If you let me see your capital ship...

[381654729 (OP)]

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Banzai class Fighter-bomber    463 tons     1 Crew     107.55 BP      TCS 9.25  TH 96  EM 0
10378 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 5.85
Maint Life 0 Years     MSP 0    AFR 92%    IFR 1.3%    1YR 28    5YR 416    Max Repair 48 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months    Spare Berths 9   
Magazine 39   

96EP 2HS Fighter Engine (1)    Power 96    Fuel Use 1222.14%    Signature 96    Exp 30%
Fuel Capacity 20 000 Litres    Range 0.6 billion km   (17 hours at full power)

Size 39 Box Launcher (1)    Missile Size 39    Hangar Reload 292.5 minutes    MF Reload 48.7 hours
ASMFC 24.1Mkm vs 8500t (1)     Range 24.1m km    Resolution 170
Giant Torpedo 15.4Mkm 98.4% (1)  Speed: 49 200 km/s   End: 5.2m    Range: 15.4m km   WH: 49    Size: 39    TH: 328/196/98

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes


The torpedo:

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Missile Size: 39 MSP  (1.95 HS)     Warhead: 49    Armour: 2     Manoeuvre Rating: 20
Speed: 49200 km/s    Engine Endurance: 5 minutes   Range: 15.4m km
Cost Per Missile: 44.4602
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 984%   3k km/s 320%   5k km/s 196.8%   10k km/s 98.4%
Materials Required:    12.75x Tritanium   31.7102x Gallicite   Fuel x2941
Inb4 obvious design flaw makes it not work...

[CharonJr]

But most capitals have at least 6 armor anyway

[381654729 (OP)]

The warhead is 7 layers deep 

 Also, since I am playing 6.41, 49 damage inflicted at once has a near (if not above) 100% chance of causing anywhere from 0 to 16 shock damage. That should at least damage something.

[Jorgen_CAB]

I see many problems with this design.

First of all the warhead seem very small for a missile that size. The range is pitiful and most capital ships at this technology levels will be able to shoot that fighter down before it launches the missile. Even if they manage to launch the missile is will most probably be seen when launched because it is so big and since it only has two armour it is easy to shoot down. Even a relatively small escort could shoot it down using much less resources you put into creating that missile at a cost of 44BP.

Sure, if that missile hit it will be devastating, I rarely put that much armour on my ships. But my shields should at least stop the first one from penetrating my hull. I doubt they would get that far though.

My biggest missiles usually top at size 12 and I think that is big for a missile, but it makes a size 5 engine a good match for fuel efficiency and long range. Then I add at least two armour to such a missile. With decent technology you can get about 16-32 warhead in there too. You then simply decrease the range and add more armour and you get two or more different missiles that all have the same speed and warhead. The only difference is their range and survivability.

Size 12 missile would be 5MSP engine, 3MSP warhead 2MSP armour and 2SMP of fuel and agility.

[Jorgen_CAB]

But most capitals have at least 6 armor anyway

I don't think all capital ships have that much armour (and it depends on technology), at least not when I play. I rarely dedicate that much space for passive defenses and rather layer my defenses with both armour, shields, CIWS and then active defences. Passive defenses is wasted if it rarely are used so all it has to do is to soak the occasional leaking damage. If your active defences can be overwhelmed it is only a matter of time before you go down anyway.

Almost all of my capital ships is about two thirds defence and one third offence. That is my philosophy anyway.  

[381654729 (OP)]

I have also decided that this design will be ineffective against a true capital ship. Therefore I've decided that it will shoot at everything that is more than 8500 tons that it can even hit (heavily armored beam ship?).

I am currently in the process of designing a size-100 torpedo against actual capital ships. It will take five days for the planet to reload the two box launchers on the ~4000 ton ship that carries it. I'll report how that goes.

EDIT: forgot to mention, that the torpedo is not meant to be launched at its max range. The plan is for the suicide fighter to close until it is literally under fire, shoot the torpedo, then haul ass and get out of there. I count on the small railgun-carrying escort fighters to keep the fighter alive until the torpedo hits. If for some reason they choose to not shoot at the fighter while it closes (maybe because they are shooting at the rest of my fleet), then the plan is a success.

Which reminds me, I should have put some active sensors on the missile.

[Theodidactus]

You might be advised to invest your resources into simply developing more efficient warheads. This is one of the primary weapons of my space empire.

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Voodoo class Fighter-bomber    390 tons     1 Crew     116.975 BP      TCS 7.8  TH 28.35  EM 0
10384 km/s     Armour 1-4     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3.9
Maint Life 5.06 Years     MSP 19    AFR 12%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 1    5YR 19    Max Repair 23.625 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months    Spare Berths 9    
Magazine 26    

Kaleni Shrouded Fusion Thruster (3)    Power 27    Fuel Use 104.82%    Signature 9.45    Exp 13%
Fuel Capacity 5 000 Litres    Range 2.2 billion km   (58 hours at full power)

Rocket Hardpoint (2)    Missile Size 3    Hangar Reload 22.5 minutes    MF Reload 3.7 hours
Photon Bomb Hardpoint (2)    Missile Size 10    Hangar Reload 75 minutes    MF Reload 12.5 hours
Concordance Targeting Computer (1)     Range 5.8m km    Resolution 10
Neon Rocket (2)  Speed: 50 000 km/s   End: 0.3m    Range: 0.9m km   WH: 10    Size: 3    TH: 250/150/75
Photon Bomb (2)  Speed: 45 000 km/s   End: 2m    Range: 5.4m km   WH: 50    Size: 10    TH: 165/99/49

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes


Even a small move forward in warhead design is a BIG gain for pow power. One alien race I'm playing against goes for a slow heavily armored strategy of some kind, and even these things don't make a dent in their capital ships unless I attack with squadrons of 8 or more. In general, I am a fan of big missiles because it makes the game feel more like an actual space adventure.

"Captain! The Star Ranger has been struck by a missile!" should be cause for alarm and immediate action, not mild concern."