And we recognize that multi-role ability. We dispute the degree of multi role ability and its true usefulness in anything other than a police action against relatively ragtag Outer Rim Rebels.Coyote wrote:Kaz, Painrack and I are primarily concentrating on the multi-role capability of the ISD.
Well, other designations like the DD have evolved some as well (growing increasingly independent is a clear trait).THe thing to bear in mind about the BB comparison is that the BB's role and expectations have changed through the decades. It used to be the backbone of the fleet, but as it became evident that they were no longer useful for their intended purpose they were phased out.
They are going on independent ops on low-intensity threat regions. Destroyers, you might notice, are supposed to be more common than BBs.From sources I've seen, the ISD is the most common "Large Ship". Things like the Executor, Lusankya, Eclipse etc are rare. Maybe a few dozen max in a Galaxy of some, what, 25,000 Star Destroyers? Since we see few things like Carriers deployed, then what are all these ISDs escorting?
OK... here's the rub.Again, I am not saying the ISD is a direct BB-- only that it has some BB characteristics (in this case-- "commonly large" instead of "uncommonly large"-- please forgive my use of these silly sounding adjectives); it carries out "ship-to-shore" bombardment; it is instrumental in controlling and dominating through heavy guns territory in space.
0) Ship-to-shore bombardment and space superiority are not always handled by battleships. The Japanese contested the Solomons with destroyers, the Americans by cruisers. They only occasionally bring the battleships and carriers in for big smashes.
1) Unlike some other designators, BB and DD do not mix. You can have a cruiser-carrier hybrid or battleship-carrier hybrid. But a BB-DD hybrid is like saying a "CV/CVE hybrid"! It is contradictory and doesn't work (even though a CVE's work is often different from a full blown CV). So IMO, even if you choose to use the hybrid model, you must decide whether to say it is a DD-hybrid or a BB-hybrid.
2) "Uncommonly large" is WEG (or SoDwise: Rebel) thinking. With them, it is internally consistent because they only acknowledge one class, very rare, above ISDs. In such a scenario, you could rate the "commonly large" ISDs as BB (or BB-hybrid; I'm not adding hybrid every time) and the "SSD" as a monstrosity.
3) It falls down, however, when looking at the whole of GFFA, because there are many classes of intermediate warships. Thus the Executor ceases to be a "monstrosity" or "uncommonly large", bringing it back into the main fold, though they may still be rare compared to the ISD. In that case, calling the ISD a BB kinda falls down.
We see and we acknowledge it, the only difference is in proportion. You contend it is proportionally big enough (or useful enough in serious conflict) to merit being called a hybrid. We contend that it is a hybrid, but it is a hybrid like the Spruance with its two-helo capacity is a DD/CVH hybrid. Maybe I could concede a bit and call it a DDH (most things in SW are VTOL capable, right?), but that's about it.Once beyond those feats it cease to bear this superficial resemblance to a BB mission and goes into other realms: it somewhat resembles a Carrier in that it can deploy a lot of fighters; it has some resemblance to an Amphib in that it carries troops as part of a normal compliment including their base; it shares some resemblance to a DD because of its patrol, escort, and interdiction duties... see what I mean?
I'd answer you on this, but I've already made a big mistake stepping in anywhere within 5 kilometers of a SirNitram vs IP fight and don't intend to step further in this thread by opening yet another debatable tangent if at all possible.We see some of this changing in the EU, as the New Republic was trying to switch over to dedicated True Carriers with the Endurance class, where fighters were going to be accepted as the primary warfighters and teh "big ship" was to be phased out.
