| All right, I'll take a stab at the Fascists, and hope I don't step on any toes in doing so. I'm willing to bet this is the most improved class, having started at the bottom of the barrel with 335 base Adv points. I will confess my bias toward the Tao of Klingon at the outset, so please forgive me if it shows in my analysis. Also, I'm having trouble assigning value to some upgrades, so I apologize for waffling on some ratings as well.
I'll keep to the format and start with the ships:
D7b Painmaker Class Cruiser: A tech 2, Half-Glory device (1/2 minehit). No word on the collateral damage. It could be used to protect an early, understocked SB from random cloakers, many of which would blow up with two of these, but the costs of the minerals and build slots don't seem worth it to me. You could get creative, but for 35 Adv points, I don't see this getting chosen very often. Impact: Minor
Little Pest Light Escort: Been discussed. One engine, tiny costs, six beams. Silly most of the time, may have some merit with enhanced beam speed and tiny manufacturing costs. 0 Adv points means once researched you throw it on your shiplist for the hell of it. Impact: Minor
Armored Ore Condenser: Raises mineral density by 5% per turn for all minerals up to 50%. Never again will you lament finding a planet with 14,000kt of neutronium at a 2% extraction rate. Everyone will want to trade for one of these. At a cost of 10 Adv points, this will be on almost everyone's list. Impact: Moderate
Medium Transport: One engine, two beams 180kt cargo. I guess you could use it to gain few extra supplies when you self-pillage a nearby planet. 0 Adv, so I guess you research it once you've got nothing better to do. Impact: Minor
D3 Thorn Class Cruiser: One engine, 130mass, 130kt cargo, Three beams, Five Tubes. I'm going to echo daniel payne's assessment and say it might be a little over-done. It's too much weight and cargo (30% more than the D7!) and firepower for a one-engine cloaker. If it stays as-is, I'd be pretty pretty tempted to include it if there wasn't so much other great stuff on offer. 20 Adv points. Impact: Moderate
D3 Thorn Class Frigate: One engine, 110mass, 40 cargo, Three beams, five tubes. More realistic than above. A little less firepower than the Rebel's New guardian C, but ours cloaks! 10 Adv points, so only 5 if you swap out the (otherwise useless) original thorn. Impact: Minor/Moderate
[Note to devs: If it were my call, I'd split the differences on the two new Thorns right down the middle and just offer the result.]
Deth Specula Armored Frigate: 15 Adv points (5 for a straight swap) buys you a 35% heavier ship with a little bigger fuel tank and cargo hold than the original (153kt/180/50 vs. 113/140/35). Could possibly make it worth building if the extra mass lets it get off a few more shots, but it's vastly overshadowed by its badass brother below. Impact: Minor
D19c Nefarious Class Destroyer: It's the same as the D19b, but only requires one engine. With this, you could afford to give your glories intercept capabilities without sacrificing an extra 300mc and 35kt of Moly (or a lot of neutronium on your Quantum-driven D19b's). Not worth the 50 adv points as an addition to your fleet, but unquestionably worth the 15 for a swap! (D19b is worth 35). Impact: Moderately Major
Death Specula Stealth: Outfitted like the "Armored" variant, sports a "Recloak Intercept" function, the description of which is a little ambiguous, reading: "Recloak Intercept - If undamaged, will recloak immediately after a cloak intercept attack." The way I read it, it attacks only its intercept target and recloaks immediately thereafter, whether or not there are other ships at the same location, but it could theoretically mean that it recloaks after the whole combat sequence - if primary enemy remains set, why would it NOT continue attacking? If the latter, I don't see too much of a point, which is why I tend to think the former. This is pretty huge, but maybe not as massive or overpowered as it might seem at first glance. No freighter or other little ship would ever be safe, as it could attack without fear of reprisals, regardless of other ships in defensive positions. But any of the other important ships which are commonly used to tow bigger ships into battle (Fireclouds, Cobols, MCBRs etc) could be outfitted with mark VII tubes and surely take out the shields and cause a little damage, thereby preventing the recloak. And of course, Lokis work against Fascist cloakers - in the interest of balance, I would insist that the Tachyon pulse prevents the recloak, even if the Loki was itself the target of the attack and was destroyed without damaging the Stealth. Also, in a weird way, the feature ensures that it only has one target per turn. Of course, at the end of the day, it's a light ship that won't stand up to a determined invader or take out starbase defenses, so it won't be singlehandedly winning any wars. All in all, the Stealth is a precision surgical tool, built with purpose and well-suited to the spirit of the Fascists. Also, it has a cool name. ;) 40 Adv points, net 30 for a swap. Impact: Major (Minor if the whole battle sequence is carried out before recloaking)
Saber Class Shield Generator: Another one whose full meaning is unclear, the description reads: "Shield Generator - Will provide an additional 25% shield and invoke a 50% engine shield generator in any ship at its location (up two 2 Sabers at the same time)." Does "any ship at its location" include enemy ships (if so, what's the point)? What about Allied ships? How does it operate when placed in the hands of an ally? It's 25% shield, plus 50% ESB, or do they multiply? We'd need to see the formulae. Too much is still unclear, but it's safe to say that if it operates as one would expect, it could provide a lot of protection to a decent fleet at a fairly minimal cost. We definitely need to see some playtesting or have a simulator set up in order to gauge its true value. I'm imagining a perfect storm of ally conditions, with a Gorbie or two in Lizard hands, protected by a pair of these Sabers -- that abominable monstrosity would never die! For this reason, I think it may be more balanced to only allow one Sheild Generator at a time, but it's only a guess, and I would have to see the overall effectiveness. At 60 Adv points, it'll cost you, but the cost is most likely justified. Impact: Major (in any case)
And the new race Tech:
Plunder Planet: Increases the supplies and megacredits earned from Pillage Planet by 2.5X. Poorly worded, but we can assume that means the base value of the pillage x 2.5, not an additional 2.5x (for a total of 3.5x). Self-explanatory, and makes self-pillaging all the more worthwhile. At this rate, it might finally settle the Pillage vs. Glory against Amorphous natives debate (unless you were flush with cash and really needed the supplies). Adv: 40. Impact: Moderate to Major
2X Faster Beams: Beam weapons are tuned to fire two times faster than normal. In my view, this is the eminent feature of the whole race. It makes the Fascists truly live up to their billing, but I fear that it will be perceived as overpowered, and I would be hard pressed to argue. Under current mechanics (which I would like to see altered, but I'll save that for another post), you could send an Ill Wind with 10 x-rays against a starbase or solitary carrier and soak up a whole lot of fighters for an insanely low cost before sending in a Vicky to mop up. Maybe the Valiant Wind becomes at least minorly useful by outbeaming another low/mid-carrier? A Heavy Blaster-equipped Merlin actually dishes some damage before falling, and ships like the Deth Spec Stealth become all the more menacing. With this mod, maybe a Vicky is finally a match for a Dark Wing, or a T-Rex (in Lizard hands). I would like to see sims of the heavies (Gorbies, biocides, Golems) controlled by Feds or Lizards, versus the same ship in the hands of the Fascists with tuned beams. Because of the effectiveness vs. fighters, I think I would be more comfortable seeing the firing rate tuned down to 1.5x, with a corresponding increase in the damage/crew kill output. That would maintain the overall effectiveness of the beams in most situations, but wouldn't drastically overpower Fascist controlled ships vs. fighters. This type of advantage should have been in the original game, and by itself goes a good way towards balancing the entire race. Adv: 50. Impact: Major
Ion Starbase Sheild/Starbase Mine Laying/Starbase Mine Sweeping: Typical of many races, they are exactly what their names suggest, and have already been analyzed. Adv: 10/30/20, respectively. Impact: Whatever you decide
[Note to Devs: Is there a minefield limit like there was in the old TimHost? I saw the question asked, but I didn't see an answer. If there is, I think that Starbase Mine Laying is going to be abused and the 500-minefield limit will be reached in no time, taking a good chunk of advantage from the Robots, and rendering the Crystals all but toothless.]
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Overall, I think the Fascists get exactly what they need and the upgrades are all in keeping with the spirit of the race. I especially like the fact that the racial abilities make full alliance with Fascist players a more attractive prospect; ships and ship abilities are trade-bait, racial abilities are alliance-bait. It's something I feel is still missing for the Bird Men in particular, and the Evil Empire and Robots to a lesser extent. I do think some values need a bit of tweaking in the interest of balance (Thorns, Sabre Sheild, Beams), but ultimately, it's up to the devs. I think these changes will cause a rash of new signups for the race, and Fascist players will start to lose the sort of "low-threat priority" status we've enjoyed until now by being relatively ineffective. Gone are the days of always seeing an open Fascist slot at the outset of games, heh. I know I've already pre-imagined my preferred 450-point setup!
Sorry about the length; I guess if it goes into a wiki somewhere, my opinions can certainly be truncated.
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