OSR Review & Commentary On The Lance-class Gunboat By Michael Johnson, & Bradley Warnes From Independence Games

 "The Lance-class is a 300-ton Royal Navy gunboat that revived the concept of a gunboat.    Armed with a 50-ton particle beam spinal mount and a railgun barbette, the Lance had the capability to be a serious threat to larger warships.  The Lance was used by the British to defend their colonial holdings in Earth Sector and inspired several nations to come up with their own versions of these powerful little vessels."

"Together with a purpose constructed interstellar capable gunboat carrier, the Maidstone-class, this allowed the Royal Navy to deploy up to six Lance-class gunboats to any system in which it was needed. This allowed for enormous flexibility and was a novel concept at a time where carriers were beginning to be considered by some navies to be an obsolete concept in space."

"This book comes complete with full deckplans and statistics for both the Lance and the Maidstone to make your use of our product simple, easy, and fun.  In addition, the book includes some excellent fiction by author Bradley Warnes."

"Though specifically designed for our Clement Sector setting, the Lance and the Maidstone can be imported into any science fiction setting with little effort."

"Climb aboard!  Adventure awaits!"

Lance-class Gunboat By Michael Johnson, &  Bradley Warnes is a very solid sixty one page supplement for old school Traveller & the Earth Sector rpg. Here the Lance-class Gunboat is really featured right out of the gate. The Lance class Gunboat isn't the first sort of ship that one thinks of when it comes to interstellar adventure. But these boats see themselves into the thick of the fray in many battles & there aftermaths. The fact that these gun boats are often embroiled in the affairs & battles of the Clement  sector makes them excellent foils for Cepheus Engine rpg adventure especially in the Clement sector rpg. 
And it's this aspect of the gunboat that makes them perfectly suited to a small party of crew that find themselves in trouble & battles more oftern then not. This is also true of the Lance Class gun boats even unto their development; " At the same time various designs for a new uprated patrol boat (that later evolved into the Lance-class gunboat) were being examined by the Royal Navy, the Admiralty Board requested expressions of interest for a Zimm capable carrier of no more than two and a half thousand displacement tonnes that could deploy a full six boat squadron. The carrier design tender took longer to resolve and even longer to decide which design was preferable. Eventually though, a design was chosen and construction of the first of the three carriers to be ordered was commenced in 2208. "
From busting up space piracy, interstellar smuggling, human trafficking, etc. the Lance class gunboat is going to be where the action is! 
This is especially true of the tech update 2350 which goes over the roles of star ship in the Clement Sector. The role of the Lance Class Gunboat reminds me of the Iron Clads during the American Civil War. 

The attention to detail in the design of the Lance Class Gunboat is reflected in the fiction of Bradley Warnes and Michel Johnson's writing. There's more then enough adventure hooks if the Lance class gunboat is used in a Cepheus Engine campaign. The deadliness of these ships is not to be underestimated within a Clement or Earth Sector campaign. The Lance-class Gunboat By Michael Johnson, &  Bradley Warnes is solidly done & would make an excellent addition to any Cepheus Engine or Old School Traveller rpg campaign. 

Lance-class Gunboat By Michael Johnson, &  Bradley Warnes From Independence Games For Old School Traveller & Cepheus Engine rpg is Available Here