Strike-class Medium Cruiser Ingame
The Strike-class Medium Cruiser, or simply the Strike cruiser, is a heavy frigate available to the Imperial Remnant and Greater Maldrood in Eras 1–5. It carries an armament of 40/4 Turbolasers and 10/2 Ion Cannons.
History[]
A departure from the Navy's trend towards increasingly larger warships, the Strike cruiser was an admission to a diminished ability to defend space superiority against Rebel forces as the Galactic Civil War went on. Designed by the Loronar Corporation, the Strike cruiser was a general-purpose vessel capable of modular modifications, yet cheap enough to be mass produced. The Strike-class was surprisingly capable of challenging much larger cruisers than itself due to its heavy firepower, strong shields, and high sublight speed. Two Strike cruisers were considered the equivalent of one Victory-class Star Destroyer.
The main weakness of the Strike-class was side effect of its advantage. Due to its modular design, one well placed shot could shut down entire systems if the power connectors between sections were damaged. It was also possible for the ship to simply break apart if enough critical hits were sustained. By the time Strike cruisers were introduced into service (during the height of the Empire) the design flaw was considered minor, as ships of this type were considered "disposable."
However, after the fall of the Empire and the resulting Imperial Civil War, capital ships became more and more scarce for the Imperial Remnant. As a result, these reliable and versatile (and this tactically valuable) cruisers were deemed necessary to be reinforced at the weak spots on the ship. The reinforced Strike-class played a major role in the war for the next decade.
Use Ingame[]
The Strike-class cruiser is one of the offensive heavy cruisers available to the Imperial Remnant and Greater Maldrood. The advantage of the Strike cruiser is the ion weaponry. Whereas the Dreadnaught is designed to hit hard after the shields fail, the Strike cruiser sacrifices some of the direct fire abilities for a more well-rounded weapon design, allowing it to drain shields faster than its cousin. Being a more modern design, the Strike cruiser is also a much faster ship than the Dreadnaught, making it able to flank or escape from battle if needed. While quite well shielded for a ship of its size, it lacks the hull strength of other cruisers. The Strike Cruiser also has much higher range than other frigates, giving it the ability to stay behind the front line and provide support fire.
The Strike class is overall an excellent early game ship to accompany the stronger, more well-rounded Victory Star Destroyers. They are excellent corvette killers and can hold their own against most light and heavy cruisers. Small wolf packs of 3–4 Strikes can take on most capital ships and Golan 1's. In short, the Strike cruiser is a glass cannon that excels at destroying heavy frigates and smaller craft.