Military Grade vs. Civilian

[GypsyComet]

Originally posted by Ran Targas:
...And finally sensors; merchants really don't need military or scientific grade equipment to navigate safely from 100d to 100d.

We can blame MT for this one, while TNE and T4 seemed to have it a bit closer to "reality".

That said, in-system civ/mercantile traffic might have better sensors, and would *certainly* have excellent commo, since they DO wander outside the heavily patrolled 100-diameter zones

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Funny, but there's actually two discussions ongoing: one where folks say you "can't" have that, and one where folks are saying "why would I bother?" All good stuff, though.

 

[Ran Targas]

^ I never said "can't" but do discourage heavily.

I just have a hard time convincing myself that any right-minded freighter owner would waste any cargo tonnage (his life blood) for anything but essential eqiupment. If he's flying into harm's way, he may be inclined to find a quick fix to his security problem. But if he's close to civilization, he will probably rely on the patrol and a keen eye to keep him out of trouble.

For a legitimate merchant in relatively safe trading routes, armament will bring more questions then it is worth. Plus it brings a false sense of security.

But again, the real question is can the pea shooters available to a civilian really make him a threat to a dedicated military vessel, or are the odds skewed to far toward the pros?

 

[Whipsnade]

Originally posted by Ran Targas:
But again, the real question is can the pea shooters available to a civilian really make him a threat to a dedicated military vessel, or are the odds skewed to far toward the pros?

Ran,

IMTU the idea that civilian shipping can tangle with even small naval warships is ludicrous. The two vessels are completely different because they're built for completely different things.

The warships have better computers/sensors, better missiles, better training, higher rated m-drives, better agility, not to mention armor. You'd be signing your own death warrant to tangle with a warship.

All that to the merchies of course. The story with mercs and paramilitaries is something else entirely.

Of course, I tended to run 'mice in the wainscotting' type campaigns.


Have fun,
Bill