I agree with the notion that Warbarge should not give any active (gunplay) bonuses.
For that we have the current SP, modules and dropsuites structure.
(One exception would be increased available bandwith, which could be introduced as a Warbarge module instead of a Dropsuite upgrade skill... Just a thought)

I think the Corp Warbarge (used for PC) should only provide tactical advantages on the battlefield. Corporations should also be able to increase the defence "rating" on any owned districts, using the same resources used for equipping the Warbarge. This would mean a corporation have to choose between beeing offencive or defensive, but they can't have both at the same time.

Sadly the current PC matches (standard Skirmish) etc does not give much room for this, which is why I think it's fundamental it changes as well. There have been many calls for Skirmish 1.0 (or similar), but perhaps we can work with what we got.

My take on a future PC battle would be 3 consecutive matches of 1: Ambush, 2: Domination and 3: Skirmish.

1: The first Ambush match is just to get a foothold on the district and reduce the enemy clones. Win or loose, the next game (Domination) will always occur, but some aspects can be changed depending on who won the last game.

2: The second game is a Domination with a twist. The District owner already have all installations, CRUs and of course the objective at the start of the game. The opposing team goal is to hack the objective (once) before their clones or command ship is destroyed. If they manage to take the objective, the game is over and the next (Skirmish) will start. If they don't, the attack failed and the last game will not start

3: Provided the attackers won the domination Match, the third and last game (Skirmish) commences. As with the Domination, the district owners have all objectives and installations etc at the start of the game. As with the Domination, the objective is to hack all objectives before clones run out of command ship is destroyed. It will be very hard (but not impossible) to counterhack any point if taken.

If the attackers win all matches the district is theirs, regardless how many clones the district owners have left, which will be lost / salvaged at the loss of the district.


Now, the tactical part comes in. With the above scenario if a corporation equip their Warbarge for offence, they might get access to closer (fixed) spawn points, or even the mythical "sky spawn" which was discussed for Legion.

For the defenders, if they don't spend some points in "defends" for the district, the districts will be "empty" of installations, Supply Depots etc. (turrets will have a much more tactical advantage if the defenders automatically own them at the start of the game).

... slightly off topic (warbarges that is), but I think much can be done to spice up PC with the game modes we have today, with slight alterations.