[CT27]

I've made threads in the past asking how the GTVA should handle making certain classes of ships in the post-Capella era. 
So far I've done threads about:
carriers
frigates
cruisers


What kind of corvettes should the GTVA generally make in the post-Capella era...how should they handle this class of ship?  Should they make something that's more geared for defense like the Deimos or more armed for anti-cap-ship combat?  Or should they make something like the Shivan corvette that can carry a small number of fighters?

[Belisarius]

Given the vulnerability of the Deimos against bombers I think adding a fighterbay for better defence against bomber attacks would do her justice. She's already quite powerful, but in order to operate alone she needs better fighter cover.

Maybe stripping her of her slashing beams entirely and adding two BGreens on the front would also help since slashing beams barely hit anything. If the energy demand is too much one could also think of using weaker SGreens, but given the Aeolus uses BGreens as well, I see no point why the Deimos shouldn't as well.

Edit: When it comes to new designs post Capella, then a Diomedes type corvette would come in handy. Where the Deimos' main firepower is focused forward, one of these corvettes could take on the role of flank defender when positioning the beams on its side.

[Kie99]

The real question is what sort of enemy the GTVA is planning on facing going forward. 

The events of FreeSpace 2 place the Shivans so far outside the GTVA's weight class that adding any kind of Corvette is like adding speedboats to fight supercarriers.  If you're ever fighting the Shivans again, it's not going to be a conventional conflict, so I don't think conventional strategies can figure much in your thinking. 

You might consider loading them up with Meson Bombs to do an Argentus Strategy, or use them to collapse jump nodes.  Alternatively you could design them as mobile anti-capship vessels, essentially Mjolnirs with subspace drives attacked.  A Sathanas arrives, 20 anti-capship Corvettes jump in after it and hammer it.

Other than Shivans, the main thing you're worried about is pirates and rebels.  Given how many corvettes fell into the hands of rebels in the NTF war, I don't think you want to be putting anti-capital ship weapons on your normal corvettes at all.  Treat anti-capital ship weapons like the weapons of mass destruction that they are, restrict them to destroyers and above.  At least that way if there is another rebellion they're going to have a limited number of ships with which they can threaten your installations and they'll have a much harder time devastating your shipping.  Destroyers will be able to mop them up relatively easily.

[Nyctaeus]

My take - the Selene.

Armed with 4 custom-tabled, heavy slashes that slowly slice target's hull to maximize area-on-effect. What she cannot destroy, she will leave crippled and in urgent need of maintenance. Diagonal configuration of side beams makes them capable of both firing forward and maximize firepower in front of the ship, as well as protecting broadsides of the ship.

She has armor of comparable rating to Orion, she has a sprint drive, she has advanced damage control systems, she has a hangarbay. She doesn't have superb point defenses and sublight drive. She doesn't need them when she's a fortress that can jump frequently. My doctrine of post-capella strike warships features subspace mobility as premier method of deployment and positioning, while typical defensive warships [like Deimos] have better sublight propulsion systems.

Selene is an Iceni-sized brawler designed to harass Shivan backlines and survive, when the regular fleet is doing defense. When she's done with one rally point, she can perform maintenence and reposition for the next attack without further assistance. Superior subspace mobility also makes her hard to counter with shockjumping. While she's a cruiser and corvette killer by design, pair of Selenes can effectively engage a Ravana.

This, along with next-generation cruisers answers the issue of Shivan midsized warships spreading around the inhabited terran and vasudan systems like a wildfire, but Selene isn't an answer for the problem of Juggernauts or securing subspace access to GTVA as a whole. I consider Selene as a small part of the answer and one of topics of broad debate about post-capella doctrine.

[Trivial Psychic]

When is she 'scheduled for introduction'? 

[Nyctaeus]

When is she 'scheduled for introduction'? 

Probably when her op-eval is complete :]

[Fusion]

Wouldn't the Selene fall more into frigate-scale at that size and firepower?

[BengalTiger]

Yeah, if it's Iceni sized then it's a yee bit too big.

I would say yes, keep making corvettes.

Everyone looks at the Sathanas as the ultimate boogieman, but keep in mind how many fighters and bombers the Shivans tend to launch in a conflict.
We will need the Deimos with escort fighters that have targeting lasers or TAG missiles and then have the GTCv engage with the ULTRA AAA beams at an extended range.

Should the Deimos get a fighter bay? I would think yes. Even a group of 8-12 fighters total without proper repair/rebuild facilities would be very useful for those far away escort missions.
Such a setup would also mean that if the local Hecate gets sunk or forced back, the whole sector does not lose fighter support.



Against destroyers, the Sobek was already geared more offensively, with all its main guns having an overlapping firing arc at the cost of its underside having no main beams at all.
Thus I'd say the Vasudan ship, which is already good at shooting big targets, should be evolved even more in this direction. Maybe a twin* BVas instead of the twin VSlash or something?

As for the Sathanas itself, I think that the GTVA needs to go look for Admiral Bosch. I just think ETAK actually worked - and it might be possible to maybe hack the Shivans' collective brains.
If you can't beat them, make them join you.

*-Just noticed that the BVas is only a bit over 10% more damaging over time than the slasher beam. Was a bit surprised how strong the Sobek is.

[Nyctaeus]

Wouldn't the Selene fall more into frigate-scale at that size and firepower?

There is no such thing as "frigate" in FSverse, as this term refers to both Iceni and Hippocrates. Hippo is rather typical utility-class ship while Iceni is pretty much the largest corvette to appear in FS2. Iceni's filename designates it as a corvette while techroom descriptions are as accurate and consistent as ever.

It's the fandom that made us used to the term "frigate", while in canon FS it means effectively nothing.

Post-capella corvettes will grow both in size, in terms of firepower and will gain more functions. They will slowly but steadly overtake most niches of cruisers because they simply can do whatever cruisers can do, but better. I think FS2 quite clearly sets the direction, but it doesn't mean that cruisers will go completely extinct.

[BengalTiger]

I forgot actually that the Hippo was a frigate too....

Let's see here now...

Destroyers - in reality they originated as torpedo boat destroyers, little ocean going gunships. Then they grew in size, because why not carry our own torpedoes on the torpedo boat destroyer and make the t-boat obsolete. Then they grew in size to have ASW and AA capabilities, and now they are destroyers because they destroy.
Then there's the Zumwalt which is bigger than most cruisers ever built...

In FreeSpace, well we only know that they are mostly carriers, but also battleships, depending on which way the pendulum of power swings - from swarm of strike craft to single large ships. The Lucifer was a destroyer too, a destroyer of worlds.
I guess that the logic of destroyer destroys was the reason why the Orion was not called a carrier for instance. Those THT's would be effective against cruisers, especially given how they'd outrange anything a cruiser might have.
The THT's might also date back to a time when they were very powerful compared to other weapons, and were not upgraded or replaced.

Cruisers - they were not always large ships, they'd be cruising around doing patrols. Thus the FS logic of having cruisers smaller than destroyers and doing patrols sort of holds.

Now corvettes and frigates... Well, frigates were cruisers at one point, because a cruiser was a function description and frigate was a form description. The various navies also reclassified their ships from one type to another too which makes the naming convoluted. Corvettes also varied, traditionally front engine, but now they are mid engine.

So a medical frigate can be a smaller than a corvette, but a combat frigate can be bigger than a corvette - both are bigger than cruisers though.
There is also the fact that the Hippo is a nod to some other frigate in some other sci-fi universe.

So I guess corvettes could grow in size in the FS universe and still be corvettes.
In the case of cruisers this size change actually happens, especially on the Vasudan side - Mentu is 1.4 times as long as Aten.

I will stand by my point that Terran ships should be more defensive set up with weapons distributed all around them, while Vasudans should go for the big beams pointed in the same direction. There is a big split in shipbuilding schools and it adds variety to the GTVA roster.

... while Iceni is pretty much the largest corvette to appear in FS2. Iceni's filename designates it as a corvette while techroom descriptions are as accurate and consistent as ever.

$POF File: corvette2R-01.pof 

So, further question - hangar bay or no hangar bay?
I think yes, but this does take up a LOT of internal space, and thus eats up on capabilities. I personally suggested cutting a hole in the Deimos, but now I might have second thoughts.

I see the Selene has a big hangar topside and 2 small docking bays on the sides as well.

But then the Iceni had no hangar and it outmatched a Hecate in firepower (please note it had different weapons loadouts in missions than the default in the tbl file), while being less than half the size.