Venaor Star Destroyer, Imperial Complement?

i personally still find it weird that after putting shedloads of money into a navy and starfighter program, not to mention the army, that the empire would go 'oh, scrap that lot' and discontinue production of everything, its ludicrous for there to be no venators, and none of the starfighters around as of the OT.

Pirates and privateers would have them in the very least...

 

Venator SD's would be a cool ship for a merc group, it's not too big and not too small, just upgrade the systems and weapons when necessary. BTW, what class hyperdrives do they have?

 

i personally still find it weird that after putting shedloads of money into a navy and starfighter program, not to mention the army, that the empire would go 'oh, scrap that lot' and discontinue production of everything, its ludicrous for there to be no venators, and none of the starfighters around as of the OT.

They were needed during a galactic war, but when Empire faced only minor local opposition, they were not needed. Different times, different kind of wars. There were no need for them anymore and they were expensive and the new destroyers and TIE´s were more practical and cheaper in the changed situation. And armed forces usually have little regret for money that has been "wasted" on ships and fighters that have lived out their usefulness. It´s not their money, it´s the government´s (and taxpayers) money...

Pirates and privateers would have them in the very least...

Likely the Empire would do it´s best to keep them from falling into the wrong hands. Probably the ships that were taken out of active duty were literally scrapped.

 

Seeing as the Empire still uses Acclamator variants (the Class II frigate from Darklighter) circa ANH, I would have thought there'd still be a few Venators roaming around, too - since VicStars are also still in use even beyond this time.

Perhaps the old Republic forces are sent to finish off the remaining Separatist holdouts on the Outer Rim, while the shiny new vessels of the Imperial Starfleet are put on display in the Core.

 

The simple answer for how they afforded to phase out the V-Wing and ARC? They didn't build new ones when the old ones got destroyed. By the time you get to ANH it wouldnt have been hard for with all the wars anc conflicts the Empire went through for them to have just stopped replacing their older fighters and- for logical reasons- switched to TIEs because they were cheaper to replace on a regular basis.

In terms of phasing out the Venator... seeing as its the only other Imperial carrer aside from the SFS Escort Carrier I'm reluctant to accept that. I've always disliked the Escort Carrier as its boring and underarmed so the Venator as a star destroyer carrier seems appropriate. Though Empire At War may say it was phased out... I'll believe it when I see it in writing. The video games aren't the most reliable of sources at times and they probably say that as an excuse for why Venators aren't in the game- which is more a practical reason that EAW has been in production for the last two years (long before the Venator was even created for ROTS) so by the time they had balanced out the Rebel and Imperial teams and ROTS was released it was probably way too late to go back and try and fit in a new type of star destroyer for the Imperial team.

So, easy balancing answer, "its been phased out of use". I wouldn't take what is more something of an excuse to get around unbalancing the engine as a literary fact. Its pretty likely Dark Horse etc will have it cameo in stories in the future. While its easy to phase out starfighters because they get blown up its a bit harder to send that many larger capital ships out to die. Plus, in terms of a retcon excuse, EAW might just mean the main strike arm of the Imperial Navy, not necessarily local system defence forces, so the Venators probably hung around as fleet carriers for local governors.

 

It is confusing...Acclamators are also in the upcoming EaW, and clearly they still have a niché as ISDs and VSDs can't execute planetary landings, but VenStars can also land on planets and can carry far more fighters than any other type of Star Destroyer but the handful of various types of "Super Star Destroyers".

Could they have been sold to an Empire-allied minor government, such as...let's say...the Centrality?

 

Could they have been sold to an Empire-allied minor government, such as...let's say...the Centrality?

There is always the problem how to ensure that the ships wouldn´t end up in the hands of the enemies of the Empire. Vassal states have government changes too and can sell the ships on to others eventually. And allies are just future enemies to governments like the Empire. Why sell the best starfighter carriers to a minor government - faithful vassal as it may be - whose leaders could eventually turn them against you? Especially when you haven´t got equivalent ships yourself afterwards.

 

That's a good question - but clearly the Empire hadn't learned that lesson as of Dark Empire II, had they?

 

You could sell them to vassal states close at hand where they can be watched (and dealt with).

How about selling them to vassal states in the Core. They won't dare get treasonous. That's why half of the 25,000 ISD are kept in reserve at the Core. Or maybe that number of 25,000 itself includes Imperial, Venator, Acclimator, Victory? I seem to recall that earlier number NOT including Victory, but that's an easy retcon.

 

You obviously never played TIE Fighter or didn't pay attention to the launch sequence of a Assault Gunboat.

 

Conveniently, they fit well on TIE racks.

 

I don't think the V-Wings were completely scrapped all at once. Like most militaries, the older, less capable ships would be phased out of front-line service and reassigned to secured outposts, non-vital sector garrisons, and other locations of lesser importance (i.e. phasing out older F-16's & Blackhawks from the USAF to the Air National Guard). Damaged ships would be salvaged for usable parts for the others or recycled into new components.

Besides, the new TIE series is a faster,simpler-engineered, more heavily armed ship that only needs one pilot to operate. The V-Wings required a pilot & R-2 unit for combat operations (and I wouldn't be suprised if they came up with a cheaper, plug-in computer module to substitute for a 'droid in the interim). And the V-Wings systems were a lot more complicated than the TIE's. In the long run, it was a lot cheaper to replace the V's with TIE's as soon as possible rather than keep up the maintenance on less-capable fighters.

But I do doubt the Imperial Navy retired the Venators that quickly. They have a solid spaceframe, good engines, and those dorsal doors can be gamma-welded shut & armor plated. I imagine most of them were refitted and assigned as sector or system patrol vessels. In fact, I wouldn't be suprised if some were modified as cargo transports, pure fighter carriers, or even personal flagships for Palpatine's favored nobles...

 

They probably nationalized the Kuat and Correllian defense forces, if anyone in the High Command had an ounce of sense. (or the Rebs might get their grubby hands on a Mandator or two)

 

They could install TIE racks in the hangers. The actual place the ships are stored are in little bays alongside the main "runway".

 

X-wing Alliance, actually. And X-wing vs. TIE Fighter. I don't remember wings folding up.

EDIT - And we know that Kuat's defenses were nationalized. Corellia was more independent, with an attitude of only complying with the Empire by its own choice. Fondor was also nationalized, of course, and Humbarine and Rothana probably were. Bilbringi was too, IIRC...

 

XvT and XWA didnt show the Gunboats launch. It was one of those wonderful storyline aspects that Tie Fighter had. Man I gotta get that game working.

 

Has anyone here actually read the SW Empire story with Jabiim, where Venators were supposedly present? I'm assuming they were merely background fluff.

PS, if a mod happens to look into this topic, please fix the "Venaor" in the title to Venator. It was late and I was tired.