yes. it's even worse than you've said. if your engine is ever damaged, it's 2x the MSP to repair in the field.
Huh, I didn't even know that! Most of my ships that receive damage in combat don't make it out alive anyhow
A new engine and sensor generation came around a couple in-game years later, so I tried to incorporate some of the suggestions in the next generation. In general, the fleet underwent a slight speed increase of 1000 km/s and had its intended deployment time doubled so that not as many engines break while I'm still on the way to the combat zone
The old generation saw some combat against Precursor and was fairly successful - successful enough that they didn't take any damage so far and I can't tell how well their shield and armour distribution works in practice.
Flare class Command Ship 40,000 tons 891 Crew 14728 BP TCS 800 TH 1152 EM 750
6000 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 7-104 Shields 25-300 Sensors 1200/800/0/0 Damage Control Rating 42 PPV 0
Maint Life 2.06 Years MSP 9665 AFR 304% IFR 4.2% 1YR 3026 5YR 45385 Max Repair 2400 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 1
Flag Bridge
Imperial M-1002 Elocation Engine Max Ship Size 42000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Type-903 Fusion Drive (2) Power 2400 Fuel Use 34.45% Signature 576 Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 15,350,000 Litres Range 200.5 billion km (386 days at full power)
Focus Xtal Class Xi (5) Total Fuel Cost 63 Litres per hour (1,500 per day)
Imperial Beacon Type-D (1) GPS 2400 Range 768.0m km Resolution 1
Imperial Beacon Type-F (1) GPS 288000 Range 8,413.0m km Resolution 120
Qiuxin High Performance Thermal Detector Ro (1) Sensitivity 1200 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 1200m km
Seer-Class Electromagnetic Sensor Unit (1) Sensitivity 800 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 800m km
ECM 30
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
The Flare is an update to the Beacon, with slightly stronger shields and armour and packing twice the sensor range of the 12 year old Beacon. Passive sensor priorities were switched around to favour a larger thermal sensor, spending the free tonnage on armour, fuel and maintenance instead.
Bitra class Battleship 20,000 tons 457 Crew 5245.04 BP TCS 400 TH 576 EM 300
6000 km/s Armour 5-65 Shields 10-300 Sensors 24/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 20 PPV 64
Maint Life 2.05 Years MSP 3360 AFR 156% IFR 2.2% 1YR 1067 5YR 16000 Max Repair 1200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 0
Magazine 1330
Type-503 Fusion Drive (2) Power 1200 Fuel Use 51.67% Signature 288 Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 6,345,000 Litres Range 110.5 billion km (213 days at full power)
Focus Xtal Class Xi (2) Total Fuel Cost 25 Litres per hour (600 per day)
S-Type Standard Annihilator Missile Tube (16) Missile Size 4 Rate of Fire 20
Annihilator Missile Guidance System (4) Range 207.4m km Resolution 16
Annihilator-03 (332) Speed: 60,000 km/s End: 47.2m Range: 169.8m km WH: 9 Size: 4 TH: 840/504/252
Imperial Auxiliary Smallcraft Sensor (1) GPS 3840 Range 307.2m km Resolution 16
Qiuxin Civilian Thermal Detector Ro (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 24m km
Compact ECCM-2 (4) ECM 30
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 Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
The Bitra is the new Strike, although there weren't as many changes - They now feature two engines so if one should break down they're not immediately disabled. Small shields aid the armour, and the missiles underwent a slight range and speed increase thanks to the new fusion drive technologies.
Quarak class Cruiser 20,000 tons 430 Crew 6476.22 BP TCS 400 TH 576 EM 300
6000 km/s Armour 7-65 Shields 10-300 Sensors 24/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 14 PPV 66
Maint Life 2.1 Years MSP 2833 AFR 228% IFR 3.2% 1YR 855 5YR 12825 Max Repair 1200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 3
Magazine 381
Type-503 Fusion Drive (2) Power 1200 Fuel Use 51.67% Signature 288 Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 6,750,000 Litres Range 117.6 billion km (226 days at full power)
Focus Xtal Class Xi (2) Total Fuel Cost 25 Litres per hour (600 per day)
Calibre 12 Point Defense Laser Battery (2x4) Range 120,000km TS: 25000 km/s Power 16-16 RM 3 ROF 5 4 4 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Calibre 12 Point Defense Laser Targeting Computer (2) Max Range: 384,000 km TS: 25000 km/s 97 95 92 90 87 84 82 79 77 74
Prototype Fusion Reactor (7) Total Power Output 35 Armour 0 Exp 5%
S-Type Optimised Annihilator Missile Tube (4) Missile Size 4 Rate of Fire 40
S-Type Standard Hunter Missile Tube (4) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 5
Hunter Missile Guidance System (1) Range 181.4m km Resolution 1
Defender Backup Guidance System (1) Range 25.9m km Resolution 1
Hunter-04 (93) Speed: 96,000 km/s End: 4.2m Range: 24.2m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 1376/825/412
Annihilator-03 (36) Speed: 60,000 km/s End: 47.2m Range: 169.8m km WH: 9 Size: 4 TH: 840/504/252
Defender-02 (36) Speed: 96,000 km/s End: 3.8m Range: 21.9m km WH: 16 Size: 4 TH: 640/384/192
Imperial Auxiliary Missile Sensor (1) GPS 240 Range 76.8m km Resolution 1
Qiuxin Civilian Thermal Detector Ro (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 24m km
ECCM-4 (3) ECM 30
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 Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
The Quarak, as the new Onslaught, was brought up to the Flare's level of armour and received some shields of its own, albeit weaker as those of the command ship. The two beam batteries didn't change at all, and neither did the reactors.
The missiles the class stocks are now a bit mismatched - I'm not at all happy how they turned out, but to make the Annihilators more useful when the class operates only among sister ships I'd need to develop a larger sensor suite that can pick up smallcraft and large ships at decent range, add an Annihilator-specific MFC (currently the class can only fire AMMs *or* ASMs, as they both use the same MFC in this case) ... and all that stuff would be virtually pointless in the routine case where they fly with a flotilla. Can someone help me out with how to handle that class?
It's an odd thing, I know, trying to mix beam PDs, ASMs, AMMs and short range missiles all in one ...
Warden class Destroyer 10,000 tons 183 Crew 2924.2 BP TCS 200 TH 420 EM 0
6000 km/s Armour 4-41 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 8 PPV 12
Maint Life 2.25 Years MSP 1462 AFR 100% IFR 1.4% 1YR 389 5YR 5839 Max Repair 525 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 0
Magazine 384
Type-303 Fusion Drive (2) Power 600 Fuel Use 37.12% Signature 210 Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 4,060,000 Litres Range 196.9 billion km (379 days at full power)
S-Type Standard Hunter Missile Tube (12) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 5
Hunter Missile Guidance System (4) Range 181.4m km Resolution 1
Hunter-04 (384) Speed: 96,000 km/s End: 4.2m Range: 24.2m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 1376/825/412
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 Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
The Warden replaces the Guardsman, with twice the armour to withstand stray fire and surprisingly good fuel efficiency despite the small Type-303 engines (HS 15). New AMMs have a 100% hit chance against missiles at up to 40,000 km/s - Right now I haven't encountered anything but Precursors, so I have no idea what to expect in terms of hostile missile speeds - I pondered changing the MFC-to-missile-tube ratio to 1:2, although this would be a net decrease in tubes due to the large MFCs.
I made sure to cut down on the thermal reduction and match the larger vessels as close as possible - the Flare has the largest thermal to attract attention, and the Warden has decent MSP per engine to repair when necessary.
The Auxiliary department of the Imperial Navy:
Long Arm class Tanker 40,000 tons 242 Crew 4517.2 BP TCS 800 TH 576 EM 0
6000 km/s JR 2-25(C) Armour 3-104 Shields 0-0 Sensors 24/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 13 PPV 0
MSP 918 Max Repair 500 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 0
Imperial M-6102 Elocation Engine Max Ship Size 40500 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 2
Derektor O-Ro Fusion Drive (6) Power 800 Fuel Use 2.21% Signature 96 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 18,130,000 Litres Range 3691.6 billion km (7121 days at full power)
Stellar Electronics Standard Issue Sensor (1) GPS 7680 Range 194.3m km Resolution 160
Qiuxin Civilian Thermal Detector Ro (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 24m km
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
The Long Arm is the tanker of the new generation, and doubles as a jump tender for the Short Arm class:
Short Arm class Tanker 40,000 tons 224 Crew 4694.2 BP TCS 800 TH 576 EM 0
6000 km/s Armour 3-104 Shields 0-0 Sensors 24/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 13 PPV 0
MSP 954 Max Repair 500 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 1
Derektor O-Ro Fusion Drive (6) Power 800 Fuel Use 2.21% Signature 96 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 22,680,000 Litres Range 4618.1 billion km (8908 days at full power)
Stellar Electronics Standard Issue Sensor (1) GPS 7680 Range 194.3m km Resolution 160
Qiuxin Civilian Thermal Detector Ro (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 24m km
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
One of each class should go with each new generation flotilla so that the offensive ships can actually stay deployed for longer than a year. The G-3 Elocator tenders will stay with the old fleets, as the new tankers are the only ones to even use commercial engines - so the small compact jump drive on the Long Arm suffices for all commercial ships in the war zone. They're lightly armoured to prevent any immediate disasters, but they should obviously stay a system behind the main combat force.
Circus class Troop Transport 122,350 tons 736 Crew 5939.6 BP TCS 2447 TH 16000 EM 0
6538 km/s Armour 6-219 Shields 0-0 Sensors 24/32/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 30 Max Repair 128 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months Spare Berths 1
Troop Capacity: 21 Battalions Cargo Handling Multiplier 20
Navanti O-Ha Fusion Drive (25) Power 640 Fuel Use 1.26% Signature 640 Exp 4%
Fuel Capacity 2,000,000 Litres Range 233.5 billion km (413 days at full power)
Stellar Electronics Standard Issue Sensor (1) GPS 7680 Range 194.3m km Resolution 160
Qiuxin Civilian Thermal Detector Ro (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 24m km
Stellar Electronics Electromagnetic Sensor Unit (1) Sensitivity 32 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 32m km
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
A new entry in the Navy registers is the Troop Transport. Initially used to storm planetary outposts in the past few years when a prototype was built, the new Circus class carries an entire division at once (or a brigade of engineers) and is heavily armoured for a civilian ship. CIWS might be a good idea - but I honestly don't want to send them into a system that hasn't been pacified before plus I have no gauss research whatsoever. Their armour should enable them to approach any supposedly-pacified planets and drop their troops while I stuffed enough engines in there to bring them to fleet speed (and a little above, should they need to run).
The Imperial Army released a statement where they made clear that they're "not amused" by this class' name
(The admirality didn't mind, tho)
Hauler class Collier 20,000 tons 288 Crew 3008.48 BP TCS 400 TH 2400 EM 0
6000 km/s Armour 2-65 Shields 0-0 Sensors 24/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 23 PPV 0
Maint Life 2.03 Years MSP 2162 AFR 139% IFR 1.9% 1YR 702 5YR 10530 Max Repair 600 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 1
Magazine 3354
Type-502 Fusion Drive (2) Power 1200 Fuel Use 51.67% Signature 1200 Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 6,000,000 Litres Range 104.5 billion km (201 days at full power)
Stellar Electronics Standard Issue Sensor (1) GPS 7680 Range 194.3m km Resolution 160
Qiuxin Civilian Thermal Detector Ro (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 24m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
And lastly, the Hauler class, the new fleet collier. There really isn't much to say about it - light armour, fits with the Flare's jump drive and sticks together with the tankers far away from combat.