WC4 Jane's spacecraft...

Not quite, since that implies that they were an independant group at some point -- the systems in question were the most recent coreward colones of the Terran Confederation. Had it not been for the war they would have likely grown up and become represented in the Confederation's political system in an ordinary process. The war separated their experience from core and spinward systems that *didn't* endure (so much of) the actual fighting.
 
The capital ship stats are weird, or why is the TC sticking that much armour on its supply ships?

Btw. Any clue about who designed the Razor?
 
HammerHead said:
Now I actually understand -
the novel states that the so called "Border-Worlds" were a part of the confederation during the war, but never signed the confederation articles - so after the war they simply "renewed" their independence from confed.

something like - "we stood with you during, and because, of the war, but never intended to join up with confed"
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You might want to make sure the quote you are talking about is also not referencing the Free Republic of the Landreich, which was a independent entity during the war and often gets lumped together with the UBW without reading the facts a bit more.
 
The capital ship stats are weird, or why is the TC sticking that much armour on its supply ships?
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WC4 is in the unenviable position of using the same ships for offensive and defensive purposes. It's the reason the Ralari mission of WC1 is so hard... because gamewise the Kilrathi ships which you attack take a lot less damage than the ones you defend. When you have to *defend* an ordinarmily enemy ship, it becomes much harder because of how the game design works.

In WC4 you rarely (if ever, even) attack the WC3-style transports... so they can have higher armor. On the other hand, you *do* have to be able to destroy the destroyers, cruisers, carriers, etc.

I hope the Arena Ships at least get the online treatment. What do you think are the chances?
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There are always... possibilities.
 
I am speculating that the Vindicator was made during and immediately after the Kilrathi War to be the local militia's jack-of-all-trades mainstay, able to take on both the medium fighter and light bomber roles.
 
WC4 is in the unenviable position of using the same ships for offensive and defensive purposes. It's the reason the Ralari mission of WC1 is so hard... because gamewise the Kilrathi ships which you attack take a lot less damage than the ones you defend. When you have to *defend* an ordinarmily enemy ship, it becomes much harder because of how the game design works.

In WC4 you rarely (if ever, even) attack the WC3-style transports... so they can have higher armor. On the other hand, you *do* have to be able to destroy the destroyers, cruisers, carriers, etc.
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Ah, makes sense, thx. So they just rigged them a bit to make the game more playable.
 
Dundradal said:
You might want to make sure the quote you are talking about is also not referencing the Free Republic of the Landreich, which was a independent entity during the war and often gets lumped together with the UBW without reading the facts a bit more.
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Your right - I only read the book for the first time - and I always miss some things on my first read :)
(Even when I read ER for the third time I found staff I missed the two previous times)

About the fighters -
aside from the avenger - which we know existed as a shuttle in 2654 (academy), and base on the WC4 "Uglies" reference, can assume was available as a combat craft at some point during the war,
Can you make an "educated guess" as to how far back the Banshee and the Vindicator exist as a combat craft (that while venturing "as less as possible" into "fanboy-void")-
Will they be around in the 2650's and how "new" will they be at the time?
 
HammerHead said:
Your right - I only read the book for the first time - and I always miss some things on my first read :)
(Even when I read ER for the third time I found staff I missed the two previous times)
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Fully understand, do the same thing myself.

During our discussions on this I completely forgot that WC4 included the prologue for the novel (the attack on the transports we see in the intro) in a nifty little book. Was a treat for those of us who were very interested in the novels at that point.
 
aside from the avenger - which we know existed as a shuttle in 2654 (academy), and base on the WC4 "Uglies" reference, can assume was available as a combat craft at some point during the war,
Can you make an "educated guess" as to how far back the Banshee and the Vindicator exist as a combat craft (that while venturing "as less as possible" into "fanboy-void")-
Will they be around in the 2650's and how "new" will they be at the time?
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Well, no, we can't assume any of these things. All we know is that an Avenger was used for S&R by some pirates in 2654 -- the shuttle bit has grown up from there. That's *all* we know about about the WCIV ships outside seeing them in the game itself, so it's hard to make an educated guess about anything.

My wild, *unsuppoted* theory for the Banshee would be that it may be very old indeed -- simply by virtue of the fact that it's main guns are only lasers (but then the Armada Arrow, which must have arrived between 67 and 69, negates that...).
 
Bandit LOAF said:
Well, no, we can't assume any of these things. All we know is that an Avenger was used for S&R by some pirates in 2654 -- the shuttle bit has grown up from there. That's *all* we know about about the WCIV ships outside seeing them in the game itself, so it's hard to make an educated guess about anything.

My wild, *unsuppoted* theory for the Banshee would be that it may be very old indeed -- simply by virtue of the fact that it's main guns are only lasers (but then the Armada Arrow, which must have arrived between 67 and 69, negates that...).
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So basically, if we *stretch* it a little more, and assume the Avenger on academy was actually a heavy fighter - we can place it around 2654.

As for the Bashee and your "wild, *unsuppoted* theory", and the fact that the Arrow did a cameo in Academy's 1st episode - We can also, very very wildly, put it around 2654.

As for the Vindicator, for lack of any other information - it is a post-war fighter design, especially if we count in it's Tachyon cannons, which weren't around until 2669, and that their high power version (the WC3 "Military" one as opposed to the Priv "Civilian" one) would probably won't be released by Confed to the BW for a few years after the war.
 
The Banshee always reminded me of some kind of modified cargo handler by virtue of the 3 prongs. Just picture grapples or tractor beams mounted where the lasers are.

As to LOAF's theory, I can see where you would say that, it looks flismy compared to other fighters, I mean the main section of the fighter is incredibly small and attached by very small points to the "arms" or it could just be that some jackass somehow got his design approved. At least the door is left open for anyone to create their own ideas about it.
 
So basically, if we *stretch* it a little more, and assume the Avenger on academy was actually a heavy fighter - we can place it around 2654.
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I'm not sure where stretching anything gets us here - at the end of the day, there's just no backstory on these ships. If you need one for a fan project, then make it up -- there's no continuity here that needs respecting. Write to your story...
 
I think the Offical Strategy Guide had more background on the ships in WC4, plus it had a lot more background on the other wingmen you flew with, like Primate and Moose and all those.

I used to have it, hell if I know where it is now.
 
It does have bios for all the wingmen... but no histories for the ships, just the same stats that were available online.
 
I'm not sure where stretching anything gets us here - at the end of the day, there's just no backstory on these ships. If you need one for a fan project, then make it up -- there's no continuity here that needs respecting. Write to your story...
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At the same time, its a bit tricky trying to write some backstory, because then there is potential to be blasted for creating what someone sees as the wrong story behind the ship. :p

Cheers,

Red Coat
 
I wouldn't worry too much -- fan fiction falls apart when it ignores existing continuity, not when it fails to predict the future...

Admittably, I can't imagine a situation where a story would absolutely *need* to establish the background of these fighters... but still, no one will hold it against you as long as you take into account the (very few) things we already know about them.
 
I wouldn't worry too much -- fan fiction falls apart when it ignores existing continuity, not when it fails to predict the future...
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Thats true.

Again, you're right, why would you need to have too much background behind the ships? Maybe, for a bit of fun, give examples of a couple of incidents where they performed well, such as a battle or engagement, but no need to go deep into development history or whatever.

With the story I'm writing for my own science fiction world, I usually just say the ships have been in service for such and such a time, armed with whatever, participated in such engagements, had kill ratios such as (Insert ratios here) during various times, etc. Just basic stuff to give the ships a bit of background.

You get too caught up in the background of individual things during the writing, you ignore the story itself, and can have consequences, such as not being that interesting.

Cheers,
 
I have the Official WC4 strategy guide from Origin and it list all the fighters in the game, their stats, loadout, who uses them, pictures etc. It also includes weapons, missles, etc. If there is anything close to a Jane's WC4 ships, then this is it. It doesnt have any historical info about the fighters but it includes the Manufacturer.
Max roll rate, pitch rate, speed, afterburn, its really a great reference. I found it at a yard sale and bought it for $1. :)
 
I picked up a used WC4 once, partially because it felt unusually heavy. I don't remember the price, but it was in the range of a few dollars. It was the regular game plus a copy of the official guide inside.
 
When the game was released, EA Direct had a deal where you got the guide for free when you ordered the game.
 
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