[gurps] [VEHICLE] of the week 719 ? Nanofactory Ship

[Onno Meyer]

> > Nanofactory Ship v1.0 (TL13)
> 
> > Armor       F      RL       B       T       U
> > Body:     4/200   4/200   4/200   4/200   4/200
> 
> > industrial nanofac with 500-cf tank; automed; two forcelocks;
> 
> forcelocks, but no force fields?
> 
> Just curious on the design choice. (I think that the previous vehicle
> raised 
> this flag with me as well.)

I would always want the first couple of hundred points of DR from 
conventional armor, which does not depend on power plants. And 
these ships only have DR 200 ...

When the power to a forcelock fails, the hatch can be closed while
the engineer jury-riggs something in the compartment behind it. 
At worst, a corridor full of air is lost each time this "lock" cycles. 

When the power to a force screen fails during reentry or the like,
the ship is toast.

And then there is the price. TL13 expensive metal is 0.025 lbs. 
and $0.15 per sf per point of DR, a TL13 force screen powered
by an AM reactor is 0.0025 lbs. and $2.51 per sf per point of 
DR. 

The engines/power pack of my freighter are a bit over $5 per 
lb. of load, so it does not pay to spend $2.36 to save 0.0225 
lbs.

A deflector field is only good for warships and warp ships (to
technobabble how it survives the stardust).

Regards,
Onno