Shrike Two, You're Out! (November 19, 2008)

[Bandit LOAF]

The always-generous Sean Murphy was kind enough to send us some more Wing Commander Prophecy artwork! He saw Captain Johnny's Shrike update and dug up one more unique rendering of the bomber (below - in more ways than one)! He also explained the ship's... device... which can now be seen in more detail than ever before:

... the original design of the Shrike had two features that were eventually dropped: one, the cockpit area was supposed to detach and function as kind of either a mini-fighter or at least a lifeboat; and two, the large pod underneath was supposed to be a radar jammer - so the Shrike would be able to make torpedo runs with less danger of being targeted by capships. Sadly (and without letting me know so that I could redesign the thing!) the function of the jammer was tossed out, and the large pod underneath became just a torpedo tube.

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Original update published on November 19, 2008

 

[Farbourne]

Hmmm, that might have made the Shrike actually fun to fly. As it was, I hated the thing...like the Scimitar of WC1, it gave up too much in speed and maneuverability for not enough in armor and shields, and didn't even give you the unlimited-capship-death that the Devastator offered in return.

So was the original concept to start your torpedo run, then detach the cockpit into a mini-fighter and escort your own torpedo-carrying fighter in? That would have been quite interesting...

 

[AD]

Hmmm, that might have made the Shrike actually fun to fly. As it was, I hated the thing...like the Scimitar of WC1, it gave up too much in speed and maneuverability for not enough in armor and shields, and didn't even give you the unlimited-capship-death that the Devastator offered in return.

So was the original concept to start your torpedo run, then detach the cockpit into a mini-fighter and escort your own torpedo-carrying fighter in? That would have been quite interesting...

I don't think that's quite how it would have worked... think more along the lines of the Nephilim fighters that break apart into smaller fighters when you shoot them.

In this case when your bomber gets toasted you can finish off the mission in a zippy little light fighter and/or it's just an escape pod of the variety seen in the WC movie.

The Jamming is separate. it makes it harder for other ships to find/target you when you are on your bombing run.

 

[Eder]

This is the best looking WCP fighter, IMHO. Jammer or not, it doesn't need any sort of redesign.

 

[Mace]

I would guess the detached "fighter" would be no more then an escape pod of some sort. but it would allow to simply detach the cockpit section, fly out and make the rest of the ding go up in a blaze of glory as a last resort.

This would be pretty costly though.

 

[ELTEE]

This would be pretty costly though.

"Pilot, you know you only get one Golden Sun, right? You don't HAVE to separate the sections every sortie..."

 

[Mekt-Hakkikt]

Those two extras certainly would have made the Shrike more attractive to fly.