AP: Best way to fight in an M7M?

[abaddon]

I'm playing AP, and I've just bought my first M7M (I never got around to messing with them in TC), and I'm trying to figure out how best to fight in it.

I've seen posts that indicate that you need to fly it yourself for best effect (which is a pity - I was hoping to just tell it to protect my pandora crate overtuned Boreas, to help out what an M1 dumps out a load of fighters).

I already suspect I'll need to start another missile complex - the one I have in the Unknown Sector east of Legends Home already uses all the local silicon, and only has two Flail and two Hammer fabs (plus two for Gauss ammo). Any recommended locations?

In the rear turret, I've put a couple of Flak Artillery Arrays, set to missile defense, and have the mosquito missile defense script running in one of the slots.

For the front two turrets, how should I use them?
Do I load them both with Flails? One with Flails, one with Hammers?

Do I run scripts on them such as Attack Enemies, or should I just swap into the turret myself, and fire them off?

How do the 8 tubes per turret work? Does that just mean that it fires a cluster of 8 missiles per shot (I don't think it was using up 8 missiles each time it fired off a flail cluster)? Do I control that with Weapon Groups?

Thanks for any thoughts...

[Catra]

additional commands --> barrage while furiously tapping the L key for more spammage.

that basically sums up how you fight in an m7m.

[kurush]

Flying M7M yourself allows two things:
1) Fire individual missiles instead of barrages and thus limit damage/ dispatch mobs of fighters qucker.
2) Maneuver your ship away from big ships that can hurt you.
Otherwise, they are perfectly fine on AI.

In AP there is a nasty script on them that just keeps firing missiles on opposition regardless of current command, turret configuration and missile fire %.

[abaddon]

Ah, so the 8 tubes let it fire a barrage of 8 missiles? Do they all go for the same target, or seek individual ones? Is there another key to fire a barrage, or do the turrets just do it on their own?

I guess part of my problem is I've never had turrets automatically firing missiles before - always seemed a waste - so I'm not sure how all this works.
What does the missile % actually mean? Per possible target? In a set period? Does it control barrages too? If I have Barrage as an additional command, does it mean the turrets will always fire barrages?

Thanks.

[kurush]

Barrage always has a single target. Once it is destroyed, your missiles retarget to the nearest enemy ship. In AP barrage is actually 16 missiles for Cobra (two 8-barrel turrets) and I won't be surprised if it is 32 missiles for Kraken and Minotaur that have 4 turrets.

[abaddon]

Ah, it's becoming clearer now - thanks!

As you guessed from my description (2 x 8 tubes) I'm using a Cobra - I should have said - sorry.

How do I trigger a barrage? Will it do it itself (based in turret script - such as Attack Fighters), or do I command it to barrage a specific target? Will it use the missiles I set, or does it switch missiles like guns in turrets get switched depending on target?

[kurush]

Missile Barrage is available in additional ship commands, the same place where missile defense mosquito fro m bonus pack is turned off. Also, the same place where you can launch marines from your M7M. (Shift-C and then scroll until you see two lines for additional ship commands)

[Raize]

I already suspect I'll need to start another missile complex - the one I have in the Unknown Sector east of Legends Home already uses all the local silicon, and only has two Flail and two Hammer fabs (plus two for Gauss ammo). Any recommended locations?

I have 130 Hammer and 25 Flail fabs in a self-sustaining complex in Mines of Fortune and I still run out during extended periods of heavy use...