Post by Kage2020 on Dec 27, 2003 12:30:15 GMT -5
Since I'm using GURPS Vehicles to model the vehicles in the ASP, I thought that I would open up discussion of the technology that goes to constitute those vehicles. This thread also
I'm currently working with the following assumptions:
Technology
At present I work with the idea that the maximum manufacturing capacity of the Imperium, as reflected by the adeptus mechanicus, is TL10. There are threshold TL11 artefacts as well as archaeotech and xenos tech from higher levels, but for the Imperium the maximum is TL10.
The majority of components aboard a ship or vehicle will, however, be TL9 (if not all). Any TL10 components can only be repaired by the adeptus mechanicus or illicit sources, which gives another aspect to the operation and maintenance of equipment in the 40k universe...
Power Plant
Fusion power plant is the best thing to model the 'plasma generator' that is frequently mentioned in the 'fluff'. It also means that a substantial portion of the vast ships of the Military and Merchant Fleet are going to be taken up with power generation equipment and/or energy banks.
Sublight Drive
The fusion rocket provides one of the closest examples to a Warhammer™ 40,000 'ion engine', as described in the various articles on space travel. The use of a 'water' as reaction mass does, however, present certain problems to the logic of the game and, as such, the fuel used is set as liquid hydrogen. This not only makes the ships lighter, but allows them to refuel around gas giants, from asteroid fields, and so forth, using either electrolysis or atmospheric processors.
Note: Obviously, hydrogen has a lower molecular mass than water which is one of the reasons it was selected. Realistically the reduced mass of the reaction mass would also decrease the thrust by ~1/9th as well!
The massive fuel requirements of the fusion rocket results in low thrust ratings in terms of GHours. As such the following alternative rule has been suggested:
If a drive operates at an acceleration lower than it is capable of producing the fuel consumption is reduced by the square of that reduction, with a maximum reduction in thrust of 1/100th.
Thus a ship that is capable of operating with a sAccel of 1G and 1GHour of fuel has a number of options. They could, for example, accelerate at 1G for 1 hour (landing on planets, emergency manoeuvres, etc.), 0.1G for 100 hours, or a minimum of 0.01G for a maximum of 10,000 hours (or 59 days).
Again, while this might produce un-realistic thrusters it does replicate some of the 'feel' of the Warhammer™ 40,000 ships as well as offering an additional level of complexity to the GM!
Warp Drive
The hyperdrive - Torison drive or, more commonly, Warp drive - operates slightly differently in Warhammer™ 40,000 than it does in GURPS™ Space or Vehicles. No energy is required to keep the ship in the Warp but the electromagnetic or so-called 'etheric sails' and 'rudders' do require energy. As such, the 'hyperspace energy requirement' is reduced from 10 kW per ton of capacity to 1 kW per ton of capacty.
Note: While the effect of losing power to the hyperdrive is ultimately the same, i.e. a ship is stranded, the Warhammer™ 40,000 literature mentions Space Hulks™ or massive conglomerate wrecks that drift through the Warp. Thus, instead of being stranded in interstellar space, a ship that loses power will be stranded in Warp space with all the unique problems that might offer!
Okay, that's enough for now...
Kage
I'm currently working with the following assumptions:
Technology
At present I work with the idea that the maximum manufacturing capacity of the Imperium, as reflected by the adeptus mechanicus, is TL10. There are threshold TL11 artefacts as well as archaeotech and xenos tech from higher levels, but for the Imperium the maximum is TL10.
The majority of components aboard a ship or vehicle will, however, be TL9 (if not all). Any TL10 components can only be repaired by the adeptus mechanicus or illicit sources, which gives another aspect to the operation and maintenance of equipment in the 40k universe...
Power Plant
Fusion power plant is the best thing to model the 'plasma generator' that is frequently mentioned in the 'fluff'. It also means that a substantial portion of the vast ships of the Military and Merchant Fleet are going to be taken up with power generation equipment and/or energy banks.
Sublight Drive
The fusion rocket provides one of the closest examples to a Warhammer™ 40,000 'ion engine', as described in the various articles on space travel. The use of a 'water' as reaction mass does, however, present certain problems to the logic of the game and, as such, the fuel used is set as liquid hydrogen. This not only makes the ships lighter, but allows them to refuel around gas giants, from asteroid fields, and so forth, using either electrolysis or atmospheric processors.
Note: Obviously, hydrogen has a lower molecular mass than water which is one of the reasons it was selected. Realistically the reduced mass of the reaction mass would also decrease the thrust by ~1/9th as well!
The massive fuel requirements of the fusion rocket results in low thrust ratings in terms of GHours. As such the following alternative rule has been suggested:
If a drive operates at an acceleration lower than it is capable of producing the fuel consumption is reduced by the square of that reduction, with a maximum reduction in thrust of 1/100th.
Thus a ship that is capable of operating with a sAccel of 1G and 1GHour of fuel has a number of options. They could, for example, accelerate at 1G for 1 hour (landing on planets, emergency manoeuvres, etc.), 0.1G for 100 hours, or a minimum of 0.01G for a maximum of 10,000 hours (or 59 days).
Again, while this might produce un-realistic thrusters it does replicate some of the 'feel' of the Warhammer™ 40,000 ships as well as offering an additional level of complexity to the GM!
Warp Drive
The hyperdrive - Torison drive or, more commonly, Warp drive - operates slightly differently in Warhammer™ 40,000 than it does in GURPS™ Space or Vehicles. No energy is required to keep the ship in the Warp but the electromagnetic or so-called 'etheric sails' and 'rudders' do require energy. As such, the 'hyperspace energy requirement' is reduced from 10 kW per ton of capacity to 1 kW per ton of capacty.
Note: While the effect of losing power to the hyperdrive is ultimately the same, i.e. a ship is stranded, the Warhammer™ 40,000 literature mentions Space Hulks™ or massive conglomerate wrecks that drift through the Warp. Thus, instead of being stranded in interstellar space, a ship that loses power will be stranded in Warp space with all the unique problems that might offer!
Okay, that's enough for now...
Kage