Wikiyards: Share Your Best Ship Designs & Strats

I've mentioned around the place that I have custom (read: tight-packed) formations. Thus what I value isn't a single 'best ship design' but a number of specialists who work too closely together for regular formations to have much chance (assuming relatively equal tech levels).

Hence, a valuable part of my fleet is the Meat Shield. Well... cna't call it "meat" unless it's Organic I guess... But you can easily imagine how to design one - just remember to give it 1 weapon and 1 PD so default strategies still register it as a threat and target it.

---Sig---
Playing Touhou games (Go here if interested . No, nobody else is that good/insane as that replay). No rush for SE V bug fixing.

i wish there was a way to edit formations in game...

Custom formations would be great, is it possible to make the file available for download.

I'd really like to see a formation editor in game or out of game if that is not possible.

Here is a mod that addresses the Formations: http://www.spaceempires.net/home/ftopict-3301.html

There are two changes in the mod. One for Strategies and the other is Formations.

SE5 Files hosted on Filefront (Patches, Mods, Races, etc)

Hmm, a formation editor out of game can't be that hard... it'd just be a script with a GUI and once you're done you press a button and out pops a text file with what you need to copy/paste at the end of your Formations_TaskForces.txt file.

Unfortunately I can't spare the time to learn up on how to do something relatively simple as that... Months ago I produced the following slowly by hand (copy paste this to the end of your file):

(Oh and before I post the wall of code text... has anyone had success with getting asymmetric formations to work?)

// --- Author: Psieye
// Dense Artillery
//    0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  1  1  
//    1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  0  1  2  3  
//                              
// 01 ...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...
// 02 ,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,
// 03 ...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...
// 04 ,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,
// 05 ...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...
// 06 ,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,
// 07 ...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...
// 08 ,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,
// 09 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10[11[12[13
// 10 ,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,
// 11 ...,,,P19P03P10P08P01P09P11P02P18,,,...
// 12 ,,,P05...E14E18E16E12E15E17E13...P04,,,
// 13 P21P23E07E11E03E09E01E08E02E10E06P22P20
// 14 P07P25E05...,,,...,,,...,,,...E04P24P06
// 15 P13P27...,,,C21C19C17C18C20,,,...P26P12
// 16 P15P29,,,...C12C07C05C06C11...,,,P28P14
// 17 P17P31...C14C04C02*L*C01C03C13...P30P16
// 18 ,,,...,,,...C15C10C08C09C16...,,,...,,,
// 19 ...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...
// 20 ,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,
// 21 ...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...
// 22 ,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,
// 23 ...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...,,,...
//
Name                      := Dense Artillery
Description               := Thick layer in front to protect artillery core
Leader Position Xpos      := 7
Leader Position Ypos      := 17
Leader Design Type        := Core
Square Width              := 8
Square Height             := 6
Number of Positions       := 70
Position 1 Xpos           := 1
Position 1 Ypos           := 13
Position 1 Type           := Picket
Position 1 Slot           := 21
Position 2 Xpos           := 1
Position 2 Ypos           := 14
Position 2 Type           := Picket
Position 2 Slot           := 7
Position 3 Xpos           := 1
Position 3 Ypos           := 15
Position 3 Type           := Picket
Position 3 Slot           := 13
Position 4 Xpos           := 1
Position 4 Ypos           := 16
Position 4 Type           := Picket
Position 4 Slot           := 15
Position 5 Xpos           := 1
Position 5 Ypos           := 17
Position 5 Type           := Picket
Position 5 Slot           := 17
Position 6 Xpos           := 2
Position 6 Ypos           := 12
Position 6 Type           := Picket
Position 6 Slot           := 5
Position 7 Xpos           := 2
Position 7 Ypos           := 13
Position 7 Type           := Picket
Position 7 Slot           := 23
Position 8 Xpos           := 2
Position 8 Ypos           := 14
Position 8 Type           := Picket
Position 8 Slot           := 25
Position 9 Xpos           := 2
Position 9 Ypos           := 15
Position 9 Type           := Picket
Position 9 Slot           := 27
Position 10 Xpos           := 2
Position 10 Ypos           := 16
Position 10 Type           := Picket
Position 10 Slot           := 29
Position 11 Xpos           := 2
Position 11 Ypos           := 17
Position 11 Type           := Picket
Position 11 Slot           := 31
Position 12 Xpos           := 3
Position 12 Ypos           := 11
Position 12 Type           := Picket
Position 12 Slot           := 19
Position 13 Xpos           := 3
Position 13 Ypos           := 13
Position 13 Type           := Escort
Position 13 Slot           := 7
Position 14 Xpos           := 3
Position 14 Ypos           := 14
Position 14 Type           := Escort
Position 14 Slot           := 5
Position 15 Xpos           := 4
Position 15 Ypos           := 11
Position 15 Type           := Picket
Position 15 Slot           := 3
Position 16 Xpos           := 4
Position 16 Ypos           := 12
Position 16 Type           := Escort
Position 16 Slot           := 14
Position 17 Xpos           := 4
Position 17 Ypos           := 13
Position 17 Type           := Escort
Position 17 Slot           := 11
Position 18 Xpos           := 4
Position 18 Ypos           := 17
Position 18 Type           := Core
Position 18 Slot           := 14
Position 19 Xpos           := 5
Position 19 Ypos           := 11
Position 19 Type           := Picket
Position 19 Slot           := 10
Position 20 Xpos           := 5
Position 20 Ypos           := 12
Position 20 Type           := Escort
Position 20 Slot           := 18
Position 21 Xpos           := 5
Position 21 Ypos           := 13
Position 21 Type           := Escort
Position 21 Slot           := 3
Position 22 Xpos           := 5
Position 22 Ypos           := 15
Position 22 Type           := Core
Position 22 Slot           := 21
Position 23 Xpos           := 5
Position 23 Ypos           := 16
Position 23 Type           := Core
Position 23 Slot           := 12
Position 24 Xpos           := 5
Position 24 Ypos           := 17
Position 24 Type           := Core
Position 24 Slot           := 4
Position 25 Xpos           := 5
Position 25 Ypos           := 18
Position 25 Type           := Core
Position 25 Slot           := 15
Position 26 Xpos           := 6
Position 26 Ypos           := 11
Position 26 Type           := Picket
Position 26 Slot           := 8
Position 27 Xpos           := 6
Position 27 Ypos           := 12
Position 27 Type           := Escort
Position 27 Slot           := 16
Position 28 Xpos           := 6
Position 28 Ypos           := 13
Position 28 Type           := Escort
Position 28 Slot           := 9
Position 29 Xpos           := 6
Position 29 Ypos           := 15
Position 29 Type           := Core
Position 29 Slot           := 19
Position 30 Xpos           := 6
Position 30 Ypos           := 16
Position 30 Type           := Core
Position 30 Slot           := 7
Position 31 Xpos           := 6
Position 31 Ypos           := 17
Position 31 Type           := Core
Position 31 Slot           := 2
Position 32 Xpos           := 6
Position 32 Ypos           := 18
Position 32 Type           := Core
Position 32 Slot           := 10
Position 33 Xpos           := 7
Position 33 Ypos           := 11
Position 33 Type           := Picket
Position 33 Slot           := 1
Position 34 Xpos           := 7
Position 34 Ypos           := 12
Position 34 Type           := Escort
Position 34 Slot           := 12
Position 35 Xpos           := 7
Position 35 Ypos           := 13
Position 35 Type           := Escort
Position 35 Slot           := 1
Position 36 Xpos           := 7
Position 36 Ypos           := 15
Position 36 Type           := Core
Position 36 Slot           := 17
Position 37 Xpos           := 7
Position 37 Ypos           := 16
Position 37 Type           := Core
Position 37 Slot           := 5
Position 38 Xpos           := 7
Position 38 Ypos           := 18
Position 38 Type           := Core
Position 38 Slot           := 8
Position 39 Xpos           := 8
Position 39 Ypos           := 11
Position 39 Type           := Picket
Position 39 Slot           := 9
Position 40 Xpos           := 8
Position 40 Ypos           := 12
Position 40 Type           := Escort
Position 40 Slot           := 15
Position 41 Xpos           := 8
Position 41 Ypos           := 13
Position 41 Type           := Escort
Position 41 Slot           := 8
Position 42 Xpos           := 8
Position 42 Ypos           := 15
Position 42 Type           := Core
Position 42 Slot           := 18
Position 43 Xpos           := 8
Position 43 Ypos           := 16
Position 43 Type           := Core
Position 43 Slot           := 6
Position 44 Xpos           := 8
Position 44 Ypos           := 17
Position 44 Type           := Core
Position 44 Slot           := 1
Position 45 Xpos           := 8
Position 45 Ypos           := 18
Position 45 Type           := Core
Position 45 Slot           := 9
Position 46 Xpos           := 9
Position 46 Ypos           := 11
Position 46 Type           := Picket
Position 46 Slot           := 11
Position 47 Xpos           := 9
Position 47 Ypos           := 12
Position 47 Type           := Escort
Position 47 Slot           := 17
Position 48 Xpos           := 9
Position 48 Ypos           := 13
Position 48 Type           := Escort
Position 48 Slot           := 2
Position 49 Xpos           := 9
Position 49 Ypos           := 15
Position 49 Type           := Core
Position 49 Slot           := 20
Position 50 Xpos           := 9
Position 50 Ypos           := 16
Position 50 Type           := Core
Position 50 Slot           := 11
Position 51 Xpos           := 9
Position 51 Ypos           := 17
Position 51 Type           := Core
Position 51 Slot           := 3
Position 52 Xpos           := 9
Position 52 Ypos           := 18
Position 52 Type           := Core
Position 52 Slot           := 16
Position 53 Xpos           := 10
Position 53 Ypos           := 11
Position 53 Type           := Picket
Position 53 Slot           := 2
Position 54 Xpos           := 10
Position 54 Ypos           := 12
Position 54 Type           := Escort
Position 54 Slot           := 13
Position 55 Xpos           := 10
Position 55 Ypos           := 13
Position 55 Type           := Escort
Position 55 Slot           := 10
Position 56 Xpos           := 10
Position 56 Ypos           := 17
Position 56 Type           := Core
Position 56 Slot           := 13
Position 57 Xpos           := 11
Position 57 Ypos           := 11
Position 57 Type           := Picket
Position 57 Slot           := 18
Position 58 Xpos           := 11
Position 58 Ypos           := 13
Position 58 Type           := Escort
Position 58 Slot           := 6
Position 59 Xpos           := 11
Position 59 Ypos           := 14
Position 59 Type           := Escort
Position 59 Slot           := 4
Position 60 Xpos           := 12
Position 60 Ypos           := 12
Position 60 Type           := Picket
Position 60 Slot           := 4
Position 61 Xpos           := 12
Position 61 Ypos           := 13
Position 61 Type           := Picket
Position 61 Slot           := 22
Position 62 Xpos           := 12
Position 62 Ypos           := 14
Position 62 Type           := Picket
Position 62 Slot           := 24
Position 63 Xpos           := 12
Position 63 Ypos           := 15
Position 63 Type           := Picket
Position 63 Slot           := 26
Position 64 Xpos           := 12
Position 64 Ypos           := 16
Position 64 Type           := Picket
Position 64 Slot           := 28
Position 65 Xpos           := 12
Position 65 Ypos           := 17
Position 65 Type           := Picket
Position 65 Slot           := 30
Position 66 Xpos           := 13
Position 66 Ypos           := 13
Position 66 Type           := Picket
Position 66 Slot           := 20
Position 67 Xpos           := 13
Position 67 Ypos           := 14
Position 67 Type           := Picket
Position 67 Slot           := 6
Position 68 Xpos           := 13
Position 68 Ypos           := 15
Position 68 Type           := Picket
Position 68 Slot           := 12
Position 69 Xpos           := 13
Position 69 Ypos           := 16
Position 69 Type           := Picket
Position 69 Slot           := 14
Position 70 Xpos           := 13
Position 70 Ypos           := 17
Position 70 Type           := Picket
Position 70 Slot           := 16

---Sig---
Playing Touhou games (Go here if interested . No, nobody else is that good/insane as that replay). No rush for SE V bug fixing.

Thanks, that is exactly the sort of formation i was looking for.

Romulus68 could you re-post this using the code command?

Uh, Romulus? Could you delete some of the "===========" line and put the whole thing within "code" tags?

---Sig---
Playing Touhou games (Go here if interested . No, nobody else is that good/insane as that replay). No rush for SE V bug fixing.

I just finished making a formation editor like Psieye suggested. I'll post it in its own thread shortly.

-----
A project a day keeps the deadline away.

I used the code command and I wondered why it wasn't the white background?

I have the file hosted on my site. Click on the link below.

SE5 Files hosted on Filefront (Patches, Mods, Races, etc)

I like using beam attack ships, having religious tech gives you double combat sensors, and the experience booster for unparalled accuracy, these will give near perfect accuracy even against fighters. I like pairing them with boarding or missile ships. Using Meson Blasters produces this neato energy stream effect. when every shot hits they all go in a straight line that looks almost like an energy beam.

Trapped in your home system because the enemy has mined all possible warp points? Trying to build an army and havent got time to build loads of "Scouts" for your fleet that have mine sweepers? Build a "Barge of the Damned". Your biggest ship with the smallest amount of engines and the maximum number of sweepers. Put it to the front of your build queue, build it, then as it heads (slowly) to the warp point you want to break out off you can continue your fleet buildup. When ready, send it through.

A few downsides. Clearly depends on how many mines your dealing with. Second, if you have satelites on the other side then you'll need back up.

Fairly useful against computer opponent, cause it doesn't tend to mix Satelite and Mine Fields that often over Warp Points.

Thief frigate: (BM)
As many BoardingParties as needed to capture usual enemy ship (aginst realy big ships, one frigate is not enough though), emisive armor (after one use needs repair anyway, so unless aginst shield skipping weapons, no need for shields). If oponent uses shields, ad some weapon (if possible shield depleater, but normal weapon works too).
Works aginst ships going after you, running ships outrun boarding shuttle.

Advanced version: Less BP, but use toxin injector (kills crew, when crew killed target slow down).

my designs are top secret.

I use fleets of frigates. light sheilds with regen, full engines and the rest mounted cannons.
more cannons means more chances to hit. later in the game with defense % up over 150 on most ships. the heavy guns don't hit. its pretty nice when they do, but usually a smaller more agile ship with more guns can get more hits in and win.

But mm... in general I consider Light Cruisers as my balance between mobility and space. Of course, I don't use mounts - just lots and lots of guns/armour. Frigates are for chasing stuff, but planets can't run away~

---Sig---
Playing Touhou games (Go here if interested . No, nobody else is that good/insane as that replay). No rush for SE V bug fixing.

I have a few interesting designs I like.

1:
Multi-purpose utility ship
Designed to be a jack of all trades ship, originally made to acompany space yard ships, later became handy for all sorts of things. I use them to escort colony ships, act as basic escort carriers, to transport fighters and sats to colonies, tend to space yard bases with limited cargo space, etc.
Cruiser lvl 10 (1,000kt)
1 Bridge
1 Life Support
1 Crew quarters
1 Auxiliary Control
1 Basic Sensor
1 Combat Sensor
1 Scanner (Tachyon, Psychic, Temporal, take your pick)
1 Long Range Scanner
1 ECM
12 engine
1 phased shield generator
1 shield regenerator
80kt of armor (no foes with crystal weapons when made)
2 APBs
2 PD Beam
1 Medical Bay
1 Mine Sweeper
1 Security Station
1 Self Destruct
1 Cloaking Device
4 Fighter Bay
2 Satellite Bay
2 Mine Layers
2 Drone Launchers
2 Cargo Bays
40kt supply/ordnance storage/generating components (or with my present design, an Ordnance Vat and Quantum Reactor)
Have considered removing 20kt of armor for a Solar Sail

2:
"Super" Colony Ship
Large Freighter lvl 10
Originally made as a sort of combination colony ship and population transport, and because at the time I had more resources than I knew what to do with (had built up infrastructure to support creation of many baseships for ring/sphere world construction). They are also handy as they can be sent out alone most of the time without much trouble from any possible enemies. I do sweep a system and warp points with a mine sweeper equipped ship before sending this ship out. Its main 'defense' is stealth and awareness of its surroundings.
I keep a few around just in case, either due to scouts finding a good planet to colonize, or if I need a transport with stealth.

1 Bridge
1 Life Support
1 Crew Quarter
1 Auxiliary Control
1 Basic Sensor
1 Combat Sensor
1 ECM
10 Engines
1 Solar Sail
1 Ice Colony
1 Gas Colony
1 Rock Colony
2 Cargo Bay
2 Satellite Bays
1 Phased Shield Generator
1 Shield Regenerator
1 Security Station
1 Medical Bay
1 Cloaking Device
1 Scanner (Tachyon, Psychic, Temporal, take your pick)
20kt of Supply Storage (or a Solar Collector or Quantum Reactor)
10kt Armor
65kt for weapons (latest version, PB beam, Telekinetic Projector, although a pair of Meson Blasters or a Heavy Mount Meson Blaster works also)

3:
Attack/Battle/Assault Carriers
Main downside to a carrier? Lack of firepower.
Main downside of a big warship? Someone with a broken leg can limp faster than it.
Main downside to many standard combat ships? 'Limited' weapon/engagement range.

So, to resolve this problem, I have been toying around with the following concepts.
Attack/Strike Carrier, Cruiser with 4 fighter bays
Battle Carrier, Battleship with 8 Fighter Bays
Assault Carrier, Dreadnought with 12 Fighter Bays... and in my latest version, a Massive Mount Wave Motion Gun...
Also handy for intercepting those pesky "Run away!" ships and for situations where enemies can outpace CSMs/Torpedoes long enough for them to 'run out of fuel'.

4:
Mobile Fighter Base
A spinoff of the above, but with a Baseship.
Have a Baseship with 24 Fighter Bays and a Space Yard...
Sure, it's not very fast, but its fighters will cause a major problem, only a dedicated Heavy Carrier can carry more fighters, but the MFB can rebuild its own fighters, and packs enough firepower to deal with anything that limps towards it (if they survive the fighters, that is).
It is crammed full of other stuff, such as a Scanner, Mine Sweeper, Cloak, defense/stealth increasing items, etc, it is partly designed to be an mobile base, mobile defense, ambusher, etc.
Toss in a 'big gun' (such as a Wave Motion Gun) to convince smaller/faster ships to 'go away', and to pound any (likely damaged) big ships that get past the fighter screen.

5:
The Annoying Ankle Biter
When the Battleships and Dreadnoughts start flying around, the smaller ships seem to get ignored in the favor of having all their eggs in one basket... I say to heck with the basket, and let the eggs do the talking!

Frigate lvl 10 (475kt)
1 Bridge
1 Life Support
1 Crew Quarter
1 Auxiliary Control
1 Basic Sensor
1 Combat Sensor
1 ECM
1 Security Station
1 Self Destruct
1 Phased Shield Generator
1 Shield Regenerator
60kt Armor (at least 1 Emissive Armor recommended)
145 kt weapons and other stuff (such as 1 PD Beam, 2 Large Mount Meson Blasters, 1 Quantum Torpedo, 1 Supply Storage, 1 Ordnance Storage).
Their speed, Defense due to small size and ECM, plus a nice little amount of weapons and other defense, makes these things very useful, if not annoying as heck for the enemy.
"Death by a thousand paper cuts!"

It's a flexible design, you can remove some armor for more weapons, or remove weapons for extra armor and shields or a cloak, or skip most/all of the armor and go with a gunship or torpedo boat style design that exists simply to dish out as much firepower as possible in as short amount of time as possible.

Example, ditch all the armor except 1 Emissive, remove the Shield Regenerator, and replace the weapons setup (leaving the PD) with 4 Quantum Torpedoes and a Meson Blaster for some long ranged seeker mayhem, or also remove the Ordnance Storage and go with 4 Large Mount Meson Blasters and an extra PB Beam for a nasty little gunship that can pound ships and cause trouble for any fighters/drones/sats unfortunate to cross their path, especially if you got a pack of these things.

6:
My "Death Lotus" Starbase.
If the enemy LOVES using big ships, they stop here.
I even got a little motto for it.
"When the Death Lotus blooms, the enemy shall die."
8k shields, 32mt armor (yes, 32000kt of armor structure, armor tech was maxed at the time of latest upgrade, something like 320kt used on armor), 20 Quantum Torpedoes, 2 Massive Mount Wave Motion Guns, 4 PD Beams, 2 Bomblet Missile and 2 Flak Cannons, and 'backup weapons' in the form of 2 APBs and 2 Meson Blasters (all 4 Lg Mts)
The 6k damage and 240ls range of the WMGs alone will crush many smaller ships in a single shot and make it impossible for any ship to safely 'stand back' and bombard it, even if they have the organic missiles (seeking parasite?). The 20x torpedoes (400+ damage and 180ls range each) will ruin the day of anyone not packing a lot of PD stuff.

Backed up by...

7:
My "Star Flower" Starbase
Equal shields, 26mt of armor structure, 2 Massive Mount Wave Motion Guns, 2 Massive Mount Phased Polaron Beams, 4 Large Mount APBs, 4 Large Mount Meson Blasters, same PD weapons as 6, + 4 PD Blasters and 4 PD Cannons, it is made to add better anti-unit support, and generally to pose more of a problem if an enemy comes in heavy with PD weapons.

Lack of the AI doing much with fighters/drones, and having dedicated PD heavy ships has kept me from creating a Starbase focused on swatting down swarms of fighters. (If a PD heavy Starbase was needed, would take #7, remove the 8 torpedoes, both Massive Mount WMGs, toss in 6 more Bomblet Missile, 6 more Flak Cannon, 4 more PD Beams, 8 more PD Blasters, 4 more PD Cannons, 2 more Massive Mount Phased Polaron Beams, and an extra Shield Regenerator or Emissive Armor)

8:
Craziest concept that 'almost' got put into full production for no particular reason.
Orbital Habitat...
A Spacestation with a crew of 8,000... (and 3 security centers, self destruct, master computer), serves no real purpose other than to see what it might do if an enemy loves trying to use stuff like toxin injectors or capture ships... (but alas, the AI is lame in that department so far...)

Also had a (better armed/defended) 'Orbital Habitat with an Attitude' Starbase version (8,500 crew, added space yard, repair bay, 1 each mine layer/drone launcher/sat bay, 2 cargo bay, 4 fighter bays, "No Trespassing" sign hanging on barrel of Massive Mount WMG...)
Again, no real purpose other than to design them to add 'flavor' to the 'sci-fi space setting' of SE V.

Romulus68, there should be a rule against a post being that long.

After a certain point, you should just link a .txt file...

"Only by being constantly at war with evil in all things, including yourself, can you truely know peace."
Download my mod here: GidMod

Yes, please edit that.
Oh, and the white background left me nearly blind

I just use my cruiser whit heavy shields , light armor , 12 quantum engines , 1 solar sail , maxed tachyon sensor , 1 combat sensor , 1 master computer , some quantum generators and usualy anti-proton beams whit heavy mounts . Can fly forever and it kills most AI designs whit ease alll while avoiding any missaile fire .

If this baby is outmached then in comes the dread . But the setup is secret

@ inigma
Those are some interesting name suggestions.
the two names I had so far were Creche (for the spacestation) and Haven (for the starbase)

Although...
Imperial Retirement Colony
Crews R' Us
Lawyer Sanctuary
Spacedock and Bureau of Bureaucracy... a starbase that needs 8000 people to fill out the virtual paperwork so 500 space yard workers in the smaller section of the station can get stuff done, at least according to a bunch of time wasting bureaucrats... "The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the demands of the expanding bureaucracy"

Also, nice barebones construction ship design.
Although it leaves about 220kt to play around with if I got the numbers right, and falls 2 short of max engines.

Due to the spare space, it could be easy to create a few variants of it, and if needed, upgrade the barebones ones to other ones in certain situatons.

I personally like to have at least minimal defenses on my construction ships just to be on the safe side, even if just a PD blaster, a little armor (even if just a Stealth armor for a little stealth while uncloacked), a shield, and a basic weapon to pot shot tailgaters with.

Edit:
@ Romulus68
Please oh please edit your post with the formation code.
I got curious and counted how many times I had to hit Page Down to get past your post of formation code, and it hit the Page Down button over 400 times to get past that huge trafic jam of text you posted.
Also, this page takes a few seconds or so longer to load than other pages do, probably because of that mountain of text... and I have a DSL modem... and if I copy/paste it into a text file, I end up with a 262kb text file...

Lately (in BM (with modified pop bonuses, see my SY oriented thread, basicaly low pop = low production/construction, high pop = high (more than in IRM))) I started using early game builder ships. Small freighter with reduced amount of engines. So its practicaly mobile construction base (without storage). It builds directly into space (ships/stations) and into other vessel/planet storage.
Becose of lowered build rate of fresh colonies, it is usefull for making defenses for them + providing repair + building (esp. via upgrades) some orbital works/WP defense.

Ah, ok.
I was wondering why the one you posted seemed a bit 'empty' compared to the Stock Cruiser.

edited to make shorter!