Summary
NEBULOUS: Fleet Commandis a tacticalspace warfare gamethat emphasizes realism and strategy. Players command fleets of ships in intense, physics-driven battles, where every decision matters. With detailed ship customization, a focus on positioning, and the intricacies of electronic warfare, it offers a deep and immersive space combat experience.
The game ships with a number of pre-built fleets available for the player to pick and choose from. Within these fleets, there are certain ship hulls that stand out as being much better than the others. These can become great templates for players that want to design their own ships in thissci-fi game.
7Cobalt Fleet
The Cobalt fleet monitor, is a multirole ship with a number of various weapon mounts that can be mixed and matched to produce a hull designed for a specific role. The main battery mounts are mismatched, with the maximum armament being one each of the C90 cannon and t30 cannon.
This hull also has a single VLS-1-46. However, rather than using this launcher for damage output, it is generally more useful for launching consumables such as decoys and chaff. It does have two point defense turrets as well in thisRTS game.
6TF Oak Fleet
Axford Class Heavy Cruiser
The TF Oak heavy cruiser has a good balance of speed, maneuverability, survivability, and firepower. A quintessential ship of the line, able to fit many roles, but performing none of them exceedingly well.
With its three M66 cannons as the main battery, it can dish out significant damage at range, albeit slowly. Defensively, it has point-defense turrets covering each side, giving it an effective missile screen. Overall, this is a solid, workhorse of a ship that can fill multiple roles in a fleet.
5TF Birch Fleet
Vauxhall Class Light Cruiser
The TF Birch light cruiser, is a lighter version of the TF Oak heavy cruiser. It gives up some armor and defenses in exchange for greater speed and agility. This puts it squarely into the role of being part of the capital ship screen. This light cruiser acts as an outlying picket towards the edge of a fleet, intended to shift into any position where it is needed, rapidly.
The main battery has been downsized over the TF Oak as well, consisting of three of the smaller M63 cannons. The TF Birch light cruiser is also somewhat lacking in defenses, with only 4 point defense turrets to provide a missile screen.
4TF Redwood Fleet
Keystone Class Destroyer
Equipped with a single M64 cannon, and VLS-1-46 launcher, the TF Redwood destroyer has one single task in a fleet. To bring applied damage to a fight anywhere in the fleet, as quickly as possible.
With limited armor and defense, this destroyer relies on its speed and agility to stay out of trouble. Often deployed as a squadron, destroyers are highly mobile weapon platforms that are intended to be somewhat dispensable, as long as they fulfill the goal of taking down larger ships.
3TF Ash Fleet
Sprinter Class Corvette
The TF Ash fleet has a multirole corvette, that can be adapted quickly to fulfill many roles in a fleet. With minimal armor and structure, this hull has very low mass, meaning it is quick to accelerate and agile to maneuver. However, being such assmall shipmeans that the TF Ash corvette is paper thin and easily destroyed if left out of position and undefended.
The multirole capability of this hull means it can be fitted with a single M64 cannon, advanced radar, EWAR jammers, and other utility modules to flesh out the capabilities of a fleet in any way that is needed.
2TF Sycamore Fleet
Raines Class Frigate
The TF Sycamore fleet frigate frigate has enough survivability to operate alone in specific roles such as scouting. It forgoes some speed and agility over the corvette class, to ensure it has enough defenses to sustain some damage.
Again, this is a ship that can equip a wide range of equipment to flesh out the capabilities of a fleet. However, it is its role as either a scout or a missile frigate where it excels. When fitted with a VLS-1-46 launcher, it can be used to dish out damage at range.
1Wulfenite Squadron
Ocello Class Command Cruiser
The Wulfenite Squadron has a very equipped Ocello Class Command Cruiser. This is alarge shipthat has been designed to be reconfigured for use in any role. It has a large number of weapons mounts, each of which can be customized for different use.
Generally, three Mk 60 cannons are used as the main battery, giving some decent damage output. Smaller mounts can be used to fit equipment such as anti-missile jammers. And with space for up to 8 point defense turrets, it is well-defended as well. Overall, a solid choice for single-ship missions inNEBULOUS: Fleet Command,and one of thebest shipsin the game.
NEBULOUS: Fleet Command
WHERE TO PLAY
Take command of a fleet of space warships tailored to your exact play-style. Favor a small task group of robust, flexible multi-role combatants, a large group of specialized ships, or something in between. Do battle in a heavily simulation-based tactical game featuring everything from kinetics and beam weapons to realistic radar and electronic warfare. Nebulous seamlessly blends the thoughtfulness of pre-mission planning, tension of battle decision-making, pressure of real-time action, and pain of inevitable sacrifice into an intense tactical space game that will keep you reflecting on every decision (and mistake) for hours after each battle.Skip the economy management: you’re here to dominate in battle. Drop into the battlespace with your full fleet and engage the enemy in a tense back and forth where a single mistimed advance, poorly executed withdrawal, or missed shot can turn the tide of battle. Deep, methodical combat based on thrusts, withdrawals, and counter-thrusts keeps the tension ratcheted up without numbing you with a screen constantly full of explosions. With no reinforcements coming, every hit hurts and every loss counts - victory favors thoughtful planning and precise execution.It’s in your hands, Commodore.Take unparalleled control of every unit right down to their individual mounts. Keep your entire fleet together, dynamically split off task units, or give each ship its own assignment. Large maps with lots of cover and radar occlusion make methodical positioning and sight lines critical. Massing firepower in one place is not always the best solution, as the enemy could come from any direction in the fully 3-dimensional battlespace. Covering your retreat is always in order.Group your weapons and task them to different targets or focus fire with everything you have. Selecting the appropriate weapon to engage a target is as impactful as deciding which targets to engage at all. Weapons have compounding benefits and drawbacks, all of which can be compensated for and planned against.Intelligence is key to victory and your situational awareness is never a given. Asteroids and gas clouds can hide ships behind their radar shadows, preventing enemy sensors from detecting their presence, and ensuring enemy illuminators and fire-control radars are unable to mark targets for missile systems.When out in the open, electronic countermeasures take the lead as they attempt to jam, scramble, or otherwise mitigate enemy sensors on board their ships and missile systems alike. Multiple ships moving in close proximity produce a larger signal, making them more easily spotted by enemy sensors, and ships can opt to run cool, turning a variety of systems inactive in order to more easily hide from detection at the cost of some functionality.Occlusion, passive signal detection, balancing radar signature size, and the ability to deceive the enemy makes the fight for intel a critical part of every battle.Fleet design allows you to choose between multiple classes, configuring everything from their munitions storage, power supply unit, and electronic warfare capabilities to their damage control systems, point-defense capabilities, and armaments - right down to the types of missiles each bay carries.A point cost system keeps fleets balanced as you design battleships, cruisers, frigates, corvettes and more, arriving at the battlespace with little idea as to what your opponent might be fielding. Scouting enemy fleet composition and adapting to their designs will be essential to securing victory, and at times you may spend half the battle (or more) trying to accurately determine your adversary’s capabilities so that you can strike with precision and force. Express your tactical identity through the design of your fleet, and each individual ship within.Each system and subsystem aboard your ships perform specific tasks and are tracked and simulated individually. Their position on your ship can determine optimal facing when unleashing a salvo, or the risk factor when enemy systems open fire. Vital systems should be protected with the help of point-defense systems and defensive maneuvering that presents auxiliary systems towards incoming fire while keeping essential systems hidden behind the armor plating and hull.Damage is modeled for individual components, determining which ship systems remain active under enemy fire, and damage control teams work rapidly to repair what they can as they move from compartment to compartment. Retreating from active combat to repair damaged components before re-engaging is not only a viable strategy, but at times, an essential maneuver, and in a worst case scenario, a ship with a breach in its reactor can be quite a potent weapon in its own way.Nebulous has extensive modding support, with hundreds of player-made mods available on Steam Workshop including new maps, ships, weapons, and more.
