Post by Kage2020 on Apr 19, 2004 17:10:26 GMT -5
Okay, one thing that is rather obvious is that at least for the RPG side of things we discuss the nature of 'sublight engines' for the various races. It's easy to do this in BFG since it doesn't matter what drive system you use or what you call it, but for the RPG side of things (for those game systems which have developed design systems) it is required.
... And, yes, this comes partially out of the "Eldar" board and the ship thread therein, but I don't think that is a bad thing.
So, anyway, what drive systems do the various races use and how do we - okay, how do I - model them? One burning question is, of course, how 'fast' are each of the vessels. Self-evidently the 'movement rate' of ships from BFG doesn't seem to work since this is a non-sensical method: acceleration is the key.
I'll give you the drive systems that GURPS Vehicles gives me to work with and a (very) brief description. I'll give you all of the 'space engines' (with their GTL), but obviously some of them are not going to be applicable.
Note: I will, however, ignore lightsails which are not a reasonable form of propulsion in the 40k universe despite the fact that GW says this is what they use. I'm afraid that GW didn't engage their brain in creating this wonderful image...
Standard interpretation is that the Imperium with their 'plasma engines' would use 'fusion rockets' (above), but the problem with this is that it requires rather heavy water which means that they cannot achieve high levels of thrust...
And the eldar... Minister advocates reactionless thrusters (probagly super thrusters), but this would also be a significant divergence from the 'fluff'?
Necrons would seem to use MegaThrusters, but what about the other races?
Note: Anti-grav systems are a form of 'lift' system, not propulsion and thus has not been mentioned before.
So, any help to be given? Come on, I know that you want to... Helping me to create as close to 'fluff' ships as possible is in your interests!
Kage
... And, yes, this comes partially out of the "Eldar" board and the ship thread therein, but I don't think that is a bad thing.
So, anyway, what drive systems do the various races use and how do we - okay, how do I - model them? One burning question is, of course, how 'fast' are each of the vessels. Self-evidently the 'movement rate' of ships from BFG doesn't seem to work since this is a non-sensical method: acceleration is the key.
I'll give you the drive systems that GURPS Vehicles gives me to work with and a (very) brief description. I'll give you all of the 'space engines' (with their GTL), but obviously some of them are not going to be applicable.
Note: I will, however, ignore lightsails which are not a reasonable form of propulsion in the 40k universe despite the fact that GW says this is what they use. I'm afraid that GW didn't engage their brain in creating this wonderful image...
- Solid Chemical Rockets (GTL3) - Fuel is solid at normal temperatures; once started it cannot be switched off. Typically used as 'booster rockets'.
- Liquid-Fuel Chemical Rockets (GTL6) - Burn fuel and oxidiser to produce hot gas which is the exhaust. Light-weight and fuel thirsty.
- Metal-Oxide Rockets (GTL8) - Burn metal slurry in liquid oxygen. Low performance.
- Ion Drives (GTL late.TL7) - Low thrust engine which coverts reaction mass into ions which are electromagnetically accelerated. Fuel efficient, but huge power required. Practically useless in significant-G environnents.
- Fission Rockets (late.GTL7) - Built-in fission reactor heats reaction mass to create exhaust. Heavy and expensive; radioactive exhaust.
- Fusion Rockets (GTL9) - Built-in fusion reactor heats reaction mass to create exhaust. Optimised fusion rockets are created for fuel efficiency but at increased mass.
- Antimatter Thermal Rocket (GTL9) - Mixing of small quantities of antimatter with large amounts of normal fuel to create extremely energetic exhaust. Bad thing is that antimatter is expensive and hard to produce.
- Antimatter Pion Rockets (GTL9) - Equal quantities of antimatter and matter mixed; pion particles directed by magnetic fields create thrust. Extremely fuel efficient but creates a sensor image thousands of miles long!
- Reactionless Thrusters (GTL9) - Work through 'weird science' (i.e. they shouldn't but they're cool). Rated through 'standard' thrusters (GTL9 where the weight of the drive is equal to the thrust generated) to Super and Mega...
Standard interpretation is that the Imperium with their 'plasma engines' would use 'fusion rockets' (above), but the problem with this is that it requires rather heavy water which means that they cannot achieve high levels of thrust...
And the eldar... Minister advocates reactionless thrusters (probagly super thrusters), but this would also be a significant divergence from the 'fluff'?
Necrons would seem to use MegaThrusters, but what about the other races?
Note: Anti-grav systems are a form of 'lift' system, not propulsion and thus has not been mentioned before.
So, any help to be given? Come on, I know that you want to... Helping me to create as close to 'fluff' ships as possible is in your interests!
Kage