Introduction
============
The Knighthawks Rulebook laid out the basics of a MHS design system (primarily
for adding weapons and defensive systems), but omitted coherent MHS guidelines
for carrying fighters, small ships and civilian equipment. The original
Knighthawks rules also failed to present an overall design framework using the
MHS system, explaining the rationale behind Minimum Hull Sizes and how they
could be used to design variant and entirely new classes of ships. This
article attempts to correct these omissions.
The Minimum Hull Size System of Ship Design
===========================================
Frontier ships are limited by the energy available from the ship's power plant,
the power plant on all ships being the engines. Thus, the total equipment and
armament capacity of a ship design is a function of how big its engines are,
how many are mounted on the ship, and the efficiency of its engines. Military
and paramilitary ships use advanced high-efficiency engine designs not
available to civilian shipbuilders, thus they carry much heavier armament than
civilian ships mounting engines of equal size and number.
Minimum Hull Size points represent not the volume or mass of a ship's systems,
but the amount of power required to operate those systems. A given hull may
have the physical space to mount a Laser Cannon, but if its engines lack the
power to fire it there is no sense in installing the weapon. Likewise, a
Proton Battery occupies just 30 cubic meters of a ship but has a MHS of 10;
a Laser Cannon occupies 40 cubic meters of space but is only MHS 5 because
it requires less power to fire.
Most ships have plenty of surplus volume in their hulls where weapons or
other systems could be installed, but lack the engine power to operate those
systems; this surplus volume is usually given over to extra cargo space,
roomier quarters, bulkheads, etc. which draw minimal power from the engines.
Practical and Theoretical Design Limits
=======================================
Although Frontier engines are extremely efficient, they do have their limits.
Current military engines push the outer envelope of engine performance, and in
many cases approach the efficiency limits of current Frontier engine design.
There are two distinct limits on engine performance.
The first is the practical design limit, which represents the efficiency limit
of current Frontier designs; the practical limit is expressed in terms of how
much of an ADF penalty can be negated by the engine compared to a standard
civilian design. The civilian design limit is equal to 1/2 the ship's hull
size - ie. a hull size 6 ship can mount up to 3 MHS points of equipment without
any loss of ADF or MR. By contrast, a hull size 6 destroyer mounts 34 MHS
points of weapons and defenses but suffers no penalty to its ADF / MR; a
civilian ship mounting a similar arsenal would be unable to move, suffering an
ADF/MR penalty of 11 points. Therefore the simplest way to measure an engine's
efficiency is by the number of points a similar civilian ship would be penalized.
The second engine design limit is the theoretical limit. Theoretical design
limits of Frontier engines represent the absolute maximum MHS points that could
be mounted on a ship with a given number and type of engines. Existing military
ship designs are slowly approaching this point.
The following tables list the theoretical and practical MHS efficiency limits for
ships' engines.
Practical Engine Design Limits:
===============================
Ship Type Efficiency Rating*
Civilian 1 Point (ie. if the total MHS points carried exceeds a ship's
(HS/2) minus 1, the ship MUST lose ADF / MR points due to
excessive equipment, as per the Knighthawks Rulebook, pp. 18-19)
Yacht* 3-6 Points
Privateer* 2-8 Points
Military 4-13 Points
* Put in simplest terms, the efficiency rating equals the number of ADF/MR points
this type of ship design can ignore when the ship's limit is computed (as per
Knighthawks "Limits" section, p. 19). When the number of lost ADF / MR points
is calculated in Step 4 (top right column of p. 19), instead of 1 subtract the
ship's efficiency rating (it will still be 1 for civilian ships, but will vary
for other ship types). Any leftover ADF / MR points must be deducted as normal,
but if the result of Step 4 is lower than the ship's efficiency, NO ADF / MR
penalty is applied.
** Yacht- and Privateer-class ships were detailed in DRAGON issues 86 and 88; the
"official" statistics for them were given in "Yachts and Privateers Return"
by Douglas Niles in DRAGON 88.
Theoretical Engine Design Limits:
=================================
Engine Size A (hull sizes 1-4): Max MHS points carried = # of engines x 5
Engine Size B (hull sizes 5-14): Max MHS points carried = # of engines x 20
Engine Size C (hull sizes 15-20): Max MHS points carried = # of engines x 25
Current UPF and Sathar designs have yet to even approach these theoretical design
limits; such advanced engines will likely take decades to design, test and bring
to market. It is possible that races not yet encountered by the UPF may have
such advanced engines, but (perhaps fortunately) none have yet been discovered.
NOTE: The only race to approach the above theoretical design limits is the
Zuraqquor, whose Battlecruisers haul far more equipment for their size than
equivalent UPF and Sathar ships; mercifully, Zuraqquor battlecruisers are few in
number. The efficiency of Zuraqquor starship designs is top secret and known only
to a few UPF admirals and military planners; likewise, only the upper clan
leadership of the Sathar are aware of the Zuraqquor technological lead in starship
design.
MHS Sizes for Ships' Equipment and Vehicles
===========================================
Although Knighthawks listed MHS sizes for most military equipment (weapons and
defenses), it omitted MHS sizes for fighters (when carried by an assault carrier)
and for non-military equipment. The new equipment is detailed in Appendix 2:
New Equipment. Below are the MHS sizes for these systems:
Agricultural Equipment** MHS
---------------------- ---
Solar Collectors 1 (when stored internally)
Communication and Detection Equipment** MHS
------------------------------------- ---
Decoy (launcher) 5
Emergency Equipment** MHS
------------------- ---
Escape Pod 0 (a max of 1 per HS an be mounted)
Transport Equipment** MHS
------------------- ---
Cargo (one MHS Point) 1
Lifeboat 5
Docking Collar / Substation (HS 1) 3
Docking Collar / Substation (HS 2) 5
Exploration / Research Equipment** MHS
-------------------------------- ---
Atmoprobe 2
Landing Drone 3
Laboratory 5
Remote Probe 3
Military Equipment MHS
------------------ ---
HS 1 Fighter 5
HS 2 Military Shuttle*** 6
HS 3 Scout Ship*** 10
Mining Equipment** MHS
---------------- ---
Digger Shuttle (HS 2) 4
OPL (Orbital Processing Lab) 14
MR (Mineral Refinery) 12
Space Vehicles** MHS
-------------- ---
Launch, Small (4 passenger) 2 (0 if mounted on a hatch)
Launch, Large (10 passenger) 4 (0 if mounted on a hatch)
Workpod 2 (0 if mounted on a hatch)
**NOTE: Civilian equipment is much less demanding than military equipment;
therefore, when calculating the total MHS points carried by a ship, divide the
total MHS points of civilian equipment by 2. For example, a HS 16 mining ship
has loaded a Mineral Refinery (MHS 12) and a Digger Shuttle (MHS 4) on board
totalling 16 MHS points; the 16 points are divided by 2 since they are civilian
equipment, making their effective MHS 8 which the mining ship carries at no
penalty to ADF / MR. See also the expanded design sequence notes below.
***NOTE: HS 2 military shuttles are those carried aboard assault transports,
usually 1 shuttle per 100 troops carried by the ship. The HS 3 scout ship is
based on the scout ships carried by the Sathar mother ship in module SFKH3:
Face of The Enemy.
Revised MHS Ship Design Sequence
================================
The revised design sequence is identical to the procedure outlined in the
"Limits" section of the Knighthawk's rulebook under Optional Space Equipment
(page 19), except that in Step 4, instead of subtracting 1 from the result of
Step 3 in all cases, the efficiency rating of the ship is subtracted instead.
When adding equipment to a ship, follow the steps as outlined below:
1. Add together the Minimum Hull Sizes of all weapons, defenses, and military
ships carried (fighters, shuttles etc.). Then add together all non-military
equipment and ships carried on the ship; then divide the total MHS points of
the non-military equipment by 2. Now add the total military MHS points and the
total non-military MHS points (remember, the total points of non-military systems
are first divided by 2).
2. Divide the ship's hull size by 2. If this result is greater than the sum from
step 1, the ship can carry the weapons and defenses with no reductions, regardless
of its efficiency rating.
3. If the sum from step 1 is equal to or greater than the result from step 2,
then the ship's interior space and performance may be affected depending on the
ship's efficiency rating. Divide the sum from step 1 by one-half of the ship's
hull size (found in step 2). Round fractions up.
4. Subtract the ship's efficiency rating (1 for civilian ships) from the result
from step 3.
The final result, found in step 4, is the number of ADF and / or MR points that
the ship loses, and the number of ship hull units that are filled by weapons,
defenses, power units and targeting servos. These hull units are unavailable
for other units.
Standard Ship Examples
======================
HS 3 civilian research ship
---------------------------
Ish Birdt is outfitting a hull size 3 civilian scientific research starship
(described in the Knighthawks Rulebook, p. 6). He wants to install a
reflective hull (MHS 1), an atmoprobe (MHS 2), a Laboratory (MHS 5), a Remote
Probe (MHS 3), and 3 escape pods (MHS 0). These systems add up to 1 MHS point
of military equipment (the reflective hull) and 10 MHS points of non-military
equipment. The step by step calculations are as follows:
1. Sum of MHS: A. Military subtotal: 1
B. Non-military subtotal: (2+5+3+0+0+0)/2 = 5
A. (1) + B. (5) = 6
2. One-half of Hull Size: 3 / 2 = 1.5
3. Step 1 divided by step 2: 6 / 1.5 = 4
4. Step 3 minus efficiency rating: 4 - 1 = 3
The final total is 3. This means Ish's ship must lose 3 ADF or MR points.
Since his ship is only HS 3, all available space on board is occupied by the
equipment he has installed; he cannot carry any cargo or passengers beyond the
4 to 6 crewmen it was designed for.
HS 3 military assault scout
---------------------------
Ish Birdt now successfully bids on a assault scout contract for Spacefleet.
Per UPF specifications, he installs a reflective hull (MHS 1), an assault
rocket launcher (MHS 1) with 4 assault rockets and a laser battery (MHS 3)
in the HS 3 hull. These systems add up to a total MHS of 5 points.
1. Sum of MHS: A. Military subtotal: 5
B. (no non-military equipment carried)
2. One-half of Hull Size: 3 / 2 = 1.5
3. Step 1 divided by step 2: 5 / 1.5 = 3.3 (rounded up to 4)
4. Step 3 minus efficiency rating: 4 - 5 = (1)
Due to the assault scout's efficiency rating of 5, it loses no ADF or MR due to
excessive weaponry and defenses. In fact, it's efficiency is 1 point higher
than step 3, so it adds 1 ADF for a rating of 5/4.
Non-Standard Ships Examples
===========================
The Sathar Mother Ship (from SFKH 3)
------------------------------------
Ish Birdt has acquired the plans of a captured Sathar mothership - an obsolete
assault carrier now designed to carry scout ships. As per the plans, he wants
to install 2 laser batteries (MHS 3 each), a reflective hull (MHS 1), a ICM
launcher (MHS 5), 6 sets of grapples - 1 for each of the scout bays and two
external moorings (MHS 5 each), and 4 bays for HS Sathar scout ships (HS 10
each) for a total of 82 MHS points. The hull Ish is using is a HS 15
military assault carrier much like the original. Per step 2, he divides the
ship's HS by 1/2 and gets 7.5. Per step 3, he then divides the total MHS
points (82) by 1/2 the ship's HS (7.5) and gets 11 (rounding up from 10.93).
The assault carrier hull he is using has an efficiency of 10, so his ship must
subtract either 1 ADF point or 1 MR point; also, 1 hull point is given over
to the excess equipment. As per the Knighthawks rulebook (p. 8), Ish's new
Sathar mother ship has a DCR of 65 and 75 hull points.
The Sathar Juggernaut (from "Day of the Juggernaut", DRAGON # 91)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
While exploring a new star in his replica Sathar Mothership, Ish Birdt and his
enterprising crew have been captured and put to work designing a new ship class,
the Sathar Juggernaut. With the help of Zuraqquor engineers, Ish creates the
following design in an attempt to save his sorry hide. The obscenely large
hull (HP 480, DCR 300) will mount a disruptor cannon (MHS 12), 8 laser batteries
(MHS 3 each), 2 proton batteries (MHS 10 each), 4 electron batteries (MHS 6 each),
1 torpedo launcher (MHS 5) with 16 torpedoes, and 20 rocket batteries* (MHS 5).
The Juggernaut's defenses include a reflective hull (MHS 1), an electron screen
(MHS 10), a proton screen (MHS 12), a stasis screen (MHS 10), and an ICM launcher*
with 24 ICM's (MHS 5). Not content with this monstrous armament, the fiendish
Zuraqquor designers add bays for 20 Scorpion fighters (HS 2 each, bays MHS 6 each);
although the Scorpions are fighters, they are HS 2 and therefore use bays similar
to HS 2 military shuttles (hence MHS 6 each). Overall, the Juggernaut rates a
monstrous 248 MHS points of armaments. Awed by this gigantic warship but
prevented from even seeing the complete plans, Ish can estimate its size and
number of engines. At an efficiency rating of 12, the Juggernaut must be an
unbelievable HS 42.
Its design sequence is:
1. Sum of MHS: A. Military subtotal: 248
B. (no non-military equipment carried)
2. One-half of Hull Size: 42 / 2 = 21
3. Step 1 divided by step 2: 248 / 21 = 11.8, rounded up to 12
At 12 MHS efficiency points per engine, the Juggernaut mounts a complement of 21
Type C engines - more than three UPF battleships combined! Extrapolating from
UPF designs, the Juggernaut should average 30 meters long per HS point, making
it 1,260 meters long - twice as long as the largest UPF battleships; at an
average of 5 meters diameter per HS point, it is 210 meters in diameter. As
Ish is dragged by Sathar guards onto a Sathar slave ship, he voices a silent
prayer for the Spacefleet ships doomed to be crushed by the Juggernaut.
Ship Costs
==========
Should it be necessary to calculate the cost of a non-civilian ship (ie.
any ship with an efficiency greater than 1), multiply the normal cost of BOTH
the hull AND the engines by the efficiency rating. Thus a HS 5 "Nova" class
yacht (efficiency 4), with 3 class B atomic engines, built at a Class I
Construction Center would cost:
HS 4 x 50,000 Cr = 200,000 Cr
+ 3 Size B atomic engines x 300,000 Cr (per KH, p. 61) = 900,000 Cr
Subtotal = 1,100,000 Cr
x Efficiency Rating 4
Total = 4,400,000 Cr
It now becomes obvious why (besides UPF military secrecy laws) non-civilian
hulls are only built by the wealthiest individuals and megacorps. Unless
you are running a military campaign, PC's should be restricted to civilian
hulls and the normal customization rules found in the Knighthawks rulebook
on page 22.
Appendix 1: Efficiency Ratings of Existing Ship Designs
========================================================
MHS Point Subtotals Total Efficiency
Ship (type) Hull Def* Weap* MHS Rating**
Size Points
----------- ---- --- ---- ------ ----------
(warships)
Fighter 1 1 1 2 4
Assault Scout 3 1 4 5 5**
Frigate 5 10 18 28 13**
Destroyer 6 10 24 34 12
Minelayer 7 6 20 26 5**
Light Cruiser 12-14 26 41 67 11-9**
Heavy Cruiser 16-18 38 51 89 11-9**
Assault Carrier**** 14-17 10 18 28 4-5****
Battleship 20 38 60 98 10
(yachts***)
Rim Song class 3 1 3 4 2**
Imp class 4 1 4 5 2**
Nova class 5 1 13 14 4**
Astro-Blaster III class 6 6 9 15 3**
Nebula class 7 5 13 18 6
Belvedere class 9 6 13 19 5
(privateers***)
Thruster class 2 1 1 2 3**
Lightspeed Lady class 4 5 4 9 5
Moonbright Stinger clss 9 6 18 24 5**
Rollo's Revenge class 10 6 24 30 6
Condor class 13 16 33 49 8
(from module KH0)
Pirate Corvette 4 5 8 13 5**
(from module SFKH3)
Sathar Scout Ship 3 1 0 1 (0)
(from "The Zuraqquor Strike Back!", DRAGON #95)
Zuraqquor Fighter 2 1 4 5 7
Battlecruiser, Class D 9 10 24 34 7**
Battlecruiser, Class C 11 20 34 54 8**
Battlecruiser, Class B 13 32 51 83 11**
Battlecruiser, Cls A*** 15 42 58 100 13**
* Per the KH tactical operations manual, assault rockets, rocket
batteries and torpdeoes can only fire once per turn; therefore,
any ships with these weapons are assumed to mount a single
launcher with multiple shots / ammo (the ammo contributes nothing
in terms of MHS penalties - see KH, pp.18-19). Similarly,
defensive systems such as masking screens and ICM's only count as
a single launcher towards MHS limits.
** If a ship's efficiency rating is greater than the result of
step 3 of the ship design sequence, the ship may add the overage to
its ADF or MR. Certain military ships (such as minelayers and
cruisers) are slower than an unarmed civilian ship of the same size;
this is because their hulls and engines are not efficient enough to
mount their armaments without penalty.
*** The armament and defense statistics are the "official" ones
listed in the article "Yachts and Privateers Return" (DRAGON # 88)
by Gouglas Niles.
**** Figures in the table do not include fighters carried by the
carrier. Use the table below as a guideline for the true efficiencies
of Assault Carriers:
Weap/Def Total
Carrier # HS 1 Fighters MHS MHS Efficiency
Hull Size (each 5 MHS) Subtotal Points Rating
--------- ------------ -------- ------ ----------
14 6 (30 MHS) 28 58 9
15 8 (40 MHS) 28 68 10
16 10 (50 MHS) 28 78 10
17 12 (60 MHS) 28 88 11
Zuraqquor Battle Cruiser, Type A [HS 2 Fighters (@8 Points each)]
HS 15 0-5 100 100-140 14-19
APPENDIX 2: NEW STARSHIP EQUIPMENT
===================================
Docking Collars
---------------
Docking collars are used on larger ships to attach themselves (temporarily
or permanently) to other ships, forming a secure bridge between the pair.
Collars are similar to small ships, cylindrical (or, rarely, spherical) in
shape; they can be built either as HS 1 or HS 2.
A docking collar hull (of either HS size) has 4 hatches, 1 on either end
and 2 located midway along its length. The cost of a docking collar hull
is equivalent to the price of a ship hull of identical size at a Class I
construction center (ie. 50,000 Cr times the HS of the docking collar).
This price is the same regardless of the Class of the construction center
where the collar is actually built, due to the lack of drives, nav systems,
etc. on the collar hull.
Docking collars can install Computers, Life Support Systems, Communication
and Detection Equipment, Emergency Equipment as can normal ships; no other
Knighthawks equipment besides Space Vehicles (see below) can be mounted.
Due to their design, docking collars mount Space Vehicles as follows:
HS 1 Docking Collar: These can mount up to a single small launch (4 man)
on one end hatch, and 2 Escape pods or workpods on
its mid-hull hatches. The remaining end hatch must
be kept free to attach the collar to the mother ship.
HS 2 Docking Collar: These can mount up to a single large launch (10 man)
or lifeboat on one end hatch, and 2 escape pods,
small launches or work pods on its mid-hull hatches.
Substations
-----------
Docking collars can also be detached to serve as independent "substations".
Such substations are typically used for scientific research or as military
listening posts. Substations are roughly equivalent in size and capabilities
to the American Skylab or Russian Mir space stations, and typically house 2
crew per hull size point.
Substations are identical to docking collars in size and overall design, but
cost more since they are intended for long-term habitation by their crews
independent of the mother ship. A substation version of a docking collar
costs the same as an identical ship hull built at the respective
Construction Center. Use of a docking collar as a substation requires the
installation of Life Support Systems, Astrogation Equipment (to guide other
vessels in and track the substation's position), Computer Programs, and
Communications and Detection Equipment as if the substation were a system
ship of identical size. Substations have no engines but do mount small ion
maneuver thrusters; these thrusters can maintain the substation's orbit for
up to one year before needing refueling. Substations can mount Space Vehicles
as do typical docking collars (see above).
A substation designed for scientific research mounts instruments with
long-term data collection abilities similar to a Laboratory (as per
Knighthawks, page 22); the instruments cost as much as a normal Laboratory
(100,000 Cr). A substation's instruments can only collect atmospheric and
geological data from a nearby planet, moon or asteroid. They confer a bonus
equal to a normal Laboratory's (90% + 1% per level of success); however,
data colection and analysis (ie. time required to use the appropriate skill)
takes 10 times as long to complete as a similar task / skill use would
require if the character was on the planet or moon itself.
Since substations have no engines of their own, they must rely on other systems
to provide power. Although compact nuclear generators (cost as per generator,
Star Frontiers: Alpha Dawn, pages 41 and 47) can be installed, they are
unpopular since any accidental leakage will force the crew to abandon the
substation. More commonly used are solar collectors similar to those found
on agricultural ships. Solar collectors are stored by the mother ship while
enroute to the substation's destination, then mounted on the substation when
it is deployed in orbit. While stored on the mother ship, the solar collectors
count as 1 MHS point of cargo per collector. Once deployed on the substation,
each collector generates SEU's as if it was a standard type 1 generator (see
SF:AD, page 41); for example, a single collector generates 500 SEU's / hour,
while 4 collectors would generate 2,000 SEU's / hour. A substation can mount
up to 2 solar collectors per point of hull size.
Solar Collectors
----------------
Solar Collectors (listed in the Knighthawks rulebook Equipment List, page 62)
are required on ag ships, substations (see description above under Docking
Collars) and standard stations (described in the Knighthawks rulebook, pages
4-5 and 8). Collector panels provide auxiliary power for ships and large
stations, and main power for substations. Below are the number of solar
collectors required for various ships and stations:
Substations - Substations require 1 collector per point of HS; each
collector generates as much power for the station as a
SF:AD type 1 generator. At least one functioning collector
per 10 crewmen is required to maintain minimal life support.
Ag Ships - Ag ships require 2 collectors per HS point
Standard Stations:
Agriculture and Docking Stations - These stations require 10 collectors
per point of Station Type (size).
Commerce and Recreation / Trading Stations - These stations require 5
collectors per point of
Station Type (size).
Military (armed/fortified/fortress) Stations - These stations require 2
collectors per MHS point of
armament.
