How can pirates work?

[spinwardpirate]

Pirates would, imho, possibly flourish in areas with:

• Law Level 0
  Balkanized Govt
  Captive Govt
  Areas of Civil War
  Areas of Trade Disputs
  Along Contested Borders

 

[spinwardpirate]

A starship is a different animal altogather. To fix things you need a full shipyard. And trained people to work the equipment.

Is it? Does it have to be? I think some some really nifty hi-tech gizmos should be able to help. Maybe our intrepid adventurers are innovative, and can fabricate the Jump Thermos Transfer Coupling from an old vacc suit and a pair of sneakers.

 

[hdrider67]

Hrider, are you familiar with the incident some years back where a band of intrepid pirates tried to molest a tanker, only to discover to late that it was a Russian Navy underway replenishment ship? If not, they did not discover thier mistake until one of the 57mm AA mounts was uncovered and opened up. Talk about a case of bad intel. And bad judgement as well. Next time you will study your recognition cards better.


I do agree that good intel is the best way to make it. But that makes for a bigger organization, and more potential to be discovered. Both of these make it harder for PCs to be pirates.

And really, that is mostly what I am interested in. NPC pirates are no problem. They simply happen, and who knows or cares if they are long term viable. PCs OTOH are more of a problem.

LOL No I hadn't heard of that one. I'll try to find it, though. I was on an AE years ago. We ony had 50 cals but I daresay any would be pirate would have been really sorry.

I'd have loved it, myself. I was a SAT/BAF team member. I would 'only' have had an M-14 but that's a kick a$$ rifle.

I gotta look that incident up.

As for intel, it'd be easier to hit an outbound ship (for reasons you entioned about coming in hot). Getting the intel would be as simple as getting one of the merchies drunk at one of the many port-side bars.

Heck, I knew sailors who would forget movement was confidential and would blab all night over a pitcher of Mojo or Bullfrog, telling everyone in subic bay where our next port of call was and when we'd be back. That was back in the days of the NPA, too so we'd drag them out for a 'talk' when we heard it.

Merchies would be half as difficult to drag info out of.

 

[Infojunky]

I'd have loved it, myself. I was a SAT/BAF team member. I would 'only' have had an M-14 but that's a kick a$$ rifle.

I preferred the mossberg my self. Liked the concept of skittering shot down the companionway. Though for off the sides MaDuece is the only things that beats the M-14. Well except for the ground control for the SeaWhiz......

Heck, I knew sailors who would forget movement was confidential and would blab all night over a pitcher of Mojo or Bullfrog.

Heh, that give me a hangover just thinking about it.

 

[spinwardpirate]

I was just skimming my ill-fated proposal for GURPS Traveller Corsairs. A couple things I dreamed up were the Psi-rates, a group of post-Psionic Suppression pirates that hated the Imperium, and as a place to run when things were hot, the Space Gypsies.

 

[SSWarlock]

A long time player of Traveller, Walt Smith, came up with an economic analysis of piracy. Rather than post it here, the analysis and his thoughts on piracy in general are on his website at
http://users.hartwick.edu/smithw/traveller.htm

An interesting read.

 

[hdrider67]

I'd have loved it, myself. I was a SAT/BAF team member. I would 'only' have had an M-14 but that's a kick a$$ rifle.

I preferred the mossberg my self. Liked the concept of skittering shot down the companionway. Though for off the sides MaDuece is the only things that beats the M-14. Well except for the ground control for the SeaWhiz......

Heck, I knew sailors who would forget movement was confidential and would blab all night over a pitcher of Mojo or Bullfrog.

I was pretty good with the 1911 so I ended up pulling Captains guard for in shore stuff. That's a fine weapon.

I never got into the shotgun. I'm not sure why, it just wasn't as much fun.

I was pushed into the 14 because out Marine liason (I was first and will always be a 'phib sailor) figured out I was prone to find a spot with cover during drills. He ended up having me take up residence on the boat deck davits, in the air control "tower" and places where you wouldn't expect someone to be. Security alerts were the only fun part of standing duty. I even got to wax a couple of seals once in a drill (to be fair, they were inexperienced and we had a warning we'd be hit that night).

Heh, that give me a hangover just thinking about it.

LOL. Those were the days. I think I'll have to put myself on 45/45 so I don't forget they weren't all great.

What was your rating?

/Boatswains Mate

 

[Infojunky]

Heh, that give me a hangover just thinking about it.

LOL. Those were the days. I think I'll have to put myself on 45/45 so I don't forget they weren't all great.

What was your rating?

/Boatswains Mate

The frightening fact is that I PNAd the 1st class exam 4 times For Boatswain's Mate. Also was one of the last assault boat coxswain's who served as ancillary staff at Subic Bay. a couple of the others were left over Brown water Navy types, between them and the Seal Team I got me an education.

 

[Talon Brightmane]

In the Spinward Marches, pirates could easily have sponsors. The Sword Worlds would be happy to encourage piracy in the 3I. The Zhodani would easily turn a blind eye if it suited them. And the Vargr have a culture based on it.

I have always treated the Imperium like the Roman Empire. Most Military forces are located near important bases/core systems. Given that communication is at speed of Jump, it can be weeks before a naval force can reach as area of high pirate activity.

 

[zozotroll]

But what about local forces? A 660T SDB is to expensive for a starting party, but hardly expensive to any sort of goverment. And with no cargo space, or J-drive and fuel for it, it can probably beat double its displacement in pirates.

And what sort of idiots wont have a few? After all, if you dont get some of them, there is nothing to keep them pirates from raiding the planet. And if it is to poor to afford SDBs, then it may well be not worth going to.

And in the short term, taking a cut from the pirates seems a good idea, in the long it cuts off outside trade. Bad move for any but the most isolationist goverments.

 

[Talon Brightmane]

I mentioned in a different thread that I saw piracy in Traveller being closer to a train robbery than piracy in the age of sail.

Even under this view, I have to admit that SDBs are going to be the biggest threat to any group pirates. This is going to force pirates to stick to backwater systems or they are going to have to get a couple of people on the inside and hijack the ship long enough to let a pirate ship dock and steal the cargo.

Killing crews and such would be out of the question for most pirates. That WOULD bring naval attention, while theft of cargo might not.

 

[tneva82]

Come out of hyper as fast as you can, and still be able to decel to orbit speed by the time you get to the planet.

I would imagine local trafic control might have "some" issues about entering suddenly into space in uncontrollable speed. Sure space is big but chance of two uncontrollably fast moving objects(since logically outgoing ships would be doing same) would still be bigger than zero so it would happen.

Not to mention how easy it would be for hostiles to get close enough if such breakneckking speed entries would be common.

 

[tneva82]

And this rather large complex is not going to be very hidden. Any body who cruises by will notice the energy signature if nothing else.

And who would happen to just cruise by say 0.7 parsec away from planet middle of nowhere? Or 0.4 parsec? 0.5. 0.3, 0.8...

Plenty of space to hide.

 

[hdrider67]

Heh, that give me a hangover just thinking about it.

LOL. Those were the days. I think I'll have to put myself on 45/45 so I don't forget they weren't all great.

What was your rating?

/Boatswains Mate

The frightening fact is that I PNAd the 1st class exam 4 times For Boatswain's Mate. Also was one of the last assault boat coxswain's who served as ancillary staff at Subic Bay. a couple of the others were left over Brown water Navy types, between them and the Seal Team I got me an education.

I sorta had a umm, discipline problem in my first hitch. Funny thing was the first mast got me kicked out of the POM. I'm so glad I didn't end up working in the stuffy CTI environment. I didn't know it at the time how lucky I was.

I think the multiple masts had something to do with my PNA problem. That and the fact that our ships were being decommed left and right between Bush 41 and Clinton led to a glut of BM2's and 1's Nobody was making rate when I left. I did make (and actually kept) 3rd class.

I do wish I'd have been able to do some brown water stuff. I was cox'n qualified and a bit of a nut so I think I might have fit in well. My ship carried one of the SEAL boats and it looked like it'd be kickin good fun to drive.

 

[zozotroll]

And this rather large complex is not going to be very hidden. Any body who cruises by will notice the energy signature if nothing else.

And who would happen to just cruise by say 0.7 parsec away from planet middle of nowhere? Or 0.4 parsec? 0.5. 0.3, 0.8...

Plenty of space to hide.

Depends on if you believe there are systems in the blank hexes on the map. Canon implies there are not. But of course you can certainly rule there are. and that is one of the changes that can be made to allow pirates.

But has been mentioned, you have to change at least some canon to make pirates make sense in 3I at the end. They work just fine during Long Night, or at the start of the 3I.

There are other changes that work as well. Like SimonH suggested, ditch the big fleets. Nothing over 5000T. That also has the effect of makeing Free Traders a useful Naval auxileries. Which is one of the reasons given for allowing civilians to mount hevy weapons.

 

[zozotroll]

Come out of hyper as fast as you can, and still be able to decel to orbit speed by the time you get to the planet.

I would imagine local trafic control might have "some" issues about entering suddenly into space in uncontrollable speed. Sure space is big but chance of two uncontrollably fast moving objects(since logically outgoing ships would be doing same) would still be bigger than zero so it would happen.

Not to mention how easy it would be for hostiles to get close enough if such breakneckking speed entries would be common.

As keeps getting mentioned, space is big. 100D is a huge voume of space. So high speed out there is a danger to no one except pirates, and the apperently nonexistant patrol. As for enemys, of course they are going to come in even faster. Why not? Is there some intergalactic speed limit?

The only way to prevent that, is to patrol the border systems where a hostile fleet to prepare a jump to a major system. And patroling those systems is also likely to catch silly buggers trying to set up a pirate base.

Another favorite argument of Travellers everywhere is what to do about an enemy jumping in at .9C. At 100D the defense has no time to react before it slams the planet for massive damage. There is nothing in cano to prevent this. But that is a topic for another thread.

 

[spinwardpirate]

What size vector does a maneuver drive 1 ship have when it hits the 100D limit on the way outbound?

 

[zozotroll]

What size vector does a maneuver drive 1 ship have when it hits the 100D limit on the way outbound?

A lot! I am not a math wiz to set up the formula, I have to work it out by hand. But it will be a lot of KPS. If I get time, I will work it out and post it.

 

[Deniable]

What size vector does a maneuver drive 1 ship have when it hits the 100D limit on the way outbound?

Really crude numbers assuming d=12800 km, 1g = 9.8 m/s and I've remembered the right formulae,
Assuming no turnover and straight thrust with no other effects:
Time to travel 100d is ~4.5 hours.
Final speed is ~160 km/s.

Another thing, if these pirates are hiding in empty space, where do they get fuel?

Has anybody mentioned Q ships yet?

 

[Infojunky]

I think the multiple masts had something to do with my PNA problem. That and the fact that our ships were being decommed left and right between Bush 41 and Clinton led to a glut of BM2's and 1's Nobody was making rate when I left. I did make (and actually kept) 3rd class.

Yep, Sounds like the navy I left. Part of the problem was they reorganized Navy Spec. Forces in 87ish, a lot Boatswain's Mate in that command, they were given the choice of regular fleet or out. Couple this with the then new up-or-out policy, forcing a butt-load of Career Seamen into competition for rate the field got pretty crowded. I was trying to figure out which Master Chief I needed to Off to make 1st, the answer was Most of em. If I had made 1st, I probably was gonna strike for a Warrant as a Bosun, as you gained eligibility when you completed your quals for Chief.

But that being said, my "graduating" class was nothing but 1st and 2nd classes, who like me were stuck. I would have stayed in the brown water navy for a career if they hadn't axed it.

I do wish I'd have been able to do some brown water stuff. I was cox'n qualified and a bit of a nut so I think I might have fit in well. My ship carried one of the SEAL boats and it looked like it'd be kickin good fun to drive.

One Word. HEH!..... You don't know the half of it.

ObTrav: A typical pirate ship is refitted to cary as many small craft as possible, Gigs, Ship's Boats, etc. using a multitude of small fast craft allows for rapid engagement of the target and escape if necessary.