First Ship - Claudius Exploration Ship

[NoonStar (OP)]

This is my first military vessel.  Its really just an exploration ship, but I wanted to give it a bit of defense in case the final frontier is unfriendly.  I dont really know how combat will work.  I've read a few posts, and tried to bring my Targeting Speeds of my weapon and FC closer together.  I think my power supply is adequate for the ship.  How have I done? What should I change or tweak?

Claudius class Exploration Ship    3,500 tons     381 Crew     619. 4 BP      TCS 70  TH 378  EM 0
5400 km/s     Armour 1-20     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/1/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 10
Annual Failure Rate: 32%    IFR: 0. 5%    Maint Capacity 332 MSP    Max Repair 100 MSP    Est Time: 4. 03 Years

Military Grade  -  Ion Engine E9. 9 (6)    Power 63    Fuel Use 99%    Signature 63    Armour 0    Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 350,000 Litres    Range 181. 8 billion km   (389 days at full power)

Claudius - 10cm C3 Visible Light Laser (2)    Range 48,000km     TS: 5400 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 2    ROF 5        3 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
R4/C3 Meson Cannon (1)    Range 40,000km     TS: 5400 km/s     Power 4-3     RM 4    ROF 10        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Claudius -  Fire Control S01 24-4000 H70 (1)    Max Range: 48,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Claudius - Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (2)     Total Power Output 36    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR9-R100 (1)     GPS 1600     Range 9. 6m km    Resolution 100
Gravitational Survey Sensors (1)   1 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

[Arwyn]

Well, a couple of things.

The not so good:
1) No armor. If your expecting to get into combat, the lack of armor is going to hurt badly. The ship cant take much damage.
2) Fire Control tracking speed. Its low, your weapons are capable of 5400 km/s, but the fire control is significantly behind them at 4000 km/s.
3) Power. Your actually a bit overpowered. Your weapons are drawing 10 power per 4 seconds, but you have 36 generated.
4) Sensors. Your active sensor is very short ranged, and you lack any passives.

The good:
1) Maint Capacity. You have a lot for this ship, which is good for a survey/exploration.
2) Fuel. The range is pretty good, which is also good for survey/exploration
3) Speed. Speed is decent for the engine technology.

What you can do:
1) Pick one of the two weapon types rather than mix them up, saving some space and weight.
2) Upgrade your tracking speed to get closer to the speed of the ship.
3) Putting a bit of armor will increase your survival chances significantly.
4) Get some passive sensors on the ship. Your active sensors are pretty myopic, so you cant really see anything coming at you.
5) Drop the extra Reactor, you dont need it to power the weapons, and its adding space and weight.
6) Add another Grav survey sensor, it speeds up your exploration capability.

Its not a bad start for your first ship. Your range and supplies are good, but the ship needs better eyes and better defenses. If your tracking speed is low, you may consider adding armor and sensors and dropping your total speed down to match your fire control a bit closer. Your ship is pretty defenseless against missiles, you cant even see them coming, and your weapons cant track them very well. Add some armor and consider putting some time into getting your fire control tracking speed up. Build a bigger fire control if need be to get the speed up, its critical. Finally, add some better sensor capability so you can see ships coming at you. Right now, if you fly around with the active sensor lit, you just make your ship easy to see, but its blind to what else is out there.

[NoonStar (OP)]

Thank you! Exactly the format of response I was seeking.  I have some concrete things to work on now.  Time to get to work. 

[Arwyn]

Just to add, when looking at armor, try to look at multiples of 4 if possible. Due to the cone shape of missile damage, 4 is the "magic number" for missile damage penetration. If that makes the ship too heavy, you can lighten it, but risk single shot penetration from most missiles.

But, any armor is better than no armor!

[sloanjh]

Just to add, when looking at armor, try to look at multiples of 4 if possible. Due to the cone shape of missile damage, 4 is the "magic number" for missile damage penetration. If that makes the ship too heavy, you can lighten it, but risk single shot penetration from most missiles.

But, any armor is better than no armor!

Are you sure you aren't thinking of missile warhead size, where you want to pick squares of integers in order to get the next level of penetration?  (e.g. 1 damages 1 level and so penetrates level 0 armor (which doesn't exist) with a single hit, 4 damages 2 levels and so penetrates level 1 armor (typical thin-skin) with a single hit, 9 damages 3 levels and so penetrates level 2 armor with a single hit etc.)

I've not heard of similar steps with armor, other than the more you layer on, the more likely the bad guys are to end up in "sand-blasting" mode.

John