[Qwer]

Think my idea should be similar to this... you have all classes, Fenris, Leviathan, Aeolus and Deimos all under the control of one or two Icenis, with maybe a Hecate camping behind for fighter support (along with some light anti-cap firepower in case Hecate gets attacked from rear flank)...

Single Hecate is bad idea, you'd have only 150 fighters (remember Hecate was second biggest Command's error, if it had additional fighterbay with additional 150 fighters in place of all those crap beams, it'd be good carrier). And BTW by light forces I actually meant fighters, bombers and gunboats (imagine bigger Seraphim with Kaysers and fighterbeam in place of Shivan Light Lasers and you'll have nice view of what's gunboat ).

[Mars]

Think my idea should be similar to this... you have all classes, Fenris, Leviathan, Aeolus and Deimos all under the control of one or two Icenis, with maybe a Hecate camping behind for fighter support (along with some light anti-cap firepower in case Hecate gets attacked from rear flank)...

Single Hecate is bad idea, you'd have only 150 fighters (remember Hecate was second biggest Command's error, if it had additional fighterbay with additional 150 fighters in place of all those crap beams, it'd be good carrier). And BTW by light forces I actually meant fighters, bombers and gunboats (imagine bigger Seraphim with Kaysers and fighterbeam in place of Shivan Light Lasers and you'll have nice view of what's gunboat ).

150 isn't half bad, I think the additional couple of squadrons more than makes up for the poor firepower on the Hecate, but it still maintains enough firepower to fend off cruisers, so the beams

[Snail]

Having command ships with firepower concentrated forward is a very bad idea IMO. That type of ship is for hit and run attacks. Command ships should have guns covering as much of the ship as possible.

[asyikarea51]

Having command ships with firepower concentrated forward is a very bad idea IMO. That type of ship is for hit and run attacks. Command ships should have guns covering as much of the ship as possible.

Which type, the Iceni?

If that's the one you're referring to, well I suggested having the heavy guns on the side flanks instead of dead ahead ala "Shivan standard combat tactics except Luci"... I've been doing more modding than playing so I'm not too sure of the basic loadout myself.

Tohoho...

[Turey]

The most important thing for the GTVA right now is efficiency. With the combined devastation of their shipyards by the NTF and Shivans, They'll be looking to cut down on the niches that require special ships, so there are fewer designs to build. With fewer designs, they can pump out more of each ship. While these broad-application ships may not do the specialized roles as well as their predecessors, they'll be okay at most of the roles.

Towards this goal, the first goal would be to condense all the bombing tasks (heavy/light/strike) into one bomber that can do all three. In the light bomber role, it'd be fast, with enough payload so that a wing can take out anything up to a single Destroyer. For anything larger or for multiple targets (e.g. Destroyer with Cruiser escort), a pair of larger bomb bays (consisting of everything needed to carry and fire the largest bombs) would be attached to docking ports on the sides. These bays would allow the bomber to take out much larger targets, at the expense of its speed. Once empty, the bays could be jettisoned mid-battle, allowing the bomber to take out the larger targets, then switch down and dance around the cruisers.

[wtf_cl0vvn]

Does the game ever mention what sort of economy the GTVA runs on? If they simply decide to make the factories and such state-owned, they could just produce whatever they wanted....

if they just converted every industry to a state-owned industry, they could just not have to use money altogether...considering there's no one you have to buy things from, rather, no one else is really there to buy things from.




because i dont think the shivans would open trade with the GTVA anytime soon.

"Need a fleet annihilated? Don't look anywhere else! ObscenelySizedShivanArmadas Inc. is THE place to go for waaaay too much firepower!"
"Dial toll-free 1-800-SATH, and feel the awesomeness of 80 juggernauts and godknowshowmanyravanasandrakshasas TODAY!"

[Mars]

juggalo or just clown?


Yeah I think cheap and highly destructive things will become more common. Monitors and such

[IceFire]

I can see a few things happening.

1) More hybridization of technologies with Terran, Vasudan, and Shivan reverse engineered technologies working their way into new ships.  Whichever provides the best efficiency/firepower/capability will be incorporated.  Given that the GTVA captured enough Mara's to use on a special ops mission this isn't outside the realm of possible.  And since the GVB Sekhmet is already a product of that...

2) More specialization between Terran and Vasudan fleets and more integration of the fleets.  Terran ships and designs will be focused on particular aspects that Terran designs do well at (ships like the Hercules for instance) while the Vasudans will focus on ships more suited to their strengths (like the Bakha, Thoth, Ulysses, etc.).

3) Fleets will focus on more versatile types with longer range weapons using things like subspace equipped missiles, anti-fighter/anti-bomber cruisers, and carrier/battleship like designs for dealing with the big stuff.  Instead of building an all encompassing super ship there will be multiple smaller battleships with enough firepower together to deal with any of the really big super Shivan vessels.

[Titan]

Me thinks that a widespread use of gunships and cruisers would be instated, and the GTVA would emphisize (i know i spelled it wrong) on things like installations and things that would bring the falling economy back on line.... there would still be a massive priority in defensive weapons, and a lesser but still prominent priority on offensive weapons...... oh, and no more juggers! 

[NGTM-1R]

Unlike the rest of you I do see potentional juggernaut-class vessels in the GTVA's future, but they would operate in ways that are different from the way you all seem to percieve as the juggernaut role. Semi-mobile node defenses, rapid strikes against particularly critical targets followed by equally rapid withdrawal (the Sathanas can do it, why not a GTVA ship too?), mobile bases for extended operations beyond GTVA space.

It would, for example, be easier to build four juggernaut-type vessels equipped to blockade a node against a Shivan fleet then it would to build installations of similar capability at every node in GTVA space, or even every node to or in a frontier system.

And it must be remembered in terms of "Lessons Learned" that the Colossus was not a failure, but a success. It was lost because it was knowingly pitted against an enemy it was not equipped to properly combat, not because it was poorly designed. The ship was fine. It ate destroyers for lunch just like it was supposed to. The problem was the commanders.

[Roanoke]

I think people don't realise that's pretty much the whole crux of the FS2 story.

The GTVA thniking they had a mtach for what the shivans could throw at them, only for the shivans to retort with a fleet none had imagined.

[Mathwiz6]

Keep the fleet small, keep the shivans small?

True dat... no matter how much the GTVA "advances" the shivans advance at exactly the same pace.

Considering they were around 8000 years longer, I get the feeling the GTVA is being toyed with, for reasons unknown...

Then again, with only 2 data points, this is a rather tenous position...

[wtf_cl0vvn]

Im of the opinion that the shivans regard battling for space as a sort of secondary thing...like the loss of their fleet is sort of "eh."

considering how they never take over planets...never exploit resources...blow up capella...

Considering they were around 8000 years longer, I get the feeling the GTVA is being toyed with, for reasons unknown...

of course the GTVA is being toyed with. I quote Zeta 3

"Don't kid yourself. We're the ones being hunted here, pilot."
 

[Taristin]

Well, duh! If the Shivans killed everything in the universe, it'd get awefully boring. They might have to resort to killing *gasp* eachother!

[wtf_cl0vvn]

You know, about the hypothesis that they are the universal policemen...

where do they expect species to go if they dont expand and grow? seriously...unless they expect humans to sit in churches and wait for the rapture.
which many people that i know would be content to do.

or is it more like the fire that clears away the dead growth and underbrush in the forest...a raging whirlwind of infernal destruction...that births the green tenderness of life.

[Wobble73]

3) Fleets will focus on more versatile types with longer range weapons using things like subspace equipped missiles, anti-fighter/anti-bomber cruisers, and carrier/battleship like designs for dealing with the big stuff. 

I can see this as an option, definately. Large, shielded meson, warheads, very powerful AI that is able to manoeuvre at higher rates than any Human/Vasudan and in very fast missile type casings. Think ICM's in space, capable of taking out a Sathanas if deployed in groups. They pop out of subspace in groups, detect hostile IFF's and head directly for them, evading hostile fighters at the same time.

[karajorma]

Trying to use subspace weapons against a species vastly more advanced than you are in subspace technologies strikes me as a really bad idea somehow though.

[Wobble73]

Trying to use subspace weapons against a species vastly more advanced than you are in subspace technologies strikes me as a really bad idea somehow though.

You may be right, I just had ideas of the Dreadnought from Star Trek Voyager in my head for some reason!  :

[Titan]

Unlike the rest of you I do see potentional juggernaut-class vessels in the GTVA's future, but they would operate in ways that are different from the way you all seem to percieve as the juggernaut role. Semi-mobile node defenses, rapid strikes against particularly critical targets followed by equally rapid withdrawal (the Sathanas can do it, why not a GTVA ship too?), mobile bases for extended operations beyond GTVA space.

It would, for example, be easier to build four juggernaut-type vessels equipped to blockade a node against a Shivan fleet then it would to build installations of similar capability at every node in GTVA space, or even every node to or in a frontier system.

And it must be remembered in terms of "Lessons Learned" that the Colossus was not a failure, but a success. It was lost because it was knowingly pitted against an enemy it was not equipped to properly combat, not because it was poorly designed. The ship was fine. It ate destroyers for lunch just like it was supposed to. The problem was the commanders.

I agree, and the Colossus only went BOOM!!! 'cause they sacrificed themself to hold off that sathanas..... but what i think is that, though juggers rule, they would put WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY to much a strain on the GTVA, who was just re-emerging from an onslaught in which they lost approx. half there fleet, and a massive ship that took 22 years to build just one of, and the shivans built almost a hundred, and thats only as far as us idiots know.  (sorry, but our knowledge of shivans is like that  )

[AdmiralRalwood]

of course the GTVA is being toyed with. I quote Zeta 3

"Don't kid yourself. We're the ones being hunted here, pilot."
 

Zeta 3 is my favourite character in the entire game. As soon as that mission starts I order my wingmen to protect him.

ngtm1r, I agree with you about juggernauts. Mobile bases were exactly what I had been thinking of for a potential mod (don't expect that mod any time soon, people, I can't mod worth crap yet). I don't see the GTVA pulling Sathanas-style strikes, however. It's not really their style, you know?