The ships in Rules of Warfare are issued as prizes for participating in ICE sanctioned Silent Death events. Everyone who participates receives one ship, while the winner receives an additional ship.
Dolphin
BPV: 50 / 1 Crew
The Dolphin is a decent dogfighter, and with a good Gunner skill, can eliminate
annoying hard-to-hit fighters like the Dart with a good missile strike.
The four Splatterguns provide a significant damage potential and the +3
to hit doesn't hurt either. It has a high Drive (16) allow it to move around
quite easily. It's Defensive Value is fairly low (12) and its Damage Reduction
is only a 2 so it does not generally last long in a large dogfight. Send
it up against the fighters that are harassing your forces. Incidentally,
the Dolphin sheet can also be found in the Silent Death Rulebook, it is
the example ship using the ship builder system.
Executioner
BPV: 115 / 2 Crew
I love this miniature. Picture a battle-axe flying through space and you
will get an idea of what this ship looks like. This ship is designed to
be a heavy hitter. It has an Ion Ram firing to every arc except front (which
takes a little getting used to), and 6 Blatguns firing forward (that's High+10).
Four Mk. 10 and two Mk. 30 torpedoes round out its armament. The Blatguns
receive a +5 to hit, so you could attack a ship with a drive up to 18 without
penalty due to the Blatguns drive restriction. Its Defensive Value is only
a 13, so it will take a few hits during the battle, but in addition to its
DR of 3, it has a lot of blank boxes that can be marked off. If you like
to kill things, the Executioner fills that role nicely.
Orca
BPV: 210 / 6 Crew
At first glance, the ship looks expensive for what it is, after all its
does not even have any torpedoes. After fighting against one, it becomes
painfully obvious how effective it truly is. When using an Orca, always,
always keep its front pointed towards its target. The Ion Ram, Impulsegun,
4 Splatterguns and 12 Pulse Lasers slamming into a ship will cause enough
damage in one volley to have its opponent begging for mercy. Plus, the front
Damage Reduction is tougher than the sides and rear. The Orca has an incredible
drive for its size (12), allowing it to avoid being hit by Railrepeators,
Disintegrators, and Turbo Lasers, thus limiting the heavy weapons usable
against it. Its Defensive Value and Point Defense are also fairly high,
allowing the Orca to stay for a while in any battle. Its expensive, but
has a devastating frontal assault.
Piranha
BPV: 18 / 1 Crew
The Piranha is the perfect Disruptorgun ship. It is fast and has a very
high Defensive Value (15). It is best used in a school, allowing them to
surround their target and take bites out of it. Fly to within two hexes
of your target, counting on your high DV to avoid attack. Fire the Disruptorgun.
At the beginning of the next turn, fire a 10-missile spread and drop the
Mk. 40 torpedo. Assuming the torpedo hits, this should cripple the target
allowing the other Piranhas to swim up and finish the job. Be warned, if
the Piranha is hit, it is quickly destroyed. Its damage track is tiny and
its 1 point of Damage Reduction is removed on the second hit.
Snarling Badger
BPV: 689 / 9 Crew
Okay, the Snarling Badger can deal such a massive amount of damage, that
I am at a loss as to how to use it. First it carries a Keel Cannon, while
able to hit any speed ship, its firing arc usually prevents it from being
used. That's all right though as its real main armament are the two quad
Repeating Blasters. They only have a range of 15, but do (High+6)x2 damage
with no speed restriction. A pair of Ion Rams and two sext Splatterguns
round out its particle armament. Add three massive missile launchers and
you have a ship that just oozes damage. I would comfortably take this Warhound
up against a Fletcher, or even a Longboat and feel quite good about my chances.
Did I mention the 8 Drive or the 6 Damage Reduction up front and 5 DR in
the rear? How about the ECM system (1-5[5]). I really feel this ship is
way overpowered, but I guess that's the point. It's point defense is rather
low though (1-4 up front, 1-3 in the rear), so its possible 5 Revenges could
take it out. If they can reach it that is.