Board (offline)
 

 

  Armada Design Guide
by dkass

I've been experimenting with the formation of TF (and fleets) as I play the game. Below is a set of ideas I've developped on forming effective Armadas. I won't discuss smaller formations because they're usually limited by the available ships and not tactical or strategic considerations.

This is not intended to be in any way definitive. It is merely what I've found to be the most effective. I'm also very interested in reading what others have found to be effective formations. Perhaps this is best described as the starting point for a discussion.

Any TF has to balance several different (and contradictory) goals. It needs to contribute so that its fleet wins battles. It needs to generally remain combat effective through multiple battles (since disbanding and re-constituting TFs takes time). The TF needs to be as inexpensive as possible to build so that resources can be devoted to other projects (including other TF). The empire needs to be able to field as many fleets as possible (to attack multiple targets/empires simulatneously). A TF also needs to be built as fast as possible so that at least one is always available for emergencies without wasting resources sitting in the reserve.

Before discussing TF composition, I need to briefly describe the ships I use. This isn't intended to be a primer on ship design, but enough so that the TF descriptions make sense.

 

Ship Design Basics

Ship Size:

I use four sizes of ships. I call them capital ships--the largest ship I can build (but never smaller than battlecruisers since its rarely possible to form good armadas before that point); heavy ships--two size classes smaller than the current capital ships; medium ships--again two size classes smaller than the current heavy ships; and finally light ships. The latter start out two size classes smaller than medium ships (or six classes smaller than captital ships), but never become larger than frigate sized (to always allow any planet to build them). To put it all together, if my current largest hull is a superdreadnought, capital ships will be superdreadnought sized, heavy ships will be battleships, medium ships will be crusiers and light ships will be frigate sized.

Note that while it may be difficult to get the empire to build capital ships, I only need a few of them, so its easy to do with only two or three planets.

While a ship of a given size is roughly equivalent to two that are two sizes smaller, there are some important differences (and thus my spread of sizes). The larger ship will be cheaper to build (this varies somewhat by ship size), it will also generally contain more weapons than the two smaller ships combined. On the other hand, the smaller ships can usually be built faster (since more planets can effectively build them, even if they each cost slightly more than half the larger one). Also, the two ships can generally take more damage than the single large ship (due to all ships having the same amount of armor for a given size/type, regardless of ship size). Thus they will be harder to completely destroy, but are vulnerable to partial kills. Finally, two ships have the ability to operate independently and fight in two different systems at once...

Ship Roles:

I class my ships based on their role within the TF, thus I have three ship types; one for each role: mission, escort, and picket.

Most of my ships are "pure" ships, each equipped for only one type of operation. Thus my beam ships never have fighters. I find that it is better to mix at the TF level if it is necessary by using a variety of ship types. This ensures that it is always possible to for a "pure" TF when desired. Also, I find that many mixtures perform poorly since fighters and especially missiles rely on overwhelming an enemy's point defenses and a scattering from a few on beam ships is rarely sufficient. There are a few exceptions. I'll fill spare space with a beam weapon (usually a light hard beam). I also often use the single PD nuke rack fix for PD ships (especially "fast" ones).

Mission Class Ships

I use both capital and heavy ships on each of the four combat missions (long range [LR], short range [SR], indirect [IF] and carrier [CV]). I have not found smaller ships to be useful in the mission roles. For me, the difference between LR and SR ships is in the choice of the weapon (ie the phasor is for LR ships and the Hellfire cannon for SR ships). I tend to use standard and heavy mounts on both with the occasional spinal mount on LR ships (primarily to compensate for not having a good LR weapon). I do sometimes mount a PD nuke rack on my SR ships to improve their defensive fire, allowing them to enhance the overall TF defenses.

While I reduce the system speed on both IF and CV ships, I keep it in the range of 1000 to 1500 (and generally aim for 1/2 of my enemy's best speed). While some advocate reducing it to 1, I find that some maneuverability is very useful. It allows the TF to move to protect transport TF (and/or other "stand off" TF). It also allows IF TF (and CV ones to a lesser extent) to close with targets to finish them off (with point defense weapons, if nothing else) when they're out of missiles (its incredibly annoying to not quite kill the last orbital...). And finally, it often allows them to engage when they intercept something.

I find that the number and type of missile on IF mission ships heavily depends on the enemy. The larger missiles tend to be less expensive and more damage/space, but they have slower firing rates. I find the latter to generally be irrelevant (except, perhaps, for torpedoes) since an IF force is intentionally trying to avoid beam combat. This leads to using as few large missiles as possible to ensure the enemy's PD is saturated (and I never use PD missiles in this role).

The key for CV mission ships is the number of fighters. The weapon is less important--at least after finding something better than the starting laser and mass driver. With the current patch, there is little reason to use SCFs. For capital CV ships I want at least 20 fighters and preferably 40 to 50 (70 is about the point I consider it overkill and start adding missiles or beam weapons instead). Heavy CV mission ships need at least 10 fighters and ideally have about 20 each (with 25 reachng towards overkill). Once the heavy CV reaches battleship size, I no longer bother to increase its size (at least not until I have plasma or disruptor fighters).

Escort Ships

I currently build my escort class ships with the Point Defense mission, using beam weapons. This was based on an early study that showed they performed better than SR or LR ships in the escort ring. I have recently begun to suspect that my original study was misleading due to the PD bug and it may be more useful to build them with the SR mission. They function equally well defensively and are easier to use in independent TF (since SR is a TF type but PD is not). On the other hand, this would make putting them in TF require a 2-step process...

Fighters are currently completely useless in a PD role (although they show the potential to be extremely effective). So far, I have not managed to make missile based PD work, but there are hints that it is possible and effective.

I use four escort ship designs. Two are my "fast" escorts and they have my best system speed and are for DF TF (direct fire TF; either SR or LR). The other two designs are my stand-off (or "slow") escorts and have system speeds that match those of my current stand-off mission ships. This allows them to carry more weapons. In both cases, I create light and medium sized escort ships. On rare occasions I will also create heavy sized escorts (only when at a tech disadvantage facing a race that has gone fighter or missile happy).

Picket Ships

I generally go with one picket ship. Its a light ship with the recon mission and stuffed with ECCM and detection systems (I tend to use both, lacking a good understanding of how ECM/ECCM function). I generally don't bother with any weapons (and there really isn't space in frigate sized ships). If an opponent is using heavily stealthed TF, I sometimes build a medium sized picket with additional detection gear. If facing a strong "stand off" opponent I do sometimes build a medium sized picket that uses half the space for PD weapons, but I've found that it is often better instead to build heavy escorts. The problem with larger pickets is that, by their nature, picket ships are exposed. They often die, regardless of size, to otherwise weak attacks.

My picket ships all have the same system speed as my DF TF. While it would be possible to design slow picket ships, I don't find it to be worthwhile. Stand-off TF don't need pickets as much and having only one model makes TF formation easier by reducing the number of ship types that need to be balanced.

I generally don't bother with ECM or cloaking, but this is more due to personal preference than any evidence that more weapons are more effective (I have toyed with the idea of stealthed stand off ships in the late game when they have spare space).

 

Armada Designs

I should note that I've made extensive use of CV and LR TF. I've made some use of SR TF, but only limited use of IF TF (I find the latter to currently be overwhelming against CP and bordering on cheating).

Due to the fact that the actual size (and thus effectiveness) of the individual ships increases over the course of the game (see the section on ship sizes), the actual composition of my Armadas tends to remain fairly constant over the course of a game.

Long Range TF

I use LR TF as a my general purpose TF. They're generally sufficiently flexible to engage any type of target. Their mobility and long range helps to keep them out of too much trouble while also allowing them to engage continuously. I organize them as follows:

Core: 4 LR capital ships and 2 heavy LR ships
Escorts: 4 fast medium escorts and 4 fast light escorts
Pickets: 4 picket ships

This force has sufficient firepower to effectively engage any enemy force at range while at the same time retaining signficant defensive firepower and good detection capabilities. It operates by closing to a moderate range and firing until the target is destroyed, staying far enough away to allow the escorts time to engage missiles and fighters at the same time. It rarely scores a single decisive killing blow, but will rapidly wear down all but the most massive enemy forces. I often do not have LR TF engage immediately to allow them to rapidly react to undetected enemy TF with their long range. This also gives them extremely broad defensive fire zones since they'll engage PD target with their heavy weapons.

I operate LR TF offensively as long as they meet the following composition restrictions. Obviously even when below these limits, I'll still use them defensively until they're relieved.

Core: At least the equivalent of 4 capital ships (I count two heavy ships as one capital equivalent). This insures the TF has enough of a punch to be effective
Escort: At least six escorts. This guarantees a good overlapping coverage regardless of the engagement direction. I'll sometimes operate with five escorts if all four medium ones are still there. If the enemy is really into missiles or fighers, I'll often disband a TF that has lost even two escorts.
Pickets: At three picket ships. This places them at 120 degree intervals, the minimum to insure full visibility and coverage around the TF. Basically with three of them, a picket will usually be the closest ship to any enemy TF. In some cases (multiple TF in the fleet), I'll sometimes operate with only two pickets. Note that the four pickets in the basic TF are to make sure the fleet has a spare since my pickets often seem to die even against overmatched enemies (due to their exposed position and small size).

Variations: I sometimes use 3 captial and 3 heavy core ships to make the TF cheaper, but this tends to make them fragile. Depending on the number of fighters and missiles I'm facing, I'll increase or decrease the number of medium escorts in the force. I'll also sometimes replace an escort (either size) with a third heavy LR ship, mostly when I'm short on escorts in the reserve. I'll also sometimes replace a picket with a ninth escort.

Short Range TF

SR TF rely on closing to point blank ranges and then vaporizing the enemy rapidly. They tend to kill faster than LR TF since it usually only takes one or two shots (ignoring any long range harassment fire) to finish off an opposing TF. On the other hand, they have to get much closer to be effective, often forcing them to endure enemy fire without any effective response before the kill. They perform best against fixed targets that allow them to close rapidly.

Core: 6 SR capital ships and 3 heavy SR ships
Escorts: 3 fast medium escorts and 2 fast light escorts
Pickets: 4 picket ships

This TF is light on escorts, but its core ships are effective defensively to cover the weakness (thus my tendency to mount a PD nuke on SR captial ships). This works since the TF really only needs one offensive shot per target TF, freeing the weapons for defensive duty most of the time.

Apart from the spare picket and maybe one other ship, I find that SR TF do not function well if understrength. The need to close under enemy guns oftne results in significant losses, and if they're not at full strength intially, too little will reach firing range and the entire TF is often lost while leaving weak (but intact) enemy formations. The fact that SR TF regularly suffer casualties while closing (especially against beam forces) often means that SR TF are really only good for one major battle.

If I know I'm sending a SR TF into a major battle where I expect it to take losses, I'll exchange one picket for another escort or even a fourth heavy SR ship. Since its only going to be good for one battle, a spare picket is irrelevant (three is adequate for one battle, even taking casualties into account).

While this SR TF performs as well as the LR TF above in battle (if not better against heavily armed targets), I generally find them to be less effective since they're significantly more expensive (they're equivalent to 9 capital ships, compared to 7 for the LR TF) as well as being significantly more fragile. The SR TF also often has problems engaging faster enemy LR TF.

Indirect Fire TF

I have relatively little experience with IF TF (primarly because I find them so powerful as to remove all challenge from the game). Thus this is my best guess as to an effective IF TF, based on my experience with CV TF.

Core: 3 IF capital ships and 3 heavy IF ships
Escorts: 4 slow medium escorts and 5 slow light escorts
Pickets: 3 picket ships

The number of capital ships can be increased (or decreased) to insure that missile volleys will saturate the target and penetrate and PD fire. Small increases can be accomodated by replacing heavy core ships, but two more capital ships could be added at the cost of a light escort and/or the third picket.

The TF can continue to function as long it has a large enough missile throw weight to penetrate enemy PD. Based on my limited experience, this is probably the equivalent of three capital ships. By witholding its initial salvo, the TF can probably still protect itself even with only 2 escorts (though I'd be reluctant to operate with fewer than five without PD support from other TF).

One major disadvantage of IF TF is that it can engage at most as many target TF as it has missile volleys. And if volleys are fired at the wrong target (eg the planet when first sighted) the missiles can be forced to run a gauntlet of defensive fire, seriously degrading the volley. Of course, with the current build and the PD bug the missiles can crush any opponent, regardless of their defenses.

Carrier TF

I use CV TF as my standard stand-off TF. They basically launch their fighters and the wait for the fighters to kill all the enemy forces. They usually wait as far from the enemy as possible to avoid all retaliation (but since this is rarely possible they pack enough PD to degrade enemy attacks). With the fact that bays refill for free, in the largest battles they can launch a second wave to overwhelm the remaining weakened defenders. A single well constructed CV TF can take on incredibly large enemy formations, often without casualties.

Core: 2 CV capital ships and 4 heavy CV ships
Escorts: 5 slow medium escorts and 4 slow light escorts
Pickets: 3 picket ships

It requires the enemy to have an overwhelming defensive fire capability to hope to degrade the fighter swarm enough to stop the attack this TF launches. This makes CV TF very effective in the stand-off role, especially when on the offensive since the TF can launch at the planet as soon as the battle starts, without really worrying about enemy defenses. Furthermore, once the fighters have finished off the planet, they'll keep on engaging other targets. This avoids the entire problem of having more enemy TF than missile shots.

Variations The key to the CV TF is the number of fighters. The TF needs at least 75 fighters to be effective (thus the minimum numbers on the capital and heavy CV). I find anything less than about 100 to be weak--less often turns into a race between the fighters and their target to see who will survive. If I have the ships, I'll often replace one or maybe even two heavy CV with capital CV (increasing the force to 90 or 100 fighters). Ideally, the TF wants 150 to 200 fighters to insure targets die rapidly before they have a chance to seriously hurt the CV TF. Somewhere around 250 fighters, the effectiveness of the swarm saturates. Even the toughest target can't kill enough to make a difference and the only thing that slows them down is the time to move from target to target. Once my CV TF have that many fighters, I start to use PD or missiles to finish filling up the space on my carriers. If I find my CV TF taking significant damage to enemy missile waves/fighter attacks (ignoring the PD bug), I'll replace a picket with a sixth medium escort. I'll also start using heavy escorts and/or PD armed pickets.

I'll operate a CV TF offensively as long as it has at least 100 fighters (assuming it started with over 100). I'll also evaluate its defensive fire if the TF has four (or fewer) escorts. But if the TF is operating as part of a fairly large fleet, I've been known to send a damaged Armada CV TF with only a couple of escorts into battle. While one could theoretically build effective carrier waves or flotillas (given the size of the carriers, three capital CV could be enough), the full armada isn't really any more expensive and often fights dozens of battles with only occasional ship losses, often becomimg obsolete before becoming combat ineffective.

I find my CV TF to be among the most efficient. They're the smallest (aka cheapest) of all. And they tend to survive for the longest in combat.

Reconaissance Flotilla

This is the one TF smaller than an Armada that I regularly use (once I can build armada on demand). I use it for a number of missions and generally have three different forms depending on its planned mission (but will happily use which ever is available). This is basically just four fast light escorts and three (light) picket ships. For the independent missions, I'll replace one of the escorts with a heavy SR or heavy LR mission ship. For the escort missions, I'll use fast medium escorts.

There are three independent missions:

  • Piracy patrol. I'll reguarly use the TF to control pirates in new systems (7 FF hulls is lots of counter piracy weight).
  • Secondary system blockades. Basically sit in a system and blockade it to force the enemy to divert their heavy TF from my primary attack. I'll often pre-position obsolete Recon TF for this mission.
  • Armed Reconaissance. When it becomes too dangerous for solo scouts to explore, I'll use the recon flotilla. Especially with a heavy LR ship at the core, it has enough firepower to defeat just about any set of system/defensive ships short of an Imperial capital system.

I use the recon flotilla for three major combat missions (note that these are not necessarily distinct and a given flotilla might perform two or even all three at the same time).

  • Reconaissance. I often send it ahead of the main fleet to locate targets to engage. This is especially the case for stand-off fleets/armadas. One classic use is to find the system ships and/or orbitals so that an IF TF can target them before engaging the planet itself. This mission often turns into a "bait" mission...
  • Escort role. In this role, it moves into or in front of another TF to provide additional defensive firepower. I tend to do this for weakened stand-off TF and transport TF.
  • Bait. In this role, often combined with either other combat role, the TF is designed to draw enemy fire while my armadas kill it. I'll send it out in front of everything else. This is espcially useful against IF heavy and beam forces by tying the fire up until either the fighters arrive or the LR TF gets a chance to tenderize the enemy. The frigates that compose the TF are incredibly cheap to replace, so eventhough the TF will be wiped out, it allows my heavier formations to not only survive this battle but often they will remain combat effective, allowing them to attack the next target.

Notes

Based on other discussions I've read, I suspect that some will be surprised by the fact that I tend to use as few mission ships as possible. With the Armada rules, this is a 2:1 ratio of "support" to "mission" ships. I should note that for US Carrier TF, the ratio is at least 6:1 (and sometimes as high as 10:1). This is one carrier, an attack sub, a couple of aegis cruisers, 3+ destroyers/frigates (the two are somewhat interchangeable in the US navy) of various types, and one or two support ships. The exact formation compositions do vary from carrier to carrier and deployment to deployment...

 

Fleet Operations

While the Armada is the basic unit, many operations require multiple armadas operating together.

I find that the CV TF is the best solo TF when on the offensive. When operating indendently, I'll try to give each CV TF a recon flotilla to help spot mobile ships.

LR TF are probably the best general purpose TF. They have good defenses and the abilty to detect, engage and destroy just about any other type of TF. I find them especially useful in the interdiction mission since they engage fast and kill weak targets almost immediately.

My basic attack fleet is a CV TF paired with an LR TF (and possible a recon flotilla). They can take and defeat almost anything short of an imperial seat. The CV TF immediately launches its fighters at the planet, while the LR TF advances to engage the system ships and decimate any missile or fighter attacks (assisted by the recon flotilla if available). I try to have the LR TF avoid beam range to the planet and orbitals (the fighters will finish them off plenty fast).

For larger battles, I'll operate a pair of CV TF plus as many LR/SR TF as necessary. More than two CV TF seem to end up being ineffective. In this case, the LR/SR TF become glorified recon/PD forces, although they do engage secondary mobile targets as needed. When attacking a well defended planet, I'll often have one CV TF immediately launch at the planet. I'll wait until I can see the orbitals and have the other CV TF attack one of them. This kills the fixed defenses the fastest. I should note that I've never needed more than 6 armadas in all to attack any target (I tend to only attack Orion very late in the game).

 

Examples

First Example

Here are some examples. After trying to fight with Shift-F4 and MOO3, I gave up and I'm doing this on a more hypothetical, ideal basis. These are built assuming a specific tech-level (the same across all fields) with all tech below that level (and no randomness in tech level). Note that these ships may not be "perfect" and they may not quite be feasible (since I'm doing them by hand, my rounding might not be right), but they should give good ideas. These are based on the tables in the Space Combat Mechanics Guide by Visage (a big Thank You).

Note that I use a Naval derived nomenclature for my ship names (this is also partly derived from SFB). I follow with the warp speed of the ship.

Here is an example of an early game carrier armada. This is probably about the first armada I'll build. This is at tech level 11.


BCV133: (Battle Cruiser:Starship:Carrier) -- CV Capital ship 0 Medium Duranium Armor 72 8 Laser Interceptors -- No mods 252 12 Fusion Interceptors -- No mods 11 Bridge (0.02) 29 Crew Quarter (0.05) 12 Life Support (0.02) 134 Sub-Light Drive (0.2325) 64 Hydrogen System Drive at 1000 Gm/s (normally 2100) 0.2325 ---- 574 Space used (out of a maximum of 575)

The BCV133 has the minimum 20 fighters, but due to the low tech levels (and small ship) had to use 8 puny laser interceptors to get there. Fortunately, laser interceptors will still be somewhat useful.


CVL133: (Light Cruiser:Starship:Carrier) -- Heavy CV ship 0 Medium Duranium Armor 36 4 Laser Interceptors (9 each) -- No mods 126 6 Fusion Interceptors (21 each) -- No mods 6 Bridge (0.02) 14 Crew Quarter (0.05) 6 Life Support (0.02) 66 Sub-Light Drive (0.2325) 32 Hydrogen System Drive at 1000 Gm/s (normally 2100) 0.2325 ---- 286 Space used (out of a maximum of 285)

I believe this actually fits when correctly rounded (and if necessary I would drop the system speed slightly to get it to fit).


FFE133 (Frigate:Starship:Point Defense) -- Slow Medium Escort 0 Medium Duranium Armor (or Light Duranium Armor to save costs) 73 13 Light Hard Beams -- No mods (5.6 each) 3 Bridge (0.02) 7 Crew Quarter (0.05) 3 Life Support (0.02) 33 Sub-Light Drive (0.2325) 16 Hydrogen System Drive at 1000 Gm/s (normally 2100) 0.2325 ---- 135 Space used (out of a maximum of 140)

The ship might actually fit a 14th hard beam. I like hard beams, but Rail Guns might be a slightly better choice (with hard beams filling in). In reality, it would depend on exactly what techs I had.


CTE133 (Cutter:Starship:Point Defense) -- Slow Light Escort 0 Light Duranium Armor 39 7 Light Hard Beams -- No mods (5.6 each) 1 Bridge (0.02) 4 Crew Quarter (0.05) 2 Life Support (0.02) 16 Sub-Light Drive (0.2325) 8 Hydrogen System Drive at 1000 Gm/s (normally 2100) 0.2325 ---- 70 Space used (out of a maximum of 70) CTS133 (Cutter:Starship:Reconaissance) -- Picket Ship (Light) 0 Light Duranium Armor 7 1 Standard Hard Beams -- No mods (5.6 each) 1 Bridge (0.02) 4 Crew Quarter (0.05) 2 Life Support (0.02) 16 Sub-Light Drive (0.2325) 16 Hydrogen System Drive at 2100 Gm/s 20 1 ECCM II ---- 66 Space used (out of a maximum of 70)

This is a more general purpose scout thus the high speed and standard hard beam (although that is also due to the spare space).

Now for the actual TF:

Carrier Armada TF:
Core: 2 BCV133 and 4 CVL133
Escorts: 5 FFE133 and 4 CTE133
Pickets: 3 CTS133
This TF has 48 fusion interceptors--these are the main strike force. And 32 laser interceptors to help absorb defensive fire. A total of 80 fighters, just barely more than the 75 needed to be effective. It has 93 light hard beams and 3 standard hard beams for defensive fire.

 

Second Example

Here is a mid or late game carrier armada. This is based around when Super Dreadnoughts are my largest ship. (I usually win around when I have Titans or Behemoths, depending on the game). This is set at Tech level 29.


SDV266: (Super Dreadnought:Starship:Carrier) -- CV Capital ship 0 Heavy Titanium Armor 11 1 Phasor Interceptor (10.5 each) 983 52 Phasor Interceptor with DualPod (18.9 each) 33 Bridge (0.02) 82 Crew Quarter (0.05) 33 Life Support (0.02) 329 Ion Drives (0.201) 164 Dotomite Crystal System Drive at 1500 Gm/s (normally 3000) 0.201 ----- 1635 Space used (out of a maximum of 1635) BBV266 (Battleship:Starship:Carrier) -- Heavy CV ship 0 Heavy Titanium Armor 473 25 Phasor Interceptor with DualPod (18.9 each) 16 Bridge (0.02) 41 Crew Quarter (0.05) 16 Life Support (0.02) 20 Small Class V Shield (0.025) 164 Ion Drives (0.201) 81 Dotomite Crystal System Drive at 1500 Gm/s (normally 3000) 0.201 ----- 811 Space used (out of a maximum of 815)

The shield is a luxury, but I have about 24 extra spaces after reaching fighter overkill, so I went ahead and put it on. Another option might be a few light phasors. Or I might upgrade an interceptor to a SCF...


ECA266 (Cruiser:Starship:Point Defense) -- Slow Medium Escort ship 0 Heavy Titanium Armor 246 11 Light Phasor with M1, Cont, and AF (22.4 each) 8 Bridge (0.02) 20 Crew Quarter (0.05) 8 Life Support (0.02) 81 Ion Drives (0.201) 41 Dotomite Crystal System Drive at 1500 Gm/s (normally 3000) 0.201 ---- 404 Space used (out of a maximum of 405)

Depending on the available mods, I might go with either Ion Pulse Cannons or Hard Beams instead of the phasors.


FFE266 (Frigate:Starship:Point Defense) -- Slow Light Escort ship 0 Medium Titanium Armor 4 1 Light Hard Beam with M1, M2, and Imp 81 9 Light Hard Beams with M1, M2, Imp, Cont and AF (8.96 each) 3 Bridge (0.02) 7 Crew Quarter (0.05) 3 Life Support (0.02) 28 Ion Drives (0.201) 14 Dotomite Crystal System Drive at 1500 Gm/s (normally 3000) 0.201 ---- 140 Space used (out of a maximum of 140) FFS266 (Frigate:Starship:Reconaissance) -- Picket ship (Light) 0 Medium Titanium Armor 3 Bridge (0.02) 7 Crew Quarter (0.05) 3 Life Support (0.02) 28 Ion Drives (0.201) 28 Dotomite Crystal System Drive at 3000 Gm/s 0.201 35 ECCM III 35 X-Ray Detection System ---- 139 Space used (out of a maximum of 140)

now for the actual TF:

Carrier Armada TF:
Core: 2 SDV266 and 4 BBV266
Escorts: 5 ECA266 and 4 FFE266
Pickets: 3 FFS266
This TF has 206 phasor interceptors (all but two with dual pods). This TF is starting to reach the overkill range. The Orions are about the only thing that can really survive this fighter swarm (a massively defended Imperial capital might have a chance); at least at roughly equivalent tech levels (by level 40 it will start to be showing its age, but then I'll be building TF based around Behemoths). It has 55 light AF-Phasors, 36 light super-Hard Beams and 4 light Hard Beams for defensive fire. While this is about the same number of mounts as the earlier CV TF, the individual weapons now mostly have AF and other modifications, greatly increasing their lethality (not to mention that over half are phasors). On the other hand, the PD targets are going to be more difficult to kill...

 

 
 


Pardus - Free Massive Multiplayer Online Browser Game

 
Copyright ©2001-2009 moo3.at. All rights reserved. Disclaimer.
Add The Master of Orion 3 Guardian to your favorites