CordwainerFish
Emperor Mongoose
Aw, this ain't WH40K.
Would a far/free trader ever use missiles?
- Thread starter k0k0pelli
- Start date
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Depends on what's with you while jumping.
AndrewW
Emperor Mongoose
We shall just have to reroute them to Geir's place of residence.
CordwainerFish
Emperor Mongoose
That actually becomes a plot point in an episode of The Magnus Archives. (Well, not the Uncle Squiddy part.)
Sigtrygg
Emperor Mongoose
Easily explained using a conformal manifold and Lie algebra; spinors help explain general relativity and the hopf fibration is applicable to quantum phenomena.
Terry Mixon
Emperor Mongoose
Seems like overkill. The small bay is more than enough to knock out power on the most likely ships coming to hunt.
Yeah, he is only a wittle pirate. Big boys all ganging up on him, no wonder he took to crime
Terry Mixon
Emperor Mongoose
On a related note, I was looking at the Type P 400-Ton Corsair and it says that it is made to scoop up 100-ton merchants whole. As there is a dearth of 100-ton merchants in MgT2e, I've whipped up something that can get 200-ton merchants. It's TL14 and I'm blame them on the Zhodoni.Yeah, he is only a wittle pirate. Big boys all ganging up on him, no wonder he took to crime
I've also made it as Q-Ship proof as I can to make this sporting. It's 3X as expensive but can get targets that are twice as big and are so very much more capable.Edited to add a meson screen.
Edited again to add a nuclear damper and radiation shielding.
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Terry Mixon
Emperor Mongoose
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Terry Mixon
Emperor Mongoose
That would do it. Adding radiation shielding. And a nuclear damper.
So how long before the pirate is a dreadnoughtThat would do it. Adding radiation shielding. And a nuclear damper.
Traditionally pirates did not seek offensive or defensive parity with naval forces they focussed on speed to outrun them. With infinite range weapons of course you sort of loose the chase part.
Also it is going to be hard to convince customs patrols that you are just a trader if you have meson screens and the like
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Sigtrygg
Emperor Mongoose
So let's see this pirate with a meson screen that can withstand a meson bay, and nuclear dampers (since when do they have an effect on PA damage?), radiation shielding doesn't stop the damage from PA just the rad damage (which is in addition to the 8d x20).That would do it. Adding radiation shielding. And a nuclear damper.
It's not a corsair anymore, it is a warship.
I counter with a 400t subsidised merchant q ship with 2 70t bays
Hmm, does weapon damage modifier apply to rad damage?
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Privateers probably would try to to overmatch what they expect to encounter, and are expected to counter.
Sigtrygg
Emperor Mongoose
Hence the Q ship concept to counter them, or conduct raiding of their own.
Auxiliary Cruiser
The German Kriegsmarine, Auxiliary Cruiser, Kriegsmarine Ships, Auxiliary Cruiser
german-navy.de
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
I think it depends on the era, possibly, whether the Admiralty at that point of time thinks it's worth the effort to commission such vessels.
In the Age of Sail, construction of merchantmen didn't wildly veer off of that of dedicated warships; there are distinctive breaks once ironclads and the radio are invented.
The Germans, pretty much must have realized that they were on suicide missions, against the Royal Navy, or at least, the chances were rather high that they weren't returning home.
Generally speaking, the concept, if implemented in advance, has early success, and then tapers off, as the other side starts implementing counter measures.
More useful in a cold war, for gray area operations.
In the Age of Sail, construction of merchantmen didn't wildly veer off of that of dedicated warships; there are distinctive breaks once ironclads and the radio are invented.
The Germans, pretty much must have realized that they were on suicide missions, against the Royal Navy, or at least, the chances were rather high that they weren't returning home.
Generally speaking, the concept, if implemented in advance, has early success, and then tapers off, as the other side starts implementing counter measures.
More useful in a cold war, for gray area operations.
Condottiere
Emperor Mongoose
Thinking back, the Royal Navy subsidized fast liners, under the impression that they would need armed merchantmen to to catch up to the enemies', which included stuff like installing hardpoints for "heavier" guns like six inchers.
At some point, it became evident that fast liners are more useful as troopships, or express delivery of strategic cargo.
At some point, it became evident that fast liners are more useful as troopships, or express delivery of strategic cargo.
I can't see a pirate having the budget for a MCr550 ship. Once they have that amount of cash they can retire.
I also can't see them attacking a ship above 200 Dtons. It is looking for something that can't carry more than 2 turrets (and preferably less than that). It is fine to use all your cargo space for weapon systems as they are internal components. I am not sure if you can detect bulky armour visually but I suspect it should alter your heat signature but again maybe not.
I can't see them mounting any weapons that you couldn't see on a frontier trader (since the attack method we were discussing required hanging around in port for days at a time and likely being subject to customs inspection. My vison was they were also using a free or far trader (since that was what we stared the discussion at.
Far trader allows a jump-1 followed by a second jump-1 as well as jump-2 which gives more flex in your exit path making guessing destination more difficult. I anticipate the manoeuvre drive to be souped-up (Thrust 3 at least). It may also have to have a small craft for boarding (and a fast one at that) fortunately Launches with even Thrust 6 are cheap. It needs to have space for cargo.
Main ship weapons were going to be those Container Missiles (since that was what the thread is about) and a second turret with a Laser for backup. The Launch will also be armed.
Now I have noticed that small weapons do not actually need hardpoints or firmpoints, there is scope to mount some of the more potent sun 250kg ground weapons in pop up turrets or fixed mounts that use no power and only 1/4 DTon each. We need more details here though as I am not sure what the implications are (separate thread). I suspect none are going to be beyond close range though but might make an armed launch powerful and cheap (since there is theoretically no limit to how many weapons can be fitted. Against an armoured ship they would be fairly useless, but against an unarmoured merchant half a dozen Heavy Auto Cannons at 1 Ton each fired at full auto would be a fairly devastating at close range.
I also can't see them attacking a ship above 200 Dtons. It is looking for something that can't carry more than 2 turrets (and preferably less than that). It is fine to use all your cargo space for weapon systems as they are internal components. I am not sure if you can detect bulky armour visually but I suspect it should alter your heat signature but again maybe not.
I can't see them mounting any weapons that you couldn't see on a frontier trader (since the attack method we were discussing required hanging around in port for days at a time and likely being subject to customs inspection. My vison was they were also using a free or far trader (since that was what we stared the discussion at.
Far trader allows a jump-1 followed by a second jump-1 as well as jump-2 which gives more flex in your exit path making guessing destination more difficult. I anticipate the manoeuvre drive to be souped-up (Thrust 3 at least). It may also have to have a small craft for boarding (and a fast one at that) fortunately Launches with even Thrust 6 are cheap. It needs to have space for cargo.
Main ship weapons were going to be those Container Missiles (since that was what the thread is about) and a second turret with a Laser for backup. The Launch will also be armed.
Now I have noticed that small weapons do not actually need hardpoints or firmpoints, there is scope to mount some of the more potent sun 250kg ground weapons in pop up turrets or fixed mounts that use no power and only 1/4 DTon each. We need more details here though as I am not sure what the implications are (separate thread). I suspect none are going to be beyond close range though but might make an armed launch powerful and cheap (since there is theoretically no limit to how many weapons can be fitted. Against an armoured ship they would be fairly useless, but against an unarmoured merchant half a dozen Heavy Auto Cannons at 1 Ton each fired at full auto would be a fairly devastating at close range.
