Who uses M8 ships, how and which ones?

[Le Boron Chétif]

Per title of the post, I never purchased an M8 but am wondering if I'm somehow missing out, as I do remember from AP that being on the receiving end of their Tomahawks can be painful.

I don't imagine M8's would ever make effective player ships, so my assumption is that their role is limited to escort or attack support, though I wonder how practically? (IS vs OOS, one M8 at a time vs several, which of their stats is the most important when choosing one...)

And in case they actually don't really appeal to most players, then is this something that would warrant a bit of buffing in an upcoming version?

[Utsuho Reiuji]

I still have to set up my bombers so I cannot say if this will work, but here is what I planned:
I will place them at good distance from a gate and set their turrets to auto fire on capitals. A transporter will be tasked to resupply them with missiles. Fighters will be present to protect them from enemy fighters.

In regards of differences, I believe the Teladi design has bigger cargo space while the Split design is faster (I like the Paranid version more, though).

I never tried using one as playership, but I think that would be possible, provided you have the means to restock on missiles. They tend to have M6 class cargo and the ability to dock on external docking claws, so they are less limited than M7Ms. M8s however are a bit slow and essentially defenceless when it comes to attacks from other fighters. Hostiles have to be taken out from range which in theory should be easy since you fire 2 missiles each time they fire.

[Midnightknight]

I usually use the OTAS bomber with my Aran to be able to quickly destroy capital ships if i jump with it in an hostile sector, as the M6s and the cap ship it carries might not be strong enough.
If that happen, a few tomahawks missiles usually cleans the sector pretty fast as a support, but need to be careful with friendly fire.

I still do not have the Aran in FL cause the game is so much slower than AP ... But i have the M8 ready and waiting. Needs to make a complex to feed it too.

[Argent Valcendre]

I have no experience but

I intend to fly that ship personally in a battle. This to make sure it is in the right place and shoots the right missile at the right ship, all at the right time.

At a later stage, when finance is more abundant, those M8 could be tested in greater numbers to look what they are capable of.

[Hwitvlf]

I have tried M8s in AP and found them unwieldy. Squads of them seem to coordinate missile launches so as to not waste ammo. This would be fine, but the tomahawk is slow and easy to shoot down so they rarely reach their target. Having a long delay between missile launches gives the enemy time to close in and the M8 is defenseless in close quarters. As a matter of fact, the most common way for them to die is when a missile they're shooting is detonated by incoming fire. Using Missile Barrage works better, but gets expensive.

In AP, missiles were not used OOS so the M8 was a sitting duck. They may have improved something in FL, but I haven't tried them yet.

[Midnightknight]

I have tried M8s in AP and found them unwieldy. Squads of them seem to coordinate missile launches so as to not waste ammo. This would be fine, but the tomahawk is slow and easy to shoot down so they rarely reach their target. Having a long delay between missile launches gives the enemy time to close in and the M8 is defenseless in close quarters. As a matter of fact, the most common way for them to die is when a missile they're shooting is detonated by incoming fire. Using Missile Barrage works better, but gets expensive.

In AP, missiles were not used OOS so the M8 was a sitting duck. They may have improved something in FL, but I haven't tried them yet.

Yeah you need to keep them really away from the fire of battle to avoid having them autokill themselves. Tomahawk may be slow that's true, but they have a blast radius really heavy, i think it's 1 km diameter, and that means they can destroy a full escort with one hit and that those xenons ships full of PBE can't shot them down until they are in range.
But i agree, it's really a niche and needs to be used really carefully if you don't want you ass scattered around the sector lol.
They are also the fastest way to take down a station.

[Le Boron Chétif]

Thanks guys for the replies! The use cases are really super limited, kind of a shame when you think about it, an entire ship class that only a minority of players uses, and never as player ships... Would be cool to either give them the ability to shoot other missiles (e.g. Flails!) or add a couple of frontal lasers so they can fend themselves against fighters, or even just modify the Tomahawk specs to be more versatile... I suppose this can all be modded but this ain't my field of expertise

[phantomrock2]

they are good to be at a safe distance and still deplete shields & hull with missile barrage then jump out of the sector just a-bout undetected good for this assassinate missions where you have to contact then find then delete & very dead-ly in a wing configuration

[Hwitvlf]

Would be cool to either give them the ability to shoot other missiles (e.g. Flails!) or add a couple of frontal lasers so they can fend themselves against fighters, or even just modify the Tomahawk specs to be more versatile...

Now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever seen a mod/expansion that gives much attention to M8s. Someone should fix that. I think they were meant as a poor-man's anti-capital/station ship, but the cost and rarity of missiles makes them generally inferior to an M7 or even some M6s. If the Tomahawks were made smaller, faster, cheaper, and more common but less damaging, I think the M8 could be more useful.

[jasii100]

Tomahawks are expensive to buy but seem to me relatively cheap to produce. I setup one factory and let it chunk them out until I have a few hundred. At that point, 3 or 4 M8's make a formidable and reasonably cheap defense force in a home sector...and barrages aren't so painfully expensive. And as your stock of tomahawks builds, so do your options. They're not bad moneymakers either, when you have excess.