Federation Commander

I want to start by saying that I've been here a while and know that conversion to fleet scale is much more of an art than a science. And I'm NOT trying to get anything changed, or gripe about it, just asking for some input and/or advice.

That said, has anyone played with the Gorn BCH in fleet scale?

I've recently done so, and I found I was somewhat disappointed with it. As a heavy battlecruiser, I expected more than I got from it. It changes three plasma-S and two plasma-F (in squadron scale) for one plasma-S and two plasma-F in fleet scale. I don't know how to describe it, it just didn't seem to give me that much more of a punch than a regular BC. It's got a lot of staying power, I'll admit, but offensively it just didn't seem to cut it.

Does anyone have an advice for using it?

Perhaps I needed to use carronades more, or maybe an alternate version with two plasma-Ss instead might be better?

Well, quite frankly, nothing in Fleet Scale seems that imposing when you view it from a Squadron Scale POV.

The Pl-S + 2xPl-F is only one step down from the normal DN armament of Pl-R + 2xP-F. And no other cruiser has more than the Pl-S + Pl-F. It is a significant armament in Fleet Scale.

I agree the other option would be 2xPl-S, but I feel that cuts the firepower down too much. Granted, you have longer range, but you are down a full plasma, and totally lose the ability to use carronades.

(This is similar to the reason why I wanted the war cruiser armament to be Pl-G + Pl-F instead of a single Pl-S. Yes, you lose range. But, instead, you gain flexibility and keep the carronade.)

Plasma often works very differently between the two scales. Because in fleet scale you nearly always have half the number of launchers that you do in squadron scale, it limits your tactical flexibility by making it more difficult to ripple-fire torpedoes. However, with the BCH you still have that type of flexibility because you still have 3 launchers, 2 of which can carronade too. You wouldn't have that flexibility if you replaced this with 2 S-torps.

It is true that you only have 1 "long range" torpedo, but as it's a type S if you get hit by that in fleet scale it's usually going to hurt. When you take the Gorn BCH in perspective with the other BCHs and other plasma-armed ships, it's probably about right, bearing in mind that the phasers are still pretty good on the BCH and they are usually the things that do the most damage as a Gorn.