CSA Fleet Analysis.

[turtle225]

After completing Corporate Acquisitions (era 1, Cruel), and doing some individual tests on From the Ground Up, here are my thoughts on the CSA fleet. CSA has no proper corvette so they need a good fighter screen to stay safe and ships with laser cannon support are welcome.

Capitals:
Invincible Class Destroyer: I like this ship a lot. Pretty balanced loadout for a capital. 12 pop cost is easy to work with. Spawns 5 squadrons, not sure on reserve.

Bulwark III: Grumby is my only experience with this ship. Has good brawling ability but pathing is sometimes a problem. 25 pop cost might be too much for its worth, but Grumby is free and his leadership buff is nice to have. Spawns 6 squadrons. Not sure how much reserve.

Lucrehulk: Not sure on this one. I only built one of them. Spawns 9 squadrons and probably has a lot of reserve. It spawns so low on the Z-layer that I have trouble telling whether or not it is actually shooting at things. For 20 pops it is probably better to build other carriers.

Frigates:
Recusant: Deceptively good despite only having two Turbolaser hardpoints. It outranges everything for some reason which is very useful. Its turbos pack a harder punch than you might expect. Has a good number of laser cannons to help support your flak efforts. Does not have any strikecraft which I would say is its only weakness. However for 5 pops this is a clear winner in the frigate category.

Marauder: These are probably nerf worthy. I was a fan of them before 2.3 and I think they got even better here. 1 pop, spawns an IRD-A which is one of the better CSA fighters as far as I can tell. Might have a slightly higher range than other frigates. Has a huge amount of firepower for how small and cheap it is. You can pack 10+ of them in a small bubble and have them snipe from behind your more durable frontline. Its poor durability isn't as bad as you might expect because for some reason a lot of shots have trouble hitting it (this should be fixed if possible). Whenever you build a ship you have to ask if it is better than X Marauders where X is the pop cost and that is kind of nuts. In From the Ground Up I had 10 Marauders beat 5 Recusants and only lost 1. Part of that is dumb ai and the aforementioned shot avoidance, but the power of this ship cannot be denied. It should maybe be upped to cost 2 pop? And the hitbox should be fixed.

Bulwark I and Dauntless: These ships have a very similar loadout but I give the edge to the Bulwark because it spawns 2 squadrons instead of 1. Both of them will outdo the Vics and other frigate options.

Vics and Dreadnought: We are familiar with these. They are decent but I would say worse than the other frigates above. Vic I gets a nod for Conc spam being helpful for anti-fighter support.

Gladiator: These are bad. Very fragile, not very strong. Spawns a Skipray which is nice but for 6 pops there is no reason to ever build this when Recusant exists.

Carriers:
Neutron Star: 5 pop. Spawns three bomber type craft (T-Wings can only torpedo ships). It's armament can support your frigate war a bit if you can get them in a position to shoot safely.

Quasar: 3 pop. Spawns 3 fighter type craft and a Preybird which idk how to classify. As far as providing a fighter screen for you this is a lot better than the Neutron Star. Their Quad Lasers can help a bit to keep your backfield safe but that's not really where the value is. A few of these are nice to have in a fleet.

Nebulon-B: 2 pop. I classify this as a carrier because its brawling potential is atrocious. Spawns two interceptors and has a few laser cannons to support your flak. If you want fighter support then Quasar is better, otherwise get two Marauders instead. These are not worth building.

Corvettes:
The two gunship-fighter hybrid things are both very good. Surprisingly durable and helpful for supporting your anti-fighter effort.

Those are my thoughts. Would love to hear others' thoughts as well. Loving 2.3 so far. Loving the ground combat changes too. Big thanks to the mod team.

[Katarnstar]

So the CSA doesn't get its own 'Star Dreadnaught' class?! 

[Corey]

Why would they? There's nothing that they used or which fits them.

[Katarnstar]

I don't know... a Mandator I or II-class Star Dreadnaught or maybe a Subjugator-class Heavy Cruiser? Thoses might fit into the CSA's Clone Wars roster more naturally.

[apovverz]

Although not a dreadnought, the Bulwark III's are super tanky and pack a punch. Id say its on par with and Allegiance or Praetor. Its somewhere between the two capability-wise.


CSA Neutron Star wolf-packs are the hidden staple for CSA. They are dirt cheap, easily spamable, build in the galactic map quicly and have good firepower for their cost. The 3 bombers give CSA the extra oomph they need to compete against factions with good capitals (CSA Capitals are considered obsolete for a reason). The gilzante/citadel gunships will win against any fighter type, clearing the way for your bombers. A handful of Bulwark I's for acting as a meat shield rounds this fleet out nicely.

I will definitely have to try marauder spam though. And I agree, Neb B's and Gladiators seem under-powered. Especially since (correct me if I'm wrong) Gladiators were meant to be able to combat most threats in far off systems short of capital ships.

I think the CSA might be my favorite faction now.

[Vlado87]

It would be interesting to made this: put build limit on every ship so CSA can not build large fleets but they get ships when they conquer some planet, for example, CSA conquer Moon Cal and CSA get same space/ground units  for example one Subjugator-class Heavy Cruiser, three providence destroyers and 5 recusants and CSA can not build Subjugator and providence or CSA conquer Kuat and CSA get same space/ground units  for example two Mandator II-class Star Dreadnaught and CSA can not build Mandator II-class Star Dreadnaught.

So CSA player/AI should be aggresive if want large and strong fleets and because this CSA should have some strong defense so give them strong space stations or something.



P.S. Bulwark I and III have same look just one is much bigger.