Now that I'm finally running a BattleTech RPG game after nearly four years of having literally NO ONE to play ANY games with, I'm finding myself wanting to explore some aspects of the BTU more deeply than I have before, and it's really quite a thrilling experience for me - especially since I've already learned quite a lot from my question about DropShip life. :)
In any case, this is the first of three threads I'm starting, to discuss satellites, recharging stations, and high ports/trade stations. This post will focus on the discussion of recharge stations.
So, question number one: just how common are recharge stations, and if you have issues with the canon info, how common do you think they really should be?
Recharge stations are especially useful over in star systems with long recharge times, generally more than 175 hours - if the star can charge a JumpShip's KF drive in under that time period, then there isn't a lot of use in having a recharge station there, since you would just be risking drive damage if you used it when the star would charge you just as fast without that risk (at least as far as I can tell, others should feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). As a result, I can see practically every star with a charge period of more than 175 hours having a recharge station to help speed up the pace of interstellar travel as much as possible, and they would be less common in systems that will charge a KF drive in 175 hours or less.
I also think that the Inner Sphere's network of recharge stations would have very likely survived the first two Succession Wars mostly intact, and some fluff I've read seems to support this. Basically, recharge stations provide a massive benefit to ANYONE who can use them - and that includes invading forces. As such, invaders are much less likely to destroy recharge stations because the stations are more useful in functional condition then they are as tiny bits of space junk. Also, the stations are primarily civilian in nature (not that such a distinction would stop some 1-2SW commanders...), and would likely surrender in the face of any hostile action. Oh sure, the stations are armed with an array of popguns for 'self-defense', but I see that as mostly a kind of anti-pirate defense - against a real invasion force, the station's crew is very likely just going to say 'nope, not my problem!', and surrender forthwith.
Now, onto another matter that bugs me - the size and types of recharge stations. In the DropShip TROs (D&S and TRO:3057r), we are given a single class of recharge station - the Olympus - and are told that it is the most common type of recharge station in the Inner Sphere. After seeing the Light Recharge Station designed by Vehrec, I got thinking about the different classes of recharge station that might exist. For basic recharge stations, I can see three tiers being sensible; a light station for systems that don't see a lot of traffic, a medium station for regular traffic levels, and a large station for busy trade hubs and major worlds. I originally wanted to consider the Olympus as the largest station, but after seeing some other fan designs I'd probably make it the Medium-class station. I'd then use a variant of Verhec's Light Recharge Station as the Light-class station, and I think something like JA Baker's Arcology class Space Station being the Large-class facility.
So, any thoughts, comments, etc?