|
Post by flightoficarus on May 28, 2014 14:22:54 GMT -6
I think big heavily armed ships are cool too. But in practice I think they have too many drawbacks. In World War Two for instance, the Yamoto was the biggest warship in the world. Pride of the Japanese navy, thought to be invincible, biggest guns and thickest armor. However, the sheer size was its downfall. It turned out to be a bomb magnet and it couldn’t evade the hits due to its massive size. I realize Sci Fi is a different medium completely but the same principals apply. Anyway, back to WW2. In the pacific, in a battle I forget the name of Japanese cruisers were sunk by American destroyers 1/3rd their size. On paper the “tin cans” were no match. Yet they won. Why? The big guns of the cruisers couldn’t track the destroyers at close range and the ships were too slow to avoid the torpedo barrages. In these instances sheer size was a liability, not an asset. In this way big is not ALWAYS better.
Space is an altogether different medium. However, larger ships have more inertia. It takes a lot more energy to move them. It takes far more time to change course and accelerate. Plus the massive guns of Lupeans would probably have a hard time even hitting small ships. This nullifies the massive siege guns. It’s like a rouge versus a fighter in D&D. What’s the point of that big two hander if it can’t even hit the rogue? Though, I digress, your guncruisers lack this issue.
Basically, I like to strike a balance. There's such a thing as too big when designing ships IMO.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2014 6:13:34 GMT -6
You need to look at the History the Lupean have. They've grown up on a world dominated by massive beasts far larger than anything on Earth. Their entire lives they've needed bigger and more powerful weapons to destroy what Felaris threw at them. It's not until now they've been presented with proof that this might no longer work. That is why they're only just now beginning to build Guncruisers. And believe me, you'll see a lot of Guncruisers. That is, Cruisers in the vein of their old craft, but with the massive spinal weapons replaced with lots, and lots, and lots, and lots of turrets and 10cm repeaters. They will be keeping the massive old ships however. They're flagships, and a cultural icon to the Lupean, a source of morale. And sometimes, you need to fuck a planet up. Guncruisers are all well and good for that, but if you want to send a message, you load an incendiary round into the Granrenzis and load the bombardment cannons and broadsides with HE Incendiary.
I go as much for story and cultural accuracy as I do for combat effectiveness when I design a ship. (Yes, I am only just now seeing this.)
|
|