Ok..... trying from that logic....
Quoting from EFNI:
The new Nova II class Dreadnought, waited for a long time, is the ship aimed to replace in hers original role the Nova DN, and will become a mainstay in the defensive and offensive operations of the fleets.
The history of the specifications that gave origin to this class is interesting, because she is, in fact, the outcome of the same concept materialized by the first Nova: bring in a battle situation a massive firepower, with heavy protection.The original Novas (Alpha and, later, Beta) performed very well in the Dilgar war and in the following period, but were inadequate during the Earth-Minbari war, essentially due to the technologycal gap between Earth and Minbari, and, not to forget, to the numerical and initiative advantage of the Minbari, coupled with the ineffectiveness of the E.A. Sensors and tracking systems.
After a long period of relative obscurity, The Novas came back to the lime light during the "Drakh Line Battle" in 2266, when many of these old dreadnoughts fought side by side with the Omegas and Warlocks. In that situation, the concept of Dreadnought in its antiship role was deadly effective, and revalued this specific mission
Some additional blurb myself:
The requirement was created for a dreadnought class able to be deployed in large numbers, to rebuild the fleet quickly after the Drakh assault on Earth (nearly as devastating as the Battle of the Line), armed with heavy saturation firepower to cut through the sophisticated defences of Drakh warships - essentially little more than a mobile gun platform specifically suited to engaging Humanity's newest enemy.
Intended for major fleet-level engagements, the
Nova II - dubbed "
Quasar" - was able to take advantage of the fact that it was no longer the backbone of the fleet, unlike its venerable predecessor, and needed neither command facilities, jump engines or a large fighter complement. Intended instead to provide support in bulk to
Warlock-class destroyers, and with the support of
Poseidon-class supercarriers and more mobile
Marathon-class cruisers to protect its vulnerable flanks, the design was free to concentrate on two things - sheer armoured bulk and raw firepower.
The "
Quasar" at first looks somewhat primitive, an inexplicable throwback to the early days of Earthforce - its massively protected hull was surrounded by thick layers of ablative armour, designed to resist the attention of Drakh neutron cannons, rather than the multi-layered active defences more common in newer ships, whilst its armament of 16 heavy pulse cannons draw so much energy that its drives can barely manouvre the ship whilst they are powered up and firing!
If faced on their own, "
Quasar" dreadnoughts are at a major disadvantage - easily outmanouvred, outranged by modern ships due to their lack of missile racks or centreline beam weapons, short of fighter cover and too slow to flee (especially since they are not jump capable). In numbers, though, they form an almost impenetrable fighting line that has more than once torn apart wing after wing of drakh raiders with sheer gunpower - each ship mounting as many forward pulse cannons as a
Victory-class destroyer. It can also be noted that (allowing for the inflation of the EA credit over the 40 year history of the Nova-class) the new design is so efficient to manufacture that its cost to field is little over three quarters of an older dreadnought.
In Service: 2271+
PL: Raid
Speed: 6
Turns: 1/45
Hull: 5
Damage Points: 50/10
Crew: 42/8
Craft: 1 Thunderbolt Flight
Traits: Interceptors 2, Anti Fighter 1, Flight Computer,
Lumbering
Troops: 2
Heavy Pulse Cannons F 12” 20 Twin Linked
Heavy Pulse Cannons P 12” 10 Twin Linked
Heavy Pulse Cannons S 12” 10 Twin Linked
Medium Pulse Cannons P 10” 4 Twin Linked
Medium Pulse Cannons S 10” 4 Twin Linked
Medium Pulse Cannons A 10” 4 Twin Linked
Essentially it's designed for mass production and fighting the Drakh, which is why it looks a bit out of place amongst its peers!