Re: [FT] Shields or not

Richard and Emily Bell wrote:

> If the NSL, ESU, Sa'Vasku or Phalons are your primary opponents, you
add
> shields to a ship as soon as mounting shields still leaves enough mass
for
> the ship to still accomplish its intended missions.  The NAC use some
> p-torps and SM's, so shields are less useful.  The preponderance of
SM's in
> the FSE discourage shield use, and the absence of beam weaponry and
> penetration of the railguns of the Kra'Vak not only make shields worse
than
> useless, but make even armor of questionable worth (For the larger
ships,
> you need to predict the mix of K-gun classes that will hit it and only
put
> in as much armor as will absorb hits before the ship is destroyed).

hmm... first we don't play with cannon fleets since one of the big
things that makes FT appealing is the design system so we can customise
our ships.

When I design ships I try and balance how much damage they will negate
to how much mass they'll cost and how much more firepower I can put in
their place. Though my fleets have a big gap in ships between 80 mass
and 120-140 mass. I like lots of heavy cruisers and heavy battleships.

My cruisers don't mount shields and the battleships usually only have
one but I found one of my most effective ships to be this
battledreadnought.

Mass = 130
Cost = 447
Thrust = 4
FTL = Normal
CrewFactors = 7
DP = 26
----  Damage Row Breakdown  ----
[][][][][][][][][][][][][]
OOO*OOO
*OOO*OO
O*OOO*
OOO*O*
--------------------------------
Shields = 2
Weapons and Such
#	Name
2	Class 1 Battery, 6 arcs
4	Class 2 Battery, 3 arcs
5	Class 3 Battery, 1 arc
3	Fire Control
4	PDS
1	ADFC