Carrier Battles Mod

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

SJ, I want to officially Thank You for sprouting the idea for this mod. I read a few early posts, and immediately started to implement a similar system of fighter combat in Capship (note: this was some time back, perhaps as much as 2 months). Therefore, hereby, I Thank You for this wonderful idea.

I customized it in Capship, however (didn't DL the actual mod);
-Fighter hulls are generally split up between Interceptors, Space Superiority Fighters and Bombers.
-Interceptors are the fast lot, they're the smallest but are excellently suited for swarming SSFs and bombers.
-SSFs are larger and slower, and can carry more potent weaponry. They are the principal means of defending your fleet against Bombers.
-Bombers are massive, lumbering craft which can strike hard at warships.
-Most fighter weapons can only target fighters and other small stuff, the anti-capital ship weapons are so large that only Bombers can mount them. These weapons are comparatively extremely powerful, so that Bombers remain useful and perhaps essential into the later game eras.
-Stock PD can only target seekers now, some/most ship-based weapons can also target fighters but are generally less effective than Interceptor/SSF escorts, because of the defense bonus of the fighters, and also because fighter armor is pretty strong. For truly effective fighter interference you're going to need your own strike craft escort.

There is nothing to stop you from placing masses of Interceptor weapons on a Bomber, that's a choice you'll have to make for yourself. It's not recommended or discouraged, but Interceptors were specifically meant for the light anti-fighter weapons, while Bombers should mainly be used as capital ship killers. Bombers have the potential to be more dangerous to powerful warships than a Dreadnought. It's always recommended you take at least one carrier stocked with ample supplies of all three fighter types when you send a fleet out on a (prolonged) campaign. This way, you'll have protection from enemy Bombers (which can utterly devastate a fleet if it isn't well-protected) as well as a means of performing quick, powerful strikes on an enemy fleet.

Strike craft are relatively cheap and fast to produce (though a powerful Bomber could take three or so turns to build), and the fact that they're real killers makes it easier for an empire under attack to build a modest fleet of Bombers to drive the enemy out. Said enemy could then build swarms of SSFs to counter the Bombers. Said Bombers would be generally useless then, but they can quickly build entire swarms of Interceptors to swarm the enemy SSF escorts and overcome their defenses, to cover for the Bombers.

Whoops, turned into a (promotional) rant there, sorry 'bout that! But still, Thank You SJ for this idea.