Piracy

[worldstrider]

In real life this sort of piracy would do two things:

Drop profits which would be moved into real escorts--as in, "We split the cargo profit 50-50."

Organized groups and associations would form to resist pirates more effectively (actual convoys and military patrols).

In WWI and WWII, ships that didn't want to run with a convoy usually didn't make it. They generally had to sail slower and be easier as a group to find but they were able to defend themselves collectively.

The situation here is no differnt than that of early WWII when the US refused to mandate convoys and German U-boats were having a field day off the US coasts. It took staggering ship losses for the allies to finally adapt.

Ten ships from house corps with some indy btraders sprinkled in and military escorts could really hamper piracy. If the pirates formed battlegroups then there is your job for the Bounty Hunters Guild and navies. A decisive victory can be won on a daily basis due to the 4-hour rule. Every pirate downed is one less to worry over for four hours.

Also, imagine a ten or fifteen ship cargo offering 20% of its profits to a few escorts.

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