View source for Starter Fleet Guide:Maple

=== TF Maple ===
Centered around an escort carrier with a strong complement of sensor, interceptor, and bomber spacecraft, TF Maple is designed to secure total void superiority for your team. Launch Sundial SEWACs to establish radar coverage of the map early on, then start queuing up Claymore bombers for launch. The carrier is accompanied by two space defense frigates carrying long-range PDTs and anti-craft missiles, capable of zoning out opposing fighters and assisting your Tanto interceptors in any nearby engagement. Once void superiorty is assured, the Claymores can be escorted in for devastating torpedo strikes against isolated enemy formations. TF Maple is all about managing your elevator cycles to keep strike tempo up and ensuring dogfights are taken on your terms within your sensor and space defense bubbles.

=== Craft ===
====B-86T Claymore ==== 
TF Maple's primary offensive tool, the fleet's claymores are configured for delivering torpedoes and cluster bombs via an S3 bay, and are upgraded with a missile control computer and high-coherence countermeasure launcher.

Size 3 Missile Bays are available to Claymores and are competitive with Size 2 Bays: between the two, Size 3 Bays use torpedoes which offer much greater cost efficiency than Size 2 missiles while shortening the range the bomber can fire at considerably.

The Missile Control Computer support module is chosen because it enables use of the [[CMD]] seeker on missiles, offering the ability for your craft to guide its own munitions on target rather than rely on easily softkillable seeker combinations or the relatively expensive [[EO]] seeker type. The alternative to using MCC would be the missile decoy projector module, or no module at all, to either aid in penetrating hardkill or aid in cost saving respectively.

The High-Coherence CM Launcher module is selected to improve the bomber's survivability against [[ACT]] and [[WAKE]] missiles, by detonating blast frag warheads that pass through the countermeasures and increasing the signature size of the decoys. High-capacity CM would increase the Claymore's endurance during prolonged missile exposure, while standard CMs would save it points in exchange for a chance of missiles reacquiring after flying through chaff.

basic guide to usage here

====E-448 Sundial====
An extra sensor asset to complement your spyglass frigates, this Sundial is upgraded with high-coherence countermeasures only.

High-coherence countermeasures confer the same advantages and disadvantages for the Sundial as they do the Claymore, trading the potentially higher mission endurance of high-capacity CM for the greater safety of high-coherence CM.

basic guide to usage here

====PF-440V Tanto====
Your fighter complement in Maple, these tantos are upgraded with 15mm Coilguns, Centerline Fuel Tanks, and high-coherence countermeasures.

15mm coilgun guide

CFT guide

hicocm guide

basic guide to usage here

=== Missiles ===

====SDM-103 Thorn====
Used for air to air combat, Thorns are your long range anti-craft missiles and are employed in the two standoff loadouts available to your Tantos.

As only one seeker is made available to SDM1 missiles, a steerable ACT missile is chosen for the Thorn. Steerable ACT in this case has no extra cost penalty over fixed ACT, and is inexpensive enough while conferring a high enough kill rate to be a functional mainstay for your craft to craft engagements.

The missile's tunings contribute to its effective kill rate, being sufficient to chase down enemy fighters and bombers while staying maneuverable enough to hit them despite any evasion they perform.

====SGM-1 Ceremonial Arming Missile====
This missile is not intended for offensive usage, or indeed any usage at all during a typical match. Arming missiles exist so that a ship with an arming missile counts as being offensively armed, an important feature in the Control gamemode most multiplayer matches take place within. Thus, firing this missile is not advisable, besides in very niche circumstances.

====SGM-H-296 Tornado====
Tornadoes exist to give your space defence frigates an edge for quickly depleting large amounts of incoming enemy planes. A size 2 hybrid missile, Tornadoes have very long range and are highly lethal once they stage owing to their exceptionally fast speed and (relative to your size 1 missiles) large warhead. Using an ACT/WAKE guidance package, they have a reasonable chance to acquire and hit enemy craft, even with the presence of countermeasures: ACT is somewhat consistent on its own, and WAKE helps the missile to reacquire on near-misses, whether induced by countermeasures or by bad luck.

It's worth mentioning that Tornadoes are not fully optimized, having too much speed for their role in the sprint stage & incurring a price penalty. Should you take these missiles for use elsewhere, it is recommended to reduce the sprint speed either to 500m/s, or whatever lowers the cost per missile to eight points.

====SGT-375 Bardiche====
Bardiches are your primary offensive tool. Their use is straightforward: fire them off of bombers, keep the bombers on target to guide them into a track.

Bardiches use the CMD/SAH guidance package, and this benefits them in two different ways. The first is the more obvious one- CMD is a seeker that is difficult to jam, requiring dedicated infrastructure on a reasonably close ship. The second is much less intuitive; a CMD seeker with a backup, in this case SAH, will go in a straight line when it is jammed out and that SAH seeker is neither jammed nor guiding. This means that a CMD/SAH torpedo may only be softkilled by a combination of radar and comms jamming, or by using comms jamming and illumination of chaff. SAH in particular is selected for its half-point cost; this puts it in competition for HOJ or WAKE, which have similar benefits and downsides in a similar configuration.

Bardiches handle penetration of enemy hardkill via two different ways: the first is deployment in higher mass, as covered with the B-86T Claymore. The second is by their engine configuration and terminal maneuvers, which together give them a very maneuverable weave terminal for defeating kinetic hardkill solutions. About 2.0G of turn rate yields enough maneuverability for weave to work consistently, while 262 m/s is on the fast end for a torpedo.

====SSM-172 Hengetort====
Hengetort missiles are not fantastic, owing to their very short range. They have very high maneuverability and acceptable speed, thus are reasonably likely to get kills when they launch and acquire, but their short range makes them a weak choice compared to your Thorn missiles.

More generally, the SSM1 missile body trades on much shorter range by having discounted seekers, as well as two seeker slots, making them a competitive sidegrade to the SDM1 missile body due to their aggressive cost efficiency and acceptable performance. Once fighters have closed past the SDM1 engagement envelope, SSM1s are responsible for many kills before both sides formally close to gun range.

=== Ships ===

==== CVE-24 [Strike Carrier]: Of Martial Build ====
talk about how you use this ship here!!
in no specific order:
how to use sewacs
how to use claymores (cmd guidance, using cover, escape routes, when to sacrifice, expected attrition rates)
how to use tantos
escorting strikes
managing deck cycles
how to not die to ruttle
how to not get farmed by grapeshot and sarissa

==== FF-141 [SpaceDef-1]: Clear Skies ====
talk about how you use this ship here!!
in no specific order:
positioning for spyglass
positioning to help teammates with scryer
positioning for sarissa to help your own craft
when to use ACMs

==== FF-261 [SpaceDef-2]: Starlit Skies====
talk about how you use this ship here!!
in no specific order:
the same as the above, but you've got a second of these