Re: Small ships and SMLS & Killing Torp armed fleets.....

How to kill a (fill in the blank) fleet:

Whatever you do, do a lot of it.  Don't take a couple of beams and a
couple
of SMR's and a few torps and a needle and so forth.  Salvo missiles, for
example, work best when you can say "Light cruiser #1 launches missiles.
End points are here, here, here, here, and here.  Next cruiser..." 
Fighters
are the same way, although missiles and fighters can complement each
other.
The key (IMHO) is to bear in mind that your weapons are most effective
at
different ranges, and if you have a mix of weapons, that implies that
you
are doomed to having some of your weapons at inefficient ranges.    For
example, torpedoes are best at close range, where you can hit (unless
you're
Indy, in which case, why did you take torps anyway?).  The benefit of a
class 3 beam is that you can chip away at your opponent from long range.
 If
you put them both on one ship, you have to decide if you're gong to
waste
your beams' range advantage, or if you're going to roll low-odds torp
shots.
Or go for the middle and enjoy the worst of both worlds.

Remember, battleships evolved from "lots of guns, all sizes" to "all big
guns."