Outfitting a Corsair

[plop101]

Plop has gone to the Dark Side...

No more prissy scouts for me; I'm going Pirate.

That said, what kind of equipment do you carry aboard your corsair? How about boarding equipment?
Do you go with laser cutters or satchel charges?
Granted, corsairs with all be different to suit to the tastes of the owners, but some things will be similar, I would think.

GIVE ME YOUR BRAIN

 

[far-trader]

Sounds like another customer for <ta ta ta ta ra>

Vargr Boarding Missiles

 

[Malenfant]

(from the other thread)

Anybody remember an old Sci fi movie, The bad guys attacked a hand shaped city in space with torpedoes loaded with about 4 boarders. Horrible movie, but the Vargr boarding missiles reminded me of it.

Yeah. Starcrash. As soon as I hear "boarding missiles" I am reminded of it. It's hands down the best eye-gougingly soul-destroying so-bad-it's-good movie of all time.

You really have to see this to believe it, so take a look at this video (about 3 MB, mpg). It's so very very wrong. (and read this summary too)

It's so bad, it's awesome. I'll be in the back, waiting to hear the sounds of peoples' brains snapping as they watch the video.

 

[Zutroi]

Originally posted by plop101:
Plop has gone to the Dark Side...

No more prissy scouts for me; I'm going Pirate.

That said, what kind of equipment do you carry aboard your corsair? How about boarding equipment?
Do you go with laser cutters or satchel charges?
Granted, corsairs with all be different to suit to the tastes of the owners, but some things will be similar, I would think.

GIVE ME YOUR BRAIN

FGMP-15's modified with really big fuel tanks (Fusion Cutters) and linear shaped charge strings (Think Jet-Axe) will take care of those nasty hull plates sitting between you and all yer precious swag!

Riotguns (O-G continuous fire shotguns) to turn the opposing crew (or at least that portion not destined to become hostages/toys/recruits) into quivering bits of sushi without doing too much damage to those nice, expensive internal systems.

Don't fergit cutlasses! They Intimidate! They Pry Open Stuck Doors (make sure you forge them from Hullmetal!)! They Open Yer Beer (no self-respecting raider drinks from 'twist-off' beer bottles)! They also don't jam or run out of ammo.

You'll want Armored VaccSuits, preferrably in Bright Colors featuring Scary Designs. This makes your guys easy to see and reduces 'Magenta on Magenta' incidents and makes for a demoralizing show for the victims. It also makes it easy to find the occasional clumsy boarder who misses the airlock or forgets to unstrap from his Vargr Boarding Torpedo(TM).

 

[Zutroi]

Originally posted by Malenfant:
SNIP

Yeah. Starcrash.

SNIP[/QUOTE]

"By sundown, I will rule the galaxy!"

"Hey, Lord Doofus! You're in space! There's no freakin 'sundown' out here!"

 

[Tony Canopus]

Avast, Star-Spawned Space Dogs!

In the Corsairs game I just joined, we use a "Boarding Gangplank" a device that is used after a Prize is crippled. It is a heavy duty polymer tube that is fired at a Prize's Airlock. It has a series of reinforcement rings (like in the film 2010)that mag-lock on the hull with a rotary fusion cutter at the business end. So we saws through the doomed ship's 'lock, and then me mates and I go to work on the crew with sword and pistol. Sometimes, if we expect some Resistance, we'll go in with Ballistic shields.

I love bein' a Pirate... Arrr...

 

[Malenfant]

Originally posted by Zutroi:
"By sundown, I will rule the galaxy!"

"Hey, Lord Doofus! You're in space! There's no freakin 'sundown' out here!"

Or:

"Look! Amazon women on horseback!" (said by Elle, the braindead redneck robot, as if it's perfectly normal to see such creatures coming round the corner when you've just crashed on an alien planet)

"You didn't think I'd be the Emperor of the Universe without having a few tricks up my sleeve did you..? IMPERIAL BATTLESHIP! HALT THE FLOW OF TIME!!" (said by er, the Emperor of the Universe, in order to delay the destruction of an entire planet long enough to give him enough time to get off it when he comes to rescue our heroes. No, don't ask why time isn't stopped for him or our heroes along with everything else. They're just immune to it, OK?).

Damn, I have to find that film on DVD.

 

[jhulse]

What ever you do, just don't forget your towel...

 

[vutpakdi]

As much equipment as possible that doesn't require spares or stores (lasers) since the ability to resupply may be a long time in coming.

Plenty of spares for things that require them.

Repair kits.

Extra paint (or the modern equivalent) to disguise the ship and any prizes.

Extra crew (to man the prizes).

Plenty of cash.

Ron

 

[Jame]

Payoffs for the 41st Independent Squadron, to get your crewmates out of hock.

 

[plop101]

Jame writes:

Payoffs for the 41st Independent Squadron, to get your crewmates out of hock.

I have to check the DGP article on the assorted vargr factions. Just off hand, whats the nearest vargr controled starport capable of producing a
Type P thats closest to Lewis/Aramis? Who ever has that port already has MCR 36...
from whom I cannot say...

 

[Liam Devlin]

Plop 101...

that would be
Torrrrerz3137 A463951-C Hi 521 Vk
of the Kedzudh Commonality, Firgr Subsector P/ Gvurrdon Sector.

the unseen man with the astrogator map leaves the room

 

[plop101]

Grand Master Liam writes:

that would be
Torrrrerz3137 A463951-C Hi 521 Vk
of the Kedzudh Commonality, Firgr Subsector P/ Gvurrdon Sector.

Thank you sir!

Actually, they may get more than MCR36. I haven't got all the campaign elements down yet. I know that I have a slightly different notion of Lewis than what has been put out in the Rice paper. IMTU, Lewis is more Gamma World/Twilight:2000. The 'incident' with the AHL cruiser in 1090 is viewed differently IMTU.

Ok. Plop must FOCUS.
Any other ideas on Corsair equipment?

 

[Jame]

I see that you've discovered the main link and port for the Vargr section of the 41st Independent Squadron, which not only employs Vargr but Solomani, Imperial and Zhodani humans, Aslan, members of ten different minor races (at least!) and even a Hiver or twelve...

 

[savage]

http://www.angelfire.com/empire2/savage/1WorldOrder/CT-Conversions-T20/Chameleon2_CR_TL16.html

I have a raider for my next player grp to testout. Corsairs are tricky things, smuggling, overwelming the enemies...


Savage

 

[endersig]

you'd need equipment to accomplish the following tasks. 1. getting into the ship 2. subduing the crew 3. moving the cargo and other goodies back home. 1, any old handy dandy Ships weapons can do that, or with just some nicely shaped charges or fusion cutters. 2, SMGs, Shotguns, Stun Grenades, and revolvers due just fine for close quarter combat like that. and everyone loves a cutlass(great for picking up chicks). 3, i usually use a gig or pinnace like that. or, if the prize isn't screwed over, just take it, but realize with documentation, licensing and the like, most Starships will only go for 10-25% their actual price. a corsairs real cash comes from the Ships lockers and small craft of a ship.

 

[The Oz]

Why even bother with boarding? All boarding does is get the inside of the chase shot up and risk killing off potentially valuable (ransomable) prisoners.

To be a successful pirate, you have to develop a reputation as a "gentle" pirate: one who never kills anyone who doesn't resist, never does any damage that doesn't have to be done, and never, ever, ever takes someone's ship away from them (government and large corporation-owned ships excluded, of course). If the crew of your potential prize know that all you're going to do is take their cargo (not personal belongings), some of their spare parts (always leave them enough to get by), and any ransomable passengers (not crew), they won't resist any more than they must to look good to the authorities at the inquest afterwards.

In return, you avoid messy boardings, get a lot fewer holes shot in your ship (and your crew), and you even reduce the willingness of the Navy to come get you, since you're not running around bloody-handed screaming "Avast, matey!!!" over the com circuits.

 

[Zutroi]

Originally posted by The Oz:
Why even bother with boarding? All boarding does is get the inside of the chase shot up and risk killing off potentially valuable (ransomable) prisoners.

To be a successful pirate, you have to develop a reputation as a "gentle" pirate: one who never kills anyone who doesn't resist, never does any damage that doesn't have to be done, and never, ever, ever takes someone's ship away from them (government and large corporation-owned ships excluded, of course). If the crew of your potential prize know that all you're going to do is take their cargo (not personal belongings), some of their spare parts (always leave them enough to get by), and any ransomable passengers (not crew), they won't resist any more than they must to look good to the authorities at the inquest afterwards.

In return, you avoid messy boardings, get a lot fewer holes shot in your ship (and your crew), and you even reduce the willingness of the Navy to come get you, since you're not running around bloody-handed screaming "Avast, matey!!!" over the com circuits.

This is very much the way most 18th century piracy was conducted. It worked because of the other side of the equation:

Resistance would result in the victim's ship being stripped of everything useful - sails, line, spars, food, etc. as well as any treasure. If the pirates felt like cutting you some slack they might leave your rigging intact and let you keep the worst of your sails.

What the Corsair really needs is a nice big warhead to use for the 'shot across the bow,' and a good commo system to make it clear that there are quite a few more on the launch rails...

 

[The Oz]

Thank you, Zutroi. I was basing my thoughts on the actual practice of piracy/privateering as seen in history (I've studied the practice).

One important side benefit to not taking someone's ship is that they can come back and be robbed next year....

I think that TRAVELLER pirates would use beam weapons as much as possible, and avoid firing off expensive missiles unless needed (to cripple a pursuing patrol ship, for instance). Ideally, the warning shot would come from a fusion/plasma gun turret, since that would be much more impressive than a laser beam (which would mostly be invisible in the vacuum of space).

Alternatively, you could fire a sandcaster set to burst in the path of the chase. The "hissing" of the sand across the hull as the target moved through the cloud would probably intimidate the passengers, and the crew would know you were being nice. The sand might damage their com systems though, making it more difficult for them to say they've surrendered. Have to think about that.

 

[Straybow]

Starcrash

That was astoundingly bad. I like how the boarding missiles decelerate from 1km/s or so down to a few meters per second just by busting through the conveniently placed giant plate glass windows.