Re: FSE Ships cool?

You wrote: 

>It's a matter of taste. Me I think the FSE aren't that great. They 
look to >me more like ships that have been stepped on. Whereas the NSL 
ships just >look too cool. :-) And a lot of the NAC ships just look 
silly, excepting of >course the heavy frigate which just looks so cute.

Well, I detest glueing booms, so most NAC ships are right out--I've got 
a heavy cruiser which never did get assembled properly.

>And back to the Missile pack problem. Something that suprised me about 
most >of the fleets is the lack of Area defence for most fleets. Other 
then the >NSL they seem to be a very low priority. I've only played 4 

I note that taking the book ships as they are, you're right.  But at 
least for the NAC ships, escort varients with ADFC are listed for both 
Frigate types, and the NAC escort cruiser (on which the Nea Rhomaioi 
one is based) can be quite effective.  

>no armour. I think it's more a question of which fleet you take then
>anything else. Over two afternoons I came up with the belief that the 

Hehe.  Which is why I play Nea Rhomaioi.  Who's gonna tell me I'm wrong 
when it comes to fleet design or ship choice.  For the record, think 
FSE-style hulls with NACian armament and armor choices--but SLM 
varients exist for many of them.  SLMs tend to be seen only when the 
Deep Space Fleet battleline shows up.  Why?  Logistical 
concerns--Sector fleets can't always resupply after every skirmish.  
And then when the DSF battleline shows up, there are a LOT of SLMs and 
fighters together. (Hint--unless I can bring on 4K+ points, it's not a 
battleline fight)  Am I the only person who thinks those two are a neat 
way to provide an opponent with a nasty dillema?  OK, you've got SLMs 
attacking your battlecruiser while the fighters are attacking your 
escort cruiser.  Do you let me gut your BC while smacking the fighters 
and hope they're too shot up to do anything next turn, or do you knock 
down the missles this turn while letting my fighters clear a path for 
the next salvo?

John