I've had a few hours of playtime with 1.2. I did a quick start with 100,000 credits and picked a carrier/support heavy fleet to start, so I could sample the Montana, the Albatross and the fighter wings.
The Montana is woefully undergunned. Not by mounts, since that's par for the course, but its OP allowance is ridiculously low. While needing to be stingy with OP in IF ships is a function of their balance, it felt especially egregious with the Montana. I don't think I'm the only one who feels awful being forced to leave mounts empty in order to approach an optimal (or efficient) loadout. It can only bring two medium mounts to bear (this is fine) and works best using the right side as its broadside, leaving the ship with four small ballistic and two medium ballistic mounts.
That's not an awful amount, especially given what the ship is supposed to be. However, the incredibly low OP leaves no quarter for vents, especially if you take the ever-so-critical Integrated Targetting Unit. My current loadout is two flak cannons on the left, a Medium Autogun, a Heavy Mauler, two light autoguns, two light assault guns, ITU and a mere 2 vents. This ship was clearly derived from the Dakota, and to me, the Dakota was a ship that had very few mounts, but was powerful because you could mount nigh whatever you wanted on them with OP to spare, not to mention efficient shields and durability. The Montana has good shields, but its durability is very lackluster. And if you start to compare this ship to the Venture, then things get REALLY ugly. Sorry for not liking it as much as you probably presumed I would, but it feels far too underpowered to be very appreciable :x Maybe others have had more luck in kitting it out and using it. Maybe I'm overreacting, but I could see anywhere from a 10-20 OP buff being reasonable.
The Tracer wasn't what I was expecting (or hoping for, I was hoping it wouldn't have been a true bomber, like rockets+autogun or some sort of fighter-bomber), but I found it quite efficacious if not for one small hitch: the torpedoes fire in a Y pattern, spreading out from when they fire. This generally results in only one torpedo per ship hitting, especially on smaller or slimmer cruisers or destroyers. Its lack of an auxiliary weapon, even an LMG or something is a little jarring to me, but I can see why you'd do that (earlier mention of IF ships being specialized.)
The Foxbats... I'm not sure how I feel about them. I don't really understand why they exist aside from the Draken, except I've found them oddly potent. Maybe it's the LMG as opposed to the vulcan cannon. A wing sure can chow through those shields.
Hornets make me smile.
I think the implementation of IF fighters (and thus me using them) has made Dakotas survivable by proxy; I have four in my fleet, to good effect.
But enough nitpicking, now I must shower you with praise for the Gift that is the Albatross. I can't tell you how much I love this thing. From what it can do to the way it looks (your sexiest ship yet!) it's perfect. It's balanced, too, because it's made of paper. But four light autoguns will rip and tear anything. I'm also pleased you found something to put rockets on :3 (can you tell I like rockets?)
I love the Zephyr, by the way. I've tested it thoroughly, and it can go toe-to-toe with a frigate and win. It feels low on the OP side (as do many IF ships as I mentioned earlier) but this is reasonable for a carrier so it's not just a destroyer that can refit ships.
And one last note. I've found myself starving for hangar decks. Do you think you'd be remiss in giving some of the other ships a few? Vanilla ships tend to have at least 3 each. I could see giving the Dakota 3, the Orion 6, and so on. At the very least, the Montana could use more.
Sorry for the loadsa text. I guess I'm a little passionate about your mod.
