For this issue of our Ship Series, we’re taking a new look at the TEC Marza-class dreadnought. We first revealed the War Year 35 Marza back in January 2023, where you can see the initial art direction we took.
Marza Background
Historically, the Marza started its life as a mining ship, capable of blasting part asteroids for their raw materials to fuel the Trader worlds' economic expansion. As the war dragged on, it became apparent that the TEC needed a capital ship capable of laying siege to enemy worlds. The perfect choice for this role was to retrofit the Marza with a variety of devastating weapons.
Even in this earlier version, you can pick-up on the hallmark details for the Marza’s humble origins as a mining ship. The large cargo bay doors along its side, now sealed, once allowed mining shuttles to take ore from nearby asteroids back to the Marza for processing. You can even still see the vestigial mining charges just peaking up near the center of the ship.
These details are even more prominent on the final version of the Marza as shown below:
In War Year 35, the Marza is an early game powerhouse, capable to dealing massive damage to enemies unlucky enough to cross its forward weapons. The Marza features a fixed triple-heavy gauss cannon and a huge missile array consisting of 24 launchers. The ship also features medium autocannons for its port and starboard sides to deal with flanking forces. The mining charge launcher can even be re-activated to fire concussion charges into enemy forces, dealing AoE damage.
Armament
- 2 x Medium Autocannon Turrets (1 x Port / 1 x Starboard)
- Fixed Triple-Heavy Gauss Cannons
- Heavy Missile Array (24 Launchers)
- Planetary Bombardment Cannon
Optional Ability Upgrades
- Concussion Charge: Utilizing a joint launcher, the Marza is capable of launching a special concussion charge shell at enemy vessels. On detonation, this weapon not only inflicts area-of-effect damage but also temporarily disables enemy engines, weapons and repair systems.
- Raze Planet: An update to the earlier Marza ability, the ship can be upgraded with special bombardment shells in its launcher cannon. These shells are able to be rapid fired at a planetary surface, quickly inflicting significant damage.
- Precision Targeting: Through the use of advanced systems, the Marza is able to temporarily target weaknesses in enemy ships, granting its missile systems bonus damage.
- Missile Barrage: The true power of the Marza is its missile barrage ability. Rapid-reloading launchers allow the Marza to bombard a target area with volleys of missiles, dealing damage to everything within the blast radius.