The Imperial Capital Ships NOT designed by morons
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 มิ.ย. 2024
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The Empire is well known for having many flawed capital ships, perhaps exemplified by the powerful but somewhat silly Imperial Class Star Destroyer. But, what of the ships which WERE well designed. We'll talk that and more in today's Star Wars lore video! #starwars #starwarslore #stardestroyer
Thumbnail ship by FractalSponge: fractalsponge.net/?p=5064
Imperial Nebulon B by EC Henry
• The IMPERIAL Nebulon-B...
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Lancer: fractalsponge.net/?p=4002
Kontos: fractalsponge.net/?p=5064
Ton-Falk: fractalsponge.net/?p=5023
AOTR: steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...
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many of the renders in this video were sourced from Fractalsponge. All ships used, including the Kontos in the thumbnail, linked in the description. his site: fractalsponge.net
The lancer is going to be a key ship in a short animation i plan on making. i am still a noob at animation but i am getting skilled up as fast as i can. i hope what i make is pleasing to you and that you watch it. i am going to try to make a short series.
Honestly the Lancer seems incredibly under armed for it's size. It's 20% longer and 40% wider than a WW2 South Dakota class battleship and that had 10 twin 5 inch AA guns, 18 quad 40mm guns and 60 20mm guns in single mounts some of which were replaced by twins.
Based on wookieepedia the quad laser wasn't that different in size from the 40mm so for it's size it should be looking at 40+ quad laser cannons just for it's mid range AA with something larger for it's main weapon maybe a load of anti fighter missile launchers.
I can't really call it a good design because it seems really vulnerable to swarm attacks especially by fighter bomber of strike fighters with shields which means they can tank a few hits.
I remember a lot of the details for these small ships in the Star Wars Rebellion game from 1998, their ingame enciclopedia covered all the ships, planets, defenses, army units, characters, etc, in the game.
I played that game a lot, I had some ideal ship mix ratios. It involved a lot of Lancers, Carracks, Strikers and Escort carriers (as they get unlocked with the tech R&D), with the odd imperial and victory star destroyers, this would allow to carry an absolutely ridiculous amount of tie fighters, and later on tie interceptors... and also protect against alliance fighters. Swarm tactics for the win! Only later in the game, when super star destroyers and interdictors get unlocked, would I switch to a fleet with more capital ships, but essentially there would always be small ships to screen the big ones.
Good times... now I need to play it again... xD
Make them ship to Canada!!!
what was that dog animation from?
If the Galactic Empire was run by competent people, they would’ve won the war, and *just maybe* overthrow the Sith
I disagree on the Sith part, I don't think the Imperials would see them as enemies, since it was a Sith who created the empire then..
@@Neoth40k yes the Sith did create the Empire, but I always felt it was a fragile alliance between them and the “normal people”
@@macwelch8599 Yeah, how many times does an admiral have to get choked to death before they start getting notions of a coup. :D
@@macwelch8599 The high-ranking Empire guys weren't normal people, at least they didn't have much empathy for normal people, so much so that Tarkin, Trawn, and others didn't care that they were subject to an old guy, obviously evil, megalomaniac and very religious in their eyes, not to mention that he has a general who calls him master and this one is VERY RELIGIOUS and bad
If the empire had been run by Ecks noodle dogs from his fleet they would of won, but they would never of overthrown the sith that didn't have the tools.
Honestly, _most_ Imperial vessels look competently designed when you go by the FractalSponge specifications.
@@michaelandreipalon359 I _adore_ the _Assertor_ class Star Dreadnought, but it is _grotesquely_ over-armed. The axial superlaser is pointless; an _Assertor_ has enough ultraheavy turbolasers, as per FractalSponge specs, to boil the oceans of Mon Cala within an hour, and a generator to sustain that firepower for _days_ at a time.
There will _never_ be a situation where that much energy output is necessary. Vong Worldships would _die_ in five minutes under that barrage! And we can't even _count_ the point defense turrets on the model because they're so proportionately tiny! It's ridiculous!
EDIT: For reference, the largest UHTL turrets on the _Assertor_ are _bigger_ than the _Tantive IV_ was! The _guns_ are as big as entire capital ships!
It's the absolute extreme end of the Tarkin Doctrine. And it is every bit as awesome as it looks. And wasteful.
@@anthonylamonica8301
The superlaser might be needed to pierce through planetary shields which could stop even ultra heavy turbolasers and to have the capability to destroy battlecruisers and heavy stations at the start of battles.
It's necessary for the Assertor to have that kind of power output to easily defeat dreadnoughts like the Executor and to equal the heaviest New Republic ships such as the Viscount.
The Assertor also has nothing to do with the Tarkin Doctrine. The Assertor is designed for conventional naval warfare, while the Tarkin Doctrine isn't concerned with conventional war. It's about stopping resistance to imperial rule through the use of fear and rapid reprisals.
Throw big enough numbers on a space technical and it will appear competently designed. Now, as for _looking_ like serious Star Wars ships, Fractal ships are incredible.
Yeah Fractal Sponges ships look great, but the specifications for them are pure fan wank.
@@ryuukeisscifiproductions1818 The fighter carrying capacity, when noted, is actually fairly reasonable. It's the _turbolaser_ yields that start getting silly.
If you can build a reactor capable of letting you fire _all_ of the guns on an _Assertor_ Star Dreadnought, it'd be cheaper to rig said reactor to explode and then chuck it an an offending planet. _That'll_ learn 'em!
I think the original Star Destroyer designs are picked on a bit too much lol. They're slightly silly, but they're cool and work for the universe they're in, and that's good enough for me.
Also, I hope they continue the sunken bridge design from the fan ships and the First Order star destroyer, it's sleeker, more practical (I know I just said it didn't matter, but come on lol), and creepy in its own way.
The rebellion tailored it's tactics to exploit the weaknesses of the star destroyer. The ship was designed well as a ship of the line, and it carries a decent amount of fighters. The empire's failure was in not adjusting to rebel hit and run tactics. If they had built more lancers and better starfighters to support their destroyers and dreadnoughts they would have been much better.
What exactly do you mean by "sunken bridge"?
@@lemurking6896 the fact the bridges are not so painfully out in the open. They are closer to the hull and as such gives them a bit of extra protection as there is a good chunk of ship around them that might be able to take the hit instead if not accurate. So they are "sunk" compared to tall bridges of ISDs
There is no real reason ISD should have a weakness to rebellion starfighters, it's got 6 squadrons of fighters onboard
@@keveyson Their hit an run tactics would only get them so far in the long run, every guerrilla starts off as one but if they want to win they eventually have to become a full fledged army, the same happened to the rebels as the Galactic Civil War went critical and they started deploying fleets of Mon Cal cruisers against ISDs, the midrim offensive and the battle of Endor for example in which ISDs came in extremely handy.
5:18 The Carrack class has a huge advantage in that the CGI model of it can be scaled down from a 350 metre long Light Cruiser with a giant front bridge window to become a small shuttle sized ship or even a longish snubfighter van with just a cockpit window on the front.
That's something that even the ISD couldn't do, without getting freakishly large windows all over it's Xyston variant.
lol, you actually see that in this video during one of the XWA cutscenes.
Or just resize the window
@@EckhartsLadder That's a Gamma class not a Carrack.
@@EckhartsLadder That ship isn't a Carrack, it's a Gamma-class Assault Shuttle. It has superficial design similarities but the entire hull profile is different than the Carrack.
It also had a very fast hyperspace rating.
Honestly surprised you didn't include the Arquitens light cruiser. I know the design pre-dates the Empire, but it's a robust design that saw a look of good use under Imperial command.
The Arquitens will always be a Republic vessel to me. I’m sure you’re right about it being used well by the empire, and I agree that it’s a robust design. But I’m a sucker for that Venator Arquitens combo. I haven’t seen anything where the Empire uses Arquitens, so my opinion may be subject to change.
In a Star Wars RP I'm in, our mercenary crew's primary ship for a long time was an Arquitens. Even after our group has grown and gained access to larger ships, we still use arquitens cruisers for fleet battles, planetary defenses, and special missions or raids. We just never run out of uses for them.
@@averyifyoudlike3707 Rebels and the Mandalorian, both of which where its small size doesn't stop it being just as if not more effective than an ISD
The ship is really underrated if it had the same armorment as it was in squadrons then it would have been an S tier ship. It's such a good design like a mini star destroyer and it can even hold tie fighters, or even moff Gideon that can hold a squadron of ties and landers. Hell they could even use a super laser on the bottom like the venetor. Imagine a squadron of these ships using ion cannons then using that super laser on a capital ship with the support of the quasars .
Then lets settle on the Imperial-design one aka the one moff gideon uses
Time-marks
2:17 - Lancer Frigate
2:59 - Nebulon-B
4:38 - IPV-1
5:15 - Carrack class
5:40 - Strike Cruiser
6:22 - Victory Star Destroyer
6:37 - Imperial Escort Carrier
There’s just something about the nebulon-B, it’s cost effective, fast, has good firepower, and even though it looks stripped down it’s still a beautiful ship.
I would like it, but it just gets destroyed too easily, I think the CR-90 is better, but that's probably just me.
It's got a bit of Trek style to it. A large operations blob up front with the engines attached on a thin stalk, but flattened out.
EC Henry's Imperial Nebulon was really cool.
However it is not really durable. Once the mid-section breaky off its dead in the water because it looses not only engine and deflector shields but also literally the main reactor
I like the ship as it is customizable and not lacking in firepower for it's size
The Empire was just too busy putting resources into counter-plot armor weapons, so they couldn’t mass produce actual good ships
IIRC the in lore reason is Palpatine actively went against the reccomendation of admirals and anyone with a sense of tactics, to design sleak and intimidating super weapons, i.e. star destroyers. If he actually listened, would have gone a more modern military route of capital ships (star destroyers) being few and far between as stand off weapons or siege ships. Most fleets would comprise of mainly carriers, multiple support ships, and and picket ships to fend of enemy missles, star fighters, and any smaller ships.
@@Theeater126 A dictator going against their army commanders' advices and building intimidating weapons instead of efficient ones? That reminds me of someone...
The NEW and improved dramalaser! Guaranteed to kill you pesky heroes so that their friends can cry over them for cheap drama! A necessary weapon in every villain's arsenal.
It makes me so happy when a ship isn't called a "Star Destroyer". The term has been so overused it causes me physical discomfort when a new "star destroyer" or "super star destroyer" is introduced to the franchise. Designs like the strike cruiser, lancer-class, or EC Henry's Incursor-class are really refreshing as it offers a more believable role for a ship rather than the role: "perform the roles of all ships".
Daniel from Spacedock in his top 5 lists is very big on ships with specific roles that would fit into actual fleets.
Also, did it confuse anyone else as a kid that Star Destroyers weren't the ones that blew up planets?
I would've wanted some New Republic ships to be called "Star Defenders"
Dillon Kelley I agree. We've always had "star fighters" and "star destroyers, but when you throw in "star cruisers", "star carriers", and "star dreadnoughts", it really gives these ships a sense of class - like the addition of "star" is used in-universe to separate them from maritime warships.
That said, I like that the CIS providence-class destroyer is also called the "providence-class star destroyer" for the same reason. It gives the term "star destroyer" a less Republic-Empire specific focus.
I always loved Strike cruisers and I absolutely fell in love with the Kontos the moment I saw it.
Its beatiful
You must not say such things.
I have the theory that Palpatine was more concerned with an internal takeover than with the Rebel Alliance, so he wanted the Empire to be not very competent, just efficient enough to ensure control of the systems. It wasn't until his wet dream, the Death Star, was destroyed that he took the Rebel Alliance seriously, but even so he would rather plan to ambush them at Endor than optimize the Empire.
That... actually makes a good deal of sense. That's going in my headcanon now
@@ImaginaryPerson1138 in lore most of The Empire Fleet and Army was indeed mostly used as a tool of fear that how the Empire was the Clone Reserve and occupation force was replaced whit stormtrooper and stars destroyer
EU had inefficiency and suffering be the design of the Empire, Palpatine can gain power from other suffering and intends to ascend into what is essentially a Chaos God.
To be fair, most star wars ships have some terrible design flaws and weapon firing arcs. That's not just an Imperial thing.
But regardless they weren't made with logic in first place and that doesn't stop them from being perfect imo. Dumb bridges and WW2 style space dogfights are what makes star wars what it is :D
I'd say in fairness the bridges are like ship bridges from ww1/2 ships, so in that sense having the at the top of a 'citadel' makes sense.
I actually think in regard to firing arcs, the typical imperial wedge shape is genius. 90% of the ships surface can be pointed at an enemy at once. In a proper attack formation, the only surface without a firing solution is unarmed anyways because its full of thrusters and can be covered by support ships and fighters.
@@2MeterLP The wedge shape is a good shape as the shape also reduces the angle of incidence when it comes to collisions with whatever is in front of the ship. This is always a good idea, irrespective of the sci-fi shielding, particularly given that all the big engines are at the end which tends to imply their primary direction of high speed direction! That the ships don't have any obvious thrusters to navigate in a direction anything other than forward (at high speed) is likely for aesthetic reasons. Similar how for cinematic reasons weapons are fired by human(oid)s and not by computer, how command & control bridges are put in as exposed a position of possible for a large ship, and so on. I believe that the design of the rebel ships as more of a piecemeal and unfinished look is to make them look more worn, more rebellious and to emphasise the difference between them and any ships built in "official" ship yards
Yeah the wedge shape is good, the problem is the placement of the guns generally doesn't take advantage of the shape though. Like how the cannons on a star destroyer are mostly on either side of the bridge so the super structure gets in the way of half the cannons if they want to do a broadside, and since they are in a line only the foremost or rear most guns can fire forward or backwards. If they used stagered or superfiring gun layouts like the WWII ships they were evoking they would be able to bring many more guns to bare.
@@urlauburlaub2222 Yeah, and my point was it has a terrible gun layout for shooting in front. Since the turrets are arranged in 2 parallel lines running fore to aft only the first gun in the lines can fire directly forwards. The three guns behind them have to sit there doing nothing else they fire into the next gun in line. The only way the star destroyer can bring all 8 of its top guns to bare is if the enemy is high enough above the star destroyer that the guns can tilt upwards enough to avoid shooting each other, but not so high that the turrets max out their elevation or are blocked by the bridge. That's not a great layout for something meant to shoot forward.
I would expect the Interdictor Class Destroyer after facing it couple of times in Star Wars X-Wing Alliance, it became my 2nd favorite Imperial Ship after the Executor Class Destroyer
Love that game. Still have the disk.
A big problem with the Interdictir is that, as soon as you turn on the gravity well generator, it *immediately* becomes the focus of everything the enemy can throw at it.
@@vic5015 That's also an advantage because now you know exactly what the opposing force is going to do.
@@PRC533 & typically the imperial commander would deploy them in the place where they can be easily protected by the rest of the fleet, usually behind the battle line.
this means that the enemy force would have to run the gauntlet, into the imperials guns.
It's a good reminder of the huge scale of Star Wars ships when you consider that at 250m the Lancer is a relatively tiny, but it's almost as long as the real life Yamato (~260m) which is one of the biggest warships we've ever made. And it's more than twice as long as the ISS, our biggest spacecraft.
I design scale models of imperial ships out of lego, and its actually really interesting how people take ship size for granted. In the first Canon thrawn book he's assigned to a Gozanti cruiser, where he stores a hyperdrive ring in its cargo bay. Those things are almost half the size of a gozanti, there's no way one would fit in its cargo bay.
@@ImaginaryPerson1138 It would if it was in pieces.
Escort carriers IRL were never designed or intended to escort capital ships. They weren't fast enough to keep up with them on top of other characteristics that made them unsuitable for the task. They would escort slower things like cargo convoys or take on duties that involved sitting in one place like amphibious assault support. That freed up the capital ships and fleet carriers to do fleet carrier stuff.
But the starfleet it would nake sense
@@paulrasmussen8953 that's just the naming issues so that your fleet command would not mistake it for a warship while counting avaiable forces in the region) Escort carriers and other "Escort" stuff were built to, well, escort tradeships. Cheap and slow, with 3rd grade pliots, and just a tiny bit better than a MAC. If you want to add some fighter support to your cruisers without slowing them down, you have to look for "light carriers" or something like that.
@@gregorykappo229 which is an escort carrier. You are arguing sematics
@@paulrasmussen8953 actually, a light carrier used cruiser hulls and engines and could keep up with the main fleet, look up the Independence class or Colossus class. Escort carriers were not only slower, but less armored since they were built off of merchant hulls, see the Bogue class or the Casablanca class, which used Liberty Ship hulls and engines.
@@jh4533 thought Independence was an escort that escort abd light were interchangeable
Let’s be honest, Tarkin designed the ships, and he was clearly compensating
For his lack of slippers? :P
Lmao 💀💀
@@minicle426 ?
@@Hydro_Aero Cushing found his costume shoes uncomfortable, and wore slippers instead (since his feet never appeared onscreen).
The Raider is my favorite ship to come out of all ships since maybe the Royal Naboo Starship in The Phantom Menace.
I know it didn't show up much, but I loved the Tartan Class Patrol Cruiser.
I love when he bullies ships
The problem with the TonFalk class compared with the Quasar Fire is that the former only holds 72 TIE fighters to the laters 48, and yet it is something like 7 times larger in volume. TonFalk basically has the volume and crew requirements on par with a modern Aircraft Carrier and is about the same size as an Aclimator. If all that gives you is 24 additional TIE's vs the QuasarFire and a class 1 hyperdrive then something is very wrong with it's design. I've always felt that TonFalk only really makes sense if it is also carrying a Regiment of troops and their landingcraft. Then it becomes a much more capable craft that more like a Marine Amphbious assault carrier and is able to conduct small planetary invasions all on it's own.
Nebulon-B2 frigate, a later iteration of the rightfully infamous B2, will be my favorite.
Came to know her trough TIE fighter and TIE fighter vs X-wing, man, she was far more difficult to solo take down than an impy star destroyer.
The enforcer class, Pickett ship, the perfect mid/small sized frigate with good fire power and a compliment of fighters my other favorite is the strike cruiser because it has such a great armament for its size and it Carrie’s fighters
Love ur starwars vids dude
Sir, your taste in ships and ramen bases are equally flawless.
The ship I wish we saw more often is the vigil class star destroyer, I find it to be a beautiful little ship, the idea of having a mini baby ISD drop in is adorable. And I can imagine a dozen of those coming out of hyperspace would be just as intimidating as Ian ISD
Just think how many they could have built, if they didn't waste so many resources on the Death Stars...
@@joetuktyyuktuk8635 I did look it up and each one cost about 3.5 million credits. As the death Star took 1 trillion credits to make that comes out to about 285'714 ships. For reference thats over 10 times the number of ISDs in service
@@taylorlynn2522 Admiral Akbarr: "How many enemy ships?"
Weapons officer "We don't know sir... they are still jumping in..."
Jam sensors hard enough and they'd be an amazing decoy or intimidation. Drop a dozen in system and if they can't tell the scale then suddenly there's a fleet of ISD's farther out.
The Carrack has a special place in my heart for all the times it showed up as basically a "supporting character" in many an Imperial fleet, as well as the Victory for being the "not an ImpStar" star destroyer in SW fiction for the longest time.
The Ton-Falk looks like it might be more durable than the Quasar with all its structure around the hangar, but maybe not able to deploy it's fighters as quickly due to a smaller hanger opening
The Nebulon-B was very good budget combo vessel. Anything that could kill the Neb, it really had no business picking a fight with anyway.
One of the Empire's biggest problems, in my opinion, was overly-relying on the ISD, when they should've spent 90% of their ISD budget on an equivalent number of medium-to-small ships to cover the medium-to-small systems and reserve the ISDs for Major systems. Alternatively, they could maintain system control with medium-to-small ships and have an ISD squadron on call to respond to anything the local forces couldn't handle.
The issue may have been the political reliability of the ship captains. Lots of personnel were defecting to the rebels, so the Empire needed a centralised and authoritarian structure to maintain power. By squeezing the firepower of 10 small ships into one larger package, you can take the most reliable of those 10 ships' captains and put him in charge, rather than risking half your firepower defecting.
To be honest I have a fondness for the Imperial Escort Carriers that the Storm Commandos operate, they seem like they'd be perfect for harassing enemy fleets with their TIE Hunters, given that the Hunter has its own Hyperdrive a few of Escort Carriers loaded with Hunters and maybe a few more loaded with TIE Defenders would be excellent for causing chaos behind enemy lines. I mean, what would YOU expect an Imperial to do besides show up in a fleet of the biggest ships available? I wouldn't expect a bunch of small carriers with Hyperspace capable fighters to go rampaging through my territory while another Imperial attacks head on, would you? Sure, they don't have the ridiculous fire power of the Imperial-II class and its Octuple Barbette mounts for both Ion Cannons and Turbolasers but does it really need ridiculous firepower to be a good ship?
The Gladiator Star destroyer just does it for me, I think it’s really nicely designed - I love the particular configuration that the wookiepedia page uses as it’s thumbnail, the 2D one in warm colors and stylized. Honestly, I’d love to see the Gladiator in 3D.
My Neb B theory:
Look at real spacecraft from the time of Star Wars like Voyager 1 & 2
Launched in 1977, they have a lot of awkward long skinny parts that look terribly fragile
It's possible Star Wars took inspiration from these while designing the Nebulon B, although doesn't really make sense IRL since space probes aren't war ships
I'm a big fan of the Raider. Sure, it's only a corvette, but it fills a hole in the star destroyer-focused roster of the Imperial fleet and it looks great.
Generally I'm a fan of specialist ships that do one function well rather than trying to be a fleet-in-a-ship. A dedicated carrier is better than a hybrid. A dedicated battleship is better than a hybrid. A dedicated escort is better than a hybrid. Give me a couple SDs that have good point defense and lots of fighter capacity, a couple SDs that are stacked with Turbolasers and Ion Cannons, and a couple light SDs with good point defense and high mobility. I'll take that over an equal mass in Imperials or other traditional SDs.
i mean the isd's in the empire strikes back were able to repeatedly hit the speedy millennium falcon with its laser systems & those were the mk 2's. which are stated not to have a point defense system at all, so the fact they could hit a freighter sized craft going faster than most star fighters consistently is a herculean achievement.
for comparison or context, this would be the equivalent of the Bismarck hitting a swordfish propeller plane with its main caliber guns.
the mark 1's or the imperator class did have an actually good point defense system, but has less overall firepower for that exchange.
This, right here. I would've loved to see Star Destroyer variants that were specialized, rather than them all just being big "oonga-boonga" ships. Or actually include the specialized ships in the fleet more often rather than just making it all SDs.
Great vid Eck! Good research on your part.
"Slopped Armor?"
"HAH, FUCK THAT, WE"RE GOING CUBIC!"
*proceeds to be obliterated*
One ship id love to see on the big screen is the Gladiator Star Destroyer, its described by Wookipedia as a independent, "long-range patrol vessel. Due to its firepower, it also served in anti-ship, escort, and orbital bombardment capacities.[1] The Gladiator-class could also serve as a blockade vessel and as the flagship of a small battle group." Not sure if that makes it a destroyer or cruiser but its compact nature, its capable of bringing multiple squadrons of fighters into any fight, and if I was designing a petrol fleet I would have it be the flagship with Arquitens as escorts, how cool would that have been to seen in rebels
Day 20 of asking for Titanfall vs halo versus matchup
I'll sign your petition
@@capitancoolness942 Would you like to sign my petition
@@capitancoolness942 thank you my brotha
I don't know if it was mentioned below, but the _Ton-Falk_ first appeared - AFAIK - in the now-ancient _WEG SW Imperial Sourcebook,_ on Page 54 (I remember this design well, and dug out my dead-tree edition). In addition to the TIE wing, it also has six shuttles, carries 800 troops, and has a crew of 3,505...Like most carriers in SW, however, I think it is _badly_ lacking in fighters carried; carrying double the complement would be the better option. The best example of what a ship like that - in my opinion - should carry is seen in _Rogue One,_ when the Scarif station launches its TIE compliment of 12 squadrons....THAT is what most capital ships should be carrying.
The Escort carrier was always my favourite of the ships you've pointed out. A nice look and practical for it's role.
For people who want to experience more of these ships: all or almost all of these ships are great in Thrawn's Revenge mod for Empire at War. And they work pretty much like Eck said here.
Lancer is the best anti-starfighter unit in the game. It's only weak part is low speed, but it tears through starfighters while it's point defense protects your bigger ships from missiles and bombs.
Nebulon B is that smol ship that does so much more than it's size in the game would suggest- it's light turbolasers provide nice and accurate fire against bigger units, it's also a great point defense ship and does well against fighters, while fighters and bombers struggle to damage it. It also spawns half of a squadron of fighters and bombers itself. Like most of the ships it's size it struggles with shield and hull strength, but in general is a great and welcome addition to any fleet.
IPV is less useful than above vessels but it operates as a cheaper, fast anti-starfighter platform. Does great in hit and runs against separated fighter&bomber groups and is a nice distraction overall.
Carrack is more on the useful side again, being basically a small artillery unit. Maybe not as accurate as Nebulon B but having a few of these around your bigger ships provides a lot of additional heavy firepower. Strike cruiser works in a similar fashion, but since it's a larger unit it often is compared to Assault Frigate Mark 1 and it pretty much always falls flat in that comparison. Still not an unit you want to underestimate on a battlefield, it can very quickly finish off your damaged, shieldless units.
As for Ton Falk carrier, well, since it carries tie fighters it falls flat to rebel carriers. But is still useful in larger numbers. Although most players focused on playing Empire should probably focus more on managing lancers and kill enemy capital ships with their own capital ships, not rely heavily on bombers.
Whenever you hear the words 'good design' and 'Imperial capital ship' in any Ecks video, always expect the Lancer to be shown
I really like the strike cruiser as an individual ship because it reminds me of the Halcyon class from Halo but it doesn’t have a stupid forward bridge
Strength of a vsd 2 but cheaper win win
@@paulrasmussen8953 I’d love a VSD personally but the Victory can’t enter atmosphere so a strike cruiser would be my choice of a personal atomic whip. I praised the Nebula because it’s just a better ISD in a super efficient size and shape. The light cruiser is still something to me because it’s just a tiny Harrower and it’s canon.
@@Otterdisappointment a Victory can
@@paulrasmussen8953 “Not to worry; we’re still flying half a planet”
The amount of sarcasm oozing during the ton falk is insane.
One of the most underused ships not mentioned was the Imperial II Class Frigate. Basically, a small cruiser-sized Star Destroyer that was geared as a carrier but was moderately armed with a combination of Lasers and Turbolasers. This ship could have easily been the center of an Imperial task force. Having nearly the firepower of a Carrack Cruiser and the carrying capacity of a Ton-Falk carrier. The only example that I know of this ship is the story of the Rand Ecliptic Where Biggs Darklighter and Hobbie Klivian join the Rebelion.
The Vigil Class Corvette is one of my favorite Imperial ship designs. It’s a micro Star Destroyer with a vastly less exposed bridge and more than enough weapons for its purposes.
I believe a picket vessel or escort for larger ships. Potentially useful in managing blockades or shipyards. All in all a tiny battle boi.
Hi, just a question, what do you think about the Raider-class corvette? I like the design and I think it was a fairly effective corvette, especially if you include the hangers like on the Corvus. Could you maybe incorporate it in another video like this as I really think it deserves a spot in this list!
You hit my nostalgia button so hard with page from the "Star Wars Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels", like I specifically remember that image from 25 years ago Lolz well done
The guy calling the field goal at 7:43-7:48, always loved it!
Glad I correctly guessed the first ship Eckharts was gonna say, love the Lancer and really wish we saw more of them.
Ton-Falk's were featured in the early Lucasarts starfighter titles. Nebulon-B Frigates were used in hit and run strikes in a couple of scenarios. One of the advantages of the Imperial-class Star Destroyers is that you were usually biggest thing there. not so good when you're disabled and pushed into another star destroyer, but great for hyperspacing into the battle, literally.
So many times after listening to your videos, I feel inspired to play Star Wars Rebellion but I usually listen to TH-cam while at work so I'll have to wait until this evening.
I would like a video on what you consider the best looking ships. Simple because...
Throw practicality out the window, just pure ship appeal. Thanks
I know I’m a bit late but at 6:01 the shop being shown is actually a vigil class corvette. My favorite imperial ship design and the smallest ship in the star destroyer line!
To be fair about the "No hyperdrives" thing on TIE fighters, it appears to be a doctrinal thing, with a side of politics.
doctrinally, the Empire is built around its capital ships, the star destroyers, and inherits this form the Clone Wars era Republic. In the major naval battle we see on film (the fighting at coruscant), the battle is so intense that fighters are struggling to operate (look at the loss rates for the arc-170s supporting Annie and Obi). in the clone wars series, we continue to see this, that smallcraft routinely suffer significant attrition when used aggressively.
Its not unreasonable that the post-war navy decided that modern firepower was sufficent that in any general engagement, fighters would be reduced to pure attrition units and thus needed to be cheap, kept back form the enemy and used mainly to cover their motherships as the star destroyers closed with and defeated the enemy. Thus, preference for the smaller V wing in the immediate post clone era and then TIE fighter, stripped back of secondary systems and focused on being a fast and manoeuvrable dogfighter. It fit the doctrinal requirement the Imperials had, of a point defence interceptor that can be produced and deployed in quantity wherever they need it. The lack of hyperdrive is acceptable, as your not expecting to use them independently, but as part of the cover for a larger mothership. The empire did produce and use some hyper capable smallcraft, for those missions that could only be carried out by such a ship, but preferred to use larger vessels whenever they could.
Also in the post clone era, their was both the opportunity to dramatically increase manning by the switch form clones to conventional recruitment, and the political need to get "buy in" form the populace, while also providing enough garrison troops to enforce the new regime, so getting enough pilots was less of an issue, and instead what was needed was a LOT of pilots that could be stationed wherever was needed. Again, the TIE is perfect for this, both as a symbol of the New Order, and a tool for its enforcement.
Let's see.... TIE Advanced, TIE Defender, TIE Hunter, TIE Phantom, Royal TIE Interceptor... They had no shortage of hyperdrive equipped starfighter models if they wanted them. From a logistical standpoint the regular old TIE Fighters and TIE Interceptors are ridiculously cost-effective for their roles.
@@Duchess_Van_Hoof indeed, exactly my point. they wanted, and needed, hundreds of thousands of TIE fighters, not thousands of "better" x wings that STILL suffered high casualty rates when hitting a hard target. assuming your not too bothered about pilot loss rates, then stripping out the "unnecessary" systems like hyperdrives and shields gets you a much smaller, lighter vehicle that can be produced quicker, and gives almost as good performance within the narrow mission profile you need it do.
its not as capable a multi mission platform as the x wing, but thats a known, accepted and mitigatable factor.
Expectations: Arquitens, Raider, and the one from the X-wing books with a million point defence canons (Lancer or Carrak, can’t remember which one is from where). Also victory 1, they scary.
I’m hoping for the Tartan Patrol Cruiser. Might not be great against ships but it is an excellent screen vessel and perfect for catching smugglers.
You missed one. The X1 Super Transport. The big brother of the Ton Falk. Love that ship. It the in between of the CIS supply ship/ Baleen Class Heavy Freighter and the Ton Falk.
Play SW old school table top RPG and I have a Smuggler that lived for too long and was able to reture owning a rebuilt X1 Super Transfort escorted by a Nebulon B and 2x DP20 gunships.
The X1 is amazing and can hold 3 wing squadrons of uglies based on rebuilt tie fighters. Enhanced it with 2 V1 SDF shields. Better yet hold 60x as much cargo as GR75 Transports.
I started with a Mobquet Medium Freighter which is way better than CR90 cost wise and more anonymous than VY series light freighter as a Farm Freighter with 2 Z95 headhunters.for protection. Made ways and survived lots of adventures and finally acquired a contract to the mid rim to outer rims for legal freight hauls for farm supplies. The X1 was a spoils from a battle between pirates and empire and when it was shot down on an asteroid field the empire thought it expendable and pirates thought it too slow and costly for them to rebuild but perfect for a retiring smuggler. Named it the Krayt Pepper and it still holds my battle worn Mobquet. BTW Mon Mothma pays a lot to smuggle rebel tech. Made sense since it easier to hide smaller important tech to super large freighters with more places to hide than smaller lightfreighters.
I mean imperial checkpoints dont bother a full inspection for super large freights. Easy to hide classified house sized cargo disguised as food animal containers. They wont conduct a thorough inspection as soon as they see a full compartment of dirty, smelly farm animal cells. Instead just offering simple comfortable cargo manifest check with food and not get their uniforms dirty.
6:38 is really cool, though boxy. I could see two or three of them escorting large convoys of supply ships or even doing things like survey duty.
The stats for the TIE Escort Carrier come from one of two places. The Imperial Sourcebook - West End Games or Star Wars: Rebellion. The guide for that game talked a lot about the ships that were showcased in it, plus being fleshed out in game.
The sacred cow shipyards actually.just did a video on why the Lancer was likely designed by committee and actually isn't at all good at its intended purpose, but that thrawn actually found a use on the offense with them, instead of defense, which was the intent of the design. It's too slow to catch a fighter, to such a degree that it actually just can't be a threat to them. But on the offense, where you have to engage with your opponent or they win, lancers were terrifyingly powerful, bringing in a slow but inevitable victory on planet level theats.
I'm actually a fan of the Gozanti its got a great aesthetic, modularity and can carry a small fighter escort. if i lived in the SW i would want one though id probably modify it a bit. though it was republic made i think. but still its one of my favorite ships used by the empire.
Same here, I really like the Gozanti. Especially the C-ROC refit/upgrade with its mid/long range sensors and retractable weapons. Not to mention the ability to carry a boatload of cargo.
The only drawback I can see is that it has no hanger space, though it has the ability to carry four small snub fighters (externally). A small, heavily armed gunship/freighter that can carry along it's own fighter escort is a terrific ship for any faction.
@@earlware4322 I see the Gozanti as the Imperial version of the CR-90 Corvette and wished that the Gozanti was the alternative go-to corvette choice when the Raider-class was otherwise unavailable.
@@ZackarySchejbalCODBO2RGM2 the gozanti is only 32 meters long that roughly a fifth of the CR-90 it could never be used in the same way as a corvette as it is only a freighter
Love these types of videos mate.
On the topic of Escort Carriers:
I believe they we're ment as an escort For convoes, where the transport/cargo ships we're slow and No High Speed was required.
So a carrier supporting a Star Destroyer would bei a fleet carrier Like the venetor, Not a small flying hanger.
The capabilities For a escort carrier have been poorly adopted in my opinion.
Man, that footage from X-Wing Alliance brought back memories. Only Star Wars flight sim I ever played but I played that for hours and hours.
That ending with the doge plushies is so cute! Kudos!
honestly, really like the gladiator class, nice lil all rounder that was perfect for use in more remote locations where you cant just call on some troop transports or extra fighters at a moments notice, good enough to fight most ships at the same or smaller scales too
I thought you were going to mention the Praetor Mark II Battlecruiser, I adore that thing.
"Shot down?" More like shot and then moving uncontrollably into interplanetary space
Can we get a video just covering the Quazar? Idk if you made one already, but it is just a cool looking ship.
In the X-4 Interworlds mod, those Kontos cruisers equally paired with the 534 class cruisers make for a positively devastating assault group. While the 534 is the weaker of two, it can field a dozen fighters - which if you're smart and stack with 8 x Supremacy class and 6 x Scimitar class TIEs (i.e. stuff that's actually durable) it can wreck enemy bases whilst the Kontos has enough durability and 360 weapons coverage that even enemy reinforcements coming in from odd angles are easily shredded.
*Yep, some excellent ships in here. The Victory Class Star Destroyer is also my favorite; I actually learned about the ship through the STAR WARS ARMADA tabletop game. Another phenomenal video. Thanks lots!*
For a long time the lancer was my favorite ship
Really like the Neb, and I created my own take on the imperial version (I actually linked my DA renders on your discord server some time ago).
You should discuss the horrors of Sith Magic or Dark Side experiments. There are some accounts of Sith rituals that sometimes require a living sacrifice.
And the nicest ones only cost their appearance
According to the lore, the reason Lancers were so rarely seen is because they were always in critically short supply, unlike TIEs which were everywhere. The Galaxy is a big place, and if you don't have a Lancer in the place you need one, you can't always wait for one to get there, especially if there's a waiting list as long as the death toll of Alderan
Loved the rogue squadron gameplay
Got a soft spot for the Gozanti class cruiser, it was big enough to give possible assailants pause but small enough to be produced in numbers, not to mention versatile
The size and external tie rack of the carrack was definitely the inspiration for the Gozanti. You can see it a bit in their form and function as well as classification and the Gozanti is just a much better looking ship.
One of my favourite imperial designs is the gladiator star destroyer. It provides decent firepower with decent Starfighter capacity and on a small size ( smaller than an isd or a venator ) thus being being able to be mast produced and maintained. Its a jack of all trades and a master of none but better than a master of one
Attt sounds like a great tattoo idea for anybody who hates themselves but also believes they are a secret weapon.
In the WEG Star Wars RPG, the Nebulon B was the ship that Rebel Privateers dreamed of getting their hands on. It had the perfect combination of speed and hard hitting firepower. Its cargo capacity was limited, but mostly Rebel Privateers were more interested in taking ships and cargo that was either essential to the Alliance's needs or would hurt the Imperials if captured or destroyed.
ngl i love small ships would be nice to see stuff like imperial destroyers in the naval sense of the term or maybe even something similar to a whatchamacallit rebel gunship
The lancer gets way too much credit. Yes, it's a great anti-fighter corvet that could have saved many ISDs, on paper, if they were present to defend them. If it was present. And there lies the problem. Not just that Imps didn't use it but that it was SO FUCKING SLOW. Anyone who has used a lancer in EAW: Thrawn's Revenge knows exactly what I'm talking about. This ship could tear fighters apart, but it was so abysmal in turning, acceleration, and a top speed that it was often the slowest ship in a fleet and other ships had to slow down to a crawl to maintain formation which is important because the Lancer won't be chasing after any starfighter squadron or repositioning to intercept an amassed bombing run. I can only imagine how much worse it would have been in the much larger galaxy. If it wasn't positioned directly over a target or in front of a hyperspace lane even the slowest of bombers would have been able to just fly around it to hit their target. No wonder it rarely ever saw action. It wasn't just the "Bigger is Better" Tarken Doctrine it simply wasn't capable of being where fleet commanders needed it to be when it needed to be there.
It doesn't help the lancers case that the carack class cruiser could be turned into a very effective anti fighter craft by replacing its ion cannons with laser cannons.
@@LordMason21 The Carack, the Tartan, the IPV, the Crusader, the CR90, and many more. There are a ton of ships in the same weight class that were designed for or could be modified for anti-starfighter duty that poses a little less firepower, but do the job better because they have a lot more speed.
Fractalsponge's version of the Imperial Nebulon B, Lancer and Carrack are so good
Request: 2 "what if" ships that were never actually built: the Eidolon and the Pulsar Station.
There is something fundamental that even extends into space combat, and that is naval logistics. The US navy has some 6 support ships for ever combat vessel. The Venator looks stunning, visually, but its firepower is entirely on the dorsal side. The ISD just uses anti-capital ship weapons, but if they wanted to strike fear to prevent rebellions, the empire didn’t need 25,000 of them, that took up huge quantities of resources. Thrawn had it right, small flexible fleets were infinitely better than lumbering ISDs
Always been a fan of the Gladiator. Wish it could’ve made it into the video, a very practical approach to a more balanced star destroyer.
I think this is a good moment for me to praise the Acclamator once more. It is despite its appearance resembling a Star Destroyer, it is not meant to stand in a line of battle. It is a dedicated assault cruiser. It has the ridiculous hyperdrive rating of 0.6 for ridiculous strategic and operational mobility, the armour and shielding to withstand capital ship barrages and each ship carry enough of a troop complement to lay siege to entire cities. Not to mention its weaponry is more than enough to handle orbital bombardment.
While they were effective against the rebels, for sure, all these ships would of been torn apart during the clone wars. The Empire definitely built a navy to fight the last war instead of the next one.
Interesting that you didn't give credit to star wars game rebellion in which all the ship you talked about are present and a few others. If you haven't played this game it is a good game to play. Play either rebels or empire, diplomatic missions, build your fleets, try to defeat your opponet(sp). There is also a fact section describing the ships.
The Star Destroyer is somewhat decent, if a bit maintenance and crew-heavy. It is often lacking in point defense, but FractalSponge specifications largely fix that problem (and look really good!). A number of FractalSponge's smaller ship designs are excellent as well, especially the Proclamator, Fulgor, Kontos, Velox, and Vigil classes, as well as the Contentor fleet replenishment ship (I do have a thing for logistics). The Allegiance and Bellator look great, too (and much more useful in normal actions than a significantly larger superweapon ship).
I paused right when you said but I expect the Lancer to be on this list. An almost perfect ship to counter the rebellion. Put a few of those in a fleet with an interdictor and a few ISDs for heavy support and you have a rebel killer of a fleet.
id like a task force cruiser! those medium quad turbolasers and quad lasers seam like a devilish combo of useful vs star fighters corvettes all the way up to cruisers. the heavy concussion missiles and proton torpedos allow it to get the knockdown blow to even cap ships. the stronger 360 fire points recessed shield and ability to have a couple squadrons of small fast starfighters like a-wings that id use coming from port and starboard hangers is all so smart and practical!
fractal sponges take on the strike cruiser is just beautiful
I will always have a spot in my heart for the Gladiator-class Star Destroyer.
That flying carrier sounds awesome!
My favorite design is the World Devastator. If it hadn't been for the Byss Control Signal tampering by Artoo, those ships would have eaten Mon Calamar completely and used the material to improve themselves, build more support craft, and even build more World Devastators. Nothing like a self-improving self-replicating machine of war, as long as you can keep control over it.
They could totally move world devastators over to canon by putting a separatist droid factory on the back of a mining and salvage craft, as seen in the last season of rebels. Vultures are basically canonized tie droids already.
Yes I am a Star Wars fan. But I love tuning into this channel to listen to people debate these battles and ship designs like these were real events and a real world and not a sci fi flick series from the seventies. It shows the level of dedication some of you have to the lore and the science involved. If we could get that kind of involvement and engagement on developing a real life alternative propulsion system to rockets we could become a true space faring race. Brain fart complete.
Carack Light Cruisers were one of my favorite ships to use in Star Wars Rebellion because they were a balanced mix of everything you needed, and one of the cheapest ways to amass large amounts of tractor beam power*. They were also 25% faster in hyperspace than other ships.
* important because capturing ships in either tractor beams or gravity wells (late game) was pretty much the only way to destroy ships in that game.
Lancers competed directly with these on the anti-starfighter front and were cheaper to build with better shielding and firepower, but I generally found I had plenty of that to work with when I focused on Carracks instead... better to have the extra bombardment strength, speed and tractor beams...
I kinda like the gladiator, good hangar space, not sure the exact size, but also a light to medium combat ship, basically a tiny victory 1 as I understand it's loadout. All purpose ships for space combat are useful if used the right way and supported when needed, great patrol craft for those more secure systems that don't require the presence of a victory cruiser or ISD, but can also be used to support large capital ships as a force multiplier. Not sure why it gets the Star Destroyer designation, probably just because its imperial and people call it that as such, but a cruiser designation fits it well I think.