nBSG Force Sub: Choose a new Galactica

[Gandalf]

I'd like to see a Borg sphere put in Galactica's place, especially to see how they would stand up to Cylon computer attacks.

Interestingly, you could preserve the human race by assimilating them.

[Darth Onasi]

I know it's way over the dimensions of the Galactica but, speaking of computer vulnerability, I'd like to see how long the mothership from Independance Day would last against the Cylons.

[Solauren]

I know it's way over the dimensions of the Galactica but, speaking of computer vulnerability, I'd like to see how long the mothership from Independance Day would last against the Cylons.

Considering the city-destroyers were able to shrug off nuclear weapons, and keep on going, I'd say damn well.

[Darth Onasi]

I know it's way over the dimensions of the Galactica but, speaking of computer vulnerability, I'd like to see how long the mothership from Independance Day would last against the Cylons.

Considering the city-destroyers were able to shrug off nuclear weapons, and keep on going, I'd say damn well.

That was before they got cyber-raped by a mac laptop though.

[Thanas]

I'd choose the Andromeda Ascendant - nearly self sufficient save for the casual asteroid field for mining, has an AI that would make the Cylons weep, can be run with as little as said AI and a dozen personnal and has missile weaponry that can actually fire over a distance longer than visual range. Oh, and it has better missile spam with far heavier warheads.

[Dahak]

How about an Invictus-class Superdreadnought, with Her Grace "Mary Sue" Harrington in command?
She'd fit sizewise, and enough firepower in close combat (and can missile-spam quite well, too).

[Nephtys]

I must confess, I wasn't a big BSG fan. B4 is 7.5km long, so if that makes it too big, I capitulate and submit for your approval The SDF-1

I'll see your SDF-1 and raise you a dedicated fleet defender: the New Macross-class transformable battle carrier.

The SDF-1 would probably perform better than a New Macross class in Galactica's place. We know for certain that the SDF-1 has dedicated manufacturing facilities while the New Macross fleets seemed to rely on Three Star factory ships. More importantly, the SDF-1 has capacity to house the ENTIRE Colonial population and then some (at its height the SDF-1 was home to 58,000 civilians plus 20,000 crew. Hell, they even had room for a small stadium).

Plus, according to some fan estimates I've seen the SDF-1 has significantly more firepower than a New Macross since its primary role is a battleship as opposed to a fleet command/carrier. Not sure how they compare in terms of fighter wings but they both outstrip the number of Vipers Galactica held (SDF-1 had 300+ fighters, in addition to whatever the ARMDs/Daedalus and Prometheus held).

Those New Macross ships have visibly superior shields (large, battleship-style secondary batteries glance off in 'F', while SDF-1 had that jury rigged ridiculous trackball system, and the thing that blows up Canada when shot.) Also, SDF-1's internal volume made no sense. If it's a bit more than a kilometer long, how does it have at least three-five kilos worth of city visible inside without including any of the machinery that makes the ship operate?

Also, it has a meaner uh. Punch. With a fist. Which matters for space carrier-on-carrier battles, uh huh.

How about an Invictus-class Superdreadnought, with Her Grace "Mary Sue" Harrington in command?
She'd fit sizewise, and enough firepower in close combat (and can missile-spam quite well, too).

Knight Companion of the Order of King Roger, Steadholder-Dutchess Dame Admiral of the Fleet Honor Stephanie Alexander-Harrington's ship would collapse from the weight of her quarters nameplate if it ever entered the situation in the last episode of BSG.

Seriously, the wacky impeller wedge is really rather stupid in what it's implied to be able to do to 'any' entity that doesn't have something similar. By the way it's written, you could turn it on, turn perpendicular to your course and have a giant invincible battering ram a few hundred thousand square kilometers in area.

[Solauren]

I know it's way over the dimensions of the Galactica but, speaking of computer vulnerability, I'd like to see how long the mothership from Independance Day would last against the Cylons.

Considering the city-destroyers were able to shrug off nuclear weapons, and keep on going, I'd say damn well.

That was before they got cyber-raped by a mac laptop though.

A Process that involved
#1 - a captured Fighter that was being reverse engineered for decades by the Government. Possibly having spawned modern computer technology
#2 - Hooking the laptop up to the Fighter (something the local techs new how to due apparently)
#3 - Flying the Fighter back into the mother ship, as they couldn't hack it via wireless communications (they had to have tried that, otherwise, they are idiots)
#4 - Uploading said virus and then emptying a nuclear warhead into them and blowing up the main ship before they could notice the problem and come up with an anti-virus.

The Cylons have never encountered the ID4 ships before, are unfamiliar with the technology, haven't had decades to study ID4 technology, and are not likely to survive the initial combat engagements in order to get the chance to.

Sorry, Cylon Basestar vs ID4 ship, ID4 wins.

Unless the City-crusher weapon requires shields to be lowered or a hole opened, and a Raider gets off a nuke.

[Grasscutter]

Those New Macross ships have visibly superior shields (large, battleship-style secondary batteries glance off in 'F', while SDF-1 had that jury rigged ridiculous trackball system, and the thing that blows up Canada when shot.) Also, SDF-1's internal volume made no sense. If it's a bit more than a kilometer long, how does it have at least three-five kilos worth of city visible inside without including any of the machinery that makes the ship operate?

Also, it has a meaner uh. Punch. With a fist. Which matters for space carrier-on-carrier battles, uh huh.

There's apparently less machinery in the ship than you'd think thanks to the magic of anime physics:


The best theory I've seen is that the city takes up a bunch of the giant Zentraedi-sized decks in the legs and central section of the ship. If you assume there's multiple levels of city you still can't account for some of the wide-open expanses you see in the series, but you can almost believe they stuffed a small city inside the ship.

My ideal pick would be a Frontier-era Macross-class battleship like the SDFN-04 Global. All the positives of the original SDF-1 plus a modern fold-drive, and proper non-trackball/blow-up-Canada shields.

[Batman]

#3 - Flying the Fighter back into the mother ship, as they couldn't hack it via wireless communications (they had to have tried that, otherwise, they are idiots)

While I generally agree with you they ARE idiots. They were actually surprised at AAMs not doing any significant damage to a vessel a dozen miles or more across...

[Solauren]

#3 - Flying the Fighter back into the mother ship, as they couldn't hack it via wireless communications (they had to have tried that, otherwise, they are idiots)

While I generally agree with you they ARE idiots. They were actually surprised at AAMs not doing any significant damage to a vessel a dozen miles or more across...

I think they were hoping the ships were not very well armored due to the shields.

[Batman]

You could fire those missiles at a modern-day CITY and would not do any significant damage. Besides, the fact that that thing manages not to only stay in one piece to begin with but actually can move under its own power means that it's ludicrously structurally resilient by modern day standards, either via equally ludicrously advanced material sciences or technobabble.

[Parallax]

From the start the Galactica was the heart of the fleet.. It servged as protector and command for the fleet, providing more services and materials then any other ship.. But, it was never Meant for the role it wasd eventually forced to play...

In this sub, YOU can pick from all of SciFi to choose a ship to replace Galactica, something that will provide resources, repair, machine shops, recycling, etc... You ar limited to a ship roughly the same over all size as Galactica.

I'd choose a TARDIS. To fit with the thread limits, you just reconfigure the exterior dimensions so it's as big as the Galactica (or thereabouts).

Sure it has no real fire power (depending on which source you use, since in the novels TARDISes clearly could simply configure exterior weapons into existence) but being more or less indestructible, you don't really need it. Plus, in a pinch, you could place every single civilian inside it and simply make quick trips to co-ordinates along the path to Earth (the only thing stopping you going straight there would be plot necessity).

But I'm guessing that this option would be something akin to cheating or cheap.

And reading back through the thread, people got to the idea first. Dammit.

[Parallax]

For a sillier choice - how about Space Battleship Yamato?

It had the wave motion engine to allow it to 'jump', a big ass front pointing weapon of mass destruction, fighter support wings and heavy class weaponry (though none on it's bottom, oddly enough).

It also had manufacturing facilities and an almost magical ability to affect huge repairs in an extremely short amount of time (seriously, the ship gets blown to hell a number of times throughout the series and it's 100% again in no time).

[Uraniun235]

Well, Yamato's quite a lot smaller, and I don't think it carries as many fighters. The shock cannons and bow missiles give it some pretty good range, though, and I don't think the Cylons are set up to intercept directed-energy weapons, so Yamato could immediately start chewing up the Basestar as soon as they spotted it. The bow missiles and point-defense pulse lasers give it a pretty good anti-missile/anti-fighter capacity as well. The big Wave Motion Gun itself is pretty unwieldy, although it's not as if the Basestars did a lot of maneuvering, so if they spot the Basestar quick enough and are able to set up before the Basestar's raiders arrive, it might be effective.

The manufacturing plant on board Yamato would be enormously helpful for the fleet. The biggest obstacle would probably be that Yamato can't serve as water tanker the way that Galactica did.