Or have automated ships ready to jump to warn central systems or fight the intruders (but this may imply some kind of AI 😓 and would-be berserkers ready to attack any perceived enemy).
@eldadoinquieto@nyrath@peterdrake But this is NOT a military attack. This is viking/piracy activity for the purposes of net profit, not land grabs. Crushing the defenses at a higher cost than the final plunder provides is a clear loss.
Defense in depth with mobile revenge forces is the military route.
Another approach was used in Legend of the Galactic Heroes - remove all resources from the frontier worlds, so the liberators have nothing to liberate (other than hungry locals).
This strategy would have been political disaster for the Democratic side, but for the Imperials the locals simply had no realistic choice but to comply.
If transport costs make it impractical to hoover all the resources from frontier worlds, an alternative is to torch the resources rather than let them be plundered.
The resources are stored with "self destruct" flame throwing and/or flooding systems. So, the raiders can't steal the resources.
Of course, if you compensate the victims when the burn system is activated, this sets up perverse incentives to game the system ...
@Hcobb@eldadoinquieto@isaackuo@nyrath@peterdrake I am working on an adventure with a space horde, and the players have to take an emissary to them in order to see if they can find a way to bribe them not to attack. I figure the idea is that if the bribe is cheaper than mobilizing military forces, its preferable. If that is not possible, pay one part of the horde to protect them from others.
The bribe has to be significantly cheaper, because it funds the continued operations of the space horde - making it easier for them to do it again, and also incentivizing them to do so.
In contrast, military action depletes resources from the space horde and incentivizes them to do something else or go elsewhere.
Of course, it's also possible to use a bribe to buy some time, to build up a more credible deterrent. It's not a binary.
@isaackuo True, and the Earth is only now getting over the unity war they had, and the prime minister basking in the lime light of being peace maker, they are not hot to start talking about a threat on the frontier. Plus the fear if they make their own military forces too strong in the area to deal with the threat, that then those forces become the threat if they decide to coup the government. Plus the avg Earther wants to live a life of luxury ...
@Hcobb@isaackuo@eldadoinquieto@nyrath@peterdrake This is a good question. One would think their leaders, then again that could be a complication if the group breaks up, because some do not feel they are getting their fair share. Another "bribe" or incentive, could be for the Earth to throw it's military power behind one group to help them control the others, thus only needing a minimum of force to accomplish their goals.
@eldadoinquieto@Robert_Brandt@isaackuo@nyrath@peterdrake Gotta question about the logic in boarding actions.
Real space stations: Lots of vital stuff bolted to the inner walls within easy reach of repairs or bullets.
Real submarines: ditto
SciFi: Plan white corridors with nothing vital within blaster shot.
Absolutely. Lotta stuff bolted to the walls, especially pipes and power lines. Narrow corridors, no Star Trek hotel hallways in ships. If you have a long-arm and you try turning around, it will catch on the walls. Lots of hatches where hostiles can unexpectedly emerge behind your back. And the walls will amplify gunfire sound enough to cause hearing damage.
Your team had better be wearing anti-laser goggles. The combat zone is full of reflective objects. You could accidentally friendly-fire your team's eye balls. Or your own for that matter.
@nyrath@isaackuo@Hcobb@eldadoinquieto@peterdrake That's awesome, a gun that fires a disco ball on a lanyard, then hits it with a laser; a room clearing weapon. A new meaning to "Everybody get down!"
@nyrath@Robert_Brandt@eldadoinquieto@isaackuo@peterdrake Compare with maser weapons that pass harmlessly through flesh (microwave ovens need to surround meat with very effective mirrors to bounce over and over again through it) but mess up the robots.
This is why you use remote detonated mini squash head warheads.
First you shoot the squishy sticky squash heads at the target. Then you designate one to detonate (it has flashing LED to indicate it's the one primed to detonate).
Then you remote command it to go boom, mitigating collateral damage.
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