Thanks Helmut, this is really helpful. This type of problem would only come up with the capital ships I had in mind for Orbitale, but it's nice to know the restrictions to work around this problem. For now, I'm going to work on the second faction while I do more testing for Orbitale (playing mods).
What's great about the second faction is how quick it will be to churn out sprites. Fighters are the core portion of the force, so once the designs have been finalized and sprited, they can be tested to see if the faction is viable.
Currently the fighters are being designed around what low tier weapons have not been used in the vanilla lineup. Here's a list of what is currently used in the main game:
Vanilla Fighters:Spoiler
Name: Ship Size, Weapon
-------------------------------
HEGEMONY
Talon Interceptor: S, Vulcan Cannon
Broadsword Heavy: M, Swarmer SRM / LMG x2
Thunder Multirole: M, Harpoon MRM (S) / Swarmer SRM Launcher / Ion Cannon
Warthog Assault: M, Light Assault Gun / LMG x2
Gladius Heavy: L, LDMG / IR Pulse Laser x2
Claymore Bomber: L, Annihilator Rocket Launcher x2 / LMG x2
Halberd Support: L, Vulcan Cannon x2 / Swarmer SRM Launcher x2
TRI TACHYON
Wasp Interceptor: S, PD Laser
Claw Assault: M, Pulse Laser
Dagger Bomber: M, Reaper Torpedo
Longbow Support: M, Sabot SRM (S) / Burst PD Laser
Trident Bomber: L, Harpoon SRM (S) x2 / Atropos Torpedo (S) x2 / LR PD Laser x3
Xyphos Heavy: L, Phase Beam / Burst PD Laser x2
CORE
Mining Pod Heavy: M, Mining Laser
Piranha Bomber: M, Standard Bomb Bay / LMG
This is what was changed or added in SS+ (* notes change or addition). Other than the weapons, their stats have been improved as well, but I won't post those here.
SS+ Fighters:Spoiler
Name: Ship Size, Weapon
-------------------------------
HEGEMONY
Talon Interceptor: S, Vulcan Cannon
Broadsword Heavy: M, Swarmer SRM / LMG x2
Thunder Multirole: M, Harpoon MRM (S) / Swarmer SRM Launcher / Ion Cannon
*Warthog Assault: M, Light Assault Gun / Light Autocannon x2
Gladius Heavy: L, LDMG / IR Pulse Laser x2
*Claymore Bomber: L, Annihilator Rocket Launcher x2 / LMG x2
*Halberd Support: L, Vulcan Cannon x2 / Swarmer SRM Launcher x2
TRI TACHYON
Wasp Interceptor: S, PD Laser
*Claw Assault: M, Pulse Laser
Dagger Bomber: M, Reaper Torpedo
*Longbow Support: M, Sabot SRM (M) / Burst PD Laser
Trident Bomber: L, Harpoon SRM (S) x2 / Atropos Torpedo (S) x2 / LR PD Laser x3
Xyphos Heavy: L, Phase Beam / Burst PD Laser x2
CORE
Mining Pod Heavy: M, Mining Laser
Piranha Bomber: M, Standard Bomb Bay / LMG
*Sentinel Support: M, Proximity Burst Launcher
Reviewing the list, these small weapons are still unused by fighters in the main game:
Light Autocannon
Dual Light Autocannon
Mortar
Needler
Rail Gun
Tactical Laser
Antimatter Blaster
Sabot SRM (M)
Salamander SRM (M), an (S) version would be nice though
If a fighter centric faction is going to work, there needs to be at least one fighter for each damage type (Kinetic, HE, Frag, and Energy) which could deliver that damage role reliably during battle before its wing runs out of backup fighters. All of these unused weapons are pretty useful en masse, so the challenge is coming up with fighters that are balanced against the other aircraft in interesting ways.
I have some drawings that I'll post soon. One is of an antimatter blaster fighter, the Dagger of the force. It has a few charges to dispense before needing to reload at a friendly flightdeck.