I've been an SFU player since SFB Designer Edition days, and in recent years I've been playing Fed Com. One thing about the SFU - and I say this with love - the Klingons are a paper tiger. (No Kzinti jokes, please!)

Largely thanks to the Klingons' reliance on inferior ph-2s, even a Fed old CL has little to fear from a D7. The overwhelming power of Fed overloaded photons is part of the equation as well.

And so, I'm very happy to say that my Fed CA was just soundly trounced by a Klink D7. I mean totally. I had to disengage and run the hell away - limp, actually - with what was left of my tail between my nacelles. And...I loved it! Suddenly, facing a Klingon ship is scary again! I think it's due to the way Starmada handles ph-2s. In FC/SFB, they use a different damage chart from ph-1s. Their in-universe description, however, specifies that they are actually the same phaser emitter with a much less accurate targeting system. Starmada models this situation, imho, in a better way: by making them the same except for what is considered close, medium, and long range. Ph-1s, for example, are not subject to a -1 long-range modifier until at range 9, whereas for a ph-2 it's range 6, but they both roll 1d6 for damage. Additionally, disruptors seem to get a much-needed boost relative to photons over FC, and Starmada drones are more dangerous as well.

Thank you for making the Klingons scary again!