Vargr raiders in the Domain

I wrote:
>>Predators that outnumber the prey makes no sort of sense whatsoever (Which
>>makes me wonder where in h... all those 50.000 T vargr corsairs that overran
>>Corridor came from).

Bertil replied:
>  Probably ex-navy ships from some of the Vargr states bordering the Imperium
>with crews that got bored running routine patrols:)

Superficially plausible, but think about it a bit. You're the Domain admiral
in charge of the coreward border and these 50.000 T raiders starts to appear.
What do you do?

1) You dispose your available forces to protect your worlds. 50.000 T
   raiders won't attack small worlds, because there's simply not enough
   loot to satisfy the crew (or pay for the yearly maintenance). Nor
   will they attack HP worlds, because the planetary defenses would be
   too tough (look at the size of the Vargr border states. Most of them are
   no larger than half a subsector). And a Vargr state wouldn't let all
   it's ships go raiding at the same time. Because why? Because then the
   Vargr on their coreward side would raid _them_.

2) You put your spies to the task of finding out where what fleet is
   based. It's the old problem of refit and maintenance. 500 T corsairs
   can hide out anywhere. 5000 T raiders may be able to masquerade as
   merchant ships (at least with local connivance). But there are only
   so many places where you can overhaul a 50.000-tonner. And you can't
   hide it either, at least not when it's being overhauled.

3) You lodge formal protests with the governments of all the neighbouring
   Vargr worlds and inform them that you're holding them responsible for
   controlling any ships refitting in their shipyards. (Yes, I know that
   they can't. So what?)

4) You gather a fleet big enough to deal with the biggest single world
   in the adjacent Vargr subsectors. We're told that the rimward fleets
   were sent coreward to help, but that's really not necessesary. There
   are 12 sub-sectors in the Domain that dosen't border on any border.
   Let's take the regular fleets from them. That's 528 trillion credit
   squadrons, or the equivalent of the _full_ forces of 4 subsectors.

5) When the fleet is ready you take it for a tour of the neighbouring
   Vargr worlds that have supplied any raiders. You inform them that
   you don't like that and destroy their spaceyards. No need to get
   involved in messy ground operations. Spaceyards capable of dealing
   with 50.000 T ships are highly visible. Most of them are in orbit
   to boot.

6) Then you go home. (No you don't, come to think about it. You go on
   and re-integrates Corridor into the Domain. (And this time you
   rectify an inexplicable mistake of the early 3rd Imperium and
   grab all the worlds between the Great Rift and the Windhorn,
   instead of stopping at the coreward border of the Sectors ;-))

Result:

A) Any ships that survived the visit will need to go elsewhere to get
   their next refit. The worlds that didn't get their spaceyards
   squashed will need theirs to support their own ships, and they will
   not be enourmously willing to help raiders any more. So the Vargr
   fight it out and are to busy to bother the Domain.

B) The neighbouring Vargr raiders will see some lovely defenseless
   worlds fit for plundering and will go there instead of to the
   Domain.

Big fleets are just to identifiable and too tied to repair facilities
to be used for raiding anybody bigger than yourself. Think about what
happened to the Barbary States.


      Hans Rancke
University of Copenhagen
     [email removed]
- ------------
        "And now to conclude and to finish my song.
         Let us hope that these hard times, they will not last long.
         I hope soon to have occasion to alter my song;
         and sing: All the good times of the Empire.
              In the Empire are jolly good times."