Fighters are broken. Can we fix them?

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Starhawk said:
Frigate:

<etc.>

That comes from http://www.navy.mil/

Ya know when I read that I could just imagine a US Army sergeant with signature stubble beard, half-burned cigar and squinting look standing in front of a map waving a rod, pointing at markings, while a military march was being played in the background

*****

To get back to the subject of fighters:

You're right, fighters aren't much use for much in stock SEIV. That's why so many mods make so many changes to them. Devnull's been mentioned here, Proportions, and not to forget SJ's Carrier Battles mod..... People are devising ways to improve fighters all the time. Including yours truly

No really I'm still kind of working on the End of Galactic Civilization mod (which is overdue for a rename) and I'm planning to give it the fighter combat system I was planning to give the Capship Mod. (Oh dear, he's going off on a rant again.) Don't worry, I'll keep it short. (Or at least I'll try.)

Basically, it revolves around the following:
Fighters are split up into three (four, if you count specialist and civilian craft) categories: Interceptor, Space Superiority and Bomber.
Interceptors are fast, small and very cheap and can be produced by the batch-load.
Space Superiority Fighters (SSF's) are expensive little buggers capable of carrying heaps of anti-fighter weaponry.
Bombers are large, lumbering craft capable of packing an enormous punch against capital warships. If you want to take out an annoying flight of orbital bombardment ships, send in a few flights of Bombers to dispatch them with impunity.

Interceptors must rely on two things to be effective; Speed and Numbers. They're used to overwhelm enemy SSF defenses and/or to make swift strikes at Bomber groups. Interceptors only carry light weaponry. SSFs on the other hand are more slow moving and are better suited in a defensive role, to screen your ships against enemy Bomber strikes. You can also send them to attack enemy SSF screens to give your Bombers a clear path. Bombers are the only fighters capable of packing anti-capital ship weaponry; and boy are they packing. A well-executed Bomber strike has the potential to cause more damage than an attack executed by a massive capital warship. A medium-sized flight of Bombers can easily wipe out a small ship.

Fighters aren't a requirement for effective combat; they're merely an alternative to the "big ships, big guns" approach which is also not without its own bulky, lumbering charms.

[Starhawk]

No no Navy Strategia they have Admirals not Generals

Now you want something that comes from Generals here's an Army General:

"Only an infantrymen can drag some son of a ***** come out of his foxhole to sign a peace treaty." (can't remember who said that)

And a Marine General:

"Every single day I look up at the sky and I praise the lord! Yeah I praise the lord for another beautiful day in the United States Marine Corps! ooorah!"

[Hunpecked]

Two questions for Strategia_In_Ultima:

1. With regard to Interceptors, Space Superiority Fighters, and Bombers, are these actual fixed hull classes, or can the same hull be configured to any fighter type by incorporating the appropriate components?

2. Doesn't the "bomber" designation seem a bit...primitive? I mean, doesn't it just invite visions of unguided gravity-propelled iron-wrapped TNT firecrackers? Wouldn't the category "attack" or "strike" fighter be a tad more sophisticated?

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Hunpecked said:
Two questions for Strategia_In_Ultima:

1. With regard to Interceptors, Space Superiority Fighters, and Bombers, are these actual fixed hull classes, or can the same hull be configured to any fighter type by incorporating the appropriate components?

2. Doesn't the "bomber" designation seem a bit...primitive? I mean, doesn't it just invite visions of unguided gravity-propelled iron-wrapped TNT firecrackers? Wouldn't the category "attack" or "strike" fighter be a tad more sophisticated?

1. Int's, SSFs and Bombers are fixed hulls, however you can customize them to a certain extent. For example, you can make an SSF loaded out with several long-ranged missiles to take out enemy Bombers at long range, or build one with multiple short-range rapidfiring cannons to tear up enemies which come near.

Int's are not large, somewhere in the order of ~15kT or so I guess, SSFs are larger (think 40-60kT) and Bombers are almost starship-sized (think (just) over 100kT).

2. That's exactly the point I'm trying to make; Bombers are huge superheavy hitters with the maneuverability and attack power of a rampaging rhino and the speed of a tricycle. (so to speak) Bombers are slower than some of the smaller ships, and almost all non-capital starships can outrun them if they have full engine loadout.

The Bomber philosophy is this; stick a few hideously overpowered capital-ship-killing weapons on a comparatively massive platform, slap a cockpit and a rudimentary engine onto it and send it off to take down its own tonnage in enemy ships several dozen (hundred) times over. "Strike fighter" implies "a fast fighter designed for swift attacks", while "Bomber" implies - and means - "a rather oversized mobile weapons platform with more firepower than a warship thrice its tonnage".

Of course, Bombers will have their drawbacks - researching them is expensive and takes a long time, and while they pack more firepower than a warship more than three times as large, they are also about twice as expensive as said warship, especially if you load them out with the most powerful weapons available for Bombers. Go for Bombers and you must focus on Bombers (and other fighters) alone; be prepared for the fact that you cannot muster capital ship power like most other players.

(A slight clarification; I make a distinction between "capital" ships and "normal" ships. Capital (war)ships are massive ships weighing in at several thousand kT, and are built to withstand extreme punishment. Normal ships are smaller, more nimble and more versatile. Capships are mostly specalized, with most being warships and the rest mainly carriers)