I love how Kach and I managed to get in a semi-argument before anyone has actually replied to TNO's post. Screw "The Math Faction", go "The Argument Faction"!
Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to not suspect that the thread could expand out farther than just a convoy attack.
Yes, Employment is an R&D thread for the CPEC and CPEF. The events of this thread are also being monitored by IHC to see how the ships peform, hence the presence of some unusal support ships.
Never minding the obviously ludicrous thought of a fleet consisting of two Star Destroyers and even more support ships escorting a convoy of what you call, in your own words, mostly light freighters, I have some thoughts:
1) It is explicitly stated that both the Interdictor FSV and Dictator FCV are at the rearmost of the formation. Therefore, to fire on them, you have to fight past not only the fleet itself, but also the two Heavy Cruisers are EMPIRE ship guarding them.
2) Your ships are by no means out of range of my guns. I apologize if this is not as clearly stated as could be, but the Interdictor FSV's wells produce a gravity well roughly the same size as a planetary body. When your fleet was yanked from hyperspace, they were operating at half power. Once your fleet was in realspace, they were increased to full power, effectively extending the size of the gravity well.
3) When my ships opened fire, they did, for obvious reasons, target the convoy's escort ships before the convoy itself.
Irregardless of the rest of your points for now (it's late and I'm tired), I would like to point that #3) is conjecture. You didn't specify who you were firing on, so Corise is free to interpret the result as he sees fit. Common sense rules that they wouldn't all have targetted the exact same garbage cylinder, but it doesn't automatically mean they'd pick off certain ships first. If you wanted a firing pattern you probably should have put that in the post.
Light transports actually, but that's besides the point. I will point out that my fleet was not escorting the convoy, but was actually travelling between Metalorn & Kashan, which is a heavily-travelled route for both the military and the civilian cargos.
Sure, in relation to the convoy. But the fleet wasn't part of the convoy. You just managed to intercept it as well, and the fleet was coming from a different vector. If my fleet was escorting the convoy, wouldn't it make sense for the cargo ships to be within the fleet formation already?
No, there are not. Find me canon proof that the Interdictor does affect my power ratings, because in the canon books it does not. Otherwise, I doubt Grand Admiral Thrawn would have developed the Thrawn's Pincer tactic, because his ships would then have no offensive value at all. Your ships were in range to attack the convoy itself, and I noted that you even destroyed some of them. My fleet is a separate formation coming from a separate vector; we're out of turbolaser range. Here's a really bad diagram, but it demonstrates the positions as according to my post.
3) When my ships opened fire, they did, for obvious reasons, target the convoy's escort ships before the convoy itself.
You gave me the oppurtunity to describe the convoy. I took the claim of being able to describe it then. Not all convoys are big, and you pulled one of the smallest convoys, which would only be escorted by a couple of Deathsabers, which you won't be able to detect at all.
This thread / discussion has only just started, but this:
...is entirely the wrong note to start it on. That kind of attitude of 'if he's breaking the rules , then so can I " is not going to endear you or anyone else to the staff.
If you feel someone is breaking the rules or is playing unfairly then approach a staffer about it, and we shall respond as best we can.
This goes for everyone.
So the answer to that is, both yes if you are testing out your weapons the same as Drayson is, but that doesn't seem very probable.
Which , may seem like a 'grey area' (which Drayson probably thought he'd take advantage of) . However whether you face them now or later, I don't think changes anything much really.
I know what you have pointed out is technically correct, as far as the rules stand, but I don't think Drayson is doing anything unreasonable... (yet).
Bear in mind , this is only my personal opinion, and does not reflect the staff as a whole.
We will be watching the thread very closely though.
He did complete the R&Ds for his ships, but did not post the link for them in his R&D thread. I have just completed the thread my for own R&Ds before I posted as well.
I find that awfully convient. If you're escorting a convoy, fine. But this "Hey, we just happened to be here at the exact same time, but on a slightly different vector" stuff is iffy, at best. At any rate, if we assume that to be the case, then your ships are well out gun range of mine irregardless, since the Interdictor's well's are the size of a planetary boundary and you would be on the edge of them.
You misunderstand my point. The Interdictor was operating at half power, thus the gravity well was smaller than it's maximum extension. Once the convoy was pulled from hyperspace, power was boosted to full. That means the convoy is in the middle of the field, instead of on the edge, as would normally be the case. It has nothing to due with the power of your ships.
That said, if you're fleet happened to be intercepted, it would now be on the edge of the gravity well, and out of gun range of my fleet.
However, your takeover of Metalorn makes very clear they are in a very vulnerable position food wise, having just gone onto reserve stocks. This implies that incoming shipments will be larger than normal. Not that the makeup of the convoy is of particular importance.
