Dear Phil and Tom,

In the 'T'Book' there is detailed a 'Type M' (subsidized liner). Using a 600dT hull, it has J3 & 1G.
In addition there is the 'Type C' (mercenary cruiser). Using an 800dT hull, it has J3 & 3G.
Also there is the 'Type T' (patrol cruiser). Using a 400dT hull, it has J3 & 4G, which would seem to contradict the "400-ton to J2" limit you mention above?

LBB2v2 offers the choice of either using a custom hull, or of selecting one of 6 "standard hulls" from 100-ton to 1000-ton. The main advantages are a shorter build time (about 10% less) and less expense (from 90% saving on the 100-ton hull to no saving on the 800- and 1000-ton hulls). The main downside, and it's a doozy, is capping the total volume that can be allocated to drives and the PP.

Consequently, a 400-ton hull is capped at 50dT for drives/PP. The largest "letter" of J-drive and PP that can be fit into this volume is "E" (30+16 dT), which is only enough to get a 400-ton craft up to J2.

Therefore, I presume that the Type T patrol cruiser has a custom hull, without these limits.

For the sake of comparing the LBB2v2 drives and PPs to the HGv2 ones, I assumed all hulls were custom hulls. Two reasons for this: (a) using the HGv2 design sequence, one is allowed to use LBB2v2 drives, but no mention is made of having the LBB2v2 "standard hull" available; and (b) when comparing drives with drives, it did not seem necessary to involve choice of custom -v- standard hull - one drive is superior to another at a given hull-size and performance number regardless of whether it is in a custom or a standard hull.

Cheers!

KenB