Citizens of the Solar Federation are the happiest humans in the Universe, since they see work as a hobby. Members of the Federal fleet usually are curious and highly moral; naturally, they make good friends with all the natives they discover. Federation starships exist in a wide variety of different designs which are all quite well engineered. They can always be upgraded with the newest component technology.

RACE ADVANTAGES:

• Super Refit (update component technology of old ships)
• 2X income from planetary taxes
• 70% mining rate
• Crew bonus (weapons repaired in combat, 25% shield boost when damaged, 3 extra fighter bays)
• Terraforming ships: Eros and Bohemian
• Loki Class Destroyer anti-cloaking ship
• Brynhild Class bioscanner ship
• Can clone captured enemy ships

THE FEDERAL FLEET:

The Federal Fleet consists of torpedo ships in various sizes, ranging from Destroyers and fairly strong Cruisers to medium size and heavy Battleships. This very broad shiplist includes terraformers and a bioscanner and lacks Cloakers and Heavy Carriers. Due to the Fed Crew Bonus all ships belonging to the Solar Federation have the capability of recharging 25% of their shields between battles, always fight with all (but discharged) beams when damaged and Fed Carriers will always fight with 3 extra fighter bays. The Federation’s ‘Super Refit’ mission allows the Fed player to upgrade the components in already built ships, such as engines, beams and torpedo tubes. This race advantage allows to built a large, but badly equipped fleet before the ship limit and to upgrade it to its full glory in the mid-game. Due to the rather medium sized and versatile torpedo ship fleet, the Federation often is playing defensive in the opening phase to adjust and use it in the mid-game phase for the first attack. Federal ships equipped with a cloaking device (need to be traded) are immune to Loki Class decloaking ships but can be detected by Glory Devices. Fed ships have a medium to high range and are suitable especially for swarm attacks and cruiser/battleship warfare. When it comes to battles with one of the carrier races the Federation often needs to sacrifice one or two ships in order to destroy large enemy carriers and starbases. The most used battlepair for these purposes are the Missouri Class Battleship fighting first (and being destroyed), while the Kittyhawk Class Carrier hopefully finishes the damaged carrier off. Depending on the opponent, the Federation can greatly alter their battlegroups due to the great rnage of different ships. The losses when fighting with carrier races in direct battles the Federation need to compensate by using their strong economy powered by the 200% tax income and by using Merlin Class Alchemy Ships to cope with their 70% mining disadvantage.

In campaign games the Federation can have additional ships with special abilities as a choice. While the Outrider Class Transport clearly benefits from a much higher cargo hold, the Vendetta Class designs become more economic to build and gain slightly more crew. The Banshee Classes add extra sweeping power that is cheap to build. With the new Arkham Class Destroyer a new crown of it’s class is introduced, while the Cruiser type can nearly compete with the famous Emerald and Resolute Class Battlecruisers. With the typical understatement of the Federation also the Diplomacy B Class Cruiser remains a small battleship that receives more versatility with an upgraded mass and fuel tank. Due to an increased hull mass the Thor Class Frigates both become a real threat to carriers and should not be missing in a campaign vs. strong carrier races.

And, for an excellent article on advanced Loki tactics, here’s Beefer’s classic.