Supdon3
Kal-El
I've been thinking about this for a long time because it seems to be causeing some continuity problems since the games, books and movie are all supposed to be one persistant universe as opposed to similar yet different universes. But one of the biggest difficulties I have had with this is when torpedoes launched from fighters have been in use. For us it was in WC2 probably because Chris Roberts and co. hadn't thought of it when they were making WC1 or waited and implemented it in WC2.
So in trying to sort out how that is possible and still have all the other stories created by the books and movie work, Ive come up with an explanation that covers the history of the war and after. Please make comments or point out inaccuricies if I make them. Sorry if someone has already done this before.
The first use of fighter mounted torpedoes against sheilded targets came during the Kilrathi attack on McAulffie in the book Action Stations. Before hand the only way to destroy a cap ship was through concentrated or superior firepower from other cap ships. For this fighters were useless and there was the example from during one of the wars between the Kilrathi and a race that they conquered where a massive number of fighters concentrated their fire on a cap ship and had managed to make a small hole in the sheilds before the tables were turned somehow (i forget) and the fighters were wiped out. Until then fleet engagments were between frigates, destroyers, battleships and battlewagons. Fighters i assume were used for long range patrol scouting, and harrying and protection of weaker ships like transports. Because the Kilrathi used slave labor to build their torps, there was a large statistic of sabotage/duds and a few were recovered complete which ConFed used to build their own. These torpedoes locked on and went through the target's sheilds to hit its target.
About 30 years later at the time of the movie and WC1 (and WC:Academy) improvements in fighter technology had made it possible for fighters to destroy cap ships without torps. Newer fighters like Hornets, Scimitars, and Raptors could take down sheilds after enough time. In the movie they flew old style Rapiers which couldnt do that. Thats why they had bombers. By WC1 the Claw's fighter compliment had been replaced with the new fighters. To allow for room on the Claw, which was a strike carrier (larger and more sophisticated than ships like the Tarawa and Victory, but not nearly as big as the Concordia) the bombers were swapped out with fighters which were capable of doing the same job and were smaller allowing for more of them on ship. Instead of just having Rapiers and Broadswords, the Claw would carry Hornets, Scimitars, Raptors, and later new class Rapiers. (It's probable that a few Broadswords were left on board just because a torpedo can kill a cap ship much quicker than a fighter, but the speed and manuverability of those fighters compared to a bomber made them a much more valuable commodity.)
At some point over the next 12 years technology had changed again making it impossible for fighters to penetrate a cap ship's new phase sheilds. But rather than change from a fighter based emphasis that had endured the whole war up until that point, ConFed developed a newer torpedo that could pass through a target's sheilds. Of course it wasnt long before spys within the Confederation were able to get specifications to the Kilrathi and they soon had their own version. (This is supported by the manual for WC2 though at the time it indicated that this was the first time torpedos were used)
The very next year in WC3 figthers were again able to penetrate a cap ship's sheilds with standard guns and missiles. Torpedoes were used to the extreme effectiveness of taking a specific system offline like engines, or blowing a ship up altogether. Torpedo technology itself had improved enough that their lockon time was shorter and they were small enough to be mounted on Heavy fighters like the Thunderbolt. This was still the case by WC4.
11 years after the war in WCP fighters were once again unable to destroy cap ships, not even transports (Im guessing that it was the same for terran transports as Nephillim transports)but this time it was different. Torps could destroy a cap ship but its sheilds had to be taken down first before it could get a lock. Fighters were best for this because it involved knocking out sheild emitters. Once this was done, ship systems like engines and the bridge were vulnerable to torpedo attack, though turrets were vulnerable to a fighter's guns.
Thats everything i think, though im not as positive about the Prophecy torpedo system as i am about the rest.
So in trying to sort out how that is possible and still have all the other stories created by the books and movie work, Ive come up with an explanation that covers the history of the war and after. Please make comments or point out inaccuricies if I make them. Sorry if someone has already done this before.
The first use of fighter mounted torpedoes against sheilded targets came during the Kilrathi attack on McAulffie in the book Action Stations. Before hand the only way to destroy a cap ship was through concentrated or superior firepower from other cap ships. For this fighters were useless and there was the example from during one of the wars between the Kilrathi and a race that they conquered where a massive number of fighters concentrated their fire on a cap ship and had managed to make a small hole in the sheilds before the tables were turned somehow (i forget) and the fighters were wiped out. Until then fleet engagments were between frigates, destroyers, battleships and battlewagons. Fighters i assume were used for long range patrol scouting, and harrying and protection of weaker ships like transports. Because the Kilrathi used slave labor to build their torps, there was a large statistic of sabotage/duds and a few were recovered complete which ConFed used to build their own. These torpedoes locked on and went through the target's sheilds to hit its target.
About 30 years later at the time of the movie and WC1 (and WC:Academy) improvements in fighter technology had made it possible for fighters to destroy cap ships without torps. Newer fighters like Hornets, Scimitars, and Raptors could take down sheilds after enough time. In the movie they flew old style Rapiers which couldnt do that. Thats why they had bombers. By WC1 the Claw's fighter compliment had been replaced with the new fighters. To allow for room on the Claw, which was a strike carrier (larger and more sophisticated than ships like the Tarawa and Victory, but not nearly as big as the Concordia) the bombers were swapped out with fighters which were capable of doing the same job and were smaller allowing for more of them on ship. Instead of just having Rapiers and Broadswords, the Claw would carry Hornets, Scimitars, Raptors, and later new class Rapiers. (It's probable that a few Broadswords were left on board just because a torpedo can kill a cap ship much quicker than a fighter, but the speed and manuverability of those fighters compared to a bomber made them a much more valuable commodity.)
At some point over the next 12 years technology had changed again making it impossible for fighters to penetrate a cap ship's new phase sheilds. But rather than change from a fighter based emphasis that had endured the whole war up until that point, ConFed developed a newer torpedo that could pass through a target's sheilds. Of course it wasnt long before spys within the Confederation were able to get specifications to the Kilrathi and they soon had their own version. (This is supported by the manual for WC2 though at the time it indicated that this was the first time torpedos were used)
The very next year in WC3 figthers were again able to penetrate a cap ship's sheilds with standard guns and missiles. Torpedoes were used to the extreme effectiveness of taking a specific system offline like engines, or blowing a ship up altogether. Torpedo technology itself had improved enough that their lockon time was shorter and they were small enough to be mounted on Heavy fighters like the Thunderbolt. This was still the case by WC4.
11 years after the war in WCP fighters were once again unable to destroy cap ships, not even transports (Im guessing that it was the same for terran transports as Nephillim transports)but this time it was different. Torps could destroy a cap ship but its sheilds had to be taken down first before it could get a lock. Fighters were best for this because it involved knocking out sheild emitters. Once this was done, ship systems like engines and the bridge were vulnerable to torpedo attack, though turrets were vulnerable to a fighter's guns.
Thats everything i think, though im not as positive about the Prophecy torpedo system as i am about the rest.
Otherwise they would be mounted inside...
