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Item    0128054                 92/12/11        16:19
From:   WILDSTAR@MOENG2.MORGAN.EDU@INET#
Sub: TML Nightly - Not! (#6)

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From: wildstar@moeng2.morgan.edu (Derek Wildstar)
Message-Id: <9212112119.AA00879@moeng2.morgan.edu>
To: wildstar@moeng2.morgan.edu
Subject: TML Nightly - Not! (#6)


Traveller Mailing List --- NOT! (Number 6)

TML-Not! is just me, Wildstar, forwarding mail to the list of TML
subscribers.  If you have something you want to send to all of the TML
participants, just send it to me and let me know you want it forwarded,
and I will put it in the next TML-Not!.  If you want to stop receiving
TML-Not!, let me know and I will take you off my list (this will not
change your status on the real TML in any way when it comes back).  To
respond to anything in TML-Not!, simply use your mailer's "reply"
command, and indicate they you want me to forward your reply.  Because I
use "blind" carbon copies, the reply will go to me (only) and I will
include it in the next TML-Not!.

==============================================================================

Date: Thu, 10 Dec 92 23:28:41 -0800
From: Corran J. Webster <cwebster@math.ucla.edu>
Subject: Some comments for TML Not

Hi again,
A few comments about the goings on in TML-Not! recently:

HIWG
Is alive and kicking. I am a member of the Australian branch of HIWG
which is currently developing an entire sector spinward of the Spinward
Marches (yiklerzdanzh, for those who have the Zhodani supplement). At the
moment it is still being kept in the Rebellion era, but given that it is so
far from the imperium, virus, etc. not much change is anticipated for TNE.
The american branch has recently undergone a change of leadership
- Ed Edwards resigned as chairsophont and Mark Gelinas replaced him. Clay
Bush is in charge of membership. The British group, STarport recently went
into indefinate hibernation...
As for data available, I have over 10 Megs of stuff which I got
in Australia, in mac format, but I'm not about to post it to the net (too
much work 8-)...). If you become a member, it possible to get copies.
So the information you've all been waiting for: Membership information
can be obtained from -

Clay Bush
P.O. Box 895
Lincoln, CO 80826

or

Dave Schneider
5 East Avenue
Allenby Gardens
South Australia 5009
AUSTRALIA

Membership of HIWG currently includes a subscription to AAB proceedings
which is a good little fanzine and the most recent issue included some (sketchy
details about TNE, and a TNE variant due to Digest Group...

I s'pose I should add here, that given that TML seems to have been
given control of an area of space, the way which the work has been carried out
in Yiklerzdanzh by HIWG (Australia).
The 16 subsectors were divided up on a first come-first serve basis,
and were allocated in logical units (ie. if a small state spanned two subsectors
then they were bundled together and had one person in charge of both of them).
The sector coordinator determined world locations and the existence of states,
everything else was up to the respective subsector people, with the sector
coordinator picking holes in what everyonehas done. It took a while (using
normal mail for correspondence), but we now have the entire sector generated
in a fair amount of detail. There are still a few problems to be sorted out
(such as severe overpopulation in what is meant to be a backwater sector)
mainly caused by corrspondents fudging their rolls ("Oh I s'pose it's OK if
I throw in just _one_ more population A world"). I suspect that on the net
it would be a much quicker process, but I would suggest that the generation
of basic world stats be scrutinised by someone (Wildstar seems to be the
appropriate person, being de facto leader of the effort 8-) ) and have the
right to tell someone point blank that they can't have 5 pop A, TL 16 worlds
in their subsector 8-)
Hope this helps out.

Oh yes, one of the worst things is sorting through often contradictory
previously published material to try and get a uniform background that doesn't
clash too much with what's already in print. We've had major problems with
various versions of the Far Frontiers sector that have been published. You
may find that given that most of the stuff here was done by the Keiths that
things are fairly consistent (finbgers crossed).

Trade
I've muttered about this before. It would be nice if the system were
able to generate results which work for a wide range of ship volumes, from
the traditional Free Trader up to the 100000+ tone Mega Freighters run by the]
big lines.
When you think about it, once you get a relatively good port and a
medium population (say greater than 10^6) a small ship should be able to
fill its hold with _no_ difficulty. (Consider the amount of cargo through
a present day seaport with a similar population) The amount of freight
available should vary at a greather than exponential rate with UPP Pop digit
rather than approx linearly as it is at present.
I belive that TCS has some basic rules on stellar economics - I don't
own a copy, would anyone be willing to summarise (or correct me if my
imprseeions are wrong).

Jump Tanks
Just a minor point here. Why can't you get exterior inflatable tanks
which you pull inside the ship (or at least far enough in so that they are
within the jump field) as you use up the fuel. Thus, as you prime up the jump
drive, you suck the rapidy emptying tanks into a bay (or something) which
stores them in jump. That way you get the additional fuel volume a far less
interior volume, and you don't have to worry about drop tanks not detatching
and best of all they are resuable. Of course if the hauling in mechanism jammed
you might have problems...

Enough said for the time being. I'd better log off.

See ya 'round
Corran Webster
cwebster@math.ucla.edu

==========

Date: 11 Dec 1992 02:31:10 -0700
From: PPUGLIESE@pimacc.pima.edu
Subject: Re: TML Nightly - Not! (#5)

Someone suggested that J-6 was so rare that it was worth concealing.

I recall that in an early JTAS TNS it was stated that the Imperium
had decided to begin producing J-6 X-boats to speed up the X-boat
routes. It was supposed to cut transmission time to Capital from
Regina about in half, or something near. I believe that this was
announced sometime before the 5th Frontier War began.

Does anyone know if GDW ever elaborated upon this idea?

There should have been enough time before the Assasination for this
idea to have been implemented in some places. Core sector , at least,
if no where else.

Phil Pugliese

==========

From: Adrian Hurt <adrian@cee.heriot-watt.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: drop tanks
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 9:30:53 WET

Pauli <grue@cs.uq.oz.au> writes:
>
> >(1) Does anybody besides me remember the Trimhanka Brilliance [sp?] disaster?
> >    If the drop tanks do not separate properly, this ship will be unable to
> >    jump (the field will not close over the tanks, which have no jump grid
> >    installed; this will lead to misjump at best, or the destruction of the
> >    ship).  But, if the drive is not discharged soon after charging, the
> >    energy sinks may break down, resulting in catastrophic failure and the
> >    destruction of the ship.  Fun choice, huh?
>
> There is a very easy way around this, use the energy for some useless task
> and use it very quickly.  Generating large lighting bolts might be one way
> to drain you energy sinks quickly.  Any number of interesting energy wasters
> could be devised to remove the excess energy.

Capacitors.  See Ye Olde Book 5, High Guard, and in particular the bits about
black globes.  Jump drives have some capacitors already; that is where the
energy absorbed by the black globe goes.  For added safety, fit a few more
tons of them.  After that, use the stored energy in the place and manner of
your choosing.

"Bruce Pihlamae" <pihlab@hhcs.gov.au> writes:
>
> It seems to me that an enterprising person with a large-ish vessel with
> gas giant refuelling capability could set themselves up as a refuelling
> depot at a gas giant thus reducing the time for free traders to refuel.

Better yet, use that large-ish vessel to take the fuel back to the starport.
The main reason anyone is at the gas giant is so that they don't have to pay
for fuel; if they're going to pay for it, they might as well do so at the
starport, where they will conduct the rest of their business.

> Wildstar writes:
> >(3) Drop tanks are a combat liability.  They are unarmored and rather flimsy;
> >    so that hits are very likely to destroy the tanks (see Trillion Credit
> >    Squadron).  You cannot scoop for fuel with drop tanks, either.
>
> WHY can't you have armoured drop tanks?  What grand physical universal law
> would it violate to armour the suckers?  I have never understood this rule.

I would imagine that there are two types of tanks.  One type is a general
purpose tank, which will fit any ship that has suitable attachments and
plumbing.  The other is custom designed to fit a specific ship type.  The
first type is probably unarmoured and definitely make the ship unstreamlined,
if it wasn't already; you can't scoop fuel with it.  The second type is
designed to blend in with the hull of the ship for which it is intended; if
the ship is streamlined without the tank, it's streamlined with the tank,
and the tank is just as heavily armoured as the rest of the ship.

--
 "Keyboard?  How quaint!" - M. Scott

 Adrian Hurt     |JANET:  adrian@uk.ac.hw.cee
 UUCP: ..!uknet!cee.hw.ac.uk!adrian  |  ARPA:  adrian@cee.hw.ac.uk

==========

Subject: History of the Imperium Working Group
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 9:01:33 CST
From: goldman@orac.cray.com (Matthew D. Goldman)

A couple of questions for the !(TML) now that I know
that HIWG exists.

Do you know how to go about trying to join the HIWG?

Are the Digest Group's archives on Genie duplicated anywhere?

P.S.  Mail to my site may be weird for the next few days.
I talked to the postmaster (me!) about it but I've not got
the problem fixed yet.  I much prefer problems that are
other folks responsibilities!

Actually, the e-mail problem has given me some interesting
ideas for Traveller stuff.

Matt

--
Matthew Goldman              E-mail: goldman@orac.cray.com
Fax: (612) 683-3099                   Work: (612) 683-3061
      "Say George, I don't mean to interrupt, but
       there's a glowing red dot on your forehead."

==========

[As I remember, a copy of the sector data files was available for FTP
from engrg.uwo.ca; not that it helps at the moment.  --  Wildstar]

==========

Date:    Fri, 11 Dec 1992 11:09:46 -0600 (CST)
From: LTG3878@RIGEL.TAMU.EDU
Re:  Correction to information about Reaver's Deep.

I yesterday said, incorrectly, that Traveller's Digest #17 contained information
about Reaver's Deep.  This is incorrect, the issue was in fact #16.

Regarding the Keith brothers, they both have becomed moderately successful
authors of science fiction books.  However, they have put out one or two
additional items for MegaTraveller.  There were two articles in Far & Away #1
on Starports, and an interview with them in MegaTraveller Journal #3.  Also,
MegaTraveller Journal #4 is supposed to be dedicated to an adventure by them
called Lords of Thunder, set in the Gateway Sector, dealing with the K'Kree.

By the way, as long as I am to provide information to TML-Not!, perhaps someone
could assist me.  Were the following ever published?

Pilot's Guide to the Caledon Subsector - by GameLords, Ltd.
Far Traveller #3 - by FASA.

Both of these would have dealt with Reaver's Deep sector, and advertisements for
both appeared in various magazines, but I have never seen either.  If anyone
owns these supplements and is interested in selling, please e-mail me.

Also by the way, I remembered last night that there are a few additional
sources of info. on the Reaver's Deep in my collection:

  o  High Passage #5 - contains a sector map that specifies subsector names and
     political borders only.  No planets, no UWP data, no names.
  o  High Passage #3 - contains a disccussion of the Caledon Highlanders, a
     mercenary unit based in the Caledon Subsector.

Lewis Taylor Goss

==========

Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 14:02:29 -0600
From: "Steve Higginbotham" <p00206@psilink.com>
Subject: TCS (Trader, Cheap, Steve's)

Someone asked for it, so I'm posting it here, just in case anyone else
is interested...(and to save me the trouble of digging his mailing
address out of this morass...)


>Where can I see your design for a "good" free trader? Is it on one of
>the TML ftp sites? Failing that, could you possibly spare the time to
>type it in and mail it to me?

Yes.

>Oh, yeah.  Is it Classic or Mega? "TCS" doesn't parse.

MT.  Standard Traveller doesn't really leave room for any optimization
to speak of.  "TCS" is identical with High Guard.

>Thanks in advance!

You're welcome.  Sorry I didn't get back to you earlier.  I chopped your
address off your note before noticing that I didn't have it in my
address book.


Commentary:  This Free Trader is based on the assumption that
spec-trade is where the money is.  They do not carry passengers (since
passengers can hijack your ship, or otherwise make nuisances of
themselves).  It is built as cheaply as possible (which, oddly enough,
means they are TL15).  And it is designed for minimum operating expense
(so fuel purifiers are part of the ship, even though it raises the cost
slightly).  The power plant does NOT have to operate at full output
unless necessary (if you dislike that assumption, then split it into a
125MW plant (for housekeeping), and a 280MW plant (for M-drive)).
Specifically, the M-drive does NOT have to operate during the 7 days in
jump.

And this is my equivalent of the standard Traveller Free Trader, not
what we use in our campaign (which tend to be bigger, sometimes a LOT
bigger).

CraftID:  Free Trader (Steve's), type TC(S) (Trader, cheap, Steve's),
  TL15, MCr27.75

   Hull:  Disp = 200, Config = 4SL, Armor = 40G

  Power:  Fusion = 405MW, Duration= 30/90

   Loco:  Maneuver = 1, Jump = 1, Agility = 0

  Commo:  Radio = Far Orbit, Lasercomm = System

Sensors:  Passive EMS = Interplanetary, Active EMS = Far orbit

    Off:  None

    Def:  None

NOTE:  There is sufficient power for a pair of missile racks or
sandcasters, if you want them, and if you can pay for them.

Control:  Computer = 1bis x 3, Panel = HoloLink x 75, Special =
  HeadsUpHoloDisp x 1, Environ:  basic env, basic ls, extend ls,
  grav plates (these last two do not extend into the fuel
  tankage.  extended ls does not extend into the cargo hold).

"What? no coke machines in the cargo space??  No toilets there,
either???  Outrageous, young man!  I will speak to your supervisor about
this!" :-)

Note that there are an excessive number of control panels, so that
you can add things onto the ship without having to rebuild the controls
at the same time.

 Accomm:  Crew = 3(Bridge = 2, Engineer = 1), Stateroom = 4

Note that if the rules did not require a crew of three as the
absolute minimum, the ship could be run by one man quite easily.  One of
the big differences between this and *our* "free traders" is that we
design ships that are as large as possible while still requiring only
three men on the crew.  For this model computer, that's about twice this
size, with the engineering crew the limiting factor.

  Other:  Cargo = 1890, Fuel = 390, ObjSize = Average, EmLevel = Faint,
  Fuel refinery = 40 Kl/6 hours, 1 Airlock

Fuel assumptions:  J-1, plus housekeeping for 30 days, plus M-drive
for 22 days.

Monthly Note:  Cr115,625.  Fuel costs per jump: (less than)
Cr2,889.  (Note that you buy unrefined fuel and refine it yourself.  You
DO NOT skim gas giants!!! That cuts the number of jumps per year from 25
to 16, and only saves you KCr72 per year, maximum.).  Operating in the
classic Traveller fashion, this ship will make 25 jumps per year,
bringing in a MINIMUM (assuming Freight, not Cargo) of MCr3.5, with
operating expenses of MCr1.577 (assuming skill-3 crewentities, plus
maximum fuel expenditures), thus your net is MCr1.923 per year, with an
initial investment of MCr5.55 (you recover your investment after 3
years, worst case).

Assuming that you have enough to put down for a standard free trader
(MCr7.38), you'll have MCR1.83 left over after putting down on one of
these.  This should be sufficient to get you started in spec trade.  It
also should be sufficient to rent 500T of warehouse space on the four
worlds you hit most often, and hire brokers to buy cargos for you
whenever they become available on these worlds (to be stored in your
warehouses).  This has one amusing effect:  you no longer have to wait
one week for your turnovers on these worlds.  So now you can make a
jump-cycle in 9 days instead of 14, and make up to *40* jumps per year,
with the expected increase in your gross.  And since the Note is the
majority of the operating expenses, your net will increase all out of
proportion to the increase in your gross.

Good Trading!

Note:
What we actually use in our campaign usually is 400+ tons, and
generally is capable of J-2+.  Our houserules are also slightly
different, so that it is occasionally worth the trouble to build a TL14-
starship.

---Steve

==========

Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 14:01:40 -0600
From: "Steve Higginbotham" <p00206@psilink.com>
Subject: Trade, Pocket Empires, Drop Tanks, etc.

Rob Dean:

>> This is how Cynthia handles anything that your basic Free Trader-type
>> wants to do on an Industrial world...Sounds like DAK, doesn't it?

>Yes.  This makes perfect sense to me.  Now, the porblem I have with the
>system as shown in MegaTraveller is that it won't work for something
>like a 600 ton subsidized merchant.  Often there wouldn't be enough
>cargo to fill the hold.  I think that a ship of that size is within the
>reasonable bounds of "player character adventure", and it would have
>the sort of regular run that would fill the chinks between the
>megacorps, so the rules should be able to cover it.

This is a problem for me too.  In general, we allow merchant types to
buy direct from the factory sometimes:  "We'd like to buy 2,000 ACRs,
plus enough ammunition to fill our hold, please.  Where are we going?
Well...uh...Porozlo!  Yeah, that's the ticket!  We're going to Porozlo!"


>I agreee here.  I'm not yet convinced that it _can't_ be done with a
>random generation system of some sort.  If it can't, I'd think that GDW
>ought to be able to sell something like 76 Patrons, except covering
>cargoes, which would lay out the pitfalls and twists involved in each
>of the potential purchases.  Once those have been used, hopefully the
>GM's imagination would have been prodded enough to come up with
>additional ones.  Perhaps a "tickler" list, like that for patrons,
>would be the way to go.

Now this is something I'd like to see.  I don't think a reasonable
random table can be done:  cargos SHOULD tend to be pretty specific to a
world.  None of this "generic cargo" dreck from MT.


>Wildstar replies to Steve:
>> Subject: Free Traders vs MegaCorps

>Tukera _would_ go after these routes _IF_ there is no place for them to
>get a higher return on investment.  Obviously they allocate resources
>to the most profitable routes first, but if they are expnading (even
>slowly), as long as they can make more by running a route than by
>putting the money in the bank, they will eventually expand enough to do
>it.  (I.e.--if I already hold all the 13% interest bonds that I can
>get, and I've got money to invest, do I put it in a 3% savings account,
>or buy 8% bonds?)

The Imperium is a thousand years old, and hasn't expanded its borders in
at least 300 years.  Tukera, if they are still trying to expand
operations, will grab ANY route that can be run regularly and make
money.


>With one small exception: I always consider (and I think this is the
>Higginbotham method too) that any two worlds that can consistently sell
>to one another at a profit under the MT/Merchant Prince "all tons are
>the same tons" cargo rules is tied up by regular shipping lines.

Yes, Rob, this is the basis for most economic analysis in our
Traveller...


Wildstar:

> WHY can't you have armoured drop tanks?  What grand physical universal
> law would it violate to armour the suckers?  I have never understood
> this rule.

>I think because once you've gotten them structurally beefed up and
>armored to the equivalent of your outer hull, then they are "external
>demountable tanks".  The Gazelle class close escort uses them.  Check
>TCS for details.

No, that's not why you don't armour drop tanks.  You don't armour them
because armour is EXPENSIVE!  An armoured 200T drop tank would cost you
MCr7.5 or so.  A regular one costs you KCr200.  Which would you rather
throw away if you found you needed to?


<about Rob Dean's "76 Cargos">

>This sounds like a great idea!  I should point out that a few examples
>of just this sort of thing were included in Knightfall.  Can anybody
>come up with a bunch and post them?

I should point out that there are a few in "Flaming Eye" also.
Including a load of gold bullion that some government is trying to
dump.  You can pick it up for a couple hundred thousand credits, and
sell it for about MCr3000 once the Imperium goes back to the Gold
Standard.  Another example of sloppy work...


>Right.  And while we can't determine the exact break points with the
>current rules, worlds below a certain size will be almost exclusively
>the province of Free Traders.  As the trade volume gets larger, so will
>the size of the ships, and so will the competition from larger and
>larger organizations.  So your 600 and 800 ton subsidized merchants
>would likely face some competition from the larger lines, while the
>smaller 200 ton free traders are much less likely to have the problem.

Well, technically, your "subsidized" merchants have NO competition.
Because if there were merchant traffic through wherever, then the local
governments wouldn't see any need to subsidize any merchants...

And I douobt that Tukera competes with 600-800 ton ships.  The smallest
Tukera Cargo Ship I have ever seen mentioned is 5000T.


Jeff Zeitlin:

>TML::>I don't believe in J-6 merchants, though Hans recently gave me an
>idea that might make me start to believe.

>   Some of the MT background material would seem to imply that J6 is
>   EXTREMELY uncommon, if not reserved to the Imperial government.
>   The one thing that strikes me as strong evidence for this view is
>   that the gov't had to come up with the "stealth courier" which
>   looks like a conventional J2 ship (of I forgot which class), but
>   which instead has minimal cargo capabilities, with the cargo space
>   being used for the increased volume for the Jdrive and the
>   additional fuel needed to run it.

Hans' idea was also extremely uncommon.  But that's neither here nor
there...

As to the "stealth courier", if you had read closely, you would have
noted that that was NOT a "stealth courier", but a "spy ship", owned not
by the Imperial government, but by the Royal family.

>   If J6 was common, the special fleet would _not_ have been the way
>that Norris, et alia heard about the assassination before the general
>populace in their domains; it would have leaked pretty fast to some
>areas, and once the unofficial version of the news gets ahead of the
>official version of the news, it _will_ stay ahead - "News always
>travels by the fastest available route."  Implication: The Imperial
>Government's J6 couriers are the fastest available route.  Secondary
>implication: Commercial spacecraft with J6 do not exist.

J-6 is NOT common.  Certainly not for mercantile craft.  But Hans came
up with a wrinkle (which is proprietary to him, so don't ask me for
details) that would both allow and encourage J-6 merchant traffic.


Jim Baranski:

>>"Come to that, didn't YOU design two ships that were J-3, but only
>>carried internal fuel for J-1, Jim?"

>I designed ships which had J1 interior fuel tanks, and the rest of the
>fuel in exterior demountable tanks, *not* drop tanks, since I don't
>believe in drop tanks :-)  The difference seems to be that demountable
>tanks have a jump grid on their surface, and drop tanks do not.

Well, no.  The difference is that external demountable tanks are as
strong as hulls are, while drop tanks are not.  From TCS, page 13:

"Exterior demountable tanks and drop tanks simultaneously increase fuel
capacity and ship tonnage;  drop tanks, however, MAY (emphasis mine) be
detached just prior to jump to reduce ship tonnage in order to achieve
greater performance."


>None of the carriers were armored, as I did not expect them to be in
>the line of battle.  (did I actually have spinal mounts on carriers
>that I didn't expect to fight? I don't think I did; that would have
>been pretty stupid)

Hmmm...Neubayern thought so too.  Which was why his carriers were
vulnerable enough to be hammered by Amondiage in the Third Battle of St
Genevieve.  So he lost three fleets.  Assuming your ships will not get
into combat just because you don't intend them to is "pretty stupid".
What if your enemy has other plans?!?


>Anyway, I never designed drop tanks.  I hoped with the dispersed
>structure carriers and demountable modules to have a flexible and
>effective task force, but I heard that the riders got slaughtered
>because they lacked jump drives.

No, that's not why the riders got slaughtered.  The riders in question
were 80 Turtles and 12 Rhinos.  The Rhino was very heavily armed and
armoured, but pulled 1G.  The Turtle had light armament and heavy
armour, and still 1G.  They fought about 500 warships, ranging from
destroyers that were as heavily armed as a Turtle, to battleships that
were more than a match for your Rampages.  They lost.  BADLY.  The lack
of J-drives ensured that they didn't escape.


>Since there were no meson weapons to produce interior explosions, most
>disabled ships with jump drives were still able to jump out when they
>could not do any more.  I had given standing orders for a flight of
>rescue ships and prearranged emergency departure point, but I guess
>Steve didn't think it would be effective.

Jim, when your 1G riders tried to run, they were followed by 6G fighters
and riders.  When your 1G carriers tried to rendezvous with your riders,
those 6G riders and fighters shot your carriers to pieces, thus putting
even more of New Colchis' ships in the bag.  Whenever your riders tried
to get to a carrier to jump away, the effect was to put the carrier out
of action too.


George Herbert:

>Ok; who (else) bought all the materials to be able to take worlds and
>run them through the rebellion?  It might make sense to break up the
>area and have people do at least the UPP changes on small groups, to
>make things easier on people.  Unless someone wants to donate a weekend
>or so...

I did.  And it should definitely be split up, though we might want to
work out the general trends we want to see FIRST, to minimize the amount
of retrofits later...


>As for the Virus, I think that we ought to get a core group together to
>hash out what effects it would/should have...

Sounds good to me.  Does GDW have any specific effects in mind yet?  Do
we have any notion of the limits on the effects?  What's the minimum
effect?  The maximum?


>I can do a mailing list for some of these if people want...

Put me on it if you do.


Alistair Langsford:

>Piracy

>To me Piracy is either small operations on the Frontier, or big
>business organised crime in anywhere better policed.  I think that
>there was a Journal (ie JTAS) or early Challenge article some time back
>which talked about the economics of Piracy, and how to work out where
>it would occur.  Anyone remember this?

Piracy is big business.  Remember how much pirate ships cost.  Remember
that even if you steal the ship, you have to spend millions to arm it,
and more millions to repair it and maintain it.  This implies support
form someone who already has millions, like a government.


>In any event it should be profitable if (a) trade is profitable and (b)
>the law enforcement is sparse enough ( or inefficient enough, or
>corrupt enough).

It should occur where law enforcement is sparse, all right. Like ten
parsecs beyond the Imperial border.

To give you an idea of how capable the local navies can be:  In my TCS
game, Neubayern (which is smaller than Glisten or Rhylanor (or Efate,
for that matter), has enough resources to put 50 heavy fighters and
three fleet escorts into every system in the Spinward Marches.  He has
enough riders to put one in every system that has more than 10000 people
in it.  So a "pirate" better be able to deal with a pair of 5000T
escorts and a couple dozen big, tough fighters, or it is wasting its
time and money.

And that's just ONE world!  Collectively, the Islands worlds could
provide anti-piracy forces for the entire Domain without even trying
hard...

(Jim Baranski's fighters, poor though they were against purpose-built
warships, would be wonderful anti-piracy weapons, since most stolen
ships are lousy warships at best.  And HIS fleet could put 300 fighters
in every system in the Spinward marches, plus 3 reasonably heavy
battle-riders and half a dozen heavy patrol ships)


---Steve

==========

Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 15:24:59 EST
From: MARK URBIN <urbinm@rimail.interlan.com>
Subject: Please put in TML-NOT!

  First off, a correction.  GDW's response to a Traveller/MegaTraveller
player about TNE was in Challenge #66, not 62.

Drop Tanks:
  I really like the concept of drop tanks vs. Demountable fuel tanks.  Drop
tanks are cheap and must be dropped before jumping.  Demountable tanks are
expensive (due to the jump grid), but they can be brought through a jump.
  Sounds like a business deal in the making.  Renting drop tanks.  You `rent'
a full tank (plus fuel costs), collect the empty drop tanks from jump points,
refill and repeat.
  Loss of streamlining is really a function of the tank design and the design
of the ship it's attached to.  Presign the ship to be streamlined with it's
demountable tanks attached.  You run into problems when you lose your tanks.
You either have to get exact replacements or lose your streamlining.  This
is best case.  In worse case, `standard' tanks (demountable or droppable)
won't fit.  This is why your mechanic should have vacc suit skill.  He may
have to go out there and jury rig a connection.

Pocket Empires:
  As a big H. Beam Piper fan, I'm curious as how the Sword Worlds survived
the fall of the Imperium.  I don't know how they faired in MT.  All my Sword
Worlds stuff is Classic Traveller.  I don't see why Sword World Naval vessals
would be using Imperial Transponders.  Perhaps this should have soften the
blow of the TL loss.  If I remember my old Imperial map correctly, The Sword
Worlds are near both the Darrians and the Zhodani.  The Sword Worlds would
provide a `buffer state' between them and the collapsed Imperium.  The motive
would be to keep the good pickings for themselves.
  I just like the idea of Space Vikings coming out of the Sword Worlds to
pick at the bones of the dead Federation...errr...I mean Imperium.
  Putting a little though into it, a Darrian/Sword World mutual defense
treaty (against the Zhodani) would probably spring into place.  It would also
give the Sworld Worlders' somebody to trade the stuff they raid from the
old Imperium to.  (I'm pretty sure that the Sword Worlds are between the
Darrians and the Imperium).  The Darrian's who backslide tech levels once,
would probably better at climbing back than most others.  They would maintain
a decent manufacturing base.  The Sword Worlder's could concentrate on
raiding and trading.  If I remember correctly Sword World TL is mostly A, with
Gram being C.  Darrians run mostly at C with pockets of G.
  What is the standard drop in TL defined in Hard Times?  I don't think it's
harsh enough that Gram would lose jump tech.  That's all you really need.  The
rest of the Sword Worlds could provide cannon fodder, errr...I mean ground
troops.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Urbin  Racal-Datacom  Boxborough, MA   urbin@interlan.interlan.com
These opinions are mine.  No one else will admit to them.
It was a typical net.exercise -- a screaming mob pounding on a greasy spot
on the pavement, where used to lie the carcass of a dead horse.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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END of TML-Not!
=END=
