The Privateer Bands - Guide

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Contents 1 Overview 2 Strengths 3 Weaknesses 4 Ships 5 Fighters 5.1 FS15 Jollybones 5.2 Dart 5.3 Cutlass 6 Assault Craft 6.1 Party Skiff 6.2 Assault Gondala 6.3 River Royale 7 Bases 7.1 Special Buildings 7.1.1 Pirate Cove 7.2 Missing Buildings 8 Experience and Training 9 Diplomacy 10 First turns 11 Earning Money 11.1 Money from Assault Craft 11.2 Money from Ship Devices 11.3 Money from Buildings 11.4 Bonus Money 12 Strategies 12.1 Be a nuisance 12.2 Build experience 12.3 Ground attack 12.4 Ally and prosper 12.5 Go Crazy with Pods 12.6 Sacrifice your outposts for the sack of free goodies 13 See also

[edit] Overview

Look here for the special rules concerning the Privateer Bands.

[edit] Strengths

• At turn 4 Privateers get 20,000 GCs on their Galactic Bank account from the "big boss". (You can order tech increase at turn 3 to be paid by the big boss deposit.)
• When starting with the default starting ships, you are the early menace to almost all other races in the game.
• High Growth Rate
• Fastest Pods around (120ly without Exotic Techs and 180ly with all ET)
• Can train Troops and HG on their ships
• Have some powerful ship devices that can be used for stealing stuff from everyone else
• Have Native Dust Off and Contraband Dust Off devices
• Very rich : having a high growth rate + gambling ships + many money-making gimmicks (Mechs), plus the free parts from the natives and their stolen goods.

[edit] Weaknesses

• Bad Reputation, so will be targeted by most players.
• No Mine Sweeper
• Poor at scanning for all Minefields
• No defensive Buildings, homeworld has no Base Shield.
• Low income rate (40) (Compared to Feds (130)). This stat is meaningless, as the privateers are one of the most wealthy races.
• Mining rate is relatively low (25) (Compared to Feds (75))

[edit] Ships

• Your main battle ships will not stand up in a real battle with high tech battle ships of most other races.
• You are a nuisance that can not be ignored in mid game. Most races will focus on killing you in mid-game.
• The privateers have no mine sweeper.
• The privateers have only one ship that can hyperjump.

[edit] Fighters

What follows is not necessarily a true picture of Privateer fighter strength ... find your own balance -Tronthor

[edit] FS15 Jollybones

Can be very good to protect expensive type III. 9 / 0 / 1 could be used in wings of 10 vs ship. Not a bad idea to have many wings in orbit around your HW.

[edit] Dart

Decent anti fighter fighter. Good combat quickness, evasive and attack bonus. Good missile stats but low ord make it a short treat for ships. According to Diplomat: Total Wing (10 Darts) generating power per second: 120. This is enough to keep beams, though not missiles, firing continuously - several times per 'combat tick'. CLOSE TO POINT BLANK may be useful.

[edit] Cutlass

Decent anti ship fighter and bomber. Long missile range and accuracy and power but low ord. According to Diplomat: Total Wing (10 Cutlass) generating power per second: 150. This is enough to keep beams, though not missiles, firing continuously - several times per 'combat tick'. CLOSE TO POINT BLANK may be useful.

[edit] Assault Craft

[edit] Party Skiff

The party skiff is a minor source of income. It costs 10 MCs each and earn 1 MC p turn as long as 1kt of contra for each party skiff is available at that base. The contraband will not be consumed! To have a significant effect you need a proper stock of contra with the potential increase in crime (host 193) My opinion: Not worth it !

[edit] Assault Gondala

The Assault Gondala needs the presence of some lerchin spice at that base to kill 10 colonists per turn per enemy base (non-Borg) within 200 LY. Imagine the use of a combination of several cloaked gold pod and assault pod into the heart of an enemy that gets to strong... It is blocked by the following buildings : Raid Shelter Undercity

[edit] River Royale

The River royale brings in money for you and unhappiness to everyone else within 200 LY. Make sure that you can pod the money home if send into enemy territory !

[edit] Bases

• Blasting a Privateer base from orbit will uncover their hidden cache of booty. Cash, fuel, ord and repair units. For every 300 privateer colonists that are killed that way, 6 megacredits, 2 fuel, 12 ordnance, and 3 repair units appear on the planet surface.

[edit] Special Buildings

[edit] Pirate Cove

Causes unhappiness to and steals food and contraband from enemy bases within 200 lightyears.

[edit] Missing Buildings

Smelter	Because you have no ore processing ships either, you always lack fuel and molybdenum (MCBR) but in general relatively little metal is needed to build main ships. The use of Mines results in the standard reduction in happiness, so these cannot be used in big numbers to compensate for the lack of smelters.
Terra Former	As The Privateers also have only small range of farm climate (46 - best 50 - 53), use the MCBRs Cargo Grappler and Pirate Cove (special building, see below) to collect food. Because most other players Home Worlds have food in excess, ready to be stolen, this is not a high priority problem.
Training Center	Privateers train troops and HG on ships. Have a look at the topic on Experience and Training.
Anti-Aircraft Gun Base Shield Raid Shelter Laser Cannon Ion Cannon Undercity	Your HW is relatively weak. Your first HW has a standard set of defense units but if you need to move the new HW will lack all these buildings. Keep moving and do not rely just on one HW.
City	You have the mobile cash units: Lady Royale, River Royales and Pirate Cove, collecting or stealing contra.
Scanner	Use scout ships and lots of pods. And steal ships with proper scanners.
Ship Repair Shop	Just BAD! You will always have to micromanage Repair Units.

[edit] Experience and Training

• Experience is important for all races but for privateers it is crucial.
• Privateer ships can train your personnel (have a look at Experience and Training for the details). Without experience you can not create troops or HG.
• Boarding attack power for troops increase at a rate of (Experience/100) So Exp = 240 gives a ship a 240% boarding combat bonus.

[edit] Diplomacy

Diplomacy is the art of convincing someone else that it is their own idea to give you what you want for the price you wish to pay.

• Everyone that you meet is either not your friend yet, or simply your enemy. Diplomacy is the most powerful weapon that you have. You can use it to win fights without firing a shot, or losing a ship and generally gaining much in the process.
• Remember that you cannot build alien hulls, you will need a friend who can build them for you, and preferably one with a hacker droid so that they can make plans of useful ships you capture.
• Diplomacy can be used offensively.

Administrator Tronthor

S.Y.B.I.L.

The following rating is based on my limited experience and information I gathered from this wiki.

Race	Steal	Trade	Threat	Notes
The Aczanny Pyramids	...	...	...	...
The Birdman Republic	+	+	...	You want to capture their ships that have the Bioscanner and Spy Scanner devices; All privateer ship devices work. The Deth Spec and the Bright Heart make excellent additions to the Priv fleet.
The Centaurs	...	+	...	You complement each other: You have grav mines - Cents have barbs and laser You have Amorphous - Cents have a Glory Device You have lots of people - Cents have Market Places
The Colonies of Man	+	...	...	The Money Tap hits them hard because the >10.000 MC constraint works only on bases and not on ships. They have no minefields, so you can hit them wherever you want to. Their fighters are good and will autointercept. Work in pairs and/or use decent anti-fighter point defense.
The Crystal Assembly	...	...	...	Avoid Minefields wherever you go All Priv's devices work
The Cyborg Collective	-	+	+	Immune to Gambling Deck, River Royale, Assault Gondala Money Tap does not work with King in base Hyperjumping scout with Bioscanner Chunneling as an alternative for Jump gates Good to get initial natives Annis are a nightmare (Grav-Well + Barbitic Minefields)
The Evil Empire	...	+	...	He needs prisoners; you do not, but can jump and capture pods. Go to get an H Ross Destroyer and a Star Destroyer.
The Holy Draconian Empire	+	...	...	Ever meet one?
The Lizard Kingdom	+	...	...	...
The People's Army	+	+	...	Low crew makes their ship ideal targets for boarding No gravitonic minfields in early game
The Rebels	...	...	...	Only Laser Minefields, but fast fighters that can intercept you Try to get the natives before the Rebels gets them with his Falcon Class.
The Reunited Coalition of Systems	...	...	...	...
The Robotic Imperium	...	...	...	Looks like an easy target All ship devices work Slow, your pods outrun most of their ships Can not cloak, nor hyperjump The Cat's Paw is a precious and easy target to capture (if outside his minefields) Lots of mines An oyster
The Scavenger Tribes	+	+	...	Good ally and also someone with valuable and accessible ships. Probably wants to get hold of a MCBR to activate the special devices on some of the scav ships.
The Solar Federation	+	+	...	You can't board them (easily), but rob them blind
The Solorian Unity	-	...	...	Not much in stock for a privateer (except food). You cannot steal fuel from them with your MCBR. You cannot steal crew from them with your Lady. Nice set of ships but where do you get the repair units from to keep them going?
The Stormer Kingdom	+	...	...	...
The United Enforcement Authority	...	...	...	Valuable ships (Pax with hyperjump towing, early ships with Bioscanner) A lot of resources All Priv's devices work
The University Alliance	+	+	...	...

[edit] First turns

(At turn 4 you will get 20000 MCs from the boss on your galactic bank account. Do not spoil it)

• Build 2-3 Outrider Class Scouts with initial engines to start scanning the galaxy.
• Send Pods (Life Pods or Assault Pods) to nearby planets to scan them via bases. If you are sending pods, take care because their origin (your HW) can be traced back using the direction they are flying.
• Concentrate on building hulls (priority 1), hyperspace engines (pri 2), engines (priority 3). The aim is to get a cripple mcbr as soon as possible.
• Use initial contra trading to gain some money to reach hull 9 as soon as possible.
• Get to planet tech level 2 (Pod Launch Pad)) when you have collected first natives and contra to use to send them back home without losing timing. Your 2 good ships are far to valuable to do just transport.
• Get to planet tech level 3 (Public Space Port) when you have collected or stolen first natives to improve happiness and increase number.
• Focus on Ghipsoldals and Amphibians. You need good engines but can not spare money to improve these. You are in constant need of fuel.
• Build a new base that is a starting point for a new wave of pods.
• Increase large weapons to level 2 (Sandcaster). The MCBR needs a good defense against fighters.
• Increase small weapons to level 3 (Disrupter). These might be helpful in capturing enemy ships.

[edit] Earning Money

[edit] Money from Assault Craft

• Party Skiffs
• River Royale

[edit] Money from Ship Devices

• Gambling Decks
• Contraband Dust Off can yield contraband which can be sold.
• Show Lounges
• Money Taps steal MC's from other races. Evil, evil, profitable device.

[edit] Money from Buildings

• Pirate Cove will steal contraband from the bases of other empires which can be sold.

[edit] Bonus Money

• At turn 4 Privateers get 20,000 MCs on their Galactic Bank account from the big boss. (You can order tech increase at turn 3 to be paid by the big boss deposit.)

Subject: Money Transfer 
We have acquired 20000 gc 
 from the big man. 

• Privateers get an extra 100mc in a base, if that base is able to gather more than 10 crime. If they are able to gather more than 50 crime on one of their bases, their earning will reach 200mc.

[edit] Strategies

[edit] Be a nuisance

The privateers are the most respected/infamous player for being a real nuisance. Main element is the MCBR with its Hull Plan Napper, Cargo Grappler, Fuel Robber and Money Tap. Lurking around HWs can force the enemy to stay concentrated behind the safety of mines and generate logistical problems.

Having the fastest pods in the galaxy is a big advantage you should utilize. Being suddenly surrounded by a huge number of priv planets distracts the attention of the enemy. Additionally it dilutes spy attacks on important bases.

[edit] Build experience

Privateers train crew, troops and high guard on ships instead of training centers (Training on the job). In an nutshell: The higher the experience of the ship the more crew, troops and HG (up to certain growth limits). (The training rate depends on the size of the guest quarters of the ship (Jochen))

Use the Ship command code "CTx" ( where x is from 0 to 9) that has been introduced in Host 213. This code will cause troops to be transferred to the base below and colonists transferred up. The x value is the percentage (x 10) of troops that you want to keep on the ship. For example, when x = 1 then 10% of the troops on board will be kept on board. This way you won't have to look at your troop producing ships all the time and can invest the time in being a bigger annoyance.

There are easier and more difficult ways to improve experience.

One thing that is often mentioned in newsgroups is autocapture (giving your ship 30 experience). If you force enemies to capture your BR4, BR5, MCBR or Dwarfstar you can autocapture it next turn and gain a nice increase in experience. Easiest way for autocapture is by having an ally capturing BR4s every turn (Best: Your ally will have to capture the ships *every* turn, while you only have to change the targetting ships once they have reached 100 experience...)

After some of these are spiced up with a hull nap here and a money tapping there you have a constant source of troops and HGs.

[edit] Ground attack

Your troops are not that bad in ground combat, different from your Assault Craft. Use Assault Pods to quickly establish bases and capture enemy bases.

[edit] Ally and prosper

Alliances in turn-based games are at the first glance quite often nerve-wrecking because you need a lot of communication with your partner and have to align your both micromanagement.

When you play in a big universe you can use distance, but when everything is rather crowded and you have a Borg or Lizard neighbor you need a "Bully" to hide behind while teasing the others.

You have the Jump gate builder to offer and the MCBR can prepare the battle ground and is a great support in a bigger fleet.

Your Dwarfstar Class Transport, Lady Royale, Skyfire Skuller build HG and troops on your ships while in deep space.

Having an ally reduces time and effort of the "Building experience" strategy.

[edit] Go Crazy with Pods

Privateer Pods travel at 120 ly per turn. Invest in Planet tech the first turn, and build pod launchers everywhere. Send your MBR to a remote location with 600 mc and some supplies. Establish a base and build a pod launcher there. Then, pod colonists all around the remote base to establish numerous bases. Send resupply pods from the first base to the new bases so they can build even more pod launchers and launch their own life pods to new planets.

Your Privateer scanners are poor. You need to find the contra and natives so you can have your MBR dustoff the profitable planets. Don't rely on guess-work. Take your pick of the best pickings from your pod exploring and hype in to pluck the pickins clean. Meanwhile, if you don't have a better target, rescue the Ghips in Cyborg space and bring them home so the natives will build transwarp engines.

Enemies often have turned on auto-intercept. If they have turned on auto-intercept wings/pods they will have a lot to waste their ships on.

[edit] Sacrifice your outposts for the sack of free goodies

Blasting a Privateer base from orbit will uncover their hidden cache of booty. Cash, fuel, ord and repair units. For every 300 privateer colonists you blast you get 6mc, 2 fuel, 12 ord, 3 repair.

Not bad. You have a decent growth rate and you can pod your colonists easily around as a teaser (They will come, you make them unhappy).

You just have to hang around in the area and give him a hiding afterwards or distract him with another colony and you fill up your store with units and fuel a privateer often lacks (Probably not the best strategy but something to add to your portfolio).

[edit] See also

• Stuff concerning the Privateers
• [1] Official Race Guide
• [2] Privateer Guide at Klingon Kommand
• [3] Online calculation of the booty revealed by blasting Privateer bases at GRGZone