Author Topic: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.  (Read 2699 times)

Cowdragon

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Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« on: 15 February 2018, 10:10:23 »
A standard fighter launch bay weighs 150 tons. I'm guessing a good portion of this weight is used up in its "Omni" ability to carry any sized or shaped fighter, launch it, repair it, fuel it, etc.

What would it take to make a fair and believable and game balanced (but still fun) micro-fighter launch bay? Say, for 5 ton aerospace fighters? Perhaps only 50 tons each? 25 tons each? I really couldn't see them weighing more. And under no circumstances would they be able to carry more (roleplaying aside, and with the GM ruling that "yes, you can rescue the damaged larger fighter, but it's going to wreck your bay" type stuff)

Thoughts?

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Alsadius

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #1 on: 15 February 2018, 11:47:38 »
I'm working on a total rebuild of the aerospace rules right now. I changed it to bays being 20 tons, plus the weight of the unit counts like normal cargo. A bit more bookkeeping, but it's not stupid.

David CGB

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #2 on: 15 February 2018, 13:28:48 »
it is a good idea
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Maingunnery

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #3 on: 15 February 2018, 13:31:22 »
A standard fighter launch bay weighs 150 tons. I'm guessing a good portion of this weight is used up in its "Omni" ability to carry any sized or shaped fighter, launch it, repair it, fuel it, etc.

What would it take to make a fair and believable and game balanced (but still fun) micro-fighter launch bay? Say, for 5 ton aerospace fighters? Perhaps only 50 tons each? 25 tons each? I really couldn't see them weighing more. And under no circumstances would they be able to carry more (roleplaying aside, and with the GM ruling that "yes, you can rescue the damaged larger fighter, but it's going to wreck your bay" type stuff)

Thoughts?
Escape pods and lifeboats are only 7 tons each and they can be launched from their 'bays'. Retrieval/landing might be an issue, but that is ignorable.
But in such a case you will be limited to a maximum of 7 tons.
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bluedragon7

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #4 on: 15 February 2018, 15:12:11 »
I always read a fighter bay (or mech bay) having 50 tons of equipment and space for pilot and tech etc, while vehicle bays were just storage for the vehicle and nothing else.
So if you want to have launch facilities for a maximum 10 tons fighter, it would be 60 tons in my book.

Daryk

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #5 on: 15 February 2018, 19:52:16 »
I also like the "overhead + tonnage of unit" model.  With units like micro-fighters, the overhead is pretty much constant.  It only gets really complicated when you have units with more than one crew.

Red Pins

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #6 on: 15 February 2018, 21:04:36 »
Hmm.

This relates to the earlier thread, the one about the Whitestreak superlight Aerospace Fighter?  Individual bays are a bit much, don't you think?  I envision them a kind of disposable one-shot drone.

So, I was thinking of a kind of hull-anchored drone tube - something flat, think a pistol magazine without the spring and a tube fore each drone.  The drones are remotely activated and they just snap the restraints holding the drone in the tube.

Then there's a larger drone rack.  Most Dropships already have the small craft bay; put a drone rack in it.  Think of a honeycomb; the end of the honeycomb points out of the bay.  The drone is launched by compressed gas, or just fire it up like the first ones and snap the restraints and it goes out the door.  If you need to service a drone, just detach the restraints inside the tube and pull it out the back of the tube.

I like the second idea more; it becomes more a matter of the volume of the bay (and rack).  And since the bay has space for crew, storage for munitions, and more, there seems a way for a few tons of cargo-stored drones, tools, and maintenance equipment with little concern.  And of course, if there is no call for the drone (and the nuclear warhead) the the rack can be pulled out of the bay on the ground, or cut loose and pushed out in space, or whatever.
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Cowdragon

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #7 on: 23 February 2018, 00:01:50 »
All great ideas. I'm leaning toward making them manned AND retrievable. They seem more like a defensive weapon however.

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Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #8 on: 23 February 2018, 01:27:47 »
For simplicity, you coukd make them thr same 50-ton mass as a ProtoMech bay: you're in the same mass range, and BattleMech and ASF bays were the same mass.
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Cowdragon

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #9 on: 25 February 2018, 20:44:47 »
For simplicity, you coukd make them thr same 50-ton mass as a ProtoMech bay: you're in the same mass range, and BattleMech and ASF bays were the same mass.

That is a really REALLY great idea! Then they could not only be launched, but recovered, if I understand the rules correctly.

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Intermittent_Coherence

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #10 on: 27 February 2018, 04:53:09 »
And here I thought it was about Vipers.

Seriously, though, the tonnage + overhead is great. Bear in mind though the usual 150T includes life support(i.e. quarters) for the pilot and tech if I'm not mistaken.
I'm not sure though if the included quarters are first class, second class, or steerage. Probably one of the latter two.
So if you want to do the tonnage + overhead, you also have to take this into account. Say, 30T including steerage for pilot and tech? 35T if you want to make it the equivalent of 2nd class.

Maingunnery

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #11 on: 27 February 2018, 12:03:14 »
Would each 'ProtoASF' have their own assigned Tech?
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Daryk

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #12 on: 27 February 2018, 19:23:40 »
By definition, the included quarters are "bay quarters", and require more consumables.

Cowdragon

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #13 on: 11 March 2018, 19:34:34 »
And here I thought it was about Vipers.

Seriously, though, the tonnage + overhead is great. Bear in mind though the usual 150T includes life support(i.e. quarters) for the pilot and tech if I'm not mistaken.
I'm not sure though if the included quarters are first class, second class, or steerage. Probably one of the latter two.
So if you want to do the tonnage + overhead, you also have to take this into account. Say, 30T including steerage for pilot and tech? 35T if you want to make it the equivalent of 2nd class.

what about including launch and recovery gear?

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Red Pins

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #14 on: 11 March 2018, 23:54:13 »
what about including launch and recovery gear?

Ok, so you launch as normal; something pushes you OUT of the launch bay at fairly high speed, call it 10-15 kph, to get clear of the ions from the drive plume and then its own engine kicks in at 100 meters or so.  Say you either get ejected nose first, or spine first (pushed out flat).
 Either a computer or pilot use thrusters to turn it so the engine isn't pointed at the bay it launched from.  Should be fairly quick; not really noticeable in subjective game time and taken for granted.

Coming back - use some kind of short range spotting lasers to line up at a preset range; use at least two, maybe three, for accuracy.  With computer control, it should be fairly safe, and use either a grapnel or industrial magnet to reel them into the bay.  The MF would have to match thrust carefully and damaged or or exhausted units might need a different method to retrieve them.

Another option might be some kind of exterior elevator, clamps or magnets, and small airlock.  Just about any method would be ponderous, as I see it, given the number you might deploy.
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bluedragon7

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #15 on: 12 March 2018, 16:40:31 »
what about including launch and recovery gear?
With everything included you would end up at 50 imho.

Maingunnery

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #16 on: 12 March 2018, 16:48:57 »
what about including launch and recovery gear?
I think that you can assume that all bays have that included, and smaller units require vastly lighter/smaller equipment.

So in short:
ProtoASF Bay take up one space slot, weigh 50 tons and have a capacity of 5 ProtoASFs (max 9 ton each).
It houses 5 pilots and 1 technician. 
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Cowdragon

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #17 on: 20 March 2018, 14:36:04 »
I think that you can assume that all bays have that included, and smaller units require vastly lighter/smaller equipment.

So in short:
ProtoASF Bay take up one space slot, weigh 50 tons and have a capacity of 5 ProtoASFs (max 9 ton each).
It houses 5 pilots and 1 technician.

that sounds pretty good. Well, appealing. Not sure if it's fair though. I want to exploit the rules a little bit...not too much though, lol.

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Maingunnery

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Re: Ultra-Light or Micro-Fighter Launch Bays.
« Reply #18 on: 20 March 2018, 15:22:33 »
that sounds pretty good. Well, appealing. Not sure if it's fair though. I want to exploit the rules a little bit...not too much though, lol.
In some ways it is quite reasonable, I just replaced the Mech-part of an ProtoMech Bay with ASF.

I will assume that this also means that such a bay could hold three ASFs if they are in the 10-15 ton range.......
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