Need a mothership or mobile battlestations

Battle stations are a good idea, a ship made for defense with NO jump drive but can move in system (all that space/power goes to defense/offence systems)
Expensive because of all the weapons/armor/shielding . . an liability because it has to say IN system. Possibly has to use system defense points? To keep things balanced.

A missile capital ship? Made for stand off attacks, powerful at range weak close up. Possibly some utilities for the missiles Constant fire, full barrage (with pause between fires), area of effect (laser heads? ) . . . . level up items, anti missile missiles? Anti fighter missiles? Big anti capital missile (with cool down), Targeting (if the other targeting does not apply), etc . . . lots of options and should compliment the other ships nicely.

Not to mention that Ron Lugge's Carrier Group at the Star would seriously damage his opponents trade/refinery ship lanes that pass through the Gravity Well....this might even be enough to spark off big fights around Stars.

Leave the Light Carrier as it is, it is totally geared for carrying and supporting its strike craft. It shouldn't even be able to fend off even a single frigate. And for those who want it to have anti-bomber capabilities.....IT CAN FREAKING CARRY FIGHTERS!!!!

Also, you can hardly claim it is underpowered when it is the Cruiser players use by far the most.

I didn't bother to read the whole thread, but here are my thoughts on cruisers.

I love the fact that they're supposed to be more on the support side than attack, but please, give them just a little boost.
Personally I find the carriers are bit.. useless. I mean, a whole ship, just to accommodate FIVE measly aircrafts, and thats it? Come on..
Instead, somewhat decreasing the power of fighters and bombers, and instead give two squadrons of them to a carrier, instead of one. ( The Sova, ofcourse, gets a buff in squadron capacity also )
I find the drone ship is alright, repairing is always good, especially mid battle. Haven't had the chance to see suicide bomb drone action yet tho.
The command ship, I still haven't figured out what it does, and the firepower is seriously lacking.
The Kodiak is nice, but for its cost in supply, it makes me sometimes have second thoughts about buying it over a few more frigates.

Also, like some mentioned, I feel cap ships need to be researched too, just like every other ship.

Erog, if you look at the description this is sort of what the Marza is supposed to be but it doesn't have the right range. The description says it specializes in long range attacks.

Don't knock the fighters. They don't cost anything to replace, and the carriers don't die very often because you can leave them in the rear of the action. A squadron or three of carriers (Squadron of carriers = 8 ships, possibly plus a "flag ship" Sova for the fleet to support them in close range just in case the enemy actually targets them) can allow you to control the central star VERY nicely (especially since fighters are actually fast enough to stand a chance at intercepting enemy vessels short of the phase limit, full up ships usually can't). And, just to make life fun, if you have marauders on any cap ships in the star end up 10 very quickly, too. Just like in Honor Harrington (pre-war, of course), where the Manticoran fleet "bloods" its officers by putting them in anti-piracy patrols in the piracy-ridden Silesia.

This is essential for cap-ship only fleet prevention.

What is going to be crazy (in an awesomely good way) will be when 2 or more players have carrier groups around the star in an attempt to protect their own/deny their opponents trade lanes.

There is also the Kodiak Acceleration Special Ability that could be very useful around stars. Rush them past defending bombers to chase off the enemy carrier groups.

I say "chase off", because without Phase Inhibitor equipped ships, the losing side around stars will always simply retreat....of course this will mean damage to their Trade/Refining Income.

Something else to consider is how antimatter recharge rates experiences a serious boost around stars. Special abilities are going to be uber powered....which is going to be so cool!

How did this change from a discussion involving cruisers to a discussion about how to hold a star? What did I start!

That said, the star's gravity well is definitely an interesting combat zone, between the fact that antimatter is cheap, the star blocks off most of the well (much more than even a planet does), and the complete inability to own it (and place structures). Creates a different combat dynamic, that may be quite fun to play around with.

Edit:

Oh, btw, teh ability to place squads anywhere in the system you like (remote from teh carrier) really shines around stars. Place the carriers in a place to phase-jump away if threatened, and have the bombers set up in the most likely places for enemies to show up (with a backup squad or three stationed in three other "corners" relative to that point, just in case).

Ok good enough, I did not see that . . but even then . . a larger missle ship would fit.

Erog like i said, this is what the Marza is SUPPOSED to be not what it actually is right now, atm its range is the same as any other cap ship and significantly less than a missile frigate.