The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

Say you are designing a ship for close combat (let the other guy take it in the face!), assuming that you have max tech, what would you think is the best combination of weapons?

Other than the Allegiance Subverter, which in my opinion is THE best weapon in the game, it seems that the Ripper Beam is next best thing, even though it is somehow marked as obsolete by the time you have max tech. A shield depleter is a bargain too, if your opponent is not leaning heavily on armour. A PDC is standard and I probably would add in either a Phrased Polaroid Beam or a Telekinetic Projector for some extra firepower against fighters. Null Space Projector looks tempting but my recent simulator tests said it loses to the PPB and other quick-reloading weapons most of the time. So what is your opinion?

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

I think you get a good bang for your buck with telekensis projector. Without any mods that and the allegiance subverter are all I put on my ships.

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

Use engine killers as a secondary weapon. That way your opponent can't escape if you can move in fast enough.

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

Shield Depleter/Boarding Party combonation, especially if your ships are small and cheap, and the enemies' are big, expensive, and have a self-destruct component...

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

The null-space performs best if your opponent likes to use lots and lots of shields and/or armor. Especially if he uses regenerators.

Phoenix-D

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

As you can see, CW, there are as many opinions as weapons. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif I do tend to favor the Phased Polaron Beam since it's so cool to just skip shields and start damaging the enemy immediately. In the default game this advantage goes away when phased shields are available, though. I've modded my files to include a new weapon after the PPB that skips ALL shields. It's larger and more expensive both to construct and to use (more supply usage) but it lets me keep the same basic strategy and I think makes the Sergetti as dangerous in the late game as the early/mid-game where they've just got their PPBs and phased shields haven't appeared yet.

The Ripper Beam is a very nice weapon but hard to get quickly. You need level 7 propulsion before you can even begin to research it. If you're playing max-tech, then what the heck. Put a tractor beam or two on your ship (extra in case of a miss) then a bunch of Rippers, then a repulsor beam. This makes a wicked, nasty brawler that sucks the enemy it, pounds it with very high damage and then repulses it out of range if there's anything left. If the target is of similar or smaller size there usually is not anything left to be repulsed away. The Ripper has a very high damage/size ratio. But then if it's larger you cannot pull it in with the tractor beam.

The Null-space Cannon is certainly not something you want to rely on completely because of the slow reload, but it can be a good "auxillary" weapon that lets your ships start damaging the enemy immediately. Just one NSC in a ship with otherwise normal weapons, for example. Using a Tractor/NSC/Repulsor combo might be even nastier than the Ripper setup. You can use the repulsor to keep the enemy away while you are waiting for that reload, too. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif And the NSC makes a great ambush weapon to put on Sats guarding a warp point.



[This message has been edited by Baron Munchausen (edited 11 August 2001).]

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

For close range I use combined ship classes.

Say a fleet of 10 ships

3 ships which have computer 3, aux command, max engines, ecm, combat sensor and q.reactor. One weapon the tachyon projection cannon and the rest filled with organic armour. set to point blank strag.

2 ships with the same up front stuff and then 10 pd's, 1 tachyon projection cannon and one shield depletor ( in opposite order ) and the rest armour/ shields.

3 ships with the same up front and as many enveloping acid globes and set to max. range, and round it off with some armour

2 close assault ships with the same up front and then in this order. 2 tractor beams, shield depletors and tachyon projection cannons and 2 repulsor beams and some armour

1 ship maxed out with missles ( seeking parasite ) and everthing up front.

Always make the armour ships the biggest size you got and the rest can be any size.

The armour ships close with the pd ships ( due to the one weapon one them ( that way they don't fight in the famous SEIV X Formation ( yep rip one right to the best cornor on the map ))) , the missle ship backs off and starts firing. The other ships close to a max range and start firing while the close assault ships disable shields and weapons.

Kind of cheating on the close assalt ship but, when in doubt fight with combined forces.

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

I believe there is no "best design". It all depends on the type and design of the enemy ships. That's exactly why SE IV is so interesting. If there was one best design, everyone would build this and the game would soon be boring.

[This message has been edited by Q (edited 12 August 2001).]

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Q:
I believe there is no "best design". It all depends on the type and design of the enemy ships. That's exactly why SE IV is so interesting. If there was one best design, everyone would build this and the game would soon be boring.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's why I'm asking everyone "what would YOU think is the best combination of weapons"! :-p

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

i would go for only weapon killers, and one APB to finish him off. in my latest game, which i haven't played for weeks i'm trying the special weapons like engine killers, shield depleters and shield destroyers. Once you find the right balance between these weapons and normal weapons, you can really make one mean design

------------------
Q: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
A: Yes.
Q: And what were you doing at that time?

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by tesco samoa:
The armour ships close with the pd ships ( due to the one weapon one them ( that way they don't fight in the famous SEIV X Formation ( yep rip one right to the best cornor on the map ))) , the missle ship backs off and starts firing. The other ships close to a max range and start firing while the close assault ships disable shields and weapons.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Please can you expand on this Famous SEIV X formation (problem??)

Are these ships used in Tactical Combat or in Strategic Combat ???

Any suggestions for Strategic ??

thanks!

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by golf_prez:
Please can you expand on this Famous SEIV X formation (problem??)

Are these ships used in Tactical Combat or in Strategic Combat ???

Any suggestions for Strategic ??

thanks!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think he's referring to the tendency of 'unarmed' ships to run for the corners of the map. Ships with only PDC are regarded as "unarmed" by the AI and get excluded from formations and sent off to the corners of the map where they cannot help protect other ships from missiles or fighters. So, he puts one weapon in them to keep them in the formation. That's the 'Strategic' formation issue. In Tactical mode a ship with only PDCs stays in the formation and you can move it along with the others.

[This message has been edited by Baron Munchausen (edited 12 August 2001).]

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

Yep it is the computer controls all. I always use the Stragetic combat. Since you cannot fight in PBEM games any other way.

I have not really played around with tatical combat that much. Just for testing new ships or upgrades against current enemy designs or if I Intel some new designs. Even then I put it on auto and let it go. I arm everything.

You should try the mostly armour or mostly shield ships. They can take a pounding and they will break up the enemy formations.


My only suggestions for stragetic formation is to create specialized ships and max them out on that specialization.

Shield attacking ships, weapon attacking ships, armour or shield ships. Mix up the point blank ships with the longer range ones and pick a good formation. (I find the X and wall formations just get ships bouncing into each other ). If the enemy counters with all armour ships then mothball the shield attacking ships until thier needed again.

I believe that closing on the enemy fast is the number one prority of the fleet. 2 is disable the ships ability to fire, move and command. 3. clean up.

Since you have to close quickly max out the engines. Weapon damage is very important. But you need the ship to have a good reload time. Organic weapons fit this style.

Since ships never fight one on one a short range brawler type ship will not Last very long when they are fighting armour ships supported by missle ships and pd ships.

I would like to hear some other styles?

Or perhaps I should join some email games and learn by experience what everyone else is doing.

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

My favorite design so far, is the BlackHole class Combat Fortress. Not exactly a close range combat ship, since it fights at range six-plus, but getting closer wouldn't help this ship in any way.

Completely invisible to the naked eye of most races (+108% defense), Six talisman powered Heavy Polaron Beams, 1350 shields, with 170 regeneration per turn, 1470 armor, 6000 internal armor, MC plus biological crew backups.
Enough Whoop-*** to survive a counter-attack from 6 undamaged max-tech Phong Dreadnaughts, solo, and crippling the enemy force before 30 rounds run out.

The purchase price is a staggering $100,000, but maintenance can be as low as 5K minerals. (free in SE4 v1.35 http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif)

------------------
The latest info on Pirates & Nomads (forum thread).
-&lt;Download V2.2b&gt;- (Now with EZ-Install, just extract to your SE4 folder)
-&lt;Download P&N Classic&gt;- (The final release of P&N v1.x, with EZ-Install, just extract to your SE4 folder)
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Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

So far, my "magic combination" has been dual-mounted Null-Space Projectors backed up by either Meson BLasters (for tactical advantages and low tonnage) or Phased-Polaron Beams. The Null-Space weapons get first billing, so that my ships stand a decent chance of knocking out something important right off the bat (I never assume that PPBs can bypass shields by the time I get them), preferably shield generators, weapons, or the bridge. Meanwhile, my massive PPB arrays pound away at the shields/armor of the ships, every so often letting the knockout punch of Null-Space Projectors slip through to tear everything to shreds from the inside out.

Lately, however, I'm learning the bonuses of torpedoes. Sure, they only fire once every two turns, but they have damage comparable to missiles, can't be shot down by PDC, and can be massive mounted. Of course, it still pays to be using APB or PPB arrays to continue a continuous barrage against the enemy.

The "ultimate" melee, however, would be a ship that would be as hard as possible to hit, armed with explosive warheads and a small amount of PDC to avoid incoming missiles. Get in as close as possible and then, BOOM!

Oh, and perhaps some shield depleters in order to make the job just that much easier. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

-Hotfoot
"Well, you wanted close range. Ain't nothing closer than hull meeting hull, now is there?"

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

For a high-tech close-combat dreadnought, I've used the following combo:

(All heavy-mount... except maybe for ionic disperser. It only needs to do 120 pts per hit, don't recall what mount that is.)

1x Ionic Disperser beam
3x Null-Space Projector
1x Repulsor Beam

It's mostly used for crippling ships and flinging them away before they can counter with remaining weapons. Killing tends to be done with other ships with a shield depleter and APBs, or sometimes with retrofitted LCs/CAs/BCs.

------------------
-- The thing that goes bump in the night

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

Although this is a military secret, but you guys are so willing to share, I will break the rule once and release my latest design. This is the result after 2 hours in the wind tunnel... err I mean the simulator of cause ! http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/ima...ons/tongue.gif

Close Combat DN 5 class (Code named Cerium Ce class in my PBW game)
-----------------------

1x Master Computer
4x Quantum engines
1x Solar sail
1x Organic armour
1x Stealth armour
1x Scattering armour
7x Phrased shield generators
1x Quantum reactor
1x Combat Sensor
1x Multiplex tracker
1x ECM
1x (Heavy mount) Shield disrupter
1x (Heavy mount) Shield depleter
2x Point Defense Cannon
7x (Heavy mount) Ripper beams
1x (Heavy mount) Repulser beam

I welcome challenges and feedbacks! http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

PS. Wonder why I have a shield disrupter AND a shield depleter? That's because this ship is designed to engage more than one ship in a fight. A lot of the designs I have seen could deal out a pretty mighty first salvo, but then they have to sit and wait 2 or 3 turns for their guns to recharge, plenty of time to take fatal hits! A heavy mount shield depleter is a bargian at 40kt, takes out 750 shield points in one shot, and 1 turn recharge time - too tempting to leave out!

If there is a weak point in this ship it would be the vulnerability to virus and fighter/missile attacks, but then self-containability for deep enemy airspace penetration is not in this ship's mission profile. If I need lone patrol ships I have cheap cruisers armed with virus packages and allegiance subverters; if I want survivable scouts I have a specially designed DN with minesweepers, an ionic disperser and a worm hole beam (kill his engines, throw him out, then get out of the way!).


{EDIT}I can't spell...


[This message has been edited by CW (edited 14 August 2001).]

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

Hey Taqwus


That is one little nasty ship design. I think I will try them out.

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by tesco samoa:

Shield attacking ships, weapon attacking ships, armour or shield ships. Mix up the point blank ships with the longer range ones and pick a good formation. (I find the X and wall formations just get ships bouncing into each other ). If the enemy counters with all armour ships then mothball the shield attacking ships until thier needed again.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I am gleaning some excellent info here thankyou! Tesco, you indicate some BAD formations do you some Favorites you could share?? [I know this isn't the original intent of this thread, but I have to ask http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif]

I am really trying to ramp up my strategic knowledge to deal with the PBW games http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>I welcome challenges and feedbacks<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I'm just wondering why you have a single organic armor piece. You get no organic regen unless you lose a segment and still have others remaining.

You could put in a B/LS/CQ combo instead, thus rendering your ship invulnerable to computer virus attacks. Psy races would still be able to capture your ship after destroying the MC, but others would not be able to disable your ship with a single shot.

------------------
The latest info on Pirates & Nomads (forum thread).
-&lt;Download V2.2b&gt;- (Now with EZ-Install, just extract to your SE4 folder)
-&lt;Download P&N Classic&gt;- (The final release of P&N v1.x, with EZ-Install, just extract to your SE4 folder)
-&lt;Download compatible EMPs for P&N v1.2 through v1.7&gt;-
-&lt;Download SJs latest AI Patcher&gt;-
Visit My Homepage

Other Links:
-&lt;Play By Web&gt;-
-&lt;Schlock Mercenary&gt;- (great space-based webcartoon) -&lt;First Strip&gt;-
-&lt;8-bit Theater&gt;- (fun comic with the pixellated FF1 characters)

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>I'm just wondering why you have a single organic armor piece. You get no organic regen unless you lose a segment and still have others remaining.

You could put in a B/LS/CQ combo instead, thus rendering your ship invulnerable to computer virus attacks. Psy races would still be able to capture your ship after destroying the MC, but others would not be able to disable your ship with a single shot.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The organic armour is just there to fill up space really. I had 30kt of space to fill up, so it went to the armour plate.

What's B/LS/CQ?

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

Bridge/Life Support/Crew Quarters. B/LS/CQ.

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

oic. I ruled that out because it takes too much space on a DN and it is even more vulnerable to allegiance subverters (my favorite weapon) than the MC to virus. I was wondering, if you have a MC and a bridge (or reserve bridge) without any life support or crew quarters, and your MC gets taken out, will you ship still move at full speed in that combat round? what about on the star map?

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

Just figured out that if I put a single bridge, a crew quarter and a life support on a ship it will continue to operate normally in combat even if the MC is taken out, and this is true for a ship of any size. Don't know about moving on the star map though, since this is just a skeleton crew.

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

The rules are:
1) you can't design a ship unless it has the requested number of LS/CQ, or a MC
2) ships lose movement if they have ZERO lifesupports or crewquarters remaining.
3)ships lose movement if they have no intact bridge or aux con.
4)any ship with an intact MC is exempt from rules 2 & 3.

One each of B/LS/CQ is enough to fly the ship normally, but you can't save that design unless you have an MC (or are designing a ship &lt; 450KT in size).

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

Formations I like to use (from the default formations )

are for the combined assalt fleet Butterfly or bull.

For Planet assalt fleets I like to use the Dome formation.

less than 10 ships then arrow.

Escorting damaged ships or fleets on escort duty ( say around a planet killer, warp creator etc... ) Diamond.

The order of the ships in the fleet is very very important. Just like the weapons placement. ( I could be wrong on that but ) I am assuming that from the formations text file.

I have also created a few other formations for my combined fleets which I will be keeping to my self since the pbem players read these forums as well.

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

None of my Posts are showing up unless I do a second post

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

losing Posts. If this shows up later with the other two Posts. Sorry about the multi Posts

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

all fixed up now. Browser was not set to auto refresh

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR> The organic armour is just there to fill up space really. I had 30kt of space to fill up, so it went to the armour plate. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

May I suggest a PDC and armorIII instead. (Just my 2 cents).

[Edit] Hey! Sergeant Spoo. I like the sound of that! [/Edit]

------------------
Assume you have a 1kg squirrel
E=mc^2
E=1kg(3x10^8m/s)^2=9x10^16J
which, if I'm not mistaken, is equivilent to roughly a 50 megaton nuclear bomb.
Fear the squirrel.

[This message has been edited by Spoo (edited 15 August 2001).]

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

Question if your ship only has a MC can a boarding party take over your ship???

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

Yes.

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

Does that make sense???

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

Why not? The MC is only supposed to stop your ship from being captured by allegiance subverters not boarding parties.

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

Must be my imagination that has blinded me to that fact. I always assumed that the MC controlled ship would just be computers and components fully automated. I still do not see how a boarding party of space marines can just take over a ship. But thank you for letting me know. I have a few adjustments / upgrades to make to my ship classes.

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>I always assumed that the MC controlled ship would just be computers and components fully automated. I still do not see how a boarding party of space marines can just take over a ship.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Once the marines are on board, they have physical access to the computers, which lets them hack into the systems and reprogram them.

------------------
Cap'n Q

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the
human mind to correlate all of its contents. We live on a placid
island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was
not meant that we should go far. -- HP Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by capnq:
Once the marines are on board, they have physical access to the computers, which lets them hack into the systems and reprogram them.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

hehe. im trying to picture marines doing that. fun--ney.


(maybe they have black boxes or something)

------------------
"...the green, sticky spawn of the stars"
(with apologies to H.P.L.)

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

"Computer, if you don't obey us, we will reprogram you... with axes and sledgehammers."

------------------
-- The thing that goes bump in the night

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

[computer voice]"Venting atmosphere... inertial compensators off-line... initiating 20-G acceleration... have a nice day http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif[/computer voice]

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by tesco samoa:
Must be my imagination that has blinded me to that fact. I always assumed that the MC controlled ship would just be computers and components fully automated. I still do not see how a boarding party of space marines can just take over a ship. But thank you for letting me know. I have a few adjustments / upgrades to make to my ship classes. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Even more than that, if the ship is designed from the beginning as a computer-controlled ship, who says it even has corridors or any other spaces for humans to enter? It seems to me that you'd pack the ship together as tighly as possible to make it efficient and deadly. Thus the space savings by dropping crew quarters and life support. No corridors, no air conduits, etc. This completely skips the issue of lack of life-support, of course. The marines would have to live in their space suits after taking a computer controlled ship. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

I guess the marines live in their space suits for a while anyway if they take a ship with an alien race's life support (different atmosphere!). Ever wonder why life-support doesn't reflect atmosphere types? Shouldn't you have to refit a captured ship with life support for your atmosphere if it comes from a race that uses a different atmosphere? http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but Graviton Hellbore (I think that's what they're called) with heavy or massive mounts mak an extremely good generalized close-range weapon IMO. I use PPB's alot during early games, then switch to WMG's (the best long range weapon IMO) and Graviton Hellbores. I know the reload rate is slower, but it sure packs a wallop at the closer ranges....

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

My close combat ships just got hammered.

Damn Marines.

Lost 30 ships.

I am now a firm believer that all close combat ships should have some security stations and a self destruct unit.

On the grav. Hellbourne... Man they are sooooooooooooo slow. And their damage drops so much at the greater ranges. Closing would be a very important on those ships.


Unless it is the Close Combat Warp Point Ship!

Ah different stagety/ship for different area of space.

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Even more than that, if the ship is designed from the beginning as a computer-controlled ship, who says it even has corridors or any other spaces for humans to enter?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Even a fully-automated ship is going to have maintenance accessways. If the ship is built and maintained entirely by robots, the robots will still tend to be as large or larger than the designing species for efficiency reasons.

------------------
Cap'n Q

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the
human mind to correlate all of its contents. We live on a placid
island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was
not meant that we should go far. -- HP Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

Ripper beams, really short range, small but powerful weapons
I used them a lot in SE3
not so much now

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

who says they need to be repaired via corridors.

maybe they just rip the componet out and add a new one.

Never made sence to me. Its like taking 20 marines and dropping them in a Automated Cruiser with a different atmosphere (even gravity ) and in 10 minutes the cruiser is up and running and causing damage. I could see disabling the ship or destroying the ship but just taking over the ship like that and then being able to repair it next turn. It is a weakness in the game.

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by tesco samoa:
[b]who says they need to be repaired via corridors.

maybe they just rip the componet out and add a new one.[b]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

.which is what the corridors are for, to allow the robots/remotes access to the areas that need repairing.

Phoenix-D

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Never made sence to me. Its like taking 20 marines and dropping them in a Automated Cruiser with
a different atmosphere (even gravity ) and in 10 minutes the cruiser is up and running and causing
damage. I could see disabling the ship or destroying the ship but just taking over the ship like that
and then being able to repair it next turn. It is a weakness in the game.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Hey, Each of those marines has 1000 tons of support equipment backing him up. (20KT component, 20 marines)

How about personal, powered exoskeleton spacesuits?
They should handle hostile environments.

Be sure everybody is fluent in the alien language, and let 100 tons worth of engineers on board once the ship is secure.

You've still got lots of tonnage for items such as:
Industrial Strength Batteries: Enough power to get the ship moving until the ship's own reactor restarts.
Computer/CommandCode Cracker: Either a "black box" style system for the marines, or a loaded computer terminal for one of the engineers.
Hull Patch Kit & Gas Tanks: Useful for restoring atmosphere on ships you've broken into, those without crews, or vaccuum breather crews.

Re: The best weapons for a close combat ship?
 

I am now a firm believer in Security stations for close combat ships. Guess no more races with 50% on the ground combat ( I am assuming that ground combat covers marines in space )

Does any one know if ground combat % also affects space marines??

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L? GdX $ Fr C++ SdT T+ Sf* Tcp+ A M++ MpTM ROTS Pw+ Fq+ Nd Rp++ G+