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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Lit Fleet Junkie Flagship- The technical discussions of the GFFA (Capital Ships thread Mk. II)

Discussion in 'Literature' started by AdmiralWesJanson, Sep 12, 2005.

  1. FiveFireRings

    FiveFireRings Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 26, 2017
    Man I wish we could see that stuff. (Part of me wonders of the differing Pykes from TCW and SOLO are different interpretations of the same production art.

    More on topic... I really don't like that gunship. It's just a bit of a mess, isn't it?
     
  2. Tzizvvt78

    Tzizvvt78 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 12, 2009
    I like the gunship, it just needs solar panels that are much bigger.
     
  3. Long Snoot

    Long Snoot Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2018
    A slightly reworked frontal canopy with a more prominent angled dorsal surface and a smaller "eye", bigger solar panels and an overall slightly longer fuselage would have been perfect for me. I also think the red canopy seen in TCW works much better, and i wish they kept it for Rebels (especially during the night sequences).
    Speaking of the underworld inspiration in both the series and the anthology movies, I think it would have been great to see a few of these gunships in Solo, also given the portrait of the law-enforcement role of the Empire. They would have fit well in the (very minor spoiler, scene seen in the trailer)
    in the corellian night sequence, flying in the background with the spotlights turned on.
     
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  4. Greybook

    Greybook Jedi Padawan star 1

    Registered:
    Apr 29, 2018
    Does it? It works on the idea that it's a planet/atmosphere based vehicle.
    Ergo at least 12 hours of exposure. Unlike Tie/LN and other space based vehicles that also need to operate in deep space with much less exposure to solar power.

    I could be wrong, never really read into Sienars solar conversion technology.


    Sent from my G8341 using Tapatalk
     
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  5. vncredleader

    vncredleader Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 28, 2016
    Hey so I know this has been talked about in the past, but I am forgetting; what is the ship directly beneath the Falcon?

    [​IMG]
     
  6. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    A ship that Legends never identified. Fanon (Mel's Miniatures) calls it a "Sullustan Dreadnought" though.

     
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  7. FiveFireRings

    FiveFireRings Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 26, 2017
    Nick, was there any insight on these legendary ROTJ "blob ships" in your recent acquisition from Japan? I imagine you'd have said already, but with asking!
     
  8. Long Snoot

    Long Snoot Jedi Master star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2018
    Well season 4 confirms they can operate in space (which is something I'm not a big fan of with gunships in general).
     
  9. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    No. However, the majority of background "blobs" are usually attributed to wads of chewing gum stuck to matte paintings to mimic MC80's. With the exception of those ships we see in the background behind Home One during the jump to hyperspace scene, the battle it self mostly has photos of existing ships glued to the matte painting to increase the size of the fleet on screen.

    --Adm. Nick
     
  10. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    Something ISD-related from the latest Darth Vader comic:

    the Star Destroyers appear to be firing their orbital bombardments from gun mounts within their hangars.

    Is this artistic licence, or did somebody take the Venator hangar gun scene and extrapolate further to ISDs having even better hangar guns?
     
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  11. stellarmagic01

    stellarmagic01 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2012
    You sure it isn't from the tractor beam mounts near the hangar? The tractor beam mounts always seemed to be dual purpose in my view.
     
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  12. Iron_lord

    Iron_lord Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    The shots appear to be coming from slap bang in the middle of the "hangar ceiling" - we have a pretty good close up of the beam, although not of the gun barrels the beam would be coming from.
     
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  13. stellarmagic01

    stellarmagic01 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2012
    Hmm... maybe there's a siege module that replaces the 'docking clamp/claw' we saw in A New Hope?
     
  14. AdmiralWesJanson

    AdmiralWesJanson Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    May 23, 2005
    Or just problematic artwork...
     
  15. Fire Dog

    Fire Dog Jedi Knight star 1

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    Mar 1, 2017
    Question, the 12 Mon Cal ships that were refitted at that shipyard were not refited at Telaris and were in fact finished at an entirely new location?
     
  16. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    It's implied that they were refitted at the Rebel station at Mako Ta. Which, actually, is good. If issue #50 shows us what we all expect (Vader arriving to destroy the station and a good chunk of those 12 cruisers), it ensures that the Empire gets a major victory AND that Telaris is still operational to build the additional cruisers the Rebel's use at Endor.

    --Adm. Nick
     
  17. Chris0013

    Chris0013 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 21, 2014
    Or they sacrifice the station after it has been stripped and get the ships out of there leaving Vader with nothing important to destroy.
     
  18. Fire Dog

    Fire Dog Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2017

    Understood thanks, on the subject of Mon Cal ships, When exactly did the city ships ( such as the Profundity) evacuate? I saw the 3 ships that escaped Tarkin in that other arc.
     
  19. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    Per the RO novelization and The Rebel Files, the exodus of city ships appears to have a few years prior to ANH. So unless there has been a retcon, we now know of the following "waves":
    1. Three Mon Cala merchant vessels escape during the initial Imperial occupation
    2. ~2 BBY, a large number of city ships and some exploration cruisers escape Mon Cala and link up with the Alliance and are retrofitted at Telaris
    3. ~1-2 ABY, the Mon Cala merchant fleet escapes Mon Cala and is retofitted at Mako Ta
    So in essence, the bulk of the Rebellion's Mon Cala cruisers are acquired between 2 BBY and 2 ABY, with there obviously being wiggle room for more to be acquired before that or before Endor.

    --Adm. Nick
     
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  20. Chris0013

    Chris0013 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 21, 2014
    Did any one ever guesstimate at the size of this ship??
     
  21. Snafu55

    Snafu55 Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Oct 19, 2015
    Was Home One one of the ships in the 2nd wave? (I'll guess The Profundity was one as well). But, I'll guess Home One was since we saw it in Star Wars Rebels over Dantooine
     
  22. MrDarth0

    MrDarth0 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 3, 2015
    Thanks for the summary, but at the same time, this sounds really convoluted to me. It looks like three different writers wanted to use the idea of Mon Cala city ships exodus, so it had to be divided into three different waves to fit continuity. And it makes the Empire look stupid. If the Imperials knew that Mon Cala cities are giant space ships, why didn't they do something about it? They had more than 15 years to figure it out and either disable all those ships or build a giant shield around the planet (ala Scarrif) or something.
     
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  23. Grand Admiral Paxis

    Grand Admiral Paxis Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    I was worried about the exodus becoming convoluted as well, but the comics handled it well and context is incredibly important here. I'll flesh out Nick's points some more to explain why.

    - Darth Vader Comic (c. 18 BBY?): The vessels that Raddus commands are exclusively MC80 vessels without an MC75 city-ship in sight. More importantly, these are explicitly described as vessels of the Mon Cala Mercantile Fleet that Raddus submerged underwater and clustered together to form a fortress, as opposed to a pre-existing city that betrayed its spacefaring capabilities. Of these vessels, a mere 3 survive to breach the blockade and flee, with Tarkin shrugging it off since he's sure they'll be hunted down soon enough. As mentioned by Kieron Gillen, the writer of the Mutiny at Mon Cala arc, he assumes that the Empire goes on to impose reparations on the planet and forces it to demilitarise, but allows its fleet to continue trading under Imperial supervision to pay off said debt (hold that thought).
    - Rogue One Visual Guide (c. 2 BBY): A group of MC75 city-ships and some exploration vessels (presumably MC80s) begin an exodus from Mon Cala, with the implication being that the Empire was unaware that these underwater "cities" were actually spacefaring vessels that could launch and escape. As I mentioned, the exodus of a mere 3 MC80s in the Darth Vader comic did nothing to disabuse the Empire of this notion.
    - Main Star Wars Comic (c. 1-2 ABY): The Rebellion secures the defection of the remaining vessels of the Mon Cala Mercantile Fleet, since reformed as the Mon Calamari Imperial Trade Fleet. These vessels are all crewed by Mon Calamari under the supervision of Imperial officers and stormtroopers, interestingly without an MC75 in sight. Instead, the fleet consists of MC80s long known as trading vessels by the Empire since the events of Darth Vader, and smaller vessels of unidentified classes.

    So there's really no inconsistency there, at least so far as the various Mon Calamari fleets are concerned. The lingering thread is Raddus, who orders the exodus in Vader and is implied (but never shown) to survive aboard one of the fleeing ships. The only problem is that these are MC80s, whereas Raddus later leaves in the 2 BBY exodus aboard the Profundity. I have two theories. Since Raddus is never implicitly depicted as fleeing, I imagine he ordered the retreat but slipped off his MC80 beforehand to continue leading the local resistance, holding this post until the later exodus. Failing that, I imagine he fought from his MC80 until it was destroyed, but not before he could escape, with Raddus returning to Mon Cala after the loss of his flagship to rally the later exodus. The sources are vague enough for either to work without any inconsistency.
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2018
  24. Tzizvvt78

    Tzizvvt78 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jun 12, 2009
    This notion of the Mon Calamari having duel-purpose cities was first aired in TCW, but I never saw a clear statement whether the TCW structures were themselves ships. Anyone have a source of this, before the current canon lore?
     
  25. AdmiralNick22

    AdmiralNick22 Retired Fleet Admiral star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 28, 2003
    No, but I believe it was alluded to in one of the episode recaps and/or in some behind the scenes section.

    Whether converted from city towers, passenger liners, merchant vessels, or exploration cruisers, it's clear that the Mon Calamari are still very adept shipbuilders in the new canon. Furthermore, I suspect that the events we just saw in Darth Vader #17 (the Imperial bombardment and occupation of Mon Cala) will be the main driver for the Mon Cala secretly building city "towers" that were in reality evacuation ships. After their experiences during the Clone Wars and with the Imperial occupation, it would make sense. Especially when you consider that the Empire disarms Mon Cala and nationalizes their merchant navy.

    The timeline of events involving the city ships still works... though it admittedly requires another story and some elbow grease. The timeline would basically be something like this:
    1. Following Imperial occupation, Raddus leads three Mon Cala merchant vessels in an escape from Dac. (~17-16 BBY)
    2. Some Mon Cala exploration cruisers, including Home One, find their way into Rebel service. (~XX-2 BBY)
    3. A number of city ships flee Mon Cala in a yet-to-be-told event, linking up with the Rebels at Telaris. (2 - 0 BBY)
    4. At dozen vessels from the Mon Cala merchant fleet escape Mon Cala and join the Rebellion. (1 - 2 ABY)
    So the timeline works with all current sources, we just need to figure out how/when and what caused a large number of city ships to flee sometime before the events of Rogue One. The fact that the Profundity was only recently completed implies that the arrival of the city ships (which Mon Mothma notes in the RO novelization occurs after Rebel attempts to help their homeworld) occurs someone in the 2 BBY period, as we have a formal Rebellion by then.

    We know that the Alliance was capable of refitting MC75's and MC80's are both Telaris and Mako Ta. I'd assume that Raddus's escape from Mon Cala allows him to become the nucleus for a Mon Cala rebel cell, which eventually joins the Alliance. Presumably, Raddus's three ships are augmented by exploration cruisers that escape, as well as eventually Ackbar himself.

    My current theory is this: Sometime around 4-3 BBY, Raddus tries to launch an attack on Mon Cala. The still forming Alliance tries to assist, but Mon Cala remains occupied. The one bright spot is that during the attack Mon Cala resistance fighters on planet board their city ships and flee to space, covered on their escape by Raddus's forces and/or some Rebel forces.

    All in all, it works rather well. It also shows why the Empire maintained such a tight grip on Mon Cala, as well as explains why after all these issues that the world (and Chandrila) were top of the list for the second Death Star to destroy.

    --Adm. Nick