Not all designs need be attractive, they need to be functional. Remember, I'm taking the point of view of a starfleet appropriations committee and what THEY would do in building the Federation Fleet of each period - making sense of what we've been thrown out from a variety of sources.Originally Posted by C. Huth
The consolation isn't meant to be a 'gee whiz cool ship', it's meant to be a specific-role performer. Look at American Hospital ships, for instance, and you'll find converted frigates, cruisers, and small TANKERS. Same sort of logic here.
Again, doesn't have to. Not every ship the Federation fields will fit into a notable design lineage. A lot will be attempts that fail, for some reason, or have a specific purpose for the time period.i don't grok how it's supposed to reflect any design lineages, and... and...
Remember, Kirk's fleet is about 750 ships in the 'regulars', with only twelve heavy cruisers of the Constitution class. There's going to be a LOT of 'not nearly as pretty' ships out there in that time period (with most of the previous generation of ships already outdated) - workhorses, and even outright dogs.
For every Enterprise, expect a few Cochranes and Consolations!
Implying nothing. I'm saying, for the purposes of the guides I'm making, they ARE of the same fleet.*shrug* i dunno man, i just don't get it. Are you simply collecting notable fan designs, or implying that they're part of the same fleet?