DropShips and JumpShips

Purportedly a declassified ComStar document, the DropShips and JumpShips book describes the various spaceships in use during the Succession Wars era of BattleTech. It covers the most common JumpShips in use at the time—Scout, Merchant, Invader, Star Lord, and Monolith—as well as the most common DropShip designs available, from the small Fury to the monstrous Behemoth, and finally assorted Small Craft.

The book is split into two sections, effectively comprising two separate books back-to-back with 80 and 64 pages, respectively. The first section, presented in a style reminiscent of a Technical Readout, was almost the only early (pre-Fourth Succession War) source on BattleTech's large spacecraft (except for the three DropShips in Technical Readout: 3025), and it provided information on numerous DropShips, small craft, several space stations, and several JumpShips.

The second section provides a great deal of information on BattleTech's history of spaceflight and extensive rules for an aerospace-intensive campaign, like crew skills, maintenance, JumpShip recharging, DropShip transit times, and more. The rules for recharging and system transit are the most extensive published in BattleTech, supporting transit times at accelerations other than 1G and detailed charts including flight distances rather than flight times. While the roleplaying rules have altered owing to the huge changes in BattleTech's roleplaying rules over time, the recharge and system transit rules are virtually identical to those of the latest rulebook publications (Strategic Operations).

Technical Readout: 3057 Revised (compiled by WolfNet in 3067) remarks in its preface that ComStar's declassified FB-60 document (i.e. DropShips and JumpShips) was found to contain numerous errors or possibly deliberate misinformation. This is a convenient explanation for deviations from this book's contents in later publications that had to be made because of rule changes.

From the back cover
"Here is the definitive work describing mankind's method of transportation between the stars. Bound into this single volume are ComStar Intelligence Summary FB-60 and excerpts from the standard DropShips and JumpShips Operations Manual.

ComStar Intelligence Summary FB-60 discusses the five major types of JumpShips and 20 major types of DropShips as well as examples of small craft and even space stations. Each entry includes an illustration of the ship as well as detailed descriptions and statistics. Also included is a short history of humanity in space, from the construction of Crippen Station, through the work of Kearny and Fuchida and mankind's exodus from Terra, to the modern Succession War era.

The Operations Manual includes essays on the designs of DropShips and JumpShips, descriptions of the general components of each type of vessel, and extensive game rules covering all aspects of their operation and maintenance."

Comstar Intelligence Summary (Book 1)
Introduction

Space Travel in the Successor States
 * History
 * Rise of the Western Alliance
 * The Magellan Program
 * Vindication of Kearny and Fuchida
 * To Reach Tau Ceti
 * Exodus
 * Formation of New States
 * The Modern Age

JumpShips
 * Scout
 * Merchant
 * Invader
 * Star Lord
 * Monolith

DropShips
 * Troop Carriers
 * Fury
 * Gazelle
 * Seeker
 * Triumph
 * Condor
 * Excalibur
 * 'Mech Carriers
 * Leopard
 * Union
 * Overlord
 * Assault Ships
 * Avenger
 * Achilles
 * Intruder
 * Fortress
 * Fighter Carriers
 * Leopard CV
 * Vengeance
 * Civilian Ships
 * Buccaneer
 * Mule
 * Monarch
 * Mammoth
 * Behemoth

Small Craft
 * Escape Pod
 * Life Boat
 * ST-46 Shuttle
 * S-7A Class Bus
 * Mark VII Landing Craft
 * KR-61 Long-Range Shuttle
 * K-1 DropShuttle

Space Stations
 * Olympus
 * Bastion
 * Alliance

Operations Manual (Book 2)
Space Vehicle Design
 * DropShip Design
 * Engine Section
 * Cargo Section
 * Command Section
 * JumpShip Design
 * Kearny-Fuchida Drive
 * Engine Section
 * Cargo Section
 * Command Section
 * Shipboard Details
 * Containment Door
 * Air Hook-Ups
 * Power Hook-Ups
 * Comm Panel
 * Emergency Lighting
 * Environmental Monitor
 * Fire Suppression System
 * Maneuver Warning
 * Combat Alert Warning
 * Pressure Indicator
 * Manual Hatch/Door Mechanism
 * Floor Panels

Ship Operations
 * DropShip Operations
 * Space Operations
 * Planetary Operations
 * Special Operations
 * Routine Operations
 * JumpShip Operations
 * Hyperspace Transit
 * Recharging Operations
 * Maneuvering Operations
 * Docking Operations
 * Routine Operations
 * Decompression
 * Boarding and Repelling
 * Abandoning SHip

Ship Costs and Servicing
 * Purchasing the Space Vessel
 * Determining Leads
 * Ship Availability
 * Vessel Location
 * Personnel and Skills
 * Repairs
 * Conducting Repairs
 * Time Factor
 * Component Replacement
 * Ship Maintenance
 * Other Costs

Making a Living
 * DropShip Revenues
 * JumpShip Revenues

Game Additions
 * AeroTech Additions
 * DropShip Combat
 * JumpShip Combat
 * Shipboard Gunners
 * Abandon Ship
 * BattleTech Additions
 * Fire Arcs
 * DropShip Damage
 * Ship Sizes
 * Drive Exhaust Blast
 * MechWarrior Additions
 * New Equipment
 * New Skills

Remarks on content

 * The title comprises (in book 1) descriptions of 33 units in total, all capital space faring designs and all previously unpublished. It contains:
 * 5 JumpShip designs,
 * 20 DropShip designs, spread in 5 different sub-categories,
 * 7 Small Craft designs and,
 * 3 Space Station designs.
 * The title contains (in book 2) general description of space ship constructions and operations, as well as rule sets for implementation of capital ships in AeroTech, BattleTech and MechWarrior.
 * In-universe the title is presented by ComStar, sometimes after 17 May 3025, without naming a specific author, place or date.

German Edition
A German edition under the title Raumfahrthandbuch (Space Faring Compendium) was released by Fantasy Productions in 1992. Unlike many other geman editions from FanPro, this contains only minor alterations to the original content (see below). The German version is printed as DIN A4, a standard European paper size, which is a little larger then north american Letter.

From the back cover (translated from German)
"Space Faring Compendium: The ultimate compendium on human space faring. Material on the state of space faring technology in 31st century compelled by ComStar-members.

This book contains:

History of space faring

JumpShips

DropShips

Small Craft

Space Stations

Ship Operations

"For a space traveller the The Space Faring Compendium is, what a Technical Readout is for the MechWarrior - an indispensable reference!" Tharkad Tech Review, 28th August 3030

Battletech

Fully compatible to:

BattleTech

AeroTech

MechWarrior"

Alterations
The content largely matches the original, but there are some minor variations:
 * The back cover text is greatly reduced.
 * It contains an explanation box Sprung- und Landungsschiffhersteller (Manufacturers of Jump/DropShips) on page 15, which is listed in the Table of Contents.
 * The space stations are described in alphabetical order (Alliance, Bastion, Olymp)
 * The book's second part (rules) is organized as Annex 1 in Table of Contents.
 * The original chapter Game Additions is organized as Annex 2 in Table of Contents, containing 8 blank German record sheets (2x aerodyne Dropship, 2x spheroid DropShip, 4x JumpShip).

Spelling and Names
As with other German products prior to 1997 spelling and names (especially places and units) as well as most abbreviations were regularly adjusted. For instance the Mech unit Archer was renamed to Schütze, the Planet Gotterdammerung was respelled to Götterdämmerung, the DCMS (Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery) became VSDK (Vereinigte Streitkräfte des Draconis Kombinats) and so on.

Errata
Andurien Industries is listed as a DropShip manufacturer for the Capellan Confederation. This was stated to be an error by the BattleTech Line Developer, Ray Arrastia. Production of the Triumph, Excalibur, and Avenger DropShips should be assigned to Rashpur-Owens Incorporated, as it was later in Objective Raids.