Johannes wrote: > An other point to consider with dropships is, that they propably are not > used exclusivly for delivering high end infantry to the battle.
Hello Johannes, dropping battlesuits into the fire of a planetary defense network will be the most difficult task, and the most important one. When modifications for the lesser roles increase casualties, can you afford that? > They might also be used to evacuate civilians from civil war areas (like > some western countries did with their citizens in some African civil > wars). This suggests, that they also should have a mode of operations, > that frail elderly people can survive, not only hardy troopers. An engine can always fire at less than full thrust. The dropship can accelerate at 10 G and compensate 2 G, so it could pull 3 G in comfort. My TL12 battlesuits are one ton each. Sixteen of them are roughly the same weight as 160 refugees, but weight won't be the limiting factor. The dropship has a spacedock for 1,200 cf of subcraft or 2,400 cf of cargo, cramped standing room for 120 people. There is double redundant life support for twenty, which gives triple redundancy with the life systems in the battlesuits or the cybersuits of the crew. Passengers without suits will be a problem. 40 people with no margin for error. If they are lucky, there is a grav bus with life support. Move it into the dock, then pack people into the cracks. > They might be used to deliver supplies to your side in a proxy war. That > sort of mission likely will require more stealth then brawn. Flying through the enemy sensors is more risky if they are going to shoot you. It gets easier if you can shoot back. That could even out. > Various sorts of mission could require aerial reconnaissance, > bomber or fighter support, command centers and similiar. Drop shuttles > that can double as something of that would have some apeal, though i don't > know how effective multipurpose shuttles would be. Recon requires the ability to sneak, always a good thing, and powerful sensors. My dropship is a bit short on the latter. By the rules, a space dock is not interchangeable with a weapon bay. > Depending on the last war the designers have fought, the dropships > might be built for one of the other missions, and invasions by battlesuit > troopers might be their secundary use. Names are a matter of convention, but in this context dropship implies the ability to drop troops from space and a limited fire support capability. Space combat or C3 is a different job. Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
