Overall idea isn't bad. I don't like the idea of calling them Battlecruisers however, as those were capital ships. I think a better idea might be to make more variety in the Capital ships however, so some might cost most capital ship points than others.

You could have a massive ship that carriers like 12 fighter squadrons and nasty abilities, but cost 5 slots, while a more limited capital ship would cost just one. Compromises would cost inbetween, Having to make each capital ship relatively equivalent limits the variety they could have.

Actually, this reflects the idea of modern naval warfare better. Naval warfare is more similar to Sins than air combat, as it is all about ships moving in a confined space without worrying too much about the third dimension.

The navies usually have the following hierarchy:

lesser craft (e.g. scout ships, torpedo boats)

destroyers (the ones who give the battleships in the rear an idea where the enemy might be and to hold ground for a few minutes until reinforcements arrive. They also have decent anti-fighter abilities and a very nasty sonar/radar system).

light cruisers (They focus on engaging the lesser craft and destroyers from a longer range. They put up some cover against strikecraft as well).

battlecruisers (these are not cap ships. Of course they can deal heavy damage to any of the lower vessels, but will definetively lose against the hardier guys. Like the destroyers they have a very strong radar/sonar and can dish out insane amounts of damage against all kinds of submarines)

Heavy cruisers (What is now Kodiak and Enforcer. Massed they are the bane of all capital ships because they exceed their firepower easily when the combat ratio is 1:3 or higher. Of course they are easier to produce than cap ships. But sorry, they cannot defend well against strikecraft and can easily be destroyed with two or three torpedoes as they are rather slow.

Capital ships (aka Hood or Tirpitz or Iowa). These are the backbones  of a navy. If everything else falls, they fall quickly as well. But, their long range and massive amount of damage to both air and surface vessels is insane. They also can take a few more torpedoes from a submarine because of their huge armor and good repair teams.

special ships (esp. submarines. well, think of having phantom ships in your fleet. But this should be something for a 4th or 5th expansion. Also: fuel and ammunition transporters or heavy freighters carrying special goods for a consigned mission from the AI *huh*)

So, if you think about a new class of ships for sins, they should be put in the field of battle cruisers and heavy cruisers. Mind you, the Kodiak and similar should be put in the new class as well or it wouldn't make any sense at all. There should, however, be a better light cruiser then.

On the other hand it would be very necessary to increase the AP/HP/SP of the capital ships, including a slight revamp of their abilites, mostly by giving them passive aura bonuses (better than to give them more abilities).

So, now that I have come with a bit of background info. What do you think might be good ships for the new class (ranging from battlecruisers to heavy cruisers)?

signed.

Players should not be allowed to develop their own ship types. First it's way too complicated for ordinary players. Second, this would be a bit too impressive to auto-develop the blueprints for a 5-point cap ships within in minutes, huh?

Eh, personally, I'd rather have a class between Light Frigates and Heavy Cruisers, ie, Destroyers

i like more ships!

a mining bardge would be nice

personally i think its a good idea and would love to see a bit more variety of ship types in the game

I was also trying to think up a new class of ship between capital ship and heavy curiser. But I never came up with a name though it would be a lot like the ship you were discribing. One problem would be finding what ships would be effective against them and what ships they are effective against. Sounds to me a lot of work and in the end no one may use them if there is a cheaper option.

In a game like Sins, the more ships the better. It does make it hard to balance but with the community we have here, things get balanced fairly quickly.  The reason I say more ships is better is because it promotes variety of strategy, more options for counters, and longer lasting game play (due to variety).

Right now frigates and cruisers fit a specialized roll, where battleships are multipurpose. I think it would be great to add in some more multipurpose ships. 3 examples of what would be good to implement.

1 - interdictor. A fast heavily armoured but low DPS BC that slows enemy movement. 2 abilities : 1st) increases jump time by 300% (have a small range compared to say a Jump Inhibitor but area of effect) 2nd) slows movement speed of all ships by 50% (area of effect somewhat smaller than its jump inhibitor ability). This is a good ship to tackle run aways, like those pesky carriers that continue to circle the gravity well while it's bombers pick away at your fleet or the hit and run frigates that constantly jump in and out of your grav well to destroy your trade ports.

2- Warship - loaded with a flak gun and short range blasters. It's good at killing cruisers of all types, but lacks the speed to chase down frigates and the armour to withstand battleships. 2 abilities: 1st) tractor beam, locks down a single cruiser 2nd) computer jam (short range emc burst that jams enemies shooting capabilities for a short time.)

3- Raider - long range weapons designed to take out buildings and ships from afar and can bombard planets. Has high dps, low armour and high speed. This ship is good in fleets or on it's own. In a fleet it would need other ships to keep the distance between it and the enemey, on it's own it can raid planets and buildings and mining facilities. 2 Abilities: 1st) remove mining facility (removes a mining facility from a non-colonizable astroid belt) 2nd) planet bombardment (Similiar to the Marza, slows pop growth and kills population, does some damage to the planet)

These ships are similiar to battleships in that they provide multiple functions, but are different in that they are not fleet support vessels.  They are similar to cruisers in that they are easier to field, do not gain levels/experience and only take up fleet cap, they are different in that they fulfill multiple roles and can function without a fleet if necessary.

(FYI in December I'll be starting a mod with ships like this and races that are based on a strategy. (ie. guerilla warfare, imperial domination, spam, balance/adaptable, and strike craft)

I think by mining barge he meant a ship that mines astroids.. but not too sure.

I'll check that mod out, hopefully I can learn some things for my mod.

Thanks!

EDIT*

I clicked the link and I just get routed back to this thread lol.

Cap ships aren't actually that much more powerful then Heavy Cruisers. Oh, they can take more hits and deal more damage, but they are really enlarged support ships with better firepower and some can carry fighters and bombers into battle. They should be able to keep their abilities, but they should be far more powerful. Oh yea, some people will complain because their fleet of LRFs gets ass-raped by a Dreadnought, but LRFs aren't supposed to be able to stand up to a capital ship anyway. The Battlecruiser idea would be extremely useful, because they could still be killed without other Battlecruisers of Capital ships, but they could provide more tactical flexability, and provide a light covering ship for planets not worthy of the massive starbases or mine fields of highly exposed systems.

And the TEC torpedo boat will probably still be able to take out moving targets, just not stand up to them in a fight, because of their nukes.

I like this idea of battlecruisers class idea.  If they level up and have abilites I think it should be more limited like 2.  Say each ship has 4 different ones but can only use two.  IE you have to choose how you want it to fight. 

What would make this work is cost.  Caps just cost to much to want to build more. These guys should be more then a cruiser but not to much more.  Umm fleet points should also be close to cruiers.  Make it worth bringing these guys out.

great idea  but i doubt if they will put in the game any time soon

in other words, a Grand Cruiser. (from BFG)