[TC] Choosing an M7M

Hemmingfish · Post by **Hemmingfish** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 19:15

So I'm completely new to boarding, having never attempted a boarding operation in the entire game and I've decided I want an Agamemnon.

Currently I'm working on a flail complex in Herron's Nebula, but I've been finding it difficult to decide which M7M to buy. It looks like an Aggy can outrun every M7M in the game, but I'm inclined to go for the Aquilo for its speed. However, it looks like the Aquilo can only fire forward with missiles.

Is there a babby's first M7M, or are they all pretty much the same in terms of effectiveness?

bizbag · Post by **bizbag** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 19:22

The Aquilo can't fire boarding pods.

The Cobra or Kraken are usually the way to go since they're the fastest that can fire missiles and pods both.

heratik · Post by **heratik** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 19:31

I agree, cobra or kraken, I had both in my last game...

Silverbox · Post by **Silverbox** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 19:38

I have 20 odd marines in training at the moment and when they are up to scratch I will try this boarding malarkey that I have heard so much about (must admit, it frightens me a bit!). I was thinking, are M7M's ripe for boarding or are they very hard to board? Would save you 50M credits if you could! Or should I start off with easier prey?

heratik · Post by **heratik** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 19:44

The problem with boarding an m7m is that they usually to be found in core sectors with a huge entourage of escorts and are likely to have all the anti boarding expressions. Spacewalks a target like this as your first boarding operation will be a painful experience at the least...

Hemmingfish · Post by **Hemmingfish** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 19:47

Looks like I'm picking up a Kraken. Thanks guys!

Sabrina Bergin · Post by **Sabrina Bergin** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 19:48

You definitely need to practice your marines only gain fight rank via successful boarding attempts they will all die if you don't max up their fighting and all other levels as soon as you can.

As to boarding an M7M, be cautious it may have a full compliment of Marines on board and you will be left with no marines and a serious rep loss.

I would start with either return ship mission's, or unarmed hospital or arena class TL's. once you have sold a few of those you can by an M7M and outfit it.

The only complex's I have build me missiles every thing else is paid for by Piracy. (oh except my drug fabs)

heratik · Post by **heratik** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 19:53

Hemmingfish wrote:Looks like I'm picking up a Kraken. Thanks guys!

You said in your first post you were working on a flai complex, what about hammers? Also it would be a wise move to set a ship up to start buying and stockpiling boarding pods! There is nothing worse than having a kraken full to the brim with marines, hammers and flails..

...and having no boarding pods

Hemmingfish · Post by **Hemmingfish** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 19:56

heratik wrote:
Hemmingfish wrote:Looks like I'm picking up a Kraken. Thanks guys!
You said in your first post you were working on a flai complex, what about hammers? Also it would be a wise move to set a ship up to start buying and stockpiling boarding pods! There is nothing worse than having a kraken full to the brim with marines, hammers and claims...

...and having no boarding pods

I can probably stick a few hammers on the complex, since there's no kill like overkill the complex in question contains every asteroid in Herron's Nebula and I didn't calculate how much it can support. To be honest, I'd completely forgotten about them.

Boarding pods too, but I'd assumed they carried a decent number of marines each.

heratik · Post by **heratik** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 20:01

Hemmingfish wrote:
heratik wrote:
Hemmingfish wrote:Looks like I'm picking up a Kraken. Thanks guys!
You said in your first post you were working on a flai complex, what about hammers? Also it would be a wise move to set a ship up to start buying and stockpiling boarding pods! There is nothing worse than having a kraken full to the brim with marines, hammers and claims...

...and having no boarding pods
I can probably stick a few hammers on the complex, since there's no kill like overkill the complex in question contains every asteroid in Herron's Nebula and I didn't calculate how much it can support. To be honest, I'd completely forgotten about them.

Boarding pods too, but I'd assumed they carried a decent number of marines each.

4 or 5 marines depending on how you launch then, that's 4 or 5 pods per capital ship boarding operation. I was boarding about 5 cap ships a night at my peak, that's between 20-25 pods, and they are not a common resource...

bizbag · Post by **bizbag** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 20:01

Silverbox wrote:I have 20 odd marines in training at the moment and when they are up to scratch I will try this boarding malarkey that I have heard so much about (must admit, it frightens me a bit!). I was thinking, are M7M's ripe for boarding or are they very hard to board? Would save you 50M credits if you could! Or should I start off with easier prey?

Scan the target first to check for static defenses like Firewall Software. M7Ms, in my experience, can be tough to capture because of their missiles. They *will* obliterate your TP or M6. I caught my Kraken in my current game by coaxing it to barrage missiles at me, then do an in-sector jump to the gates. Once the ship was out of missiles I casually flew up to it and delivered the marines.

heratik · Post by **heratik** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 20:02

Hemmingfish wrote:
heratik wrote:
Hemmingfish wrote:Looks like I'm picking up a Kraken. Thanks guys!
You said in your first post you were working on a flai complex, what about hammers? Also it would be a wise move to set a ship up to start buying and stockpiling boarding pods! There is nothing worse than having a kraken full to the brim with marines, hammers and claims...

...and having no boarding pods
I can probably stick a few hammers on the complex, since there's no kill like overkill the complex in question contains every asteroid in Herron's Nebula and I didn't calculate how much it can support. To be honest, I'd completely forgotten about them.

Boarding pods too, but I'd assumed they carried a decent number of marines each.

4 or 5 marines depending on how you launch then, that's 4 or 5 pods per capital ship boarding operation. I was boarding about 5 cap ships a night at my peak, that's between 20-25 pods, and they are not a common resource...

Scott C. · Post by **Scott C.** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 20:25

Whichever one some knucklehead asks you to fetch..... Then snatch a Cobra.

Post by **Nanook** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 20:26

Hemmingfish wrote:Looks like I'm picking up a Kraken. Thanks guys!

Pick one by looks or price is my advice.

All M7M's are pretty much equally effective in boarding or clearing sectors. Speed makes no real difference, nor does shielding of defensive weaponry. An M7M should always be deployed at a safe distance from the action. There's no reason to ever get 'up close and personal' with your M7M.

brucewarren · Post by **brucewarren** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 22:34

+1

Any M7M that can fire pods will do.

Personally I like the Sirokos because it's fast and can carry more guys. It's major downside is that it can't fire flails or hammers. Since I prefer mk2 fighter drones that's not an issue for me personally but if you're new to boarding it's best to avoid it.

The most popular choice is the Split Cobra - 2nd fastest and no problem firing flails/hammers.

Just don't get the OTAS Aquillo or the ATF Skirnir. Before it was patched it was known by some as the I-Win button because of the carnage it could unleash but not pods unfortunately.

darth_adversor · Post by **darth_adversor** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 23:49

Not exactly on topic, but just a quick question:

Do you fire all the pods at once, and then losses are automatically replenished, or do you start with 2 (10 marines), and fire additional pods as needed?

Missile fabs are going up when I get home, and I'm going to finally get an M7M. So back on track, I'm leaning toward the Cobra, but then again...I've always wanted to say, "Release the Kraken!"

gbjbaanb · Post by **gbjbaanb** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 23:58

given they're all crap for speed ans they all fire the same stuff, the only criteria left are looks or cargo.

so cargo: its the Gannet at 5k-9k, or the Kraken at 4.5k - 8.5k

Looks... up to you

Oh, the gannet also has the most shielding, in case that matters when it gets caught up in trouble when boarding too close. It happens occasionally, esp when the target is close to the gate.

brucewarren · Post by **brucewarren** » Thu, 4. Jul 13, 00:06

@darth_adversor

For normal boarding you fire off all four pods in one go.

If you have another m7m you can reinforce if you like, but it's usually not necessary. 20 reasonable guys will take any normal ship and if you're lucky, or they're good enough, without losses.

That said Xenon are a different kettle of fish altogether and topic in their own right - too complex for a quick answer.

Imo you don't even think about Xenon until late game unless

a) You want to brag about it to the girls in the bar
b) It's an I - Imo the only xenon ship truly worth the capping.
c) You enjoy watching the guys turned into marine soup
d) You really want to.

darth_adversor · Post by **darth_adversor** » Thu, 4. Jul 13, 01:03

Thanks bruce, I guess I'm confused because I thought 10 was the maximum number of marines you could have on any boarding op. Now that I think about it, I don't even remember where or how I got that notion, so maybe I'm just a tard.

As for Xenon ships...

I will eventually cap one of each capital ship just to say I did. Maybe open up a Xenon museum in Mars. Plus, as you said, I'll need an icebreaker the next time I go to a club. Everyone knows that women LOVE video games.

"Do you know who I am? I'm kind of a big deal. I have many leather-bound books, spend most of my free time playing X3, and I recently captured a Xenon I..."

Edit: I just checked out the I on the wiki. I'm still on TC, but once I eventually get to AP, I will have that ship. Easily the sexiest thing I've seen in the game yet.

brucewarren · Post by **brucewarren** » Thu, 4. Jul 13, 01:12

Ten was the maximum number of marines a TP could carry in TC IIRC. It was upped to 40 in AP, presumably so that you didn't need two ships on a capital ship boarding op, but that's probably where you got the 10 figure from.

Btw I didn't mean real bars, but "space bars" sounds too close to spacebars as in keyboards. Oh well. You can only take a metaphor so far.

egosoft.com

egosoft.com

[TC] Choosing an M7M

[TC] Choosing an M7M