Reposted from the Archives:
Lakshmi-class Escort Dropship
Overview:
In the heady early days after the Inner Sphere rediscovered the ability to manufacture warships, all the Houses spent vast resources on researching the existing data on capital-scale space battles, something that had not been done in the Inner Sphere for well over 200 years. Detailed analysis of the Amaris War and the early Succession wars revealed that warships were vulnerable to massed squadrons of aerospace fighters. Fire control limitations precluded the installation of massive arrays of anti-fighter batteries on warships, yet the extremely limited number of shipyards capable of producing warships precluded the construction of warships for anti-fighter escort duties. The solution was obvious; specialized assault dropships could be produced to escort the warships and protect them from fighters. However, the same research showed that dropships, even assault dropships, were horribly vulnerable to even the smallest capital weapons mounted on warships and were no more resistant to massed fighter attacks than warships. For these reasons, most House militaries simply ignored the issue and continued on their warship construction without taking escort needs into consideration.
At the same time, a small but vocal group of Lyran dropship captains advocated the creation of assault dropships capable of taking on a warship, citing that the lack of a compact K-F drive would result in substantial savings of resources and allow for these so-called “pocket warships” to be manufactured in many more locations than the few warships being built at the time. Unlike the escort dropship advocates, these members of the admiralty had some degree of influence and actually managed to get the authorization to order the construction of a prototype vessel to test the viability of the concept.
The shipyard selected to construct the vessel, officially designated the DWX-01 (Drop-Warship, eXperimental) project, was Pencader Shipping, Ltd. (PSL), a small company that built massive bulk carriers at a rate of 1 every three years at their L1 orbital facility. The specifications for the class required DWX-01 to be able to withstand a hit from the largest capital bays possible, enough firepower to successfully engage a warship, sufficient thrust to close with its target and run away if outgunned and “squadron-level fighter capacity”. The design submitted by PSL was the only one (of a total of three submitted for review) that met and even exceeded every criterion, furthermore, PSL was the only shipyard actually capable of building the prototype without having to completely revamp or upgrade their facilities.
The ship was built in the estimated timeframe of 8 years, but came in almost three times over budget. The only thing that saved the project from cancellation was that every time that it would come up for review, something catastrophic would occur that allowed the self-styled “pocket admirals” to save the project; the Clan invasion, the re-establishment of the SLDF, Lyran secession and the constant threat from the Jade Falcons, among others. DWX-01 was named LADS Ushas Lakshmi during her launching ceremony in 3062, in honour of Admiral Ushas Lakshmi, developer of the Lyran dropship combat doctrines used throughout the succession wars and hailed as saviour of Tharkhad during the early stages of the First Succession War.
By the time of her launch, however, the folly of using assault dropships against warships was well known, so the “pocket admirals” seized on the idea of re-designating the Lakshmi as an Escort Dropship (ED-01), dropping the “X” in the process.
Capabilities:
The original design specifications called for a ship capable of taking on a warship, thus requiring the largest dropship hull possible under the current technological capabilities of the Lyran Alliance, so she came in at a massive 100,000 tons; the largest military dropship ever built. Since the PSL’s chief engineer was unused to designing ships for high thrust or carrying such heavy items as armour and weapons, the ship’s structure was massively overbuilt, taking up over a third of the total tonnage of the ship itself, allowing the ship to handle 4 G’s acceleration during combat maneuvers and carry enough standard plate armour to survive a hit in any quarter from the heaviest capital bays in common usage, a claim that many warships could not make. Massive landing struts, often mistaken for aesthetic embellishments, permit the Lakshmi to actually land and take off again from a planetary surface, something it did in January 19th, 3065 during the civil war, when a miscalculation in thrust had her crossing the atmospheric boundary and coming under attack by planet-based fighters in the atmosphere, which severely damaged several doors and required the ship to land to make repairs before taking off again and rejoining the task force in orbit.
While still under construction, the problems inherent in such a massively overbuilt structure were apparent, inspiring a redesign of the frame to streamline construction and lighten it as much as possible without reducing its capabilities or performance in any way. The result of this redesign was designated the Lakshmi II Escort Dropship and weighed in at less than two thirds the total tonnage of the Lakshmi I, using ferro-aluminum armour to maintain the degree of protection from capital bays enjoyed by its predecessor.
The armament and appointments are identical in both classes (except where indicated, this article will refer primarily to the Lakshmi II, since the original is considered an orphan class); massive arrays of AS-rated Heavy Gauss Rifles (the original design specifications called for standard-grade gauss rifles, but large numbers of HGR’s which had been ordered for installation in light fighters became available when it became clear that light ASF’s with HGR’s were not a good idea) covers every fire arc, concentrating on the nose for a short-range volley that can eliminate entire squadrons of fighters in less than a minute while still being able to reach well beyond the range of most fighters that might decide to engage it. Covering every other arc are massive batteries of Ultra-class 200mm autocannon, capable of delivering over 60% of the kinetic damage of a McKenna-class battleship’s NAC bays, though at considerably shorter ranges. 20-gun batteries of ERPPC’s cover each arc for anti-fighter fire that is capable of thresholding practically any fighter squadron that could be assembled. These PPC’s can deliver damage equal to the massive NAC’s of some warships though at only half the range.
14 Capital missile launchers, half of which are AR-10 multi-platform launchers, cover all arcs, enabling the Lakshmis to engage targets at extreme capital ranges and giving them tremendous anti-shipping capability and flexibility, potentially even including nuclear capability. To aid in their escort duties, each Lakshmi is equipped with screen launchers to obscure line-of-sight. All these weapon systems require extremely sophisticated fire control and power distribution systems, which take up a considerable amount of tonnage, but enable the ship to fire all its weapons simultaneously without any kind of difficulty.
Rounding off the armaments, fighter facilities are included for six complete squadrons of fighters (36 fighters) and a pair of small craft. This effectively adds “carrier” to the capabilities of the Lakshmi and results from a simple human error in that the person taking down the specifications did not know how many fighters were in a squadron and asked her equally clueless husband, who thought that a squadron was 36 fighters. The “pocket admirals” liked the idea of adding carrier capability to their “pocket warship” and so the fighter wing was kept "as is". It should be noted that asides for the massive fuel capacity of the Lakshmi itself, 1,000 tons of tankage is dedicated to fuel for the fighter wing. The six fighter launch doors are capable of launching the entire fighter compliment in three minutes still leaving the two small craft doors available for recovery or additional launch operations.
The class is praised by its crews for its comfort and amenities (though the Lakshmi I is somewhat more cramped). Command officers each receive their own stateroom, as does the Ship’s Fire Control Commander (senior gunnery officer) and CAG. Gunnery officers share double-occupancy staterooms. Enlisted/non-rated command, engineering and gunnery crew share bunk areas of 4-8 crew per bunkroom, but these are attached to common areas with first-rate health and entertainment facilities. Fighter pilots are assigned to six 6-person bunkrooms (officially one to a squadron, though often squadrons are split along gender lines) around a common pilot’s mess, the equal to the ship’s crew common areas. The two-man crews of the small craft share a seventh bunkroom in the same common area. The air wing technical support staff are housed in seven 6-person bunkrooms each near their designated squadron’s bay. Though spartan, these quarters are not at all cramped and are considered far superior to those in common use in other dropship carriers, such as the Leopard CV or the Vengeance.
Unlike many military vessels, both versions of the Lakshmi have dedicated passenger facilities, officially present to accommodate command-level staff. A single large stateroom and a suite that accommodates two in first-class comfort are reserved for VIP’s, with a six-person spartan bunkroom nearby for aides or servants. Two double occupancy spartan bunkrooms are placed near the airlock with a common area between them that can be locked only from the outside, enabling the area to serve as the ship’s brig if necessary. The final accommodations are what the crew jokingly refer to as the “Honeymoon Suite”; a double occupancy room with nice second-class appointments and with the bunks side-by-side and capable of being joined into a single large bed. The reason why this room was designed in the first place, as well as why it was retained in the Lakshmi II ’s is something of a mystery and it is assumed that nobody has actually wanted to get rid of it… for whatever military reason.
Enough supplies are usually embarked for a 600 day operational endurance, though missions rarely last this long and for the most part, the Lakshmis serve a surrogate supply ships for other units. 1,500 tons of fuel give it long legs, particularly when supplemented by additional tanks in the cargo hold.
Unusual in modern ships, enough Lifeboats are provided for the entire ship’s crew, passengers and bay personnel. The original Lakshmi is equipped with a mix of Escape Pods and Lifeboats, but all Lakshmi II’s are fitted with Lifeboats capable of actually entering an atmosphere.
Deployment:
The Lyran Admiralty ordered three additional Lakshmi-class escorts, to be built to Laksmi II standards. All three are named for famous Lyran admirals.
The first built to the new standard was the LADS Rhanda Klast (ED-02), built in just under five years at the PSL yards. The third ship (second in class), the LADS Levon Luq Al-Qahar (ED-03) is being built at the newly refurbished Timbiqui Orbital Yards (TOY), where previously they had been able to manufacture only small craft and light general cargo dropships. The Al-Qahar differs from her sister ships in that she was designed to use standard Gauss Rifles instead of the Heavy versions comon in the class. Though reducing the short range firepower, the long range accuracy more than makes up for this loss, maintaining a higher damage potential than the heavy versions at their terminal effective ranges.
The last ship of the class ordered, LADS Raven Morgaine (ED-04) began construction on the same slip as the Klast on the Klast’s launch date. It was boldly announced that day that the Morgaine would be built in under three years, using all the knowledge gained from constructing the previous two ships, setting a new record for the yard and hoping that whomever won the civil war would take an active interest in the ships or at the very least, the shipyards.
Status: Launch: Built:
LADS Ushas Lakshmi (ED-01) Lakshmi I Active 3062 Pencader
LADS Rhanda Klast (ED-02) Lakshmi II Active 3067 Pencader
LADS Levon Luq Al-Qahar (ED-03) Lakshmi II const. Est. 3071 Timbiqui
LADS Raven Morgaine (ED-04) Lakshmi II const. Est. 3070 Pencader
Combat History:
Due to the political situation in the Lyran Alliance at the time of the launch of the original vessel, the Lakshmi was immediately put into service escorting dropships to and from jump points, though without seeing much action. This changed in 3064, when an Allied task force composed of eight assault and carrier dropships (4 Avengers, 2 Achilles, 2 Leopard CV) and dozens of fighters (from a Vengeance carrier that remained out of range) ambushed the convoy escorted by the Lakshmi. Launching her fighters, the Lakshmi engaged the inbound dropships at extreme range with her capital missiles, crippling one of the CV’s with the first volley. The battle was over as soon as the ships closed to the range of their long range batteries. Within minutes the surviving Allied ships were attempting to escape the lone Lakshmi that faced them, their fighters faring no better than they did. In all, only two Avengers managed to escape the battle, and Achilles and a Leopard CV were captured and the rest were destroyed. Less than half of the fighters survived the battle.
On January 19, 3065, the Lakshmi accompanied a Loyalist RCT as it burned towards their target world, which was defended in orbit by the Avalon-class Cruiser and a dropship Task Force. Moving to intercept the inbound fighters, the Lakshmi and her escorts (an Achilles and a Leopard CV) launched fighters and engaged, inflicting horrendous losses on the Allied fighter Squadrons. When the Avalon closed within capital missile range, the Lakshmi’s CO attempted to open range, but miscalculated and came into the gravity well of the planet and beset by the fighters of two RCT’s. Taking a gamble, the Lakshmi’s captain crossed the atmospheric boundary and continued to duel with the fighters, which damaged two launch doors with lucky shots. By this time, the Avalon moved to intercept the incoming Loyalist transports, giving the Lakshmi the time needed to land and make fast repairs on the launch doors. Having failed to destroy all the inbound Loyalist forces, the Avalon again turned its attention to the Lakshmi, and soon found itself in a missile duel with the Lakshmi. Fortunately, a Loyalist warship task force arrived in-system with three RCT’s of fresh troops, prompting the Avalon’s commander to disengage from combat with the Lakshmi in order to aid in the evacuation of the Allied forces from the world.
Most of 3065-6 was spent guarding the shipyards above Tharkhad. After the Atomic Annie Incident, the Lyran Admiralty equipped the Lakshmi with a number of Santa Ana nuclear missiles. Nondi Steiner deployed the Lakshmi to New Avalon in order to evacuate the Archon Princess. Unfortunately, by the time the Lakshmi arrived in-system, Katherine Steiner was in Allied custody. Faced with a pointless losing battle against several Allied warships, Captain Hannah Sarienne attempted to flee the system but was forced to surrender when she realized that her jumpship transport had already surrendered to the Allies.
The Klast was launched a month ahead of schedule in February 14th, 3067 when a small raiding force from the FWL jumped in-system only a few thousand kilometers from the L1 PSL Yards. Fully equipped, but lacking ammunition, missiles and fighters, she nevertheless had an almost complete crew that had been training on her for the past few weeks. Upon sighing the FWL force, the acting CO, Commander Ilyanna González, ordered action stations and all moorings released. Within minutes, the battle was joined; first the Klast destroyed an Achilles and her two boarding craft as they approached the PSL yards, then the Klast followed the transports boosting toward the planet, engaging and destroying all the fighters and the Leopard CV sent to intercept her. She then overtook the remaining transports, a Union, a Leopard and a Fury, shot down the Leopard and forced the other two to boost up to high orbit in order to surrender or be destroyed.
With that stellar performance under her belt, Cmdr. González was promoted to Captain, given command of the Klast and assigned to patrol the Lyran/FWL border as part of a mini-task force composed of an Invader-class jumpship, a Vengeance-class carrier and a Buccaneer-class tanker.
Above Timbiqui, the Klast’s task force engaged and turned back an Allied relief force, destroying almost 40 fighters and a dozen small dropships.
During the final days of the civil war, the Klast was reassigned to provide escort for the LAS Fylgja. While in transit to rendezvous, with the Fylgja, she found herself at the same nadir point as an Allied Overlord A-3 “pocket warship” and her two-Avenger escort. The battle was a brutal as it was short, leaving the Klast with minor damage from a thresholding hit by one of the A-3’s Kraken-T missiles, moderate armour damage and a badly scratched pain job. All three allied craft were destroyed within three minutes.
With the end of the civil war, the Lakshmi-class escorts have been assigned to patrol the FWL/Periphery border each as the heart of a single-Invader Task Force. Both ships look forward to facing the FWL fleet in combat, since several simulations posit that the Lakshmis are superior in capability to the Zec corvettes so popular in the FWLM.
AeroTech 2 Vessel Technical Readout
VALIDATED
Class/Model/Name: Lakshmi II A
Tech: Inner Sphere / 3075
Vessel Type: Spheroid DropShip
Rules: Level 3, Custom design
Rules Set: AeroTech2
Mass: 64,900 tons
Length: 207 meters
Power Plant: Standard
Safe Thrust: 5
Maximum Thrust: 8
Armor Type: Ferro-aluminum
Armament:
7 AR10 Launcher
5 White Shark
120 ER PPC
80 Heavy Gauss Rifle
2 Barracuda
64 Ultra AC/20
3 Screen Launcher
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class/Model/Name: Lakshmi II A
Mass: 64,900 tons
Equipment: Mass
Power Plant, Drive & Control: 21,092.50
Thrust: Safe Thrust: 5
Maximum Thrust: 8
Structural Integrity: 87 11,293.00
Total Heat Sinks: 1,325 Double 947.00
Fuel & Fuel Pumps: 2,550.00
Bridge, Controls, Radar, Computer & Attitude Thrusters: 487.00
Fire Control Computers: 1,768.00
Food & Water: (582 days supply) 524.00
Armor Type: Ferro-aluminum (3,148 total armor pts) 312.50
Standard Scale Armor Pts
Location: L / R
Fore: 787
Left/Right Sides: 787/787
Aft: 787
Cargo:
Bay 1: Fighters (36) with 6 doors 5,400.00
Bay 2: Small Craft (2) with 2 doors 400.00
Bay 3: Cargo (1) with 10 doors 5,309.00
Life Boats: 30 (7 tons each) 210.00
Crew and Passengers:
3 1st Class Passengers 30.00
2 2nd Class Passengers 14.00
10 Steerage Passengers 50.00
4 Officers Operations 40.00
17 Officers Gunnery 170.00
13 Enlisted Operations 91.00
49 Enlisted Gunnery 343.00
40 Officers Bay Personnel 280.00
42 Enlisted Bay Personnel 210.00
Weapons and Equipment Loc SRV MRV LRV ERV Heat Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 AR10 (6 KW, 14 B) Nose * * * * 40 1,220.00
1 White Shark(10 msls) Nose 3 3 3 3 15 520.00
20 ER PPC Nose 20(200)20(200)20(200) -- 300 140.00
24 Heavy Gauss Rifle(960 roNose 60(600)48(480)24(240) -- 48 672.00
1 AR10 (3 KW, 7 B) FL/R * * * * 40 1,220.00
1 White Shark(10 msls) FL/R 3 3 3 3 30 1,040.00
1 Barracuda(10 msls) FL/R 2 2 2 2 20 780.00
20 ER PPC FL/R 20(200)20(200)20(200) -- 600 280.00
10 Heavy Gauss Rifle(400 roFL/R 25(250)20(200)10(100) -- 40 560.00
14 Ultra AC/20(700 rounds) FL/R 42(420)42(420) -- -- 448 700.00
1 AR10 (3 KW, 7 B) AL/R * * * * 40 1,220.00
1 White Shark(10 msls) AL/R 3 3 3 3 30 1,040.00
20 ER PPC AL/R 20(200)20(200)20(200) -- 600 280.00
12 Heavy Gauss Rifle(480 roAL/R 30(300)24(240)12(120) -- 48 672.00
12 Ultra AC/20(600 rounds) AL/R 36(360)36(360) -- -- 384 600.00
1 Screen Launcher(10 scrns)AL/R -- -- -- -- 20 280.00
1 AR10 (2 KW, 8 B) Aft * * * * 20 590.00
20 ER PPC Aft 20(200)20(200)20(200) -- 300 140.00
12 Heavy Gauss Rifle(480 roAft 30(300)24(240)12(120) -- 24 336.00
12 Ultra AC/20(600 rounds) Aft 36(360)36(360) -- -- 192 300.00
1 Screen Launcher(10 scrns)Aft -- -- -- -- 10 140.00
1 Lot Spare Parts (1.00%) 649.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS: Heat: 3,249 64,900.00
Tons Left: .00
Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 5,340,636,000 C-Bills
Battle Value: 111,557
Cost per BV: 47,873.61
Weapon Value: 48,007 (Ratio = .43)
Damage Factors: SRV = 4,182; MRV = 3,135; LRV = 736; ERV = 119
Maintenance: Maintenance Point Value (MPV) = 1,055,121
(908,675 Structure, 51,185 Life Support, 95,261 Weapons)
Support Points (SP) = 110,281 (10% of MPV)
BattleForce2: MP: 5, Armor/Structure: 53 / 52
Damage PB/M/L: 89/78/78, Overheat: 0
Class: DL; Point Value: 1,116
Specials: sph
Following are the (non-HMA-validated) stats for the original 100,000 ton Lakshmi. Note that the armament, arcs and damage/ranges are identical to those of the Lakshmi II.
Lakshmi-class Escort Dropship “Pocket Warship”
100,000 ton Inner Sphere Military Spheroid Dropship
Engine: 5/8 thrust 32,000 T
Control: 750 T
SI: 167 33,400 T
Armour: 4,032 pt. Ferro-Aluminum 600 T
Nose: 1,008 (101 capital)
R. Side: 1,008 (101 capital)
L. Side: 1,008 (101 capital)
Aft: 1,008 (101 capital)
Heat Sinks: Double 1325(2649) 855 T
Fuel: 1,500 tons 1,500 T
Fuel Pumps 30 T
Life Boats: 31 (186 lives) 217 T
Crew: 167
Officers, operations: 5 50 T
Officers, gunnery: 17 170 T
Enlisted, operations: 19 133 T
Enlisted, gunners: 49 343 T
Officers, bay personnel: 40 280 T
Enlisted, bay personnel: 42 210 T
Passengers: 15
First Class: 3 30 T
Second Class: 2 14 T
Steerage: 10 50 T
Bays:
Fighter: 36 5,400 T
Small Craft: 2 400 T
Weapons, Capital:
AR-10 Launchers 7 1,750 T
Killer Whale Missiles 20 1,000 T
White Shark Launchers 5 600 T
White Shark Missiles 50 2,000 T
Barracuda Launchers 2 180 T
Barracuda Launchers 70 2,100 T
Screen Launchers 3 120 T
Ammo: Screen Launcher 30 300 T
Weapons, Standard:
ER PPC 120 840 T
Heavy Gauss Rifles 80 1,440 T
Ammo: 3,200 rd. 800 T
Ultra AC/20’s 64 960 T
Ammo: 3,200 rd. 640 T
Fire Control Tonnage (30% per arc) 1,767 T
Cargo:
Spare Parts Lot (1%): 1 1,000 T
Consumables (3 tons/crew: 600 days) 501 T
Fighter Wing Fuel: 1,000 tons 1,000 T
Fuel Pumps 20 T
General Cargo 4,100 T
Other Equipment:
8 Bay Doors (6 ASF, 2 Sm. Craft) ---
10 Cargo Doors ---
Landing Gear ---
Grand Total 100,000 T
Total Cost: 6,307,532,000 C-bills
The amount of armour was selected to withstand a hit from the single biggest capital bays possible (70 capital points, AKA 700 standard points). Even then, it is more than what many warship designs carry. Considering that the Lakshmi is intended to engage fighters, dropships and maybe the occasional corvette, 700 points is plenty, IMHO.
Although the 80 SI is still Standard SI, not Capital/Warship level SI, it is worthwhile to point out that at SI: 87, the Lakshmi II has more than twice the SI of the most structurally sound canon dropships (40 pts, at the time of the original post), requiring an attacker to inflict 174 points of standard damage (18 capital damage) directly to the internal structure in order to destroy it. I can think of a couple of warships that are incapable of delivering that kind of damage. In addition, in order to start hurting the SI, an attacker must get past the significant armour.
Frankly, the Lakshmi will be facing three kinds of opponents:
1) fodder: this is the vast majority of dropships and fighters out there, they really have little or no chance against the Lakshmi.
2) Killers: basically any warship capable of delivering more than 88 points of capital damage into a single arc and with the capability of delivering this kind of punishment at extreme capital ranges (so the Lakshmi cannot stay out of range firing capital missiles) and/or the maneuverability necessary to bring the guns to bear on the Lakshmi. It is for this reason that the Lakshmi has a powerful 5/8 drive, aft capital missiles and three screen launchers.
3) Equals: curiously, the biggest threat to the Lakshmi comes from other pocket warships like the Overolrd A-3 and the Nekono’o’no [sp], they have the maneuverability to cause the Lakshmi problems and the long-ranged capital weapons that make heavy capital-grade armour less useful, though the Lakshmi is still capable of inflicting some serious hurt if it can get its HGR/UAC and ERPPC batteries to bear!
Heck, stats-wise, the Lakshmi is superior in almost every respect to some light warships, like the Vincent or the Zec (especially the Zec!). Remember, to destroy a Lakshmi you need to inflict 88 capital points of damage to a single side, neither the Vincent nor the Zec can do that and their capital armour is paper to the Lakshmi’s standard batteries… which can be brought up close and personal for that special brand of lovin’ that only a two-arc kiss from the Lakshmi can bring. (22-34 HGR’s, 14-26 UAC/20’s, 40 ERPPC’s plus 5-6 capital missiles). Add to that 36 fighters (6 squadrons), and you’ll find that it’s a much tougher opponent than pretty much any other dropship in canon.
How to use the Lakshmi:
Maintain the Lakshmi within 6 hexes of the escorted vessel and move to intercept any incoming fighters. Any fighters that wish to attack the escorted ship will thus HAVE to come into the range of your guns. You have plenty of missiles for your capital launchers, so don’t be afraid to use them; Barracudas have bonuses to hit, so use them at long ranges and against inbound fighters, Killer Whales do good damage, so use those against small dropships that might be destroyed through damage alone, White Sharks have the best chance of inflicting critical hits, so use them against anything that might not get cracked with a single volley of Whales.
You have enough heat sinks to fire all your guns at once, so don’t be shy. Fire even if the TN is 12+. Remember that enemy fighters are your bitches; you can easily threshold most squadrons with your conventional batteries, and since these are not CAPITAL bays, there is no penalty to hit fighters, so aerojocks will have to contend with capital grade damage at conventional TN’s.
Treat fighters and fighter squadrons with impunity. Use your escorted vessel for cover if she engages another warship and provide supporting fire; let the warship worry about the other warship while you take care of the fighters and droppers. Yes, use the warship as cover; you are there to provide protection against fighter squadrons, the warship is there to engage other warships. That is not your job, so don’t be stupid.
As a combat carrier, you should carry fighters to fulfill your primary mission: space superiority. This means dogfighters and dropship-killers. Keeping a light squadron for ground support or a couple of heavy anti-ship squadrons is OK too… Eisensturms are good for these roles.
