Ship Design - The History of Knox Class Frigates (56kers beware - too many photos)

Why combat sensors? CSM don't need the to-hit bonus.

Imo armor is better than shield for "onecombat" ships (ships that fight once and then RTB). (Of course not aginst armor skiping weapons). Shields starts to be interesting with shield regenerators (ship can fight for a while, retreat regen shields and fight again during one battle).

Brad: really? CSMs get nothing from combat sensors?

CSM's are seekers, so they always hit (assuming they are not shot down or evaded). Combat sensors only affect direct-fire weapons such as DUC's, APB's, and PDC.

I like to put PDC on all my ships for basic defense, so I put combat sensors on all my ships anyway

Don't confuse combat sensors with basic sensors, though - basic sensors are needed to see things at a distance. (I believe without basic sensors your ships can only see one hex away from them!)

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the "knox" class ship actually a missle boat?

SEV, more than a feeling.

Knox class frigates were ASW - antisubmarine warfare ships. By the mid-1990's they were all retired.

I'd remove the combat sensors, as they add nothing to a missile boat.

I'd remove the normal sensors as well. If they are defensive and will only be sitting on a warp point then you really don't need them - the enemy comes to you. Besides, one ship in the area can provide that function - you don't need to lock up all that tonnage on every ship. I usually put them on my support ships or carriers, not my direct combat ships.

I also wonder if you really need two ordinance pod thingys. The ship only has one missile after all.

Add all that up, and we are starting to talk tonnage for other items. Shields, PD, more armor, maybe another weapon.

I'd probably suggest taking out one additional armor and adding another missile. You lose some defensive value, but you double your fire power. And one Ord should still provide plenty of additional ammo till resupply gets there.

All kinds of options really.

YMMV,
Chad

Keep in mind that later, if you put PD on it, you might want the combat sensors. This makes PD more likely to hit.

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Tachyon Sensors are really only useful for detecting cloaked units.

Unless or until the AI starts putting cloaking devices onto its vessels, you can devote that 40 kt to something other than sensors.

Playing 1.58 with BM 1.11 I have noticed the enemy hiding in asteroid fields and other stuff like that, taking advantage of sensor interference, but I've yet to see in a full tech game the computer put cloaking devices onto their ships.

What you can do, and I think the main point people are making, is in a pinch have a 'Knox Scout' class that sacrifices, say, two units of armor in return for a combat sensor, while the rest of your ships put the extra space into other equipment. And that's before pulling stunts like using satellites with nothing but a satellite core and a sensor array sitting on it - costing less than 300 minerals to build, you can stick them a few hexes away from the warp point and still provide excelent coverage without having a sensor directly in the firing line.

If you place them insidiously enough, sure they're toast if the other guy breaks through and shoots them - but they had to waste several movement points to do so, and the thing was practically free to start with.

Drone with sensor. All my fleets have a probe with them. instead of valuable space being taken up on my warships for sensors i have a cheap probe. My carriers carry a reserve of them so if it gets destroyed i can just launch another one.
i'd work towards at least 2 missiles in later levels. I try to make my ships so they can put up a fight if they're caught out alone. one missile can easily be countered with PD, 2 significantly increases the chances of getting through. if you set your strat to MAX RANGE, your ship will stay out of range of most guns your enemy has and still lob missiles towards them.

ps. i like drones over satellites because they are moveable. satellites are fine for systems you already control. but for invasions i use probes. they're good for scouting warp points too. they do a pretty good job of telling you whats on the other side. usually mines

Drones are indeed nifty, but they cost quite a lot more per item, and require research points to obtain. Hence why I use satellites for peaceful scanning...

...must admit I've had a lot of fun with scout drones, which if you can get them fast enough are effectively uninterceptable, though.