Thrakkath's Luck

Ugh. I'm not sure where Sci Fi fans got the idea that 'blowing up a fleet' was the next level of technology. A fleet is a huge mass of moving ships - especially in 3D space. It's not the next larger target. :) The Behemoth has a lancing *point* - which wouldn't be very effective for blowing up a fleet of ships even if it couldn't move.

(As for space stations - many of the ones we've seen in WC have the ability to maneuver in a limited fashion...)
 
Bandit LOAF said:
The Behemoth has a lancing *point* - which wouldn't be very effective for blowing up a fleet of ships even if it couldn't move.

It's just that it's a big sci-fi space-gun, it's meant to blow stuff up. :)

Hypothetically, they could perhaps find out a way to fire a short burst to destroy a big ship, like the Death Star II on Return of the Jedi. How interesting would it be to the storyline is an entirely different matter.

The bug big plasma gun is a stronger anti-fleet weapon because the whole explosion area.
 
Delance said:
It's just that it's a big sci-fi space-gun, it's meant to blow stuff up. :)

Hypothetically, they could perhaps find out a way to fire a short burst to destroy a big ship, like the Death Star II on Return of the Jedi. How interesting would it be to the storyline is an entirely different matter.

The bug big plasma gun is a stronger anti-fleet weapon because the whole explosion area.

When we used the big bug plasma gun, we had to toss a bomb into the middle of their fleet to blow up, so as to take out a few bug ships with it. :D

Besides, the Behemoth's main issue was that it fired ONE shot at a time, though that shot would take out a target which wasn't horribly mobile (moon bases, planetary bases, maybe whole planets if they were unstable enough). The Death Star II's technology differs considerably from the Behemoth, so comparing it to that Confederation craft is like comparing apples to oranges again.

Even the Bug fleet-killer plasma cannon was limited in scope.
 
Haesslich said:
When we used the big bug plasma gun, we had to toss a bomb into the middle of their fleet to blow up, so as to take out a few bug ships with it.
I thought that was just a targeting device to help the Midway aim and fire the weapon, not a bomb to help take out more of the fleet.
 
Lionheart said:
I thought that was just a targeting device to help the Midway aim and fire the weapon, not a bomb to help take out more of the fleet.

Here's the ICIS briefing from Hrissith 6: Painting the Target

ICIS said:
The size of the battle group which has gathered around the Kilrah jump point necessitates that the Midway employ its new weapon. Due to differences in alien and Confed technology, our modified plasma burst will not detonate properly without an initial catalyst. For this reason, a small thermonuclear primer device must be planted at the center of the enemy fleet to assure the weapon's effectiveness. All available craft will deploy to remove any enemy fighters from the Midway's path. Your objective is to plant the primer device on this transport, which is positioned near the heart of the enemy fleet. The device will only lock on this target. When the device is in place, clear the area as quickly as possible to avoid the blast.

As I said - a bomb. :D You hit it with the ship-killer, the plasma burst wipes out the fleet around it.
 
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Delance said:
True, but space stations, artificial moons and shipyards would bite it!
Artificial moons, you say? Great, maybe Luke Skywalker wants to borrow it :rolleyes:.

The Behemoth is useless against such targets. That is to say, sure, it can destroy them if it hits them, but it's the most uneconomical way of doing things that you could possibly think of. This is a ship that apparently requires enormous quantities of fuel - not to mention the constant need to defend it. In the meantime, it only takes one or two torpedoes to destroy most space stations.
 
Haesslich said:
Here's the ICIS briefing from Hrissith 6: Painting the Target

As I said - a bomb. :D You hit it with the ship-killer, the plasma burst wipes out the fleet around it.

Sorry, but this is wrong. It's a catalyst. It just HELPS the plasma from the ship killer big gun do it's job. The bugs don't even need a primer to make it work. You are comparing the Fleet Killer to those First person Shooter tricks of shooting a bomb that is attached to a wall to make it blow up.

The briefing is quite clear:

Due to differences in alien and Confed technology, our modified plasma burst will not detonate properly without an initial catalyst. For this reason, a small thermonuclear primer device must be planted at the center of the enemy fleet to assure the weapon's effectiveness.

It's just a primer, just like the smaller fission bomb inside a fusion warhead. The destrucion wave effect is created entirelly by the Cannon. Given more time and resources, the primer would probably be eliminated from the process.
 
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Edfilho said:
Sorry, but this is wrong. It's a catalyst. It just HELPS the plasma from the ship killer big gun do it's job. The bugs don't even need a primer to make it work. You are comparing the Fleet Killer to those First person Shooter tricks of shooting a bomb that is attached to a wall to make it blow up.

(snip)

It's just a primer, just like the smaller fission bomb inside a fusion warhead. The destrucion wave effect is created entirelly by the Cannon. Given more time and resources, the primer would probably be eliminated from the process.

As I said - it's a bomb. The plasma burst I was referring to was from the fleet-killer bug plasma gun. However, as they did state in the briefing - it was needed, and not specifically a targeting device, because of those intial incompatibilities... which seem to have been resolved towards the end of Secret Ops, to judge by the email and other notices which state that they've figured out the Bug gun. The initial statement that it was merely a targeting device is incorrect - it's still a thermonuclear weapon, which did blow up and contribute its own energy to ensure that there was a burst that spread across the rest of the area, perhaps with its initial shell of matter and energy providing the 'guide' for the plasma burst that followed.
 
gryphon said:
What I love about the Behemoth is the muzzle climb in the animation ;)


I think it was "recoil". :rolleyes:


Wait! You meant the mission brief! I thought you meant when the thing actually fired. OOPS! :o
 
The jump scenes that were first used in WC3 were definately cool, although it's kind of annoying how the books make it seem that only one ship can jump at a time (granted hakagas enlarged what mass could jump, but makes no mention of multiple vessels). But seeing the behemoth next to the victory's battlegroup was pretty impressive
 
I think the Luke Skywalker talk is a good point on this...personally, once Mark was cast as Blair, I think the idea went along the lines of Luke Skywalker, the next Emperor (OK, I'm jumping Universes, but you have to admit, it's fun :-))
 
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