-TWD ships (a small step in logic from your initial idea). Then a warship with only 100 Medium Tractor Beams could tow 600 1000-ton screen ships... Needless to say, this would radically change the game: as discussed in another thread having the ability to rapidly move screens may have kept a few players in the game and may have changed the outcomes of the public wars in the game thusfar.

 

It seems to me to change the nature of fleet movement too much to allow such a thing.

 

IMHO,

-LX

[Virmilyn]

Lord Xaar,

 

Yes, reasonable, and why not allow it.

 

Transwarp Drives and Towing Gear and a tech investment. Tech advancements give an empire an edge and allow them added features and play ability.

 

I've read the discussions about towing ships thru warp points, it would ge a nice feature though.

 

'Sling shotting' lower AP ships from a higher AP towing fleet would be a great way to cover long distances. I would agree that it would be a mis-use of the movement mechanics.

 

I don't think anyone will get an unfair advantage from this. TWDs are a good chunck of resources. The smallest ship I have sporting a TWD is 50,000 tons. In your example that would allow me to tow 12. Not quite enough to put up a good screen. And any empire that can through away TWDs on screening ships would be too big to resist.

 

Have I told you about my 26,000 ton screening ships yet?

[hobknob]

I can see it now. Pete allows towing, but the effect of towing is to reduce your "high" AP fleet ratings down to 2 since they are towing after all and towing fast is likely very dangerous as well as time consuming.

 

I am looking for an andromedan solution so I can build mother ships that can spit out a bunch of small ships upon arrival in the desired system.

 

[ali-t-akua]

I am looking for an andromedan solution so I can build mother ships that can spit out a bunch of small ships upon arrival in the desired system. 

 

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I think we already have that solution, drone ships and carriers.

[General Miles Avatar]

I am looking for an andromedan solution so I can build mother ships that can spit out a bunch of small ships upon arrival in the desired system. 

 

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I think we already have that solution, drone ships and carriers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Hobknob is talking about 'Battle Rders'. I remeber this concept from an old game called Traveller

that I used to play way way way back. In that game the ships with the most tonnage devoted to

armor weapons and manuver drives would usally come out on top an a ton for ton basis.

 

If the ship could be built without jump drives then that space could be used for you guessed it more weapons armor manuver drives and computers/sensors. The trouble was moving the

ship through warp points. Sounds hauntingly familiar doesnt it?

[Mechanica]

There is one good reason why.

 

 

AP = (Total Engine Output/Total Tonnage)

 

I designed a quick tug using the best grapple/tractors I have anzed to date. This is the medium magnetic grapple with a 7,000 ton rating. The best engine I have anzed to date is Mk V Nuclear Engine at 4,000 ton thrust.

 

Ship to be towed is 701,168 ton Colonial Liner with 50 colonial berthings; 100,000 cargo; 1 NucEng, 1 NucJD Calculated AP 0, Effective AP 2

 

Towing ship is 111,799 ton tug with 101 Medium Magnetic Grapples and 112 Mk V Nuclear Engines. NTWD equipped. Can tow 707,000 tons Calcuated AP 4.01 Effective AP 4

 

Fuel tankage was provided for both ships assuming worst case of 4 jumps thru class G warps, the worst I have found to date.

 

Now once you activate the tractors you are in effect creating one giant ship where the formula is still AP = (Total Engine Output/Total Tonnage)

 

Combined Tonnage = 812,967

Combined Engine Output = 448,300

Calculated AP = 0.55

Effective AP = 2

 

The problem lies not in the towing capability, the tug can tow the ship in question, but in the number of engines required to maintain 4 AP rating when actually towing the Ship.

[Mechanica]

I am looking for an andromedan solution so I can build mother ships that can spit out a bunch of small ships upon arrival in the desired system. 

 

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I think we already have that solution, drone ships and carriers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Hobknob is talking about 'Battle Rders'. I remeber this concept from an old game called Traveller

that I used to play way way way back. In that game the ships with the most tonnage devoted to

armor weapons and manuver drives would usally come out on top an a ton for ton basis.

 

If the ship could be built without jump drives then that space could be used for you guessed it more weapons armor manuver drives and computers/sensors. The trouble was moving the

ship through warp points. Sounds hauntingly familiar doesnt it?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Starfire uses a system called Transit Racks. The game system, depending on the version you played, limited the number of ships or hullspaces that could safely transit a warp point in a given turn. Exceed that number and you had a chance for ships arriving in the same space at the same time. Not good, unless you are the defender. Transit racks allowed x number of ships to attach themselves to the transport ship and then be released once the jump was made. It had some built in limitations in No shields were up while attached, ships were considered detached the turn following transit, so the ships had to survive one round of combat before they could respond. Only point defense was allowed to operate will the ships were attached and that was limited also.

[Virmilyn]

I remeber this concept from an old game called Traveller

Wow, General you are dating yourself. I have not played that game is over 20 years....Oops.

 

There is no AP limit for towing an orbital around a system. If your ship is 4AP you can lug that orbital all four movent orders in-system.

So, using all the systems already provided in the game, I have a smaller 2AP ship and a Larger 4AP ship in a fleet, both ships TWD equiped. I plan on moving thru four systems. The smaller ships AP is exhausted after moving to the second warp point, warping costs zero AP so it can execute a warp. On the other end the larger ship tows the smaller to the next warp point. Cuts it loose and the fleet warps. TWDs allow ships to make multiple warp. Repeat for the next system. Nothing fancy.

[hobknob]

I was refering to the Andromedans of SFB which were able to carry satellite ships. Fighters and drones don't come close to doing anything for you as they are weapons sytems and not ships. I was thjinking about refueling skimmers and ships that could be dumped out to picket a WP or do planet scans. It hardly matter what, it is just inconvenient to get ships 10-12 away from a production base without a TWD. The next best solution is to build a small colony and just build them at a forward location. The biggest problem there is the pesky problem of power to run the shipyards. I see a need for a power plant that is between a hydro plant and a coal fired plant. Sadly, nothing has been found to fill that void.