Pirates

RE: [email removed] (Steve Higginbotham)
Subject: 'a pirate could never catch you'

Your assumptions first off assume that jump points are not used, and merchant
ships do not travel any predefined routes to anywhere else in the system.  IE
there is no place to just hang around and expect another ship to come near you.
Most systems have installations/settlements other then the main world, and
traffic going to and from them.

I'm not sure on this, but I assume that with constant 1-6 G Maneuver, most
courses are pretty straight line, as opposed to current low cost spiral
courses.

Most merchants (at least the easy targets) have 1 or 2 G Maneuver.  Most
Pirates have 6 G Maneuver.  Most Pirates do have better then average sensors
and EMM.

Lastly, there are all kinds of possibilities for subterfuge:

 o  hang around the jump point and pretend to have a drive failure,
 o  maybe even ask your victims to come aboard and give you a hand.
 o  beam a distress call to your victim when they are within sensor range
    and the navy is not.
 o  pose as customs inspectors.
 o  pose as someone with a hot/lucretive cargo to unload.
 o  lie at a good intercept point powered down to escape detection.


other factors:

ships do not always have the fuel to jump, especially incoming.
ships do not always have jump calculations ready.

notice that the difficulties you list for pirates, also apply to your navy and
customs inspectors. :-)

"1)  It takes 3.5 hours to reach 100 diameters from a size 5 world, if you
do not decelerate to a stop (which makes very little sense, anyway)."

Using what G Maneuver?  Jumping from a relative stop is safer and easier in my
book...

"2)  From a point directly ahead of a target's course, it takes three hours
at three gees to match course and position within 1000Km."

I don't think directly ahead is the best intercept position, since you have to
hurry to get there, and hurry to catch up.  I'm not sure, but I would think
that catching up from behind would be best.

"5)  A starship trying to match course like that is UNMISTAKABLY trying to
match course."

There is a lot to this point.  Who was it that said that no battle ever takes
place in space unless both sides want to fight?  This assumes equal ability,
though, and my pirates have a big advantage over merchants.

"Increase the effective sensor ranges by a factor of ten, too.  If you don't no
pirate will ever FIND a target out there in the deep dark."

Strange, your initial comment was that you can see a pirate coming from too far
away.  I would think decreasing sensor range would help as well.  Even better,
expand the range difference between an at rest pirate with advanced equipment
actively watching for a victim, and a short crewed merchant with basic
equipment in flight.

Jim Baranski