pirate practices
- Thread starter jcrocker
- Start date
If I understand the original idea behind this thread, the idea here is for pirates to be attacking starships to get at the tantalum in the warp core, so they can sell it to someone who will use it to make a warp core for another ship?
Oh, and turn a profit in the process.
I would think the pirates in question would instead carry a prize crew with them. Method of operation then would be to sieze the target vessel, imprison or space the troublemakers from the target ship's crew, use their prize crew to man/supervise the prize vessel, and send the whole ship off to the black market.
That way, you get whatever cargo it was carrying, the net hull value of the ship itself, and the tantalum (in a usable form of a working warp core).
What they do with the rest of the crew upon vessel siezure or upon delivery I suppose is a commentary on the pirates in question.
The chief problem then is taking the other ship in a more or less intact state. Also, the last thing a pirate crew really wants is wreckage floating around to let the authorities know they are operating where they are. Far better for the target ships to just "disappear".
Its a thought anyway.
Oh, and turn a profit in the process.
I would think the pirates in question would instead carry a prize crew with them. Method of operation then would be to sieze the target vessel, imprison or space the troublemakers from the target ship's crew, use their prize crew to man/supervise the prize vessel, and send the whole ship off to the black market.
That way, you get whatever cargo it was carrying, the net hull value of the ship itself, and the tantalum (in a usable form of a working warp core).
What they do with the rest of the crew upon vessel siezure or upon delivery I suppose is a commentary on the pirates in question.
The chief problem then is taking the other ship in a more or less intact state. Also, the last thing a pirate crew really wants is wreckage floating around to let the authorities know they are operating where they are. Far better for the target ships to just "disappear".
Its a thought anyway.
It does make far more sense to put a prize crew onboard. It also makes sense to parole the crew back to civilization, to stop them doing something desperate, like putting a demolition charge on the drive core and killing the ship, or the ship receiving a double drive hit (stutterwarp destroyed ISTR).
Selling whole black market ships can be pretty risky, and requires a lot of cooperation/ blind eye turning from national/ colonial governments.
Selling the ship for parts is another possibility.
However, going back to the origins of piracy (the word Tariff comes from Tarifa, the pirates operating from which charged protection money for cross the straits of Gibraltar), simply demanding protection money is another possibility. The possibility of attack would be enough to get most lone merchants to pay out, as long as the cost was less than arming their ship.
Bryn
Selling whole black market ships can be pretty risky, and requires a lot of cooperation/ blind eye turning from national/ colonial governments.
Selling the ship for parts is another possibility.
However, going back to the origins of piracy (the word Tariff comes from Tarifa, the pirates operating from which charged protection money for cross the straits of Gibraltar), simply demanding protection money is another possibility. The possibility of attack would be enough to get most lone merchants to pay out, as long as the cost was less than arming their ship.
Bryn
Even if armed most merchant ships fired on once by any weapon can cause a large repair cost. This makes piracy by miniscule pirates a possibility.
A single man fighter charging -reasonable- piracy rates arround an isolated gas giant for example. Especially on the edges of anyones direct hegemony.
In the 2300 combat system, a hit is potentially fatal, as most merchants have miniscule Damage Control.
OTOH no one will be building pirate ships. The three main sources would be:
1. Line Warships which have mutinied or left government control (very few)
2. Privateer ships converted by governments, probably from "Clipper" ships (i.e. fast nuclear powered merchants. A Shen Yang properly armed can take a corvette or frigate).
3. Conversions carried out in secret, simply bolting on some laser turrets.
The latter is the easiest to do, adequate as long as no one challenges the pirate, or they have better backup. 1 will likely be hunted by the original owners, but 2 can continue some legitimate existance.
Indeed, give some government backing and this is a cheap and secret way to make war.
Bryn
OTOH no one will be building pirate ships. The three main sources would be:
1. Line Warships which have mutinied or left government control (very few)
2. Privateer ships converted by governments, probably from "Clipper" ships (i.e. fast nuclear powered merchants. A Shen Yang properly armed can take a corvette or frigate).
3. Conversions carried out in secret, simply bolting on some laser turrets.
The latter is the easiest to do, adequate as long as no one challenges the pirate, or they have better backup. 1 will likely be hunted by the original owners, but 2 can continue some legitimate existance.
Indeed, give some government backing and this is a cheap and secret way to make war.
Bryn
