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Haven't seen this addressed before, but if is was ... ok.

While watching ROTS, on the Invisible Hand we see what look like artillery shells being ejected from the main guns being fired at a passing Venator. What is in the shells? Those things don't look like drawings and pictures of what I've seen before regarding heavy turbolasers. So, are they turbolasers, and if not then what are they?

IIRC they're rail guns of some sort.(like the batteries on Venator also)

They're either railcannons or torpedp launchers, since their output doesn't behave like laser cannon bolts.

In the official specs for the Venator, it states that it doesn't have any "rail" weapons at all. Just the standard turbolasers, laser cannons, and torp launchers.

To be honest, I have no idea why those cannons were ejecting those shells. Seems to me just be a cheap attempt by GL to simulate modern artillery and to make the cannons "look" cooler.

In the RotS Visual Dictionary, they're are called railguns, but in the ICS, they're called torpedo tubes. Obviously, the ICS is more canon, and proton torps do use a "casing" of sorts, as shown on the X-Wing in the OT ICS.

But, to speculate, the tubes could use magnetic acceleration. It would probably be necessary to get the missile up to a high enough speed to avoid being shot down by point-defense guns.
- Ra

That would have the casings being jettisoned out the barrel and not the breech then.

I understand, just trying to make sense of the railgun theory. Then, the deck guns were indeed proton torpedo launchers, and nothing more, just as the RotS ICS said.
- Ra

Depending on the round, railguns would have a conductive sabot to hold the round in as it runs down the barrel as the round is inevitably a long rod or dart which is smaller than the calibre of the barrel and the sabot acts as a bigger conductive surface area for efficiency. I can only surmise that the cannons could fire proton torpedoes which are kept in special casings to avoid damage and allow them to fit the barrel.

Order 66 wrote:In the official specs for the Venator, it states that it doesn't have any "rail" weapons at all. Just the standard turbolasers, laser cannons, and torp launchers.

The stats don't even list those "internally mounted" weapons at all. And since the movie shows them to exist, they exist. And movie canon further shows they ARE projectile weapons of some kind (exhibited by the arcing/curving trajectory observed when they fire at least once if not twice in the movie.)

Ra wrote:In the RotS Visual Dictionary, they're are called railguns, but in the ICS, they're called torpedo tubes. Obviously, the ICS is more canon, and proton torps do use a "casing" of sorts, as shown on the X-Wing in the OT ICS.

They're not proton torpedo tubes in the ICS. Those are something else entirely (this was just receently pointed out in fact: you can make out the "rail guns" on the ICS artwork, and they are distinct and different from the "proton torpedo" tubes.)

Are they the unlabled guns behind the bridge?
- Ra

No, they're unlabeled guns in the middle of the ship's body, in a row of six per side, in the same area where the entry labeling the "4.8 megaton point defense ion cannons" is located.

Thanks for the correction. I found them now. The guns have three hatch doors flanking them.
- Ra

The ICS labels them as point-defence ion cannons, which is absolutely in line with the VD display, which labels a small barrel above the "mass driver" as an ion cannon.

President Sharky wrote:The ICS labels them as point-defence ion cannons, which is absolutely in line with the VD display, which labels a small barrel above the "mass driver" as an ion cannon.

No, it doesn't label them as point defense ion cannons either. The label comes nowhere NEAR to being close to those cannons.

Connor MacLeod wrote:

President Sharky wrote:The ICS labels them as point-defence ion cannons, which is absolutely in line with the VD display, which labels a small barrel above the "mass driver" as an ion cannon.

No, it doesn't label them as point defense ion cannons either. The label comes nowhere NEAR to being close to those cannons.

If you haven't noticed, a few of the labels are quite a bit off line in that thing. Not that I'm saying they are ion cannons, because that really makes no sense.

Quadlok wrote: If you haven't noticed, a few of the labels are quite a bit off line in that thing. Not that I'm saying they are ion cannons, because that really makes no sense.

You can't assume that because some labels are off all of them are.

For railguns, they're moving pretty damned slow... yet they still peirced completely through the Venator's hull....

The only thing I didn't like about those guns is the way trektards are now using that entire broadside sequence to jerk off about throwing the ICS yields out....

Mabye they actually were shells, filled with some kind of uber powerful material to give them high enough yields?

What's the stuff in Thermal Detenators?

That's some pretty powerful shit...

Connor MacLeod wrote:

Quadlok wrote: If you haven't noticed, a few of the labels are quite a bit off line in that thing. Not that I'm saying they are ion cannons, because that really makes no sense.

You can't assume that because some labels are off all of them are.

Yeah, but when the number of gun ports matches the number of point defense ion cannons listed, and the visual dictionary states theres a small ion cannon weapon on the mass driver weapon, that would kinda lean towards this being a case where the label IS off.

Can't see the problem myself.

Maybe they were impact pods filled with droidekas?

Why would the Sepratists do that?

This is not Star Trek, where navies are stupid enough to try to board ships in the middle of a battle.

Darksider wrote:What's the stuff in Thermal Detenators?

That's some pretty powerful shit...

I think it's been referred to as "Baradium".. some compound that can undergo fusion without needing much outside energy to initiate it. I'm not sure what sort of fusion exactly, though.

I, too, would lean toward those weapons being some sort of magnetically-accelerated explosive projectiles.. proton torpedo launchers (or giant thermal detonator launchers) or somesuch. The "casings" could simply be protective casings for the shells that aren't fired. They couldn't be sabots because sabots wouldn't fall out the breech, they'd be shot out the muzzle.


Based on what white_rabbit said, I'd accept their being ion cannons except for the curving trajectories that their proejctiles display. Aside from the curvature, I don't see a problem with it being a weapon of a similar type (but smaller scale) than the one on Hoth, that fired blobby projectiles o' doom.
I have to watch the movie again (this weekend, likely) but is it possible that the apparently curving trajectories are due to the Separatist cruiser's acceleration or deceleration?

Darksider wrote:Why would the Sepratists do that?

This is not Star Trek, where navies are stupid enough to try to board ships in the middle of a battle.

Uh, actually, there were boarding actions going on during the battle.

Jadeite wrote:

Darksider wrote:Why would the Sepratists do that?

This is not Star Trek, where navies are stupid enough to try to board ships in the middle of a battle.

Uh, actually, there were boarding actions going on during the battle.

If your refering to the Clone Wars episode, Tiin's ship was about to explode, and the CIS cruiser they were fighting had its shields down. Better to board then sit in an escape pod and get blasted.