OBT Forum

Hmm.  Tactical mobility - what I think must be most commonly considered by Warriors of the Clans - doesn't seem to require them.  That said, it's a reflection on the Warrior Caste in general that strategic mobility might be most commonly found in the Merchant caste - where getting products to market means some degree of forethought, planning, and efficiency.  So, I expect few would exist in a Jumpship fleet with the financial constraints faced by the Scorpions.

Which leave at least some required for high-priority missions, mostly urgent military ones where these expensive assets can be assured of some kind of escorting military unit to prevent some opportunistic Warrior going, "OOOH, SHINY!", and claiming it without a fight from the lesser castes aboard ship.

Military vessels...  Given the Scorpion knowledge of history and the way they're portrayed in the Scorpio Ascendant Fiction, I think they could see the need for them in certain situations.  Frankly - CAs, BCs, BBs, and DNs are a poor choice for them.  Now, commerce raiders, fast strikers, any type of light Naval combatant, really, are a better use for all their fragility.  Especially given at least one, maybe two, DS collars.  The Vincent and Fredasa are good examples (minus the bloated cargo tonnage).

If it comes down to it before their abjuration, why not have their merchants lease a convenient vessel?  You know the Sharks would be down for that in a heartbeat in exchange for a reasonable retainer.  Particularly if they limit the potential liabilities (no fools, the sharks can probably reason out why the Scorpions would be interested in using such ships.) inherent to providing such a ship on a military mission.

Speaking of cost, would you consider a Retrotech Aquilla in a Escorpion Imperio-type of situation?  You'd have to crunch numbers, but the situation might make such a ship a reasonable option.  The numbers of vessels capable of limited defensive/offensive action in my mind makes up for the inefficiency compared to collars in a defensive situation.  My own military adaptation of the Aquila carries 30 ASF and 20 small craft bays (Suitable for both ASF and the twin-engine small craft operating as torpedo bombers/assault ASF/BA transports in my AU.) and a limited cargo bay of 5700 tons.  Of course, they use a Primitive jump core and you'd be faced with the choice between the high-cost 30 LY jump, or something more economical and less efficient.  Tradeoffs either way.

For me, a lot of it comes down to the amount of warship construction going on in the clans and wanting the best bang for the warrior (cost is a fairly distant secondary concern).  So if Scorpions (or any clan, really) is wanting to build a (comparatively) massive fleet over a relatively small amount of time, then dropping the LFBs allows them to put more hulls into space than otherwise.  If its a slower, more reasonable build-up, the clans are likely going to build them how they build most of their vessels: with all the bells and whistles they can shove into the hull.

LFBs really do cause a pretty massive increase in expense for warships with multiple collars, but this is one of those places where I see a breakdown in the BattleTech Universe cost issue.  This one isn't for the direct resources involved, but the complexity of integrating the system with the K-F Drive, thus the reason that almost every clan warship, and most (apparently) new-built jumpships include the system, it takes longer to build but doesn't require significantly more raw materials.

I do see cost as a limitation on how quickly things can be built in the clans, but much of it is based on the complexity of what's being built rather than, necessarily, the actual resources put into a thing.  A 90-ton 'mech from the SLDF is still only using 90-tons of materials, like a 90-ton clan 'mech, but the clan 'mech is going to put a lot of effort into increasing the efficacy of the design, using XL engines, endo steel, ferro fibrous armor, etc. but it's still going to be 90-tons of material.

Military vessels...  Given the Scorpion knowledge of history and the way they're portrayed in the Scorpio Ascendant Fiction, I think they could see the need for them in certain situations.  Frankly - CAs, BCs, BBs, and DNs are a poor choice for them.  Now, commerce raiders, fast strikers, any type of light Naval combatant, really, are a better use for all their fragility.  Especially given at least one, maybe two, DS collars.  The Vincent and Fredasa are good examples (minus the bloated cargo tonnage)..

Could you elaborate a little more?


To answer your question, I see 3 different answers:
1. they wouldn't modify the oldest ships as they are relics,
2. on new WarShips designed for combat against the Clans, there is no need for this extra mobility,
3. for designs focusing on Operation Revival, it depends if they are ready to look at the lessons of the past and to think a little.

The problem being that it makes 3 different ways of building Ships.

If building a fleet from the ground up. I would say its useful for specialized warship fleets with the occasional jumpships thrown in for rapid deployment of troops and/or resources.

I never really understood why the Clans didn't use them more as they really don't use money in the same sense as the realms of the Innersphere does for them its more about the natural resources and construction capabilities. If I remember correctly only their merchants use currency and for purposes of just trading between clans.