Of carriers and escorts

 This is really a miscellaneous musing, based on my feelings from the games played so far. It's something that has been bubbling under the surface of my mind for a while now, and I suppose it has crystallised with the arrival of the Hydrans in the campaign.

Basically, I am somewhat dissatisfied with carrier escorts. What is the point of them? Yes, they carry extra defensive weaponry which can be quite useful in protecting the main ship itself, but that just detracts from the overall offensive combat power of the fleet. Also, and this is what I think has mainly been bugging me, this early in the war the escorts are falling like flies, especially the smaller ones. Why would anybody bother with them? Why would the Klingons, say, have E4E Escorts and then have them uprated with Aegis fire control, when instead they could just stick a couple of F5 Frigates with the carrier instead?

My rationale is going to be that there must be a logical reason for having dedicated carrier escorts of the kind specified in F&E, and it will be down to command and control. Basically, ships specified in the role will not count towards the command limit of the overall Battle Force - they come free with their specified carrier. This will increase the overall number of ships a little, but it gives them a raison d'être that seems otherwise to be missing. I am also now confident enough in my fast play rules to include a very few more ships. This can only be done with one main carrier per player at a time.

The reason it came together in my mind is that the Hydrans don't start the war with proper carrier groups - after all, why would they feel the need? Their ships mostly have fighters of their own anyway. But then they develop them in much the same way as the other powers. Besides, giving full groups some benefit helps the Klingons against the relatively over-powered (although outnumbered) Hydrans. Overall, then, I'm looking for some flavour.

I'll play the Lyran approach battle to the Kzinti planet of Zamyan in my usual way, and then try out this idea in the defence of the planet itself. The Lyrans have some really good carriers of their own (the DWV and the Jagdpanther), but this early in the war they have relatively few escorts as such. The Kzinti, on the other hand, are bristling with carrier groups. Why?

I think this idea provides some sort of logic, and it should help the Kzinti in their attempts to stem the Coalition tide, at least a little. They are especially weak in cruiser-class vessels, so this helps to beef them up somewhat. It also explains why the Klingons start to produce a decent number of carriers themselves.

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