Kol Battleship
From Sins of a Solar Empire
 TEC
Kol Battleship
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Manual Description: Unlike most of the TEC's hasty conversions of civilian models, the Kol class battleship is the first dedicated warship design in nearly 700 years. It admirably balances speed, protection and firepower. A Kol Battleship, with its array of heavy weapons, has a formidable presence in any engagement.
Commanded by the best of the TEC's people, they were marshaled to front lines to serve as a devastating weapon of war and a sign of hope for the embattled and weary TEC fleets. More than any other warship, the Kol has proven to be instrumental in halting the Vasari advance.
Overview: The Kol is the toughest of the capital ships out of the 3 factions when it comes to hull, armor, and shields. It excels in what it's designed to do, finding and destroying other capital ships. The Kol is not a one-man-army, however, and only does average damage alone. It is the head of the fleet when in formation. Only bested by the Kortul Devestator and its Powersurge ability and the Marza Dreadnought simply because of the total number of weapons it has. It is also highly likely that a Radiance can obliterate it when they are both at equal levels.
[edit] Development
Most Capital Ships got an overhaul in Patch 1.1, and the Kol was one of them. Up until that point, Finest Hour had an issue that it didn't apply all its splash damage correctly. Needless to say, the bug was fixed in the patch.
| HUD Icon: | 
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| Ship Type: | Capital |
| Faction: | TEC |
| Primary Role: | Combat |
| Shield Power: | High |
| Hull Points: | Very High |
| Armor Level: | Very High |
| Armor Type: | Capital |
| Weapons (Fore): | 4 x Linked Beam Cannons / Rail Gun / 3 x AutoCannons / 2 x Pulse Laser Batteries / Ship-to-Surface Nuclear Missiles |
| Weapons (Side): | 3 x AutoCannon Batteries (Starboard) / 2 x AutoCannon Batteries (Port) |
| Weapons (Aft): | 2 x AutoCannon Batteries |
| Squadrons Supported: | 0 - 2 |
| Compliment: | 2,500 |
 Gauss Rail Gun |  Flak Burst |  Adaptive Forcefield |  Finest Hour |  Ability Management |
 Attack |  Stop |  Move |  Tactics Management | Squadron Management |
[edit] Tactics
- The Kol is the toughest Capital Ship among all three factions. Massive armour allotments makes this ship impervious to all but the heaviest weaponry, even more so when relevant armour research has been performed. Like all Capital Ships, the Kol is effective in sieges. However, the Kol truly excels in Capital Ship to Capital Ship combat, as its abilities are geared towards damaging larger ships and the complements of fighters they often carry. The Kol is particularly effective against phase missile-using Vasari forces, as the Adaptive Forcefield ability negates the shield penetrative abilities of Vasari Phase Missiles.
- The Kol Battleship is not a one-man army; it is an integral part of the TEC military. On its own, the Kol brings average damage, above-average durability (particularly when fully upgraded), and three useful abilities into the fray.
- Flak Burst, if used in a timely manner, can wipe out swarms of fighters.
- Adaptive Forcefield dramatically increases the Kol's durability, particularly against Vasari Kanrak Assailants and other Phase Missile-equipped vessels.
- The Gauss Rail Gun is powerful but offset in the early game by its Antimatter cost and inability to affect multiple targets.
- When supported, however, the Kol becomes far more potent. With Hoshiko Robotics Cruisers and Dunov Battlecruisers behind it, the Kol is effectively invulnerable. Cielo Command Cruisers can further augment the Kol's lifespan and dramatically increase a Kol's damage output (making up for its mediocre firepower on its own). In return, the Kol can soften up or outright destroy fighters or bombers (a pair of Kol Battleships working in concert can destroy entire squadrons of fighters almost instantaneously), dramatically reducing the need for Garda Flak Frigate escorts. Lastly, Adaptive Forcefield and the Kol's naturally high armor means that the Kol ultimately needs less maintenance from the aforementioned support craft, freeing them up to repair more critical targets.
- The Kol Battleship is a strong defensive unit: any fleet attacking a system must first deal with its occupants, and the Kol is a solid, dependable sentry when backed up by Repair Platforms and Hangar Defense structures. In addition, its Gauss Rail Gun can serve the same role in a battle group as the Marza Dreadnought's impressive hitting power, placing emphasis on offensive action without replacing the extraordinarily durable Kol with a more fragile Marza.
- When choosing abilities, several important questions come to mind:
- Will the Kol Battleship be under heavy fire, particularly from Phase Missiles?
- Is the Kol either part of a group that is likely to encounter heavy fighter screens (for example, during a planetary assault) or in a general situation in which fighter screens are in the forecast?
- Is the Kol well supported by units such as the Hoshiko, Repair Platform, or Dunov Battlecruiser?
- How important is damage output versus survivability?
- If the Kol is part of a strike group against the Vasari, who field few units and have difficulty deploying large fighter screens, then Gauss Rail Gun is a strong alternative to Flak Burst. The Advent, on the other hand, have a easy access to an extremely strong fighter screen, so Flak Burst is an absolute must. If, on the other hand, the Advent opponent is foregoing fighters and concentrating purely on mass light units for overwhelming firepower, then the obvious choice is Gauss Rail Gun. Whatever the case, Adaptive Forcefield is your top priority.
- If Gauss Railgun is in the cards, the TEC's Antimatter upgrade research, as well as the Addictive Consumerism upgrade in the Civilian tree (which boosts Antimatter regeneration while within your home culture) are both strong upgrades to enable the Kol to continue dishing out damage.
