Hard Light Productions Forums
Archived Boards => The Archive => Blackwater Operations => Topic started by: CT27 on July 01, 2015, 12:43:01 pm
-
A couple minor questions about the Golgotha:
1-What class of ship will it be? Will it be the GTSD/GTDn/GTJ Golgotha?
2-I forgot how long BWO takes place after FS2, but how did the GTVA military planners justify building it? Didn't the Colossus kind of temper the enthusiasm for 'eggs in one basket' big ships?
-
I think the whole idea behind the Golgotha is that it was none of those things you just described.
-
GTD Golgotha
Class: Destroyer Prototype
Length: 3617 Meters
Weapon Systems (capships): 1 Meson Reaction Core Particle Beam, 2 TSB-11 Photon Beam Cannons, 4 Modified TSB-8 Photon Beam Cannons, 4 TAF-6 Anti-Fighter Beam Cannons, 18 Pulse Emitters, 8 Flak Cannons
Max. Standard Velocity: 20 m/s
Hull Strength: 200000 ASE (Collapsed Core Molybdenum Sheathing)
Fleet Yards: Classified
A radical departure from traditional GTVA destroyer design, the Golgotha has been designed in the post-Capella age. As such it has been designed to take on the largest and most powerful Shivan destroyers and juggernauts and win. The Golgotha's main weapon is an experimental Meson cannon, harnessing immense power and focusing it into a cohesive energy beam many times more powerful than any conventional beam cannon. Somewhat faster and more heavily armoured than an Orion-class, the destroyer carries only two fighter squadrons (less than half of a normal complement). Nevertheless, with a suitable support fleet nothing can rival the Golgotha's destructive power. The crews of this vessel have not nicknamed it the 'giant killer' without good reason.
Maybe you'll get more info if Raven decides to do a presentation of it.
-
Am I nuts or was there fiction that the Golgotha was going to be a class of agile, effective, reasonably affordable heavy combatants for killing things bigger than them? I thought there were either lots of them or plans for lots of them.
-
AFAIK you are correct, it is a prototype for a class of vessel. The intention was to build a lot of them and that plan may or may not have started to be put into action. But at the start of the campaign it is a unique ship with asymmetric damage potential.
-
How do the Golgotha's other anti-cap beam cannons (other than its primary one) compare to blue beam cannons? For instance, is the TSB-11 comparable to the HBlue?
-
If you take out the main, its about on par with an Orion, IIRC.
-
So the non-main beams are on par with BGreens then?
-
The TSB-11's are BGreens, the TSB-8's are MGreens (so it's something between SGreen and BGreen).
Am I nuts or was there fiction that the Golgotha was going to be a class of agile, effective, reasonably affordable heavy combatants for killing things bigger than them? I thought there were either lots of them or plans for lots of them.
That's the idea, yes. Don't let the length in that tech description fool you, though. I'm sure it will be shortened a bit in its final iteration. It will still be longer than an Orion or Hecate, but keep in mind that the Golgotha not only has a very slim silhuette, but also has a lot of open space in its "bounding box", effectively making its volume comparable to that of an Hecate.
In any case, the Golgotha assembles a lot of firepower inside a small frame. It's a real war machine, but that comes at the expense of other attributes: it has a small fighter complement, it's meson system is prone to glitches and failure, etc
EDIT: a presentation of the Golgotha is still a long way off. I'm modelling it quite slowly, in part because there are other assets that require more attention (and my time is limited), but also because being the poster boy of the campaign, the Golgotha needs that nurture that only comes with time and proper "inspiration" :P
Some of the posts we're going to make are going to be WiP stuff, though, so you might see something about it before it is finished.
-
also, the Golgotha is a bit of a glass cannon. it is able to generate a whole lot more firepower than it can take.
-
That makes perfect sense. It's a min-maxed solution to Sathanas trouble. If it ever gets shot at something's gone horribly wrong.
Althoooo I guess you gotta worry about ~SHOCK JUMPS~
-
Not quite. Note that Bob said that it can generate more firepower than it can take. The Meson canon has a lot of power, enough to blow a destroyer up in 1 shot. It still can take a beating and keep at it, including shock jumps from anything, bar a Sathanas.
-
So it's a production version of the experimental cannon in Derelict?
-
Not quite. Note that Bob said that it can generate more firepower than it can take. The Meson canon has a lot of power, enough to blow a destroyer up in 1 shot. It still can take a beating and keep at it, including shock jumps from anything, bar a Sathanas.
I think 'bar a Sathanas' is the bar you need to clear to stop worrying about shock jumps post-Capella.
-
So it's a production version of the experimental cannon in Derelict?
Touché!
I think 'bar a Sathanas' is the bar you need to clear to stop worrying about shock jumps post-Capella.
Would it be feasable, though? I mean, that would require a lot of armor plating, per vessel. In the end they would end up falling into the Colossus fallacy, pouring insurmountable amounts of resources into each vessel.
However, there's other ways of protecting a Golgotha against a Sathanas. The most common being using an AWACs for beam jamming. No one expects the Golgotha do operate alone.
-
No, I totally agree. My point was that it's a minmaxed solution (which is a very smart solution) - it says 'okay, we cannot survive a shockjump or a line engagement, so let's find a way to kill Sathaneses that doesn't try to win either of those scenarios.'
And I am always happy to hear more love for the magic of the AWACS beam jammer :yes:
I think the vague hints of strategic doctrine in BWO fiction years ago were a big inspiration for the way Blue Planet handles this stuff. Smarter, more resilient, more agile - not bigger.
-
I think the vague hints of strategic doctrine in BWO fiction years ago were a big inspiration for the way Blue Planet handles this stuff. Smarter, more resilient, more agile - not bigger.
I think that was pretty much what set us apart from everything else back then. Most if not all of the concurrent projects were more worried with the "go bigger, flashier" approach, rather than what we were doing. :)
-
It's also the logical progression of the in-universe technology course for Terrans, provided one learned the lessons of the Colossus.
-
It says it carries 2 fighter squadrons (24 fighters I believe).
What kind of craft do you think those are? I'd imagine interceptors and maybe some Herc 2s.
-
Herc 2's... That would be too low tech for the GTVI, don't you think? :D
It also carries bombers, although not a full squadron of them. Thing about having an elite pilot pool, is that it doesn't make much sense to have the squadrons designated by roles like intercept, space superiority, etc.
-
So squadrons in this case aren't all one craft (like Hammerheads were Myrmidons in FS2)?
Makes sense.
-
FS2 had some mixed squadrons too. Heavy assault pilots switched to bombers, the Blue Lions were elite and had a wide range of ship selections.
-
That's the idea, yes :)
-
It's also the logical progression of the in-universe technology course for Terrans, provided one learned the lessons of the Colossus.
Although going with historic fallacies that FS tends to dip into in a full blown 30 years after FS2 I'd assume we'd see a Maginot line situation that the Shivans blitz through and an abandoned "mobile doctrine" approach is rapidly adapted again.
i.e. my head cannon for what would happen post BWO ;)
-
I want a cannon on my head too... :(
-
Obligatory xkcd (https://xkcd.com/1401/)
-
When BWO is released, will it (and the Golgotha) be compatible with the 2014 MVPs?
-
Yes. If we're still on the 2014 MediaVPs by the time it comes out. All newly-released campaigns can be presumed to be compatible with the most recent MediaVPs of the time.
-
Yes. If we're still on the 2014 MediaVPs by the time it comes out. All newly-released campaigns can be presumed to be compatible with the most recent MediaVPs of the time.
This