The Devestator and the Tantive IV

The Silence and I · Post by **The Silence and I** » 2002-12-23 06:01pm

Hi, this is my first posting, although I have been around for a while (dives under desk to avoid incoming pokes) as I have a lousy internet connection. I recently watched SW-ANH and I noticed something very odd...
Has anyone noticed during the brief chase scene the stardestroyer Devestator (?) missed the Tantive IV five times?!?! How did a stardestroyer miss such a large, easy target? Neither vessel was even trying to maneuver, and the range wasn't exactly staggering. It wasn't even one faulty weapon/sensor, the missing shots came from several locations along the stardestroyer's hull. Is there a good reason for this?

Darth Garden Gnome · Post by **Darth Garden Gnome** » 2002-12-23 06:02pm

*throws poke grenade over desk* MWAHAHHAHAA!

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2002-12-23 06:11pm

It could be several reasons:

1) The Tantive IV had some good ECM and as such was spoofing Imperial weapons fire the whole way.

2) The Devastator was trying to coral the Tantive and put it inot a zone of fire that would allow them to go for a crippling shot. The Impies are made to destroy ships, particualrly those as small as the Tantive so it must be difficult to adjust fire to simply cripple a ship.

3) Linked with two above, the gunners were simply trying to get a good shot in to cripple the Tantive so some of their shots went wide. They couldn't pour fire in for fear of blowing the ship up. Remember that the Tantive was woefully outmatched by the Imperator.

Soontir C'boath · Post by **Soontir C'boath** » 2002-12-23 06:20pm

Too bad the SD didn't nose down or turn starboard and fired it's Ion Cannons...heheh.

Cyaround,
Jason

nightmare · Post by **nightmare** » 2002-12-23 06:35pm

Gee, you ever considered why it happened that way?

The Tantive IV is fast. If the ISD didn't catch it from close, it would turn and pull away soon. That plus jamming accounts for range. The Tantive was trying to pull away by engine power, but an ISD has powerful straight-line acceleration, so it didn't work. Besides, how do we know that tractor beams weren't in use? They did haul it in after disabling it.

The ISD gunners missed it because, well, did you consider that maybe they were trying to capture the ship instead of blowing it to up? The predecessor of the Tantive IV, the republic courier ship, was blown to hell in TPM with just one light turbolaser hit (Shields down, of course).

Such small facts such as that they boarded the ship when it was rendered helpless should have tipped you off. Or the Vader wanted it taken apart. Or that they went on a search for droids instead of just blowing up the escape pod. If they had just blown it up, they would have no evidence that they intercepted the Death Star plans and the mission would have been a failure.

Grand Admiral Thrawn · Post by **Grand Admiral Thrawn** » 2002-12-23 07:22pm

Soontir C'boath wrote:Too bad the SD didn't nose down or turn starboard and fired it's Ion Cannons...heheh.

Cyaround,
Jason

Which could have wiped the Tantive IV's main computer and the DS plans.

Soontir C'boath · Post by **Soontir C'boath** » 2002-12-23 07:35pm

Grand Admiral Thrawn wrote:
Soontir C'boath wrote:Too bad the SD didn't nose down or turn starboard and fired it's Ion Cannons...heheh.

Cyaround,
Jason

Which could have wiped the Tantive IV's main computer and the DS plans.

LOL yea lol I guess heh.

Cyaround,
Jason

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2002-12-23 08:14pm

They could also have been meant to discourage the Tantive from running to either side.

Captain Cyran · Post by **Captain Cyran** » 2002-12-23 08:48pm

nightmare wrote:Gee, you ever considered why it happened that way?

The Tantive IV is fast. If the ISD didn't catch it from close, it would turn and pull away soon. That plus jamming accounts for range. The Tantive was trying to pull away by engine power, but an ISD has powerful straight-line acceleration, so it didn't work. Besides, how do we know that tractor beams weren't in use? They did haul it in after disabling it.

If the tractor beams were in use then they should have had no problem with pegging the Tantive IV in non-vital places. I watched that segment, and they didn't just miss five times, it was five times in a row, and those were just the shots that we can see miss. As for jamming, apparently someone is a moron on that Star Destroyer because if the jamming was that good they'd have changed their Turbolasers to go flak to be able to miss and still do some damage. It's doubtful that a ship which had Vader on it would have such an idiot so it's safe to assume that the jamming played no real part on accuracy.

The ISD gunners missed it because, well, did you consider that maybe they were trying to capture the ship instead of blowing it to up? The predecessor of the Tantive IV, the republic courier ship, was blown to hell in TPM with just one light turbolaser hit (Shields down, of course).

Funny, they didn't seem to hesitate much to hit the Tantive IV right in the middle of the ship did they? Doesn't look like they were really trying to miss it that much.

Such small facts such as that they boarded the ship when it was rendered helpless should have tipped you off. Or the Vader wanted it taken apart. Or that they went on a search for droids instead of just blowing up the escape pod. If they had just blown it up, they would have no evidence that they intercepted the Death Star plans and the mission would have been a failure.

No shit they wanted it intact, I'm sure that even one as retarded as DarkStar would be able to figure that out. The point being made here is that Turbolasers are nowhere near as accurate as some say, as example a Turbolaser hitting an A-Wing.

The fact that the Star Destroyer didn't switch to flak means that the Tantive could have taken more punishment then most give her credit for because the Star Destroyer wanted their hits to count. Again, they didn't switch to flak which also disproves the idea of really good jamming. There is no way either of those ships were maneuvering. Yes Vader was trying to take the Tantive intact, but there was obviously no real problem with the idea of her taking a shot right in the middle of the ship.

Captain Cyran · Post by **Captain Cyran** » 2002-12-23 09:36pm

Note to self...poke Silence next time I see him....poke him with a HADOKEN that is....MWAHAHAHA!

Ignorant_Boy · Post by **Ignorant_Boy** » 2002-12-23 10:29pm

Captain_Cyran wrote: If the tractor beams were in use then they should have had no problem with pegging the Tantive IV in non-vital places. I watched that segment, and they didn't just miss five times, it was five times in a row, and those were just the shots that we can see miss. As for jamming, apparently someone is a moron on that Star Destroyer because if the jamming was that good they'd have changed their Turbolasers to go flak to be able to miss and still do some damage. It's doubtful that a ship which had Vader on it would have such an idiot so it's safe to assume that the jamming played no real part on accuracy.

Funny, they didn't seem to hesitate much to hit the Tantive IV right in the middle of the ship did they? Doesn't look like they were really trying to miss it that much.

No shit they wanted it intact, I'm sure that even one as retarded as DarkStar would be able to figure that out. The point being made here is that Turbolasers are nowhere near as accurate as some say, as example a Turbolaser hitting an A-Wing.

The fact that the Star Destroyer didn't switch to flak means that the Tantive could have taken more punishment then most give her credit for because the Star Destroyer wanted their hits to count. Again, they didn't switch to flak which also disproves the idea of really good jamming. There is no way either of those ships were maneuvering. Yes Vader was trying to take the Tantive intact, but there was obviously no real problem with the idea of her taking a shot right in the middle of the ship.

The shot in the middle of the Tantive IV "overloaded the starboard shield projector, causing an explosion which damaged teh power generator system. The main reactor had to be shut down, crippling the Tantive IV" according to the original ICS. Also reinforced by 3PO's remark: "They've shut down the main reactor; we'll be destroyed for sure!"

You could argue that the Devastator was trying to box in the Tantive IV so it could get in a shot at the shield projector.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2002-12-23 10:41pm

Soontir C'boath wrote:Too bad the SD didn't nose down or turn starboard and fired it's Ion Cannons...heheh.

Cyaround,
Jason

Ion cannons will destroy smaller vessels. In any case they would wipe out the computers at the very least and there would be no way to confirm the Death Star plans had been recovered.

nightmare · Post by **nightmare** » 2002-12-24 10:28am

Captain_Cyran wrote:If the tractor beams were in use then they should have had no problem with pegging the Tantive IV in non-vital places. I watched that segment, and they didn't just miss five times, it was five times in a row, and those were just the shots that we can see miss. As for jamming, apparently someone is a moron on that Star Destroyer because if the jamming was that good they'd have changed their Turbolasers to go flak to be able to miss and still do some damage. It's doubtful that a ship which had Vader on it would have such an idiot so it's safe to assume that the jamming played no real part on accuracy.

You assume that jamming would only affect the Tantive IV. Maybe, maybe not. Leave a frequency open, and the enemy will make use of it. Besides, who says a corvette can't put up jamming, when mere starfighters can?

Captain_Cyran wrote:Funny, they didn't seem to hesitate much to hit the Tantive IV right in the middle of the ship did they? Doesn't look like they were really trying to miss it that much.

Gee, they did have to disable it somehow, didn't they. Near-misses would prevent the Tantive IV to use it's superior maneuverability to get away.

Captain_Cyran wrote: No shit they wanted it intact, I'm sure that even one as retarded as DarkStar would be able to figure that out. The point being made here is that Turbolasers are nowhere near as accurate as some say, as example a Turbolaser hitting an A-Wing.

The fact that the Star Destroyer didn't switch to flak means that the Tantive could have taken more punishment then most give her credit for because the Star Destroyer wanted their hits to count. Again, they didn't switch to flak which also disproves the idea of really good jamming. There is no way either of those ships were maneuvering. Yes Vader was trying to take the Tantive intact, but there was obviously no real problem with the idea of her taking a shot right in the middle of the ship.

I didn't say they were maneouvering. I've given reasons why they weren't. Again, they had to hit it in order to disable it - they just had to make sure it was a safe, well-aimed shot on a relatively tiny vessel rather than saturating the area with flak. Besides, I wasn't addressing you in the first place.

pellaeons_scion · Post by **pellaeons_scion** » 2002-12-24 11:46am

Id go with the herding idea. By placing shots around the target you discourage any radical changes in course, which the Tantive probably could have done while the ISD would find it awkward to follow. Secondly, as we see in the opening scene, the two vessels were reasonably close to Tatooine, hence a gravity well. This would have prevented the Tantive from jumping to lightspeed. So overall i think the ISD commander was just hedging his bets by forcing the Tantive towards Tatooine, making it easier to capture. Also by forcing the Tantive to fly in a straight line, makes it easier for gunners to line a shot up for a precicsion hit that wouldnt destroy the ship

Mad · Post by **Mad** » 2002-12-24 12:06pm

Some of the shost fired by the Devestator were from turrets that didn't have line-of-sight to the Tantive IV. These shots traveled under the T4, and the Imperials could not have expected a hit. So those shots were most likely supression fire intended to keep the T4 from entering the atmosphere of Tatooine. Some other missions could also be supression fire. If the T4 can't maneuver because it doesn't want to destroy itself, then that makes it a lot easier for the ISD to get in that critical disabling shot.

Post by **Kuja** » 2002-12-24 03:53pm

Captain_Cyran wrote:Note to self...poke Silence next time I see him....poke him with a HADOKEN that is....MWAHAHAHA!

Now, now, Cyran..."young minds...fresh ideas"...be tolerant.

Captain Cyran · Post by **Captain Cyran** » 2002-12-24 06:09pm

IG-88E wrote:
Captain_Cyran wrote:Note to self...poke Silence next time I see him....poke him with a HADOKEN that is....MWAHAHAHA!
Now, now, Cyran..."young minds...fresh ideas"...be tolerant.

He's a friend of mine in real life, I have the right of torture.

The Silence and I · Post by **The Silence and I** » 2002-12-26 11:29am

HemlockGrey said:
They could also have been meant to discourage the Tantive from running to either side.
[quote]
This would make sense, and likely accounts for very obvious misses when the camera passes under the ISD-there is no way those shots hit, and I don't think they were supposed to. But the misses I'm talking about don't seem to be boxing in the ship. They all cleared the top of the bridge by a few meters-not to the left or the right. It was as if they were going for the main turret or the bridge and missed.

IRG CommandoJoe · Post by **IRG CommandoJoe** » 2002-12-26 11:55am

Maybe they were just trying to scare the shit out of the Rebels in the turrets from staying in them and firing.
(Rebel turrets fire a few bursts at ISD LTL batteries.)
(ISD LTL battery gunners rain blasts right next to Rebel turrets.)
(Rebel turrets mysteriously stop firing.)

The Silence and I · Post by **The Silence and I** » 2002-12-26 01:10pm

IRG CommandoJoe wrote:

Maybe they were just trying to scare the shit out of the Rebels in the turrets from staying in them and firing.
(Rebel turrets fire a few bursts at ISD LTL batteries.)
(ISD LTL battery gunners rain blasts right next to Rebel turrets.)
(Rebel turrets mysteriously stop firing.)

LOL!! That would explain a few things...