Taihou Assault DropShip, TRO3085
While there are larger and deadlier ships there are few ships that match the simple purity of purpose of the Taihou. Everything about the Taihou is based around getting its bow auto cannons into range where they can rapidly eviscerate any DropShip in existence. Having seen a Taihou destroy an Arondight in a single salvo I can not stress enough that an operational Taihou deserves the utmost respect.
As you might have guessed from the above, the primary weapon of the Taihou is a bow mounted bay filled with four Heavy Sub Capital Cannons. With damage ranging from 280 to 112 depending on the level of bracketing, this is an accurate and deadly weapon system. Backing it up are a mix of heavy PPCs and MRM40s. The MRM bays are of particular note doing 72 points of damage with the accuracy boost of an Apollo system. They will do even more with the Apollo disabled. Finally a Naval C3 system is buried deep within the heart of the Taihou. Not only will the Taihou benefit from the targeting of its sister ships, but the close ranged attack of the Taihou makes it a natural spotting unit.
The major fault of all this firepower is it is all very short ranged. The Taihou deals with that in a variety of ways. Firstly a high thrust rating allows the Taihou to close the range quickly using evasion, and then stay at close range. Next the Taihou carries a Screen Launcher in the bow. Typically these are defensive systems, but the Taihou uses its Screen Launcher offensively, creating clouds of obscuring chaff for it to scurry into while making its approach. Then, if an enemy can overcome the combination of chaff and evasion the Taihou is covered in 115 tons of locally produced Heavy Ferro Aluminium armour.
All of this capability comes at a cost. At 12,000 tons this is a big ship with limited capabilities other than killing other ships. A pair of Small Craft and 36 battle armour is carried for picket work but the Taihou lacks the endurance for extended operations. While fast itself it is too large to hunt down multiple targets. Additionally it is not a great AAA platform. It may be hard for a wing of aerospace fighters to kill, but the Taihou’s weapons allow it to do little more than protect itself.
So how does one use a Taihou? Against other ships, simply put its nose forward and charge. Try and use the systems provided to avoid getting hit. While the Taihou is not likely to be critted initially there is no reason to encourage it. Against Aerospace fighters it is more difficult. On its own the Tiahou has the thrust to dance with the fighters. Its secondary weapons are brutal if they hit, and the armour makes it a tough kill. As part of a squadron the short range of the Taihou’s weapons force it to move towards the battle if it wants to take part, even when getting C3 data. While it has the thrust to do this, it can do bad things to defensive formations.
How does one beat a Taihou? Firepower. A modern SCC ship like an Arondight SCC or the big Blakists ships have the firepower and the armour to do it, but its far from a sure thing and highly reliant on initiative. The Taihou is so good at what it does it can rapidly turn the tables on these less specialised platforms. The safest way is massed aerospace fighters. Keep the Taihou away from your ships if at all possible. WarShips are another possibility. But one can hardly expect a single Taihou to take on a WarShip.
In summary the Taihou is the definition of an anti DropShip platform. Brutal and simple it is highly effective at its defined role, but is less than ideal outside of a simple combat situation.
