Scimitar

Terran Scimitar Class M3 Fighter Buy: Marshall of Mars @ 1,905,700 Cr Speed (Min-Max) 99.5 - 199 m/s Acceleration (Min-Max) 16 - 32 m/s2 Steering (Min-Max) 20.7 - 51.9 RPM Hull Strength 8,500 Max. Shield (Total) 5 x 25 MJ (125 MJ) Shield Reactor 975 MW Cargo Class (Min-Max) 135 - 188 @ M Laser Capacitor 9,000 MJ Laser Recharge 270 MW                                                                                                          Main x 6

Overview

Fast and strong, the M3 Scimitar is typical of Terran fighters in that it dominates its class, and is difficult to equip due to the scarcity of Terran weapons.

Background

The Scimitar heavy fighter is the mainstay of Earth's tactical defense capability. This multi-role ship gives the USC an enviable degree of flexibility in mission planning.

Physical Characteristics

Like all Terran fighters, the Scimitar has a streamlined, rocket-shaped body, painted white with black trim. Its guns fire down a long barrel that protrudes another quarter of the length of the ship from the end of the cockpit.

Combat

One of several ships in the game capable of outrunning everything it cannot outfight, the Scimitar employs standard dogfighting tactics and is expected to win simply by being too tough to kill quickly and too powerful to survive long against. Virtually no M3 fighters can equal its firepower, armor or speed; it is top-rate in every area. This ship is a concern for even a corvette-class ship. A huge advantage is that its EMPC cannons (the only weapon it can mount) are mounted in nearly the same spot on the craft; massing all of these cannons in the same spot makes it seem like it really has a single weapon with a very high fire rate, giving it impressive accuracy, especially in contrast to the next highest craft on the Terran food chain, the Katana, which has widely-spread hardpoints for its weaponry (and thus is less accurate against small targets). The major disadvantage is that the EMPC's slow firing rate and shot speed makes it particularly ineffective in engaging scout-class and interceptor-class craft, and the Poltergeist Missile can only catch up to the latter class, making the fighter vulnerable to the former class since they're too fast to get a bead on. Thus, the Scimitar should be wary of scout craft as they can fly circles around it unless they come head-on straight towards it.

Equipment

The Scimitar mounts six electro-magnetic plasma cannons as its main weapons. It can also carry Poltergeist and Spectre missiles.

Availability

The Scimitar is available at all but one Terran shipyard.

Availability

Variant	Mars	The Moon	Saturn	Terran Unknown Sector 1
Scimitar	x	x	x

Note that even though the player may purchase the Scimitar from Terran Shipyards at the rank of "Terran Marshall of Mars", the player must hold the rank of "Terran Warrior of Io" in order to purchase its sole non-missile weapon, the Electro-Magnetic Plasma Cannon.

Suggested Roles

The Scimitar is quite effective in any standard M3 role.

See Also

• Terran Cutlass

Ships by Class

M3 Ships