[TC] M6+ "wingman", in-sector, AI controlled, advice/feedback?

[SpidaFly]

I'd like to set up an M6+ as a wingman, while I pilot my Shrike... for general flying around and causing trouble, or doing missions... whichever.

My current setup:
Shrike with ISRs and GCs, and a wing of 5 Eclipses.

Sometimes I want to launch the Eclipses to swat fighters, but things are a bit too thick for them to handle - and what's more is, I'd like to switch to a wing of lighter faster fighters to take care of those pesky M5s that like to put themselves 20km out So I got to thinking - time to bring an M6+ along for the fun.

So, my general questions:
1. Wingman flag: at present, my 5 eclipses are in a wing for convenience, as well as being flagged as wingmen for player (so I can shift-6/7). But if I decide to have an M6 flying with me, would it be best to just set it as wingman, unset my fighter wing, and manually control the fighter wing as necessary? Moreover: are there "grouping" scripts for X3TC that won't *modified* my game... like the grouping scripts that were in the bonus pack for Reunion?

2. Ship: I have a Skiron sitting around that I don't use much now that I have the Shrike. Since I doubt an M6 would be too great patrolling OOS (since I can afford M7s for that task)... so I was thinking of fitting it for the task. Is there a far and away superior M6+ for this task?

3. Weapons: Since I have plenty of capital-punching power with my ISRs and CGs, I need my M6-buddy to be more focused on M5-M3s. So I'm thinking... HEPTs front, PRGs elsewhere... (that wasn't really a question, just looking for feed back I guess ^^)

Thanks

[Kirlack]

In my experience keeping the Eclipse as a wing and then manually issuing commands to the M6 would be a better choice. I don't see why you're having issues with M5s in your Shrike, since it can mount Flak arrays, and if they're 20km off your stern they can't hurt you anyways.

Alternatively you could keep the Eclipse onboard the Shrike, but use them to defend the M6 whilst it does it's thing (although there's a speed issue there since most M6 will be slightly quicker than your Eclipse IIRC).

I use M6s for OOS patrols, always have. I vey rarely get too much trouble (there was one time where my patrolling Springblossom ran out of M/AM warheads and got pounded by a load of Yaki, but that was an oversight on my part). I might consider upgrading to M7s when my funds can stretch that far, but for now, M6s do nicely.

Your loadout for your M6 looks good, might want to consider EBCs as an alternative to the PRGs when you're IS with it, just to save on the energy drain, but other than that it should do well.

[A5PECT]

I agree with Kirlack's suggestion. Use your Eclipses to assist the corvette and order commands to the Skiron directly. Set three Eclipses to protect the Skiron and two to attack its target.

I'm pretty sure a Skiron is slower than an Eclipse, so speed shouldn't be an issue.