Pirate ships or Yaki ships

[Kaunit]

Hi guys,
currently, I'm playing the game mostly as a Pirate (with my main sources of income being capping/boarding, drugs and weapons). 'til now, I mostly used capped Pirate ships, but as I'm now at the point where I start to build a sizeable fleet, I'd like to hear your opinion on which ships to use. To be more precise: should I use Yaki ships or the generic Pirate Ships (including capitals like the Brigantine). Now, I know that these ships are sub-par compared to Commonwealth ships, but I'd like to "roleplay" a Pirate clan. I'd mostly need my ships as sector patrols and for raiding Paranid sectors, with the occasional attack on Xenon sectors for fun.

My considerations so far:

Yaki:

+ easily obtainable, given enough money
+ they offer a M7M
+ I'm probably going to be friends with the Yaki either way
+ their TM has the biggest number of docking ports (post Shady Business)
- I don't like their look (as they are simply copy-pastes), with the expection of the Tenjin
- Price

Standard Pirates:

+ I like their looks, even the repainted standard ships
+ Price, as I only have to repair/outfit them and don't need to buy them
+ they have a wider selection per class, for example, they have both the Eclipse and the Kea as M3+ ships
+ they offer M6's
- it's hard to obtain specific ships, as I need to cap all my ships before I get the PHQ


I don't know how they stack up in terms of raw stats, or rather, how they actually behave in combat. So if someone could give me some feedback on how they perform (in regards to the tasks mentioned above), that'd be great. Also, are there any task which Pirate/Yaki ships are generally good at? I've heard that the Brigantine is a very good anti-fighter ship.

[Nanook]

Most pirate fighters are inferior to their Commonwealth cousins, at least, the Teladi and Argon ones. Pirate ships in general aren't meant to be used as defense ships. Pirates are raiders and nomads so they don't tend to have anything to defend. They run away if a real military force challenges them. Yaki, on the other hand, have an established base and defend several sectors as their own, same as any other race. Their ships are comparable to most Commonwealth ones, and superior in a few cases (Tenjin, for example). My suggestion is to use a combination of pirate and yaki ships to fill various roles.