BattleTech fan since the early '90s, game design enthusiast since forever.

Friday, May 6, 2016

FWL 3025: Shipyards

The FWL has eight manufacturers of DropShips & JumpShips (DS&JS page 15) operating ten active production sites (HM:FWL page 114). As best I can tell:
  • Star Lords built at Clipperton, Loyalty and Tamarind (by SelaSys Inc.)
  • Scouts, Leopards, Leopard CVs and Unions built at Oceana (by Irian Technologies, under supervision of the League's Chief Armorer)
  • Furies, Buccaneers, Monarchs and Behemoths built at Stewart (by Brigadier Corporation)
  • Gazelles and Mammoths built at Oriente (by "Deller, Bingham, and Fouts" or "Keller, Bingham, and Fouts")
  • Invaders built at Angell (by Technicron)
  • Intruders built at Ryerson (by Andurien AeroTech, a division of Free Worlds Defense Industries)
  • Vengeances built at Dieudonne (by Kallon Industries)
  • Condors built at Tematagi (by Nimakachi Fusion Products Ltd.)

My reasoning is below the cut. 

The FWL doesn't build big troop transports anymore, which plays to the fractiousness of FWL forces and their reluctance to mount an offense; lack of Mule production helps characterize FWL merchants as versatile traders who prefer Buccaneers; and Intruders plus extra fighter carriers may make up for a lack of small assault ships.

Inactive Yards

Before the Star League fell, the FWL's "output of Merchant and Explorer Class JumpShips and Fury, Triumph, and Condor Class DropShips was second to none." The Merchant and Triumph facilities must have all been near the borders (perhaps Bolan?) because DS&JS doesn't list a Marik manufacturer. Or possibly, the Triumphs were built by SelaSys, and the Merchants were produced by a yard which now only builds DropShips.


Clipperton, Loyalty and Tamarind

These are the only sites capable of producing a Star Lord or Monolith (HM:FWL page 114). SelaSys Inc. manufactures Star Lords for the League (DS&JS page 15) at a rate of about two per year (DS&JS page 22), so I'd say all three sites belong to SelaSys. I notice that Ronin Inc., a subsidiary of SelaSys, is near Clipperton and Loyalty.

Curtiss Hydrosystems, headquartered on Paradise, probably builds their Iceships at the neighboring SelaSys yards at Loyalty.

DropShip drydocks at Oceana

Irian Technologies supposedly produces Scouts, Leopards, Leopard CVs and Unions for the FWL (DS&JS page 15) yet its corporate profile doesn't mention it (HM:FWL page 127). The omission could mean the shipyard is being overseen by the League's Chief Armorer, as Oceana's is (HM:FWL page 79), perhaps as a result of Anton's revolt. Oceana was near the main fighting and we know Irian had other facilities damaged in the revolt. I think Oceana is close enough to fit Irian's habit of building near the (Star League era) Capellan border, but not so close as to risk losing the FWL's only source of 'Mech carriers.

This doesn't address Irian's JumpShips, but I think Scout production is low enough to go unmentioned, perhaps used entirely to maintain Irian's small fleet of "Explorer" Class JumpShips.

The great yards at Oriente, Angell, and Stewart

Before the Star League, these gained renown for housing the finest shipbuilders in space (HM:FWL page 124). Of the remaining manufacturers, I think only Technicron, Brigadier, and Deller (or Keller) Bingham & Fouts might qualify.

Brigadier builds Furies, Buccaneers, Monarchs and Behemoths (DS&JS page 15). DS&JS dates the Behemoth's introduction to just before Kerensky's Exodus (page 65), whereas the Star League Sourcebook has a Hegemony shipbuilder introduce it in the 2650s (page 165); either way, it's associated pretty strongly with the Terran Hegemony. I think this makes Stewart a good fit, since it was administered by the Terran Hegemony (SLSB page 179) and is relatively near Brigadier's other facilities on Oliver and Procyon.

Deller (or Keller), Bingham and Fouts build Gazelles and Mammoths. The only other yards to build Mammoths are in or near the Capellan Confederation (DS&JS page 15), so I'm inclined to stick 'eller Bingham & Fouts at Oriente.

That leaves the Angell system for Technicron's Invader yard. It seems like a good idea for the Marik Commonwealth to control a good chunk of JumpShip production, and Angell fits okay with Technicron moving its 'Mech factory from Alula Australis to Savannah (HM:FWL page 156).

Speculation (Ryerson, Berenson/Dieudonne, Tematagi)

The FWL has 500 votes in parliament and ten shipyards, so I estimate that each shipyard supports 50 votes' worth of economic activity. I created the tax map in a previous post so I could put a dot on each star system which seemed to be covered by known yards at Clipperton, Loyalty, Tamarind, Oceana, Oriente, Angell, or Stewart.

Naturally, it's the corners that are underserved.

78 votes from Andurien to the Regulan Free States.

42 votes near Terra, in two lobes centered between Wasat and Berenson.

27 votes from Circinus down to the Rim Commonality.

I think Kallon Industries' Vengeance yard fits very well on Berenson. It's close to Kallon facilities on Nanking, Asuncion and Bernardo (HL:CC page 120), as well as ship components from Asuncion Industries (HL:CC page 119), and it's okay if it changes hands frequently because Vengeances are supposed to be rare and special.

Oriente and Tamarind are military district HQs, so I think the other HQs--Dieudonne and Ryerson--might also have shipyards. The SW map and some text put Ryerson near Berenson (HS:LC page 75, HM:FWL page 44), and Berenson near Andurien (HL:CC page 79); either the two are getting mixed up, or FWL space twists in 3D. Either way, the military District HQ needs to be across from Dieudonne (near Berenson) because that's where its share of regiments are--there's none to coordinate out behind Andurien.

Andurien clearly needs a shipyard, and I think the Andurien AeroTech (now Free Worlds Defense Industries) Intruder site would fit best. I notice that its 50 outermost underserved votes are centered between Andurien and Xanthe, near Ryerson.

If Andurien does turn out to be near (above or below) Berenson, then I'll probably keep the FWDI yard on Ryerson and shift the Kallon yard from Berenson to Dieudonne. Dieudonne is part of a 3D distortion too; instead of being in Hegemony space, it's in a string of stars which push the Border Protectorate out toward Bella and Loric (SLSB page 179, HM:FWL page 16, HS:LC page 19, 74, 96, 117). 3D warping would also explain why there's a Megrez on both the Lyran border and in Canopian space.

The remaining underserved star systems split evenly between two distant lobes, one around Kendall and another around Wisconsin, but I only have one shipyard left. The best I can do is put it in the middle. Their mathematical center falls just about on top of Tematagi, which is a bit of a coincidence--it would put Nimakachi Fusion Products Ltd.'s Condor yard in the same star system as their BattleMech plant.

EDIT, May 24: 

My spreadsheet gives extra weight to worlds with a billion or more people. I forgot (or accidentally erased) the populations for Oriente, New Delos, and maybe one or two more; fortunately I had compartmentalized the weighting by Tax Zone so little changes. The main effect is that the "center" of the Kendall and Wisconsin lobes moves off Tematagi and halfway to (depending how you calculate it) either Gibson or the Regulan Free States. Which, until I can chart this in 3D, still leaves Tematagi as the least-bad candidate.

No comments :

Post a Comment