Romulan King Eagle:

Here is where it falls apart a bit. As I see it, the Plasma Torpedoes can either be Direct Fire weapons with extreme damage and Range issues (Trying to simulate the "Damage Curve" of a Plasma) or as Strikers (Which would imply limited ammunition but force us to introduce Striker launch rates.

I chose to use the Former. In addition, I was forced to drop the Phaser III rear armament. This makes the King Eagle terrifying from the front, but extremely vulnerable from the rear.

(246) King Eagle-class Romulan Cruiser

Hull: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1             
Engines: 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 1 1             
Screens: 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 1 1             
Weapons:
1:X 2:Y 3:Y 4:Z 5:Z 6:Z

X: Plasma-R: 6/12/18, 1/2+/2/5
Range-Based DMG; Slow-Firing; Doubled Range Mods
[AB]

Y: Plasma-F: 6/12/18, 1/2+/1/3
Range-Based DMG; Slow-Firing; Doubled Range Mods
[AB][AB]

Z: Phaser I: 5/10/15, 1/3+/1/1
Range-Based ROF
[ABC][ABC][ABD][ABD]

Special: Hyperdrive; Science (2); Teleporters; Marines (10); Cloaking Device; Cargo

Here's a Hull-10 version of the D7

(280) D7 Klolode -class Klingon Battlecruiser

Hull: 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1             
Engines: 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1             
Screens: 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 1 1             
Weapons:
1:XZ 2:XZ 3:XZ 4:Y 5:Y 6:Z

X: Disruptors: 5/10/15, 1/3+/2/1
Range-Based DMG
[AB][AB][AB][AB]

Y: Phaser I: 5/10/15, 1/3+/1/1
Range-Based ROF
[ABCD][ABCD]

Z: Phaser II: 3/6/9, 1/3+/1/1
Range-Based ROF
[AC][BD][CE][CE][DF][DF]

Special: Hyperdrive; Science (4); Teleporters (3); Marines (20); Carrier (25); Anti-Fighter Batteries (4); Cargo (3)

All-in all not a bad compromise. Lost a significant carrier load, allows it to carry just a couple Single Striker flights.

Agh that's right, forgot to uncheck that box! I was going to address Screens on secondary passes.

Let's try again:

Federation Heavy Cruiser Using Screens:

(251) Constitution-class Federation Heavy Cruiser

Hull: 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1             
Engines: 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1             
Screens: 10 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1             
Weapons:
1:XY 2:XZ 3:XZ 4:Y 5:Y 6:Y

X: Photon Torpedoes: 5/10/15, 1/3+/1/5
Slow-Firing
[AB][AB][AB][AB]

Y: Phaser I: 5/10/15, 1/3+/1/1
Range-Based ROF
[ABCD][ABCD][AC][BD][CDEF][CDEF]

Z: Phaser III: 2/4/6, 1/3+/1/1
Range-Based ROF
[ABCDEF][ABCDEF]

Special: Hyperdrive; Science (6); Teleporters (2); Marines (5); Cargo

Am using Screens correctly this time intentionally. I think it forces a more tactical decision making. I'm not sure 10 is enough for a Federation Heavy Cruiser. I would prefer 15-16, but I would have to sacrifice weapons to do it.

Phaser 1s were the longest ranged weapon after Phaser 4s.  IMO, Phaser 4s would go out to 30, and Phaser 1s should go out to 18 at least (I'd go to 24, in SFB they went out to 75!).  Also, I'd changed Phasers to do Ranged-based Damage, not Ranged-based ROF.  They should also have the anti-fighter trait as they were one of the few weapons that didn't take a negative modifier to hit drones and fighters.

I doubt that 1 LAB = 1 Science.  More like 1 LAB = 10 to 20 Science.  I'm guessing at what a SU represents for those things*, but taking a standard flight of fighters (6) taking up 50 space, 50/6 ~= 9 per fighter.  So allowing for science equipment and space for the scientists, a "LAB" might take up a little more space than a fighter.

Same goes for Cargo.  I recall hearing about 3 different cargo rooms on the Enterprise from the TOS.  Increase the hull size by 1 without adding any weapons or defenses would allow for more spacious accommodations (and where's the room for the bowling alley?).

*Do the books cover that?   My store partner keeps forgetting to order the books from MJ12.    :x

hmm A klingon D7 has something like 90 internals in Federation Commander, 4 or which are Lab boxes.

I don't know if that number is high or low, as science in Starmada is abstract.

As previously posted I think I like Range based rate-of fire more than Range-based Damage. if you look on the hit chart Phaser Is do 50% more damage at point blank than Phaser IIs (Max damage 9 on Phaser I and 6 on Phaser II)
Phaser I goes out to 25 hexes in Fed Commander and Phaser II goes out to 25 as well

In fact, looking at the bands they are Almost identical at 9-25 range (The Phaser I does a little more damage with the same hit odds). The only place the Phaser I is dramatically better is n the 5 or less range, where it easily overpowers Phaser II. Maybe Phaser I and II have same range and Range-based ROF but Phaser I has the "Increased Hits" trait as well?

Fed Commander?  That wanna-be SFB game?  Pfft.  Give me the real SFB, where real men are Klingons and women are Orion slave girls.   

You know, i have both games, Glen and the difference isn't as much as you would think. I started playing SFB with the original Pocket Edition in '80 and played continuously until '95 or '96.

The major deal is they have consolidated stuff so I don't have to screw around with "Positron Flywheels" (lol) and "Ubitron Interface Modules" or the Kaufman Retrograde or "Narrow-salvo-proximity-fused Photon Torpedoes".

All that stuff is fine when you have 4 ships or less playing and you have 5 hours to spare, but stripping that down and not having to fill out turn-by turn energy allocation forms is brilliant. Your energy allocation takes place as you use it and you slide the paperclip down the laminated SSD to the new number.

And I can play 4 times more often now!

Doubled Range mods are not a bad idea, but I still think the base accuracy should be 4+.  If you went with DR, then it'd be 2+ at close (as good as you can do in Starmada), 4+ at medium, and 6+ hail mary at long.

Long range photons were always a gamble, thus the much loved narrow salvo proxy fused volley

Ok, how about this for Photons:

Range: 15 IMP:1 and DMG: 5
Slow Loading, Doubled Range Modifiers

I like the IMP to be 1 to preserve the feel of each die being a single Photon with a set amount of Damage (in SFB Non-overloaded Photons ALWAYS do 8 points of damage regardless of range.)

This way it also preserves the need for the Feds to close the distance every other turn to deliver the deadly cargo of Antimatter.

On Screens vs,. Shields, the reason i am leaning toward screens is purely flavor.

In Star Fleet Battles Shields are critically important and when you lose a shield you maneuver to protect it while the enemy maneuvers to exploit it.

By using Screens we force players to maneuver tactically and attempt to exploit direction.

I don't think it's Moot at all. we might see something they don't, or we might have an idea that sparks something. plus it's FUN. (lol)

I agree with you about the good old basic SFB, which is why I was pleasantly surprised with Federation Commander:Klingon Border. You get Cruisers, Frigates and a Dread each for Fed and Klingon, plus a couple ships from other races to whet your appetite. they carved out all the junk that slowed it down and kept what was good: Maneuver, Power, and proportional movement.