Ramblings of an Argon Nephew-(Trader's guide)

[Mr. Reeves]

Also if you have a problem with credits you can get a mobile mining ship up in running easy. I reccommend a maxed out mistral superfreighter for mobile mining. Or you can be a professional pirate. A regular mistral is fast and can be armed to the teeth with 6 guns. You can use the regular mistral to slurp and to support your TM full of fighters. Later when you get capital ships and frigates a regular mistral makes a valuble that destroy ships.

I have 1 OTAS TM, 1 Split mamba, 1 kestral, 3 OTAS mistral superfreighters equipped as Mining Ships, And 1 regular Mistral for combat support and Slurping. All my ships are maxed out including my space suit.

[TTD]

More from Norman Fudge later.For now his trade and race reps are increasing.
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Yes Oi be doin' fine now.Sent the second TS pilot to learn the trade and jumped into to disco. I have two Busters and another Merc Tanker waiting for me,but first I must get,...yes...satelites up and running in each of the Argon sectors.I need to know what goin' on,trade-wise in each sector,so I can plan a bit further ahead when I want to buy something for meself loik.

So if you guessed right,cue up at the trading station in Ore Belt.I might have a job for you. If you look no more rough than I you may even get my tanker that's waiting.

Well I have repaired the disco.did max cargo,tuning an' steering in one go.Pinched the 2x 1 mj shields I had stored on my first Merc and went off an' bought another. Got me some software too and an Argon Licence.Never know when that might be useful.Sticking that in my passport too.

So I got to get around Argon space now and check a few things....

I want to have all the Argon Core sector mapped and a satellite installed in each sector. I went to The Hole,via Herron's Nebula.Couldn't see a thing.It was a regular pea souper as Terran visitors say.So I work back round to the EQD at Antigone's Memorial then went south,telling my on board navigation system I wanted to dock at the Trading Station in The Wall.
This worked a dream ! All four gates charted,plus a few stations along the way.

Oh and as an added bonus,got myself my first TP class ship,an Argon Hermes.Well beaten up old wreck.They make reasonable TSs or small re-supply rafts if you are not going to do taxi runs in them.Paid just over 9,000credits.

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[Mr. Reeves]

It's lots of work placing a sattillite network. The best way is to buy a Kestral with all the upgrades and tell it deploy sattillite network under navigation. Then after it puts a sattilllite in every sector for you. (if you buy another Kestral it will go even faster and the universe will light up for you!) 600ms is really fast. A kestral can hold 11 advanced sattillites. You can buy a Kestral in ministry of finance. Oh and profits are hard to come by in Argon territory. The easy way to trade it you don't have 500k is to put down you sattillite network and have your freighter buy a ware for best price and sell ware for best price. You have to have a best buys locater, trading system extention, and trade software MK1 and 2 however it will always find the best deals. Preferably put a jumpdrive on the thing and do a manual trade for energy. You can't do this with energy bc I havn't figured out how to keep it from selling all it's energy to a factory and being stuck. All you have to do is set it to tell you when it's order is completed and you will pick something for it to buy or sell at the best price. You could do something else while it trades like I don't know deploy a sattillite network in your kestral. You will get a trade ever 3 or four minites if your using seta. Make 100k on average I hope.



question about mining. You want your mobile miners to sell as much to a factory at max price as possible. So If your TS miner has 15.000 cargo it will always make more profit than even a fast TS with 3,000 cargo. It't just the way it works. It will mine 15,000 cargo worth of minerals and sell them netting you about 400 thousand. Make sure you give your superfreighters the best weapons shields and drones and a jumpdrive and 1,000 energy to improve survivability. Also a Mistral Superfreighter can mount a tractor beam....HINT

[TTD]

Once again,thanks for the advice and answering my question.

I plan to build on Argon Core Centre and maybe get friendly with the neighbors. Already started that via my first ST wandering into Emperor Mines for some silicon.Similar will happen with the neighbors to the north I expect.

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All sources of sats seem to be dried up atm,so I have to consider supplying the stations with resources ,or building my own.Otherwise I will have to venture further out from this safe-haven and source at last one from somewhere else.

Over 3 mil cr for an advanced satellite factory ? .Oh well I'll have to assist my pilots for a while then.I get some more software and decide to return to the Trading Station in Ore belt .There I transfer all this software over to the 2nd Tanker and take control of her.

[Mr. Reeves]

As long as you know where a sattillite factory is you can have your freighter "buy for best price" and it will find some everytime even it you don't know where any are the computer aboard the ship will spit out coordinates where they can be found. This is how I keep my military machine rolling. Can't wait to take the Kraken I'm stalking If you want to stick to argon space buy yourself a Kestral scout ship and explore the universe. It really doesn't take long to map out everything. You can even go to earth in a human piloted Kestral because Nothing will catch you. It's the perfect scout ship. I'm sure you will find lenty of deals if you explore enough.

[TTD]

In my main game ,I have completed all the missions,mapped everything except newly spawned stations.I have so many stations and STs etc I am gradually running out of peace-time ideas.
That is why I thought I would start again and take over a section at a time,instead of mapping everything,taking the "FREE SHIPS" and doing the missions,first.As I expand my empire I will explore and find the hidden treasures etc and then I may start with the missions when I want new territories.

However,my character,Norman Fudge may get other ideas in time.

There are things about the x-games that I am still finding out after playing since X2-The Threat was released.

One thing I learned some time ago is that the on-board computer has a lot of information about the universe that it does not tell you.Such as the shortest route between two sectors,even though you have not been through the sectors on that route,and are not yet mapped.

As for the Kestral,unless a poor Teladi is willing to sell me one for a song,then it will be some time before I get to a Teladi shipyard to buy one,but yes,there are a lot of good ships now,and I am yet to have tried all 300 plus of them.

But thanks,and keep those ideas coming.I might use some or all of them at certain stages.

If anyone else is following this please feel free to add comments etc.

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Well I am almost ready to let this second tanker go to my next pilot.

Just bought a used Nova Raider for a few hundred k cr.Think I might just use that as my personal ship for a while.I feel more safe in something that can protect my skin.

So my fleet is building up.My traders are progressing well.My rep and trade ranks are steadily increasing.
Been trading in ore and side arms.

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[Mr. Reeves]

Oh well my miners in CivFleet have just formed a union and would not work unless I set aside 100K for every Civilian Ship in an account for life insurance. As part of the brokered deal I have to equip all their ships with the best weopons and shields and they can only fly the best ship suited for their task. They also forced my hand into agreeing all ships in CivFleet get jump drive. If I get caught violating the contrack I will be spaced and all assets put under the Teladie Union Manager. Lord knows what he would do with it. I can't let it happen. So I'm going to stay above the 200k requirement as I only have 2 ships in CivFleet.

[TTD]

Careful you don't end up like my uncle then.

I now have
1x mercury
2x mercury Tanker

all working independently unless I need them for specific tasks.

I have started to get my second Mercury ready,and have just acquired a Mercury Super Freighter.

The more ships you have working for you,then the quicker it is to upgrade the next ship.

In a short time I got the Mercury ready and is trading in Ore Belt.I will be sending 2nd Tanker to The Wall.With a range of TWO it will be able to venture outside Argon space into Atreus' Clouds.

Mercury One is centred at Power Circle ,so is able to venture to Kingdom End.
I am now getting the Super Freighter ready.When done,my previous ship will be put in Queen's Space.He will cover the remaining Boron sectors to the north of Argon core sectors.And also be able to venture into Ceo's Buckzoid.( strict orders to scrutinize ANY Teladi paperwork offered to him.)

Any ship in Ore Belt,on same setting will be able to venture to Emperor Mines.

So only the Split and Terrans will remain for some time.Of course there are the pirates etc,but they can wait.The main thing is to establish a trading base and expand outwards from there.

Me uncle expanded too quick.Built a vast empire , and then the Teladi realised their profits were going his way and not theirs,so they called in all outstanding loans,compounded the interest and the rest is history,as they say.
So no trading contracts with those reptilian traders.Just pure opportunistic trading.I WILL teach them to mess with any Fudge , with fear!

Mercury SF just needs shield and expanded cargo space.Then she is ready.In the meantime I have acquired a Mercury Hauler and sent it to wait for me at the usual place,( Ore Belt trading Station.

The four TSs I have running at the moment are doing well,but I did have a problem with one of them.He had bought too much Cahoona and had problems selling it all. Twice i told him to sell within a range of 5 sectors. Then his cargo was low enough to continue normal trading.

[Mr. Reeves]

Sounds like your CivFleet is growing. I can't wait to hear more about your adventure.

[TTD]

Young Norman Fudge is taking a break for a couple of days . More from him Tuesday night.

It is my round on the SMP community game ,so I will be busy with that and getting the thumbs working for Norman's adventures.

So more pics will start coming through soon.

Yes,Norman is about ready for expansion,but wants his own satellite factory as soon as he can.He has other ideas too,but the end aim of reducing the Teladi to a hand full of EQ docks Shipyards and Trading stations is still on the agenda.That is the long term end to this plot.

Whether or not he gets involved in any of the other political issues or works himself through to Aldrin ,clearing the Kha'ak or getting his own PHQ is still in the balance.Maybe he will or maybe not.

[TTD]

Ok now. I hope you have not been waiting too long.
Having put my feet up for a while it is time to look at what I have achieved.

I now have four traders actively working for me.
One in first stage if training at Ore belt .

I am getting a Super freighter ready for the same.

There are two more TSs ready for my attention,two TPs and a few fighters.



I have the Argon Core sectors covered and a few nearby sectors mapped onto my chart.



I am recognized as a Broker,and listed as a Federation Guardian,all within 3 days of claiming my uncle's ships.



As noted earlier,credits are coming in faster now.I need to expand and consolidate.I want that satelite production ,but having neighbours invites expansion,so let's see what turns up.

So often while traversing the universe ,you can plan to do something,and then something happens and you get diverted for a while.

Well I'll settle for the pilot upgrading cargo space when he is ready,and let my SF free to trade in Ore Belt.

Meanwhile my fourth trade is moved to Argon Prime ,once again with a radius of 2.
Now to repair and upgrade my Mercury Hauler.This one is going to assist the Queen of the North ( Boron Sectors).

NOTICE how I have not purchase a single new craft,and yet I now have five TSs bringing in the credits.By keeping a lookout for 2nd hand ships ,both in and out of stations,you can build a large fleet for as little as 25% or less than buying everything new or undamaged.Aim for 50-70% damage and you may have a bargain.
Sometime equipment is left on board,too.
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While doing this trading tutorial,I have noticed a number of differences in style sizes of TSs.For more information on these variations please look at this thread and the various links there-in.

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?p=3087679#3087679

Also,if you just want to make money then look at

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=263657&sid=5e6c25e30e5f6428359290762245bc2d

[TTD]

I have achieved my first goal...That of covering Argon Core sectors with TSs.

Time for expansion.

Got my first factory .yep...Advanced Sat.

Most of Argon Core sectors are covered with them.

I have nine TSs working for me ,with three of them supplying the factory.
I can sell sats at maximum price,even to the Teladi.Yet I have not been to Teladi space,and they have upgraded my status with them.

[Mr. Reeves]

oh cool your first factory. I suspect your next will be a silicone mine to support it. Sattilite factories need silicone I think. The stuff is not cheap.

Best of luck in your new endevour for galagtic conquest.

My M7M plex is providing me with enough fireworks to level entire boran sectors.

[TTD]

Norman Fudge has amassed over fifteen STs ,all working,a number of TSs waiting for upgrades,along with a number or M3/M4/M5s,plus a few TMs.

He is branching out into both Boron and Paranid space.

"oi gaht moi eyes on ta 25mj shield production fabs ,to be buyin' one vrom them thar three-eyes. Gettin' expensive ,keepin' kittout TSs wid Argon shields.Toim oi gaht mah own a makin' oi tink." ~ Norman Fudge.

But he's got his work cut out there.He has to go up three or for levels of race recognition first.So the Boron sectors will take back stage for a while.

[Mr. Reeves]

15 is impressive. I only have 10. Most of my money is in complexes right now.