Re: FT FB3

From: <dragon_des_vieilles_rocheuses@caramail.com>

So my Question is : can someone sum up the most important 
ideas concerning new weapons and the "philosophy" of these 
nations (I was interested in giving to the japanese fleet a 
close-combat skill but it may be hard to play...).

My take on the OU - others differ:

OU ships are very under-armed, except close in.
They're also as hard to kill as cockroaches.

An OU Heavy Cruiser would have no real capability at 36",
would be able to hold its own at 24", and be nasty at 12".

It would also have more hull boxes than many Battlecruisers.

For example, a "typical" heavy cruiser has, say 2 B3-3s,
2 B2-3s and 2 B1-6s, total mass 18. An OU equivalent would have
6 B2-3s, 2 B1-6s, with 4 extra hull boxes. OU ships tend to be
a bit larger than others, but cost the same due to the high
ratio of hull to weaponry.

OU ships use mainly beams, some MT missiles, and a few SMs.
They have battlecruiser-sized carriers, each of which is
an underarmed battledreadnaught with 2 fighter groups not 1.
PTs are only on a few specialised Torpedo Corvettes. They use
armour in small quantities, and use screens.

Another philosophy that appears on the web for the OU is
to have nothing but Beam-4s and MT missiles.