To satisfy my own curiosity I thought I would run some numbers that might be reasonable concerning the simplest kind of boarding. For convenience sake I need to make some presumptions here, but it should be fun anyway.
Lets say we have an attack on a Star G. Lets presume it has a crew of 6 and that each player has 2 NPC's under his control. Lets also presume we have 6 players attacking in 3 Vanguards: 1 Sentinel and 2 Hoplites who likewise have 12 NPC's total, and see if they have a reasonable chance of taking down the Star G.
According to the most recent data, the Star G sports 4 HG-146m shields, each producing 1350 hp shield. They have an abysmal regeneration rate and no one will want to fly that bird with such terrible shields, so lets presume the owner has replaced them with 4 Godi Retaliator shields, that put out 3,000 points protection each, and lets likewise presume that to be safe, any attacker launching a spike missile will want to take down both shields facing his missile. So the 3 Vanguards need to do 6,000 points damage with their guns in as little time possible.
A plausible but not optimized weapons load-out for the Vanguards is 4 M4A = 766 DPS, plus 2 M6A = 910 DPS, plus 2 M3A = 332 DPS, for a total of about 2,000 DPS per ship, or 6,000 DPS for all three ships. Once the three attackers are in range they should not miss such a large, sluggish target and will disable the facing shields in about one second. We can stipulate all sorts of complications, such as the Vanguards taking hits before they are in range etc., but it is pretty reasonable to say the Star G will lose its oversized and expensive shields very quickly, and that the Sentinel's S3 spike missiles will not fail to hit such a large, lumbering target.
Then the three attackers take out the various turrets which are at their mercy, and the 3 attacking turret gunners lead 4 NPC's each to board the Star G at three locations at once, for a total of 15 boarders. At this point no matter what sort of reasonable guesses we make, it is not going to go well for the Star G. The tanker needs to make sure things never get to this point by flying with escorts.
We do not yet know if short range and various carrier based fighters like the Sabre and Hornet can be refueled in flight. We do know the Tana variant of the Reliant can be refueled because it sports a refueling probe. So lets say that each of the 6 members of the Star G has one NPC marine aboard the tanker, and one pilot aboard a cheap Tana, and that the Tanas are each sporting 8 007 Bulldogs, for a DPS of 1,240 each ship. Note there are two Tanas for each Vanguard. The attackers cannot afford to ignore this escort wing even for an instant, and it is questionable if they would even attack. Without some sort of significant advantage, the attackers would do well to move on to a softer target, IMHO.
This very simple analysis does illustrate some important points. First off, one wonders whether it is advisable for merchant crews to pay marines at all. As a defender, you really don't want to use them. Wouldn't it be better to buy more cheap ships like Tanas and fly not one wing of escorts, but two? Unless someone actually wants to steal the Reliants, this seems the safest choice. With more escorts one can afford to spread them further out, and make them less vulnerable to EMP, etc.
Secondly, it is worth noting that there is almost no need to optimize the weapons load-out on the attacking vessels for higher DPS. Putting a pair of OMNI XII's and 4 of the Vanduul S2 Plasma Cannon's on the nose of each Vanguard could about double the firepower we just looked at, but all that would do is save 1/2 second in combat. Is this worth it? Certainly not. However, what if one optimized around another value than quick take down, such as range; in order to take out the Tanas without fully engaging them? This kind of approach is now a serious consideration.
Fun thought experiment and instructive. Thinking through the scenario with the Vanguards each wearing 4 Tarantulas and noting their hugely extended range, one wonders whether the Vanguards would not accept the challenge. If they can hit with relative impunity at >5km, would they pass up a fat prize? Would you? This really makes me reconsider the place of medium and long range weapons, even when they have crummy speed. It also makes me curious about just how much the zoom works. Can you target a turret on a disabled Star G at 5km, or would you need to move within range of her weapons (presuming the turrets sport the standard high speed anti-fighter weapons.)
Lets say we have an attack on a Star G. Lets presume it has a crew of 6 and that each player has 2 NPC's under his control. Lets also presume we have 6 players attacking in 3 Vanguards: 1 Sentinel and 2 Hoplites who likewise have 12 NPC's total, and see if they have a reasonable chance of taking down the Star G.
According to the most recent data, the Star G sports 4 HG-146m shields, each producing 1350 hp shield. They have an abysmal regeneration rate and no one will want to fly that bird with such terrible shields, so lets presume the owner has replaced them with 4 Godi Retaliator shields, that put out 3,000 points protection each, and lets likewise presume that to be safe, any attacker launching a spike missile will want to take down both shields facing his missile. So the 3 Vanguards need to do 6,000 points damage with their guns in as little time possible.
A plausible but not optimized weapons load-out for the Vanguards is 4 M4A = 766 DPS, plus 2 M6A = 910 DPS, plus 2 M3A = 332 DPS, for a total of about 2,000 DPS per ship, or 6,000 DPS for all three ships. Once the three attackers are in range they should not miss such a large, sluggish target and will disable the facing shields in about one second. We can stipulate all sorts of complications, such as the Vanguards taking hits before they are in range etc., but it is pretty reasonable to say the Star G will lose its oversized and expensive shields very quickly, and that the Sentinel's S3 spike missiles will not fail to hit such a large, lumbering target.
Then the three attackers take out the various turrets which are at their mercy, and the 3 attacking turret gunners lead 4 NPC's each to board the Star G at three locations at once, for a total of 15 boarders. At this point no matter what sort of reasonable guesses we make, it is not going to go well for the Star G. The tanker needs to make sure things never get to this point by flying with escorts.
We do not yet know if short range and various carrier based fighters like the Sabre and Hornet can be refueled in flight. We do know the Tana variant of the Reliant can be refueled because it sports a refueling probe. So lets say that each of the 6 members of the Star G has one NPC marine aboard the tanker, and one pilot aboard a cheap Tana, and that the Tanas are each sporting 8 007 Bulldogs, for a DPS of 1,240 each ship. Note there are two Tanas for each Vanguard. The attackers cannot afford to ignore this escort wing even for an instant, and it is questionable if they would even attack. Without some sort of significant advantage, the attackers would do well to move on to a softer target, IMHO.
This very simple analysis does illustrate some important points. First off, one wonders whether it is advisable for merchant crews to pay marines at all. As a defender, you really don't want to use them. Wouldn't it be better to buy more cheap ships like Tanas and fly not one wing of escorts, but two? Unless someone actually wants to steal the Reliants, this seems the safest choice. With more escorts one can afford to spread them further out, and make them less vulnerable to EMP, etc.
Secondly, it is worth noting that there is almost no need to optimize the weapons load-out on the attacking vessels for higher DPS. Putting a pair of OMNI XII's and 4 of the Vanduul S2 Plasma Cannon's on the nose of each Vanguard could about double the firepower we just looked at, but all that would do is save 1/2 second in combat. Is this worth it? Certainly not. However, what if one optimized around another value than quick take down, such as range; in order to take out the Tanas without fully engaging them? This kind of approach is now a serious consideration.
Fun thought experiment and instructive. Thinking through the scenario with the Vanguards each wearing 4 Tarantulas and noting their hugely extended range, one wonders whether the Vanguards would not accept the challenge. If they can hit with relative impunity at >5km, would they pass up a fat prize? Would you? This really makes me reconsider the place of medium and long range weapons, even when they have crummy speed. It also makes me curious about just how much the zoom works. Can you target a turret on a disabled Star G at 5km, or would you need to move within range of her weapons (presuming the turrets sport the standard high speed anti-fighter weapons.)
