With smaller weaponry and weaker armor plating, even a Paris class frigate wouldn’t stand against almost any Covenant ship for long, so what was the benefit of making them? Couldn’t the UNSC have used the materials to make ships that stand a better chance in battle?
UNSC fleets generally had to outnumber an opposing Covenant fleet about three-to-one for a reasonable chance at victory. Constructing frigates allowed the UNSC to fill out their numbers to even out space battles (though they still didn’t really go well for humanity).
Their MACs is the thing they have that makes them worthwhile.
What those guys said:
Overwhelming firepower/numbers were the only thing the UNSC could do to stop the Covenant fleets.
The MACS are what really make the difference, so while larger ships can take more of a hit, they still only had one MAC apiece.
Frigates would be cheaper, more expendable ships that could likely be used as a screen.
A possible scenario:
The fleet gives out a ridiculous initial salvo of MAC fire. A large number of frigates are destroyed by return fire, and the bigger ships mop up the covenant ships damaged by the initial attack.
In the case of the Paris heavy and Stalwart light frigate, they were essentially guns with engines. That’s it. Stalwarts had a slightly larger cargo bay (though not to the extent of the Charon light frigates) so they could truck around a platoon’s worth of vehicles if needed, but…
While the UNSC could have knackered Paris production in favor of comparatively smaller Halberds (which mass in at double the tonnage of a Stalwart due to the armor plating) with dual MACs, in the end, it came down to ‘need more ships quicker’/distributed lethality. Against an opponent that can one-shot any [subcapital] one has without much bother on their end, and stuff to prevent that from happening is still either ages away, stuck in development hell, or keeps getting destroyed by said opponent… well, one might choose the path of mass production.
As people like SC Matt 7 have said they were simply mobile MACS/ weapon platforms to be used by the UNSC fleet in mass due to their ease to produce and overall effectiveness. A real world example would be the Sherman tank of WWII.
While it was largely inferior to most of the German tanks it faced especially when facing Tiger tanks, due to their ease to produce made them combat viable and meant that if three were lost to remove one Tiger, those three could quickly be replaced where as a more complex Tiger would take much longer.
This also allows heavier tonnage ships like cruisers, carriers etc to be dedicated to more deliberate ops and not running around doing ‘bushfire’ engagements and I would say encouraged commanders of frigates to use ingenious swarm and ambush tactics to defeat ships more capable than there own.
Post Human Covenant War frigates like the Strident class have become a far more powerful ship with sheilding, improved armour, weapons and systems. So while they are not the lions of a fleet like a Marathon, Autumn or Valiant class or a show stoppers like the Punic or Infinity class they definitely serve a role.
> 2533274943975523;6:
> As people like SC Matt 7 have said they were simply mobile MACS/ weapon platforms to be used by the UNSC fleet in mass due to their ease to produce and overall effectiveness. A real world example would be the Sherman tank of WWII.
>
> While it was largely inferior to most of the German tanks it faced especially when facing Tiger tanks, due to their ease to produce made them combat viable and meant that if three were lost to remove one Tiger, those three could quickly be replaced where as a more complex Tiger would take much longer.
>
> This also allows heavier tonnage ships like cruisers, carriers etc to be dedicated to more deliberate ops and not running around doing ‘bushfire’ engagements and I would say encouraged commanders of frigates to use ingenious swarm and ambush tactics to defeat ships more capable than there own.
>
> Post Human Covenant War frigates like the Strident class have become a far more powerful ship with sheilding, improved armour, weapons and systems. So while they are not the lions of a fleet like a Marathon, Autumn or Valiant class or a show stoppers like the Punic or Infinity class they definitely serve a role.
They make a nasty surprise for anyone trying to pick a fight with Infinity too.
> 2533274907200114;7:
> > 2533274943975523;6:
> > As people like SC Matt 7 have said they were simply mobile MACS/ weapon platforms to be used by the UNSC fleet in mass due to their ease to produce and overall effectiveness. A real world example would be the Sherman tank of WWII.
> >
> > While it was largely inferior to most of the German tanks it faced especially when facing Tiger tanks, due to their ease to produce made them combat viable and meant that if three were lost to remove one Tiger, those three could quickly be replaced where as a more complex Tiger would take much longer.
> >
> > This also allows heavier tonnage ships like cruisers, carriers etc to be dedicated to more deliberate ops and not running around doing ‘bushfire’ engagements and I would say encouraged commanders of frigates to use ingenious swarm and ambush tactics to defeat ships more capable than there own.
> >
> > Post Human Covenant War frigates like the Strident class have become a far more powerful ship with sheilding, improved armour, weapons and systems. So while they are not the lions of a fleet like a Marathon, Autumn or Valiant class or a show stoppers like the Punic or Infinity class they definitely serve a role.
>
> They make a nasty surprise for anyone trying to pick a fight with Infinity too.
Aso the opening of Spartan Ops showed. That cut scene gave me hope, shame it didn’t really deliver hope.
> 2533274943975523;6:
> As people like SC Matt 7 have said they were simply mobile MACS/ weapon platforms to be used by the UNSC fleet in mass due to their ease to produce and overall effectiveness. A real world example would be the Sherman tank of WWII.
Oh, please don’t say-
> While it was largely inferior to most of the German tanks it faced especially when facing Tiger tanks, due to their ease to produce made them combat viable and meant that if three were lost to remove one Tiger, those three could quickly be replaced where as a more complex Tiger would take much longer.
sigh
Death Traps is not a reliable source.
Another account of the action near Rauray from multiple sources.
Link to performance of 75mm…The sooner this myth gets binned the better.
> 2533274942408157;9:
> > 2533274943975523;6:
> > As people like SC Matt 7 have said they were simply mobile MACS/ weapon platforms to be used by the UNSC fleet in mass due to their ease to produce and overall effectiveness. A real world example would be the Sherman tank of WWII.
>
> Oh, please don’t say-
>
>
> > While it was largely inferior to most of the German tanks it faced especially when facing Tiger tanks, due to their ease to produce made them combat viable and meant that if three were lost to remove one Tiger, those three could quickly be replaced where as a more complex Tiger would take much longer.
>
> sigh
> Death Traps is not a reliable source.
>
> Another account of the action near Rauray from multiple sources.
>
> Link to performance of 75mm…The sooner this myth gets binned the better.
I was gonna say…my grandpa was in the PHILIPPINES, half way across the world from Germany, and he said the moment the Japanese started firing ANYTHING bigger than an MG or small arms at a Sherman you hit the DECK, cause it was gonna go up like a firecracker.
The Sherman was trash by the end of the war.
Kinda like the UNSC frigates actually…