To use that to argue that LBB2 ships should generally use fuel almost like a LBB5 ship, despite the explicit rules in LBB2, is a bit contrived.
I agree ... while also disagreeing on the nuance in terms of details and implications.
I agree that the 10Pn tons of fuel
requirement is "correct" for LBB2 standard drives in order to build in sufficient safety margin for craft between 100-1000 tons. This then fits the bill for starship design/construction purposes when answering the question of setting the
minimum internal fuel requirement.
Where I disagree, when bringing the Beltstrike fuel consumption paradigm into picture, is that the 10Pn tons of fuel requirement yields an ipso facto fuel consumption rate over 4 weeks ... because Beltstrike yields a lower consumption rate. So what you wind up with is a situation where the 10Pn formula produces an "excessive safety margin" fuel requirement for smaller starships that extends their endurance beyond the stock and standard 4 weeks.
Taken in the spirit of the formula determines a floor, not a ceiling (because you can always add more fuel than the minimum requirement, for example) ... the way to square this circle is to accept the LBB2 sourced 10Pn formula as determining the MINIMUM TONNAGE REQUIRED by construction best practices and safety regulations ... but then go the extra step of using Beltstrike to compute the ACTUAL FUEL CONSUMPTION RATE which can then be used to compute the actual endurance available out of the available fuel mandated by the 10Pn formula.
What you wind up with then is a situation in which smaller ships are "forced" to accept an excessive power plant fuel margin, but for which they wind up with an endurance
in excess of 4 weeks duration as a result. By contrast, ships over 1000 tons, things move in the opposite direction, resulting in less than 4 weeks of continuous maneuvering endurance.
A 2000 ton starship with a Power Plant-K standard drive (code: 1) would produce 20EP and be mandated by regulations to allocate only 10 tons (minimum) for powerplant fuel (because, 10Pn). Using the (updated) Beltstrike fuel consumption formula of
((Tons/100*0.05)+(EP*0.35))*(days/7) we can determine that basic power will consume ((Tons/100*0.05))*(days/7)=1 ton of fuel per week ... and that the 20EP needed to maneuver @ Agility=1 will consume ((EP*0.35))*(days/7)=7 tons of fuel per week ... so 8 tons of fuel (out of 10 tons available) per week if continuously maneuvering. However, if you only spend 2 days maneuvering (1 day out to plus 1 day down from jump points) every 2 weeks in regular commercial service, you're spending 2 tons of fuel on basic power for those 2 weeks plus another 2 tons on maneuvering (power/fuel) in those 2 weeks ... meaning you're actually expending only 4 tons of fuel every 2 weeks ... so 10 tons of fuel will actually last you 5 weeks (not just 4 weeks as advertised in the construction rules) when put into commercial merchant service at an operational tempo of jumping once every 2 weeks.
As soon as you accept the notion that the construction rules mandate the
minimum fuel tonnage allocation for the naval architect spreadsheet ... while simultaneously accepting the idea that the fuel allocation
can exceed an endurance rating of 4 weeks, rather than always being EXACTLY SPOT ON 4 weeks in every permutation no matter what ... various factors start settling into place in an acceptable fashion.
Yes, the 10Pn formula "punishes" smaller ships while also "rewarding" larger ships that use standard drives, in terms of consuming more tonnage for fuel in smaller ships. However, if you take the viewpoint that a side effect of such a "larger than absolutely necessary" fuel fraction is an operational endurance of longer than 4 weeks (more like slightly over 26 weeks after jumping in the case of the Scout/Courier using Beltstrike consumption rates) things start looking a lot less ...
wasteful ... and instead skew more heavily in the direction of Safety Margins(!) and extended endurance for smaller ships.
Needless to say, this is an interpretation that I would personally favor.
The minimum tonnage formulas (LBB2 and LBB5) are "correct" ... but the endurance those formulas produce is ... flexible.
The formulas ought to suffice for a 4 week MINIMUM endurance while operating on a commercial timetable of 1 jump week and 1 commerce week per 2 weeks, although (obviously) use cases may vary between commercial, military and paramilitary mission operations.
