Posted by: Michael Sandy
« on: October 10, 2024, 03:18:05 AM »A long time ago, I determined that a lot of the general mission requirements of a "patrol boat" would best be served by a small jump capable carrier, or a small carrier and jump tender.
This would give it the strategic endurance it would need to be on station for a long period of time, with having fast scouts on board that would be able to investigate contacts.
At higher tech levels, the patrol boat would be a cloaked carrier. Carrier tonnage never really goes completely obsolete. It may be less efficient, but when it comes to increasing your ability to deliver a maximum sized strike force, the ability to keep updating their parasite component gives them a long career.
A patrol carrier can deliver sensor buoys to jump points that have enough sensor capacity to detect anything within known jump distance technology of the jump point. Even with a resolution 1 active sensor, you can generally do the job with a 1 HS or smaller sensor, and therefore it can be a commercial vehicle, with effectively infinite endurance. Of course, detecting an enemy transit isn't enough unless it has someone in system to report to, who will notice its destruction.
So a primary purpose of the patrol ship is to survive to report, and the endurance to do so until they can make contact. Another purpose of the patrol ship is to chivy enemy scouts and survey ships from the system. Even a single beam armed parasite can eventually whittle down an unarmed enemy scout or survey ship, if it has enough time and can intercept. The demands of high performance interceptor and long endurance patrol emphasize that the patrol mission can not easily be done by a single ship, but a carrier/parasite can handle it.
From a gameplay perspective, you want long endurance on your patrol ships because would be very tedious managing sending them back to base frequently otherwise.
This would give it the strategic endurance it would need to be on station for a long period of time, with having fast scouts on board that would be able to investigate contacts.
At higher tech levels, the patrol boat would be a cloaked carrier. Carrier tonnage never really goes completely obsolete. It may be less efficient, but when it comes to increasing your ability to deliver a maximum sized strike force, the ability to keep updating their parasite component gives them a long career.
A patrol carrier can deliver sensor buoys to jump points that have enough sensor capacity to detect anything within known jump distance technology of the jump point. Even with a resolution 1 active sensor, you can generally do the job with a 1 HS or smaller sensor, and therefore it can be a commercial vehicle, with effectively infinite endurance. Of course, detecting an enemy transit isn't enough unless it has someone in system to report to, who will notice its destruction.
So a primary purpose of the patrol ship is to survive to report, and the endurance to do so until they can make contact. Another purpose of the patrol ship is to chivy enemy scouts and survey ships from the system. Even a single beam armed parasite can eventually whittle down an unarmed enemy scout or survey ship, if it has enough time and can intercept. The demands of high performance interceptor and long endurance patrol emphasize that the patrol mission can not easily be done by a single ship, but a carrier/parasite can handle it.
From a gameplay perspective, you want long endurance on your patrol ships because would be very tedious managing sending them back to base frequently otherwise.
