warping into hostile system

[eastwind]

It's just really ridiculous that if you warp into a system you have no choice but to warp in with all the hostile ships already lined up directly ahead of you so everyone gets to pound you while you're slowing down. It doesn't really fit the sci-fi tech of the game. If you can jump out of a system from any point, why don't you have any control of where you enter a system, and why is it that even if you can jump to a system from several others it doesn't matter which one you come in from the bad guys are all lined up ahead of you waiting.

I'm trying to do the steal-an-electron-beam mission and I can't even get to alnasl and back in a bactrian because I get toasted in Wei by everyone waiting for me. And that's with atomic steering and thrusters on the bactrian. And when I do get to Alnasl, some of the time there's 3 gunboats that take me down.

Why can't I use some tactics?

[Belteguesian]

I understand your frustration. What you say DOES make sense but it would require a major reprogramming for the game (and I don't mean the .txt programming part that's easy).
I can give two alternatives to your plight.
1. Make sure the Bactrian is well shielded and start hitting break BEFORE it appears in Wei, turn and run far away before jumping to Alnasl, rinse and repeat on the way back
2. Do as I did after being heavily disappointed from the game mechanics at some point: Using foreknowledge enter the FW campaign with AT LEAST a jump drive and decent (not human) alien shields on the Bactrian. The jump drive will make Sargas-Alnasl one jump so you can get all 3 (even more) gunboats to equip your Bactrian with electron beam turrets

[jafdy]

You can always fly through the swarm and out run them on the other side, this is the trick I recommend in reconsileation where you face nukes.

[eastwind]

FWIW, I have also tried with 3 bactrians, and 3 bactrians 8 captured cruisers and 10 captured non-electron gunboats. The enemy overscales and whups me in each instance. The problem is a tech disadvantage (which certainly fits with the story).

Being new and on my first playthrough, I haven't figured out what to do in order to get a jump drive or non-human systems. Even reading spoilers, I thought that I was stuck on those quest lines until I'd done the FW. Your post is the first hint I've had I could have gone further before starting FW. I made a named save just before signing up to the FW navy, maybe I'll go back to that and figure out what I didn't do before.

[MrPurple33]

It's based on all Jumps centering on the system's star - conversely you can use the same tactic to your advantage

Hit by some strong Pirates with a Falcon, 2 Firebirds, and some Quicksilvers?
Jump to the next system, form your first group of ships up, the Pirates will come in one at a time, easier to handle

I use this all the time with those annoying missile Furies that just run and Lure your weaker ships away, popping them with Looping Backward missles - Instead of hunting them down, or calling your ships back into a group, jump to the next system, and Lure them right into a kill zone

[Anicora]

The other thing you can do is load up with multiple scram drives. This way you don't have to come to a complete stop before warping. The down side of scram drives is the increased fuel usage so may want to stock up on fuel pods as well. I believe that I used this on my first playthrough as I kept dying as well.

[Fzzr]

I also recommend just maintaining velocity and blowing through the middle of the battle. Once you're out of the main crush, slow down enough to deal with whatever followed you at the distance appropriate for your weapon build. After that turn around and work on the rest of the battle at your own pace.

Another thing to do is press 'G' before jumping in so your fleet stays with you instead of going wherever. This will provide a better concentration of anti-missile around you, along with some meatshields so the damage is distributed more evenly and you take less damage and lose fewer ships. Once your gathered fleet is out of the main crush, you can press 'G' again to stop them gathering so they'll hunt down whatever followed you, then press 'G' again before they get too far away and leave you vulnerable again.