The Disclaimer
I am no expert in SC and by no means is this intended to be a how to for playing SC or an all encompassing “we most do it my way” type of thing. This is just theory crafting and just as real life can be, this game is subject to change. This thread is intended to get the brain juices flowing out the ears of the reader. To cultivate a discussion on theory crafting and to dream of a day when we have access to cargo in aware holds.
The start of a really good friendship
To start out I am going to go over how the US military dues convoys in Iraq. This part of the post is not necessary for understanding the rest of the tread but a good read non the less. After this I will try my hardest to translate this to the language of SC. We will be going over planning, execution, and how to develop lessons learned.
The Fundamental of Convoy Ops
Ok, so what you need to run a convoy in a combat zone is a Lead Veh, pacesetter, RTO, FNL, loadmaster, MX, CC, ACC, and finally the Security Team. So i know this all sounds like a lot, but im going to "break it Down" for ya.
Lead Veh - He is the 3rd in charge of the convoy and will be responsible for the route planing and navigation of the trip. He will Be in the front and will have none explosive cargo and his own truck.
Pacesetter - He is responsible for setting the speed for the rest for the convoy so the Lead Veh can push ahead to scout the route. He has his own truck with any mix of cargo he can carry.
RTO(Radio Telephone operator) - He is responsible for all management and maintenance of Comm equipment to include Radios, sat phones, counter electronic warfare, and text messaging devices. He has his own truck with any mix of cargo he can carry.
FNL(Foreign national Liaison) - This one is not fun. Responsible for the care and management of civilians that are used to transport additional cargo for the Convoy. He has his own truck with any mix of cargo he can carry.
Loadmaster - Responsible for the Cargo Manifest and state of the cargo during loading, the trip, and during unloading. He has his own truck with any mix of cargo he can carry.
MX(Maintenance) - This one is fun. Responsible for the care and condition of all veh in the convoy. He has a veh that can repair and tow any veh in the convoy if needed.
CC(Command and Control) - He is responsible for all the moving parts of the convoy and makes sure that all positions are doing their part on time and correctly. He has a truck that is capable of taking on any cargo from any other truck in case that truck needs to be towed or left behind.
ACC(Assistant Command and Control) - he is the 2nd in command of the convoy. He handles all the admin for the CC and any disputes between the other members of the convoy. He has his own truck with any mix of cargo he can carry.
Security Team - This will consist of gun trucks (usual a HMMWV with a really big gun) assigned to every members truck with a Lead Security Gun Truck close to the CC that will control all security of the convoy.
You will notice that there is no position for refueling ops. That is because we strapped fuel cans to the side of the trailers for the gun trucks and we could make the long haul with out having to refuel. That being said, I don't think that we can strap fuel tanks to the side of our ships.
The Translation
So, lets go over positions that may be in SC and how you can use, play, or position them in a single ship and or a fleet. All positions can be ran by a single player or multiple. Not all positions are required nor necessary. Your world is your ouster, do with it as you please.
Lost in Space (pilot/Nav)
In order to get from point A to point B you need to know where B is and how to get there. SC is going to be “huge” and thoue we still don't know how long it will take, we do know it will take forever. Knowing the Star map is going to be key. Do you take a shorter route throw dangers space or do you go around and spend more time travailing? Maybe you have access to a Jump Point that only you know. Maybe you are travailing with 12 Bengals.
Can you hear me now? (Communications Director)
Communication is just as important as having the right load out on your ship. Communicating with your crew in a clear concise and understandable way will save your life. In addition, SC in the future will have in game voice chat with sup channels that you can organize. This can help reduce the extra chatter from one set of player when needing to talk to another set of players.
All Hell Naw not ADI (Baby Sitter)
At some point you will be travailing with a non org member. In this case I would highly recommend taking there ability to kill you away. Not all players will be douchebags, but if you have a bowl of 100 M N Ms and three are poison, do you eat the candy? Also keep a record of who you travel with so if something happens you can recall who was the bad apple and never fly with them again.
I think I need a bigger box (Cargo Manager)
Managing your cargo is were you are going to make your money. You need to think like a stock broker and know the market. Know when to pay low and sell high, what systems need what and when, and when to give up on a trade. Cargo at some point will have effects on you ship. Be it just slowing down your ability to go faster or even cause your ship to lean harder on one side of the ship. So, organize your ship to have a balance weight.
Grease Monkey, that Funky Monkey (Maintenance/Repair team)
There are two things that can mess your ship up, time and bullets. Over time you will need to do maintenance on your ship just like you would with you car. In Addition, if you are carrying cargo you are a target. So, you are going to need a good repair team. Be it just a group of dudes with a repair tool or a fully loaded Crucible. Knowing the quality of metals is also go to play a role in repair. You have three options to use your metal that will effect how you repair (quality of the repair/Time it takes to repair/the amount of metal needed to repair).
The Dutch Oven (Refueling)
At some point you are going to have to refuel your ship. Be it at a truck stop or having a Starfarer near by. You are going to have to weigh the cost of the fuel with the profit you get at the end of the trip. Also if you have escorts are you going to have to stop every 3 or 4 jumps to refuel or do you spend the money for escort that can do the trip non stop. Is it cheaper to hire a Starfarer for a non stop trip or can you only afford to stop at truck stops along the way.
O Captain, My Captain, where art thou Captain (Ship/Fleet Commander)
If you are playing with an other players and being this is an MMO I can safely come to the conclusion that you will be. You are going to need a single point of leadership. This person will have to inspire and lead his people to victory. Have an interpersonal mindset and be able take advice from your crew. After all, you hired them because they are the experts at what they do.
Do you even lift Bro (Escort)
When, not if, you leave protected space you will need some sort of security. Be it having some of your buddys in your ship with guns to help protect you against boarding or having a fleet of fighters flying around you like a swarm of angry yellow jackets. Using a scout to check the route ahead of time to see if it is safe or even placing heavy fighters at key points to provide extra fire power when needed. Its all up to you and what you have available to you at the time.
Mission Planning
Be for you even start your trip you need to have a game plan. Get you crew or fleet to gather and come up with a plan and who is going to do what. Start with finding out what is in demand and where is the cheapest you can get it. Plan a route from A to B and keep in mind that not all routes are the same. Some may be safer and some may kill you. Find out what kind of escorts you are going to need and if you are going to need extra ships to support them. Decide how you are going to distribute the profits after the job is done. And last but not least, make sure every one knows the plan.
Execution
Stick to the plan as much as possible but there are going to be times when unforeseen events happen. The USAF as a saying “Flexibility is the Key to Air Power”. Be ready to change the plan on a moments notice. Use team work to over come obstacles and remember the mission comes first. If you have to abandon your cargo to haul another day, so be it. If you have to leave some players stranded, so be it. You are going to have to make some hard choices and you are going to loss but that is the nature of the game.
Debrief
After every thing is send and done its time to talk about what happened. This is the time to go over things that work and things that didn't. Document all the lessons that you and your crew learned so you can plan better next time. This is also the time to pay every one for a job wall done.
The Conclusion
So, I hope that you enjoyed my theory crafting mind dump and I really hope that this helped some one out there. I would like to hear your Cargo and or Fleet set up and to have an honest discussion on cargo transportation. Your can find me on Discord most days.
Please Like and Comment as you see fit.
As always cheers
Knuckles
Special Thanks to:
CosmicTrader, GriffinGamingRPG, A.Sanots, Marcsand2, I_MIKE_I, Printimus, FluffyVonRage, Beerjerker, Thalstan, Seventank, AntiSqueaker, Thanatos73, SPRNinja, Igy_Ramone
I am no expert in SC and by no means is this intended to be a how to for playing SC or an all encompassing “we most do it my way” type of thing. This is just theory crafting and just as real life can be, this game is subject to change. This thread is intended to get the brain juices flowing out the ears of the reader. To cultivate a discussion on theory crafting and to dream of a day when we have access to cargo in aware holds.
The start of a really good friendship
To start out I am going to go over how the US military dues convoys in Iraq. This part of the post is not necessary for understanding the rest of the tread but a good read non the less. After this I will try my hardest to translate this to the language of SC. We will be going over planning, execution, and how to develop lessons learned.
The Fundamental of Convoy Ops
Ok, so what you need to run a convoy in a combat zone is a Lead Veh, pacesetter, RTO, FNL, loadmaster, MX, CC, ACC, and finally the Security Team. So i know this all sounds like a lot, but im going to "break it Down" for ya.
Lead Veh - He is the 3rd in charge of the convoy and will be responsible for the route planing and navigation of the trip. He will Be in the front and will have none explosive cargo and his own truck.
Pacesetter - He is responsible for setting the speed for the rest for the convoy so the Lead Veh can push ahead to scout the route. He has his own truck with any mix of cargo he can carry.
RTO(Radio Telephone operator) - He is responsible for all management and maintenance of Comm equipment to include Radios, sat phones, counter electronic warfare, and text messaging devices. He has his own truck with any mix of cargo he can carry.
FNL(Foreign national Liaison) - This one is not fun. Responsible for the care and management of civilians that are used to transport additional cargo for the Convoy. He has his own truck with any mix of cargo he can carry.
Loadmaster - Responsible for the Cargo Manifest and state of the cargo during loading, the trip, and during unloading. He has his own truck with any mix of cargo he can carry.
MX(Maintenance) - This one is fun. Responsible for the care and condition of all veh in the convoy. He has a veh that can repair and tow any veh in the convoy if needed.
CC(Command and Control) - He is responsible for all the moving parts of the convoy and makes sure that all positions are doing their part on time and correctly. He has a truck that is capable of taking on any cargo from any other truck in case that truck needs to be towed or left behind.
ACC(Assistant Command and Control) - he is the 2nd in command of the convoy. He handles all the admin for the CC and any disputes between the other members of the convoy. He has his own truck with any mix of cargo he can carry.
Security Team - This will consist of gun trucks (usual a HMMWV with a really big gun) assigned to every members truck with a Lead Security Gun Truck close to the CC that will control all security of the convoy.
You will notice that there is no position for refueling ops. That is because we strapped fuel cans to the side of the trailers for the gun trucks and we could make the long haul with out having to refuel. That being said, I don't think that we can strap fuel tanks to the side of our ships.
The Translation
So, lets go over positions that may be in SC and how you can use, play, or position them in a single ship and or a fleet. All positions can be ran by a single player or multiple. Not all positions are required nor necessary. Your world is your ouster, do with it as you please.
Lost in Space (pilot/Nav)
In order to get from point A to point B you need to know where B is and how to get there. SC is going to be “huge” and thoue we still don't know how long it will take, we do know it will take forever. Knowing the Star map is going to be key. Do you take a shorter route throw dangers space or do you go around and spend more time travailing? Maybe you have access to a Jump Point that only you know. Maybe you are travailing with 12 Bengals.
Can you hear me now? (Communications Director)
Communication is just as important as having the right load out on your ship. Communicating with your crew in a clear concise and understandable way will save your life. In addition, SC in the future will have in game voice chat with sup channels that you can organize. This can help reduce the extra chatter from one set of player when needing to talk to another set of players.
All Hell Naw not ADI (Baby Sitter)
At some point you will be travailing with a non org member. In this case I would highly recommend taking there ability to kill you away. Not all players will be douchebags, but if you have a bowl of 100 M N Ms and three are poison, do you eat the candy? Also keep a record of who you travel with so if something happens you can recall who was the bad apple and never fly with them again.
I think I need a bigger box (Cargo Manager)
Managing your cargo is were you are going to make your money. You need to think like a stock broker and know the market. Know when to pay low and sell high, what systems need what and when, and when to give up on a trade. Cargo at some point will have effects on you ship. Be it just slowing down your ability to go faster or even cause your ship to lean harder on one side of the ship. So, organize your ship to have a balance weight.
Grease Monkey, that Funky Monkey (Maintenance/Repair team)
There are two things that can mess your ship up, time and bullets. Over time you will need to do maintenance on your ship just like you would with you car. In Addition, if you are carrying cargo you are a target. So, you are going to need a good repair team. Be it just a group of dudes with a repair tool or a fully loaded Crucible. Knowing the quality of metals is also go to play a role in repair. You have three options to use your metal that will effect how you repair (quality of the repair/Time it takes to repair/the amount of metal needed to repair).
The Dutch Oven (Refueling)
At some point you are going to have to refuel your ship. Be it at a truck stop or having a Starfarer near by. You are going to have to weigh the cost of the fuel with the profit you get at the end of the trip. Also if you have escorts are you going to have to stop every 3 or 4 jumps to refuel or do you spend the money for escort that can do the trip non stop. Is it cheaper to hire a Starfarer for a non stop trip or can you only afford to stop at truck stops along the way.
O Captain, My Captain, where art thou Captain (Ship/Fleet Commander)
If you are playing with an other players and being this is an MMO I can safely come to the conclusion that you will be. You are going to need a single point of leadership. This person will have to inspire and lead his people to victory. Have an interpersonal mindset and be able take advice from your crew. After all, you hired them because they are the experts at what they do.
Do you even lift Bro (Escort)
When, not if, you leave protected space you will need some sort of security. Be it having some of your buddys in your ship with guns to help protect you against boarding or having a fleet of fighters flying around you like a swarm of angry yellow jackets. Using a scout to check the route ahead of time to see if it is safe or even placing heavy fighters at key points to provide extra fire power when needed. Its all up to you and what you have available to you at the time.
Mission Planning
Be for you even start your trip you need to have a game plan. Get you crew or fleet to gather and come up with a plan and who is going to do what. Start with finding out what is in demand and where is the cheapest you can get it. Plan a route from A to B and keep in mind that not all routes are the same. Some may be safer and some may kill you. Find out what kind of escorts you are going to need and if you are going to need extra ships to support them. Decide how you are going to distribute the profits after the job is done. And last but not least, make sure every one knows the plan.
Execution
Stick to the plan as much as possible but there are going to be times when unforeseen events happen. The USAF as a saying “Flexibility is the Key to Air Power”. Be ready to change the plan on a moments notice. Use team work to over come obstacles and remember the mission comes first. If you have to abandon your cargo to haul another day, so be it. If you have to leave some players stranded, so be it. You are going to have to make some hard choices and you are going to loss but that is the nature of the game.
Debrief
After every thing is send and done its time to talk about what happened. This is the time to go over things that work and things that didn't. Document all the lessons that you and your crew learned so you can plan better next time. This is also the time to pay every one for a job wall done.
The Conclusion
So, I hope that you enjoyed my theory crafting mind dump and I really hope that this helped some one out there. I would like to hear your Cargo and or Fleet set up and to have an honest discussion on cargo transportation. Your can find me on Discord most days.
Please Like and Comment as you see fit.
As always cheers
Knuckles
Special Thanks to:
CosmicTrader, GriffinGamingRPG, A.Sanots, Marcsand2, I_MIKE_I, Printimus, FluffyVonRage, Beerjerker, Thalstan, Seventank, AntiSqueaker, Thanatos73, SPRNinja, Igy_Ramone
