Ship Design Questions

[Elowan]

A few questions for you veterans of the space wars:

1) do CM's fire only every other turn? If you have 4 on a ship - do they all fire at once or alternate?

2) if they fire every other turn - then it seems wise to have some direct fire weps mixed in with the CM's. Yes?

3) if given the choice - do you max out your DF weps or armor? If armor - what's the minimum DF wep(s) you install? Ditto for CM's.

4) how about PDF's. How many or minimum do you install?

5) at basic tech lvl for each - do you install all available sensors (3)?

6) once at contra-terrene+ with the extra movement point(s) - do you ever sacrifice an engine for extra armor or ...?

7) do all DF/CM ships make sense?

8) how about an all sensor/contra-sensor ship?

9) how about a picket ship with LR sensor and PDF's?

Thanks for the input.

[ August 08, 2002, 19:58: Message edited by: Elowan ]

[Suicide Junkie]

1) if by CM you mean Capital Ship Missile, they fire every three turns.
Typically you will launch all of them, and wait for the reload, but certain strategies may change that...

2) Generally not. The CSMs have much longer range, and when using them it is a good idea to stay as far away as possible, lobbing shots at the enemy. If you add a direct fire weapon, your ships will close in, and get killed.

3,4) Unmodded, Typically 3-4 Point Defense cannons, and one stealth armor is good. Use shields to get more hitpoints, rather than armor in most cases.

5) You only need one scanner. The rest are redundant. Just stick on the highest level scanner you have.

6) Speed is life. and engines form such a small fraction of your hull space it it snot worth removing.

7) CSM and PD are good. You can lob long shots, and shoot down the long lobs coming back.

8,9) You only need one support ship to carry the anti-cloak sensor and the LR scanner.
Point defense should be on every ship to ensure coverage, and cloaks need to be on every ship as well.

[Phoenix-D]

"1) do CM's fire only every other turn? If you have 4 on a ship - do they all fire at once or alternate?"

They fire every THIRD turn. Any weapon that is in-range and reloaded will fire; most of the time the CSMs will fire together.

"2) if they fire every other turn - then it seems wise to have some direct fire weps mixed in with the CM's. Yes?"

Not if you're using max range; your ships will linger in range of your (and the target's) direct-fire weapon, making the CSM's greater range useless.

"3) if given the choice - do you max out your DF weps or armor? If armor - what's the minimum DF wep(s) you install? Ditto for CM's."

Depends on the target. CSMs you want a lot of; generally two CSMs per enemy PDC.

"4) how about PDF's. How many or minimum do you install?"

One or two against most opponents, then bring in dedicated point-defense ships if needed.

"5) at basic tech lvl for each - do you install all available sensors (3)?"

No! You only need one sensor type to detect a ship in the unmodded game.

"6) once at contra-terrene+ with the extra movement point(s) - do you ever sacrifice an engine for extra armor or ...?"

No.

"7) do all DF/CM ships make sense?"

Yes.

"8) how about an all sensor/contra-sensor ship?" Yes, though the sensors are small enough I prefer to just drop a weapon to install it.

9") how about a picket ship with LR sensor and PDF's?"

Not all that useful.

Phoenix-D

[capnq]

Almost all of my answers would be "depends on the situation and opponents' choices".

3) if given the choice - do you max out your DF weps or armor? If armor - what's the minimum DF wep(s) you install? Ditto for CM's.

I tend to go for offense over defense.

4) how about PDF's. How many or minimum do you install?

Depends on how big a hull I have available, but fleets with a few dedicated PD ships can be more effective than a few PDC on each ship.

6) once at contra-terrene+ with the extra movement point(s) - do you ever sacrifice an engine for extra armor or ...?

I've been known to sacrifice an engine to fit another weapon on defense ships. This frequently turns out to be a mistake, though.

[ August 08, 2002, 20:36: Message edited by: capnq ]

[Elowan]

OK. Good answers but I have to clarify one of my questions, to whit:

5) at basic tech lvl for each - do you install all available sensors (3)?

I meant these sensors: combat, ECM, Mutiplex. SAT!

As for LR, tachyon, scanner jammer - on one ship enough - say an ELINT or Wild Weasel (ECM) vessel?

[Phoenix-D]

You *always* want the best ECM and combat sensor you have on a ship, if it's using them. (i.e. DON'T put combat sensors on a missile ship, it doesn't use them)

Multiplex- eh. Sometimes, sometimes not.

Phoenix-D

[Suicide Junkie]

However, PD cannons do benefit from a Combat sensor.

So if your missile boat has PD cannons, the Combat sensor would be useful.

[ August 08, 2002, 21:33: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]

[Elowan]

Originally posted by Phoenix-D:
... DON'T put combat sensors on a missile ship, it doesn't use them).

A pearl of immense price! Thanks P-D.

[Taz-in-Space]

Elowan, using a scanner jammer only works for the ship that carries it - other ship, even in the same fleet, can be viewed.

As for LR and the detectors, one per fleet is enough. (as long as the carrying ship exists)

[ August 09, 2002, 06:38: Message edited by: Taz-in-Space ]

[Phoenix-D]

I put ECM on anyway just in case, and the talisman in my mind counts as a combat sensor..

Phoenix-D