Van Aewulf
Seituoda Taskforce Command
Caldari State
95
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Posted - 2012.08.30 13:19:00 -
[1] - Quote
TL;DR: Boarding is a double-edged sword. It's more trouble than it's worth, and Dusters have no idea what they're dealing with.
I have to go with no for ship boarding. The idea is cool, but in practice it would be terrible. Sure, you could capture a nearly worthless frigate. 2 fights in Dust right now will net you the cost of a frigate. The only ship worth boarding and capturing really would be a Titan. Everything else is too cheap to sweat it, and yes a 20b isk supercarrier isn't worth the time it would take it capture and hold it.
Furthermore, I don't believe the lore would match up. Say a capsuleer was boarded, and the Dust soldiers were duking it out for the ship.
A) The neural mapping of the ship would allow for the capsuleer to singlehandedly control ALL on-board defense turrets. I mean, of course they would be installed if the threat of boarding existed. The capsuleer's brain would control all of these turrets effectively shooting at every mercenary on his lonesome. He wouldn't even need soldiers, just install enough on board turrets to blow anything to hell and back. How can he control so many turrets you say? The same way he controls a massive lumbering space ship performing orbital strikes and flying a spaceship across systems, aiming and firing 8 howitzers or blah blah blah.
B) Ok, so the Dust soldiers are winning the fight not only against the on board defense forces but the defensive turrets too. Well, the capsuleer is in a pod and in no real danger. Why not just decompress and bust open the airlocks? Suddenly all your soldiers will need to be equipped with proper equipment to prevent loss of things like: oxygen, loss of heat to almost 0 kelvin in some circumstances, or radiation, or goes knows what else.
C) This whole war barge idea is only effective in scenarios where gangs effectively tie down a single ship or a very small gang. Any reasonably sized party with any firepower would immediately primary a barge and kill any dust soldiers on board. A titan can be melted in 5 minutes or less, so I can't imagine your War Barge standing up to that kind of punishment. Suddenly you and all your mates are space dust.
D) More on board turrets! Literally there are so many possibilities with this it's unreal because the capsuleer controls most of the ship with his brain. He's going to kill so many of your soldiers that you'll be crying to CCP to nerf capsuleers so it's a fair fight.
Stay out of EVE ships, there are demons in those ships you don't want to wake up. If ships can be boarded, then I say any structures on a planet, including your corp HQ, should be targetable by orbital bombardment and blown to smithereens. AFK or hanging with your corp mates in your HQ? Suddenly out of nowhere a nuclear blast rains down from the heavens so intense the entire planet is permanently effected by the holocaust a capsuleer has brought upon your home. What are you gonna do about it? Send a boarding party? :D
TL;DR: Boarding is a double-edged sword. It's more trouble than it's worth, and Dusters have no idea what they're dealing with. |