l0rDn0o8sKiLlZ
02/05/20 05:25 AM
73.216.131.208
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Ship Overview
--- With a safe thrust of 2.00 Gs and a maximum thrust of 3.00 Gs, the Mercenary Class DropShip is relatively quick for it's size and disposition. Adequately armored with 49 tons worth of Standard Grade Armor, her weapons complement will make ASF and DropShip alike think twice about engaging in a firefight. 600 Tons of fuel afford the ship good range, which is further augmented by 300 tons of Food and Water and 240 Tons of dedicated stowage for spare parts.
--- This design was built with Mercenaries in mind, but also as an independent ship for the SLDF and Great Houses alike. While Mercenaries might not have need of all of this DropShip's many functions, chances are it will have anything they might need plus room to grow. Plus, it's not much more expensive than a Union or Leopard Class, while being significantly more versatile. Few Mercenary Units would ever outgrow a Mercenary Class DropShip's capabilities.
--- To pre-empt some of the more conspicuous things here; yes, most Mercs would not have Marines nor Marine Battle Armor as I understand it, but the selling point is that if they need an extra squad of whatever, or get their hands on some Battle Armor via salvage or whatever, they have somewhere to put it(them). The Crew Accommodations are pretty generous, and the Steerage Passengers give them somewhere to put VIPs etc, or just ferry folks for cash if they happen to be going the same way.
--- This design was built with Mercenaries in mind, but Mercs aren't exactly a huge market for DropShips, so keep in mind that my design specs also included needs that the SLDF or Great Houses would find appealing as well. A Mess Hall, Lounge, and Rec Room are certainly luxuries, but for some clients that might be seen as a bonus. The ASF as I understand it is pretty rare for Mercs, but the option to have it is nice and a Sparrowhawk or two make good scouts while not costing much more than a Locust. Many Mercenary Units might not be able to field 'Mechs, but if they can afford a DropShip odds are good that they have one or two.
--- Having vehicle bays for both a pair of Heavy Vehicles (which I understand can get somewhat pricey) and a quartet of Light Vehicles (which I understand are somewhat more economical) allow the Mercs or other Units (House / SLDF) to field less valuable units than 'Mechs if they wish to so as to conserve assets. For House Units / SLDF in particular, having more ready access ASF or Small Craft bombers means that the vehicle bays can then be used for recon / support units.
--- Since most Mercenary Units are typically small Infantry Units, the six platoon capacity means that you can retain an Infantry presence up to a full Company. Likewise if you encounter a small-time unit, you could potentially hire them on to your unit. I'd assume any unit operating their own DropShip would have the bank needed to field something better than infantry, but the PBI are still pretty useful and quite easy to procure. Likewise, the Marine quarters can be used for personal security forces so that if your DropShip is landed and has most of it's units deployed, you have someone guarding the thing should they somehow get past the guns.
Ship Layout
--- The layout of this vessel is as such, starting from the bottom. There are four exhaust ports to the engines, set up in a squared arrangement. The ship has a good amount of clearance between the bottom of it and the engines, where the landing struts are. This is because the 'Mech Bays, which are more amidships have three doors for orbital drops on the "bottom" of the ship, with elevators for deployment when landed. The fourth door is also quite low, and allows all three 'Mechs to be secured to a lift, lowered down into the space just behind the door, and then can just walk out when the DropShip has made planetfall.
--- At the lower decks are the Light Vehicle Bays with the Infantry Bays stacked on top of them. Both have a pair of doors on opposing sides of the vessel. The Heavy Vehicle Bays are on one side of the Light Vehicle Bays, while the 'Mech Bays fourth door is on the other side. Above this is a dedicated Mess Hall / Lounge /Recreational Area with a dedicated 38 Ton Cargo Bay. The Cargo Bay here has internal personnel access points and a cargo lift which runs from the upper cargo bay all the way through the 'Mech Bays and down to the Vehicle Bays, by which all of them along with the Infantry Bays can access the ship when not in use for cargo moving.
--- Above this is where the ASF bays are, along with the hangar for the Small Craft. The bridge and various command and control centers are here as well, along with the primary Cargo Bay sporting a respectable 2,000 Tons worth of capacity. The Mercenary Class DropShip has three launch doors for it's ASF / Small Craft compliment. The various living spaces and passenger spaces are distributed throughout the rest of the ship.
Code:
AeroTech 2 Vessel Technical Readout
VALIDATED
Class/Model/Name: Mercenary Class
Tech: Inner Sphere / 2750
Vessel Type: Spheroid DropShip
Rules: Level 1, Standard design
Rules Set: AeroTech2
Mass: 8,000 tons
Length: 103 meters
Power Plant: Standard
Safe Thrust: 4
Maximum Thrust: 6
Armor Type: Standard
Armament:
3 PPC
3 LRM 20
12 Large Laser
8 Medium Laser
8 LRM 5
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class/Model/Name: Mercenary Class
Mass: 8,000 tons
Equipment: Mass
Power Plant, Drive & Control: 2,080.00
Thrust: Safe Thrust: 4
Maximum Thrust: 6
Structural Integrity: 14 224.00
Total Heat Sinks: 184 Single 66.00
Fuel & Fuel Pumps: 612.00
Bridge, Controls, Radar, Computer & Attitude Thrusters: 60.00
Fire Control Computers: 3.00
Food & Water: (213 days supply) 300.00
Armor Type: Standard (840 total armor pts) 49.00
Standard Scale Armor Pts
Location: L / R
Fore: 210
Left/Right Sides: 210/210
Aft: 210
Cargo:
Bay 1: Fighters (2) with 2 doors 300.00
Small Craft (3) with 1 door 600.00
Cargo (1) with 4 doors 2,000.00
Bay 2: BattleMechs (3) with 4 doors 450.00
Mess Hall / Lounge / Recreation Area (1) 71.00
Cargo (1) 38.00
Bay 3: Infantry (foot) Platoons (6) with 2 doors 30.00
Heavy Vehicles (51-100T) (2) with 1 door 200.00
Light Vehicles (to 50T) (4) with 2 doors 200.00
Crew and Passengers:
4 Officers (3 minimum) 40.00
9 Crew (2 minimum) 63.00
9 Gunners (6 minimum) 63.00
15 Steerage Passengers 75.00
12 Marines 60.00
4 Marine Battle Armor Troopers/Elementals 28.00
229 Bay Personnel .00
Weapons and Equipment Loc SRV MRV LRV ERV Heat Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 PPC Nose 3(30) 3(30) -- -- 30 21.00
3 LRM 20(54 rounds) Nose 4(36) 4(36) 4(36) -- 18 39.00
1 Large Laser FL/R 1(8) 1(8) -- -- 16 10.00
1 Large Laser FL/R 1(8) 1(8) -- -- 16 10.00
2 Large Laser AL/R 2(16) 2(16) -- -- 32 20.00
2 Large Laser AL/R 2(16) 2(16) -- -- 32 20.00
2 Medium Laser Aft 1(10) -- -- -- 6 2.00
2 Medium Laser Aft 1(10) -- -- -- 6 2.00
2 Medium Laser Aft 1(10) -- -- -- 6 2.00
2 Medium Laser Aft 1(10) -- -- -- 6 2.00
2 LRM 5(24 rounds) Aft 1(6) 1(6) 1(6) -- 4 5.00
2 LRM 5(24 rounds) Aft 1(6) 1(6) 1(6) -- 4 5.00
2 LRM 5(24 rounds) Aft 1(6) 1(6) 1(6) -- 4 5.00
2 LRM 5(24 rounds) Aft 1(6) 1(6) 1(6) -- 4 5.00
1 Lot Spare Parts (3.00%) 240.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS: Heat: 184 8,000.00
Tons Left: .00
Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 296,867,200 C-Bills
Battle Value: 5,368
Cost per BV: 55,303.13
Weapon Value: 7,702 (Ratio = 1.43)
Damage Factors: SRV = 207; MRV = 134; LRV = 17; ERV = 0
Maintenance: Maintenance Point Value (MPV) = 63,632
(24,819 Structure, 34,900 Life Support, 3,913 Weapons)
Support Points (SP) = 25,884 (41% of MPV)
BattleForce2: MP: 4, Armor/Structure: 14 / 14
Damage PB/M/L: 5/5/-, Overheat: 0
Class: DL; Point Value: 54
Specials: sph
"Woad Raider, kill things today."
Edited by l0rDn0o8sKiLlZ (02/05/20 05:29 AM)
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Karagin
02/05/20 10:06 AM
70.118.172.64
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Been playing a bit of Traveller, have you?
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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l0rDn0o8sKiLlZ
02/05/20 07:32 PM
73.216.131.208
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Lol, I don't even know what Traveller is. 
"Woad Raider, kill things today."
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Karagin
02/05/20 09:53 PM
70.118.172.64
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Quote:
Lol, I don't even know what Traveller is.
Traveler RPG? The granddaddy of all scifi roleplaying games? Where you can die while trying to create a character? My friend, you are missing out on all the adventure and excitement!
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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ghostrider
02/05/20 10:58 PM
66.74.60.165
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This could well be a larger Intruder dropship, or maybe inspired by that design. The Intruder is a 3,000 ton ship, but has a similar feel to it. The mech bays are the main difference as well as weight.
Instead of LAMs being use in the fighter bays, this uses regular fighters.
But a few questions on the design.
Why not include the 'conversion' of powered armor if replacing the standard infantry. The fact that there was some sort of powered armor used by the SDLF, though not elemental armor, would not make it out of place in the 2750 time frame.
If they didn't have powered armor then the Grey Death armor based on powered armor of the time period is completely wrong.
Why have all the LRMs in the rear? I can see a few to discourage pursuit, but it would do well to be able to reach out to more distant targets while moving it towards the objective as well. Front arcs comes to mind, so it fires forward as well as to the sides.
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Karagin
02/05/20 11:17 PM
70.118.172.64
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LRMs in the rear could be a way of making sure the enemy knows you are still a threat on the way out...then again I have seen folks put PPCs facing the rear on mechs...
Karagin
Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything.
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l0rDn0o8sKiLlZ
02/05/20 11:44 PM
73.216.131.208
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--- There are only 8 LRM 5s, or roughly 40 Tubes facing Aft, while there are three LRM-20s in the forward arc. That's 60 tubes up front and 40 in the rear. Hardly all of them are in the back. Karagin has the right way of it, the LRMs are for pursuing targets that the Mercenary can't quite outrun, while the Medium Lasers dissuade the pursuer from getting closer while also deterring the few ASFs that might give chase.
--- Also, the vessel does not have a conversion for Powered Armor, rather the Crew Quarters provide enough space for four Marines that would have Powered Armor, hence one could theoretically carriage and deploy Powered Armor from there. The Mercenary is a product and was to be pitched to just about anyone who could conceivably be willing to pay for it. I hadn't even considered LAMs, but that would make it somewhat more appealing all things considered, since a typical lance is one light 'Mech, one medium 'Mech and two heavy 'Mechs.
--- With just three 'Mech bays and with LAMs falling under the tonnage range of a light or medium 'Mech that would mean the ASFs give you the option for an (albeit weirdly organized) AirLance. Since you could store either ASFs or LAMs in a Small Craft Bay (presumably). Let me know if I'm wrong about the Marine Battle Armor crew spaces, and I'll change it.
"Woad Raider, kill things today."
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