its not a mistake at all. fleet logistics and cost are not linked on a 1-to-1 basis and ships are balanced in context of every other ship in the game, not just against one particular ship. the logistics costs are also different by faction and reflect relative balancing of the ships available to each faction.

TEC: cobalts cost 5 logistics, javelis cost 4. 

Advent: disciples cost 4, illuminators cost 6.

Vasari: skirmishers cost 7, assailants cost 6. 

there's no one factor that explains why these numbers are the way they are, it is just the result of balance decisions made by the Ironclad development team.

you shouldn't be under the impression that long-range is just strictly higher level then light frigate, and therefore should always cost more. it doesn't work like that. 

LRMs damage relative to their coutnerparts in otehr factions is much less.  So they are on par with damage/fleet point mostly.  You can't compare light frigates (Cobalts) to LRMs, each does a different job.

Do you mean like a in-menu "unit editor app" that you could set cost and genrel stats, and also have a "reset to defult" option?

While this is correct, for a beginner looking for a workhorse unit to make up the bulk of his army, there's an obvious right and wrong answer here, and it simply has to do with the order in which units are typically researched and overall combat strengths.

Agreed.  There would be no standardization; you'd just be guessing at the relative combat strength of every unit type, and would probably be dead before you got a feel for it.  It's one thing to experiment with modding, quite another to make it the status quo.

The hit points of a unit don't really matter if they don't get shot at, or at least get a lot of shot out before they start taking them. In TEC vs TEC battles, i don't see much use to bring light frigate outside their antimatter draining ability (wich don't seem that effective). LRM eat light frigates, you can't defeat them by briging more than they can chew, fleet supply work against you. To counter LRM, you need SCs, but they also end up being an heavily spammed unit...

Of course they do a different job, but one is the hunter and the other the hunted, and it seem ackward that the one that get hunted so effectively by the other can't use numbers to tip the balance. To beat LRM spam in TEC vs TEC, there is no choice but go for carriers, the other most spammed unit in that game.

Light frigates get a damage bonus against support and carrier cruisers, plus they're the fastest combat unit available.  This makes the light frigate ideally suited as a search and destroy unit.  They're actually very effective at hunting down light carriers. 

The catch to this role is that it doesn't exist until the enemy is making carriers.  This is why it's often prudent to skip to another unit type, because there are better overall workhorses and unless your enemy is fast-tracking to carriers those light frigates aren't going to be very helpful at all.

Very well put transitive, I've been playing this game for several months and light firgate balance didn't make sense until I saw, "light frig -> carrier -> long range -> [wrap around to light frig]."

One of the things I wish we had for the game was a unit balance chart so it would be easier to see for us visual learner people.

uhh... stickys? dumb question, I know

I feel like such a moron. I can't find the strategy forums.  *sigh*  Anyone have a web address?  Thanks

Thanks, transitive, I found it now.  Does snyone know why the forums on the website are different from the forums here on Impulse?

lol, guess I just have to look through both now.  Thanks, though.