Cov Harbinger class

Name of Ship: Harbinger-class Frigate Colloquially referred to as simply “the frigate.”

Faction: Covenant

Average Loadout:

Weaponry:

Miniaturized Energy Projector (1) Plasma Torpedo Turrets (12) Plasma Point-Defense Laser Turrets (8)

Vehicular Complement:

Seraph Exo-atmospheric Fighters (3 Choirs) Wight Exo-atmospheric Bombers (3) Phantom Gunboats (2) Spirit Dropships (4)

Relatively small hangar space still capable of housing many vehicles, with no preset average

Crew Complement:

Minimum Acceptable Crew Complement:

Sangheili: Bridge Crew (7), Designated Security Personnel (14)Seraph Pilots, plus auxiliaries (21) Total: 49

Unggoy: Designated Security Personnel: (26), Janitorial Crew (10), Porters (8), Cooking Staff (8), Secretaries and Assistants (5) Total: (57)

Huragok/Yanme’e: Engineers (in charge of ship maintenance): (6, Huragok/12, Yanme’e), Mechanics (in charge of non-essential repairs to fighters, dropships, etc.): (4, Huragok/8, Yanme’e) Designated Security Personnel: (1, Huragok + 12, Yanme’e) Total: Depends on specific demographics

All other species (Jiralhanae, Kig-Yar, Lekgolo) do not serve a required position other than security, and only serve as bridge officers on their own ships. Frigates are capable of supporting many more than the minimum required crew, including attached invasion crèches, auxiliaries, etc.

How it is deployed: The Harbinger-class frigate is one of the more recent evolutions from the base design used in most Covenant ships. Succeeding the hull configuration of the Destroyer and preceding that of the Corvette, it is currently the pervading model used in ships of its tonnage level. The ship serves admirably in many space combat roles, but is noticeably less effective in atmospheric deployments, being vulnerable in small numbers and inefficient in large ones.

Developed and revamped from the now-obsolete design of ships built during the last stellar war the Covenant had (the Yanme’e), the frigate was already fully tested and deployed by the time the Human-Covenant war occurred. First encounters with UNSC vessels pushed the frigate into a niche that only loosely defined its human counterparts. Initial combat with humanity quickly revealed that the most common UNSC frigate, the Barracuda-class, showed that when in equal numbers, the Harbinger-class prevailed. Frigates of larger tonnage still lagged behind the Harbinger, and only the heaviest of frigates, such as the double-sized Harvest-class, could contend with it. It is also still capable of engaging and in some cases even defeating light destroyers, although they are almost never successfully deployed against anything larger.

Advantages/Disadvantages: The Harbinger is highly effective in support of other ships. Complementary to the Corvette and Destroyer, the frigate is best when mixed in with them. A few frigates added to a patrol can often beef it up into a full battlegroup. Often used in this capacity during space combat, the frigate is frequently used to cut down stragglers or damage larger ships, to devastating effect.

However, when not supported by larger and smaller ships, the frigate can often be overwhelmed by larger numbers of smaller human ships or by well-armed destroyers. This is because although they are fast and deadly, they cannot take much concentrated damage, and their shields can often be sapped by two MAC blasts, making them vulnerable to the signature “double-tap” of human ships. This is also one of the reasons frigates are rarely seen on raids and scouting missions, and are mostly encountered when the UNSC has to face a large Covenant fleet.