RnD Tactics & Weaponry #26: The Drebuchet

Defending a tower against a mass of Archons? A few case notes from the R&D files as our contribution to the discussion - and some other applications. Art by Nozaj. // For those wondering how the "Loader" performs his duties in the Drebuchet, the simplest way of doing this is of course to use out of alliance alts and changing the POS password. But remember that you can also disallow corp and alliance member usage, thus launching everyone who doesn't have the password, even if they were previously allowed into the POS without one.

If you are using corp/alliance dreads for the Drebuchet, this is perhaps the most effective method. By making sure everyone but the dreads prepped for launch have the correct password set on their ships, you can simply deselect the "allow corporation member usage" and "allow alliance member usage". The ships with incorrect passwords set are then launched out of the POS at great speeds, which will hopefully only be the dreadnoughts set for launch.

And keep in mind the loader will never be launched himself, so this tactic will always require at least two pilots: the loader and his ammunition.