M7M Boarding Advice

[Gloomheart]

Seriously, how do you guys do M7M boarding? Everyone talks about doing this like it's some casual walk in the park, and here's poor me struggling to even make something happen

Here's my main problems:

1.) I fire off an adequate amount of Hammers, with some flails to cover, but the Hammers never even come close because of whatever missile defense the ship has (They always seem to have Frag bomb launchers...)

2.) When I finally DO get the shields down (thanks to endless Flails), the boarding pods can't even get close because the missile defense seemingly ignores the hundreds of Flail missiles swarming around it, and shoots straight at my pods.
When I try to get close in this lumbering M7M, I get shredded apart. It's lose/lose.

As you can tell, I'm at my wits end here trying to do this. I've read the guides, and any miscellaneous help that hasn't been mentioned, tips, pointers, life advice, would help here.

Thanks!


EDIT: FYI using a Cobra

[kgkosio]

shoot at the front of the enemy ship. The missile defense is usually to the sides and rear and the main guns will want to kill you, not the missiles or boarding pods.

[garv222]

Hmm... what range are you firing your missiles from? I've never had a ship able to cope with a flail barrage storm. Are you flails arriving before the boarding pods? Are your boarding pods arriving together?

My normal boarding routine i s done at 10 km away from target, running away from it is good. I've boarded from all sides so I don't think direction is a problem.

[Gloomheart]

The few times I've tried it, I was about 8-12k away.

I dunno what it is, but I usually launch a few Hammers, then a few seconds later, fire Flails to cover it, yet my Hammers rarely ever make it. The SETA trick (learned about this in the last 15 minutes) sort of works, but my Boarding Pods still get rocked by anti-missile.
Is there a way to launch several pods at once, as you suggested? Can they be launched salvo?

And I'll try the frontal attack thing later when I'm less frustrated.

[TemporalAnomaly]

The best way to avoid missile defense is to get your target to chase you, so get within 15-20k lob a few hammers and flails at him to get him angry, then when he turns toward you, turn away and match speed (if you're 15-20ks away make your speed a bit less and he will think he can catch you)
when you fire off a volley of hammers (you do have your right monitor set to missiles right?) watch the distance of the last one, when he is about 1/3 of the way there (this will vary depending on distance) let loose some flails for cover. I like to switch view to target to: a) make sure he is following me and b) to watch and make sure he's not shooting down my hammers.
When shields are low enough I fire off a few flails then quickly 4 pods then a few more flails followed by more flails every 5 seconds or so. It really is very doable once you get the timing right (practice)
I haven't bought a ship in TC for over 2 years and don't intend to, capping M2s, M7s etc is just too much fun...(Yaki Akumas are amongst the easiest, once you take out the escort)

[deca.death]

1.) I fire off an adequate amount of Hammers, with some flails to cover, but the Hammers never even come close because of whatever missile defense the ship has (They always seem to have Frag bomb launchers...)

Calculate time when to launch storm of flails to arrive just before hammers. Hammers are twice as slower. Here is one little trick:

Take position 20 km away from target, launch 3, 4 or 5 hammer barrages (for 4, 5 or 6 2GJ shielding), hit SETA when it fills up to 90% exit SETA and launch 3 barrages of flail. Fire flail each 2-3 seconds immediately after barrage stops. If you get things right you should have below 5% of shield controlled target.

2.) When I finally DO get the shields down (thanks to endless Flails), the boarding pods can't even get close because the missile defense seemingly ignores the hundreds of Flail missiles swarming around it, and shoots straight at my pods.
When I try to get close in this lumbering M7M, I get shredded apart. It's lose/lose.

Target should chase you after all those missiles. When it chases you it cannot shoot at the pods. Keep sending flails until he turns to chase. Send in several flails immediately after pods, and continue sending them on same intervals as before for some time, to control shields.

As you can tell, I'm at my wits end here trying to do this. I've read the guides, and any miscellaneous help that hasn't been mentioned, tips, pointers, life advice, would help here.

Try this guide:
Illustrated guide to boarding a Boreas with M7M

[heratik]

First off, what ships are you trying to board, this cam make a big difference!

Here is my technique:

Get within 18-20km of target ship, set race of target ship to enemy, SAVE. This gives you a good starting point to go back to if things should go wrong.

Manually fire the amount of Hammers you have calculated will take down ships shields, I always fire exact amount -1, to give some shield space for all the flails you will need.

Count the amount of seconds the ship is away from you in Km (ie if the ship is 15 km, count 15 seconds) send of 3-4 flails, than a flail every 5-8 seconds. The first set of flails should hit 10-15 seconds before the first hammers, this should give the ship time to turn round, so by the time the hammers hit it is pretty much facing you and it missile defence should not be able to take down your hammers.

When the first Hammer hits (you will see a big jump in ships shields), start boarding via Piracy in the command menu, when you get to the final button click, WAIT, as soon as the shields are low enough, finish the command. This will fire all pods at once which will also help them get through missile defence. as soon as pods are launched chuck more flails, one every 5 seconds (maybe 2 at a time if you think the target ship's shields can take it). If pods are shot down, reload. If not, check marines in your property menu, if all have hit the hull, SAVE in a NEW SLOT!

[garv222]

There is also the "launch all marines" command under additional commands in the main ship console menu. About mid way down give or take. It's a bit buggy when launching 20 marines as it doesn't seem to really launch all marines all the time. Should launch 16+ all the time, or at least 16 is the fewest I've ever seen launched.

Heratik has got the right idea though. You want your target to be under fire from flails as your hammers arrive. Notice when you fire a barrage of hammers that they generally stay pretty close to each other even if you fire 3 barrages. Flails on the other hand develop into a sort of missile tunnel that can extend well over a KM long if you've launched numerous barrages. The length of the missiles tunnel should make it easier for you to land your hammers. Give yourself extra lee way with the shields if you're worried about doing too much damage and launch extra flails for cover. Flails are pretty cheap and plentiful if you've got a complex churning them out(hope you do), so you can afford to waste a few to tip those shields low enough to board.

[cmdnenad]

This is how I do it:

start from 10-15km, even more if the ship is faster then you. Fire a few flails to get him angry. Once he starts turning towards you, match his speed and start running away.

Calculate exact number of hammer and flail to knock down the shields. Start fireing hammers, then flails.

After you launched the required number of missiles, wait a few seconds and start launching flails every few seconds to keeps the shields down untill you can launch the pods. It's the trickiest part, because if you launch the flails at too large interval the shields will regenerate, if the interval is too small, you'll damage the ship. It realy depends on the type of shields and the shield generator.

When the shields are down, launch another flail, launch the pods, and another flail. keep sending the flail at the same interval as before until the marines are in. Sit back and wait .

It works every time, and if you get the interval right, you'll get a ship with 100% hull (assuming you have marines with 100% engineering skill).

[zazie]

I had the same frustration with 100% of Pods killed by missile defence until I switched to slightly different tactics:

After bringing the shields down I change into a fast ship (overtuned Hyperion, Springblossom), fly closer to the target ship. Bringing down the shields again (any way you like), then I SPAM missiles : Wasps from the Hyperion, Poltergeists from the Springy. They will attract the traget's defence. Only then I order the M7M to launch the Pods from a safe distance.

Important: You must be fast: when you launch the pods, other missiles MUST still be on the way to the target.

[Squiffilect]

I assume this is a TC topic?

[fairywhipper]

different people have different ways, some not always work, i use a springblossom and a HCF / M7M. use my m6 to wipe out escorts, then shields nearly down then bring the HCF to range. take down targets shields and drop 5-10 drones fly towards my HCF,then launch pods. drones keep target occupied while pods come in, launch wasp/poltegist and run in front of pods. flak will target you, just remember not to damage ship tooo much. pods land (sometimes lose 1pod) but the rest get there, then back off and let the marines do their work. normally work regardless of defences (just take the loses).

[Flozem]

I believe there's another topic that even explains how to get the Tyr in Terran space without loosing rep. Had something to do with one-shotting all shields and launching the pods right after. Then quickly changing ships and jumping the M7M out.

Have used it once myself.

[deca.death]

I believe there's another topic that even explains how to get the Tyr in Terran space without loosing rep. Had something to do with one-shotting all shields and launching the pods right after.

Moon Sector Ambush of Tyrs

[Gloomheart]

Wow, there definitely is a science to this. I guess practice makes perfect, and much thanks to everyone responding!
So, in essence, I make the ship chase me, right? Do the Hammers turn around while I'm running away (just curious, because I've never tried).

For those inquiring, this is TC, and I was going after Carracks and Brigantines (and having little success). I should probably practice on something easier; Do these tactics work on TLs, or is that a whole different beast altogether?

Another thing: Would having a heavy ship cover me with the Strip Shield command work, provided I'm in over my head with this?

[gbjbaanb]

it varies. I cut my teeth on pirate centaurs, they're difficult but really rewarding - especially as I set the M7M to piracy and then go in in my M3 to bring the shields down and keep his turrets busy with a few wasps.

I've capped a Carrack and it was reasonably difficult, I've also had one that practically asked for pods to hit it. Too bad it had sentry lasers and 10 marines onboard

I find that too many hammers blows it up, too few and you need to send another which gets shot down. So I try to intersperse with a few flails too. It can be hit and miss, but worth it in the end. I do think you should try a weaker target first.

[navetta]

do all abilities increase when doing boarding operations or is it just combat ability?

[Vim Razz]

Just fighting.

[VincentTH]

Wow, there definitely is a science to this. I guess practice makes perfect, and much thanks to everyone responding!
So, in essence, I make the ship chase me, right? Do the Hammers turn around while I'm running away (just curious, because I've never tried).

For those inquiring, this is TC, and I was going after Carracks and Brigantines (and having little success). I should probably practice on something easier; Do these tactics work on TLs, or is that a whole different beast altogether?

Another thing: Would having a heavy ship cover me with the Strip Shield command work, provided I'm in over my head with this?

The TLs are actually harder to board, cuz they don't chase you. This is different than capping Arena/Hospital ships, cuz those TLs are unarmed.

[garv222]

Wow, there definitely is a science to this. I guess practice makes perfect, and much thanks to everyone responding!
So, in essence, I make the ship chase me, right? Do the Hammers turn around while I'm running away (just curious, because I've never tried).

For those inquiring, this is TC, and I was going after Carracks and Brigantines (and having little success). I should probably practice on something easier; Do these tactics work on TLs, or is that a whole different beast altogether?

Another thing: Would having a heavy ship cover me with the Strip Shield command work, provided I'm in over my head with this?

I can't quite remember to be honest if the hammers will fire directly at your target if they arc/turn back. You'll just need to fire the hammers and make a judgment on when to release the flails to cover the hammers. As I said before the missile tunnel can get long, so releasing earlier rather than later is probably safer.

In regards to a heavy ship covering your m7m, I wouldn't leave it up to the AI. I have confidence in the ship to strip shields effectively provided it is given the right weapons, but brigantines pack serious firepower and can level ships rather fast. It'd probably be better if you were in the ship stripping shields instead of the m7m. If you wanted to remotely keep shields down, I'd suggest using a large complement of fighter drones for shield suppression.