I'd say that one of the better ideas so far is one that hasn't been deeply explored: allow fighters to be constructed a la ships, albiet with only one hull point, no shields, and no hyperdrive.  They could also be given overthrusters as standard, perhaps?

This would mean bookeeping could still be kept to a minimum (one hit is still one kill), and these 'miniships' could move in their own phase, without specific move orders (and perhaps some sanity could be instituted: more engines on a fighter moves first in this phase).

Second are anti-fighter weapons.  Current AFB are somewhat weak, but if you use either Squadron rules or allow them to stack (IE, 2 AFB means 2 casualties per 'one' rolled), this is easily overcome.  An option allowing a weapon to fire at the end of the fighter phase instead of during the ship phase, but limiting its targets to fighters, could also be practical.

Finally, one could significantly reduce the capabilities of the 'base fighter' -- no longer halving shields, moving only 6 or 8 hexes, etc -- and design a host of new abilities costing "1.X" to allow for more flexibility -- for example, 1.1 or 1.15 per extra hex of movement.

Just some thoughts!

-Adso

When there is a need to impress, or when a true-scale invasion threatens a Hold, though, the Gunda Shi (Mountain Warchief) Holdships are called out.  These powerful vessels not only mount a vicious array of weaponry, including the infamous bombardment cannons, they operate a full twenty-four of the squat, powerful fightercraft the Thorans have used for decades, and are capable of boarding enemy ships with a full five squads of Exo-Armored Thoran Warriors. 

Their main advantage, though is that they are incredibly tough to even damage, much less destroy.  Gunda Shi have been recorded wading into enemy formations and missile patterns that would daunt Human task force commanders, but with heavy armor on all eseential systems, and full redundancy in all generators and targeting systems, the Gunda Shi simply shrugs it all off.  Many navies have adopted the operational doctrine of attempting to disable the slightly more vulnerable weapons batteries themselves, but this is a spotty tactic at best.

Although Battlecraft vary widely in design, there are two essential templates for these support ships.  The Sok'ta, or Strong Willed Warrior, is designed to operate on its own or in small groups, and is equipped primarily for combating corvettes and light cruisers.  Its slow speed and lack of serious fighter procection put it at a disadvantage against highly maneuverable opponents or fighter-heavy forces, but the Sok'ta, like all Thoran ships, can usually take even the beating it receives in these situations and still return fire.[/img]

Attatched are four .zips containing the hex JPEGs, PDF records, and backgrounds for ships 13-16 hull, the largest and most powerful craft available on the (semi-legal) open market in the Deltan Sector.

Again, see the earlier thread for background recap and some teasers of the Bolero heavy cruiser.

Attatched are three .zips containing ship JPEGs, ship PDF record sheets, and a .doc about background.  See the earlier thread for teasers and the background.

OK.  I know not all the ship's data or JPEGs are up, but I can only post 3 attatchments per post, so I gave out what I feel are good samples.  Enjoy, and if people like these,  I can and will post the records and info for all the other ships and fighters.  But be sure to give input.

-Sam

Fleet Ships

Jakarta Class Destroyer

The Jakarta has seen service in every major conflict and every sector of the Galaxy since its introduction nearly forty-seven years ago.  Today, the Jakarta holds its own as an escort ship, fulfilling valuable point defense, anti-fighter, and supplementary firepower roles in fleet groups or serving as a command ship for frigates and patrol boats.  Its largest weakness is the tendency of the mass-produced main hull to multiple-rupture when major damage is inflicted, which, combined with its slow speed and less-than-stellar shielding, and the reputation of each ship for being unique and temperamental, has led to the popular nickname “Junkeater” for this class.

Arroyo Raider-Destroyer

The Arroyo is a stellar attack ship: exceptionally fast for its size, adequately shielded, and able to hold its own against enemy small craft, its main failing is its light armament.  The Arroyo began life as a purpose-built courier and blockade runner, but with significant modification, the reworked design has become probably the most common privateer's ship in the galaxy in a mere seven years.  Owing to its speed and ECM, this ship is a favorite of pirates, who have no problem with the ship's lack of combat endurance or punch.  Military organizations use the craft as a raider and flanking ship, where its limited supply of heavy missiles can be use to good effect.

Voland Class Light Missile Cruiser

The Voland is a unique ship, the first foray of the MAC group into military-contract shipbuilding outside their own government.  Lightly armored and painfully slow, the Voland relies on distance and technology to protect it from its foes, while its own missiles reach out and strike with unerring accuracy.  The only non-military ship with the guidance and launch systems necessary for the powerful and hyper-capable strike missile, and with its own anti-missile defenses, both in terms of passive ECM and active point-defense, second to none, the Voland is a new force to be reckoned with in modern warfare.

Ranger Light Cruiser

No ship is more iconic, more unforgettable, and more recognizable than the Ranger.  Early Ranger designs were the mainstay of the Yemuro fleets during the Trade Wars, and then again in the Civil Wars which followed, when all sides involved made use of these adaptable ships. Though the Ranger was then a top-of-the-line cruiser, the modern ship is at best a light cruiser.  However, its rugged, modular, and simple design means the Ranger is still inproduction today, and forms the mainstay of most independent militias and mercenary companies.  Able to take a beating at close range, or of dishing one out, with its batteries supplemented by a high-capacity missile pod system that reduces ammunition woes, the Ranger is a capable warship.  Moreover, it can carry and deploy a small number of fighters of landing craft, the smallest ship capable of such deployment, making it ideal for patrol and fleet duties.  It does show its age, though, in its outdated armament and poor targeting computers, and lack of modern ECM or EWS equipment.

Ranger-II Line Cruiser
The Ranger-II was developed by the Ariadne Group during the Civil Wars, and it is essentially an updated and re-armed Ranger.  By removing the fighter and troop bays and installing a more efficient energy plant, more room was made for weapons systems and, most importantly, armor plating and a missile bay.  Mounting a rotating bay of full-scale fusion missiles and numerous more modern laser turrets, the Ranger-II has far more firepower both close in and at range than its ubiquitous cousin.  However, the upgrade costst both time and money, and reduces the tactical flexibility of the Ranger-I, so it has never entirely replaced its older cousin.

Warhawk Class Light Cruiser
The Warhawk was a direct outgrowth of the popularity of commerce-raiding during the Civil Wars, and stemmed from the need for a fast, flexible ship with greater firepower and maneuverability than the aging Ranger fleet. The Warhawk, designed and built exclusively by KCV to this day, has heavier armor and shielding than the Ranger, wing-mounted maneuvering thrusters usually seen only on fightercraft, and a murderous array of medium-range turrets and missiles.  It is usually fielded in concert with Boomerang torpedo bombers, which it is capable of deploying a full squadron of from its internal launch bay.

Tuari Class Escort Carrier

The Tuari class is older than dirt.  Only the Jakarta holds a candle to this design, which was one of the first large-scale hyperspace warships, first conceived over seventy years ago.  However, over many consecutive updates, the Tuari has mostly kept up with modern ship design, and recent versions even have a new-style EWS grafted onto the older systems.  It is not for its speed or striking power (provided by old-style fusiom missiles to this day) that the Tuari is valued, but for its ability to bring up to 48 fightercraft to battle quickly and effectively, and for its rugged ease of repair and upkeep.  The role a Tuari plays in battle is dependent on its escorts and the mix of its squadrons – many Tuari are strike vessels, launching mainly Warhammer heavy bombers to take out enemy capital ships, while others serve as fleet support, basing dozens of interceptors to protect heavy cruisers on their initial approach.

LIGHT FIGHTERS

KCV 221 ‘Cropduster' Spacefighter

Light Armament, Energy Damage
    The ‘Cropduster' is a forty-four year veteran of the Civil Wars and the Trade Wars – no mean record.  Untold numbers of these ships were produced, initially for the Yemuro Consortium but soon for all sides of the wars and eventually for the private security market.  These simple, easy to fly, and solid fighters show their age only in the low firepower of their early model blaze cannon.

HIK-7y ‘Quarrel' Light Fighter

Std Speed, Light Armament, Dogfighter, Kin/En Dmg
Intended by Hikeeba Yards to displace the KCV-221 as the standard market light fighter, the Quarrel uses a more modern drive system and two different weapons suites, but unfortunately, it lacks punch at any distance greater than a dogfight, where its exceptional maneuverability serves it quite well. 

KCV 229 ‘Defender' Spacefighter

Std Speed, Kinetic Damage
    Introduced seven years ago by the KCV Shipyards, the Defender has set a new standard for a light, basic fighter.  Armed with light blaze cannons and with a powerful drive system, the Defender can patrol a combat zone, fly a strike mission, or intercept enemy craft with equal effectiveness.  However, it is more expensive to buy, maintain, and train in than the huge existing fleets of Cropdusters and their clones, limiting its deployment thus far.

GAC 7 ‘Impi' Fast Interceptor

Fast, Light Armor, Interceptor, Energy Damage
    General Arms Consortium's only contribution to the lighter end of the fighter market is the GAC-7 Impi.  Faster, more maneuverable, and more compact than most other fighters in the market, the Impi is deployable in large numbers, since its mass production is exceedingly simple, and its speed and maneuverability allow it to best anything in a point-blank dogfight.  However, the speed and cheapness of the craft are a result of its light-alloy construction and poor EWF suite – meaning it often takes casualties disproportionate to its numbers.

BOMBERS

KCV-371c Nighthawk Bomber

Bomber, Kinetic Damage
The KCV Nighthawk is a simple ship, designed to deliver its heavy kinetic-charge rockets and railguns to an enemy vessel effectively and quickly. With powerful, or at least adequate, engines, and respectable fighter-to-fighter capacity, the Nighthawk is cheaper, simpler, and as effective as its competitors in the market.  Though it doesn't have the incredibly powerful armament of the Warhammer, or the long-range weapons of the Boomerang, the Nighthawk remains the standard bomber for many Rim and militia fleets, and its specialized anti-ship armaments remain quite effective to this day.

GAC 21 ‘Warhammer' Bomber

Lumbering, Slow, Heavy, Assault, Bomber, Small Flight, Energy/Ballistic Damage
“Ungainly, Ungodly, and Unstoppable,” seems to have been the motto of the Galactic Arms Consortium's Tactical Bomber Commission when they built the Warhammer. Because of he mass of its nearly-unique triple redundancy and over-lapping angle armor system, even the huge engine bank of the GAC-21 can barely surge its bulk forwards. All too often, it still comes out of its beating to deliver the devastating plasma proximity rockets which are its trademark ammunition, fully capable of splitting a destroyer in half at close range.  The greatest weakness of the Warhammer is its poor manuvering envelope and speed when confronted at dogfight range by enemy fighters, and it relies heavily on escorts to see it safely to the enemy capital ships.

HIK-27a ‘Boomerang' Torpedo Bomber

Std. Speed, Extended Range Weapons, Lumbering, Assault, Small Flight, Bomber, Ballistic Damage
The Boomerang is the Hikeeba Shipyard's answer to the Warhammer.  Though the technical advances of the Warhammer's armor system were beyond their capabilities, they succeded in producing a cheaper-per-unit ship with a powerful onboard guidance suite, allowing it to engage enemy ships beyond anti-fighter range with newly-designed torpedoes rather than traditional light missiles and rockets.  Moreover, the Boomerang is capable of greater acceleration and top speed than the huge Warhammer, though it has a similarly difficult time in close-quarters fighting.
                ADVANCED FIGHTERS

GAC 9 ‘Swordsman' Attack Fighter
 
Fast, Assault, Small Flight, Dogfighter, Kin/Bal Damage

Probably the most iconic fighter of the modern era, even when the Cropduster is more numerous or the Defender more practical, the GAC Swordsman is a glory-boy's ship.  Blazingly fast, armed with simple-but-effective heavy bore autocannons and self-guided rockets, and with wing-mounted control thrusters, the Swordsman flies and fights like a dream against other fighters, and delivers a painful punch against capital ships, as well.  However, it is a beastly proposition to maintain its complicated avionics, and difficult to train its highly skilled (and typically equally egotistical) pilots, making it one the highest price-per-unit fighters on the market.

MAC-91 ‘Fulcrum' Advanced Fighter

Std. Speed, Assault, Advanced, Long Range, Energy Damage.

The Maurya Alliance Collaborative made their largest impact on any market to date with the ‘Fulcrum,' one of the first fighters to incoporate a full scale hyperspace engine into a reasonably sized fightercraft.  In addition, the sophisticared Fulcrum features a full array of secure-technology proton cannons with an equally powerful punch against capital and fighter craft, and a powerful ELINT system that give it the edge against other, less sophisticated ships.  The Collaborative, however, sells this ship at an incredible premium, and hyperspace fuel is not cheap – making the Fulcrum the plaything of only the richest planetary militias.

KCV-295 ‘Lion' Advanced Fighter

Std. Speed, Assault, Heavy, Strike, Long Range, Small Flight, Ballistic/Energy Damage

Although KCV's primary market is in light fighters, just two years ago they introduced a powerful new craft called the ‘Lion,' filling the niche between gunboat and fighter.  Using a much-miniaturized hyper module and a powerful fusion core, the Lion has a high speed both sub- and trans- light.  Its extensive armament consists of core swivel-mounted blaze and a rotating bay of heavy fusion rockets for use against capital ships.  Although less maneuverable than many fighters, the flexibility of its weapon systems makes it less vulnerable to assault than a bomber, while its heavy rocket armament gives it many of their advantages.  The newness of the ship, and its sheer size, though, makes cost an almost insurmountable barrier – many governments would rather invest in a new cruiser than twelve of these untried craft.