Uh huh and when said RT is found out then what happens? Aside from which said RT most likely will have assistance from other races. Not so SM. The point of the miners is that mining is not a difficult process to do. Miners can just DIG for the material, not even the most important ore. Digging is SIMPLE.
Well, not a whole lot, apparently. Since they regularly take xenos systems without taking Imperial fire, though I would not be surprised if the Admech were miffed at them. Oh, and, I don't think that the Eldar or the Fra'al or the Yuvath have conveniently located shipyards for any Rogue trader to just pull into and start refitting. Remember, most races are not the Tau or the Stryxis. You also leave out all the wrecking operations that go on, which ALSO require extensive knowledge of how a ship goes together.
You haven't produced anything which shows they do the actual building, BT or UM. Let's face it, fluffwise, AM handles the building of warships.
Again, Nightbringer, Chapter 4. The
Vae Victus was built at Calth by the Ultramarines, several centuries previous to the beginning of the novel. I've site this source twice now.
No, the assertation is the BT do not have the technical knowledge to build such ships. Resources (raw materials) they will most likely have. How to transform such raw materials in a warship, they do not. Again, define what you man by "replace".
Site a source that says they have no technical knowledge. I've sited several that they do. (One would hope that in a 30 year apprenticeship the tech marines in particular would have gone beyond bolt tightening. After all, it only takes 10 to be an engineer)
No, I have proof from the fluff based on the background of the 40k universe. You do not have any proof whatsoever. You made the assertation that BT can build ships without AM assistance. As such it is you who has to present the proof they can. All you have provided is that BT are fleet based which does not mean they build their own ships. You present proof that they have fleets which is not being contradicted here. The issue here is can they build ships without AM assistance. You have not provided any proof whatsoever.
A simple one would be that the AdMech would have refused to alter the
Eternal Crusader from it's holy STC design. Since this alteration did take place, it would have to have been without the assistance of the AdMech, and, as the ship is a Battlebarge, would have required extensive facilities to carry out, and highly trained shipwrights.
and, I might point out that you have not sited a single source other then to make vague statements about '40k background'.
I know adding shotlockers to Bolters would be easier than adding a power source for something as complicated as a Lascannon. That is a simple problem of layout. How to place the Bolters in such a way as to feed the Hurricane Bolters which are simple weapons at best. Oh yes I DO UNDERSTAND the complexities involved, especially as an ENGINEER.
Really? Then you'd know that a series of six synchronized ammo feeds (per side) are a lot harder to pull off them a single high voltage connection and a group of capacitors. Further, the feeds would require a precise timing mechanism to feed the ammunition into the bolters without fouling, which would be rather complicated as it fires six bolters at once. A lascannon is complicated (sort of, well, not really, assuming that it's just a very powerful laser) within the weapon itself, rather then the ancillary mechanisms to operate it.
Exactly, a temporary repair which I never said the BTs or any engineer could not do. But repairs are different from BUILDING something. If you cannot get the difference between REPAIRING and BUILDING, then it's useless to discuss things further.
Regarding K19, while it had no backups, there were still failsafes on board which could have assisted in minimizing the problem. These failsafes failed which resulted in the required fabricating of a pipe to direct water to cool down the problem reactor. K-19s problem was simple: how to cool down the reactor (note that I said simple, though this in no way downplays the seriousness of the problem). Making a pipe to divert water from another source on the ship is a simple solution as well.
I'm not sure why you seem to think they're two separate things. I know, at least in my field, they're exactly the same skills. And, as John Staph, one of the men that built the Triton missile, told me, 'You need to know how to build one to know how to fix one.'
And, btw: you'd have to know that the air intake connects in a manner that would direct the coolant into the proper location, instead of, say, flooding the boat. Further, the only failsafe was SCRAM, which simply inserts all the control rods. SCRAM worked perfectly, however, without any coolant in the system, SCRAM doesn't do too much to prevent a meltdown.
However, that wasn't what you said they did the first time.
Again we're not talking about repairs in the case of BT but building ships. Yes, as I said, Techmarines will have some general knowledge to help repair. Building something is another issue entirely. If you don't believe me, go build yourself a ship like a Nimitz class. Heck, you can even watch the building of one in Discovery Channel if you can catch it when they do re-runs or get a copy.
While I doubt I could build myself a Nimitz (without being arrested, plutonium requires a license) I could, however, build you a nice unmanned drone carrier with a more conventional propulsion system (I'm fond of the Babcox and Wilcox non-explosive boiler, myself. It's not as efficient, but any idiot can be trained to operate it, and if something goes wrong, there's no issues with all that Strontium 90). And some drones, though nothing as well armed or fast as the USG's toys. Or any number of cute civilian ships. Assuming you want to drop the money on me to get all the materials I need.
@Sigorath: So, to summarize, what you're saying is "If it doesn't agree with MY interpretation of things in a fictional universe, it's WRONG!"
(And, by the way, once upon a time, SM could be equipped with lasguns)
Normally, I'd just let it go at that, but let me tear into your supposition further:
1) Premise of a fictional universe: 40,000 years in the future, the totalitarian Imperium of Mankind is in slow decline, as it teeters toward oblivion. Existing power structures are under constant attack from both within and without, slowly crumbing under their own inertia while the Inquisition tries to hold it all together [and occasionally disturbing things best left undisturbed] and the IG and SM run around pissing on fires.
(Anyone want to argue that this is not 40k?)
2) Historical Incidents: I've already covered this ground fairly well.
Point me to where the Inquisition is going to say "Despite you being the only thing standing between us and (species/invasion/heresy here) Space Marine, kneel down to be executed because we feel you're too powerful. We don't mind losing the sector over this and possibly starting another Badab War."
The High Lords of Terra have so little concern about space marines they don't even know how many chapters there are. That a single chapter sized an entire sector of space was of little concern, until they didn't pay their taxes for 150 years. And even then, it was only because several space marines chapters got into a private shooting war that the Inquisition even noticed.
Fluff states that the High Lords spend a great deal more time worrying about one another, and their own power hungry subordinates, then about space marines (After all, to fill someone's shoes, you must first empty them) and that, in fact, this is the reason they grant so many Writs of Trade, to dispose of useful people that are making them nervous without having to kill them.
Further, when an Empire reaches this level of decline, typically their ability to enforce their will starts to diminish rapidly in far flung areas and on groups only nominally under thier control. (See Gibbon's
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire)
