You know, you really don't need to force a split between interceptors, superiority fighters and bombers.
I simply used a generic set of fighter hulls, and let the components speak for themselves.
- If you want anti-missile defense, you simply add lots of tiny mount guns and a big (QNP-style) engine to chase missiles with. More guns == more missiles shot down per turn.
- If you want a bomber, you use a smaller engine and cram the hull full of big missiles or heavy laser cannons for that big initial punch through the leaky shields. (You need to overload the quasi-emissive effect)
- Superiority fighters on the other hand, need heavier armor and the most efficient guns rather than the high damage-per-shot bomber weapons or the array of high accuracy weapons on the interceptor. (Make a wall, and chew up fighters without letting them pass)
In CB#2, Axel caught me by surprise with a squad of half-bombers.
They launched fewer missiles, but then followed up on the attack by picking off my lightly armored interceptors with guns as they rushed to the missiles.
I loved it. It didn't conform to my expectations, but made perfect sense in action
Next time I'll have to bring some superiority fighters to take the hits and protect the interceptors while they do their job.
Getting rid of stock Point Defense altogether was one of the key features, too.
The autofire makes them essentially unbalancable.
Instead, you have to carry some sort of antimissile fighter type, or mount a bunch of short range 20mm cannons with lots of multiplex tracking to back them up. Or just armor up, and take the blows
It seems my ships have been resorting to the third method way too much in CarrierBattles #1
Massive assaults, running out of interceptors, and then being brutally pounded by bombardment ships. Its quite fun though, and I'll soon have some ships decked out with fifteen 20mm cannons just for point defense duty.