Hades M8 [TC]

[RichardDaborn]

OK I found one abandoned the other day, i have to say one of the most beautifully designed Paranid ships other than the Hyperion.

I boarded her thinking 'yep i found my uber fighter' and urrkkk no front guns. I SAID NO FRONT GUNS.

I almost burst into tears, this awesomly designed looking ship and it has less gunnage than the Argon Cockroach (Eclipse).

Just like a Ferrari, looks good, goes fast: thats it.

Looks good, shoots missiles, thats it.

Please is there a use for this other than getting killed by a Pirate patrol.

[Deadbeat_Spinn]

Bombing stations and capital ships back to the stone age.

[Starlight_Corporation]

Yes, lay waste to an entire sector before the pirate patrol gets to you. The M8 class is a bomber and possess the Barrage command, allowing them to launch multiple missles in one go.
Best use is as second line combateer. When ships keep the enemy occupied, jump in the M8, let loose it's missiles on the targets, and watch the destruction.

[cmd craven]

useing mine to relocate pirate bases

[Vim Razz]

You'll <3 your hades in time, dont give up on it!

Just build a tomahawk fab or two, stock some missiles up and take it out to play.

And yeah, it's not a fighter at all -- it's mobile artillery, heavy artillery -- so keep it back from the front lines.

[Triaxx2]

You know how dangerous a Q is? The Hades has the power to vaporize WINGS of Q's. Given enough missiles, you can easily erase large pieces of the alphabet. J's, K's, Q's, P's and PX's. Even LX's if they're close enough to the capitals.

Or go toe to toe with a Tyr and come out completely unscathed because you sat out of weapons range and BBQ'ed it.

[Joe McCracken]

I went into Xenon sector 101 with mine the first time I ever piloted one, and was greeted by 2 Q's at 4km. Lots of Fancy flyin' and Launched 6 Tomahawks at each one and ............... BOOM............. BOOM.............. No more Q's! The only other time I took out Q's that quick was in my Boreas. That Hades (of which I have the Syndacate version, don't know if it is different), is AWESOME. Took it to Xenon sector 597 and went hunting for trouble with it. Killed a K (I think it took 20 Toms, IIRC) then went and killed the Station that was there. Had A BLAST. I even took out about 15 N's and M's from looong distance....... It's fun watching a little fighter get vaporized from 15-20 kms away.

[XanII]

Hades M8 Quick HowTo:

1) Do the preparation steps above with the fabs and all so you got the ship pumped up with Tomahawks+energy cells to make the jumps in/out.
2) Optional: Insert 'Ride of the valkyries CD' into your home audio system and play it. Loud. This sets you into the 'I love the smell of napalm in the morning' -mode.
3) Jump Hades into a sector with heavy combat taking place/ huge enemy fleet.
4) Recomended: Maneuver it above/below the ecliptic plane by issuing right away a move command and simply moving it up/down from the gate entrance. This way you can more easily avoid it hitting stations and asteroids.
5) Press g to open weapons list. equip tomahawk missiles. Now barrage command is available and working in 'Ship special commands'. this button is not near the normal ship commands, it's separately down the page where you can set wingmen and homebases etc.
6) Use barrage command and target enemy ships/stations. Computer asks for number of barrages. 1 barrage = 8 missiles if i remember correctly. so 1 barrage=takes out a P, 2=Takes out a Q. 3=Takes out a K. Sometimes more, sometimes less is required depending on how much obstacles come into way. the missiles fly straight towards their targets and will not veer away from stations so be on guard for friendly fire. Though thats why i told you to go down/up when entering the sector....

[Infekted]

The best thing I've found to do with claimed M8s is selling them.. They bring in a nice chunk of credits.

[XanII]

They are worth a lot but you will need more than just one M8 if you seldom use them. i have 3 that fill up slowly on my tomahawk refueling site. Atleast they are filled to the hilt with missiles when i need them.

[cmdnenad]

Two happiest moments early in my game were the two occasions when I captured a M8.

First one, the Peregrine, was sold and the money was used to buy my first factory and some mk3 traders. It really got my economy going.

Second one, the Gladiator, finaly gave me the means to get rid of the Q that was rampaging along my trade routes. I was still in a Sabre at the time.

Since that time I've used it only once, when a Brigantine stood in my way to IBL forge somewhere in pirate space. Now that I have those IBLs I'd probably deal with the Brigantine myself.

[Callidus Thorn]

I've currently got three bombers docked at a pair of tomahawk fabs plexed tohether, that I dust off when I need to punch something really hard. Each one is loaded with 100 tomahawks. It's comforting knowing that I have enough firepower to atomise a sector on standby. In a slightly sadistic move I've dubbed one of them "Catch!", and one of the others "Think Fast!"

It's also funny to call them in on assassination missions. 6 million to take out a pirate Carrack? Send in the bomber, call in a barrage, watch the fireworks.

[X-Warrior B AS]

I'll just have the Claymore anytime thanks
Phantom missiles are ever so slightly faster and more powerful. And take up less volume as well iirc. Not that it really matters at this level of destruction, but they're better. And the ship itself isn't something to sniff at either.

[XanII]

Claymore is for real pro's only imho. if OP considers Terran M8 then find out how to resuply it. I sold my Claymore as i just gave up on trying to hunt down those really hard to find missiles. And now later when i can build fabs... well i no longer bother.

[Triaxx2]

One good use for them, outside their hilarious destructive capabilities is as a CAG.

The Viper has the smallest cargo bay, and lightest shielding, but makes up for it with 175 speed.

At the other end is the Claymore, which is not significantly faster than say a Mistral, but has nearly 200MJ worth of shielding. (175) So not only can it survive the initial attack to jump out, it can then recharge faster and be back on it's way.

And while I've lost CAG's, mainly to pirates, I've only ever lost one Viper, after it ran headlong into a Q. And you'd have to use an M2 as a CAG to survive that.