I can't imagine anyone is going to mistake the Z-BF for cheese.
You know what is funny, some people racked up a bunch of kills in that POS on GW1.
IMHO, all fast cruisers are "cheese" because they totally screw the dynanics involved in seeking-weapon combat. Granted I feel no guilt in other "cheese" specialty ships being out-classed, but at the same time you have to recognized that races who's line ships depend on seeking weapons (Plasma races, Mirak Line Ships) kinda get F'd when ships with a move cost of 1 and 42-48 power come out before 2270.
SFB has fast cruisers restricted to a production rate of 1 per year and they cost 10 EP to build, same cost as an F-BCF or K-C7.
Yes..I recall that the Z-BF did make a comeback after early disappointment with it. I think I just meant that of the fast cruisers, it probably wouldn't be considered the best. I think people have shown consistantly that most ships can win if piloted well and any ship can be beaten, if piloted poorly.
I see your point on the dynamics of the game and I think you're right, the dynamics can be screwed up is fast cruisers are widely-used before 2270. The only Klingon one that comes out before then is the FD7. I wouldn't call that an unterrly scary or unbeatable ship, but I'm sure it does pose a few problems. I don't think there are many current Klingon players who fly it, though. I don't mind the FD7 once it gets the K-refit, but that usually happens after 2270, no? Even then, I'm one of the few that fly it. The real popular ship amongst Klingons is the FDW...which is a 2275 ship and as some have pointed out, it's good...but still beatable.
The SFB limits on these ships make sense and if we're looking to make SFC into something as close to SFB as possible, then similar limits might need to be considered, at least up until the middle of Mid-Era. At that time, the options available ot most races reduce the lustre of the fast cruisers a bit. I still like them, mainly because I don't like flying Klingon line-cruisers at all...including the D7L and D7W and most of the Klingon NCAs, and I don't think I'm alone. For me, if I don't have a C7, then I want a D5L or FDW. Conversely, some races really like their CAs.
In the past, we talked a little bit about giving these fast cruisers special roles like raiding behind the lines and such. I think it might be interesting to explore that further abnd perhaps even implement something on at least a trial basis.