Beam weapon choice

[Proteus_MST]

If your Assumption is right, it is a thing to consider (and make at least the Carrier and IF-Fleets with no or less Sensor Fleets).
Fortunately all of my ships (from BattleCruiser-Size on) are equipped with the latest Cloaking Device available, so I hope this will create enough ECM to severely limit the enemy Detection Capability, despite the ECCM-Pods in my Sensor-Ships (according to the Battles in my big Campaign against the Ithkul they do [at least in those few battles where the enemy fleet didn´t flee already at the beginning of the battle, knowing that they had to face 150 Ships with Sizes between Battle Cruiser and Dreadnought Size [and with maybe 60 % of the fleets being Carriergroups]])

[Proteus_MST]

Originally posted by Quintus_AP
I use a mix of Lightning Fields and PD phasers and they seem to work great. I started doing this way when I realized that the number of PD batteries counts -- there is just some chance that a particular turret will shoot, obviously. When I had small quantities of PD weapons (relatively strong, though), they usually started shooting after the first enemy salvo hit me.

I have field tested the Combination of Lightning Fields and PD-Phasers (2 Levels of Miniaturization, Damage Improvement, Continuous) and it works great.
With those Modifications the Phaser takes just 1 Space more than a Lighntning Field Generator (LFG) (without the Continuous - Mod it would even take less Space than a LFG, but as the weapons are used against small, fsast moving targets whi8ch should be especially difficult to hit, I think a mod which increases the to Hit - Probability could be very useful)
The Phasers with their greater range are especially well suited against missiles, (which they hit at a greater Distance and therefore most of the times are able to get 2 Shots at them, instead of just one) and to give PD-Firesupport to other Taskforces nearby (which Lightning Fields with their lower range often cannot reach).
Lightning Fields on the other hand seem to be especially useful against lots of fighters swarming around the taskforce.

[Cedayon]

It was fun putting masses and masses of pd hard beams on my pd ships, and even more fun with LFGs...

I don't play anymore, but I still fondly remember a battle between one of my carrier TF's and one of the enemy's. We both had a lot of LFGs, so we shredded each others' fighter swarms. We closed the range and wound up in an overrun situation... ZZZZzzzZZzZZTTTT! Like two bug-zappers colliding

'Course, I lost that battle because the enemy task force went invisible after the initial pass (despite my ECCM ships still being intact and the range being very close), and just kept pinging away at me with its LFGs.

[CharlesBHoff]

Durning World War II the army want to mount 76mm gun on the M4 Sherman Medium Tank as they where slight better than 75 mm gun. The Chief of Staff overrule then saying we need those tanks as soon as possible since the Navy have thousand's of spare 75 mm hight veloicity anti-air guns from WW I with million of round's of AP ammo for said gun the M4 will mount the 75 mm gun. It would have taken than 1 1/2 year to get than 76 mm gun factory going than to make the ammo. The 75 mm gun was still very effect. The only military that use the 76 mm gun was the USSR. They ask use durning WW II to sent then M4 tank without their guns as they will mount the 76 mm guns on then.

[Grumbold]

I prefer phasers to LFG's because the triple range allows neighbouring task forces to cover each other. When four groups of missiles and four groups of fighters all head for the same TF its nice to have the added support. Once the incoming swarm is dead they can then be used against the enemy SR TF's that get within range while my fighters are off blasting the planetary defences.

[Bundaybd]

Light LFG!!!

All,

Over the weekend I discovered the beauty of different sizes of LFGs. Light gives more damage and more range for a very slight penalty in firing rate. Standard might be amusing as well.

Plus, with more damage, their anti-shipping use is improved...