From:   IN%"traveller@engrg.uwo.ca" 29-MAY-1994 21:02:18.39
To:     IN%"traveller@engrg.uwo.ca"
CC:     
Subj:   TML biweekly: Msgs 7773-7784 V45#13

Return-path: <jamesp@engrg.uwo.ca>
Received: from engrg.uwo.ca (nova.engrg.uwo.ca) by delphi.com (PMDF V4.2-14
 #6563) id <01HCXBL9X1BK96WLB5@delphi.com>; Sun, 29 May 1994 21:02:15 EDT
Date: Sun, 29 May 1994 21:00:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin)
Subject: TML biweekly: Msgs 7773-7784 V45#13
To: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Errors-to: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca
Reply-to: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Submissions)
Message-id: <9405300102.AA01155@engrg.uwo.ca>
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
Approved: by traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (TML Admin) Sun May 29 21:00:04 EDT
 1994
Precedence: bulk

TML biweekly    Sun May 29 21:00:04 EDT 1994    Volume 45 : Issue 13

Today's topics:

BUN# =AMN= =DATE====== =FROM==========  =SUBJECT/BODY==========================
 619  7774 25-May-1994 David Johnson    Alt: Earth Colonies Library Data << Gen
 619  7776 25-May-1994 John Bucsek      Reformation Coalition Equipment Guide <
 619  7777 26-May-1994 "Glenn M. Goffi  Polisotechnic League/Nicholas van Rijn 
 619  7778 26-May-1994 Edward Swatsche  re: ... ship types or classes ... << Da
 619  7779 26-May-1994 Rob Dean         TCS vs. FFW << David Johnson and Cynthi
 620  7780 25-May-1994 J Roberson       Gun From Hell << >This weapon is the Ma
 620  7781 25-May-1994 J Roberson       Military Musings << >The next time you 
 620  7782 26-May-1994 rancke@diku.dk   TCS vs. 5FW << David Johnson writes:
 620  7783 26-May-1994 Peter H. Brento  TNE:Blaster Rifle from Tariq...... << I
 620  7784 26-May-1994 "Les Howie"      Ship Designations << djohnson@geds01.js
 619  7773 25-May-1994 David Johnson    Alt: Earth Colonies NPC << Gentlesophon
 619  7775 25-May-1994 Wesley Esser     <<          Hi guys - 

This is a passively moderated mailing list. All messages sent to the
submission address will be distributed. The biweekly digest is currently
distributed each Wednesday and Sunday at 9:00pm.

Submissions: traveller@engrg.uwo.ca -or- uunet!engrg.uwo.ca!traveller
Administrator: traveller-request@engrg.uwo.ca (James Perkins)

The TML is made possible by facilities provided by the University of
Western Ontario. All opinions and materials below are the responsibility
of the originator.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Bundle: 619
Archive-Message-Number: 7774
Date: Wed, 25 May 94 21:24:27 CDT
From: djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson)
Subject: Alt: Earth Colonies Library Data

Gentlesophonts:

The following library data first appeared in *Melbourne Times* #2:

Discovery Service: The exploration and missionary service of the Abrahamic
Synod.  The Discovery Service has primary responsibility for survey of new
systems as well as for contact with new cultures.  The Scouts of the Discovery
Service are renown throughout the Colonies Sphere for their scientific and
surveying skills.  The Discovery Service has also proven quite effective in
spreading the Abrahamic faith among the new peoples contacted.  It has shown
greater success in gaining new members for its State than has any other scout
service.  Primarily because of this record of success the Discovery Service has
been banned by most Colonial States from conducting operations on their
respective worlds.  Discovery Service teams are generally welcome on
independent worlds due to their extensive record of aid to developing worlds.

General Hulls and Drives: The largest corporation in the Commonwealth, General
is the largest manufacturer of starships in the Colonies Sphere.  General
builds all classes of starships from private yachts to naval battleships at
shipyards on both Commonwealth and independent worlds.  In addition to its
manufacturing operations, General is a major insurer in Commonwealth space. 
The company also has extensive holdings in the chemicals (primarily jump fuels)
and mineral processing industries.

ikrahanbe: Aeroi meditative state commonly used as a means of focusing
intellectual effort on a particular problem.  Often used during trade
negotiations, the technique involves the complete encirclement of the Aeroi by
its membranous wings in concert with a semi-conscious mental state.  The
process seldom lasts more than a few minutes.  After emerging from ikrahanbe,
Aeroi are usually able to present a proposal that is agreeable to all parties
concerned.  The technique is sometimes unsettling to non-Aeroi who confuse it
with some sort of psionic talent.  The Aeroi claim the process is strictly
internal to the practitioner and several independent examinations have failed
to detect any evidence of psionic activity.

*****

Happy Travelling,

David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA

------------------------------

Bundle: 619
Archive-Message-Number: 7776
From: bucsek@oo.com (John Bucsek)
Subject: Reformation Coalition Equipment Guide
Date: Wed, 25 May 94 23:59:35 EST

Yes, the 3rd Reformation Coalition Manual is out!  The Reformation Coalition
Equipment Guide is now available for $20.00.  Is it worth it?  Yes, if you're
a user of FF&S.  The RCEG has a lot of good designs for all players and NPC's.
It covers equipment used by the RC, the Guild, and planets in the wilds.
 
Basically it is broken down into four types of equipment.  Equipment
(resporators, armor, drop capsules, etc), Weapons, Vehicles, and Spacecraft.
The equipment is further categorized by availability (RC, Relic, Guild, Wilds,
Hivers). 
 
Finally, there is a four page FF&S rules expansion in the back.  Modules and
Pods are added to spacecraft design.  Floatation screens to ground vehicle
design, Grav belts to lift vehicle design.  For Aircraft design, further notes
for compound helicopters are added as are aircraft modifications for other
planetary environments. (How to compromise your design so that it works in
Thin atmospheres as well as your native standard atmosphere).  
 
For small arms, Dual-feed receivers, Modular small arms, and overpowered
cartridges are dealt with.  For high-energy weapons, Rapid-fire High-energy
weapons are added, Plasma and fusion bazookas are added, and the question of
concussion and burst of high-energy weapons is answered.  In Munitions,
guidance and missile design is added.  Shotgun and Flechette rounds for
Grenade Launchers are added.  A New Rule is added for projectile weapons with
a penetration of Nil.  And in Misc. some details of Workstations and Labs, and
Hatches and Rates or Troop Egress are dealt with.

Whew!... A lot a rule for just four pages but if any of those area are things
that you are designing with FF&S then you will want RCEG.

All in all it is a good source of equipment for the busy GM.  There are even a
few adventure ideas for dealing with relic equipment buried in the
descriptions.

Other Impressions.  Lots of decent artwork.  Most equipment has a picture to
go with it.  Eight full color plates of the equipment in use.  

What I miss.  DECKPLANS!  One thing I loved about CT was the detail level of
standard starships.  That seemed to be farmed out with MT and is nonexistant
with TNE.  Maybe they will finally appear in the Personalities of the
Reformation Coalition supplement, but I won't hold my breath.
 
John Bucsek
bucsek@oo.com


------------------------------

Bundle: 619
Archive-Message-Number: 7777
Date: Thu, 26 May 1994 00:22:18 -0700
From: "Glenn M. Goffin" <sudet@well.sf.ca.us>
Subject: Polisotechnic League/Nicholas van Rijn

Mitchell Schwartz recently indicated that the Polisotechnic League and
Nichholas van Rijn stories were written by Piers Anthony.  In fact, Poul
Anderson wrote them.  Anderson's work obviously inspired the creators of
Traveller (see especially the books about Dominic Flandry--Ensign Flandry,
Captain Flandry, etc.).  I think we as referees can be inspired by his
writing today, no matter background we're using.

------------------------------

Bundle: 619
Archive-Message-Number: 7778
Date: Thu, 26 May 94 04:09:27 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: re: ... ship types or classes ...
From: Edward_Swatschek@mindlink.bc.ca (Edward Swatschek)

David Johnson wrote:

> Finally, I've got a question for all you *TCS* cult members.  Is there
> any clear way to identify ship types or classes based upon tonnages?  In
> other words, is there some breakdown like:
>
> Battles          100,000+
> Cruisers         40,000 - 100,000
> Destroyers       5000 - 40,000
> Etc.?
> (Please don't take issue with my numbers.  I don't have a clue what the
> actual values out to be.)
>
> What about types/classes themselves?  Is there some finer breakdown than
> battles, cruisers, carriers, escorts, etc.?  Is there a way to tell a
> frigate from a destroyer, etc. (besides what the designer choose to call
> it)?


   I based my fighting-ship classifications on the spinal mount.
Battleships would have the largest SMs for their TL, cruisers the smallest,
and escorts/destroyers would only have bay and turret weapons.  Ships from
lower TLs tended to be larger than equivalent higher TL classes - my
philosophy was to wrap the smallest hull around the SM I could.  Finer
gradations were based on secondary weapons or performance (lots of
missiles, high accelleration, heavy armour, etc.).  Then there are
fighters, but I never could see a lot of use for them in space combat.

This all applies to MT; I haven't designed enough ships to get a feel for
TNE ships.


- --
               Edjs                    _
              ------                _ //  CI$  : 76427,662
   Edward_Swatschek@mindlink.bc.ca  \X/   GEnie: E.SWATSCHEK


------------------------------

Bundle: 619
Archive-Message-Number: 7779
From: Rob Dean <robdean@access.digex.net>
Subject: TCS vs. FFW
Date: Thu, 26 May 1994 08:12:58 -0400 (ADT)

David Johnson and Cynthia Higginbotham are engaging in a rather acrimonious
dispute over which version of Traveller reality we should use to visualize
fleet conditions in the Imperium.

I haven't got time for a detailed answer, but you have to start on the
basis of accepting that there is no way that 5FW can be reconciled with
TCS.  Once you get past that, the reason for not accepting 5FW as the
model is this:  The ship levels in 5FW are way too low for any reasonable
bottom up estimate based on population or economic activity.  

Take Glisten as an example: Glisten is inhabited (according to the Imperial
Encyclopedia data) by about 8 billion people.  If they were responsbile for
the maintenance of the entire "average subsector" fleet, neglecting any
contributions by the other worlds in the subsector, 42 ships with an
average crew of 1000 (probably a bit high remembering the mix of ships from
Supplement 9) would represent .0005% of the population.  Even with a
thousand support personnel for each crew member (I hope you will agree that
is an unthinkable level of bureaucracy!), that would still be less than
half a percent of the population.  If those 42 ships had an average displacment
of 50,000 tons, typical High Guard designs would give them a cost of about
50,000 MCr, which means that each of the 8 billion people would have con-
tributed about Cr260 to build them--over a ten year period (or more).  This
would work out to be an annual tax burden of 26/12000 for the average starship
steward, 2/10 of one percent, and less than that for a more highly skilled 
worker.  Retirees could easily pay it out of their pensions. (-:  If the
Imperium was seriously interested in defending itself, it would spend more
money.  Likewise, serious attackers could easily spend more than a fraction
of a percent of the annual wages of their populations, so the 5FW numbers
are not reasonable.

I agree with Steve Higginbotham, who said that 5FW was best viewed as a
"simplified" representation of the "real" world, since no one would want to
push 10,000 counters around.

Rob Dean
(stirring in his long hibernation)
 

------------------------------

Bundle: 620
Archive-Message-Number: 7780
Date: Wed, 25 May 1994 19:13:25 -0600
From: RJR96326@vax1.utulsa.edu (J Roberson)
Subject: Gun From Hell

>This weapon is the Magnum Bolt Rifle.  It is compact,  at 60cm and
>beefy at about 6.8 kg loaded. A fat weapon.

A heavy weapon. I say if you're going to do it, go all the way and make it
a squad support weapon, with a belt feed and longer barrel.

>At 60cm its short enough to be a sort of heavy blaster.  It fires a round that
>>has as its base a 20mm x 32mm Straight ETC cartridge.

20mm???? This is not a personal weapon! If anything, it would take the
modern grenade launcher's role.

Calling it a "heavy blaster" IMHO conjures up Han Solo dashing thorugh
Imperial corridors with a large energy handgun. THis thing is what squad
leaders use to bust a fortified position before rushing forward.

>The rules bending is this.  One of the available ammo aside from Heap and
>DS is a Plasma Pulse Cartridge that sits on the end of the ETC
>cartridge.  It is ballistic tipped.  The ETC cartridge initiates the
>"reaction" in the PPC.  A micro piezo electric fuze in the ballistic cap
>discharges the plasma stream upon impact.

Sounds to me like a very unstable weapon, especially if it jams (I don't
have FF&S but the reality checking says: it may jam and blow up in your
face when the plasma just *has* to go).

>Don't ask me how it works.

Too bad. I'm asking. The gun initiates the reaction. The fuse releases it.
What if the round cooks off prematurely? Where does the energy go? What if
nearby electromagnetic interference sets it off?

>It is in effect a ballistically
>delivered plasma pulse.

The round would have to include a little magnetic force-tunnel thingy to
project the plasma forward properly. Otherwise it would go splat and
vaporize everything around it, rather than focusing on the target.

>You get the range of a slug weapon
>with the Pen of a Plasma weapon.

This may be the range of a sidearm but this thing is more than a sidearm,
and doesn't come close to the range of a proper battlefield rifle.

>a rifle firing 20mm x 32 mm Heap ammo can do.

That is not a rifle. That is a Very Heavy Machinefun or a Light Autocannon.

>Battle Dress trooper at TL 10 coming down and seeing these guys in
>T-Shirts with some short compact weapon and while theyre laughing hearing a

Unless of course he fires a weapon with greater accuracy at range and kills
the fools who wear no armor. If he's really paranoid, he calls in an
orbital mesopn strike. Have a nice day. ;)

Creativity over Originality.
Consistency is a Flaw.
J Roberson      RJR96326@vax1.utulsa.edu        Priss@io.com





------------------------------

Bundle: 620
Archive-Message-Number: 7781
Date: Wed, 25 May 1994 19:13:32 -0600
From: RJR96326@vax1.utulsa.edu (J Roberson)
Subject: Military Musings

>The next time you think 20th Century experience is relevant
>for Traveller planetary combat ask yourself how well a Prussian cavalry
>officer might envision a carrier battle group hunting for attack
>submarines.

Or more appropriately, consider what a member of a Mesoptomanian militiaman
would make of the over-the-horizon high-speed death that characterizes so
much of warfare today. I refer you to GDW's Harpoon game and the satellite
scene from *Patriot Games*.

While I agree that there will be a consolidation of forces, there will
always be those vehicles that, when restricted to a single environment,
will still have a substantial edge over those that are not.  Take a grav
tank, for example. Yes, it can fly, but if the design only accounts for
low-level flight and not intercontinental transit, think of how much more
armor and payload it can carry without the extra thruster plates, fuel, or
whatever. Ther will always be room for specialization.

Creativity over Originality.
Consistency is a Flaw.
J Roberson      RJR96326@vax1.utulsa.edu        Priss@io.com





------------------------------

Bundle: 620
Archive-Message-Number: 7782
From: rancke@diku.dk
Subject: TCS vs. 5FW
Date: Thu, 26 May 1994 15:57:55 +0100 (METDST)

David Johnson writes:
>*I'm* certainly the last person to argue over rules (I generally throw
>them *all* out) but I don't think it's this cut and dried.  The `1000
>ships per sector' and `50-200 ships per numbered [subsector] fleet'
>figures are from the *Rebellion Sourcebook*, a MegaTraveller reference.
>It was these numbers that I used to estimate the Sword Worlds naval
>forces at 42 ships.
> 
>The distinction seems to be more of `strategic' focus (fleet compostion
>and such per *5FW* and *RS*) versus `tactical' focus (ship tonnages and
>the like per *HG*, *TCS* and *TNE*).  I believe this is where the
>actual inconsistencies are.
 
And:
>This is fine with me.  So what do we do now?  What is the rationale for
>accepting the *TCS* or other `tactical' part of the canon *over* the *RS* 
>or other `strategic' part of the canon?

Analyse the economic strength of the 30 billion people in the Sword Worlds. 
Assign what you think is a reasonable sum of money per citizen for them to 
spend on their yearly naval budget (assume 1 credit hasthe buying power of
a US $). Now see how many naval vessels you can buy for that. Decide what
part of the initial purchase price it will cost to operate a ship. 1/20th?
1/10th? 1/5th? Whatever you decide, multiply the number of ships in the
fleet by the inverse number. Now match the figure you arrive at against 
the figure TCS gives you and against the 42 battleships _RS_ gives you.
Which is closest? By how many orders of magnitude?

>Steve ??? <JSHiggin@aol.com> writes:

Welcome back, Steve. You've been missed.
  
>>      More thinly populated???  The SW have around 30 gigapeople in them,
>>all reasonably high tech. Regina subsector can only claim about 7
>>gigapeople, Rhylanor about 25, Vilis less than 10...

Just a side note: I checked the numbers for Regina just today and they work 
out at roughly 77 billion.

>>      Plus, of course, the 50-200 ships per subsector is ridiculously low
>>BY TCS STANDARDS.
> 
>We've already established this.  Again, what is the rationale for
>accepting `tactical' figures from places like *TCS* over `strategic'
>figures from *RS* and the like?

They fit better.

>What I'm asking is why you choose to accept *TCS* data over *RS* data?

They make more sense.

>You're "mixing apples and orange".  Why would I choose to have a *TCS*-
>generated aggressor fight a *5FW*-generated defender?

If you accept the rationale that _5FW_ is a board game with other priorities
than _TCS_ then you certainly needen't. If you try to fit them all into a
coherent whole you need to address these discrepancies. GDW claims that 
BOTH_TCS_ and _5FW_ are based on the same reality. A few simple calculations 
show that that can't be true. Now what?

>What do we have here?  The Cult of the Trillion Credit Squadron?  :-)
>I'm not trying to argue what *TCS* says.  What I want to know is *why* I
>should ignore *5FW* and *RS* in favor of *HG* and *TCS*?

They seem more likely.

>>      Faced with defeat by Ihatei?!?   What a concept!!!  I suppose
>>Regina's ten 400T SDBs might be faced with defeat by Ihatei, if the
>>Ihatei could get in that far, but I find it hard to believe that any
>>_important_ Impy force could be defeated by the Ihatei...
> 
>More Cult dogma?  The *Rebellion Sourcebook* clearly indicates that most
>of Glisten subsector as well as portions of District 268 and Trin's Veil
>subsector fell at one point to the *ihatei*.  

And you just the other day agreed with me that the only faintly reasonable
explanation for this is that the Imperials blundered massively and didn't
fight the ihatei with anything approaching an important Impy force. (And
even then I just can't accept the defeat of Tobia). 

>Once again we see that the
>`strategic' viewpoint conflicts with a `tactical' one.  How do we choose,
>rationally, between the two?  Can we reconcile them at all?

Both tactically and strategically the ihatei are in deep shit if they poke
their furry muzzles across the 4-5 parsec gap that seperates the spinward 
3/4th of Trojan Reaches from the coreward 1/4th.


      Hans Rancke
University of Copenhagen
     rancke@diku.dk
- ------------
        "A  subsector  official  pompously states that the
        subsector  armed  forces  have  four Kinunir class
        ships in service,  each with enough troop strength
        to put down any military operations that threathen
        the peace of the Imperium."

                        ---Adventure 1, The Kinunir


------------------------------

Bundle: 620
Archive-Message-Number: 7783
Date: Thu, 26 May 94 09:11:25 CDT
From: Peter H. Brenton <pete@biochem.uchicago.edu>
Subject: TNE:Blaster Rifle from Tariq......

I like it.

I think you need to consider some more design issues, and some game balance
issues.

First, the PPC cartridge is going to be smaller than a conventional ETC round
from the same barrel.  This is because you will need a "container" to
direct the force of the plasma bolt that is bigger or thicker than a 
corresponding HEAP cartridge casing.  I still think it would be a nasty weapon
but this will help bring it down a notch.

Which leads handily to my next issue.  Cardinal rule: anything the NPCs get
the PC will get eventually.  Give *them* a compact weapon capable of defeating
battle dress (and light vehicle armor???) and your in trouble.  Make sure that 
there are some limiting factors; I would make the range very short ("due to
the extreme weight of the round"), the cost per round very high, and/or the
recoil very high.  A fully automatic version would be right out.

Ok so much for the voice of reason.  Now think about this; why have the bolt 
go off on impact?  seems to me you could do some serious area damage with the 
addition of a simple proximity fuse, or a timer fuse which causes the round to
go off at a set distance from the barrel.  It would act a bit like a plasma
shotgun; the round leaves the barrel at 400 m/s, at 20m it goes off-creating an
effect like there was a plasma-gunner standing there.  I would go for a more 
diffuse bolt which attacked a cone, use the rules for flechettes but with 
the "fragments" being hot plasma.  I wouldn't dare to guess a damage after
sermonizing above.

Pete

------------------------------

Bundle: 620
Archive-Message-Number: 7784
Date: Thu, 26 May 94 11:23:25 ADT
From: "Les Howie"  <lhowie@192.219.29.90>
Reply-To: "Les Howie"  <lhowie@Prograph.Com>
Subject: Ship Designations

djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson) wrote:

>Finally, I've got a question for all you *TCS* cult members.  Is there any
>clear way to identify ship types or classes based upon tonnages?  In other
>words, is there some breakdown like:
>
>Battles          100,000+
>Cruisers         40,000 - 100,000
>Destroyers       5000 - 40,000
>Etc.?
>(Please don't take issue with my numbers.  I don't have a clue what the
>actual values out to be.)
>
>What about types/classes themselves?  Is there some finer breakdown than
>battles, cruisers, carriers, escorts, etc.?  Is there a way to tell a
>frigate from a destroyer, etc. (besides what the designer choose to call it)?

I am hardly a TLC cultist, but I do have an answer for that one: NO.

The current nomenclature game into being between the introduction of steam and
the turn of the century, and it was intended as a set of functional designations

Battleships were the "ships of force" able to stand up to other battleships.

Cruisers were light ships with long legs, able to serve as the "eyes" of a 
battle force, or take on extended patrolling for commerce raiding/protection
or force projection.

Destroyers were designed to destroy enemy torpedo boats -- that is, provide 
a defensive screen for the battle fleet.

There were a selection of minor types, but that was the core, and with the 
exception of a few new types (the Fleet and Escourt Carriers) it held through
WWII.  After that, everything went to hell in a handbasket.

Ship designations since the start of the cold war have had a lot to do with
the politics of defence appropriations and nothing to do with function (which
is why Destroyers now do extended patrols, Agis cruisers provide zone defence,
and Janes lists submarines first among a nation's naval assets.)

In Traveller, it is even madder - witness the Patrol, Mercenary, and Kinunir
"Cruisers" in the same universe with the "Azanti High Lightning".  In my HG
designs I always tried for the WWI functional designations -- but when I 
start FF&S design, I plan to stuff the whole mess for a new set of functional
designations that have some relation to real tactical employment.


Les Howie
Prograph International


------------------------------

Bundle: 619
Archive-Message-Number: 7773
Date: Wed, 25 May 94 21:21:11 CDT
From: djohnson@geds01.jsc.nasa.gov (David Johnson)
Subject: Alt: Earth Colonies NPC

Gentlesophonts:

The following NPC sketch first appeared in *Melbourne Times* #2.  Adelaide
Olowua ought to be adaptable to any campaign with minimal effort.

Personafile: Adelaide Olowua

Adelaide Olowua is a Human female of medium height.  Her features reflect a
strong African-branch influence and are considered attractive by most Humans. 
She keeps her black hair close-cropped.  Her athletic build is somewhat unusual
for one approaching late middle-age but not surprisingly so.

Adelaide usually dresses in close-fitting clothes - she claims they are merely
functional but is acutely aware of their ability to highlight her figure.

Of average strength and endurance, Adelaide is surprisingly agile.  She is
bright and has a great deal of experience from which to draw.  Her position as
a retired merchant captain has offset the negative social affect of being a
free trader.

Adelaide's interests tend to be simple: good food, good drink, good company. 
She enjoys a good story and appreciates good piloting.  She has little
tolerance for authority.  She enjoys playing grav-ball and the rhythm lute. 
She is quiet, but sociable.

Adelaide's allegiance lies with a small group of people: her ship mates, her
family and a few close friends.  She is generally devoted to these people and
will make major efforts to support them.  She withstands trauma well and is
very cool under fire.  She is a respected leader and can lead large groups with
success although she has not yet taken advantage of this ability.  Her own
respect for authority is minimal - a reaction to the restrictive conditions on
her native Nyanza.  Likewise, Adelaide is very tolerant of other viewpoints and
lifestyles.

Born June 21st, 2948, at New Lagos on Nyanza, Adelaide's travel documents still
show Nyanza as her home.  She has not had a permanent home for many years but
uses her mother's address.

Adelaide's father died shortly after she was born.  Her mother, Lily Olowua,
remarried when Adelaide was in her teens.  She has a younger half-brother.  She
herself has been involved with several men but has never been married and has
no children.

Adelaide's friends tend to be ship mates.  Her ship's navigator, the Dolphin
Bolivar Sprayswallower, is a veteran of the Nyanzan Navy, and has served with
her for five years.  Duncan Ishige, her ship's steward, is the son of a friend
from her days at the Academy.  The robot Archimedia, the ship's engineer, was
purchased by Adelaide over four years ago but has since been emancipated. 

Adelaide first met her closest friend, Refuin iks-Louan, over twenty years ago.
She has always had the utmost respect for the Aeroi's mercantile skills and
asked him to join her crew when she became a free trader.

Adelaide has made more than a few enemies, especially among customs officials
in the Ouroran Community.  She has always somehow managed to stay above the
letter of the law, if not the spirit, and thus has avoided any serious trouble
so far.

Service History: Adelaide attended the Victoria Lines Merchant Academy on
Nyanza, receiving her Merchant's Certificate with Honors in 2970.  In addition
to extensive flight training she studied Victoria Lines' administrative
procedures.  Upon graduation she chose service in the Deck Department and was
commissioned as a Fourth Officer.

During her first term Adelaide spent much time dirtside, including a stint at
Victoria Lines Deck Department School.  In addition to the computer and gunnery
skills she learned at the School she did a lot of brawling and carousing in
startown establishments.

Adelaide successfully completed the promotion exam to Third Officer in her
second term.  Many of her assignments were route service in frontier regions
where she spent much of her time performing EVA during orbital operations.

Adelaide's third term was spent at a variety of dirtside posts.  She spent some
time as a vehicle driver and was involved in more than a few fire fights with
smugglers.  She also managed to complete the promotion exam to Second Officer.

Adelaide completed the promotion exam to First Officer early in her fourth term
and was subsequently assigned to Command School.  She was taught standard
merchant legal practices and had an opportunity to learn Victoria Lines ship
tactics.  In her off-hours, she continued to spend her time in the less
reputable areas of startown.  After Command School she was assigned as a pilot.

Command School had been a good move - Adelaide made Captain in her fifth term. 
Now the one responsible for the trade mission, she proved to be a capable
leader.  She also learned some of the more 'underhanded' aspects of merchant
operations.

Adelaide continued to prosper in her sixth term and grew comfortable with the
unpredictable nature of merchant operations.  She also became familiar with the
economic aspects of the business.

Ultimately, Adelaide began to chafe under the strictures of the Lines and
decided to muster out in 2994.  In addition to financial and material benefits
she received possession of her Far Trader Rampart Parabola.  She began the life
of a free trader.

Recent Activities: Adelaide has been plying the space lanes as a free trader
for over six years.  She has managed to maintain a fair profit margin but not
without resorting to more than a few illegal activities.  While she does not
consider herself to be smuggler - she calls it profiteering - many customs
officials would disagree.

As Nyanzan free traders go, Adelaide is something of a shining star.  She has
never resorted to outright piracy and would not do so given the opportunity. 
She considers avoiding duties and regulations to be a matter of course.  Taking
from others is another matter entirely.

The Rampart Parabola has encountered more than a few pirates itself over the
last few years.  Adelaide has been ruthless in these encounters and has so far
avoided any major losses.  In fact, she and her crew have developed something
of a reputation among the pirates of Nyanzan space.

Adelaide is well known for her honest dealings (with brokers and traders) and
is often highly sought after by those who have a cargo that they want shipped
while avoiding any 'official' entanglements.

*****

Happy Travelling,

David Johnson
Houston, Texas, USA

------------------------------

Bundle: 619
Archive-Message-Number: 7775
Date: Wed, 25 May 94 22:41:14 EDT
From: wesley@hd62.haledorr.com (Wesley Esser)






         Hi guys - 
              All this talk about naval forces etc set me thinking, so I
         decided to do an analysis of the class A starports in the Domain
         ca 1120.  The original list had some 95 starports, which I broke
         down by tech level.  This gave me the following info:

         TL     No of Stpts    Total Cap    %Cap
         G         1           12.0 MTons    %8
         F         9           47.5         %31
         E        11            3.5          %3
         D        10           26.5         %17
         C        14           31.0         %20 
         B        22           25.0         %16
         A        12            8.0          %5
         9        11             .004        <%.01
         8         4             .3          <%.5

         Total Cap=Total Shipbuilding capacity in millions of displacement
         tonnes, per the TCS guidelines (peacetime)

         %Cap=Percentage of total capacity for this category (may not =100
         due to rounding)


         In other words, the majority of the class A starports are TL12 or
         less (%64), but the bulk of the shipbuilding capacity is at TL13
         or greater (%59).  In fact, over 1/3 of the shipbuilding capacity
         of the Domain is TL15 or above!  I don't know about anyone else,
         but this suprised me - it hardly jiibes with the "rude frontier"
         image that people sometimes have about the Domain.  It does
         however explain how the Domain could survive at a high tech level:
         it actually has a strong, high tech industrial base.

         I did some more analysis of these worlds, sorting out those worlds
         that have significant shipbuilding capacity (1 million tons +) to
         get the following list:

         World            Capacity      %Total  Min   Maj

         Vicennes         12             8      3k    60
         Magash            8             5      2k    40
         Glisten           8.8           6      2.2k  44
         Rhylanor          7.2           5      1.8k  36
         Mora             12             8      3k    60
         Trin             11.5           8      2.8k  58
         Pallique          3             2       .75k 15
         Efate             7.2           5      1.8k  36
         Lunion            8.8           6      2.2k  44
         Strouden          9.9           7      2.5k  50
         Jewell            6.9           5      1.7k  35
         Fornice          22            15      5.5k 110
         Perrior           3             2       .75k 15
         Porozlo          20            14      5.0k 100
         Marz              1.1           1       .3k   6
         Vilis             6.8           5      1.7k  34

         Capacity=Total Shipbuilding capacity in millions of displacement
         tonnes, per the TCS guidelines (peacetime)
         %Total=Percentage of total capacity for this category (may not
         =100 due to rounding)
         Min=Minor Combatants (ca 1000tons)
         Maj=Major Combatants (ca 50000tons)


         These figures are taken from the TCS budget info posted by Ken
         Hagler, with the total atarport capacity figured as follows %25
         devoted to minor combatants (avg 1000 T), 25% major combatants
         (avg 50000 T), and %50 allocated to civil ship construction.

         This gives an annual construction rate of almost 750 major ships/
         year, with nearly 60 million tons at TL15+.  This translates into
         300 major combatants *PER YEAR*..

         What this seems to imply is that the MT figure of 1000 ships per
         sector is a limit imposed by Imperial Policy, not by the
         limitations on planetary economies.   The actual number of ships
         would be determined by a number of factors:  

         1.   Basic nature of the interstellar government (i.e.,
         militaristic alla The Sword Worlds, or pacfistic, or somewhere in
         between).
         2.   The budget of the interstellar government for maintenance.
         As a quick rule of thumb, I would allow 1/2 of the TCS budget for
         the planet to be used for maintenance, the rest going to upgrading
         and new ships.
         3.   The current political situation - a government at war, or on
         the brink of war, would allocate more resources to weapon
         building.
         4.   Other more pressing uses for shipbuilding capacity,
         (exploration services such as the Zho Core expeditions, patrol
         services such as the Quarentine, orcommercial use)
         5.   The useful life of a starship - the longer they last the
         easier it is to maintain a larger fleet.

              I think this may shed some light on the continuing discussion
         about the Sword Worlds.  The Sword Worlds will have to spend a
         fairly large portion of their planetary budgets on the maintenance
         of their fleets, and will thus be operating on a sort of "cold
         war" budget (sound familiar?).  This might be the mechanism behind
         the proposed "boom-bust" cycles.  The converse would be true for
         the Imperium (and Domain).  A much smaller portion of the whole
         economy would be devoted to military ends, and a larger portion
         would be available for development purposes, both public and
         private.  This would keep the econonmic development on a more even
         keel, and could be the reason that the "boom-bust" is not seen in
         the Imperium.  With it's isolation and the burden of maintaining
         the Quarentine, the Regency might start to experiance the same
         kind of effect.  Perhaps this is the "overheating" mentioned in
         TNE.

         As for using the PoT formulae (which I like conceptually), the
         figures that were posted last week were wrong...the thing that was
         missed was the population multiplier.  On a Pop 8 world, the
         multiplier is .2, at Pop 9 it is .03, and at Pop A it is .004!  In
         other words, a world whose population is an order of magnitude
         higher than another will not necessarily have a corrispondingly
         large space force.  In practice, this gives worlds like Efate,
         with a Pop of 9, a fleet of major combattants in the teens (I
         don't have the figures in front of me now, sorry)
         I think the PoT figures work great for the Wilds, where there
         shouldn't be too many worlds with huge relic fleets (otherwise
         what makes the RC any better?)  I bet you could modify the
         formulae pretty easily, but I prefer to leave the ref room to make
         some decisions about absolute fleet sizes, while having guidlines
         of the maximum possible numbers of ship.

         Ok...so there's my two centicredits worth...


        Wes Esser
        wesley@hd62.haledorr.com


------------------------------

End of TML Biweekly
******************
