Homeworld Players Prepare For Convoy Defense

The Homeworld Remastered Mod will soon be getting a new pirate element to counter the game's supply convoys. This means that players will now need to defend their inbound transports to keep marauders at bay. There are also some potentially sneaky tactics that the Black Lance faction will be able to employ, since they can create pirate units that may be able to blend in with run-of-the-mill pirates and privateers. L.I.F. is also considering how this gameplay mechanic could be expanded to apply to neutral base captures and the like. This is a pretty cool addition to the game that adds another strategic layer that fits well into the Wing Commander universe.

The Black Lance faction has been using Pirates for deception and false flag attacks, which is why they are capable of building and deploying Pirate units such as the Razor, the Thunderbolt and the Caernaven frigate. However, if it was just this, the only result would, let's be honest, be to give low-level units for the Black Lance and that's it. There would be no interest beyond their lore and unique appearance, and that, people, would not do.

So, to have these ships become slightly more interesting, I just added, for the next update, a new gameplay feature that will complete the convoy system: pirates. Right now, every player has a jump buoy spawning a transport ship bringing supplies to their main base. The idea would be that attacking these ships would be profitable, as well as defending them, but trusting the AI or the player to just use this opportunity is a bit too passive, so from now on, the same jump buoy will also spawn a pirate unit made of two frigates, two Thunderbolt and four Razor which will automatically head towards enemy convoys and attack them on its own. Just like the convoy ships, the player will not be able to give them orders, and if they lose their target for a reason, they will automatically reacquire a new convoy to loot and plunde. First of all, it will force players to protect their convoys, add some more action to the games as the pirates could stumble on other units by chance. Second of all, it will be useful for the players to know the heading of at least one enemy convoy, by following the privateers (when bloodthirsty criminals attack your foes, they are privateers, not pirates, this is a very important distinction, people). Last, and very much not least, this will make pirates a common sight in-game.

Required "Arr, mateys!" here.