Re: Destroyers

Michael Robert Blair wrote:

>The seem to be two basic and conflicting roles for
>DDs. As escorts for the battlefleet to protect them
>from attack by fighters and missiles and as attackers
>themselves. A ship optimised for either role is of
>little use in the other.

The former variety is usually called "Frigates" nowadays, IIRC :-/

>What are peoples opinions? Do you build a class of
>fleet destroyers optimised as escorts with ADFCs and a
>heavy point defence battery and a separate class of
>DDs optimised for attack - with heavier beam or
>missile armament whose main defence from missiles or
>fighters is speed.

I tend to use cruisers and/or capitals for anti-missile/fighter work.
FFs and DDs are for stopping enemy strikeboats without tying up the
bigger ships' firepower and generally make a nuisance of themselves :-/
 
>What sort of size and spec do you use for your DDs 

The entire size range indicated in DD1, simply because I use the DD1
size ranges to classify the ships. Specs depends on the fleet's theme,
but generally wide-ish medium-range armament and high thrust ratings.
(...higher thrust ratings than the heavies, that is. Some people say
that even my capital ships have high thrust ratings <g> )

>and is there a place for smaller escorts?

Smaller *escorts* only go down to FF size or so. I often use smaller
*strikeships*, though.
 
>When the new edition comes out, with its improved sensor rules (hint,
>hint) scouting will be more important - and small fast expendable
scouts >may come into their own.

The new edition of Conway's Warships will have improved sensor rules?
<g>

The main - some would say only - task of "small fast expendable" scouts
is to determine if there's any point in fighting or if you should bug
out as fast as possible. Unless FT3 features a strategic, or at least
an operational, game in addition to the tactical rules (or players
world-wide start using gaming tables bigger than mine - 120x100mu; some
gamers have repeatedly told me that the gaming standard is 96x48mu or
72x48mu :-/ ), those scouts won't get a chance of carrying that job
out. The tactical games only starts after you have already decided to
fight, and the sensors that'll get used most (because they survive the
longest) are those on your cruisers and capitals.

Regards,

Oerjan Ohlson
oerjan.ohlson@telia.com

"Life is like a sewer.
What you get out of it, depends on what you put into it."