[starlord]

I like your description of the carnaven frigate!

Speaking of which, have the kilrathi used frigates already? Do they have an "equivalent" to the carnaven class?

[Aginor]

Well, I think I don't remember a real equivalent in the original Wing Commander games, but think about the Kamrani-class corvettes: They are pretty huge, almost as big as a frigate. So maybe they would fit a bit. The next bigger one is the light destroyer.

[starlord]

true, although I would see in them more of a counterpart to the venture...

corvettes are IMO used as highly mobile platforms to assault capital ships in a hunter/killer situation: simply put, a corvette is basically a mobile capship launcher...

However, we can argue about the role of frigates being that of a fighter suppresion platform, trading AMGs for a variety of fighter missile launchers for instance...

Yet again, the ralarrad and fralath (especially) definately have that power as they are referred to as a nightmare to attack in a bomber....

[starlord]

wouldn't a kamrani be outgunned by a carnaven?

[Aginor]

The Caernavon might not be a great ship against other capships, but it is strong against fighters.
Also the setup is a bit different if you compare those two: IIRC if you attack the Kamrani from the front and above it can only fire two laser turrets at you. And there is almost no direction where it can use all of its turrets against you (except flying on its own level from behind it in a certain distance). That is different with the Caernavon. Its turrets are placed better I think.