B-Wing: Underused Starfighter?

Well, let's face it. ONe of hte biggest problems with X-Wing Alliance was that the X-Wing was dramatically underpowered, and that many of the more advanced TIE designs (obviously, the TIE DEFENDER) were way too powerfull. I hardly ever used the X-Wing because it was too much of a handicap at times, unless I knew what I was going up against.

 

Let's put it this way, it has been said that a cheap I-7 Howlrunner can destroy a B-Wing in head to head combat...Nuff said.

 

I-7s were actually pretty nice fighters. To the best of my knowledge, they're still in service with planetary garrisons and maybe some Dreadnaughts or other old ships.

 

Hey, B-wings may be slow, but they're numero uno in the "kick butt" department. The B-wing is the SW equivalent of the A-10 Thunderbolt (which my Dad flew for 20 years, BTW).

 

With one major difference:
The A-10A is maneuverable. The B-wing is not.

BTW, if they could somehow navalize the Warthog, it'd do the Corps some good. That's a neat bird. Too bad the Chair Force mucky-mucks don't like it.

 

A B-wing is manuverable enough that a good pilot has a fighting chance - I've picked off TIE Advanced in that thing on Ye Olde X-Wing Collector's Edition. Plus, keeping fighters off of it is the job for X-wings, A-wings and E-wings - the B-wing is supposed to pound the bejeebers out of cap ships.

As any attack pilot will tell you: "Fighter pilots make movies. Bomber pilots make history!"

 

Fair enough. I think a B-Wing is most dangerous if you go head to head against it. Man, those guns can really do a number on you, and that profile is really hard to hit.

 

I'd heard that quote before. We had a Hornet driver come up here once (he was with the last squadron of F/A-18As in the Corps--Congress tried to upgrade them to charlies, but they did so well in Afghanistan that they're sticking with the alphas until the JSF enters the fleet). 'Cept he added the addendum that while fighter jocks make movies and bomber pilots make history, attack plane drivers made dead guys.
Ooh-rah!
Anywho, the B-wing is the most dangerous from the front. Lotsa guns plus small target cross-section equals potential disaster. Even if you're driving something with shields (like an avender or a modern squint), you're probably going to be hurtin' for certain. That's why God invented ion engines--so that TIE drivers could get behind B-wings.

 

an A-10 of any kind Warthog or Thunderbolt would be solidly owned by even an old soviet MiG-29, the equivalent of a tie in the star wars universe. Image what an f-22 raptor, a tie defender in my estimation, would do to it.

 

You are talking apples and oranges, there. The warthog is a tank killer/groundpounder support/terrorize enemy troops and armor attack plane, not a fighter plane. But I guarantee if they turn that hellish cannon towards a fighter, that fighter is going to run for the hills.

 

I must admit, I did not read all 3 pages of this thread, but does anybody besides me think that B-wings are ugly?

 

I wouldn't say ugly.......

"distinct" is such a nicer word

 

The B-wing lacks speed and manuverability, but makes up for it in firepower. I would rather take a X-wing into a dogfight, but a B-wing would be great for pounding capital ships. It's a toss up between B & A-wing after X-wing in a dogfight: an A-wing is fast and turns well, but takes no punishment-one hit and you're dead.

B-wings are marked improvements over Y-wings for firepower, but the E-wing can do almost as much damage and still fight TIEs on the way on.

E-wings rule the skies (space?) depending on the pilot

 

Unless you're fighting a TIE defender. Even a "modern" shielded TIE interceptor is superior in terms of maneuverablity and burst accelleration. But no squint can even come close to being as potent against capital warships as an E-wing. E-wings r0xorz, as they say in 'leet'.

 

The B-wing was probably slowly phased out for three reasons:

1) They were expensive and prone to break down. The unique rotating cockpit feature which gave the craft stability constantly broke down and was probably a strap on NR finances

2) It was outdated. The NR upgraded with dedicated K-wings and upgraded Y-wings (which were improved in the YJK series). After the political fall out of the BFC and the peace made with the Empire, the percieved need for bombers lessened and the politically infiltrated military lessened their construction/upkeep/replacement.

3) The strain of the rotating cockpit feature made it one more stresser on a starship frame that Yuuzham Vong dovin basils could exploit. Thus the craft would quickly be replaced with weapons that worked against the enemy.

 

The B-Wing was never built for dogfighting-that's why there are X-Wings and A-Wings. The B-Wing was meant for engaging capital ships and it's ion cannons and large torpedo capacity and shields means it perfectly fits this jobs. It is meant for longs runs against a massive slow ship, not for dogfighting.

Does anyone else think that the (place any letter of the alphabet here)-Wing fighter thing has gone a bit too far. There are also V-Wings which only appear in the game Rogue Squadron. And what are K-Wings or are they just a joke?

 

K-wings were introduced in the Black Fleet Crisis books. V-wings are not really starfighters but airspeeders which have spacebased deploy capability. V-wings made their first appearence in the Dark Empire comic book. Rogue Squadron simply lifted the Battle of Mon Calimari for the game.

 

V-wings were mentioned in SBS when the battle progressed to the surface. They're combat airspeeders. It was a one-shot throwaway line, but it was appreciated.

 

That's right, I'd only peripherally remembered that they were a pain the the patook to keep flying. Anything that costs more to maintain and repair than it does to replace is just waiting for the chopping block.