(ACtA:SF) Fast ships?

[Nerroth]

I've been wondering about how well, or not, the current batch of fast ships in the game have been taken to so far; as well as what kind of appetite, if any, there may be for other ships of this type to be ported over at some point.

Are there empires which gain more from the use of fast cruisers over others? Is the swapping out of heavy weapons for phasers an acceptable trade in ACtA:SF terms? And would players look forward to using fast ships in other weight classes? (We've already seen a 3D model for the upcoming Federation light dreadnought for Starline 2500; plus there are fast war cruisers and light battleships in SFB which have yet to make it into FC, but which could perhaps be options someday.)

 

[nekomata fuyu]

I quite liked using the Federation fast cruisers at the recent tourney, and they will probably remain a feature of my fleets.
That said, one of the ways of playing Federation ships is by considering the phasers to be the main weapon, and the photons to be just a weapon of opportunity - in this respect the Fed fast cruiser doesn't really lose much. I'm not sure however how hard the other fleets get hit by the loss of their heavy weapons...

 

[Myrm]

Double post deleted

 

[Myrm]

Lots of phasers does allow for power drain actions - as you lose less by not firing the photons and fire more in the way of firepower under power drain while still moving (and moving is the feature of the fast ship..... So long as photons are loaded then you can always bang them off next round when you get an opportunity

 

[MongooseMatt]

If you are sending Fast Cruisers off to fight by themselves, always use them in pairs, we have found...

 

[SneakyPete]

I would love to see a Fast Dreadnought in the game, something like a normal DN with the Heavy weapons (Photon/plasma/disruptor) removed in exchange for the Fast trait and about the same points. A large fast phaser barge would be interesting strategically, and the Condor DN would at least get to turn twice in a move for once. Perhaps I shall play a homebrew game with one of these. EDIT: I would remove the Command trait as well.

 

[Nerroth]

Fast ships work a little differently in SFB/FC depending on their weight class. Fast CAs and fast war cruisers are generally the same size as their non-fast stablemates, but have larger and more powerful warp nacelles to push them that much faster. Light dreadnoughts and light battleships, in contrast, keep the same engines as DNs and BBs, but instead cut back on their hull volumes in order to go faster.


(For example, here is how the Ship Card of the Condor Dreadnought compares to that of the Shrike Light Dreadnought. In both cases, only the Squadron Scale version is of relevance here.)

 

[nekomata fuyu]

Once my LGS gets my next Fed fleet box in, I'll be able to experiment with a squadron of 3 fast cruisers. Not what I imagine most people would want tearing up the rear of their line