I was looking for something with a different profile and "mission" and decided to try creating one on my own.

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FEARLESS Class Light Cruiser

Not sure this is ballanced. It has 4 weapon components possible. The two dorsals give it excellent coverage, but adding the prow to that makes it brutal. It can bring as many guns to bear on an enemy as a cruiser, not including the available landing bay (3 Hull integrity is a minor cost). It also has exceptional detection. The Long Patrol trait is a real benifit as well, as you can use smaller components than the ship normally has. I think I would have to disallow this one as a GM. I might allow the weapon configuration if the Prow was dedicated a Torpedo Tube system. I would either drop the Detection or remove the Light Carrier trait. This ship is just too good, why wouldn't a RT take it?

Being able to bring 3 "guns" to bear plus a launch bay is something that's also possible with a Secutor Monitor-Cruiser, so it's not entirely unprecedented. I do like the idea of a Light Cruiser that is also a Frigate, since the Star Galleon is one of my favourite ships, but the problem here is that there are very, VERY few things that can be mounted on a Frigate that can't be mounted on a Light Cruiser, so letting them buy at the Frigate cost for a flat rate is just too good.

I like the concept, but I think you're trying to do too much with it. Just have it be a Light Cruiser that is designed for Long Patrols. Give it integrated Extended Supply Vaults, and leave it with the high Detection since that's thematically appropriate. Also I feel like this should be called the "Endurance" Light Cruiser rather than the "Fearless"

Don't have my books at work, but how do you get 3 guns and a launch bay on a Secutor without mounting one side with a launch bay and one side with a gun? And do you have to fight in a spiral to hit your opponent if you do? Uneven mounting of weapons is almost never done, as it creates a 'weak side' of a ship that is far more vulnerable. Doesn't the Secutor have Prow, Dorsal, Port, Stbd? That is not a good a fit as Prow, 2 Dorsal. The Secutor requires you mount one more weapon and limits your forward arc to two weapons. That means you can mount more components for the same firepower. You could also afford to mount more powerful weapons, as you only have to buy 3. That makes it better than most Cruisers. And you still get a flight bay as an extra. Therefore the Fearless is better armed than the Secutor (and most Cruisers), as well as having better Detection (the best in the game, only matched by a dedicated scout ship!) and Speed (Better than any other Light Cruiser). It is literally the BEST light cruiser in almost every category, and inferior by 1-2 points of armor. There is no reason to ever take a different ship, it would be the default RT ship of choice.

The Secutor is a really good Light Cruiser, but it is built for heavy combat and slow. This hull is faster and better armed, as well as effectively having more space and power. The only downside is lower shields and armor. I like the fluff feel of the ship, but the mechanical power is off. I think that I would have to go with 2 Dorsal, a Voss Torpedo Tube in Prow, and remove the cost reduction. I would also lower the Detection to +15. The ship is still faster than any other light cruiser, but its weapon loadout is more reasonable.

Don't have my books at work, but how do you get 3 guns and a launch bay on a Secutor without mounting one side with a launch bay and one side with a gun? And do you have to fight in a spiral to hit your opponent if you do? Uneven mounting of weapons is almost never done, as it creates a 'weak side' of a ship that is far more vulnerable.

For some reason the idea of asymmetrical ships drove my players crazy at the very suggestion. Even when they asked the person in question who revealed it was done so that he would only "present his good side", and he only needs broadsides on one half of his ship for orbital bombardment.. Also yes, that will almost inevitably lead to people positioning themselves to attack on the launch-bay side, which is when vortex-torpedo bearing bombers ruin everyone's day.

I do think that this particular ship does outclass the other Light Cruisers though, which isn't a good thing. This might be interesting if this was the original Fearless Cruiser that was designed as the "show model" by the Mechanicus, and then every other Cruiser built since then just doesn't measure up to that first one's standards.

No, it's definitely not balanced. It's not something that's ready to be used by a group, even our group.

I wanted something with good chase armaments and a wide field of fire. I should note that I intended it to be difficult to fit in both the cargo/vaults and the landing bay, but it seems I miscalculated the free space.

But you're right, the thing has unbalanced stats. I did envision this to be the aggressive opposite image of the Secutor: instead of the light cruiser taking hits above its weight its dishing out the hurt but shouldn't be able to take hits anywhere near as well.

The intention was to make this weaker than a light cruiser should be. But I like your point, Erathia. I can do without the Light Carrier rule.

What about this?

That seems a lot more ballanced. I can still build a ship with speed 8, 2 Hecutor Plasma Batteris, and a Sunhammer Lance Battery that can fire in all but the rear arc together. It is definitely more of a glass cannon though. This ship is suited to slashing attacks at long range, and can fire all its weapons in Port/Prow/Stbd arcs. I added a Minelayer Bay to discourage pursuit and Field Bracings to allow the ship to survive running away better. I could get it a lot more powerful if I had a few more SP and maybe a piece of Archeotech, but this is a ship the Imperial Navy could outfit.

Total SP: 67

Speed: 8 Maneuverability +8 Detection +25

Void Shields: 1 Armor 17 (19 Prow) Hull: 45

Turret: 1 Population: 100 Morale : 102

Weapons Range Str Dam Crit

Dorsal Hecutor Plasma Battery 11 3 1d10+2 4

Dorsal Hecutor Plasma Battery 11 3 1d10+2 4

Prow Sunhammer Lance Battery 9 2 1d10+3 3

Modifiers:

+5 BS

+5 Command

If Bridge takes Crit then unpowered on 3+ on d10

+1d5 Ramming Damage

Hecutor Batteries effect 2 components on crit of 1 or 2

+50 AP Exploration

x2 patrol duration

+1 Hull repair on Extended Repairs

Fitting Power Space SP

Jovian Pattern Mark 3 Plasma Drive +60 12

Miloslav Warp Engine 10 12

Warpbane Hull 1 2

Single Void Shield 5 1

Command Bridge 3 2 1

Vitae Life Sustainers 5 3

Voidsman Quarters 2 4

M-100 Auger Array 3

Extended Supply Vaults 1

Hecutor Plasma Battery (Dorsal) 8 3 2

Hecutor Plasma Battery (Dorsal) 8 3 2

Sunhammer Lance Battery (Prow) 13 6 2

Reinforced Prow 0 3 1

Observation Dome 0 1 1

Minelayer Bay 1 4 1

Field Bracing 0-3 1 2

I agree with Asher, this is absolutely a Glass Cannon Light Cruiser now, which is perfect for Long Patrols where the goal is NOT to get into an extended fight, but monitor and maybe position itself to quickly annihilate a target of opportunity, then retreat before a counter-attack.

I also love the build above, but I think that his build shows the only problem I have in that as cool as a 2-Strength Landing Bay is, being able to mount three long-range weapons each with a 270-degree firing arc is probably better. I do like the Landing Bay rule, but I don't see many people taking it. Maybe you can salvage it for another custom hull?

Finally I would actually increase its starting Manoeuvrability. Currently it is worse than most Cruisers, which doesn't match up to my vision of a long-patrol ship.

If you raise the Maneuverability it needs to have lower Detection. It has the highest detection of any ship in the game right now. It is only matched by the Viper-Class scout. An alternate to the above build is to replace one of the Hecutors with a landing bay and tweak the other components for utility. That would make a pretty good RT ship, giving you speed and firepower with lots of utility to boot. I may have to build one up, just to see how it stacks up as a RT flagship.

It does have the highest Detection, but it has the lowest Manoeuverability of any vessel that isn't a Transport or Grand Cruiser, the armour of a Raider, and the Hull Integrity of a Transport. I think that does balance out the benefits of high Detection/Manoeuverability, especially since by RAW the Light Cruiser can only turn 45 degrees as a base.

For what my 2 cents are worth, I generally agree with William in the above.

Lets compare where it stands against other ships

The highest Detection in the game for any ship Major Plus

Frigate speed Plus

Frigate to slightly below armor/shields/turret Minus

Cruiser level firepower Major Plus

Cruiser level maneuverability Minus

above Frigate Hull, but below Light Cruiser Minus

Light Cruiser space Neutral

That leaves you with a powerful glass cannon ship. Having such a high base Detection saves a bunch of power by allowing bare bones auger array. Personally, I could see putting a Emyrean Mantle and W-240 Auger Array and it being able to sneak up on people and smash them quickly. For what it has now, it is on the very highest level of power I could even see allowing. I am not sure I would allow it as is. I might just drop the Detection to +15 if I use it, as that matches the other Light Cruisers and is still quite good.

Hmm, you're right about the Detection as I may be underestimating the effect of a +25 Detection rating. I think I can set it back to the Dauntless' +20 without any issues.

Perhaps a bonus to detecting sneaky (multi-kilometre long) spaceships? Or some Warp detection bonus like the R-50 offers? It's meant to be patrolling a lot, scanning things since it's a glass cannon it needs to be able to see what it should try to kill before it gets hulled.