Merchants weapons

[swordtart]

I agree that building a dedicated pirate hunter is a double edged sword, but Q-ships have their place.

Issue 1/ While under construction the word about this business Q ship gets out and pirates put it on the "do not approach" list. You can avoid this by making the ship far away then it has a long trip with no income. Better have deep pockets

I had a shipping line that used modular cutters. 90% of the time they just carried cargo, every once in a while they carried one to four SERIOUS weapons* modules (depending on anticipated threat level). These modules were swapped out in a private secure facility so there was no way for a normal pirate to find out (if they had the resources to get someone working at the private shipyard then security was compromised and there was a much bigger problem).

The fact that the line operated Q-Ships was well advertised but, as it would change from month to month which particular ship that might be, I used the logic that pirates would steer clear just in case.

The point behind a Q-Ship is that the pirates think it is a merchant, that adds in wider Op-Sec considerations that need to be addressed not just making a Q-Ship and hoping for the best. You need to hide among the sheep.

Issue 2/ The most effective pirates would have insiders telling what ships to attack, yours has suspiciously little (or none) cargo let alone cargo of value. The customs people on the take as their informants will know what your ship is. Won't be approached. No income.

In my case after the cargo had been dropped off at the private yard which module it went into or which module was loaded was known to a much smaller group.

Issue 3/ Unless pirates are a severe danger in the area you could go months or years with no income as you don't get attacked and if they ARE a severe issue the navy will show up in the major systems and minor systems don't have enough business of value to support the pirates. Your ship will look like a pirate to the navy with their REAL warships who just want you dead not to steal your cargo.

This is an issue if you are making your income from hunting pirates but less of an issue if you are just protecting your regular business. If you are part of a line rather than an independent you will have less trouble with the Navy.

Issue 4/ Your ship may be a match for the pirate but that just means you both get wrecked unless your ship is substantially bigger. Which means much more expensive to buy and operate.

This is definitely a question of balance (as in all things). Any merchant line (whether sole-operator or a fleet concern) will draw their financial line to determine if the risk of loss is lesser than the cost to prevent that risk.

Issue 5/ Who is going to give you a mortgage on a ship that is actively seeking combat? Too great a chance of losing the money loaned possibly on its first battle.

This works better for lines as they can self-fund.

Issue 6/ Unless you have letters of marque the fact that you are hunting other ships makes YOU a pirate too.

This is where the difference between hunting pirates and legitimately defending the other ships in your fleet becomes an important consideration.

* The actual weapons are not relevant here, I don't want to start yet another argument about which weapons are best, whether dogfighting is a good thing etc. I Know what I want to happen in my game, I just need plausible deniability

 

[Condottiere]

If the issue is cost, than you'll have to find the cheapest way to discourage hijacking.

This might be threatening to blow up the entire spacecraft, including anything adjacent, which would discourage boarding parties.

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

I agree that building a dedicated pirate hunter is a double edged sword, but Q-ships have their place.

I had a shipping line that used modular cutters. 90% of the time they just carried cargo, every once in a while they carried one to four SERIOUS weapons* modules (depending on anticipated threat level). These modules were swapped out in a private secure facility so there was no way for a normal pirate to find out (if they had the resources to get someone working at the private shipyard then security was compromised and there was a much bigger problem).

Unless the line maintained the modules at every site then the pirates would just ignore the ship when it launched from its site with the modules, the only place they could be fitted with one as every other place the informants could tell them they loaded cargo or not. This is much more expensive as is maintaining a modular fleet with no other advantage than fighting pirates, makes you less competitive.

A Q ship like that is much less effective if it has no armour and if it does it is less effective as a merchant even with a module. If your whole fleet isn't armoured then the pirates know which ships to ignore namely the armoured few.

This works better for lines as they can self-fund.

Locks out the pirate hunting PCs unless they are working for such a line. If they own the line why would they be on the ship or doing adventures?

This is where the difference between hunting pirates and legitimately defending the other ships in your fleet becomes an important consideration.

Still a case of the government and competition needing to fear that you had your own private navy. After all you might be a Zhodani operation that when a war comes you become commerce raiders.

Want to be safe from pirates? Carry the government mail and have the Imperium very clear that any attack on a mail ship brings out the fleet till the pirate is DEAD. Include anyone feeding information, supplying or buying from a pirate with Imperial intelligence hunting them down.

 

[Condottiere]

Optionally, set for ramming speed, and chase the pirate ship.

If you do manage to ram them, you could still blow up your spacecraft.

 

[MarcusIII]

Pirates need the victim's ship. If they know they will be killed while boarding they will pass on the effort.

 

[swordtart]

Unless the line maintained the modules at every site then the pirates would just ignore the ship when it launched from its site with the modules, the only place they could be fitted with one as every other place the informants could tell them they loaded cargo or not. This is much more expensive as is maintaining a modular fleet with no other advantage than fighting pirates, makes you less competitive.

The difference is between fitting every ship with enough defence that it can probably see off a pirate vs fitting out a few that could reduce the pirate to a flaming hulk. The former costs you cargo capacity on every ship, the latter costs you a little more cargo capacity but on only 1 ship in 10.

Modular fleets have other uses since you can vary the module to fit surges in market conditions.

A Q ship like that is much less effective if it has no armour and if it does it is less effective as a merchant even with a module. If your whole fleet isn't armoured then the pirates know which ships to ignore namely the armoured few.

Carrying sufficient armour to make a difference is difficult to judge. If you you can strike hard enough to destroy the enemy before they can get an effective volley off then you don't need armour. Eggshells armed with hammers. Pirates don't tend to open up on ship until they think the ship will resist (or they risk just destroying the ship and any cargo with it).

Locks out the pirate hunting PCs unless they are working for such a line. If they own the line why would they be on the ship or doing adventures?

Same applies if they can afford a dedicated pirate hunter. Not everything we do in world building is as a player activity. There are adventure possibilities if they are passengers on such a ship, work their passage for the ship or are taken on as crew for a specific anti-pirate missions. Of course sometimes the players will be the pirates.

Still a case of the government and competition needing to fear that you had your own private navy. After all you might be a Zhodani operation that when a war comes you become commerce raiders.

If the game allows armed merchants then you do have your own private Navy. If the Navy is doing it's job then you don't need to build you own Q-ships.

Want to be safe from pirates? Carry the government mail and have the Imperium very clear that any attack on a mail ship brings out the fleet till the pirate is DEAD. Include anyone feeding information, supplying or buying from a pirate with Imperial intelligence hunting them down.

I am not sure the setting indicates that people carrying mail are immune to piracy. The fact that you are required to be armed to get a mail contract indicates that you are expected to defend yourself.

I am also not entirely sure how the IN is going to identify which specific ship it was that attacked a mail carrier until well after the fact. All that is needed is to change the transponder code (or the ship) and the pirate just drifts into the background.

That means Imperial intelligence spending a lot of time digging around, finding co-conspirators, locating a base of operations or a pattern of attack to get Imperial naval assets in the right place to intercept. I can see the Imperial Navy going to all that trouble for an X-boat carrying the Imperial Mail, but attacking a private trader who just happens to be carrying this weeks local mail from Inchin might get the pirate on a watch list from the Colonial Navy. They would need to be a repeat offender to become public enemy number 1.

 

[Vormaerin]

If your pirates are that organized and informed, you are probably just hosed anyway and should probably stop shipping along that route. They've won. Game over. Wait until the Navy can do something about it, if that ever happens. Maybe stealthy smuggler ships can keep using the route. But their spies will probably just tell you about those ships too.

Pirate risk comes in a variety of forms and different solutions apply to different situations.

 

[Terry Mixon]

If your pirates are that organized and informed, you are probably just hosed anyway and should probably stop shipping along that route. They've won. Game over. Wait until the Navy can do something about it, if that ever happens. Maybe stealthy smuggler ships can keep using the route. But their spies will probably just tell you about those ships too.

Pirate risk comes in a variety of forms and different solutions apply to different situations.

A high stealth, jump stealth pirate hunter would be good for this kind of environment. Either paid for by the Navy or local governments, it could stalk juicy targets that aren’t affiliated with it and let them be the stalking horse.

 

[Vormaerin]

At some point, you either decide that the profits from the trade justify the expense and you pick whichever strategy you think will get the best results or you pack up shop.

In a situation where the pirates have infiltrated the local organization to the extent posited, the correct strategy is probably spy hunters not starships.