First Time(s) Designing

[Kytuzian (OP)]

Thank you very much for the link.   Sadly, something corrupted my save files for this game and I can no longer play it. 

However, in my new game, I finally came across some aliens (who were instantly hostile), and they completely destroyed my fleet, so that was a downer.  Luckily they don't seem too keen on coming through to Sol, but just in case, I want to destroy them.  Also because I've never really been in a battle before, and that's kind of the point of this game, no?

Anyway, they moved at 5555 km/s which was too much for my old ships, which were these:

My previous main battleship/cruiser thingy (also what is the distinction between battleship/destroyer/cruiser and the like? I have just been using whatever sounds cool and vaguely appropriate):

I built 13 of these, and lost 4 in the first incursion, so I have the rest ready to guard to jump point.

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Decius class Cruiser    20 300 tons     515 Crew     4046.5 BP      TCS 406  TH 450  EM 750
2216 km/s     Armour 5-66     Shields 25-500     Sensors 18/18/0/0     Damage Control Rating 25     PPV 95.94
Maint Life 9.09 Years     MSP 3115    AFR 131%    IFR 1.8%    1YR 68    5YR 1018    Max Repair 175 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 72 months    Spare Berths 1   

Veturius-Cinna 180 EP Ion Drive (5)    Power 180    Fuel Use 173.61%    Signature 90    Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 6 250 000 Litres    Range 31.9 billion km   (166 days at full power)
Trogus-Servilius Delta R500/420 Shields (10)   Total Fuel Cost  175 Litres per hour  (4 200 per day)

Twin Catullus-Orientalis 15cm C3 Visible Light Laser Turret (3x2)    Range 120 000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 12-6     RM 2    ROF 10        6 6 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Maursus Armaments Particle Beam-6 (6)    Range 200 000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 15-4    ROF 20        6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Appius Corporation Fire Control S03 192-3000 H70 (1)    Max Range: 384 000 km   TS: 3000 km/s     97 95 92 90 87 84 82 79 77 74
Bassus & Iocundus Fire Control S02.2 72-6000 H70 (3)    Max Range: 144 000 km   TS: 6000 km/s     93 86 79 72 65 58 51 44 37 31
Vitoricus-Euphemius Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (10)     Total Power Output 45    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Kaeso Electronic Systems Active Search Sensor MR1-R1 (70%) (3)     GPS 28     Range 1.7m km    MCR 183k km    Resolution 1
Orientalis Foundation Active Search Sensor MR75-R80 (70%) (1)     GPS 11200     Range 75.1m km    Resolution 80
Ticinius-Cittinus Thermal Sensor TH3-18 (70%) (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  18m km
Protus-Asprenus EM Detection Sensor EM3-18 (70%) (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  18m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

This ship was created when I first encountered the aliens, right after they blew up my gate construction ship, so I rushed a few of these into service.  They did okay, but were, of course, too slow.

I lost two of these, and have an additional 6.

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Caesar class Fast Attack Craft    1 950 tons     72 Crew     677 BP      TCS 39  TH 90  EM 0
4615 km/s     Armour 2-13     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 8
Maint Life 3.71 Years     MSP 217    AFR 30%    IFR 0.4%    1YR 25    5YR 369    Max Repair 270 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 0   

Veturius-Cinna 180 EP Ion Drive (1)    Power 180    Fuel Use 173.61%    Signature 90    Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 250 000 Litres    Range 13.3 billion km   (33 days at full power)

Catullus-Orientalis 15cm C3 Visible Light Laser (2)    Range 120 000km     TS: 4615 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 2    ROF 10        6 6 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Bassus & Iocundus Fire Control S02.2 72-6000 H70 (1)    Max Range: 144 000 km   TS: 6000 km/s     93 86 79 72 65 58 51 44 37 31
Osterianus-Fabillus Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1.1 (1)     Total Power Output 17.6    Armour 0    Exp 10%

Nolus-Igennus Active Search Sensor MR10-R1 (50%) (1)     GPS 180     Range 10.8m km    MCR 1.2m km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

They were replaced by these (faster, better lasers, not yet battle tested, although I have constructed 14 because they seem competent enough.

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Caesar II class Fast Attack Craft    2 550 tons     103 Crew     1410.4 BP      TCS 51  TH 150  EM 0
5882 km/s     Armour 2-16     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 16
Maint Life 2.14 Years     MSP 346    AFR 52%    IFR 0.7%    1YR 101    5YR 1516    Max Repair 540 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 1   

Memmius-Rectus 300 EP Internal Fusion Drive (1)    Power 300    Fuel Use 124.01%    Signature 150    Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 250 000 Litres    Range 14.2 billion km   (27 days at full power)

Spendius-Trebellius 25cm C6 Ultraviolet Laser (2)    Range 600 000km     TS: 5882 km/s     Power 16-6     RM 4    ROF 15        16 16 16 16 12 10 9 8 7 6
Casca-Zosimus International Fire Control S04 300-8000 H50 (1)    Max Range: 600 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     98 97 95 93 92 90 88 87 85 83
Osterianus-Fabillus Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1.1 (1)     Total Power Output 17.6    Armour 0    Exp 10%

Nolus-Igennus Active Search Sensor MR10-R1 (50%) (1)     GPS 180     Range 10.8m km    MCR 1.2m km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Finally, these are my newest ships, for which a shipyard stills needs to be retooled.  Not sure about their effectiveness/worth so would like to have any advice before using a large amount of resources building them.  All I'm really sure about is that they're rather large (at least for me), and about 11 times larger than the enemy ships.

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Pyrrhus class Destroyer    106 900 tons     3627 Crew     27827.6 BP      TCS 2138  TH 6450  EM 3600
6033 km/s     Armour 8-200     Shields 120-600     Sensors 18/18/0/0     Damage Control Rating 381     PPV 468
Maint Life 13.76 Years     MSP 61977    AFR 239%    IFR 3.3%    1YR 610    5YR 9144    Max Repair 540 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 144 months    Spare Berths 0   

Memmius-Rectus 300 EP Internal Fusion Drive (43)    Power 300    Fuel Use 124.01%    Signature 150    Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 15 000 000 Litres    Range 20.4 billion km   (39 days at full power)
Cervianus & Valerianus Biotech Theta R600/480 Shields (30)   Total Fuel Cost  600 Litres per hour  (14 400 per day)

Quad Spendius-Trebellius 25cm C6 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (10x4)    Range 600 000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 64-24     RM 4    ROF 15        16 16 16 16 12 10 9 8 7 6
Valerianus Armaments 45cm C6 Far Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 600 000km     TS: 6033 km/s     Power 53-6     RM 5    ROF 45        53 53 53 53 53 44 37 33 29 26
Casca-Zosimus International Fire Control S04 300-8000 H50 (2)    Max Range: 600 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     98 97 95 93 92 90 88 87 85 83
Osterianus-Fabillus Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1.1 (14)     Total Power Output 246.4    Armour 0    Exp 10%

Nolus-Igennus Active Search Sensor MR10-R1 (50%) (1)     GPS 180     Range 10.8m km    MCR 1.2m km    Resolution 1
Marsallas & Pulcherius Active Search Sensor MR108-R100 (50%) (1)     GPS 18000     Range 108.0m km    Resolution 100
Ticinius-Cittinus Thermal Sensor TH3-18 (70%) (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  18m km
Protus-Asprenus EM Detection Sensor EM3-18 (70%) (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  18m km

ECCM-1 (2)         This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


[ComradeMicha]

The new "fast attack craft" looks competent enough against the threat you encountered, though it is of course not really a fast attack craft.   
In general, I think you are focussing too much on energy weapons.   You don't seem to have any point defence, and your turrets are limited in that role by your slow tracking speed.   A ship travelling at about 6k km/s can easily launch missiles travelling at 20-30k km/s, which are absolutely non-interceptable by your current lasers. 

How did the enemy kill your ships in your first encounter? Did it close in to point blank range or did it launch salvos of missiles? Did your ships shoot at the enemy?

As far as naming conventions go, I only know of two givens:
A fighter is anything below 500 tons, while anything above that up until 1000 tons is termed fast attack craft.   

What I find curious about your class designations is that a 20k ton ship is a cruiser (which sounds reasonable, if a bit small in my opinion), while a 100k+ ton ship is a destroyer.   
In historical naval terms, destroyers are smaller than cruisers, the next step up would be the battlecruiser followed by the battleship.    Above the battleship, I would insert the somewhat anachronistic dreadnoughts and superdreadnoughts, just because they sound cool.   

[Vandermeer]

I can add something to the last and large craft. I think it won't really fit your role if you really designed it to catch those 5555km/s enemies. You might be faster in principle, but just by such a little edge that it will eventually take too long on this incredibly low fuel reserve (if the enemy tries to stay on distance ofc.). Probably there isn't much you can do about it if your engines needed to be max. power grade to reach this speed, but generally large ships are better weighted on the range's favor side, as they might otherwise be difficult to rescue when dried down.
Not sure if you plan to park the design for long, but it seems like you want it as some sort of watch post deposit, as your deployment and maintenance of both 14 years far exceeds the engine vivification of not even 40 days. If the crew quarters are making problems here, consider tracktoring a civil recreation-facility module to that place where you might intend to have a post. They are cheap to build and the freed space from the deployment time (down to 1/126th part) could go to yet even more maintenance life or other needed things like.... shields.

The only real existing practical reason to build large ships is their defensive advantage, since they pack the durability of a whole fleet into one design. Where some decent opposition against 10 size 10kt ships will probably result in some losses, and thus constantly grind on your resource with every such encounter, a big ship is either lost entirely (against a foe that obviously had the power to eliminate a whole fleet tonnage anyway), or just not at all. That can at some point be quite the logistical standpoint if you see that the "huge" costs of a large ship are rather illusionary considering it would cost even slightly more and even take longer to build the same tonnage in 10 or so smaller increments - with to some point even less efficient 'usable mass' ratios.
To really utilize large designs though, you'd want to shift your focus on shielding. Shields are only moderately useful on small crafts, because their regeneration always takes 5 minutes with balanced tech, and they probably only tank around 1 or 2 hits before failing, which doesn't change too much on later tech grades. On large ships where shields take a while to be shot down, you can access that nice regeneration bonus, which makes those designs last either much longer under fire, or even render them completely immune to any damage against underwhelming opposition.(great for "unlimited" deployment beam attackers that don't want to exhaust any real ammunition or get scratches)
To illustrate the principle: When a fleet of 10 10kt ships get hit by 16 damage, one ship will probably deplete its shield capacity and now be vulnerable. To recover it would take 5 minutes.
A ship of 100kt however might only lose 1/10th of its shields here and be able to recover from that in just 30 seconds, as it manages to in some sense 'conjoin all the shield generators of the fleet' and use all the regenerative power. (similar effects with the internal repair speed btw.) Every 5 seconds here actually really stretch out the ships life and 'undamaged' status period. Even after being depleted they can continue to be relevant as a "deflector" that bounces off a fixed couple damage points on every interval. I personally tested (even unfocused built) 80kt, 120kt and 180kt designs (all 'exploration cruisers') under heavy fire against equal tech level, and they seemed to last an eternity with their armor only ever pierced against PDC. Equal sized opposition will likely not carry enough ammunition to only kill you with their rockets, so they will eventually close in anyway, where you can destroy them the latest if you couldn't catch them yourself. (only be cautious about those PDCs, who usually have so much ammunition that you can only beat them with much much more than 2:1 mass advantage on same tech grade.... - as a pure beam attacker that is)
So shields are effective in lumps and thus the strength of any big/oversized ship. I usually try to dedicate around 10% of mass to shields when making bigger designs, though I guess on earlier tech grade more could be advised. ...All depends on design mission in the end of course. Also I wouldn't even bother with the whole thing before shield tech 2 or 2.5 or so.

[Barkhorn]

One thing about the Phyrrus.  You may want more fire controls, as the way you have it now some turrets will have to share targets.  I recommend one FC per turret.  It's not absolutely required, but it might be a good idea.

[Kytuzian (OP)]

Alright, so taking into consideration what has been said, I have increased the tracking speed on the turrets as much as I can with my current fire control tech (to 16000 km/s), added 20 more shields (so it should be able to take a full salvo of missiles and still have shields left over, assuming none are intercepted), and added CIWS systems to both the FAC (now re-classified as a Destroyer, which may or may not be more appropriate) and the Destroyer (now re-classified as a dreadnought, same disclaimer).   As I understand it, CIWS only works for the ship it is on? Both are also faster and have longer range. 

Yeah, so I don't know anything about historical naval classifications, so Destroyer was chosen purely out of sound of the name.   It is now a dreadnought, and the Caesar III is now a Destroyer (which it seems to be the right size for what was said). 

Also, I plan on adding better beam fire controls to these to increase their range to 800 000 km. 

Finally, I won't have one fire control per turret, because I don't know that my turrets will be effective in targeting enemy missiles anyway, so having several to a single fire control so help, no? In any case, I now have 4 fire controls, so I can have one main offensive group, and 3 for area defense, then the CIWS for point defense.

Anyway:

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Pyrrhus class Dreadnought    101 100 tons     2333 Crew     26643.3 BP      TCS 2022  TH 4620  EM 6000
6528 km/s     Armour 9-193     Shields 200-600     Sensors 18/18/0/0     Damage Control Rating 140     PPV 327.32
Maint Life 6.03 Years     MSP 23060    AFR 584%    IFR 8.1%    1YR 1087    5YR 16309    Max Repair 540 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 72 months    Spare Berths 1    

Durio Systems 60 EP Internal Fusion Drive (220)    Power 60    Fuel Use 135.03%    Signature 21    Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 35 000 000 Litres    Range 46.1 billion km   (81 days at full power)
Cervianus & Valerianus Biotech Theta R600/480 Shields (50)   Total Fuel Cost  1 000 Litres per hour  (24 000 per day)

Valerianus Armaments 45cm C6 Far Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 600 000km     TS: 6528 km/s     Power 53-6     RM 5    ROF 45        53 53 53 53 53 44 37 33 29 26
Twin Stichus-Triferus 30cm C6 Far Ultraviolet Laser Turret (14x2)    Range 600 000km     TS: 16000 km/s     Power 48-12     RM 5    ROF 20        24 24 24 24 24 20 17 15 13 12
Genialis-Siculus CIWS-160 (3x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Casca-Zosimus International Fire Control S04 300-8000 H50 (4)    Max Range: 600 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     98 97 95 93 92 90 88 87 85 83
Merula Magnetic Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1.1 (16)     Total Power Output 176    Armour 0    Exp 10%

Nolus-Igennus Active Search Sensor MR10-R1 (50%) (1)     GPS 180     Range 10.8m km    MCR 1.2m km    Resolution 1
Marsallas & Pulcherius Active Search Sensor MR108-R100 (50%) (1)     GPS 18000     Range 108.0m km    Resolution 100
Ticinius-Cittinus Thermal Sensor TH3-18 (70%) (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  18m km
Protus-Asprenus EM Detection Sensor EM3-18 (70%) (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  18m km

ECCM-1 (1)         This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Caesar III class Destroyer    4 500 tons     145 Crew     2465 BP      TCS 90  TH 189  EM 0
6000 km/s     Armour 2-24     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 22.6
Maint Life 1 Years     MSP 342    AFR 162%    IFR 2.2%    1YR 340    5YR 5105    Max Repair 1080 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 1    

Durio Systems 60 EP Internal Fusion Drive (9)    Power 60    Fuel Use 135.03%    Signature 21    Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 750 000 Litres    Range 22.2 billion km   (42 days at full power)

Single Stichus-Triferus 30cm C6 Far Ultraviolet Laser Turret (2x1)    Range 600 000km     TS: 16000 km/s     Power 24-6     RM 5    ROF 20        24 24 24 24 24 20 17 15 13 12
Genialis-Siculus CIWS-160 (1x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Toutius International Fire Control S08 300-16000 H50 (1)    Max Range: 600 000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     98 97 95 93 92 90 88 87 85 83
Merula Magnetic Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1.1 (2)     Total Power Output 22    Armour 0    Exp 10%

Nolus-Igennus Active Search Sensor MR10-R1 (50%) (1)     GPS 180     Range 10.8m km    MCR 1.2m km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


[DuraniumCowboy]

I would recommend switching out the CIWS for Guass Cannon turrets with max tracking fire control.  I didn't understand the distinction when I started, but the basic take is that a CIWS only defends the ship its on, while all the guass cannons in one of your fleet stacks can engage any missile that attacks the stack if used for final protective fire.  With higher launch velocities it also give you some light self defense against larger threats at knife fight range.  A full size guass cannon turret with tracking at your max FC TS will not be much heavier than a CIWS, and if you extend the range on your FC to get a higher than 50% to hit at 10k, then space per space it starts to become more effective.  Add the ability to cooperatively provide final protective fire and its a much more effective option for a military grade vessel.

I only only use CIWS for commercial vessels now, as a CIWS is not considered a military component

[Kytuzian (OP)]

I might switch, but I get twice the rate of fire with CIWS compared to a Gauss Cannon.  I didn't research and Gauss Cannon Launch Velocities, only rate of fire, so it'll take a while to research that as well, which is another downside.  In the future I'll probably switch to Gauss Cannons, but I need to do a bit of research, and currently researching other things.

Also, does anyone know why my turns are only passing like 4 days and 6 hours or some random amount similar to that when I try to do 30 days?

[NihilRex]

A CIWS is two reduced size gauss cannons with a dedicated fire control, which is why you get the higher apparent ROF

[Kytuzian (OP)]

Final designs (before I retool my shipyards):

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Pyrrhus class Dreadnought    98 950 tons     2385 Crew     30497.65 BP      TCS 1979  TH 4462.5  EM 9000
6442 km/s     Armour 11-190     Shields 300-600     Sensors 18/18/0/0     Damage Control Rating 161     PPV 327.32
Maint Life 7.03 Years     MSP 31012    AFR 486%    IFR 6.8%    1YR 1098    5YR 16466    Max Repair 1440 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 84 months    Spare Berths 1    

Minicianus Engines Limited 250 EP Magnetic Fusion Drive (51)    Power 250    Fuel Use 27%    Signature 87.5    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 25 000 000 Litres    Range 168.4 billion km   (302 days at full power)
Cervianus & Valerianus Biotech Theta R600/480 Shields (75)   Total Fuel Cost  1 500 Litres per hour  (36 000 per day)

Valerianus Armaments 45cm C6 Far Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 800 000km     TS: 6442 km/s     Power 53-6     RM 5    ROF 45        53 53 53 53 53 44 37 33 29 26
Twin Stichus-Triferus 30cm C6 Far Ultraviolet Laser Turret (14x2)    Range 800 000km     TS: 16000 km/s     Power 48-12     RM 5    ROF 20        24 24 24 24 24 20 17 15 13 12
Genialis-Siculus CIWS-160 (4x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Saunio Aeronautical Fire Control S08 400-16000 H50 (4)    Max Range: 800 000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     99 98 96 95 94 92 91 90 89 88
Merula Magnetic Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1.1 (16)     Total Power Output 176    Armour 0    Exp 10%

Marsallas & Pulcherius Active Search Sensor MR108-R100 (50%) (1)     GPS 18000     Range 108.0m km    Resolution 100
Nolus-Igennus Active Search Sensor MR10-R1 (50%) (1)     GPS 180     Range 10.8m km    MCR 1.2m km    Resolution 1
Ticinius-Cittinus Thermal Sensor TH3-18 (70%) (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  18m km
Protus-Asprenus EM Detection Sensor EM3-18 (70%) (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  18m km

ECCM-1 (1)         This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Caesar III class Destroyer    3 400 tons     109 Crew     2594.3 BP      TCS 68  TH 175  EM 0
7352 km/s     Armour 3-20     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 11.3
Maint Life 1.29 Years     MSP 477    AFR 92%    IFR 1.3%    1YR 301    5YR 4521    Max Repair 1440 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 0    

Tiberillus Research Inc 250 EP Magnetic Fusion Drive (2)    Power 250    Fuel Use 214.96%    Signature 87.5    Exp 20%
Fuel Capacity 750 000 Litres    Range 18.5 billion km   (29 days at full power)

Single Stichus-Triferus 30cm C6 Far Ultraviolet Laser Turret (1x1)    Range 800 000km     TS: 16000 km/s     Power 24-6     RM 5    ROF 20        24 24 24 24 24 20 17 15 13 12
Genialis-Siculus CIWS-160 (1x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Saunio Aeronautical Fire Control S08 400-16000 H50 (1)    Max Range: 800 000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     99 98 96 95 94 92 91 90 89 88
Merula Magnetic Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1.1 (1)     Total Power Output 11    Armour 0    Exp 10%

Nolus-Igennus Active Search Sensor MR10-R1 (50%) (1)     GPS 180     Range 10.8m km    MCR 1.2m km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


[Erik L]

Final designs (perhaps):

Hahahahaha
Final designs....
Hahahahaha


There is no such beastie in Aurora.

[Kytuzian (OP)]

"Maybe there is a beast...maybe it's only us."

Final designs (before I retool my shipyards)

Haha, there, I fixed it.

[Kytuzian (OP)]

So, some aliens came by and slaughtered all my ships, PDCs and civilian ships, then left. Currently I am rebuilding, but don't really have the facilities for a whole lot. Therefore, I am building fighters, but had some issues producing the technology to shrink weapons/stuff small enough. This was the fastest design I could produce, but now that they seem to have left (for good or for now), I want to start revising it. They have maintenance life and such because I don't have hangars or facilities to launch them from, so they have to be minimally self sustaining.

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Crassus class Fighter    453 tons     17 Crew     178.7 BP      TCS 9.05  TH 100  EM 0
11049 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 4
Maint Life 9.07 Years     MSP 62    AFR 6%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 1    5YR 20    Max Repair 60 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 0   

Severlinus Aerospace Industries 50 EP Magnetic Fusion Drive (2)    Power 50    Fuel Use 168.01%    Signature 50    Exp 20%
Fuel Capacity 50 000 Litres    Range 11.8 billion km   (12 days at full power)

Proculus-Ferentinus Precision Arms 15cm C6 Plasma Carronade (1)    Range 60 000km     TS: 11049 km/s     Power 6-6     RM 1    ROF 5        6 3 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
Panthera & Naevius Fire Control S00.5 100-4000 (FTR) (1)    Max Range: 200 000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     95 90 85 80 75 70 65 60 55 50
Reginus Magnetic Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (1)     Total Power Output 6    Armour 0    Exp 5%

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

Thoughts?

[DuraniumCowboy]

A few ideas:

1)  You can change the deployment time to 0.1 month and save some space
2)  You don't have any active sensors, which may be a problem if you don't have any other ships to get active tracking for these fighters

I build some cheap PDC's with just hangar space and some self defense turrets as "airfields" if you have the chance, that may be a good option to help reduce maintenance as you build up your squadrons.

[Kytuzian (OP)]

At the moment, the fighters are the only spacecraft I have, so if I want them to go somewhere else, they have to go alone, thus the reason for their range/maintenance time/intended deployment time. I'm also concerned about how much damage they do, because I know my enemy's ships have at least 12 layers of armor. My best lasers can easily pierce that, but there's no way I can fit a 45cm laser onto a fighter, or even a 30cm laser. As for the lack of active sensor, I am planning on building some fighters that just carry sensors around. While they're in range of Earth, I have a PDC with an active sensor they can use.

Sensor Fighter:

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Nero class Fighter Sensor    448 tons     16 Crew     341.7 BP      TCS 8.95  TH 100  EM 0
11173 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 5.11 Years     MSP 119    AFR 6%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 8    5YR 114    Max Repair 270 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 1   

Severlinus Aerospace Industries 50 EP Magnetic Fusion Drive (2)    Power 50    Fuel Use 168.01%    Signature 50    Exp 20%
Fuel Capacity 50 000 Litres    Range 12.0 billion km   (12 days at full power)

Marsallas & Pulcherius Active Search Sensor MR108-R100 (50%) (1)     GPS 18000     Range 108.0m km    Resolution 100

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

PDC:

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Marcus Brutus II class Laser Base    3 850 tons     155 Crew     2710.4 BP      TCS 77  TH 0  EM 0
Armour 14-21     Sensors 1/180     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 44.76
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 1   

Twin Stichus-Triferus 30cm C6 Far Ultraviolet Laser Turret (2x2)    Range 800 000km     TS: 16000 km/s     Power 48-12     RM 5    ROF 20        24 24 24 24 24 20 17 15 13 12
Saunio Aeronautical Fire Control S08 400-16000 H50 (1)    Max Range: 800 000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     99 98 96 95 94 92 91 90 89 88
Merula Magnetic Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1.1 (3)     Total Power Output 33    Armour 0    Exp 10%

Marsallas & Pulcherius Active Search Sensor MR108-R100 (50%) (1)     GPS 18000     Range 108.0m km    Resolution 100


This design is classed as a Planetary Defence Centre and can be pre-fabricated in 2 sections

I designed a light carrier, but it'll be quite a while before I can actually construct it, because my shipyard only has slipways of 1200 tons, and it is about as minimal as I'm willing to make it. Also, I'm not sure, but I believe the aliens I'm currently fighting are Invaders (or whatever they're called).

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Caligula class Light Carrier    10 650 tons     199 Crew     3723.45 BP      TCS 213  TH 262.5  EM 0
3521 km/s     Armour 5-43     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 5     PPV 11.3
Maint Life 4.14 Years     MSP 4093    AFR 181%    IFR 2.5%    1YR 382    5YR 5733    Max Repair 1440 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Flight Crew Berths 0   
Hangar Deck Capacity 3000 tons     

Minicianus Engines Limited 250 EP Magnetic Fusion Drive (3)    Power 250    Fuel Use 27%    Signature 87.5    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 2 000 000 Litres    Range 125.2 billion km   (411 days at full power)

Single Stichus-Triferus 30cm C6 Far Ultraviolet Laser Turret (1x1)    Range 800 000km     TS: 16000 km/s     Power 24-6     RM 5    ROF 20        24 24 24 24 24 20 17 15 13 12
Genialis-Siculus CIWS-160 (1x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Saunio Aeronautical Fire Control S08 400-16000 H50 (1)    Max Range: 800 000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     99 98 96 95 94 92 91 90 89 88
Reginus Magnetic Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (1)     Total Power Output 6    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Marsallas & Pulcherius Active Search Sensor MR108-R100 (50%) (1)     GPS 18000     Range 108.0m km    Resolution 100
Nolus-Igennus Active Search Sensor MR10-R1 (50%) (1)     GPS 180     Range 10.8m km    MCR 1.2m km    Resolution 1

Strike Group
6x Crassus Fighter   Speed: 11049 km/s    Size: 9.05

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


[Barkhorn]

Your carrier needs flight crew berths, otherwise the fighter pilots will bunk in their fighters and get pretty upset.  Mark the "Keep excess Q" box in the top-right of the class design screen, this'll allow you to add extra crew quarters.