Why Corsairs?
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AnotherDilbert
Emperor Mongoose
You could use something like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptiv
Basically use a holographic hull to paint a bright small hull, and make the rest of the hull dark. At extreme range visual sensors could be tricked into seeing only the smaller hull. ECM can be sneaky.
Basically use a holographic hull to paint a bright small hull, and make the rest of the hull dark. At extreme range visual sensors could be tricked into seeing only the smaller hull. ECM can be sneaky.
That is just too cool. LOLAnotherDilbert said:You could use something like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptiv
Basically use a holographic hull to paint a bright small hull, and make the rest of the hull dark. At extreme range visual sensors could be tricked into seeing only the smaller hull. ECM can be sneaky.
AnotherDilbert said:You could use something like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptiv
Basically use a holographic hull to paint a bright small hull, and make the rest of the hull dark. At extreme range visual sensors could be tricked into seeing only the smaller hull. ECM can be sneaky.
Yep, and then there is matching engine output, and Moving like a fully loaded cargo ship. If it's got the same radar and lidar signature as a Free Trader, if it has the same engine and reactor noise as a free trader, Most automated or semi-automated identification systems will tell the operator it's a Free Trader.
as for transponders. Usually, they are only an automated self-contained system that transmits a coded pulse in response to challenges from a sensor system or in response to another ships transponders. If a system is encrypted and hard coded with a ship's identity and uses a fairly sophisticated security features it an only broadcast the Identity and registry information it is programmed with. It is also likely tamper-proofed or will scream bloody murder if it's tampered with.
removing a ships official transponder and installing a system that can mimic the frequency and encryption of an official transponder would be relatively easy. If you knew the specs of an official Imperium approved transponder.
Reynard
Cosmic Mongoose
It doesn't say so in the rules but I have a feeling those pirated transponder units are built to easily fool commercial vessels and crews but it might not a bad thing that a receiving ship make a Difficult or Very Difficult Electronic(Comms) check to determine if a transponder is false.
Reynard said:
True, any deception should have an associated chance of failure whether it's forged documents or counterfeit goods, or black-market variable transponders. Deception sort of depends on the degree of attention the target is paying to the details....and how paranoid the target is changes the level of attention the target is paying.
So in addition to any clever tricks with transponders and deception hardware,a good story would be in order. One that explains why you are where yo are and why you are doing what you are doing
meeting a ship on a commonly traveled and patrolled route would cause less suspicion than encountering a vessel in regions where pirates and raiders were active. If a ship is following an odd course. Also trying to close into potential weapons range without a good reason the crew of a target might become far more suspicious.In a situation where running into another ship would be unusual, I would think that any ship within weapons range, or close enough for a fast burn to bring it within weapons range would be asked politely what it's up to and someone would be sitting in the gunners chair.. just in case.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Painting the hull with a laser range finder is an unfriendly act, but the return signal would probably indicate if something isn't kosher with the apparent hull configuration.
Reynard
Cosmic Mongoose
From the rules, most encounters including pirate encounters are occurring during transit in the 100D of a system destination which would be the highest traffic area. Ships are flying in and out routinely. How suspicious ships will be considered is subjective since they have as much flight right. NPC crews are dealing with encounters just like PCs and have to assess what that blip is heading toward you. If a crew is not psychic, they have no idea if the ship heading in your direction is trying to intercept or is following a legitimate flight path. This is when pirates are taking advantages of trust and uncertainty and sensor detection.
A corsair that can disguise itself even slightly makes getting closer a blessing.
A corsair that can disguise itself even slightly makes getting closer a blessing.
Given how long DRM lasts in this day and age I can't imagine it would take long for somebody to reverse-engineer it.wbnc said:
Unless you can assume a perfectly effective means of updating an imperium-wide database of transponder keys - while maintiaing security about the keys themselves - such a system would leak like a sieve. Then there are extra-imperial licencing authorities.
I've been in corporate securiry. It wasn't whaen, it was "how often" and "hey, did someone just hack us again?"
It's always a question of management not wanting to spend the money on people or equipment, and users bitchng about security rules. DB administrator who complain about the hassle of dealing with encrypted data at rest, user complaining about having to change their passwords or pick ones that aren't password123.
Now with the push for automation and the internet evwrywhere, 14yr olds hack your car or your huse with their smartphone.
It's always a question of management not wanting to spend the money on people or equipment, and users bitchng about security rules. DB administrator who complain about the hassle of dealing with encrypted data at rest, user complaining about having to change their passwords or pick ones that aren't password123.
Now with the push for automation and the internet evwrywhere, 14yr olds hack your car or your huse with their smartphone.
phavoc said:
locks/security keeps honest people honest. The rest of the time it's just there t make the task of getting to what's being protected a little more difficult. At best it stops the inept, the lazy, or the cowardly. An industrious criminal with a decent skill set, who isn't afraid of the chance of being caught will find a way past any security that can be installed. Heck the NSA and CIA get hacked with depressing regularity.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
You can probably get a list of likely ships and their signatures operating in the region from the Starport, but the pirates can as well.
While squeezing traffic in tight spacelanes might make piracy easier, it also makes patrolling and monitoring easier as well, and if one ship gets attacked, there might be another one close enough to see it and flash a warning.
While squeezing traffic in tight spacelanes might make piracy easier, it also makes patrolling and monitoring easier as well, and if one ship gets attacked, there might be another one close enough to see it and flash a warning.
Reynard
Cosmic Mongoose
This is why corsairs need those edges of technology and tactics to get close, hit fast and run now for another star system before a patrol, even close by, every has a chance. Once again why Corsair ships with the capture bay would appreciate small craft. No trace of the victim now heading for another star.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Or a pocket universe.
Epicenter said:
Not sure why it hasn't been mentioned yet, but the Corsair has been removed from both the Core Rules and High Guard. Mongoose listens!
There's a brief mention in the Core Book, p. 240: "Theev’s shipyards are infamous, producing advanced models of corsair and equipping pirate vessels with cutting-edge military-grade weapons."
They are mentioned in Referees Briefing 1: Companies & Corporations as a product of Sigguushda Yards, p. 11: "Sigguushda is a small shipbuilding consortium with yards on several worlds.... Typically, these turn out a steady stream of Subsidised Merchants and Free Traders for the local commercial market, but one of Sigguushda’s yards has a license to build the controversial 400-ton Corsair. Although named a Corsair, these ships were not designed as pirate vessels but instead as inexpensive multi-role warships for planetary navies and mercenary units. This is the market sector Sigguushda hoped to exploit by producing these vessels, but since some Corsairs (not necessarily built in Sigguushda’s shipyards) have ended up in the wrong hands the firm has acquired a bad reputation as a supplier of vessels to pirates. In an effort to redress this, Sigguushda has in recent years offered discounts on conversions to existing ships intended to harden them against pirate attack or turn them into anti-piracy vessels...."
