Optimal Ship Size Does size really matter? The quick and dirty answer is that
it depends. There are two schools of thought on shipbuilding. The first, is to go small, but build in high quantity. The second is to build fewer, larger ships. The differences depend on the strategy you most prefer. Smaller ships get fewer hit
points, and can generally fit smaller numbers of weapons, armors and specialized modules. However, the cost of producing these smaller ships can mean that a player can produce them much faster than a frigate.
Another advantage of smaller ships is that you can put more of them into any one fleet. Because Gal Civ adds all of a given fleet''s ship''s
attack values together, this can mean that a bunch of small ships can take down a slightly smaller fleet of large ships. Let us think of it this way. 4 fighters with an attack value of 4 beam and 6 hit points are in a group against 2 medium sized ships with 6 beam attack and 20 hit points. When the battle commences, the four little ships take out one of the big ships fairly quickly (4 attack x 4 ships). Granted, the algorithm is not that simple, but you get the idea. The big ship returns fire, and maybe manages to kill one of the little ships. Still, with three little ships remaining, the attack value is still twice what the remaining big ship can manage. Thus, David brings down Goliath. Add in to this the fact that you can continually produce smaller ships at a faster rate than an equally situated opponent can produce bigger ships, and you can see how small ships can win the day.
This does not mean, however, that smaller is better. Bigger ships provide flexibility, and by boosting the higher hit points, can suck up a lot of damage, making them more likely to survive battles and accumulate experience, which greatly affects ship performance. Further, a combination of big and little ships can mean that the big ship survives, gains experience, and also benefits from having the extra "oomph" that smaller ships added into a fleet can provide. Further, there is just something cool about seeing a dreadnought fly up next to an enemy planet and proceed to decimate that planet''s defenses.