20130217 Heavy Corvette 1

Game Concept art for a hypothetical space modular-construction space combat simulation.

Sketchup + Render[in] + Photoshop, background courtesy of NASA.

This particular ship is a six frame heavy corvette, "Cobra" class. Its primary job is to destroy frigates at range. To accomplish this it mounts four torpedo bays located on the upper and lower halves of the ship.

Of course, even with three engines for speed strike craft can always be a problem, so it mounts 3 LRM launchers for long ranged offense against interceptors and 2 autocannons for close range defense. Enough of these Cobras can pose a significant threat to frigate groups unable to handle torpedo saturation- or if the Cobras strike from a position where the EM and countermeasures of the frigates are unable to perform maximally. Because of their speed and autocannon defense, they can often knock enemy missiles out of the sky before they reach them, and simultaneously avoid powerful capital ship guns. Their weakness lies in the position of the autocannons, their forward placement means interceptors striking from the rear can easily tear them apart. To compensate for this some crews mount rear facing autocannons, the downside being the reduced speed means a greater chance of being hit by capital ship weapons, which can often obliterate corvettes with one or two shots.