Editing Iron Rangers (section)

===Void Strategies and Tactics===
Merrill discovered a problem with his tactics when it came to the void. Though he could paint his ships black to blend with the surroundings and occasionally hide in an asteroid field, he could not truly hide and ambush in a wide open area. To this extent, he came up with several solutions.

The first came with the realization that the majority of the armaments were located on the sides of the ship. With that in mind, he created a new formation for movement. As most fleets move through the void in an arrowhead, Merrill moves in more of a cone, with each ship at apparently haphazard angles. The purpose behind such an arrangement is to ensure that his fleet could deliver full broadsides to any angle at any given time, allowing him a much greater defensive posture.

Second, he substituted the standard Battle Barge with much smaller Cruisers and Escorts. All of which sacrificed armor and internal comfort for speed and firepower. This allowed him the ability to perform maneuvers much faster than his opponents, sometimes delivering crippling amounts of firepower before they could properly get their weapons to bear.

Third, in a discussion with several members of the Mechanicus, he discovered that it could be possible to jam weapons targeting and communications systems from afar. He ensured that this new development was explored in detail, giving rewards to those who managed to outfit every single ship with these capabilities.

Lastly, his favored tactic is what he calls the "Lotus Maneuver," named after a flower on old Terra. He approaches his target in a small, tightly-knit formation until they get into weapons range. At this point, his fleet all engage their jamming systems while exploding outward into a much larger area before diving around and through the enemy formation, firing broadsides into their ships before passing through, and repeating this tactic multiple times over until their force is either destroyed, too scattered to offer resistance, or surrenders. However, due to communications systems being jammed, he has rarely received an offer of surrender from his opponents.