Federation Commander

What are some good ships by race? Also we want to start using points in our games. I was thinking 350 for squadron scale and 250 fleet. Thoughts?

As a gross generalisation the ships that are 'New' something (NCA, NCL etc) are better than ships that are not, but they are not always the most interesting to play IMO. Older ships with less power or inferior weapons can make for more interesting games.

computerarif wrote:What are some good ships by race? Also we want to start using points in our games. I was thinking 350 for squadron scale and 250 fleet. Thoughts?

A great way to play some multi-ship battles without making the fights last too long (while you get the hang of things) is to put 3 frigates/destroyers on each side.

250 points. Must take 3 ships.

My favorite size ship to play is about 140-160, give or take at squadron scale. If I'm fitting out a squadron, I'll shoot for three ships of about 150 pts. having one big ship and two little ones means that the big ship draws a lot of fire, and if it's crippled your squadron may be in serious trouble. Here are a few of my favorite ships

Romulan - King Eagle. It won't survive against a heavy drone user, due to it's poor phaser suite, but Romulans don't fare well against heavy drone users anyway. (Actually, Romulans don't really fare well against much of anybody, but that's neither here nor there.) Excellent sheilds, an R torp, and a couple of Fs for good measure. And unlike the anemic War Eagle, it's fast, and can be handled very aggressively.

Klingons - The D7, believe it or not. Some things are classic, and some things are just old. The sheilds aren't as good as a D5W, and it hasn't got the expanded disruptor arcs. On the other hand, it has more system boxes and will hold up better once the sheilds are penetrated, and has more phaser 2's, which comes in handy when the other side starts getting phaser hits. They have more transporters as well. D5W's have good sheilds, but after they go down, the ship is basically made out of tinfoil.

Feds - The New Heavy Cruiser is a fine ship, as is the Fed battlecruiser. The BC means you have one big ship that will draw fire, but it can take a lot. It's a great ship. As for the NCA, it has more power available than the old heavy cruiser, and handles quite a bit better as a result.

Kzinti - The old Kzinti battlecruiser is a classic. Two of these and an old command cruiser make a fine squadron.

Orions - I use more pirate raiders and battle raiders tha anything else.

Here are some thoughts, if you want to try to get a good squadron, (ill go for 350 points) i suggest that you don't go for the Battle ship right away. In most occasions, the BB will waste too many points and there will be too many leftover points. To go for the exact number of points, i suggest that you have one heavy ship, say, for example, an NCL and then have multiple "gunships" consisting of Frigates and Destroyers.

To continue with what KofG (Tal!) was saying:

Gorns: I prefer the Medium Cruiser over the old Battlecruiser; for only one point more you get a little more power and a better set of Pl-S arcs. The HDD is a great light cruiser, but if you really want to mess with your opponent's mind you can try a Strike Cruiser. The Gorn BCH, with three S-torps and a pair of F's, is a real monster.

Hydrans: I really like the vanilla Hydran DN. It's on the small size for a Dread, but packs a more-than-decent punch... and, without fighters, costs less than some races' BCH's.

Feds: The Federaton Bismarck-class battlecruiser has the biggest toolbox in deep space: you've got crunch, drones (and ADD capability, depending on your needs), an Arcwelder of Deep Space-class phaser battery... and two plasma-F torps.
The F-torps hold for nothing, can be carronaded for some extra never-miss muscle at close range, and- best of all- you can take them as your first two torp hits (thus preserving your photons) and still launch them from the destroyed tubes.

storeylf wrote:As a gross generalisation the ships that are 'New' something (NCA, NCL etc) are better than ships that are not, but they are not always the most interesting to play IMO. Older ships with less power or inferior weapons can make for more interesting games.

What you need is middle years!