[Snail]

@Hades: Actually on retail AI, a wing of 4 Artemis bombers is more than enough to completely muller an Aeolus

[General Battuta]

Basically my stance is, Hecates suck, they're hilariously difficult to make threatening, and I hate FREDding with them because I have to go to extreme lengths to make them anything worthy of respect.

[MatthTheGeek]

Overcharge the BGreen. Make it launch fighter and bomber swarms. And keep it away from anything having anti-cap weaponry.

[General Battuta]

Overcharge the BGreen. Make it launch fighter and bomber swarms. And keep it away from anything having anti-cap weaponry.

Funny how I used all this stuff in the biggest mission I did with a Hecate. 

[Kosh]

You could work with a different concept of having one fighterbay with multiple exits, say, one that spanned an entire three or four decks of a ship and had about 4-8 exits. Not only would you be able to launch fighters faster, but you wouldn't be so dependent on your one exit. Only thing is, you may need more staff to man the bay and taking up 3 or 4 decks means another 3 or 4 that need to be added.

Exactly, it's a problem of space. Because destroyers are packing large anti-warship beam cannons and ideally should have a fairly solid anti-fighter defense, those two requirements by themselves can eat an enormous amount of space. A good example of this is the Collosus, despite being many many times larger its fighterbay capacity was surprisingly small. Then again it was heavily slanted towards anti-capship duties and blockade busting.

But aside from them having better pilots, nothing gives the impression they have better pilots.

Especially since they usually end up dying in droves.

[Dilmah G]

Overcharge the BGreen. Make it launch fighter and bomber swarms. And keep it away from anything having anti-cap weaponry.

Well it's what a decent Hecate commander would do, although you could have it take up an effective part in an anti-ship/installation op. You could perhaps divert energy from blobs and such to beams, place a bit of faith in your escorting pilots, have the gunnery controlmen know that they may have up to five seconds warning about power being drained from beams to supplement anti-fighter armament as a contingency as well as fighters on two minutes readiness (sitting in the bay, engines turning) to launch if the hull starts having a hard time.

Hecate forms base of fire for the engagement, with the overcharged beam suppressing hostile elements and with any luck, taking out a vital system or two on the target(s), as well as said Hecate being flanked by Aeoluses and other cruisers for close support if available. Smallest credible threat to target(s) is presented by Hecate and co.

Corvettes and cruisers form the assault group, and seek to jump in on the target's flank once the enemy has responded to the Hecate threat (hopefully by diluting main force concentration in favor of flanking, formulate appropriate contingency prior). Once in the field, assault group flanks and will attempt an aggressive encirclement based on target's defensive fields of fire and whether the opportunity becomes available.

Concurrent to this, Admiral and CIC staff on the Hecate are coordinating the operation and deploying the vessel's air wing to support the assault and patch gaps in any elements. Important here that a reserve be maintained.

* Dilmah G reads back and realises he's been playing a little too much Close Combat.

[General Battuta]

But aside from them having better pilots, nothing gives the impression they have better pilots.

Especially since they usually end up dying in droves.

Because, y'know, you don't play on insane, and their weapons are bad, and even with higher AI levels than their Terran counterparts they're still nowhere near a human (your skill), and you get to respawn when you die.

People fall for these illusions so easily.

[General Battuta]

Overcharge the BGreen. Make it launch fighter and bomber swarms. And keep it away from anything having anti-cap weaponry.

Well it's what a decent Hecate commander would do, although you could have it take up an effective part in an anti-ship/installation op. You could perhaps divert energy from blobs and such to beams, place a bit of faith in your escorting pilots, have the gunnery controlmen know that they may have up to five seconds warning about power being drained from beams to supplement anti-fighter armament as a contingency as well as fighters on two minutes readiness (sitting in the bay, engines turning) to launch if the hull starts having a hard time.

Hecate forms base of fire for the engagement, with the overcharged beam suppressing hostile elements and with any luck, taking out a vital system or two on the target(s), as well as said Hecate being flanked by Aeoluses and other cruisers for close support if available. Smallest credible threat to target(s) is presented by Hecate and co.

Corvettes and cruisers form the assault group, and seek to jump in on the target's flank once the enemy has responded to the Hecate threat (hopefully by diluting main force concentration in favor of flanking, formulate appropriate contingency prior). Once in the field, assault group flanks and will attempt an aggressive encirclement based on target's defensive fields of fire and whether the opportunity becomes available.

Concurrent to this, Admiral and CIC staff on the Hecate are coordinating the operation and deploying the vessel's air wing to support the assault and patch gaps in any elements. Important here that a reserve be maintained.

* Dilmah G reads back and realises he's been playing a little too much Close Combat.

boy this sounds familiar 

[Dilmah G]

Indeed, and even to those who haven't played, it should strike a chord with anyone whose studied IMT. That's almost your textbook application of base of fire and assault teams.

[Snail]

Why do they armor their main beam cannons with paper?

[MatthTheGeek]

Well, that's true for beam mounts on most Capella-era ships, not only the Hecate's. It's not their resistance but their actual size that make them fragile. And the fact there are no anti-fighter turrets defending the two forward ones.

[BengalTiger]

Why do they armor their main beam cannons with paper?

Perhaps it's not paper but some kind of lens that's both huge and fragile?
It might be cheaper that way or something...


BTW- how do the big Hat's BVas turrets compare to the Hecate?

[Polpolion]

Why do they armor their main beam cannons with paper?

Because with Earth gone, wood pulp is the most common resource available to mankind.

[General Battuta]

Why do they armor their main beam cannons with paper?

Because with Earth gone, wood pulp is the most common resource available to mankind.

Thus explaining the entire context that gave rise to the line Snail's quoting!

[Hades]

Why do they armor their main beam cannons with paper?

Perhaps it's not paper but some kind of lens that's both huge and fragile?
It might be cheaper that way or something...


BTW- how do the big Hat's BVas turrets compare to the Hecate?

The hat's BVas turrets are literally sticks, the hecate's is a big bullseye saying 'shoot here and you've won!'

[Kosh]

Overcharge the BGreen. Make it launch fighter and bomber swarms. And keep it away from anything having anti-cap weaponry.

Well it's what a decent Hecate commander would do, although you could have it take up an effective part in an anti-ship/installation op. You could perhaps divert energy from blobs and such to beams, place a bit of faith in your escorting pilots, have the gunnery controlmen know that they may have up to five seconds warning about power being drained from beams to supplement anti-fighter armament as a contingency as well as fighters on two minutes readiness (sitting in the bay, engines turning) to launch if the hull starts having a hard time.

Hecate forms base of fire for the engagement, with the overcharged beam suppressing hostile elements and with any luck, taking out a vital system or two on the target(s), as well as said Hecate being flanked by Aeoluses and other cruisers for close support if available. Smallest credible threat to target(s) is presented by Hecate and co.

Corvettes and cruisers form the assault group, and seek to jump in on the target's flank once the enemy has responded to the Hecate threat (hopefully by diluting main force concentration in favor of flanking, formulate appropriate contingency prior). Once in the field, assault group flanks and will attempt an aggressive encirclement based on target's defensive fields of fire and whether the opportunity becomes available.

Concurrent to this, Admiral and CIC staff on the Hecate are coordinating the operation and deploying the vessel's air wing to support the assault and patch gaps in any elements. Important here that a reserve be maintained.

* Dilmah G reads back and realises he's been playing a little too much Close Combat.

If you recall in Renegade Resurgence, the NTD Hecate was upgraded with a LRBreen, turning it into a long range artillery destroyer. Also a few of its flak guns were replaced with these nasty shield and energy draining blobs, which combined with the remaining flak guns could easily shred fighter and bomber wings. That thing was a terror to attack, and it really made the Hecate shine.

[Polpolion]

Why do they armor their main beam cannons with paper?

Because with Earth gone, wood pulp is the most common resource available to mankind.

Thus explaining the entire context that gave rise to the line Snail's quoting!

If only I had included an inconsequential comment poking fun at the aesthetic of his hyperbole, my post would be simply amazing!

[General Battuta]

Why do they armor their main beam cannons with paper?

Because with Earth gone, wood pulp is the most common resource available to mankind.

Thus explaining the entire context that gave rise to the line Snail's quoting!

If only I had included an inconsequential comment poking fun at the aesthetic of his hyperbole, my post would be simply amazing!

I don't think you understand what's happening here. Snail's quoting a line from a silly little campaign in which a character casts an aspersion upon the Hecate's chin beam thing.

[Hades]

If you recall in Renegade Resurgence, the NTD Hecate was upgraded with a LRBreen, turning it into a long range artillery destroyer. Also a few of its flak guns were replaced with these nasty shield and energy draining blobs, which combined with the remaining flak guns could easily shred fighter and bomber wings. That thing was a terror to attack, and it really made the Hecate shine.

But that's still a non-canon loadout, and for all purposes of this discussion, has no relevance here.

I mean really, I can stick LRBGreens on the Orion too.

[Qent]

I do think it's relevant, because massive buff though it may be, it affects players' perception of the Hecate in a positive way. You could also put BFReds on it, but just making it more powerful misses the point.