A Short Guide to the Proper Use of Autopilot by Mm'rek "Tabby" Llin Captain: USS Shiva, Chandley Class Frigate Stardate 44483.98 *** An Overview The navigational autopilot feature is a tool. It can be used properly, and it can be used improperly, like any tool. Improper usage by a great number of helm officers has given it somewhat of a bad reputation, and thus the use of this tool has been discouraged throughout Starfleet... for the wrong reasons. After my decade tenure in the Triangle finding pirates and hunting them down, often in intense dogfight combat, I present this material to the fine officers of Star Fleet Academy, for use as they see fit, in the proper eduation of our cadets and officers alike, specifically in the use of the autopilot feature. This document will provide some basic review, and operational examination, of the autopilot feature. It is a collection of tricks I and my crew have learned from the tactical manuals, and from our experiences out here fighting the more talented pirate captains in the Triangle. The tactics our opponents have used against us must not be dismissed: These people fight us with inferior hardware most of the time, and according to evolutionary law, only the fit among them survive. Thus, I have learned to treat the pirate clan pilots we face out here with considerable respect. Likewise, too, should the reader consider the material I have collect with respect. These tactics work. Ask the Cardassians. *** Operational Examination The single most important aspect of the autopilot is that it does NOT home in on a selected contact. You INTER and autopilot will note the coordinates, and home in on them. It should be noted: INTER programs the coordinates of directly into the destination coordinate entry in your helm. If <3> is in motion, your stored coordinates will only be valid for that instant. What does this mean? If is moving, and you INTER , then in the very next instant, you are no longer heading towards , but instead towards where was. will continue moving away from this location. You will continue to home in on this location, until you arrive, and stop ... or until you INTER again, in which case autopilot now begins homing in on new coordinates. You cannot make autopilot accurately home in on a moving target. Re-INTERcepting over and over again, to keep autopilot tracking, will never do more than approximate a course to . Futher, this constant effort is a drain on the helm officer(s), whose attention is better spent reacting to enemy maneuver, dodging incoming fire, and reacting to new contacts. Autopilot uses a very rigidly defined set of approach speeds. It is designed to slow the ship down in stages, such that each stage takes about 10 seconds to complete, and such that each speed reduction cuts your speed in half. The progression is as follows: Warp C Range 18.4 16446 2.03 PC 14.9 8140 1.02 PC 12.1 4067 0.51 PC 9.8 2014 0.25 PC 8.0 1024 0.13 PC 6.5 513 0.064 PC 5.2 244 0.032 PC 4.3 129 0.016 PC 3.5 65 0.008 PC 2.8 31 0.004 PC 2.3 16 0.002 PC 1.9 8.5 0.001 PC 1.5 3.8 1533600 SU 1.2 1.8 766800 SU 1.0+ 1.0 383400 SU (this speed will vary) Imp SU/s Range 0.64 19.2 128.0 0.32 9.6 64.0 0.16 4.8 32.0 0.08 2.4 16.0 0.04 1.2 8.0 0.02 0.6 4.0 0.01 0.3 2.0 If you are on course, and not still turning, when the ship drops from warp 1.2, autopilot will calculate the exact warp speed required to bring you perfectly on target, typically under 0.1 SU. If it can do this, it will drop you out of warp at a dead stop on target. Otherwise, it will get as close as it can on a tangent, turn and impulse the rest of the way in. The final warp speed is never 1.0. Autopilot always tries to get as close to the target before coming out of warp, and the odds of the required speed being 1.0 are slim. It will calculate the speed it needs, typically between warp 1.1 and warp 1, to land you perfectly on target. This is an extremely important feature. This is what makes autopilot so useful for well-timed orbital insertions, and much faster than any manual approach and vector computations can hope to compete with. It should be noted that every time Autopilot encounters a range to its target where it would shift down a level of speed, even if you are currently under that speed, autopilot will do a course correction. Any use of YAW, PITCH, ROLL, COURSE, EVADE PARALLEL, or any other command that alters aims the ship off target, will automatically disengage the autopilot. LAYIN, ENGAGE, and INTER do not. ** Basic Tactics (Cadet Level) It is critical to remember the way autopilot works, here. Autopilot homes in on coordinates you set, not the contacts themselves. It is critical to keep an overview of the relative motions of space objects, when using autopilot, and when defending against it. Here are the very basic rules: 1) If you autopilot toward a contact heading forward, pointing away from you, you will come out of warp behind them, with them in front of you. You> -> Them> -> ==> You> -> Them> -> (good) 2) If you autopilot toward a contact heading forward, pointing toward you, you will come out of warp behind them, with them behind you. You> -> <- <- -> (even) 3) If you autopilot toward a contact heading backward, pointing away from you, you will come out of warp in front them, with them behind you. You> -> <- Them> ==> <- Them> You> -> (bad) 4) If you autopilot toward a contact heading backward, pointing toward you, you will come out of warp behind them, with them behind you. You> -> ==> You> -> (even) These are assuming your approach is lined up perfectly, and that you drop out of warp at a dead stop. They also assume that the target craft, Them, never changes heading or speed during the approach. They are at best an approximation to real combat situations, but in fast-and dirty dogfighting, tend to be true enough, stastically, to be reliable rules to commit to -instinct-. Note I say instinct here, not memory. They are easy rules to memorize. In combat, you have to have these rules trained into you, or you will waste mental energy trying to equate the situation with the rule. Don't bother with this. Instinct is what wins in marginal situations. *** Standard Tactics (Crew Level) When you see someone autopilot toward you, and know the speed scale, you know instantly how long they have to arrive, by multiplying the stages by 10 seconds. This allows you to plan where you are going to be, and to maneuver into a more effective position to receive them. You should expect the enemy helm officer to constantly or regularly INTER you on the approach, to correct their course. Remember the rules listed above, and pick a course that best suits your needs. A warp-hop will not make much difference against autopilot, at any range, with any ship. You do your warp hop and waste precious time, and they will correct their approach with a single INTER. Either go into warp and stay at warp, or, don't bother doing the evasive warp-hop. If you are hurt and looking to evade, going to warp will give them a shot at you, and then they'll land right on you as planned and hammer away. You will have wasted time better spend in reallocating power to a specific shield, and then making damn sure the approaching vessel comes out of warp, faced by that shield. Now we examine autopilot in 3 dimensions, instead of one. This requires a very solid grasp on the geometry of the engagement. You can use autopilot to appear on the flank, at a range of your choosing, by YAW or PITCH offsets and a timed approach, led in by autopilot. From a defensive standpoint, if a target ship is coming at you, you have some new basic rules to consider (diagrams omitted. If you can't see it in your head, you don't belong on the helm and are not qualified to be in combat). 5) If you autopilot toward a contact pointing to port, going forward, you will come out of warp behind them, with them on your port side. 6) If you autopilot toward a contact pointing to starboard, going forward, you will come out of warp behind them, with them on your starboard side. 7) If you autopilot toward a contact pointing up, going forward, you will come out of warp behind them, with them above you. 8) If you autopilot toward a contact pointing down, going forward, you will come out of warp behind them, with them below you. 9) If you autopilot toward a contact pointing to port, going reverse, you will come out of warp in front of them, with them on your starboard side. 10) If you autopilot toward a contact pointing to starboard, going reverse, you will come out of warp in front of them, with them on your port side. 11) If you autopilot toward a contact pointing up, going reverse, you will come out of warp in front of them, with them below you. 12) If you autopilot toward a contact pointing down, going reverse, you will come out of warp in front of them, with them above you. All of these rules are reversible, and do not take into account relative ROLL motions, course or speed changes. They are at best an approximation, as the previous rules are. It should be noted that selecting exactly a 90 degree YAW or PITCH, in order to maneuver into an oblique firing position at an incoming ship on autopilot, is not a good idea. You will be on their direct Up, Port, Starboard, or Down centerline firing arc. Ships like the Federation Galaxy Class can unload 20 torpedoes at in their centerline port or starboard arcs. On the defensive, it is best to YAW or PITCH 30 or -30 degrees. You don't want 45 or -45 degrees of YAW either, because this will place you on a shield-boundary of the approaching ship, taking away your control of which shield you will hit when you fire. You should scan the shields of the approaching ship to see if their P or S shields are weaker than their A or F shields, and position accordingly a YAW of 30 or -30 will get you the P or S shields, a YAW of 60 or -60 will get you the F or A shield, when they drop out of warp. These are approximations, and assumes you can time your fire before they can begin a turn. ** Advanced Tactics (Officer Level) Now, we examine the offensive use of autopilot. If your opponent pilot does not have an immediate grasp of the 12 basic positions of autopilot against a moving target at impulse, then chances are you will not have much to worry about in terms of counter-maneuvers. Most of the time this will not be the case. There are some maneuvers which will drastically limit the usefulness of the 12 defensive manuevers, and their theory. The first and simplest way to mess up an enemy trying to predict your approach on autopilot is to 'push' the autopilot. The simplest rule of thumb is to 'push' to the next highest integral warp speed, above the one the autopilot shifts to. In a more effective (and difficult) approach, try and use the next higher speed level. This will cut down the approach time drastically. You must not push to hard, or you will overshoot and have to turn around. It works like this, more or less: Autopilot shifts to warp 3.5. You enter warp 4.3 instantly. Autopilot shifts to warp 2.8. You enter warp 3.5 instantly. Autopilot shifts to warp 2.3. You enter warp 2.8 instantly. Autopilot shifts to warp 1.9. You enter warp 2.3 instantly. Autopilot shifts to warp 1.5. You enter warp 1.9 instantly. Autopilot shifts to warp 1.2. You enter warp 1.5 instantly. Autopilot shifts to warp 1.0. You leave it alone, or do a YAW or PITCH as described below. The above represents a good execution. The warp speed overrides have to be immediate, for good results. This will, if done perfectly, cut your approach speed by half. In realistic use, few can enter the precise speeds, and just use the next highest integral warp, getting around a third of their time shaved off. Time is critical. Denying your target a chance to prepare to receive you by making your arrival time out of autopilot warp can mean a great deal, and keep their crew off balance, disrupting their helm's sense of fire timing. If you don't know what this rhythm is, you haven't been in space enough. The next offensive tactic of autopilot is very difficult to master. You can choose not to arrive on target, but instead to slew your approach port, starboard, up, or down. Maybe combinations, if you're good enough. Here is the basic procedure, and the results your can expect: When Autopilot shifts below warp 1.2, immediately yaw 0.1 or -0.1. This will disengage autopilot. Use ETA to count down your approach. It is best if you can keep the countdown in your head, then, drop out of warp at the desired impulse speed. With a Yaw of 0.1, you will drop out of warp with your target around 600 SU to starboard. This value varies wildly if you don't do the YAW exactly as the autopilot shifts to a speed under warp 1.2. YAW -0.1 will place them on your port. PITCH 0.1 will place them beneath you, and of course PITCH -0.1 will place them above you. Against a stationary target, this will very reliably place them in your axial firing arcs, again quite devastating with federation designs, who have a lot of torpedoes along these arcs. This tactic can be extended, when dealing with large targets where a ranged fight is desirable. The Borg and base assaults come immediately to mind here. Use a slew value of 1.0 instead of 0.1. This will kick your arrival range out to 6000 SU (less if you miss the timing of the downshift from warp 1.2). ** Final notes. Consider yourself approaching a battle where other ships are engaged. You need to get into the fight very quickly. Why waste time triangling, when Starfleet officers are out there dying and need you to insert yourself immediately and effectively. Autopilot can do both, far better than anything else. The numbers speak for themselves. I encourage the reader, seasoned or cadet, to test every theory detailed above in simulators. Practice them, and know them by INSTINCT. Not by memory, and not in theory. In practice, and under pressure. The Cardassians and Orions know these tactics, I assure you. Their pilots will not be allowed to leave port without knowing all of these things by instinct, because they will not discard a VERY USEFUL TOOL just because it is easy to make grievous errors with. They will just keep practicing with this tool, while we do not. Regards, Captain Mm'rek "Tabby" Llin USS Shiva, Stardate 44483.98