Juror Class

The Juror class is a standard Star Trading vessel. The design has been in use for centuries, and was originally designed for long range scouting. Armed with a Hellfire Torpedo and carrying a crew of 24, the Juror class is a generalist.

The Juror Class is the only ship you may start with if you have prioritized your Ship as E in your captain's template.

Juror Class versus Scout Cutter
The Juror Class and the Scout Cutter are both available if you have your Ship starting at D. At this point, why would you still choose the Juror Class over the Scout Cutter?

Pros for Juror Class:

 * 30k Cheaper (more credits to start with)
 * More crew (24 versus 18) and an additional officer giving a deeper dice pool and diversity of talents.
 * Sturdier Hull (1100 versus 900)
 * Better dice pools for both combat and deep space operation: Better Pilot, Nav, Ops, Electronics, and Gunnery.
 * Has stronger mid-range combat performance with a Light Railgun that the Scout Cutter lacks.
 * More customizable with two more small slots and more mass to work with.

Cons for Juror Class:

 * Less fuel (15 less: 5 from the base ship, 10 from the Cargo Hold 2)
 * Less starting cargo space (25 versus 35)
 * More crew means more salaries to pay and a slower leveling curve.
 * Somewhat worse armor and shielding (partially mitigated by its +200 Hull though)
 * Slightly less fuel efficient as it costs 21 (versus 16) fuel per jump and 8 (versus 6) fuel for combat.
 * Somewhat worse engine; both speed and agility are lower (24 versus 27)

Conclusion
The Juror is a good option for a small crew that will grow rapidly while surviving deep space operations via the crew's expertise and moderate skill pools to start with. Selecting the Juror gives you a small buffer of credits (on Ship: D) that can cushion early misfortune. The ship fares about as well in combat despite its inferior engine and has a better long-term growth plan than the Scout Cutter with two extra slots, neither of which are spent controlling excess mass. It can thus last a captain a bit longer than the Cutter until a mid-game upgrade is afforded.

The Scout Cutter has some serious drawbacks but really shines if the captain is dedicated to keeping his crew alive and allowing their experience to skyrocket quickly. Losing a crew member on such a small team will be extremely painful, however. The smaller buffer of credits is compensated for by considerably more starting storage, slightly better fuel economy and fewer salaries to pay. Ultimately the Scout Cutter will need to be completely replaced sooner than the Juror to keep up with the threats of the universe.