Just to throw in a few thoughts:
1) Given distances and times and the variables of where you might be able to get parts (unless you carry a 3D model and can get someone to make you one),#
Which reminds me to ask:
- can anyone think of any published rules that 'manage' this in terms of 3D printer cost/size, raw materials cost/availability, production speed/quality etc?
- has anyone developed any?
the TUs require a longer term view. Commercial ships in service can be upwards towards 100 years of age on our oceans and that's just on a planet, not going through vast reaches of space. I'd expect lifespans of over 120 years with regular maintenance and few/no major incidents. I'd also suspect that the banks mortgage would not be any more than 33-50% of the total ship's expected lifespan (look at 4-7 year car loans and lifepsans of 12-15 years for a cared for vehicle with some luck) [My 1996 Mustang sold in 2010 with 330K km on it and the guy that got it was still hotrodding around in years later, my 2010 Escape was less robust and had a major computer failure in 2018 that was too expensive for me to fix.]
2) One thing I didn't see mentioned that is tangential is 'where is the refit being done?'. There are many levels of Force Protection for a naval ship in port (and likely for merchant ships that have to pit in some dodgy places). Some percentage of the Crew (I'll include Marines if embarked) may be tasked with providing perimeter security and even patrols in small craft around the local area of space (if an orbital site) or in other vehicles to ensure no Ine Givar or the like decide to run a bomb up beside the vessel nor do any African-coast-ish raiders try to capture and ransom the vessel. That's less of an issue in a friendly port where security already exists, but I'm sure all the classy stuff has to be well secured and maybe guarded depending on the situation (theft, sabotage, etc).
FWIW, on a very insignificant merchant ship (book ship) in South East Asia, *I* was the security overnight!
Having torn the ligaments in my ankle playing soccer on the dockside in Calcutta, I couldn't do the usual day shift work (although I was put to sewing overalls for a week or more) and as a night owl quite liked being put on nightwatch from 2400-0800. Out of the crowds and the heat. I would do two or three weeks 'on' and then a week 'off'.
In *most* ports it was just me at the top of the gangway with a firewatchman for company when he (it was always a he) wasn't doing his rounds. I very rarely interacted with anyone in the night as mostly port security was ok. Although I do recall, in Jakarta I think it was, a woman emerging from behind a container and beckoning me over. Even my naive young self was able to work out - after a moment or two - she was a prostitute looking for business.
But in one or two ports where either there wasn't the security or there had been reports of raids - sometimes just stealing mooring ropes, but sometimes getting inside the ship at attacking people - we would have up to twenty of the 350 or so crew - ranging around the ship all night and being a visible presence more than anything. (I'm not entirely sure what would have happened *had* there been a raid!). I remember feeling as if "my" space had been invaded on those occasions! (But of course was glad I wasn't "repelling boarders" all by myself). (I'm sure I repel quite enough people as it is.) :-)
I have a friend whose four daughters, when young, used to love me recounting our (possible) encounter with pirates. Again, down in the South China Sea we were were pootling along as usual. About 12 knots which was the most fuel efficient as we were a charity on a budget and fuel was one of our biggest costs. Biggest maybe, I used to know. A very small fishing boat started shadowing us, maybe half a mile off the port side. With a *very* oversized engine and far too many people on board. Plus suspicious tarpaulin covered somethings. Those of our crew not working were asked to gather in the main lounge and pray - as a Christian mission ship, really an extension of our daily morning devotions - and after a while the boat evidently decided they didn't like the look of us and peeled off to who knows where. I'm guessing they decided we didn't have any "classy stuff". They were right.
That's a mission downcheck if you don't have one. So getting new birds that came with engines was one way to deal with that.
ROFL!
- players get impacted by in active duty or even just in a starport if capacity for upfits is limited and there is a queue. When YOU want to get your annual upfit at Planet X because it is convenient for you doesn't mean there isn't a two month wait for berth time. And throwing money at it may or may not be able to improve that.
Yes, perhaps I was too easy on my players allowing an unscheduled annual maintenance on somewhere like Aramanx at the drop of a hat. On the other hand, they had Oberlindes' money and connections behind them, so perhaps it wasn't so unreasonable.
- Vessels/planes that have hard use (too many high seas, too many low level attack runs or high G dogfights, too much flying time in hostile environments, how many gees pulled and in what directions, etc) tend to have far shorter lifespans than the same vessels/planes that do not. That can really affect when refits/upfits need doing and it can really limit lifespan (or prolong it in the case of units that have not had harsh use). There's an overall assessment, but also by system.
So where has your 40 year old freighter been before you got it?
Ooooh, I can just imagine an entire supplement that goes through this kind of thing so you can better establish a history for the players' ship, a price, breakdown possibilities etc....
So, hopefully some of that adds some other thinking around how/when/how easy ships can secure major maintenance or upfits, security considerations, and the sorts of per-system and overall modelling that the engineer may well be using to predict when risk passes critical thresholds and using those to brief the owner/captain about what limits should be applied and what level of risk there is from the boat as a whole and for particular key systems like drives, power, or life support have. And the regulatory crap can be just another 'grit in the gears' crews have to live with (like permits to sell goods, etc).
<snips whole post for future ideas>
cheers
tc