Just got in a huge shipment of Dropfleet Commander spaceships, so building up a 16-ship starter fleet for each of the four factions. First up, we have the UCM!
Dropfleet Commander is the latest release form Hawk Wargames. It takes a different spin on the space combat genre in that rather than being a deep space combat game, it focuses on orbital engagements supporting the war on the ground. The game is fought over ground sectors and space stations that you deploy ground forces into, as well as controlling sectors of space in low orbit with your fleets. Your Strike Carriers and Bulk Landers deploy what basically consists of entire Dropzone Commander armies to control spots on the ground while your other ships fight each other in the skies.
The Toulon class Frigates are small, agile, and packing three small turrets. They are cheap and I don't expect to do a ton of killing, but they can put out a surprisingly decent amount of firepower for a small frigate.
The Lima class Frigates provide UCM's electronic warfare. They will sit in the back and use the "Active Scan" order - adding energy spikes to enemy ships across the battlefield and making it easier for the rest of the UCM fleet to target them.
The Taipei class Frigate is a close range missile boat. It can toss out quite a few close action shots (limited to a 6" range), but as all of it's attacks are close action, it will be reduced by the targets Point Defense stat. This ships will become increasingly more threatening the more of them there are as they will combine all their shots into one volley. Another two of these are on my short list of ships to build.
Last but not least on the Frigate front is the New Orleans class Strike Carrier. These are the workhorses of the UCM in Dropfleet - they deploy dropships containing troops and armor to the front line. The purpose of the game is controlling ground territory - and these are the guys that drop the troops on the ground. While the can only launch one dropship a turn, that dropship can consist of infantry (good for garrisoning and survivable against other ship's orbital bombardments) or armored units (good for fighting the opponents unit's on the ground)
The San Francisco class Troopship is designed to get mass boots on the ground ASAP! It can drop two bulk landers a turn onto the ground - each consisting of a platoon of infantry, or an orbital defense battery. It's not ideal for initial deployments, it will swoop in and reinforce the spots that the strike carriers initially took.
Two Berlin class Cruisers, each primarily armed with a burnthrough laser. While the weapon can only shoot directly in front of it, it can pack quite a punch. It has the secondary armament of turrets in the rear, but I intend that most of the time, the Berlins will stay on "Standard Orders", only allowing the firing of a single weapon - the giant laser!
And last up we have the Moscow class Heavy Cruiser. This ship packs a wooping six guns, mostly on turrets with all-around fields of fire, making it an ideal ship to get stuck in the middle and go Weapons Free! for max destruction.
