Nuke Orbiter

Sleeping Terror by Slowking: The ship that popularized UL nukers in modern cosmoteer

A UL • Nuke • Orbiter is a fast archetype that wants to quickly strike with a vast amount of firepower.

General setup:

A block of modular thrusters or 2 rows of huge thrusters. Modular thrust versions have more max speed and compactness at the cost of ramp up.

Nukes on the sides or the back. Back nukes can be focused much better, but a lot of the strategies which side nukes allow are not possible.

Nuke modules: There are some variations, but the module shown here is simple and often the best choice. Pretty much every competitive ship uses 3x2 storage for the ammo.

Simple nuke module

Supplier detach for nukes

Example with medium/small reactor spam

Apply general UL design
Side shields: A strong choice to make mistakes less punishing and to allow for more risky orbiting movement to land better hits.

Structure cage: keeps enemy weapons from shooting behind shields and allows you to make risky ramming maneuver.

Nuke supplier detach: Makes your ship even lighter but you can only have 2 crew per launcher. This makes reloading much slower and pretty much forces you to use hit and run tactics. This also damages your side nukes, making them more vulnerable. Alternatively, you can put the charges further away, but a piece of structure will remain.

PD: Makes it easier to fight missile ships and helps finish off crippled opponents or smaller ships without using ammo.
Small lasers: Also helps with finishing off crippled opponents or smaller ships, but does not help against missiles.
Flak + EB: This makes a popular and very similar archetype. Its kind of a mix between UL nuke and flak wall. you can constantly pressure your opponent and instantly capitalize on weak spots but you have to accept having less speed or nuclear firepower.
Boost: More speed, but make sure to get away before your opponent can counterattack an immobile target.
Mines: Some mines on the back can make hit and run tactics more efficient.
No defenses: Yes, kind of a meme strategy, but as long as you are not fighting rails it actually kind of works. You can afford mines and more nukes. Your speed alone does a surprisingly good job of protecting you.

Asteroids: Those can be used as cover for hit and run tactics. You generally do not mind them, as they are very easy to escape with such a fast and light ship.

Nuke flinging: The most iconic UL nuke piloting maneuver. You quickly spin your ship and time your nuke launch so that the nukes inherit the ships momentum and fly incredibly fast, making them impossible to dodge. This is most useful when the opponents defenses are down and you quickly want to hit their squishy parts. This strategy is more effective, the lighter and faster your ship is.
You can also do a shorter rotation when flying straight at an enemy to accelerate the nukes. This allows you to either land easier hits on your opponents front, or fling the nukes past your opponent to hit them from behind.
Ramming: Launch your nukes just before ramming your opponent, then rotate them into the nukes. But you have to be very careful not to get stuck in a ram as that would most likely be your death.
Ammo: Keep in mind that your ship is very limited on ammo. Ships with a lot of armor, such as DC rammers, spinners and sometimes even ion rammers, might be able to tank/dodge multiple volleys until you can't fight anymore. This may be your opponent's only realistic win condition, so only use your volleys if you are sure that you can hit to prevent your enemy from gaining any hope.
Friendly fire: Be careful with launching nukes close to your enemy as the explosion on their ship might damage your own, even a short time after impact.