Quote:
Originally Posted by Senmut
Probably the reason the battlestars didn't have that many guns to begin with is that carriers are not intended to operate in isolation. Normally, the Galactica would have operated as part of a battlegroup, with other vessels, as well as Vipers, performing screening duties as the situation called for. Since fleeing the Colonies, things would need to be improved and modified, as supplies permitted. That two raiders made it through, in FIS, shows the vulnerability of being stuck alone.
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Good points, Senmut.
You're absolutely correct. A real-world aircraft carrier would not be in the direct lines of combat with other capital ships. It's effectiveness is its reach with its fighters. Yes, carriers have the means to defend themselves (close in, point defense systems) from missiles and perhaps to a limited extent, torpedoes, but carry no offensive weaponry, save for the ordnance that is loaded onto their fighters and attack craft.
In science fiction, (regardless of franchise) starships always seem to serve in a multi-role capacity. The U.S.S. Enterprise, whilst largely being a vessel of exploration, also served as battlecruiser on more than one occasion.
In Star Wars, the Imperial Star Destroyer is not just a carrier of fighters, but it is an orbital weapons platform, base of operations, troop carrier, and battleship....thus why it possesses such heavy armaments. I liken the Galactica (both classic and TNS) to the same multi-role. At least there were also Corvettes, Frigates, Cruisers, Patrol Ships, etc in Star Wars.
In Galactica, at least the classic one, there were no supporting combat capital ships...no destroyers, no battleships, no patrol ships, no missile carriers.... the battlestars, and their sinister basestar counter parts, were the end-all/be-all of space capital ship combat, heavily armed and armored. The only tactical level craft were the fighters. But part of the mythos was that these colossal battlestars were millennial aged (or in the case of Galactica, half-millennial) warships that were the only real major line of offense/defense against the Cylons.
In TNS, we didn't exactly see much in the way of smaller cap-ships either (destroyers, escorts, etc) but there was some variety in tactical craft.
[shameless self-promotion] In my "Galactica: The Last Battlestar" story, even though battlestars are very heavily armed, and the Galactica is the latest warship to join the fleet as a new class of battlestar, these ships were also escorted by destroyers and patrol ships. Battlestars rarely operate alone, but they are also involved in direct scraps with the enemy. If I recall correctly though, I did keep the Cylon empire down to baseships, heavy raiders, and raider fighters.
I also had the battlestars serve as deterrents to war between the colonies, which was part of the reason why battlestars were constructed in the first place in my take on the mythos. The Colonials fought among each other for a long time. It wasn't until they exiled themselves from Kobol and came to an (at first) tenuous peace with each other, that they found worlds to settle in the Cyrannus system, and then Caprica constructed the first battlestar...not to serve as an offensive, conquering weapon against the other colonies, but simply to be a deterrent to prevent other colonies from resuming hostilities, especially with Caprica. Eventually, the plans and tech to create battlestars were shared with the other colonies, and with a more fortified accord, the Colonies became known as the United Colonies, and the battlestars helped to form the most powerful war fleet known to man (although I don't think the Cylons knew that
)...soon to be crowned with the state of the art battlestar, Galactica.
[/shameless self-promotion]
