Hakaga/Vesuivus/Midway Comparisons
...Again, my long-winded posts have been caught by a pesky thing called a 10,000 word limit.
MIDWAY CLASS
Length: 1,830 meters
Mass: 200,000 metric tonnes
Top Speed: 80 kps
YPR: 5/5/5 DPS
Shields
Phase Shields
Armor
2,000 cm
Weapons
Laser Turrets (25)
Missile Launchers (6)
Capship Missile Launcher (?)
Fighter Compliment 252
BIO The Midway was devised as a self-sustaining carrier which could also be used for peace-time roles as well. The ship was designed with all military roles in mind, with some peace-time roles. The ship would fulfill it's carrier role with it's large fighter compliment of 252. It also is fitted with a science division onboard to help solve planetary problems, or to help analyze some new technology. It is also fitted with a new jump-drive which not only gets around it's large size and mass, but also enables the ship to traverse jump-points which normally would not be accessable to a vessel of her size and mass. Midway is also fitted with a very advanced fighter launch and retrieval system which consists of the fighters stored within the Midway, with two receiving bays and six launch tubes bridged by an arterial network. Fighters can be taken and loaded into any of the six-launch tubes and be sent out into space. As long as one of those 6 tubes remains clear, the ship can continue to launch fighters. The ship can also carry large marine landing shuttles which are of a much greater size than previous designs.
Advantages
Self-sufficient The ship is capable of running independantly of a CVBG meaning escort ships could be used elsewhere
Versatile The ship was designed with not just military roles in mind and carries a full science division onboard.
Mobile The ship is not limited by the jump-node constraints which previously plagued large ships.
Launch Configuration The Midway has a unique launch and retrieval system for fighters. There are two landing bays which enable the ship to take on fighters. As long as one bay remains operational, they can continue to land fighters. The fighters are routed from the hangars through an arterial-network which leads to 6-launch tubes. As long as one tube remains operational and clear, they can continue to launch fighters.
Missile Launchers Midway is fitted with 6 missile launch turrets which enable them to take out fighters.
Disadvantages
Slow The Midway is not the slowest of the three, but she's not too far away. Only 80 kps ramscoops open. No excuses here considering the Midway is lighter than the Vesuvius and Hakaga's and has the privelage of being designed with more advanced technology than the other ships having been designed years after the Vesuvius-class set sail.
Armor Lightest armor of the 3 supercarriers. In fact it's armor is lighter than some of the capships of the era. The Murphy-Class destroyer has 500 cm more armor for example. The Plunketts have 800 to 1,300 cm more at most.
Fighter-Compliment 252's a lot, and it can most certainly carry more considering the size of those new Hercules LC's. Still the Vesuvius' fighter compliment was far more impressive considering it was carrying larger 2650's and 2670's era's fighters.
Anti-Capship Capability It has CSM launchers, but those types of missiles are ancient, and have been plagued with the problems of being shot down. Still, they do a decent job when they hit. But they're fairly easy to shoot down, being rather unmaneuverable.
Missile-Defensive The missiles were designed predominantly to shoot down fighters. I'm not certain how well they work on torpedoes. I'm not certain how fast they fire either or if they're as good as the Gatling-Launch systems mounted on the Hakaga-Class.
IN CONCLUSION
There are 3 supercarriers in Wing Commander, and they each have their own strong points, and their own weak-points.
The Hakaga was best equipped in its era for shear-firepower and fighter-carrying capacity. It's armored engines, and self-contained flight bays gave it an excellent degree of survivability. It's defensive armament was also impressive, and it's gatling-launch tubes made torpedo runs nearly impossible.
The Vesuvius had by far the best fighter compliment of the three-- an astounding 400 fighters, and also had excellent anti-capship capability on it's own-- at least two torpedo tubes, and 14 anti-matter guns. It's shields, and armor are unrivalable. It's the fastest of the three, and it's maneuverability is unparalleled.
The Midway was built more like a flying starbase with the greatest degree of self-sufficiency. It also had some versatility that the other's did not, having been built for more than just military roles. The ship contains a science-division onboard to help solve civilian and planetary problems, but can also use this science division to even analyze alien technology. It also has a unique launch and retrieval system which makes it difficult to disable flight operations. It, despite being the largest of the three, had a new jump-engine which enabled it to use jump-points which normally could not be utilized because of the Midway's size. It also possessed at least one capship-missile launcher giving it an anti-capship capability. It also carried a marine-division onboard.
The Hakaga's weak points was it's unbelievably slow speed, at only 30 kps. It also lacked major anti-capship capability, lacking any torpedo tubes or Anti-Matter Guns.
The Vesuvius's weak point lied on the fact that it's single launch bay was unshielded and vulnerable to attack. The fact that the armor on the flight-deck was not resistant to the flash-pack and fairly thin. It also lacked the heavy torpedo-defense the Hakaga's possessed. Vesuvii suffered the same problems that all large ships faced, which include the Hakaga-Class, when it came to making jumps. Some jump-nodes simply cannot accomodate a ship of that mass and size even if the jump-drives can support the ships mass and completely encompass the ship. This limited the Vesuvius' mobility to certain jump-points.
The Midway's weak points lied in its speed which is nothing short of pathetic, it's light armor, which is also pathetic. It also lacks AMG's or any form of phase-shield penetrating gun. It's only capship killing capability lies in CSM's which are old, and easy to shoot down.
*Note 1: I listed the ships maneuverability as 3/3/3 because it's nearly twice the size of the Confederation class, but it's not quite twice the size, so I decided on 3 instead of 2.5. Bandit (LOAF)'s 5/5/5 figure is made up since all capships seem to have that maneuverability.
*Note 2: I list the Vesuvius's top speed as "at least 150 kps" because it was outrunning Intrepid in the novel. I clocked the Intrepid doing 144 at least once, which means it probably isn't at top speed, and a 6 kps closure rate is not consistent with the novel's descriptions of the Vesuivus overtaking them.
*Note 3: I listed the Vesuvius' maneuverability as "at least 6/6/6 DPS" because in the game it does appear to move far more than that despite the movie scene. Additionally, Hawk's comments about the Vesuvius' speed and maneuverability making them look like their standing still do not appear consistent with a ship which only outmaneuvers them by a single degree per second.
-Concordia
...Again, my long-winded posts have been caught by a pesky thing called a 10,000 word limit.
MIDWAY CLASS
Length: 1,830 meters
Mass: 200,000 metric tonnes
Top Speed: 80 kps
YPR: 5/5/5 DPS
Shields
Phase Shields
Armor
2,000 cm
Weapons
Laser Turrets (25)
Missile Launchers (6)
Capship Missile Launcher (?)
Fighter Compliment 252
BIO The Midway was devised as a self-sustaining carrier which could also be used for peace-time roles as well. The ship was designed with all military roles in mind, with some peace-time roles. The ship would fulfill it's carrier role with it's large fighter compliment of 252. It also is fitted with a science division onboard to help solve planetary problems, or to help analyze some new technology. It is also fitted with a new jump-drive which not only gets around it's large size and mass, but also enables the ship to traverse jump-points which normally would not be accessable to a vessel of her size and mass. Midway is also fitted with a very advanced fighter launch and retrieval system which consists of the fighters stored within the Midway, with two receiving bays and six launch tubes bridged by an arterial network. Fighters can be taken and loaded into any of the six-launch tubes and be sent out into space. As long as one of those 6 tubes remains clear, the ship can continue to launch fighters. The ship can also carry large marine landing shuttles which are of a much greater size than previous designs.
Advantages
Self-sufficient The ship is capable of running independantly of a CVBG meaning escort ships could be used elsewhere
Versatile The ship was designed with not just military roles in mind and carries a full science division onboard.
Mobile The ship is not limited by the jump-node constraints which previously plagued large ships.
Launch Configuration The Midway has a unique launch and retrieval system for fighters. There are two landing bays which enable the ship to take on fighters. As long as one bay remains operational, they can continue to land fighters. The fighters are routed from the hangars through an arterial-network which leads to 6-launch tubes. As long as one tube remains operational and clear, they can continue to launch fighters.
Missile Launchers Midway is fitted with 6 missile launch turrets which enable them to take out fighters.
Disadvantages
Slow The Midway is not the slowest of the three, but she's not too far away. Only 80 kps ramscoops open. No excuses here considering the Midway is lighter than the Vesuvius and Hakaga's and has the privelage of being designed with more advanced technology than the other ships having been designed years after the Vesuvius-class set sail.
Armor Lightest armor of the 3 supercarriers. In fact it's armor is lighter than some of the capships of the era. The Murphy-Class destroyer has 500 cm more armor for example. The Plunketts have 800 to 1,300 cm more at most.
Fighter-Compliment 252's a lot, and it can most certainly carry more considering the size of those new Hercules LC's. Still the Vesuvius' fighter compliment was far more impressive considering it was carrying larger 2650's and 2670's era's fighters.
Anti-Capship Capability It has CSM launchers, but those types of missiles are ancient, and have been plagued with the problems of being shot down. Still, they do a decent job when they hit. But they're fairly easy to shoot down, being rather unmaneuverable.
Missile-Defensive The missiles were designed predominantly to shoot down fighters. I'm not certain how well they work on torpedoes. I'm not certain how fast they fire either or if they're as good as the Gatling-Launch systems mounted on the Hakaga-Class.
IN CONCLUSION
There are 3 supercarriers in Wing Commander, and they each have their own strong points, and their own weak-points.
The Hakaga was best equipped in its era for shear-firepower and fighter-carrying capacity. It's armored engines, and self-contained flight bays gave it an excellent degree of survivability. It's defensive armament was also impressive, and it's gatling-launch tubes made torpedo runs nearly impossible.
The Vesuvius had by far the best fighter compliment of the three-- an astounding 400 fighters, and also had excellent anti-capship capability on it's own-- at least two torpedo tubes, and 14 anti-matter guns. It's shields, and armor are unrivalable. It's the fastest of the three, and it's maneuverability is unparalleled.
The Midway was built more like a flying starbase with the greatest degree of self-sufficiency. It also had some versatility that the other's did not, having been built for more than just military roles. The ship contains a science-division onboard to help solve civilian and planetary problems, but can also use this science division to even analyze alien technology. It also has a unique launch and retrieval system which makes it difficult to disable flight operations. It, despite being the largest of the three, had a new jump-engine which enabled it to use jump-points which normally could not be utilized because of the Midway's size. It also possessed at least one capship-missile launcher giving it an anti-capship capability. It also carried a marine-division onboard.
The Hakaga's weak points was it's unbelievably slow speed, at only 30 kps. It also lacked major anti-capship capability, lacking any torpedo tubes or Anti-Matter Guns.
The Vesuvius's weak point lied on the fact that it's single launch bay was unshielded and vulnerable to attack. The fact that the armor on the flight-deck was not resistant to the flash-pack and fairly thin. It also lacked the heavy torpedo-defense the Hakaga's possessed. Vesuvii suffered the same problems that all large ships faced, which include the Hakaga-Class, when it came to making jumps. Some jump-nodes simply cannot accomodate a ship of that mass and size even if the jump-drives can support the ships mass and completely encompass the ship. This limited the Vesuvius' mobility to certain jump-points.
The Midway's weak points lied in its speed which is nothing short of pathetic, it's light armor, which is also pathetic. It also lacks AMG's or any form of phase-shield penetrating gun. It's only capship killing capability lies in CSM's which are old, and easy to shoot down.
*Note 1: I listed the ships maneuverability as 3/3/3 because it's nearly twice the size of the Confederation class, but it's not quite twice the size, so I decided on 3 instead of 2.5. Bandit (LOAF)'s 5/5/5 figure is made up since all capships seem to have that maneuverability.
*Note 2: I list the Vesuvius's top speed as "at least 150 kps" because it was outrunning Intrepid in the novel. I clocked the Intrepid doing 144 at least once, which means it probably isn't at top speed, and a 6 kps closure rate is not consistent with the novel's descriptions of the Vesuivus overtaking them.
*Note 3: I listed the Vesuvius' maneuverability as "at least 6/6/6 DPS" because in the game it does appear to move far more than that despite the movie scene. Additionally, Hawk's comments about the Vesuvius' speed and maneuverability making them look like their standing still do not appear consistent with a ship which only outmaneuvers them by a single degree per second.
-Concordia