Something big

[Vehrec]

Well, part of it is just aesthetic; Giel's carrier is the archetype I'm working off of.

As far as traffic control, well, yeah, probably the biggest limiting factor in all SW carriers. Even if the gap is (and it is) on kilometer scale, there are still thousands of fighters that operate from the space. That said, there's also going to be ventral bays.

Also, given how the hangars are connected and the kind of ordnance that can be in there, any fire that enters is going to be dangerous. And a carrier is always going to be opening all sorts of small gaps in local shields to handle traffic, whereas a multipurpose ship can just sortie all its fighters early, and pretty much close the hangar down until the situation is safe.

If it was me, I'd consider putting the lion's share of this thing's weapons aft, so if it gets into a stern chase it can shoot back while launching/recovering as it uses its bulk to shield fighter operations. But yeah, traffic control is going to be the really thorny problem. Aren't the bulges on a Lucrehulk to hold massive tractor beam generators? Maybe you should do something similar in principle if not aesthetics here.

[Rogue 9]

Imperial heavy carriers seem to all use that design.

[emp3ror86]

3-4 Lancer-class frigates and nothing can get close to those hangars.

[fractalsponge1]

Aren't the bulges on a Lucrehulk to hold massive tractor beam generators? Maybe you should do something similar in principle if not aesthetics here.

Yeah, I'll see what I can do about that.

The Lucrehulk has it even worse; very small hangar apertures for probably even more droid fighters. It might be less of an issue when all your pilots are mentally slaved into the flight control system, but the small apertures probably means it'll have a miserable sortie rate as a percentage of its total fighter complement. Number and size of apertures count more than hangar volume for that at the very least. Then again, the Lucrehulk was a merchantman first, battle carrier second. Though it's still sort of a stupid system for stowing, even if it's just cargo barges (for example, getting a barge stowed deep inside the doughnut out before the barges stowed farther out). Possibly enclosing the cargo areas with load-bearing structure allows for higher speed and maneuverability than an FSCV setup?

3-4 Lancer-class frigates and nothing can get close to those hangars.

If you are running a carrier with several thousand starfighters and an enemy starfighter gets near the hangars, you're doing something wrong . Besides, the point defense around the bays will outgun a couple of Lancers as it is.

[Azron_Stoma]

I think the best dispersal pattern in a Scramble would be for the ones in the middle hangars facing directly forward to simply fly straight out. The ones from the upper hangars to pull up and go above the opening, and the ones on the lower hangars to dive and go below.

Maybe the bays on the bottom would be the landing bays.

That should simplify traffic I think.

[emp3ror86]

If you are running a carrier with several thousand starfighters and an enemy starfighter gets near the hangars, you're doing something wrong . Besides, the point defense around the bays will outgun a couple of Lancers as it is.

You are right. I spent many months reading and planning how the escorts would look like for different imperial warships and etc. I just gotta get used to the idea of that your warships do not suffer from lack of firepower like canon warships do.

[fractalsponge1]

If you are running a carrier with several thousand starfighters and an enemy starfighter gets near the hangars, you're doing something wrong . Besides, the point defense around the bays will outgun a couple of Lancers as it is.

You are right. I spent many months reading and planning how the escorts would look like for different imperial warships and etc. I just gotta get used to the idea of that your warships do not suffer from lack of firepower like canon warships do.

A lot of EU brainbugs there. I mean, seriously, capital ships have the space, weight, and power budgets for obscenely large point and area defense armaments, and can take care of themselves against anything but a huge fighter strike. An ISD could be packing several hundred fighter weight area lasers or long range anti-fighter light turbolasers, easily being more efficient at defending itself than a few Lancers (especially when considering it can dispense with the extra crew, engines, hull frames, etc. that the smaller ships would need).

This is also assuming that your typical fighter swarm is going to be doing much against a destroyer-sized ship. The standard ISD mixed fighter group certainly shouldn't worry another ISD, unless there's two-digit-teraton-scale fighter munitions out there. Assuming single teraton maximum for fighter warhead yields, 24 TIE Bombers would be packing 288 teratons total, which is barely over a tenth of an ISD's turbolaser yield. You'd need a Group-level bomber formation (6x72 - 432 bombers) to get in the same ballpark, which by command-equivalence at least makes sense. And even then, the fighters only have 5.2 petatons of yield to unload onto the shields, so it's not a big margin for error.

Escorts are good for beefing up on the things capitals can't just power generate away; attention and reach. But it's stupid to say capitals could never operate without them though.

[Azron_Stoma]

Doesn't help that most of the EU used the X-wing games as a basis for how Space battles worked

[Ketan]

Doesn't help that most of the EU used the X-wing games as a basis for how Space battles worked

oooooh yes your sooooo right

weapons power output

do you use to calculate the method the 33%?

a third for weapons/shilds/engines

[Abacus]

I'm thinking that if the Imperial Navy was building these things and using them, that they would have down pat the method for quickly and efficiently deploying the fighter squadrons without any risk of fighters hitting one another. It might even be as simple as the starboard side launching first, then the remaining launching clockwise in rotation. Then the same for when they return, starboard side first, etc.

I would be more concerned about the forward facing hangars receiving direct fire and thereby taking internal damage. If the shields were lowered enough, a few well placed torps could give the ship an end to a bad day. And seeing as how Anakin Skywalker flew his fighter through the shields of a Lucre hulk and into it in order to get to its juicy insides (its shield generators) that this would also be a danger: a small ship flying in and shooting at delicate pieces of machinery.

[Azron_Stoma]

I think that was only possible because the Lucrehulk wasn't fitted with military grade hangar shields or that was only a weakness with older types.

After all, 13 years later in Episode 3, Anakin would again fly his fighter into the Hangar of a Neimoidian ship. This time it was a purpose built Carrier/Destroyer rather than a modified Freighter. He had to disable the containment shield ( important bits of which where somewhat exposed, though would have been protected had the main shields still been up) Or else risk splattering against it. I doubt that Imperial Hangar shields are any different, and I would imagine are overlapped by the ship's main shields.

I think the most risk to the hangar area is when the fighters are launching or landing. Any time in between they shouldn't be any more vulnerable than the rest of the ship.

[takemeout_totheblack]

About the Assertor's shields: can it take what it can dish out? If so, what kind of punishment would be required to worry that monster?

[JointStrikeFighter]

I think that was only possible because the Lucrehulk wasn't fitted with military grade hangar shields or that was only a weakness with older types.

After all, 13 years later in Episode 3, Anakin would again fly his fighter into the Hangar of a Neimoidian ship. This time it was a purpose built Carrier/Destroyer rather than a modified Freighter. He had to disable the containment shield ( important bits of which where somewhat exposed, though would have been protected had the main shields still been up) Or else risk splattering against it. I doubt that Imperial Hangar shields are any different, and I would imagine are overlapped by the ship's main shields.

I think the most risk to the hangar area is when the fighters are launching or landing. Any time in between they shouldn't be any more vulnerable than the rest of the ship.

The shields were down for fighter launch when anakin flew in.

[Azron_Stoma]

The shields were down for fighter launch when anakin flew in.

Ah yes, that makes sense, so I guess it isn't much of an issue even back then

as for the Asserter shields, while only Fractal can say for certain, I was always under the impression that the general rule of thumb for Warships (except perhaps ones with superlasers on them). Was that they could survive half an hour's bombardment from a ship of the same armament before their shields failed.

Since the Superlaser on this ship is actually weaker than it's Alpha Strike, I would apply that same logic unless Fractal says otherwise. Do hope to see more of the Carrier and the 200m corvette, and possibly a XQ-5 Space Platform.

[Vehrec]

The advantage of the superlaser is that if it hits it's automatically going to overload a shield panel and punch through for hull and system damage. It's conceivable that it could one-shot an opponent, although what it is designed to hunt is a serious question. Most Mon-cal ships for instance aren't vulnerable to secondary damage taking them out You could user the superlaser on them, but unless it has enough leakage to kill no matter where it hits, it's a bit questionable. More likely it's designed to blast into planetary shields in a manner similar to a torpedo sphere and then blast through any holes it generates to take down the generators.

[fractalsponge1]

Sorry, I've been giving extremely little attention to anything else due to Mass Effect 2

Shields wise, I don't have a good answer. Acclamator can dissipate 33% of her reactor output via shields, but that's for a transport, but there's nothing about how much load it can take. If it's 30min of full alpha-equivalent fire averaged over the shields, with 33% dissipation, that could work out to be a lot of fire indeed (30min = 1800s full alpha, 33% of that getting dissipated gives 20min).

The big question is are there local burnthroughs. There was a longish discussion in the Squelch of Empires thread in fanfics about this relatively recently. My guess is that the toughest ships can take a relatively concentrated full alpha from a similar ship (not counting superlaser carriers), with effectiveness in local burnthrough going up geometrically with turbolaser bolt size. Dissipation from shields going past 50% of peak reactor power, depending on how robust the power grid and capacitor/radiator systems are. For a superlaser-carrier, that should be very tough. That way, a small ship can potentially harm a bigger one, by getting a very, very, precise simultaneous hit with many smaller guns. But this would be ridiculously difficult for a normal ship to keep landing such hits in a maneuvering fight.

As for redundant shields - yes, they'll help, but only so far. Mon Cals are certainly not immune from secondary damage. You don't need a superlaser to one-shot them if the volley is big enough. 10x a ship's own alpha landing at once on a single panel doesn't sound like it's going to be pretty, secondary shields or no.

[starfury]

Do hope to see more of the Carrier and the 200m corvette, and possibly a XQ-5 Space Platform.

Actually I want to see more the Hovertank/Hover APC and the Urbanus Cruiser that you started a while back, since I heard little of the Urbanus.

[takemeout_totheblack]

Let me get this straight. A ship can take 33% of its reactor output i.e. the equivalent of its own armament discharging (I'm assuming that the reactor devotes a third of its output weapons/shields/propulsion respectively) So the Assertor can withstand what it can dish out, but only just. That's pretty good considering it has the equivalent firepower of, what, 300+ SDIIs? Don't fight that thing with anything less than an Eclipse!

[Abacus]

Let me get this straight. A ship can take 33% of its reactor output i.e. the equivalent of its own armament discharging (I'm assuming that the reactor devotes a third of its output weapons/shields/propulsion respectively) So the Assertor can withstand what it can dish out, but only just. That's pretty good considering it has the equivalent firepower of, what, 300+ SDIIs? Don't fight that thing with anything less than an Eclipse!

I don't think even an Eclipse would stand much chance.

Btw...is fractal still alive?

[Azron_Stoma]

Possibly just taking a break, he really enjoys Mass Effect 2 apparently, never played it myself.

[Abacus]

Heh. ME2 is pretty bamf. I could understand that. Also, I was just thinking that, once you finish your latest project fractal, you should fiddle with another type of Imperial warship:

[Crossroads Inc.]

AHA! so then I am NOT the only fanboy of the Old republic Dreadnought!!!
Yes we must see this ship redone

[evillejedi]

One of my favorite ships as well, might be able to beat him to the punch since I already modeled it. Not to the same level of detail as Fractals work though :-p

[Captain Seafort]

Nice. The first one in particular reminds me very strongly of neoGalactica - is that intentional?

[takemeout_totheblack]

I know I'm going to get an earful for asking, but here goes. Where are the weapons on the penis-ship? Are they too small to see? Are they those bulbous things? Is it a missile boat? If there are weapons, what kind? How powerful? How many?
Size?
Shield strength?
Presence in the imperial starfleet?

I'm a bundle of curiosity!