The first design I made upon buying the game was the Kriegs Hammer--a dsetroyer class. An ok first step, but overall she is an underwhelming ship. She has lift problems with getting coal to her suspendium chambers quick enough to maintain altitude (probably because of her barely above required crew complement), and as such, is even more of a danger to ships below her than her underwhelming armament is. She sports 6 rifles and 1 cannon. She's honestly not as terrible a ship as I make her out to be, early game she is pretty useful, but later designs have rendered her obsolete in later game.
Kriegs Lander
Another early ship, the Kriegs lander was not build for firepower, but for rapid troop insertion. She is equipped with 2 marine barracks with the idea of rapid assault and capture of large ships in mind, she is highly effective against any target below her average service ceiling.
Orca
The Orca was made to be a high altitude bomber. With a service ceiling of 188m and 4 bomb bays, she is capable of moving high above most targets and dropping bombs fairly accurately. She has had a good service record in the combat she has seen.
KM Gadfly
As its name suggests, the gadfly was created for one thing, annoyance. It's only armament being a grenade station means it is incapable of doing pretty much anything of consequence by itself. But, at $297 it is so cheap that losing it is not a big deal whatsoever. As a result, when utilized in swarm tactics the gadfly can damage and even destroy the largest of ships through kamikaze tactics. Her service ceiling of 194m also means that few ships can match her altitude and typically guns fired at her at this altitude are inaccurate.
KM Vaterland
This is the latest ship design that I have created and has been shown to be so effective that I will be refitting it with the new update along with the dreads. Originally created to be a replacement for the Kriegs Hammer as a frig/destroyer class, the Vaterland took on a new life of her own becoming a battleship escort for the dread classes. Her ceiling at 93m is comparable to the dreads and she is not far off in firepower as will. She sports: 6 cannons, 4 gatlings, 2 suspendium cannons, and a rocket battery. Late game pairing 2 Vaterland classes with a Sturmnaught is GG against virtually any enemy fleet. **Note: not in all late game battles with this pairing, but some you will get a little lag. I've had battles with that pairing where I've experienced fluid play and others that were virtually unplayable. This does not seem to be because of the ships size per se, but because of the amount of ships in the battle (typically the AI assaults me with 7 in late game to try to take out this fleet composition)
KM: Dreadnaight
This was my second ship design. Designated the KM Dreadnaught, she was a significant step above the Kriegs Hammer in all aspects. With a service ceiling of 102m she has a surprising amount of lift for a dreadnaught class vessel with steel armor. She sports: 9 cannons, 5 gatlings, 2 bomb bays, a large ventral cannon, and a rocket battery. She also retains a complement of Air Marines in the event of enemy boarding. With the update to 6.1 expect to see this design retrofitted in the coming days/weeks.
KM Sturmnaught
The second iteration of the Dreadnaught was the KM Sturmnaught. Created in response to ammunition shortfalls in the original dreadnaught design (at the expense of 12 m of service ceiling). The Sturmnaught sports: 3 suspendium cannons, 6 cannons, 4 gatlings, 2 bomb bays, and 1 ventral cannon. She is highly effective so you can also expect this design to be tweaked with the release of 6.1.
I highly look forward to any comments critiques or suggestions any of y'all may have. I'm absolutely loving the game and can't wait to see where it goes!
Definitely like the Orca. Looks like a pretty effective design. :) One thing I've noted is that sometimes you're using many small versions of a module when one big one would be cheaper/more effective, like having three berths in a row instead of using a single quarters.
Ahh very good point, I did not think about that I'll have to go back and review each of my designs. I do tend to do some things too hastily. I think I made each of these in maybe 40 minutes max for the largest ones.
a "Faust"-rule: If not for space problems, Replace 2 small suspendium chamber with 1 large suspendium chamber.
the large one has same coal consume like 2 small ones and has a much higher output. And try to place suspendium chambers next to or above the coal-store, not the other wax around.
I fixed the smaller need to be larger problem. Also rearranged the bunks to be quarters as Zarkonnen suggested. I'll try switching the order of the coal/Schambers like you suggest!
Alright, those are quite pretty. They also seem pretty efficient - highly armed and armoured with a pretty good service ceiling and maneuverability, but they also seem to have low and badly spaced supplies.
This is also a reason for me to reconsider the way I design ships. I always make sure to give them a ton of supplies, sacrificing both defensive and offensive capabilities in the process. And what good is a long lasting supply if it doesn't have the survivability and firepower to get to use it all. I think I might consider designing ships with supplies that last for a shorter time but can take and give a beating. Thank you for inspiring me to try a different approach to shipbuilding.
Thanks Luka! Not all are as efficient as they should be. I need to rethink the way I position my doors and modules in relation to each other, but I'm glad you like the design!
I fixed the Kriegs Hammer supply issue up a bit (It no longer starves itself on coal). I may have to tweak the orca again though, because after a couple modifications it's starting to have the same issue that the hammer did and a bomber falling out of the sky onto your own ships isn't pretty..
(BTW, note that I increased ammo capacity and decreased coal capacity in version 6.1, so your intuitions about what's the right amount may be slightly off...)
Actually, forget what I said. After some more testing, it turns out that lots of supplies with little armour and firepower isn't such a bad idea. If a ship is resistant enough to survive enemy fire until they run out of ammo or coal, the fact that it is less resistant than the other ship doesn't matter as much.
So, yeah. Basically, I take that back. Lots of armour and weapons with not as much supply is not a bad idea, but then you better make sure to destroy the enemy ship before you run out of stuff to destroy her with.
Warrant Officer
Kriegs Hammer
The first design I made upon buying the game was the Kriegs Hammer--a dsetroyer class. An ok first step, but overall she is an underwhelming ship. She has lift problems with getting coal to her suspendium chambers quick enough to maintain altitude (probably because of her barely above required crew complement), and as such, is even more of a danger to ships below her than her underwhelming armament is. She sports 6 rifles and 1 cannon. She's honestly not as terrible a ship as I make her out to be, early game she is pretty useful, but later designs have rendered her obsolete in later game.
Kriegs Lander
Another early ship, the Kriegs lander was not build for firepower, but for rapid troop insertion. She is equipped with 2 marine barracks with the idea of rapid assault and capture of large ships in mind, she is highly effective against any target below her average service ceiling.
Orca
The Orca was made to be a high altitude bomber. With a service ceiling of 188m and 4 bomb bays, she is capable of moving high above most targets and dropping bombs fairly accurately. She has had a good service record in the combat she has seen.
KM Gadfly
As its name suggests, the gadfly was created for one thing, annoyance. It's only armament being a grenade station means it is incapable of doing pretty much anything of consequence by itself. But, at $297 it is so cheap that losing it is not a big deal whatsoever. As a result, when utilized in swarm tactics the gadfly can damage and even destroy the largest of ships through kamikaze tactics. Her service ceiling of 194m also means that few ships can match her altitude and typically guns fired at her at this altitude are inaccurate.
KM Vaterland
This is the latest ship design that I have created and has been shown to be so effective that I will be refitting it with the new update along with the dreads. Originally created to be a replacement for the Kriegs Hammer as a frig/destroyer class, the Vaterland took on a new life of her own becoming a battleship escort for the dread classes. Her ceiling at 93m is comparable to the dreads and she is not far off in firepower as will. She sports: 6 cannons, 4 gatlings, 2 suspendium cannons, and a rocket battery. Late game pairing 2 Vaterland classes with a Sturmnaught is GG against virtually any enemy fleet. **Note: not in all late game battles with this pairing, but some you will get a little lag. I've had battles with that pairing where I've experienced fluid play and others that were virtually unplayable. This does not seem to be because of the ships size per se, but because of the amount of ships in the battle (typically the AI assaults me with 7 in late game to try to take out this fleet composition)
KM: Dreadnaight
This was my second ship design. Designated the KM Dreadnaught, she was a significant step above the Kriegs Hammer in all aspects. With a service ceiling of 102m she has a surprising amount of lift for a dreadnaught class vessel with steel armor. She sports: 9 cannons, 5 gatlings, 2 bomb bays, a large ventral cannon, and a rocket battery. She also retains a complement of Air Marines in the event of enemy boarding. With the update to 6.1 expect to see this design retrofitted in the coming days/weeks.
KM Sturmnaught
The second iteration of the Dreadnaught was the KM Sturmnaught. Created in response to ammunition shortfalls in the original dreadnaught design (at the expense of 12 m of service ceiling). The Sturmnaught sports: 3 suspendium cannons, 6 cannons, 4 gatlings, 2 bomb bays, and 1 ventral cannon. She is highly effective so you can also expect this design to be tweaked with the release of 6.1.
I highly look forward to any comments critiques or suggestions any of y'all may have. I'm absolutely loving the game and can't wait to see where it goes!
Aerial Emperor
Definitely like the Orca. Looks like a pretty effective design. :) One thing I've noted is that sometimes you're using many small versions of a module when one big one would be cheaper/more effective, like having three berths in a row instead of using a single quarters.
Warrant Officer
Ahh very good point, I did not think about that I'll have to go back and review each of my designs. I do tend to do some things too hastily. I think I made each of these in maybe 40 minutes max for the largest ones.
Commander, Engineering Corps
a "Faust"-rule: If not for space problems, Replace 2 small suspendium chamber with 1 large suspendium chamber. the large one has same coal consume like 2 small ones and has a much higher output. And try to place suspendium chambers next to or above the coal-store, not the other wax around.
Warrant Officer
I fixed the smaller need to be larger problem. Also rearranged the bunks to be quarters as Zarkonnen suggested. I'll try switching the order of the coal/Schambers like you suggest!
Captain
Alright, those are quite pretty. They also seem pretty efficient - highly armed and armoured with a pretty good service ceiling and maneuverability, but they also seem to have low and badly spaced supplies.
This is also a reason for me to reconsider the way I design ships. I always make sure to give them a ton of supplies, sacrificing both defensive and offensive capabilities in the process. And what good is a long lasting supply if it doesn't have the survivability and firepower to get to use it all. I think I might consider designing ships with supplies that last for a shorter time but can take and give a beating. Thank you for inspiring me to try a different approach to shipbuilding.
Warrant Officer
Thanks Luka! Not all are as efficient as they should be. I need to rethink the way I position my doors and modules in relation to each other, but I'm glad you like the design!
I fixed the Kriegs Hammer supply issue up a bit (It no longer starves itself on coal). I may have to tweak the orca again though, because after a couple modifications it's starting to have the same issue that the hammer did and a bomber falling out of the sky onto your own ships isn't pretty..
All in the creative process I guess haha.
Aerial Emperor
(BTW, note that I increased ammo capacity and decreased coal capacity in version 6.1, so your intuitions about what's the right amount may be slightly off...)
Captain
Actually, forget what I said. After some more testing, it turns out that lots of supplies with little armour and firepower isn't such a bad idea. If a ship is resistant enough to survive enemy fire until they run out of ammo or coal, the fact that it is less resistant than the other ship doesn't matter as much.
So, yeah. Basically, I take that back. Lots of armour and weapons with not as much supply is not a bad idea, but then you better make sure to destroy the enemy ship before you run out of stuff to destroy her with.