There are 3 different types of Cargo Bays in the Core Book. Main Cargo Hold, Cargo Hold & Lighter Bay, and Compartmentalized Cargo Hold.

Now, other than the obvious Achievement Point Bonuses they get, my question is what is the Role Play or out of game mechanics that makes these different. Specifically, can I launch Guncutters and Aquila Landers from my Main Cargo Hold and Comp-Hold like I can from the Lighter Bay and can the Lighter Bay launch Aquilas and Guncutters faster than a Main Cargo Hold? Is there something special about a Lighter Bay that makes it better for launching Space Craft? Furthermore, as a side note, what would be the average “Air Force” a Rogue Trader would have, hundreds or just a few of each of the main types of “Shuttles” that are in the books, ie: Aquila Landers, Guncutters, Halo Barges, Arvus Lighters… Not worried about fighters as those are normally on Carriers and Ships with the Launch Bay Component.

Thanks, Cpt H.

From a meta perspective allowing lighting bays to launch fighter/bomb squadrons would give a hull effectively another weapon slot.

to justify this you could said that there is a huge difference between a lighter bay and a launcher bay. The former doesn't have the capacity to launch/land, refuel, rearm, repair the number of craft needed to support a combat squadron.

To actually answer your question… I imagine a lighter bay as an advanced cargo handling facility. Able to shift cargo into/out-of Lighters far more quickly than normal.

A lighter bay will include a hangar for the lighters, but not normally combat craft. A hold can store combat craft, but in a 'transport/storage condition', not 'flight condition'. You would need to transfer the craft to a hangar to make it flight ready. A lighter bay could be used to make the craft flight ready and then launch them fairly quickly. So you might unload a hold full of guncutters in 24 hours and transfer them to a ground airfield where they could be supported for planet-side operations. Without a lighter bay you would be restricted to the minimal bays a ship has as standard and it might take you a week.

You could imagine using the Lighter bay hangar to store a handful of other craft like guncutters and Aquila landers. Of course, if you mothballed most of the lighters you would lose your objective bonus.

Battlefleet Koronus touches on this. All cargo hold components come with additional small craft to facilitate loading and unloading. The Cargo Hold and Lighter Bay gives no special advantages here - it's actually the least advanced form of cargo hold components that can be added. The only thing that it does is allow for a more chaotic jumble - making it easier to use for smuggling (bonus to Criminal Endeavours) at the expense of some ability to truly move large cargos effectively (reduced bonus to Trade Endeavours relative to the other cargo components).

I interpreted the criminal endeavour advantage derives from the specifically mentioned Lighter bays. It seems to me that the other Holds are more reliant on port-owned Lighters. All starships has some Lighters, but the CH&LB component gives more - allowing the RT to move goods quickly with his own Lighters.

Officially per Battlefleet Koronus, all cargo components include additional small craft. The Cargo Hold and Lighter Bay is just the one where your small craft have to share the same space as the cargo (it's one big multipurpose hold/bay) and, as such, it's the least optimized for high end cargo hauling.

In response to your question about how many, I generally assume something like five heavy lifters and a pair of gun-cutters is standard.

Thank you all!

Battlefleet Koronus has a sidebar that states that you get one small craft per 5 Hull Integrity. You also get another 4 per cargo component. I count Barracks components as cargo components, to account for the troop shuttles or boarding shuttles used by the troops.

WilliamAsher said:

RAW doesn't exactly say that you get 'another 4 per cargo component' - it says that a ship with a cargo component gets another 4. There is no mention of cargo components beyond the first granting any added small craft, but it's a very reasonable house rule.

"However, if a ship has a cargo hold component (such as the Cargo Hold and Lighter Bay), they should be able to hold an additional four vehicles." Battlefleet Koronus, page 11.