2.2. War instructions

Now, finally, we are into a real war situation. SH has hit back. We've taken serious losses, they've taken serious losses, and what started as a one-sided war has suddenly become even.

Which means we now need to start taking this seriously.

Heres how everyone needs to proceed during wartime:

RAIDERS

Raiders, your job is simple. DO NOT DO ANYTHING unless you are told to. Unless we have a raid op or you were given a direct order from one of the leaders/subcoms, you simply stay docked on the planet and build turns up. You must ensure that you don't go out and do silly things like try to soloraid ports. Stay docked on the planet and don't move unless you are told to.

Its a selfless task, I know. However, it is a necessary one. Without a solid raid team we can never make any serious dent into their fleet. We can fight online all we want, but in the end it comes down to you, the raid team. All our hopes lie on your dedication, effort, and loyalty.

TRADERS

Traders here I am marking as the traders who are not trying to reship into hunters or raiders. The other two cases I'll cover in a later section.

For you few who are doing the equally selfless task of boosting our alliance coffers, I have only respect. We need you more than ever now. Our alliance funds have been depleted in the recent days, and we are approaching critical depths. We need you to boost our funds to a more stable level.

To this end, I ask you to donate as much as you can. Try to save your turns to trade only cash goods, unless you have an abundance of turns for other trades. Unless you need the money for yourself, please donate to the alliance, instead of keeping the money in your bank. Your generosity does not go unnoticed.

In the situation that we have a hostile fleet in system, be sure to keep up to date on IRC. Traders are generally the last target for raids, but they are also the easiest to kill. As such, make sure you know what is going on before you undock to trade. Keep a list of all hunters in your system and check if any are online before you start trading. If any are online, see if they are active and refreshing. If so, you should probably not trade. Also keep an eye on the drones. If we declare war, neutral (yellow) drones will act as aggressive (red) drones. As such, if you spot any drones at all, first dock, then let the hunters know, so they can deal with them.

When designing a trade ship, try to focus on getting holds over speed. More holds = more money per trade. It also means you spend less time IS.

Resourcers:

To put it simply, cease to exist.

Resourcing does not help us in any way at all right now. Levels are a good thing to have, but they won't help us much if you have no money to use on your ship or no turns to fly with it.

Hunters:

Ah yes, the section you've all been waiting for. What do you do as a hunter.

Well, first and most important, make yourself available. Whenever you are online, even when not in TDZK, be on IRC. Set up highlights so you can hear if you are needed, and if you are needed, don't shirk away.

If a jump presents itself, be there for it. If a raid is happening, be there to escort.

From the solo perspective, don't waste your time hunting random newbies. A level 5 trader is not going to hurt us. A level 30 warship will. If you waste all your turns hunting newbies, you can't deal with situations that come up where you would otherwise be needed.

If you happen to see a hunter, don't go after it solo. Come on IRC and call for support. 2v1 is next to impossible to lose. 1v1 isn't. Even if you kill 10 random hunters from various alliances, if you die on the 11th, then we are down a valuable ship.

This is not to say that you shouldn't go hunting. Just that you should be cautious. Scan often before moving in, make sure you are not walking into an ambush.

Bottom line though - If you are available, be on IRC. If a hunt leader asks you to be available for a hunt, do your best to be available. If you find a warship to hunt, try to get backup. If you can't, be careful when approaching him.

When designing hunting ships, try to cut corners at every possibility. Think that extra shield upgrade might not really help you so much? Slash it. That extra hardpoint upgrade not looking to cause a big effect in combat? Drop it. The more you can save on your ship, the faster you can reship.

Recovering from a pod:

As a trader, recovering from a death is simple. Just go back to the station and buy a new ship with whatever you can afford.

Hunters have it slightly harder. I tend to use the '3-day plan'.

What this basically means is this: When taking a pod in a hunter, go to the nearest station and buy a fresh new freighter - or recall to nexus if that is faster. Then focus on PURE money trading for 3 days. Assuming you have a 2000 hold ship, you can make about 15-20 mil per trade. At 7 turns per trade, that means with 3 days of turns on stock 20 speed, you can make about 3-4 bil credits -- coincidentally, exactly enough to get you back into an effective level 235 warship.

Its efficient, and it means that your downtime is quite a bit more limited. If you trade properly, you can make easily that much money, probably even more.