Well when the Rebellion was forming they didn't have the luxury of ships with roles. Their ships had to do everything, and the Mon Cal line as well as ships like the Dauntless and Assault Frigate Mk. 1 illustrate that well. They do decent damage, have a decent fighter complement, and are pretty survivable. However, they don't entirely excel at anything. No huge strengths or weaknesses. The New Class project was a shift to a more varied military structure: now ships have more discreet roles, making them excel in certain aspects but weak in others. Individually the ships may seem worse in some ways, but by the time of the New Class the New Republic wouldn't be throwing small groups of ships around, they would be hurling fleets at the problem, and as a fleet the New Class was superior.
well, you still get the mon-cals, so no worry
Individually, the New Class ships fare poor in combat compared to their predecessors, at least in my games.
The Sacheen is not good at anything. Even in groups it cannot survive an encounter with most frigates, and it's armament is very ineffective against fighters. The DP20 has the same problem, but the CR90 is the best anti-fighter ship in the game, absolutely fantastic at it's job.
The Corona is not much better. Barely fires its weapons. There is no room in my fleet for a ship that won't fight back. The only thing it excels at is causing enemy missiles to endlessly circle it. The Nebulons it replaced, although somewhat weak in the armament department, will at least shoot back.
The Nebula is a badass ship, but a line of Nebulas will start to drop like flies in a prolonged fight. The MC90, although not as heavily armed, is still equipped with enough punch to take the fight to the Imperials, and can take a beating like a capital ship should.
The Endurance has the same poor shield refresh as the Nebula, and should release more fighters for its 7 population value. Not that the Quasar Fire was a brick shithouse, but it was not 7 pop either.
I do not know if the Bothan Assault Cruiser is considered a New Class ship, but if it is, it is the only one without a huge flaw. Fast, durable for a frigate, and heavily armed.
