The Wildcat Fighter

DangerousCook

DangerousCook

Rear Admiral
I'd like to ask what is known about the Wildcat fighter which (I believe) is depicted in the Action Stations novel, and (what some of us think) may be the first episode of the Academy TV Series. My memory is very sketchy, but I think Tolwyn actually fought in a Wildcat during part of the novel? Do we have any references to its armament, speed/armor/shields or any such characteristics?

If the Hellcat-esque fighters of Red vs. Blue are indeed Wildcats, here is what I take from our very limited exposure to them:

The Wildcats are notably fast/maneuverable. I say this because Blair is able to quickly get onto an enemy's tail after it was tailing him. Now, this may be more indicative of the writers/animators' preferences than anything, or perhaps it typifies Blair's skill as a pilot, but we also see the fighters "tricking" enemies into collisions and using afterburners to great effect.

Their gun armament consists of two non-laser weapons. This is mostly a guess, because we only actually see/hear a single shot fired (from Maniac's fighter as he destroys an enemy). However, the look and sound of this blast is unlike the common sound effect used for the majority of gun sounds heard in the series. I'd like to know what kind of guns people think these could be.

The missile armament consists of two (I'm guessing heat seeking) missiles, and not much more. It is possible that these missiles are dumb-fires, but Blair had enough time (a little over 2 seconds) to achieve a lock, and using a pair of dumb fires seems like a poor tactic (if you're sure of a hit you only need one, and if you aren't sure then you're probably wasting two missiles). We get a pretty good look at the Wildcat(?) when Blair uses his two missiles to destroy an enemy, and though there seems to be room for more missiles, I wouldn't estimate more than an additional one or two (this is also considering the typical armament of a ship as old as the Wildcat).

Well, these are my thoughts. Hoping/looking forward to some more discussion on this. Thanks!
 
The general assumption has been that Blair and company are either flying early model Hellcats that are armed with two guns or indeed are flying the Wildcat. We can't be certain of this, because the only time we 'see' that particular fighter is in the simulator. From the end of episode one onward, Blair is normally flying a Scimitar, and we see other appearances by the Broadsword, Sabre, Epee, and Longbow. I think their may also be wreckage of what looks like a Hellcat in the Tiger's Claw's wake at the end of episode 12, but I'm not certain on that as I don't have the episodes with me at the moment.
 
Yes it's only a sort of fan retcon that claims they're Wildcats. The episode was written before Action Stations, of course, so the Wildcat didn't even exist. Certainly the intent is that they're Hellcats, which the audience is supposed to recognize from Wing Commander III. The reason they're there is so the show can reuse early test animation which was done during the pitch phase when the idea for the show was an animated series that used the characters and ships from Wing Commander III.

We do know from Action Stations that the Wildcats' guns are lasers and mass drivers and that they carried six missiles (Tolwyn dumps six targeting missiles against the landing craft and is left with one dumb fire.)
 
Bandit LOAF said:
Yes it's only a sort of fan retcon that claims they're Wildcats. The episode was written before Action Stations, of course, so the Wildcat didn't even exist. Certainly the intent is that they're Hellcats, which the audience is supposed to recognize from Wing Commander III. The reason they're there is so the show can reuse early test animation which was done during the pitch phase when the idea for the show was an animated series that used the characters and ships from Wing Commander III.

We do know from Action Stations that the Wildcats' guns are lasers and mass drivers and that they carried six missiles (Tolwyn dumps six targeting missiles against the landing craft and is left with one dumb fire.)
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Wow, that's quite a bit of firepower for something twenty years before WC1. Do we know if the Wildcat was classified as a Heavy fighter? I'm guessing it would at least be a Medium. Seems like I need to track down my copy of Action Stations about now!
 
I think they call it an interceptor -- Action Stations seems to predate the light/medium/heavy system, with fighters more classified by where they can operate (space-to-space, ground-to-space, etc.) and by specific roles.

One thing to keep in mind is that there was no full guns option, so if you were building a game around it you'd have that interesting bit of skill added, choosing between lasers and mass drivers depending on the situation.
 
Bandit LOAF said:
One thing to keep in mind is that there was no full guns option, so if you were building a game around it you'd have that interesting bit of skill added, choosing between lasers and mass drivers depending on the situation.
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Is the fact that there was no full guns option explicitly mentioned in Action Stations, Bandit LOAF? If so, what page, and if not, where then? You can probably guess why I'm asking.
 
No I believe it's from the WC1 and 2 guide, about how full guns didn't exist prior to some point. Let me dig up the reference when I get home.
 
DangerousCook said:
Wow, that's quite a bit of firepower for something twenty years before WC1. Do we know if the Wildcat was classified as a Heavy fighter? I'm guessing it would at least be a Medium. Seems like I need to track down my copy of Action Stations about now!
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Six missiles isn't that huge given that the Scimitar has five. The Wildcat's shields and armor were probably quite a bit weaker than the Raptor's as well--maybe in the same range as the Scimitar's. I can see the Wildcat as being faster-turning than the Raptor, but its lighter guns (laser/mass driver vs neutron/mass driver) and lighter shields/armor leading to it being phased out in favor of heavier stuff. If the Wildcat was primarily an interceptor or short-range fighter, then that gives an explanation for why the Scimitar was retained even while the Wildcat was not, since the latter would be more useful for longer-range escort missions and the like.
 
Ijuin said:
Six missiles isn't that huge given that the Scimitar has five. The Wildcat's shields and armor were probably quite a bit weaker than the Raptor's as well--maybe in the same range as the Scimitar's. I can see the Wildcat as being faster-turning than the Raptor, but its lighter guns (laser/mass driver vs neutron/mass driver) and lighter shields/armor leading to it being phased out in favor of heavier stuff. If the Wildcat was primarily an interceptor or short-range fighter, then that gives an explanation for why the Scimitar was retained even while the Wildcat was not, since the latter would be more useful for longer-range escort missions and the like.
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The Scimitar didn't necessarily always carry five missiles. There are a lot of fighters (Arrow V, Thunderbolt VII) that ended up having more missiles in later games as a sign of advancing times/upgrade of the fighter's role and capacity. Granted, there's no reason to assume the Scimitars didn't have five missiles in the pre-war days, but it's not guaranteed by virtue of being that way in WC1. Just my two cents.
 
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