[eliex]

Or luck - beams hitting enemy cap-ship's beams and slashers mass killing fighters. 

Seriously, the problem with Shivan ships is the fact that they have few extraordinarily powerful beams, which with some care can be taken out. However, with the GTVA, not only are the anti-fighter defences much better, but they have multiple weaker beams that overall are much harder to neutralize.

[Dilmah G]

Or luck - beams hitting enemy cap-ship's beams and slashers mass killing fighters. 

Hmmmm, I always wondered what Slashers would do to a tight-knit bomber formation.

[Commander Zane]

Seriously, the problem with Shivan ships is the fact that they have few extraordinarily powerful beams, which with some care can be taken out.

You mean like using something even as weak as a Morning Star to destroy a Ravana's LReds?
Those things go down in two shots from just about anything under a Trebuchet.

Or luck - beams hitting enemy cap-ship's beams and slashers mass killing fighters. 

Hmmmm, I always wondered what Slashers would do to a tight-knit bomber formation.

I've seen it happen before...it's hysterical. Even watching your own bomber wings go down, you'll laugh first, hysterically, then remember it was your allies then go, "DOH!"

[TrashMan]

I hate to admit it but the shivans got it almost perfect with the Lilith. I mean that ship could threaten even a destroyer .

I've seen ppl here talking about costs of a powerfull H/K warship. The name in itself implies that it is expensive. This ship is designed to take on enemy warship regardless of its class and win.

In FS universe terms, a Hunter-Killer would be a smaller ship operating in groups, designed to cripple or destroy larger targets.

1 on 1 just doesn't work for a hunter-killer, since tehy aren't designed with staying power in mind. hit and run would be the tactic used, in that you are right.

[Enioch]

In FS universe terms, a Hunter-Killer would be a smaller ship operating in groups, designed to cripple or destroy larger targets.

1 on 1 just doesn't work for a hunter-killer, since they aren't designed with staying power in mind. hit and run would be the tactic used, in that you are right.

Yes. Agreed. If I could play around with parts from different ships, this is what I'd do:

I'd take the reactor/jump drive off a Deimos. Slap it into a chassis that's about Fenris/Levy-sized. Strip it of any armor except the really essential bits. Give it a single big, extremely long-range beam. And a few AAA's (NO blobs. At ALL. Totally useless IMHO).

Then, I'd group them (three or four of them) into a fighting unit and send them hunting.

They'd be very fast, because of the small mass and powerful reactor. They'd be dangerous (because of the three MGreen or BGreens).
They'd only have to jump in (SURPRISE! ) with their beams already charged up and ready, cripple the enemy and then pound him, while staying out of his range.

[General Battuta]

If you think blobs are useless, you don't play on Insane.

Even on lower difficulties they're good for intercepting bombs.

[AlphaOne]

Well if we are talking about putting more powerfull engines power core etc on a smaller frame i honestly believe that a much better choice would be the Sobek !

Just increase its engines power weapons strip some of the AAAF defences off . No need to strip too much armour.

That design has a much smaller profile and is a much harder target to hit the the Deimos !

Can you imagine 3 modified Bvas on it ?? Long range ones . That thing would kick arse.

Also we can have a look at the Aeolus class of cruisers. they have reasonable speed with more armour then the Leviathan an a LOT more firepower.

That design has a lot of room for improvement. I mean the Aeolus is a walking fortress. Armed to the teeth a terror for fighters and bombers.

Just strip some of its aaaf weapons half of them should do the trick an put on more powerfull engines the works 2 heavy long range rapid fire beam cannons on it !

[Enioch]

No, I don't play Insane. Because I'm not...

If the hunters are employed tactically as per my suggestions, there is no reason to intercept bombs. They come out, fire and are gone. The target doesn't have time to sortie bombers or fighters.

And if they do, those AAAs can shoot down bombers before they get too close, especially if you have three or so hunters, each of them covering the others' back.

And yes, the Aeolus is a good choice as well. But there was a reason they were discontinued: They were expensive. I suggest something cheaper and mass-produced.

[Snail]

On reflection I think the best hunter-killer ship would be any small ship with a fighterbay capable of rapidly deploying bombers. Bombers are more versatile and harder to neutralize than beam cannons.

[Commander Zane]

lol...looks like nothing in fiction has a crew-operated hunter-killer...

I would highly doubt that, if it's deploying bombers, then it's not going to be a Hunter-Killer.

[Snail]

I would highly doubt that, if it's deploying bombers, then it's not going to be a Hunter-Killer.

From Wikipedia:

Hunter-Killer is a military term traditionally used to describe an entity in which the roles of "sensor" and "shooter" are separated.

[kalnaren]

On reflection I think the best hunter-killer ship would be any small ship with a fighterbay capable of rapidly deploying bombers. Bombers are more versatile and harder to neutralize than beam cannons.

Sounds more like an escort carrier.

[Commander Zane]

I would highly doubt that, if it's deploying bombers, then it's not going to be a Hunter-Killer.

From Wikipedia:

Hunter-Killer is a military term traditionally used to describe an entity in which the roles of "sensor" and "shooter" are separated.

Yeah, for sniper teams and flight teams, one person detects, the other attacks. A carrier is something a little different.

[Dilmah G]

So in that case, you could have some uber-offensive ship paired up with an AWACS?

Or developing on the Wolfpack/Hunting pack idea (or whatever it's called, I'm familiar with the story about 'Zemke's Wolfpack' in WWII so excuse me if I'm wrong)

You could have these 3-4 Deimos sized ships (if not the Deimos themselves, just replaced their forward beams with BGreens), and have them paired with an AWACS and give them a fighterbay/escort and they could rely on the AWACS' crew to pinpoint targets and track them through subspace until the pack's jumpdrives were fully charged for the jump.

[Commander Zane]

I guess if you want to waste the time and double the escort numbers to have two completely different ships in the field with one being completely defenseless, sure.

[Dilmah G]

I guess if you want to waste the time and double the escort numbers to have two completely different ships in the field with one being completely defenseless, sure.

Well ideally, they could utilise the staggered box formation, in which the corvette's firepower would shield the AWACS. IMO it's a good trade-off for an almost guaranteed destruction of the target.

[Scotty]

Wow, can you image if the AWACS helped out with targeting data too?  Maybe you could exchange a couple of the bigger beams for a REALLY long range one (long range being 15k plus).  The AWACS could feed firing data to the HK, and the HK defends it.  Hmm, maybe make the AWACS bigger and put some fighters on it

[Polpolion]

I figure AWACS wouldn't really help with targeting, it would help the hunter-killer be able to follow its target at a range long enough to not be seen and attacked.

[Scotty]

Hmm... then a stealth fighter, maybe two or three that tag it for the HK to shoot it from Hella long away.  The AWACS or HK won't need to be that much bigger for a single small wing.

[Commander Zane]

I think the AWACS acting as long-range target aquisition would be better over tagging ships, fighters are beyond fragile especially when you're using stealth fighters.

Hmm...wouldn't it be SWACS since it's in space and not air?