Fleet
SMALL DEEP SPACE FREIGHTER
The small deep space freighter is not the best pic for anyone except for the Lizards with their 30x ground combat force. Likely candidate for colonization.
SERPENT CLASS ESCORT
This ship has only one use. HISSss. Build it early at new starbases to increase your cash flow so that you can replace it with better ships. Due to its’ low crew count, this ship gets captured too often to be useful for anti-scout defense. Look at the Eros for minor defenses instead of the Serpent.
NEUTRONIC FUEL CARRIER
Build a few to refuel your ships at the edges of your empire. The usefulness of this ship depends on how rich the game is.
MEDIUM DEEP SPACE FREIGHTER
If you are playing in a game where many of the planets you find will not be worthwhile, you may want to build an MDSF (Medium Deep Space Freighter) so that you can scout out the good planets. Once the MDSF’s job of scouting has been finished, it can be colonized or put to use in small cargo transport. If you plan to colonize it you may choose to build a Smallie (Small Deep Space Freighter) instead.
REPTILE CLASS DESTROYER
Never bring the Reptile into combat against a real warship. It only has four beams and low crew/mass will cause it to get captured or destroyed. This is a good cheap freight raider and minor ground assault ship. If you can afford it, build the Saurian instead.
LIZARD CLASS CRUISER
This is the bread and butter warship of the Lizard fleet. A good lizard rarely has too many of these. Lizards win early with the use of this warship. 30:1 ground combat is staggering and most planets cannot withstand the solo ship assault of the LCC’s. When the surprise attack is 5 or 10 planets on the same turn… Bases and colonies, watch your enemy shudder as you bring these to bare. The LCC also proves very useful in the late game for securing those planets that your enemy hasn’t protected. And in combination for stealing those really well defended bases.
EROS CLASS RESEARCH SHIP
This is the Lizard’s lone terraformer. It is a much better anti-probe and anti-scout platform than the Serpent. The advantages of the Eros are quite obvious when you consider that two engines allows towing along with terraforming, hissing and minor defenses.
VENDETTA CLASS FRIGATE
This ship is no better in lizard hands than it is in fed. The low crew is this ship’s Achilles heel. There are some interesting “combat” tactics putting the low crew to advantage. But the functions are a bit limited and for the expenditure, go with the Lizard Cruiser or Saurian, the gain of cloak makes up for the loss of 1 or 2 torp tubes.
LARGE DEEP SPACE FREIGHTER
The Medium and Small are too small, the Super Transport is too big, but the LDSF feels just right. This is actually the ship to build.
SAURIAN CLASS LIGHT CRUISER
The prime choice for scouting duties of the lizard fleet. Giving up a modest 30Ly of range from the Reptile, the gains are many. Three times the cargo, 2 torp tubes, 6 times the crew and all the advantages that means. The Saurian has a very useful place in the lizard fleet. An extra 100 LY of range over the Lizard cruiser means a lot.
LOKI CLASS DESTROYER
The cloaker’s nightmare. Pirates hate it, birds and fascist despise it. If the ES bonus is 50%, this ship lays waste to bird warships. Lizard’s of course are immune to it.
MADONZILLA CLASS CARRIER
This carrier looks like a joke to most players due to it’s 4/5 weapons array. But the lizard lives by this warship. 2 or 3 TRex’s and a Madonzilla can destroy the big carriers. The Lizard fights a war of numbers. The Madonzilla helps reduce those numbers from 4-6 per carrier down to 2 or 3.
NEUTRONIC REFINERY SHIP
The neutronic refinery ship is a tech 9 ship with 10 engines and 1050 KT of cargo room. Fuel tank will hold 800 KT of fuel. The hull is very massive, 712 KT. The ship is armed with 6 beam weapons. This ship can produce up to 525 KT of fuel per turn.
SUPER TRANSPORT FREIGHTER
To big for most purposes. With tech 10 engines and the cost involved it is much easier to build a few Large Deep Space Freighters. But I like to call it “Starbase in a Box”. You decide.
TREX CLASS BATTLESHIP
The hammer that the lizards use to smash their opponents. Be aware that the well played Lizard will have more TREX’s than any other race will have battleships. The low cost and high mineral extraction is why this ship shows up in great numbers so early in games. Long before your enemies are rolling out numbers of battleships and carriers, the Lizard will have rolled out a fleet that destroys most. In tandem with the LCC ground pounding, never think the lizard is a wimp race. Arguably, the Lizards are the strongest race in the game.
MERLIN CLASS ALCHEMY SHIP
The Merlin Class Alchemy Ship is a tech 10 ship with 10 engines and 2700 KT of cargo room. The fuel tank can hold 450 KT of fuel. The ship’s hull has a mass of 920 KT, which makes it one of the largest ships in any fleet. The ship is armed with 8 beam weapons and costs 840 magacredits to build. The ship can produce a maximum of 900 KT of minerals per turn ( 300 KT duranium, 300 KT tritanium and 300 KT molybdenum ).