Leningrad is a better ship no matter how many Swordfishes there are. At least the ones with the plasma beams, and the admiral hughes version is the best.
Here's some NPC ships for Sol: Small Cargo Tug: Personnel Transport: Repair Drone (usually found at the stations you're docked in):
I would have thought that as Genari, your priority targets should be any Personnel Transports that you see. You have a limited supply of Marine pods which can kill the enemy crew, but the enemy win if they have a personnel transport that just replenishes the crew. (At least, if they can do so more than you can kill.) Certainly as a Sol captain, I'd be going for any Genari marine transports I can see as it will limit the damage potential of a lot of Genari ships. Mind you, as a good Sol officer, I am not planning on letting any Genari ships get into pod range, so it may be a moot point.
Time to add some Light Cruisers: The Kumano, which emphasizes defense, and the Mercury, offense. Three varieties each. Kumano Type I (Basic Variant) Kumano Type II (Improved Force Fields) Kumano Type III (Improved Firepower) Mercury Type I (Basic Variant) Mercury Type II (Dual Heavy Beams) Mercury Type III (Improved Engines)
I'm happy that the variant ships aren't game-breakers (pay for power stuff) because I'm not sure how much I'd be able to afford the premium ships. Its nice that there's still a good selection of ships that I can try out and play like anyone else.
Compared to the Victory Genari light cruisers the Sol light cruisers seem to be weaker, with less firepower. With everything I've seen so far, it seems to me that Genari isn't any weaker than Sol except on the endgame high tier ships.
The shipyard on the mainsite got updated I see. Damn, that's a lot of ships. I've been reading up on some of them, and the flavor text. The one that caught my eye is the Baltimore, specifically the type 3
My pick for looks: I just like the designs/lines. I also like the stats. I'd probably get this ship once I advance to the frigate level.
About the Oslo above, that's the frigate I head for when I get to about 1k count threshold. It's cheaper and more durable.
Bengbu v is a missile ship now! It packs a decent punch for low energy cost. My new favorite corvette.
Honestly, after trying out every ship in the class III and class IV range, I'm starting to really like the kickstarter/pax ships. I think the Bengbu V is also a pax ship.
I like the Leningrad 2 and hate the swordfish 4. The swordfish has plasma beams but no shields worth having, crap engines and only a little more hull than a Halifax. I will take a Halifax against any thing up to and including a class 7 easy. Swordfish almost gets destroyed every battle. hopefully I get to try out some of the other variant and they are more suited to my play style. Oops, my bad, went back and looked, should have said swordfish 5 not 4.
Not a fan of most of the Swordfish ships either, but yeah, the 5th one is pretty bad. I guess Captain Sheena Hendrickson didn't know what she was doing lol. I take Leningrad 3.
I've finally been to my first light cruiser. I chose the first mercury, because its the most affordable. I do love how powerful it is compared to anything else I've ever had. Its definitely a big jump up from any destroyer. The next step up, the cruisers seem so far out of reach though.