So, you and your greasy pirate buddies have spotted a nice supple
Republic transport for the taking or an under defended planet that needs raiding
But you're down on your luck and only have a few lame ships at your disposal what to do
I'll explain how to be a good pirate and the basics of raiding on today's episode of Star Wars battle breakdown
The Star Wars Galaxy is an interesting place
Large central governments manage galactic affairs while individual systems generally maintain a high degree of autonomy
Understanding this relationship is crucial for any wannabe smuggler or pirate. Local governments,
not the Republic or the Empire or whoever else are typically the ones fielding local defense fleets and
custom registries. Thus, step one of any good pirate raid is picking a target.
Let's be honest, unless you're Zim the despot you and your buddies are probably not going to want to harass Coruscant.
It has strong orbital and ground-based defenses, a planetary shield, and a dedicated space force
protecting it at all times
Instead you want to planet which despite having some commercial activity is a little bit more of a backwater
However, choosing a target is a bit more involved than that. You also have to decide whether you want to raid the planet itself,
which is difficult, or to target spaceships within the gravity
well
I think the latter is a better option as it's much quicker and less risky. Planets in the Star Wars galaxy
Act as hubs and are generally the last stop before ships jump to hyperspace
So this means that even a generic backwards planet probably has a few targets within striking distance
But let's say you've done all of that basic ground work and you're now organizing the raid itself
Step one is always
knowing your target. Have someone scout the planet out beforehand and preferably remain there until the raid is launched
figure out what loot is available for grabbing and identify any defenses or
obstructions. With that accomplished you then move on to developing and implementing a strategy
I want to highlight one that I particularly like: the custom red trick. We see this used, albeit unsuccessfully
because with the presence of Han and Luke, during the raid of Ifagen. Han Solo explains it better than I can
It's an old trick. You call an alert on some ship coming in Sun side
Then hit a night side target while customs is busy half a planet away
The only tricky part is making sure the ground and orbit
defenses can't get you plus figuring out how to fake the alert in the first place
So Ifagen does not have a major defense fleet
But it does have a Golan defense platform and custom ships. Pirates
hoping to raid space traffic around the planet call in a
customs red alert on just a random freighter. They do so by securing New Republic credentials a custom red code
Basically means that the ship is hauling extremely dangerous and illegal
material. The ship they choose to target is one on the Sun side of the planet also in line with the Golan defense
Platform in response to what they think is an extraordinarily dangerous
Situation, Ifiginian customs officials all move to intercept the ship. As a hint one thing you can do to make this plan even more
Successful is use local geopolitical conflicts
For example, let's say you're a pirate operating 18 years after the Battle of Yavin go to one of the fringe Karelian planets or
say Secoria, and tell custom officials that a drawl or solonian ship is approaching
With some dangerous cargo. But back to the case study with local defenses now
Distracted and out of the way
the Pirates at Ifagen target a
Republic
transport on the
Opposite side of the planet. The raid at a Ifagen is not successful because Han Solo, who himself is quite
familiar with the criminal underworld, recognizes
what's going on. He and Luke are able to overwhelm the Pirates who were targeting a New Republic transport
And again, this is one of the keys of picking your targets and doing a bit of basic research.
If I knew Han Solo was on the planet or that there was a major trade summit or negotiation happening
you'd probably want to go somewhere else. This is however only one of many strategies. If you're a pirate
Let me know down in the comments what you like to use when attacking planets or other targets until next time
Thank you guys so much for watching. This has been Eckhart's Ladder. May the force be with you.