Don't TIE fighter's seem weak?

I wonder why the Empire makes Tie fighter's be so weak? It seems that if the Empire was so rich and powerful that they could afford to make lots of good ships instead of lots of bad ships. Maybe they figure their Star Destroyers and the Death Star make up for their small bad ships. But the rebels did destroy both Death Stars and some Star Destroyers with their X-wings and stuff.


What do you think?

 

Well you have to figure, even though they don't have shields, it was the Empire's strategy to overwhelm the opponent through sheer force and strength in numbers. I'd say for about every Rebel X-wing, there was a least a full wing of TIE fighters.

And I mean only the standard issue TIE fighters were the ones that were really "weak"- TIE bombers packed a nice punch, Interceptors were fast and very nice, Defenders were a complete package, and Clawcraft are...well...awesome.


So yeah, they were weak, but they had tons of them to use, and coupled with support craft, blast towers, turbolaser cannons, and the like, they were formidable against opponents.


Ken Kenobi- And you have a nice day

 

TIE fighters have better manueverability in deep space. They suck in atmosphere though.

 

The TIEs were weak, true, but more importantly, they were cheap. The Empire could afford to produce uncountable numbers of the little buggers, to better swarm the Rebels with.

 

They suck in atmosphere though.

If we look at the starwars universe and think in terms of our physics, then you're right.

But as far as the movies go, they fly fine. IMO.

I'm guessing Bib will disagree

 

The only time we see TIEs flying in atmosphere, they're flying straight with little-to-no maneuvering. If they were performing hard turns and spins, then they would have some problems.

 

They're cheap, expendable, deadly manoeuverable, and designed to overwhelm a target with numbers. Who cares about pilots, they're expendable. It's all part of the Empire's pyschology.

 

The fighter is only as good as the pilot. Although we only hear about the really good Rebel pilots, the Imperials probably received better training. However the Rebel Craft are better shielded so a pilot may last out his first battles and gain experience.

 

Yeah, a pilot who can survive his mistakes will become a much better pilot. TIE pilots usually can't survive any mistakes they make.

 

Da Millenium Falcon's pilots are the best!!!

<---- Millenium Falcon Fan Club Member!

 

I'd imagine that with all of the allotted money that they splash out on the Imperial Navy to build the Stardestroyers etc, they'd have to have something as cheap (and admittedly weak) as the TIE fighter.

Gotta keep on budget!

 

TIE Fighters are accually pretty good ships. They have all the main qualities except for shields. They're fast, intiminating and cheap. Massed together, they're terrifying for most enemy fighters. They can still kill a lot of shielded things too. Just read the X-Wing series by Michael Stackpole and Aaron Allston.

The best TIE is the Defender. That has shields and missiles.

 

"The best TIE is the Defender. That has shields and missiles."

As well as brilliant speed, hyperactive manoeuverability, ion cannons, quad lasers, hyperdrive, a tractor beam, and a cost so astronomical that only the Empire would use them .

 

I think the Empire should get better pilots. After all only a couple of the Rebel pilots can take out entire Death Stars. I'd like to see TIE pilots do that.

 

Too bad that defenders are so expensive

 

But they look hella cool.

 

Da_Joker: The Empire, because they stick their pilots in flimsy little things called TIE fighters, has a much lower percentage of good pilots than the Rebels, because they're smart and have shields on their ships. But because of the craft they fly, only the best TIE pilots survive, and they get promoted to units like the 181st. and these are their good pilots. Like Baron Fel, for example.

If the Rebel Alliance ever built a Death Star, the Empire would have to stick some missiles on their TIEs before they could blow it up. Or use Defenders (uber cool, Rebels doomed).

Oh, and here's a pic of a TIE Defender for all you peoples who don't know of them or haven't heard of them:

[image=http://www.artoosnews.com/artooscustoms/imagearchive/images/vehicles/tie_defender.jpg]

 

I tend to like this picture of the TIE Defender more...


[image=http://massassi.yavin4.com/sw_img/asgtied.jpg]


Eh, and while I'm at it, here's some schematics...

[image=http://massassi.yavin4.com/sw_img/bgtied.jpg]




Ken Kenobi- And you have a nice day

 

*drools* Damn, I want one of those

 

Me too.

 

If the every pilot in the Empire had a fighter like the TIE Defender or an X-Wing, or even a decent ship with some shielding, there would have been a different outcome to the Galactic Civil War.

 

"What do you think? "

well somewhere I read that the reason for the lack of shields and downright weakness of them is to make better piolets so that they realize their mistakes may very well cost them their lives.

Forcebewitya!

 

Well duh TIE fighters are weak... the bad guys fly them!

 

SCENE: Imperial Budget Committee Meeting

Emperor: ". . . and on the detention level, we'll magnetically seal all the trash compactors so prisoners still can't escape even if they fling themselves into the garbage! Ahahahaahahahahahaha!!!"

Imperial Accountant A: (Whispering to coworker) "There's no way we can afford this."

Imperial Accountant B: "I know. But I'm not gonna tell him. You tell him."

Imperial Accountant A: "I'm not gonna tell him!"

Imperial Accountant B: "Okay, okay . . . we won't tell him. The money's still got to come from somewhere."

(They slowly turn and gaze out the window, where the Imperial fleet is gathering . . .)

 

That's great...

...




Ken Kenobi- And you have a nice day