Traveller, The Rise of Empire: A Naval Design, Procurement and Command Quest

[Trent01]

[X] A minimal size ship which hopes to get in and out undetected as fast as possible, gathering a little data before returning home.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

Start with recon, start with a low-impact beginning to FTL shipbuilding because our prior system defense designs are explicitly both noted as pushing the envelope and being very expensive. I'd rather when we're building a proper FTL warship we do so with a tested drive design with some experience and idea of what we need to prepare against before diving into the budget-killing item of warships.

 

[Theonetruelordke]

[X] A minimal size ship which hopes to get in and out undetected as fast as possible, gathering a little data before returning home.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

 

[Rat King]

Worth pointing out that if we get caught sneaking around (and we probably will, it's hard to be stealthy in space) we will probably have gotten off on a very wrong foot with whoever we run into. I'd rather we try the diplomatic approach first.

[X] A 'welcome wagon', a functionally civilian vessel intended to go out and find new friends.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

 

[Gravitas Hunt]

[X] A 'welcome wagon', a functionally civilian vessel intended to go out and find new friends.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

 

[FruitSyrup]

[X] A 'welcome wagon', a functionally civilian vessel intended to go out and find new friends.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

Friends! A civilian ship should be a decent bit cheaper too.

 

[Josiah]

[X] A minimal size ship which hopes to get in and out undetected as fast as possible, gathering a little data before returning home.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

 

[Coyote Niff]

For the ship: [X] Something else - write-in.

I propose a combination of options 1 and 2: an "armored emissary" vessel carefully and functionally armored and outfitted for defensive action in event of a hostile response, but incapable of any offensive action; equipped with a broad spectrum of comms and surveillance equipment for contacting the societies in other systems as we approach and the most powerful drives available in a design of its type for quick disengagement and evasion of hostile actors. It ought to be crewed by a combination of military and civilian personnel, drawn from the SWB and civil servants who have hereditary familiarity with spaceflight and more specifically the potential values and makeup of the colonial societies we are likely to encounter. I know we're mainly focused on TO&E as a military design bureau, but I think we need to keep optics and doctrine in mind; if we fly in in a welcome wagon, we might appear able to be taken advantage of, while in a warship, we'll appear as invaders. If we go in with a stealth ship, that will also prejudice those we contact towards the idea of an invading force; otherwise, why remain hidden?

In terms of how to deploy these vessels, I think that we should make [X] Two, one for each inhabited system. This is because in the event of hostilities when making contact, we will not have expanded our fleet with vessels incapable of fighting beyond the needs of escape.

Also, for safety's sake, I propose any vessel we build be equipped with data destruction devices to prevent any hostile actors from discovering Home's location. Optimally, our emissary ships will be designed for counter-boarding, but the last thing we want is for one of these systems to decide we make a tempting new crown jewel for their little empire.

 

[frostgiant]

[X] A minimal size ship which hopes to get in and out undetected as fast as possible, gathering a little data before returning home.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

 

[N39TUN3]

[X] A minimal size ship which hopes to get in and out undetected as fast as possible, gathering a little data before returning home.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

 

[birdmaster01]

[X] A 'welcome wagon', a functionally civilian vessel intended to go out and find new friends.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

 

[wanje]

[X] A warship with a jump drive, intended to conduct diplomacy under the cover of guns and armour.

[X] As many as we can afford based on the current budget, expanding the fleet.

 

[Magnificate]

Worth pointing out that if we get caught sneaking around (and we probably will, it's hard to be stealthy in space) we will probably have gotten off on a very wrong foot with whoever we run into. I'd rather we try the diplomatic approach first.

Click to shrink...

I wouldn't think so. Just because the ship is not designed for diplomacy doesn't mean we can't talk to them and explain ourselves.

 

[Lonosic]

[X] A minimal size ship which hopes to get in and out undetected as fast as possible, gathering a little data before returning home.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system

 

[WestOrEast]

[X] A 'welcome wagon', a functionally civilian vessel intended to go out and find new friends.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

 

[grimely]

[X] A minimal size ship which hopes to get in and out undetected as fast as possible, gathering a little data before returning home.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

 

[always_confused]

[X] A 'welcome wagon', a functionally civilian vessel intended to go out and find new friends.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

 

[hostelcalifornia]

[X] A warship with a jump drive, intended to conduct diplomacy under the cover of guns and armour.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

Better to have guns and not need them, than need them and not have them.

 

[Derpmind]

[X] A minimal size ship which hopes to get in and out undetected as fast as possible, gathering a little data before returning home.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

 

[DiscordOxymoron]

If only we can make an in-between of explorer and military ship... With sprinkles of SCIENCE?

Still, curious to see how this'll go. o.o;

 

[Maxin_inc]

[X] A minimal size ship which hopes to get in and out undetected as fast as possible, gathering a little data before returning home.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

 

[thatone_dude]

[X] A 'welcome wagon', a functionally civilian vessel intended to go out and find new friends.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

an open hand of friendship! and a good excuse to go to war!

 

[Happerry]

[X] A warship with a jump drive, intended to conduct diplomacy under the cover of guns and armour.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

 

[Maxin_inc]

Worth pointing out that if we get caught sneaking around (and we probably will, it's hard to be stealthy in space) we will probably have gotten off on a very wrong foot with whoever we run into. I'd rather we try the diplomatic approach first.

Click to shrink...

It depends really on if we jump within visual range of any other ships or objects that have people on/in them. Not to mention we assumedly have a pretty understanding of the average distance one can detect objects in space given not only that we field warships ourselves with sensors but extrasolar sensors used for detecting incoming objects into the solar system such as asteroids.

This means we can jump into the system at the approximated distance (plus some extra distance for comfort) we assume they can immediately detect on their scopes and linger an collect data over another approximated period of time (also some extra time for comfort) before we are detected and jump out after our time limit is up.

Is it guaranteed we're going to jump in and out with no detection at all? Unlikely unless they're extremely primitive since even if we leave before they notice us we'll still leave something behind such as waste heat and light fluctuations that will let them know something entered the system, but its just as unlikely for them to detect us instantly the moment we jump in as long as we take the proper precautions. Plus I'd rather have two """scout""" vessels in our pocket in the case either or God forbid both of the unknowns are hostile, information is everything and whatever we can gather off the bat before they throw up the proverbial curtains is gold.

 

[Doubloon]

[X] A minimal size ship which hopes to get in and out undetected as fast as possible, gathering a little data before returning home.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

We have no idea what we're dealing with or what to expect, let's not take it for granted that we'll find someone receptive to diplomacy or whom our techbase can fend off outside our home system.

A paranoid dwarf is an alive dwarf.

 

[Karugus]

[X] A minimal size ship which hopes to get in and out undetected as fast as possible, gathering a little data before returning home.
[X] A warship with a jump drive, intended to conduct diplomacy under the cover of guns and armour.
[X] Two, one for each inhabited system.

No one is going to be upset the survey/first contact ship is relatively simple and no frills so the minimalist design seems to be relatively fine... but coming from this from the Rule the Waves LP...what are these ships going to be doing when they're not making first contact? How many warships is the budget of these ships displacing? We're the navy, not the minister of foreign affairs or head of state- we've got to be looking into how we can build these hulls to either minimize the cost to our naval programs or design these hulls such that they have a longer future in our naval programs.

We should save the civilian designs like hospital and aid ships until we have the lay of the land and the force projection capabilities to actually wield them effectively.