Jump capable pan-cake & agile cruiser...

MjavTheGray

Spaceman
I've decided to unite two questions in one thread. This way there're more chances that the topic would live long happy life... :)

The first thing I wanted to ask was all-famous Dralthi - how was it supposed to be a raider in Privateer, while it is not jump capable?

The second thought was about Venture fighting Dralthi. Though in the game (WC1) the corvette has no chances against any fighter, the book (the one which tells about the suicide misson for Venture sent to Vukar Tag) says that Venture defeats Dralthi easily.

So the third thought was about capship agility - how came that WC1,WC2,WC3 ships REALLY ARE MUD PIGS, while in WCIV we do see the 'dogfight' of two megacarriers (Vesuvius vs St.Melon ;) ), and we do see Intrepid evading Vesivius attack easily enough.

And all these three capships (and looks like the in-book Venture, too) are so agile - that they put Longbow to shame?!

Summary:
1. Is Dralthi jump-capable?
2. How agile are capships ? How does their maneur ability progress?
 
In regards to the Dralthi - I know that the Dralthi III was jump-capable, and that newer models could be outfitted with a jump drive, if necessary.

As far as capable ship maneuverability, I'll have to do some research. You could compare the stats from older ships to those in later games, though it may simply be a stylistic consideration to make cut-scenes snazzier. ;)
 
... though it may simply be a stylistic consideration to make cut-scenes snazzier. ;)

Yep, except the fact that in-book Venture DID defeat raider Dralthi easily. In fact the book is the main source of suspicion that capships are not all that 'piggy slow'
 
I can't speak too much to the book, since it was written based on author perception of the source material and artistic license. Speed and maneuverability aren't everything, however, and if a pilot is green enough, they'll flight straight into defensive fire if they're under the impression that their fighter is 'invulnerable' to "X" class of capship. That could account for the Venture's dispatching of Dralthi; the common perception that the craft should have no problem swarming the vessel.
 
Space Point!

No single Dralthi model is universally jump capable - but several can be modified with jump drives. We see Dralthi III jump in Armada, DralthI IV jump in Wing Commander III and Dralthi IX jump in Arena. We never actually see the Privateer Dralthi (Dralthi VII) jump, but it's likely that they do. It's also possible that they operate from hidden Kamekhs, though, or secret asteroid bases...

The concept behind the corvettes was that they were World War II strategic bombers of sorts - think of the Venture as a B-17. It doesn't maneuver compared to a fighter, but it's dotted with turrets that can take out attackers (especially when they attack alone.)

(Also, I don't think it's ever made clear what the Venture is fighting - it's 'Kilrathi raiders' which they call Vikings... not Dralthi.)
 
(Also, I don't think it's ever made clear what the Venture is fighting - it's 'Kilrathi raiders' which they call Vikings... not Dralthi.)

Yes, they do call enemies 'Vikings'. But it looks like those 'Vikings' are the typical enemy. And which ships is the most typical for the Empire? :) Some pan-cake, it seems :)
Besides - they do have an additional Dralthi engine attached to the hull. Where would they get one? Surely the HQ never cared much for corvettes - the books tells it very clearly.
 
The concept behind the corvettes was that they were World War II strategic bombers of sorts - think of the Venture as a B-17.

I think the concept behind the corvettes was that they were World War II corvettes. ;) Light, point-running gunships with AA. But your analogy still stands; I only interject because the Broadsword is said to be inspired by the B-17, which was a much larger craft - that inspired a much more manueverable vessel.
 
Linear time, though - the Venture was the B-17 before the Broadsword came along. :) It's certainly described as such in End Run, complete with tail gun and ball turret...

The Viking that the Johnny Greene is fighting when the book starts isn't a Dralthi - it's some type of Kilrathi corvette-sized ship. They mention that it has a crew of roughly a dozen when it's destroyed.

The interesting thing about them (or at least the one the book starts by describing) is that it *isn't* an Imperial ship - it's the Kilrathi equivalent of a Privateer.
 
Just goes to show that I need to try and order End Run again. Last time was a few years back on Amazon, and the order got cancelled since the third-party no longer had the product. :(

At any rate, the Venture analogy still standing, the maneuverability of the craft doesn't much matter in this case, so long as its turrets are hitting their marks.
 
I like the activity about the Dralthis :)
So - next one pan-cake question - is the Dralthi so easy to fly?
I mean - Hunter flies it easily enough, and even Confed marine (SM1) flies captured Dralthi. I'd agree that an ace pilot would defeat the alien controls. But... the marine?... Your ideas about this?

And I'd return to the WC-IV capship duel scene. Both mega-carriers do turn very fast. I'd repeat - they have a maneur compared to (and maybe even surpassing) the maneur ability of Longbow. Am I wrong?
 
I remember capships making some tight maneuvers in the gameplay sections of Wing Commander IV, especially Vesuvius.
 
I certainly had no problem picking up the controls for the Dralthi. :) But he or she was presumably a Marine *pilot*, which do exist in Wing Commander...

The Vesuvius was just an odd special case - it can turn like that in flight, too.
 
I am still here ;)
Well. Next one pan-cake question:
Your opinion of piloting Dralthi II ?

My point is:
Fighting kilrathi Rapiers in agile though fragile Dralthi (SM2)was much more fun (and much more hope of survival) than the SM1 mission with clumsy Raptor against Gvenhyvar's Rapiers.
 
I actually really like the Dralthi Mk. II -- I really liked how close together the mass drivers were.
 
I remember capships making some tight maneuvers in the gameplay sections of Wing Commander IV, especially Vesuvius.

One thing I remember about WC3 and 4 capships is that some of the heavies could turn on a dime but they were slow. So a hard turn didn't equate to much tactical value, except against other capships, because they were big and pretty much in the same place, or cone of fire, at the end of a turn. A fighter, on the other hand, is typically in a constant forward movement, so even if its turns are wider than a carrier's they're constantly moving away from that cone of fire at a much more rapid pace than a carrier.

Now as a last part of my attempt to look all brainy and smart:

I've been looking at definition for the term Capital Ship, euphemistacally smallerized as "capship", is any large ship that is the center of a larger group. So a carrier is a capital ship because it is the center of a carrier battle group but a frigate or destroyer is not, because they support and defend the carrier(s) or battleship(s).
 
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