Please go easy

[Beersatron]

I always start a new game 'knowing' nothing about the universe at large.

For instance my current game is a conventional start so all I have are a few survey ships and two Customs Patrol Craft with a single railgun each designed to pop rogue asteroids ... 15 years later and I have a thriving Sol economy and discover WPs, 1 year after that and my scout ship gets hammered by mysterious aliens in the first system it jumps into it.

So now I have went from a peaceful expansion in Sol to have a massive military buildup whilst picketing the WP with my only other jump capable jump ship - fun!

[wodin (OP)]

A total rebuild. . . . I have no idea how many missiles I should have. . . I went for a few anti missile missiles. . . . a few medium hitting power and my biggest missiles are on board going through testing if I manage to hit anything with just two on board. . . I would fire them to finish a ship off I suppose. . . . .

The damn thing is huge and it will be a fair while before I can get a ship this size through a Jump gate. . .

Bismarck class Missile Cruiser    22,600 tons     2097 Crew     3081. 2 BP      TCS 452  TH 1860  EM 0
4115 km/s     Armour 10-71     Shields 0-0     Sensors 12/12/0/0     Damage Control Rating 11     PPV 97
Annual Failure Rate: 371%    IFR: 5. 2%    Maint Capacity 937 MSP    Max Repair 86 MSP    Est Time: 1. 97 Years
Magazine 302   

Military Ion Engine E7 (31)    Power 60    Fuel Use 70%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,200,000 Litres    Range 136. 5 billion km   (384 days at full power)

Single 15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser Turret (1x1)    Range 180,000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 3    ROF 10        6 6 6 4 3 3 2 2 2 1
AS Fire Control S06 96-6000 (1)    Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 6000 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (2)     Total Power Output 18    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Anti Missile Launcher (20)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
Size 3 Missile Launcher (20)    Missile Size 3    Rate of Fire 30
Size 6 Missile Launcher (2)    Missile Size 6    Rate of Fire 60
Woden Missile Fire Control FC57-R100 (1)     Range 57. 6m km    Resolution 100
Frig Missile Fire Control FC2-R1 (1)     Range 2. 9m km    Resolution 1
Odin Anti-ship Missile (60)  Speed: 24,000 km/s   End: 35. 7m    Range: 51. 4m km   WH: 4    Size: 3    TH: 96 / 57 / 28
Thor Anti-ship Missile (2)  Speed: 20,500 km/s   End: 41. 8m    Range: 51. 4m km   WH: 10    Size: 6    TH: 75 / 45 / 22
Loki Anti-missile Missile (100)  Speed: 44,900 km/s   End: 0. 1m    Range: 0. 3m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 149 / 89 / 44

Freja Active Search Sensor MR50-R135 (1)     GPS 9720     Range 50. 2m km    Resolution 135
Gema Active Search Sensor MR0-R1 (1)     GPS 16     Range 960k km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH2-12 (1)     Sensitivity 12     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  12m km
EM Detection Sensor EM2-12 (1)     Sensitivity 12     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  12m km

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

[Giggle]

your Loki Anti-missile Missile has a range of 300K kms : any good missile thrown at you will cover this distance in less than 2 five seconds increments.  So this missile is unable to intercept anything in my opinion (it would not be able to block your own odin missiles for example).

your Frig missile fire control is too short range too : when it will see the incoming missiles, it will be already too late.

Your Odin missile is good.  In my opnion, your Thor missile is useless on this ship, the Odin can do the job and your Thor will come by salvoes of two slow missiles, way too easy to intercept.  Go for the Odin and go for more room for magazines, this ship will fall out of ammo in less than a minute.
Continuous fire of your 20 size 3 missiles launchers with Odin missile could be very effective though.

With this design, I would pull off the lasers and the size 6 missiles stuff, and I would put the revamped anti missiles radars and launchers on another ship.  The bismark kills the target, the sister ship protects the bismarck.
This way, you would have two lighter ships, and it would be easier to make them jump.

[Hawkeye]

I agree with Giggle, go specialist ships.

Here are some examples from an old cameign of mine

The long-range firepower of a squadron (it carries 190 missiles, enough for 15 full braodsides)

Code: [Select]

Martiobarbulus class Missile Cruiser    12000 tons     1178 Crew     1881.96 BP      TCS 240  TH 708.75  EM 0
3937 km/s     Armour 3-46     Shields 0-0     Sensors 11/11/0/0     Damage Control Rating 8     PPV 48
Annual Failure Rate: 144%    IFR: 2%    Maint Capacity 784 MSP    Max Repair 96 MSP    Est Time: 2.89 Years
Magazine 760   
Avernum Sollum Class 63/75 Ion Engine (15)   Power 63   Fuel Use 77%   Signature 47.25    Armour 0    Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 350,000 Litres    Range 68.2 billion km   (200 days at full power)
Onager Class ASM Launcher (12)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 40
Opius Verena Class 95/60 MFC (2)     Range 95.0m km    Resolution 60
Opius Verena Class 50/16 MFC (2)     Range 50.7m km    Resolution 16
Oculus 53/75 (1)     GPS 4800     Range 52.8m km    Resolution 75
Senecca Inc. Typ 11 Thermal Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km
Cunilingus Inc. Type 11 EM Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km
For Anti-Missile protection, this escort cruiser is in service, with enough AMMs for more than 35 salvos and two meson turrets for backup.

Code: [Select]

Scutum class Escort Cruiser   12000 tons    1049 Crew     1916.72 BP      TCS 240  TH 708.75  EM 0
3937 km/s     Armour 4-46     Shields 0-0     Sensors 33/22/0/0     Damage Control Rating 11     PPV 35
Annual Failure Rate: 104%    IFR: 1.5%    Maint Capacity 1098 MSP    Max Repair 160 MSP    Est Time: 3.14 Years
Magazine 549   
Avernum Sollum Class 63/75 Ion Engine (15)    Power 63   Fuel Use 77%   Signature 47.25    Armour 0    Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 400,000 Litres    Range 77.9 billion km   (229 days at full power)
Twin 100mm/L46/R5 Meson Hasta Turret (2x2)    Range 45,000km     TS: 12000 km/s     Power 6-6     RM 4.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Destinatum 24/12 (2)    Max Range: 48,000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Marsallas Industries Class 4.5 GCF Reactor (3)     Total Power Output 13.5    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Scorpio Class AMM Launcher (15)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
Opius Verena Class 2.1/1 MFC (3)     Range 2.1m km    Resolution 1
Glans AMM-1 (549)  Speed: 31,800 km/s   End: 2.7m    Range: 5.2m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 212 / 127 / 63
Oculus 1.7/1 (1)     GPS 160     Range 1.8m km    Resolution 1
Senecca Inc. Class 33 Thermal Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 33     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  33m km
Cunilingus Inc. Type 22 EM Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 22     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22m km
And if close range firepower is needed, this baby comes into play with thick armor and 12 (at the time) heavy laser cannons

Code: [Select]

Scipio class Cruiser    12000 tons     1198 Crew     1975.2 BP      TCS 240  TH 756  EM 0
4200 km/s    Armour 10-46     Shields 0-0     Sensors 22/11/0/0     Damage Control Rating 10     PPV 48
Annual Failure Rate: 115%    IFR: 1.6%    Maint Capacity 1029 MSP    Max Repair 77 MSP    Est Time: 4.32 Years
Avernum Sollum Class 63/75 Ion Engine (16)    Power 63    Fuel Use 77%   Signature 47.25   Armour 0    Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 350,000 Litres    Range 68.2 billion km   (187 days at full power)
150mm/L180/R10 Near UV Spatha (12)    Range 180,000km     TS: 4200 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 3    ROF 10        6 6 6 4 3 3 2 2 2 1
Destinatum 128/4 (2)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Marsallas Industries Class 9 GCF Reactor (4)     Total Power Output 36    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Oculus 0.35/1 (1)     GPS 32     Range 352k km    Resolution 1
Oculus 1.4/16 (1)     GPS 128     Range 1.4m km    Resolution 16
Senecca Inc. Class 22 Thermal Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 22     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22m km
Cunilingus Inc. Type 11 EM Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km
ECCM-1 (2)         ECM 10

Those are by no means "the right way" to design ships, I post them just to show you a diffent approach.


Also a note in regards to using jumpgates. After jumping through on, your ship will be blind for quite a while (2 to 3 minutes, which is forever, if the jumppoint is guarded and you come under fire as soon as you emerge). Using a jumpengine and "squadron jump" only blinds your sensors for 10 to 30 seconds.

[Charlie Beeler]

Your trying to do too much with a single ship class.  At least at this tonnage and the early game.  In my opinion you'd be better off with 3 different, but mutually supporting, classes.  Fleet Scout that are the eyes,  Missile Cruiser/Boat for main offensive strength, and Escort for missile defense.


Fleet Scout:  House the groups long range passive and active sensor suites.  Thermals should be able to detect your own strongest emissions at 100m km, same goes for you EM suite.  Actives should detect a 5000k ship at 100m km as well.

The Fleet Scout also mounts the main active sensor suite for missile defense.  This suite should be set for res 1 detection at  5-6m km.


Missile Cruiser:  This is your long range slugger and missiles are the punch that it is built around. 

It's best to stick with one type of missile in the early game.  This missile should have a range of at least 50m km and a warhead of at least 4 (pentration to second layer of armor).  Mix engines and fuel for a combination of range/speed/hit probability(vs 3000kps) that you'll accept.

Magazine capacity should be at least 20 salvos, 40 is better.

Don't worry about reduced size launchers for this class unless you go for box launchers, the reduced mass for greater numbers usually isn't worth the increased reload time.  At least 10 launchers for the broadside is a good start, more is of course better.

Missile fire control at a minimum should see 5000k at max range of missile.  1 fire control per 5 to 10 launchers.  Active search sensor to match fire control (CYA in case the Fleet Scout is taken out)


Escort:  This is your primary missile intercept platform.  Main intercept tool is the counter missile or anti-missile missile.  AMM/CM should be size 1 for best reload rates on launchers.  .1mbp in fuel,warhead 1, the rest engine power for speed.  Hopefully your engine tech gives this missile a range of at least 1.5m km.

Magazine capacity per launcher should start at 75.

Missile fire control at res 1 for max range of AMM/CM.  1 fire control per 5 launchers.  1 active search sensor that matches the fire control.


Considerations for all combat ships: 
   Point defense turrets.  Laser or Gauss Cannon.  Escorts should have quad's all others at least twin's.  Beam firecontrol should be 4X on tracking speed (turrets at matching speeds) and a single active search sensor that will see res 1 at twice your own offensive missile range for 5seconds (or the best speed you've seen an enemy use).  Set point defense to 10k/final defense and keep the formation tight for mutual support.

  Armor.  5 layers is a good start.

  Shields.  2 per 1000 tons.

  Fuel/Engineering/Engine.  1 per 1000 tons. 

  At least 1 damage control.

  CIWS.  Mostly a wast of space if you use regular turrets for mutual defensive support.


This is a fair starting formula, but should be adjusted for personal flavor and tactics. 

[wodin (OP)]

Here we go again.    .    .    .    .    having fun though.    .    .    .    I still kept two twin turrets just to give the ship as much time as possible to fire off it's missile load.    .    .    not much difference with them off and it would be a shame to get destroyed before I get off all the missiles.    .    .   

Blucher class Cruiser    14,900 tons     1469 Crew     2182. 4 BP      TCS 298  TH 900  EM 0
3020 km/s     Armour 5-53     Shields 0-0     Sensors 12/13/0/0     Damage Control Rating 9     PPV 78
Annual Failure Rate: 197%    IFR: 2. 7%    Maint Capacity 824 MSP    Max Repair 115 MSP    Est Time: 2. 21 Years
Magazine 720   

Military Ion Engine E7 (15)    Power 60    Fuel Use 70%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 450,000 Litres    Range 77. 7 billion km   (297 days at full power)

Twin 10cm C3 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (2x2)    Range 96,000km     TS: 14000 km/s     Power 6-6     RM 4    ROF 5        3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 0
Wyrd Fire Control S06 48-16000 (2)    Max Range: 96,000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (2)     Total Power Output 18    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Odin Missile Launcher (20)    Missile Size 3    Rate of Fire 30
Odin Anti Ship Missile Fire Control FC76-R100 (2)     Range 76. 8m km    Resolution 100
Odin Anti-ship Missile (240)  Speed: 28,000 km/s   End: 30. 6m    Range: 51. 4m km   WH: 4    Size: 3    TH: 93 / 56 / 28

Gema Active Search Sensor MR4-R1 (1)     GPS 56     Range 4. 5m km    Resolution 1
Freja Active Search Sensor MR58-R130 (1)     GPS 8320     Range 58. 4m km    Resolution 130
Thermal Sensor TH2-12 (1)     Sensitivity 12     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  12m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1. 6-12. 8 (1)     Sensitivity 12. 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  12. 8m km

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





Here is my anti missile ship


Seydlitz class Missile Defence Base    12,250 tons     1034 Crew     1844. 4 BP      TCS 245  TH 900  EM 0
3673 km/s     Armour 5-47     Shields 0-0     Sensors 12/13/0/0     Damage Control Rating 7     PPV 38
Annual Failure Rate: 171%    IFR: 2. 4%    Maint Capacity 659 MSP    Max Repair 115 MSP    Est Time: 2. 11 Years
Magazine 620   

Military Ion Engine E7 (15)    Power 60    Fuel Use 70%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 450,000 Litres    Range 94. 4 billion km   (297 days at full power)

Twin 10cm C3 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (2x2)    Range 96,000km     TS: 14000 km/s     Power 6-6     RM 4    ROF 5        3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 0
Wyrd Fire Control S06 48-16000 (2)    Max Range: 96,000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (2)     Total Power Output 18    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Loki  Missile Launcher (20)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
Loki Anti Missile Fire Control FC7-R1 (2)     Range 7. 7m km    Resolution 1
Loki Anti-missile Missile (600)  Speed: 36,000 km/s   End: 2. 4m    Range: 5. 1m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 156 / 93 / 46

Gema Active Search Sensor MR4-R1 (1)     GPS 56     Range 4. 5m km    Resolution 1
Freja Active Search Sensor MR58-R130 (1)     GPS 8320     Range 58. 4m km    Resolution 130
Thermal Sensor TH2-12 (1)     Sensitivity 12     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  12m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1. 6-12. 8 (1)     Sensitivity 12. 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  12. 8m km

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

[Peter Rhodan]

I always find these ship design threads interesting - particularly with the well thought well balanced ship designs thrown out...
My fleets are miss-match of new and refitted ships which like 'real' navies have older systems on some ship operating alongside other ships with the latest equipment freshly installed.
For instance at the moment I still have a couple of 2kT 1st generation ships which I am using as 'protection' at a large colony which are basically useless for combat - I am waiting for a new Naval Shipyard to finish on a nearby colony and build up to 2kT so I can refit them with more modern engines and weapons.
I have another 'protection' design at 3kT which have 2nd generation engines (up to 4th generation at present) but current missile and guass armaments. These ships can fight but are not fast and the primary role is to keep the colonies happy. I probably won't bother refitting them until I get 5th gen Engines as my main military yards are tied up with my main missile boats nearly done) and refitting my entire fleet of explorer ships (about 12 to go) and building a few more. I then want a new planetary assault ship that can drop an entire brigade and a space assault ship so I can capture alien ships..... by which time I should have 5th gen engine tech and I can look at re-fitting my main strike fleet...... again
I have another serious combat ship at 12kT which are a sort of reserve at present. They have current engines but older guass and laser armament - these were hasty refits of an early design I rushed through as soon as I got the 4th gen Engines to give me something in the same speed range as the Aliens I came across at that time - since turned out peaceful - they are faster then my current 'big boys' but are way undergunned compared to my current ships. these will probably be the first ships re-fitted once I get 5th Gen Engine tech... and thus be the first with the latest weaponry...

[wodin (OP)]

Finally my close in brawler. . . . One thing obviously I the turrets need to work with the close range high TS rate. . . . do you in some way ahve to link these as it seems to take the TS of the turret and the range of the long range fire control. . .

Deutschland class Destroyer    16,000 tons     1308 Crew     2494. 8 BP      TCS 320  TH 1260  EM 0
3937 km/s     Armour 10-56     Shields 0-0     Sensors 12/13/0/0     Damage Control Rating 19     PPV 45
Annual Failure Rate: 227%    IFR: 3. 2%    Maint Capacity 877 MSP    Max Repair 115 MSP    Est Time: 2. 12 Years

Military Ion Engine E7 (21)    Power 60    Fuel Use 70%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 450,000 Litres    Range 72. 3 billion km   (212 days at full power)

Twin 15cm C3 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (1x2)    Range 240,000km     TS: 14000 km/s     Power 12-6     RM 4    ROF 10        6 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
Twin 10cm C3 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (2x2)    Range 120,000km     TS: 14000 km/s     Power 6-6     RM 4    ROF 5        3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
15cm C3 Ultraviolet Laser (4)    Range 240,000km     TS: 4000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 4    ROF 10        6 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
Tyr Fire Control S05 128-5000 (2)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 5000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Wyrd Fire Control S06 48-16000 (2)    Max Range: 96,000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (4)     Total Power Output 36    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Gema Active Search Sensor MR4-R1 (1)     GPS 56     Range 4. 5m km    Resolution 1
Freja Active Search Sensor MR58-R130 (1)     GPS 8320     Range 58. 4m km    Resolution 130
Thermal Sensor TH2-12 (1)     Sensitivity 12     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  12m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1. 6-12. 8 (1)     Sensitivity 12. 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  12. 8m km

ECCM-1 (1)         ECM 10

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

[Erik L]

Finally my close in brawler. . . . One thing obviously I the turrets need to work with the close range high TS rate. . . . do you in some way ahve to link these as it seems to take the TS of the turret and the range of the long range fire control. . .

For one, the non-turretted lasers will have a tracking speed of 3937km/s. Depending on which fire control you pair the turrets with, they'll either be 14000km/s or 5000km/s. You could re-engineer the turrets to 16000km/s tracking to match the Wyrd FC. But you would be sacrificing 20 to 60% of your range. If you pair it with the Tyr, you've got range, but then you might as well not even turret them.

[wodin (OP)]

I understand that but how do you pair them up? Is it during combat? Or during design?

[Brian Neumann]

Sort of both the design stage and in combat.  I the design stage decide what you want the ship to do, and match the fire controll and weapons to the design concept.  Is it a long range beam ship with heavy weapons then a long range fire control, a tracking speed to match the ships speed, and weapons that match the range.  For point defense the fire control is optimized for tracking speed instead and the weapons need a matching speed to work well, ect.  Actually assigning the weapons to fire control and setting the pd  stuff takes place the the Combat Assignments screen (F8)  Select a fire control, assign the weapons from the next box below to the fire control, the eccm you want, and if it is a missile system the missile that you are going to fire from it.  Do this when the ship is first built and then periodically repeat.  Once you have assigned all of the fire controls on the ship look over to the right.  There is a set of buttons that allows you to copy the setup to all of your ships either locally, or in your entire empire.  Use this. to make things easier.  Also in setup on the right side there is a box for the point defense setup.  Always assign all of your non heavy missile launchers a pd setup and enable at least final defensive fire(not self only)  This way when someone suprises you with a missile strike while you are in orbit your pd weapons will fire.  It is actually a very good reason to have at least one CIWS system on a ship in each fleet as this will let you see the incomming missiles in time to shoot at them with your beam weapons generally.

Brian

[Charlie Beeler]

Much better base designs.  They are not what I'd build, but I don't think any two of us follow the same design concepts.  That's a good thing and the strength of Aurora.  Brian has already hit the high points that I would have. 

Now good and build your empire and fight your foe's!!  That will tell you if the designs are right for you.

[wodin (OP)]

@Brian thanks for the advice mate...I got the design phase just not the combat phase...

@Charlie...hurrah....looks like I'm getting there...I understand the building aspect now....now to work out industry!!! I always hate econimics in my wargames...thats why I avoid grand strategy....still this has be by the b###s...

Hows this for a fast attack craft? I have a feeling my tech is no where near good enough for this sort of ship...need more powerfull engines I think...I wanted to design a fighter and soon realised I had no chance in hell.....fuel is a problem....it would need to refuel at a tanker if I had any i expect....looks like I need to hold on for awhile before I get fighters up and ready...

Rheinland class Fast Attack Craft    6,400 tons     642 Crew     977.6 BP      TCS 128  TH 1020  EM 0
7968 km/s     Armour 1-30     Shields 0-0     Sensors 12/13/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 9
Annual Failure Rate: 163%    IFR: 2.3%    Maint Capacity 191 MSP    Max Repair 115 MSP    Est Time: 1.01 Years

Military Ion Engine E7 (17)    Power 60    Fuel Use 70%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres    Range 20.1 billion km   (29 days at full power)

Twin 10cm C3 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (1x2)    Range 96,000km     TS: 14000 km/s     Power 6-6     RM 4    ROF 5        3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 0
Wyrd Fire Control S06 48-16000 (1)    Max Range: 96,000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (1)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%

[Five]

When i started playing i was so lost with designing ships that would work. What helped me get over the hurdle was one of Steve's AAR's about his game showing his designs. I got to see his designs and why he did them. I used them as base templates to start building my ships. Since then i vary them some but stick to most of the things i learned from them and their prinicple design and role in fleets.

Here is the thread that helped me have a base point

http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php/topic,2486.0.html

Hope it helps.

-Five

[Hawkeye]

@Brian thanks for the advice mate...I got the design phase just not the combat phase...

@Charlie...hurrah....looks like I'm getting there...I understand the building aspect now....now to work out industry!!! I always hate econimics in my wargames...thats why I avoid grand strategy....still this has be by the b###s...

Hows this for a fast attack craft? I have a feeling my tech is no where near good enough for this sort of ship...need more powerfull engines I think...I wanted to design a fighter and soon realised I had no chance in hell.....fuel is a problem....it would need to refuel at a tanker if I had any i expect....looks like I need to hold on for awhile before I get fighters up and ready...

Rheinland class Fast Attack Craft    6,400 tons     642 Crew     977.6 BP      TCS 128  TH 1020  EM 0
7968 km/s     Armour 1-30     Shields 0-0     Sensors 12/13/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 9
Annual Failure Rate: 163%    IFR: 2.3%    Maint Capacity 191 MSP    Max Repair 115 MSP    Est Time: 1.01 Years

Military Ion Engine E7 (17)    Power 60    Fuel Use 70%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres    Range 20.1 billion km   (29 days at full power)

Twin 10cm C3 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (1x2)    Range 96,000km     TS: 14000 km/s     Power 6-6     RM 4    ROF 5        3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 0
Wyrd Fire Control S06 48-16000 (1)    Max Range: 96,000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (1)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%

What´s its mission?
I mean, yes, it can catch pretty much any enemy with the same engine tech and even most with one level better, but then what? With no armor at all and only two popguns, what is it going to do?
To me, this is the first question, when you start designing a ship. What is this ships mission? Then you design a ship that can fulfill that misison.



Btw, in Aurora, FACs are usually up to 1.000t (and use a the special FAC-Engine, of which you can only mount a single one). The 1.000t limit is due to the fact that only ships of more than 1.000t need a bridge, so you can save some space by staying under (and even with a powerful (but fuel-hungry) FAC-engine, your ship starts to get pretty slow fast once it grows)