Is this an extremely noobish ship?

[Anteep (OP)]

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TRFN Rheinland Frigate class Frigate    11500 tons     1320 Crew     1958.8 BP      TCS 230  TH 240  EM 0
2086 km/s     Armour 5-45     Shields 0-0     Sensors 30/25/0/0     Damage Control Rating 26     PPV 76
Annual Failure Rate: 40%    IFR: 0.6%    Maint Capacity 3768 MSP    Max Repair 154 MSP    Est Time: 10.47 Years

Magneto-plasma Drive E6 (6)    Power 80    Fuel Use 60%    Signature 40    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres    Range 65.2 billion km   (361 days at full power)

25cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser (4)    Range 256,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 16-4     RM 4    ROF 20        16 16 16 16 12 10 9 8 7 6
Twin PDF 15cm C4 Visible Light Laser Turret (4x2)    Range 120,000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 12-8     RM 2    ROF 10        6 6 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Fire Control S16 128-8000 (1)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (2)     Total Power Output 64    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor S24-R1 (1)     GPS 24     Range 240k km    Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor S24-R100 (1)     GPS 2400     Range 24.0m km    Resolution 100
Thermal Sensor TH5-30 (2)     Sensitivity 30     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  30m km
EM Detection Sensor EM5-25 (1)     Sensitivity 25     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  25m km

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes

How bad is it?

[Kurt]

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TRFN Rheinland Frigate class Frigate    11500 tons     1320 Crew     1958.8 BP      TCS 230  TH 240  EM 0
2086 km/s     Armour 5-45     Shields 0-0     Sensors 30/25/0/0     Damage Control Rating 26     PPV 76
Annual Failure Rate: 40%    IFR: 0.6%    Maint Capacity 3768 MSP    Max Repair 154 MSP    Est Time: 10.47 Years

Magneto-plasma Drive E6 (6)    Power 80    Fuel Use 60%    Signature 40    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres    Range 65.2 billion km   (361 days at full power)

25cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser (4)    Range 256,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 16-4     RM 4    ROF 20        16 16 16 16 12 10 9 8 7 6
Twin PDF 15cm C4 Visible Light Laser Turret (4x2)    Range 120,000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 12-8     RM 2    ROF 10        6 6 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Fire Control S16 128-8000 (1)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (2)     Total Power Output 64    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor S24-R1 (1)     GPS 24     Range 240k km    Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor S24-R100 (1)     GPS 2400     Range 24.0m km    Resolution 100
Thermal Sensor TH5-30 (2)     Sensitivity 30     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  30m km
EM Detection Sensor EM5-25 (1)     Sensitivity 25     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  25m km

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes

How bad is it?

Not too bad, however, there is one glaring error which would limit this ship's usefulness if not corrected.  You have one fire control for eight weapon's systems.  You would be much better off if you had at least one fire control optimized for your main batteries, i.e. with a tracking speed = to your ship's speed and with the maximum range available (256,000 in this case), and at least one fire control optimized for your point defense turrets, with a tracking speed of 10,000 (to match your turret's speed) and a range to match your PD weapon's range.  I would personally have one fire control per turret, but that is up to you.  

As for the rest, there are no other glaring errors, as long as you checked to make sure you had enough power for your weapons systems.  

I like to balance shields and armor, rather than just going for one or the other.  That is a taste thing, though.  Steve tends to prefer armor, as do others.  

The only other thing I'd say is "What is the intended role of your ship?"  The weapon's fit should be based on that.  If you are going to go with an all beam weapon's setup then you must, must, must ensure that your ship is fast enough to catch any potential enemy.  If your ship is slower than its intended target then it will never catch it and won't be able to engage.  

Kurt

[Brian Neumann]

Code: [Select]

TRFN Rheinland Frigate class Frigate    11500 tons     1320 Crew     1958.8 BP      TCS 230  TH 240  EM 0
2086 km/s     Armour 5-45     Shields 0-0     Sensors 30/25/0/0     Damage Control Rating 26     PPV 76
Annual Failure Rate: 40%    IFR: 0.6%    Maint Capacity 3768 MSP    Max Repair 154 MSP    Est Time: 10.47 Years

Magneto-plasma Drive E6 (6)    Power 80    Fuel Use 60%    Signature 40    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres    Range 65.2 billion km   (361 days at full power)

25cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser (4)    Range 256,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 16-4     RM 4    ROF 20        16 16 16 16 12 10 9 8 7 6
Twin PDF 15cm C4 Visible Light Laser Turret (4x2)    Range 120,000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 12-8     RM 2    ROF 10        6 6 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Fire Control S16 128-8000 (1)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (2)     Total Power Output 64    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor S24-R1 (1)     GPS 24     Range 240k km    Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor S24-R100 (1)     GPS 2400     Range 24.0m km    Resolution 100
Thermal Sensor TH5-30 (2)     Sensitivity 30     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  30m km
EM Detection Sensor EM5-25 (1)     Sensitivity 25     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  25m km

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes

How bad is it?

Besides what Kurt said.  You do have enough power, barely.  If you can manage it I would put in one more power plant as insurance against having insufficient power to fire at full speed.  If your power output is lower than the capaciters can handle then ALL beam weapons will be firing slower.  Your power plants have a total of 64 power available per 5 seconds and you are using all 64.  That is however a definite style choice.  Your fire control looks like it is a x4 size for both range and x2 speed.  You need to have two different fire controls.  One that is x4 range, x1 speed for long range, the other should be x1 range, x4 speed for anti-missile fire control.  To that end, your turret speed is a little low.  When you design the turret you need to change the default speed to match your fire control capabilities.  I personnally like to play with the tracking speed a little bit if the design ends up with a fractional space.  This is because it rounds up automatically and in some cases I can get half way to the next speed without making the turret any bigger.  

For example (Using the tutorial campaign) a twin 15cm laser with a tracking speed of 12000 km/s needs 3.2 spaces, which is rounded to 4 spaces.  By raising the tracking speed to 15000 km/s I need 4 spaces.  Effectivily they take the same amount of space on a ship.  The difference is when I upgrade the ship with the next generation of fire control I will probably not refit the turrets.  I will lose a little of the improved tracking speed (16000 km/s) but in terms of cost this is a quick and easy upgrade.  Replacing all of the turrets would be considerably more expensive, and depending on what else I wanted to do, might not even be economical.

I also like to put a small fire control as backup for point defense.  Usually it will x4 speed and x.25 range if that gives me much chance to hit at 10,000km.  I might make it a x.5 range if my tech is low enough.  The advantage is that the extra fire control is only 1-2 spaces in size, does not cost much, and is much less likely to be hit than the bigger installations.  If my other fire control is down, I still have a chance to shoot at incomming missiles.  I will sometimes also do this for my longer range weapons.  A x2 range x1 speed is fairly easy to fit on and gives some ability to shoot at enemy ships at your most effective beam weapon ranges.

Brian