Our next duel pits an Interstellar Concordium Star Cruiser (ISC CA) versus a Hydran Ranger Cruiser (Hydran RN). One can think of the Star Cruiser as a bigger version of the Gorn Heavy Cruiser: 2 more power, same number of phasers and torpedos, a Plasmatic Pulsar Device (PPD) weapon, same number of shuttles and other internals. The only two significant differences are the phaser arrangement (ISC phasers are oriented forward, Gorn has them all around) and the PPD.

A short recap of the Hydran Ranger. Short ranged weaponry, lots of hull and shields to absorb damage, 9 fighters to supplement its combat strength. The Ranger is designed to take punishment as it closes in, yet still be able to deliver a massive punch if it actually gets its opponent at a range of two or less. Standard tactic against this ship is to try to maintain distance.

Ranger tactic is simple: charge. Full speed charge to end up within two hexes of the other ship at the beginning of the turn. Launch fighters and alpha strike. If you can get the other guy at range 1, tractor and launch fighters. That way he can't run away from the fighters, which will do about 15 damage each at a range of 1.

The ISC has a lot of firepower and although the Ranger is designed to absorb damage and keep fighting, it doesn't have more internals than other ships. So pour in the damage and overload the Ranger's hull buffer and she should blow up quite nicely. The PPD does max damage from 4-10 hexes, so that will hit first. Then fire the plasma torpedos and if he runs, chase him and fire phasers. If he runs and launches fighters, either shoot him and run away or destroy two fighters and run away, don't try running through the fighters. If he takes both plasma torpedos, fire phasers at range 3 and hopefully kill him, then run from the fighters. If you can cripple the Ranger without losing too much power (you'll want at least 25, including the batteries) then you can concentrate on crippling the fighters with range 5 passes, far enough away that they only do 1.3 damage each.

With that in mind, the Ranger might want to change his tactics a bit. You can do 70 damage at range 0, 48 at range 1, 38 at range 2, assuming all the weapons survive. Hmm, looks like you need to close to point blank to do a lot of damage to the ISC. Note that running from 2 plasmas is not a bad idea, even if you lose half the fighters as they screen your retreat. You don't have weapons that require constant arming, so you can quickly get back and hit the ISC before he can rearm. Then repeat the process with the rest of your fighters. Remember you can tractor 4 fighters and bring them with you (Cadet Training Handbook doesn't have death-dragging), at least they'll take a couple of phasers each because of their damage potential.

What usually prevents a ship from just running when he sees two plasma torpedos, knowing that he can circle back while you are recharging? The Lyran found out in the last duel: continue to chase and use your phasers. If you are chasing he can't bring his forward weapons to bear and you hit weaker shields. This is harder to do with the Hydran, which has a deadly fighter screen to hide behind. Remember that you have lots of spare power, even when arming the PPDs, unless you're arming PPDs and final turn arming the plasma torpedos. So usually you have a lot of speed to keep up with the Ranger, should he choose to run. The other factor is that even without the plasma torpedos, you can inflict 48 damage with the PPDs and your phasers at range 3. If you can take out a couple of the fusion beams and the inevitable phaser or three, you can strip him of his teeth and make the exchange come out in your favor.