I recently reexamined the Aslan ships in MT. Since I'm not really
familiar with MT ship combat, my analysis is likely flawed. I attempted
to evaluate it in terms of my experience in Steve's TCS game. Basically,
the Aslan cruiser is rather pathetic. I don't see how it could expect to
take on the Imperium without a massive numerical advantage. In fact, I
rather doubt that it would even do very well against the Old Islands
Alliance Fleet. (Of course, if Steve finds a volunteer to play Ihatei, I
may get the chance to put my money where my mouth is.)
Now, it is certainly possible that I have overlooked some important
difference between warships in MT and in TCS. For instance, I do know
that MT ships don't need nearly as much jump fuel as TCS ships. Given this,
I suspect that Ihatei cruisers would be even more lightly armed and
armoured.
Ken