Marza Dreadnought
From Sins of a Solar Empire
 TEC
Marza Dreadnought
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With modest beginnings as a small planetoid destruction and recovery workhorse, the Marza-class dreadnought is the pinnacle of TEC military retrofitting engineering and is the most recent addition to the TEC arsenal. Immediately recognizable by its spinal mounted siege cannons, the Marza can bring crushing firepower to bear on hostile empires' settlements.
Extracted from the game manual.
Think of the Marza as the second battleship of the TEC. Its base damage can destroy most any other capital ship equal to or below the Marza's current level, even in a nebula and without abilities so long as the user knows how to correctly pilot a capital ship. The Ship itself has its power up in front and fairs poor on the port and starboard side. Watch out though, if a ship with an engine disable ability (like the Akkan) gets behind you and spams it your Marza MIGHT be in trouble. This is rare however for the Marza can do more damage in one burst than the Akkan or most any other capital ship can do in a few bursts. That Akkan tactic where you get behind the weak point of a ship, like the Marza's back side, can be avoided so long as the user knows how to control the ship. Have other ships waiting at the ready in case such an event were to occur. The Marza has homing missiles should shot to port and starboard sides combining its damage with the starboard autocannons or port lasers. With Missile Barrage, the Marza's Ultimate ability, the missiles go in every direction. That also includes behind the dreadnought. This makes it powerful on all sides, which is very rare with capital ships.
| Ship Type: | Capital |
|---|---|
| Primary Role: | Long-Range Assault/Planetary Bombardment |
| Shield Power: | High |
| Hull Points: | Very High |
| Armor Level: | High |
| Armor Type: | Capital |
| Antimatter: | Unknown |
| Weapons (Fore): | 6 x AutoCannons / 3 x Heavy Pulse Lasers / 8 x Ship-to-Ship Missile Banks / Ship-to-Surface Nuclear Missiles |
| Weapons (Side): | 3 x Pulse Lasers (Port) / 2 x AutoCannons (Starboard) |
| Squadrons Supported: | 0 - 1 |
| Compliment: | 2,500 |
 Radiation Bomb | Raze Planet | Incendiary Shells | Missile Barrage | Ability Management |
 Attack |  Stop |  Move |  Tactics Management | Squadron Management |
[edit] Tactics
- The Marza is arguably the most versatile Capital Ship in the TEC fleet. Bristling with autocannons, lasers and missiles, the Marza can bring awesome amounts of firepower to bear. Respectable speed and abilities geared towards planetary siege make this Capital Ship useful for hit and run tactics; simply use it with a Protev Colony Frigate or an Akkan Battlecruiser and several Krosov siege frigates to cleanse an enemy's world, colonise it and move on to the next (though this tactic is not as effective later in the game, when culture prevents immediate colonization, or when sizable defenses are present).
- The Marza Dreadnought, even more than the Kol Battleship, is a brute-force solution to warfare. Combining heavy weaponry with two damage-over-time abilities (one of which is passive, the other of which is area-of-effect) and an area-of-effect "ultimate" ability (Missile Barrage), the Marza is a partial solution to the TEC's primary disadvantage: the inability to effectively deal with either swarms of opposing ships or singular "hard" targets. The Marza Dreadnought's laser weapons do approximately 75% more damage than those of the Kol Battleship, the Marza's autocannons outperform the Kol's nose-mounted beam cannons by 33%, and the Marza's missile barrages are comparable to the Kol's autocannons (though 18% weaker, they have a longer range and a wider targeting aperture, since the Kol's flank autocannons fire parallel to the ship's facing). Of course, the Marza sacrifices armor for firepower: the Marza is not as well-armored or well-shielded as the Kol, meaning that TEC support vessels must work harder to keep the Marza alive. Since the TEC fleet tends to excel in battles of attrition (even Kodiak Heavy Cruisers are built for durability over firepower, as opposed to the fragile but exceedingly powerful Advent Destra Crusaders), this means the Marza Dreadnought is the odd man out and potentially a weakness in a battle of attrition. More often than not, slow and steady wins the race for the TEC, and the Marza Dreadnought can jeopardize this strategy by over-emphasizing offense.
- On the other hand, a little extra damage output can be a healthy thing: since TEC fleets do not have a reliable method to keep ships from jumping out of a given system (unlike the Advent, who can use the Domina Subjugator to neutralize individual vessels with ease and halt capital ships in their tracks with the Revelation Battlecruiser's Reverie ability), enemy fleets can simply retreat from the TEC when the battle turns against them. In the late game, a smart player will usually make Hoshiko Robotics Cruisers their primary target, since a fully supported TEC fleet is nearly impossible to destroy. If said player has received significant losses by the time the Hoshikos are destroyed, then they can usually retreat from a TEC opponent, rendering the battle a stalemate (with both sides having lost units that are ultimately replaceable). By adding Marza Deadnoughts into the mix, a TEC player can can increase their chances of dealing more damage than s/he receives, thereby winning the battle of attrition by shifting focus from offense to defense.
- An alternative is to deploy the Kol Battleship with its Gauss Rail Gun ability, which can increase a battle group's damage output without sacrificing the Kol's outstanding durability.
- All that being said, the Marza's siege ability, Raze Planet, increases the mobility of an otherwise-ponderous TEC fleet simply by freeing up other capital ships from the lengthy task of orbital bombardment. A pair of Marza Dreadnoughts can sterilize even the most fortified planets in seconds, whereas a group of five capital ships could potentially take minutes to do the same level of damage. If a large battle is not in progress upon entering the system, Marza Dreadnoughts can be ordered to break formation and bombard the planet while the remainder of the fleet deals with important orbital structures.
- Not to mention the ability is TERRIFYING to watch... Titan AEX4 17:40, 4 May 2009 (UTC)
- The TEC is a faction that relies on sureness in battle and explosive economic growth. The Marza Dreadnought, being more of a raider or fire support vessel, does not directly contribute to this philosophy, making the Marza a risky proposition. That being said, many battles in Sins of a Solar Empire are decided by fire support vessels like the Javelis LRM Frigate or the Kanrak Assailant, and if a TEC player has neither the opportunity nor the resources to produce a well-rounded fleet, then the Marza can potentially turn the tide in the TEC's favor if the game becomes a contest of lethality. As such, the Marza Dreadnought is best deployed in one of two ways
- As a fire support vessel for well-rounded fleets.
- As an initial capital ship for the short, violent skirmishes that comprise games played on small maps.
- In either role, ability choice depends on the anticipated opponent:
- Against the Vasari, the Marza's passive damage-over-time ability, Incendiary Shells, is more useful given the Vasari's preponderance of expensive singular targets.
- If Advent opponents are in the cards, players should employ Radiation Bomb, the Marza's area-of-effect damage-over-time ability, for its utility against multiple targets.
- In addition to these two deployment roles, there is a third option. If a TEC player is relying heavily on Sova Carrier battle groups for commerce raids, then a Marza Dreadnought or two (either on their own, with Krosov Siege Frigate support, or in tandem with the carrier groups) can amplify the effects of commerce raiding by combining economic interference with the loss of entire planets. This is a risky proposition, however: assembling the kind of firepower described above approaches the cost of preparing a well-rounded fleet, and lone Marzas can hardly be expected to perform the role of planetary bombardment if a significant garrison is present. Furthermore, Marzas and Krosovs are exceedingly vulnerable to fighter craft, since Marza Dreadnoughts possess neither the Kol Battleship's Flak Burst ability nor a dedicated fighter complement (they have no fighters initially and only acquire a single squadron at higher levels), so any system with a large garrison of Hangar Defense structures should be approached with extreme caution.
- In terms of research, the Marza benefits from missile, laser, and autocannon upgrades, while the Kol Battleship, which derives most of its damage output from autocannons, benefits primarily from the latter.
- A pair of Marzas that have attained their ultimate ability can inflict very serious damage on an enemy's supporting fleet by simultaneous use of both Missile Swarms. When combined with the EMP charge from a Dunov and a few well-placed radiation bombs, this can rather quickly decimate even quite a large enemy fleet. After the first few times you pull this on somebody, expect your Marzas to become even more of a priority target than your Hoshikos.
- A well-played Marza is by far the TEC's most capable capital ship duelist, and the advantages of using it for your initial expansion phase (this getting it several levels relatively unchallenged) even on quite large maps are hard to exaggerate. Combining in part the TEC's immense durability with a hard-hitting striking power, a single Marza is almost invincible to any ship without a sizeable supporting fleet--at least, in the early game. Plus, the Marza will take less damage from the initial expansions, and thus be ready to move on more quickly, than any other TEC capital ship.
- Without one of these, your major offensive fleets are going to be tied down for quite a while...and your opponent will be able to see everything you do with them in the meanwhile. Even if the strategic positioning of your fleets dictates against immediately proceeding onward, the value of denying the enemy intelligence about where, precisely, your big offensive fleet is hiding is dangerous to ignore.
- Possible game imbalance: The combination of missile barrage and radiation bomb is far too powerful. When used in conjunction, these two abilities can wipe out dozens of enemy ships in short order. In an early to mid game this ship can destroy so much of the enemy that they have no chance to fight back. Even well constructed defenses cannot save a player from this much destructive force.
