[Gibbusflame]

Read NGTM's pirate guide He made a good rule to follow when talking about pirates, and how they would operate in general (FS style).
It explains a lot, and it gave me an idea about a mini-campaign that could be created (small, maybe 10-18 missions).

Here's a general description and beginning mission list about the story Give comments and ideas, this would be a fun project!
You're broke. The family is gone (consumed by the two Great Wars), and you're desperate for money.
Taking the old Herc, once flown by your great-grandfather, you depart Earth in seek of a better life.

M1: Pirates in Great War Hercs find a small transport and a fighter or two (Isis class lol)
M2: Pirates attack a single wing of a few pilots (3 or 4), the remaining live and join the crew.
M3: Expanding, your group becomes ambitious and goes after a large transport (Argo class), but, unfortunately, you can't  overcome the group and reinforcements come in. You depart with losses.
M4: Your group goes about attacking smaller transports again, but a problem occurs. The GTVA has been tracking you, and they'd sent in a few pilots undercover in the transport. They send in for reinforcements, and you flee for your life. You enter a jump node, not knowing where you'll be lead..
M5: You find yourself in a system unknown to you or your band (it's not on the map, basically). Something pops up on the radar, and you fly to the mark. You find a severely damaged and abandoned AWACs ship (Charybdis class), and knowing of the rumors about the technological advances the GTVA has taken, your band boards the ship in hopes of taking it.
Suddenly, a GTVA transport (Argo class) jumps in from the node, with a single fighter escort following it. Your band comes under heavy fire, but you eventually come out of it with heavy casualties. 13 of you survive (majority on board the AWACs ship), and you head for the node, hoping that your discovery becomes useful with your next outings.
After this step, I'm conflicting with myself on wether or not the crew should experiment with the ship, or if they immediately take it out and fly the damn thing around carelessly. Don't know.

I think this will be my first big project using FRED (before it was just single missions).
I'm into ideas or criticism. Different lessons will help me progress as a FREDder
Any suggestions? Tips on how not to screw things up? Please respond with your thoughts!

[Molybdenum]

I don't get the idea of veteran pilots being allowed to keep their ships. That would be like deliberately feeding the civilian market with military grade gear. With the threat of piracy I don't think the GTVA would have such a policy.

Instead, why not make the pirates a mix of civilian transport pilots  and deserters from the military. That way you could explain their use of old GTVA ships. Instead of a monotonous group of Herc 1s, add some Uglies made from junk to the mix into your modpack different ones for individual pilots in the squad will give them more character and make your band of pirates look more rag-tag.

Also think what will the pirates do with personnel transports. Do you want the to pull somalia-style kidnappings and demanding ransom? I always pictured FS pirates as going after the weak freighters, destroying or chasing them off and then picking up the cargo using their own freighters. Large multi-ton space loads can bring a lot of profit on the black market I presume.

Also, near the end of the campaign, when your pirates get super-overconfident, there are models on FSmods for Passenger Liners.

Like this one: http://www.freespacemods.net/download.php?view.493

or the smaller GTL Splendid.

Kidnapping THAT would be an awesome climax. Of course, it would go horribly wrong for the pirates in the end.

[Dilmah G]

Okay I've voiced my opinions on this before but I thought it deserved a re-iteration. If you have a campaign idea, that's great. But I'd recommend you ask people on IRC or RL instead of on the M and C board. If you're going to release a campaign idea I'd very much be a fan of some kind of teaser mini-campaign or trailer .

[Gibbusflame]

How about this?
Looks interesting, and (not to be mean though) low-grade.

[Titan]

No... that's not FS-y

[Snail]

It wouldn't look very good in a Terran modpack either. Doesn't look Terran at all, more like the main fighter of the giant evil space potato fleet.

[Dilmah G]

Maybe something from the "Uglies" pack (I think it was called that) would fit much, much better. Like the Cherokee and whatnot (think Blue Planet Sanctuary fighters). Cobbled together from spare parts, that would really fit the "Pirate Scene" IMO.

[Gibbusflame]

I was thinking of partnering up with htnk since he's also posted thoughts about making a pirate campaign
I've sent him a PM, but I've gotten no reply yet. I'd think doing that would make things easier for the both of us.