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 Review of PDS v7 Ship Performance
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| TelQuessir |
Posted on 24-01-2006 07:22
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 Posts: 2598 Joined: August 30 2005 |
I've been playing V7 1 vs 1 skirmish on Inert's excellent map "Hidden Flank", which couples big maneuvering room with fast and deadly combat action. All matches are V vs H or H vs V, and each game has a specific doctrine imposed on it from my preferences. For instance I might go for a carrier-centric doctrine (super capital ships and fighters/corvettes), and a second game might be a cruiser-centric one (medium capital ships, fast attack routines). Here are my observations for what each of the ship classes are good for: Fighters Small fry, they don't contribute a lot to the battlespace on their own unless you are deploying those super-fighters which are blatent pocket frigates. But they're expensive so most fighters deployed will be the lower-tech ones. On that note star performers include the Thunderbolt and Blade classes for the HGN, while any Vagyr fighter class is good to have. The Thunderbolt I and Blade series fighters are low-end craft, but where you want rapid response energy weapon firepower en masse against frigates and other small craft these ships deliver. If you want to do capital assault choose the LSF for the SRAMs but these ships are generally mediocre in performance, being a jack of all trades but a master of none. Always anchor "grunt" fighter wings with a few higher end "commander" craft, like the HSF II (Avenger) and HAC-IIA. Fast corvettes and frigates may also accompany the fighter wing if you're using the slow and heavy fighters like the Thunderbolt I, to function as an integrated strike/interception asset to bolster the larger frigates. Corvettes Nothing much to say here. All corvettes are good to have, from the lowly Gladius class to the new Lavis and Failakas. Corvettes can be divided into two general groupings, offensive (assault) and defensive (escort). Assault corvettes like the Lavi, Failaka and Thaanar classes function admirably in the offensive role against any enemy while escort corvettes function best when attached to a capital ship. So don't diss the outdated Gladius and Irrish-Shel classes. They're deadly as "sweepers" in a task group. The Thaanar III and its rapid fire fusion cannons is a perfect and economical choice for anti-capital ship missions while more multi-role corvettes tend to dilute specialised abilities. Frigates Seldom effective individually unless employed as a stop-gap solution against low-level threats, frigates in "wolfpacks" are supreme hunters against unescorted capital ships and with adequate fighter support, can tackle corvette groups with ease with their superior staying power, overdone turreted armaments and excellent acceleration. Carriers Carriers in the existing PDS battlespace are "hardened" against direct action and only the Imperator and Marquess classes are truly vulnerable to enemy attacks. The rest are fully capable of withstanding the rigors of fleet actions while the infamous Vagyr "witches" can easily accompany cruiser task forces and serve as a battleship replacement that also functions as a beacon for the deployment of reinforcements directly into a given engagement. Cruisers Medium capital ships of 400m class, cruisers have more staying power than frigates in the direct action role, have much heavier firepower, and are more maneuverable than battleships twice their length. However they're expensive and are slow to deploy, so don't spearhead with them. Have fighters and corvettes screen the cruisers so they can employ their main armaments to maximum effect. Battleships and other large capital ships The present latest version of PDS has only one capital ship class, the FCN Iskandar Shah. The rest of our 800m class capital vessels are carrier hybrids developed primarily to support task force level operations, relying on smaller ship classes to suppress enemy cohesion to allow the major combatants' freedom of action against key enemy assets in the battlespace, which includes mobile shipyards, carriers and enemy battleships. |
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