Appendix 3: CONVOY!

[Ash]

For those of you who didn't arrive at this thread via a link from the main guide, here's a link back to it for context.

Ash's Complete Guide to Trading, Smuggling and Not Getting Caught!

Appendix 3: CONVOY!

When building a simple convoy formation, a single ship with notable defensive capabilities can accommodate for the safeguarding of up to three larger, effectively defenseless transports. A ship such as this can be:

1. A LF not equipped to destroy, but to do considerable damage to bombers and VHFs if not engaged
   
2. A HF or VHF equipped to destroy bombers and VHFs
   
3. A bomber equipped to destroy VHFs and Gunboats
   
4. A gunboat equipped to repel hostile ships, not go running off after them
   
5. A small or medium transport with at least 5 weapon mounts
   

In a loosely compiled convoy, this one ship should adopt the role of the defensive element overseeing the progress of the larger ships. In a rut, this ship should engage with hostiles with the primary intent of allowing for the larger ships to escape. Only once the larger ships have escaped should this defensive ship prioritise either neutralising the hostile(s) or escape. If this defensive entity is removed from the equation then the entire convoy is vulnerable. It's worth memorising this 3:1 ratio when launching a convoy as you may find you are a little light on security. This security ship can also act as a scout for forward progress.

The larger defenceless ship(s) should act as the coordinators or commanders of the convoy. For smaller convoys of up to five ships, a single commander is best suited for the sake of efficiency and decisive action. However for larger convoys of up to ten ships or more, your vessels can be spread over the distance of multiple lanes in multiple systems. It is therefore appropriate to delegate leadership to a second or even a third commander to oversee their group of ships. For example, for larger convoys, the order of ships constantly changes. It's impossible for a single commander to keep track of who is where when the convoy is spread over two or more systems. So if the first ship in the convoy get's held up by pirates, instead of calling an 'all stop', each commander can handle the situation best suited to their detatchment's ship locations. Larger ships should also take it upon themselves to monitor activity in their system and systems along their itinerary. This gives the defensive ships more time to focus on their positioning in the convoy and to serveil ships in the immediate vicinity.

Sidenote: I'm calling an 'all stop' a poor move because this breaks up the convoy into several smaller groups which leaves all of them vulnerable to an ambush. It's much safer to group the ships together in their respective detatchments. A lone commander cannot coordinate a 10 ship convoy while handling pirates.

The next worse scenario is where no action is called, which leads to a pile up where one by one each and every supertransport gets caught in the net. This isn't ideal even with the security vessels present. This is because if the pirates want to cause you heartache despite the fact they're overwhelmed, then they can take out numerous larger transports before they go down in flames. Best to limit the risk to just one and bring up as many defensive ships as you can to repel them.

An alternative formation you can use involves the use of exclusively any medium to small transport and these large transports:

Akegata
Essedarius
Shire
Bison
Shishapangma
Uruz

Basically, all of these ships are armed to the teeth. By banding together with no weak links like supertransports, what you're basically forming is an armed flotilla; the maneuverability of which is limited, but wields enormous firepower. In this formation there is no need for a security element as all you need to to is point every last gun in the flotilla at the threat and fire. With the sheer number of projectiles in the air the enemy is statistically guarunteed to hit at least a handful before they flee or explode.

It's bloody marvellous.

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