FSE Fleet

This is the full FSE Fleet. I will need to get some more old style fighters, however, it is pretty impressive as it stands. Additional photos can be seen in the FSE gallery.

FSE Jeanne D'Arc Fleet Carrier

One of the largest ships in the Tuffyverse. It carries 7 flight groups (more than the fleet carriers of other navies) and is heavily armed. It is also relatively mobile for such a large ship.

FSE Bologna Light Carrier

Now we come to the carriers. This is the smaller of the two. It can carry up to 4 fighter groups. Its size allows it to be well armed and stand in the battleline if needed.

FSE Foch Superdreadnought

Probably one of the largest human ships in the Tuffyverse. The Foch is a huge ship. For comparison, the base is 1.375 inches from flat to flat.

FSE Bonaparte Dreadnought

One of the "new designs" of the FSE. This was the first to leave the shipyards. There is a huge jump in size from the Roma to the Bonaparte

FSE Roma Battleship

This is the first of the heavy hitters in the FSE fleet. It uses an upgraded Ypres hull to add additional weapons. It probably is better classified as a heavy battlecruiser.

FSE Ypres Battlecruiser

The big brother to the Jerez and the precursor to the Roma Battleship. It was not built in large numbers as most of its missions can be performed adequately by the Jerez at a lower cost. The limited production is solely for export.

FSE Jeres Heavy Cruiser

This is the workhorse of the FSE fleet. Well armed with salvo missiles and beams. A well rounded ship.

FSE Milan Escort Cruiser

A common sight in FSE fleets. The Milan can also function as effective combat ships in cruiser squadrons.

FSE Suffren Light Cruiser

The main FSE light cruiser design. The large hull gives it room for multiple weapon loadouts. Despite its age, it is still a core component of the FSE Fleet.

FSE Trieste Heavy Destroyer

Basically an enlarged San Miguel Destroyer. It mounts a magazine fed submunition pack, giving it a heavy punch. It is as large as some light cruisers in other navies.

FSE San Miguel Destroyer

Now wer are getting to the larger ships. This is primarily a beam armed ship, however, a variant exists which is armed with salvo missiles. These ships are larger than corresponding destroyers in other fleets, making it easier to paint the national emblem on the ships.

FSE Requin Strikeboat

A more recent FSE design (it's not in Fleet Book 1). Designed as a cheap combat platform that can be produced at smaller shipyards, the Requin is a proven design for both local defense and rapid strike capability. Armed strictly with submunition packs, which gives these small ships a powerful punch.

FSE Ibiza Frigate

A relative small frigate, however versatile in its armament. It shares many design similarities with the Athena. In terms of starship design, the asymmetric contour Ibiza and the Athena are interesting and these two ships are probably my favorite ships in the FSE fleet.

FSE Athena Corvette

Athenas a small, fast escort ships armed with submunition packs and beams. They are slowly being replaced with newer corvettes, however, are still under production for use as colonial defense. A small, but versatile ship.

FSE Mistral Scoutship

FSE ship doctrine uses ordinance as their primary offensive armament with beam weapons as secondary. Defensively, ships emphasize mobility over armor/screens. To compensate for the fragile hull, FSE ships tend to be larger than the comparable classes in the other human factions. The Mistral scoutship is an example of this combat doctrine. Variants exist which replace a beam with a submunition pack or with armor.

FSE fighters

Switching gears to the 3rd main human faction in the Tuffyverse. After the split of the European Space Force in 2101, The Federal Stats Europa (L'Astromarine) formed one of the major remnants of that organization (the other is the NSL). Fleet doctrine emphasizes mobility instead of defense. Offensively, they rely upon ordinance and therefore are susceptible to disruption to supply lines.

In deciding how to paint these ships, I went to the Full Thrust Wiki for ideas. The national flag colors are yellow and dark blue. I did not want to use a dark blue base for the ship as it may make some of the details harder to see. I did have a bluish grey, which I think would be more appropriate for military ships. What you see are some of the results. Shown above are the Mirage IX fighters. Below are the larger Camerone heavy fighters.

Painting was relatively straightforward. Start with a hippo grey (Ceramcoat) basecoat. Follow with a heavy drybrush of wedgewood blue (Ceramcoat). Detail the cockpit and engines.