[TrashMan]

Well, we seen no shivan planets and those ships must come from somewhere....

Shivans might be nomadic, but if tehy don't conquer planets, where do they get resources for ships?

[Grizzly]

Ehm.. they became nomadic after they build those ships?

[Grizzly]

Yay, he's not talking in the third person!

It is stalking me!!! 

[TrashMan]

Ehm.. they became nomadic after they build those ships?

That would mean that they can't replace their losses..in which case the GTVA could win by a simple war of attrition (over time)

[Grizzly]

Had a war, built thousands of jaggernauts, got blown up, then became nomadic?

By the way, I don't think a war of attrition would be a possibility if you can have ... say 5 jaggernauts per GTVA controlled system.

[TrashMan]

Well, you have to control the bottlenecks (nodes). Immageine if half the GTVA fleet would blockade Capella from the capella side.

Only so many ships can jump in at once and ther'es also the issue of clearing the node....even if a Sath were to jump in, 20+ destroyers all opening fire at once...PWNAGE

[Gamma_Draconis]

I dunno, that Sathanas can probably jump in and rape at least one ship before its destruction. Not to mention that the Shivans probably have huge amounts of other smaller ships that are probably destroying the rest of GTVA space.

[Hades]

Well, you have to control the bottlenecks (nodes). Immageine if half the GTVA fleet would blockade Capella from the capella side.

Only so many ships can jump in at once and ther'es also the issue of clearing the node....even if a Sath were to jump in, 20+ destroyers all opening fire at once...PWNAGE

Well Command is a Dumbass so he didn't think of that.

[TrashMan]

I dunno, that Sathanas can probably jump in and rape at least one ship before its destruction. Not to mention that the Shivans probably have huge amounts of other smaller ships that are probably destroying the rest of GTVA space.

Hm...maby..Sath, being a big ship, crosses a lot of distance before stoping (when jumping in)..so he would esentially zip past the blockading ships leaving his rear exposed for some ...raping

Assuming he still manages to take out a destroyer, that would still be very costly for the shivans..1 Jug lost for every GTVA destroyer!

[Gamma_Draconis]

I dunno, that Sathanas can probably jump in and rape at least one ship before its destruction. Not to mention that the Shivans probably have huge amounts of other smaller ships that are probably destroying the rest of GTVA space.

Hm...maby..Sath, being a big ship, crosses a lot of distance before stoping (when jumping in)..so he would esentially zip past the blockading ships leaving his rear exposed for some ...raping

Assuming he still manages to take out a destroyer, that would still be very costly for the shivans..1 Jug lost for every GTVA destroyer!

I doubt the GTVA even have a 1:1 ratio of destroyers to Sathanas. What they should do is, like on JAD where they blocked the area where a ship would usually jump in with a destroyer and cause them to blow themselves up. But then theres the problem of the ship jumping out from the other side of the jump nod so we'll just place another destroyer there. Ahh, I love JAD, I want JAD4 NOW!

[AlphaOne]

If that were the case then the GTVA would run out of destroyers before the shivans run out of juggs.

Also there is a little matter of the smaller warships like the ravana.

Also why waste a full destroyer on it when you can have a couple of RBC's to do the same job faster and safer.  Of course you can  not replace all the destroyers but at least it would some of them to engage other shivan warships. And in an emergency they can jump in and take part in the battle.

[TrashMan]

Eh?
If there is only one way for shivans to enter the system, and that node is blockaded by a dozen destroyers and a score of corvettes and cruisers than it stands to reason that if a Sath can'tget in, neither can a ravana...or anything smaller for that matter.

Also, it is questionable if a Sath would manage to destroy even one destroyer before getting blown to bits... (well ,if we count in "Death beams" - aka shooting when still dead - then it's far more possible, but then again that's a FREDing fluke not a FS universe mechanic)

[Snail]

Also there is a little matter of the smaller warships like the ravana.

Why do you think this?

[AlphaOne]

Well since a ravana seemed to have smashed more then a couple of ships before it was eventualy destroyed. It is a good ofensive destroyer it is the sort of design which would be very well suited for the GTVA ! However it should not be the part of the bulk of the fleet since such a design would only hinder the GTVA in the long run since it is even more vulnerable to fighter/bommber attacks then the Orion.

[Snail]

That doesn't answer my question...

[S-99]

Well, we seen no shivan planets and those ships must come from somewhere....

Shivans might be nomadic, but if tehy don't conquer planets, where do they get resources for ships?

Resources could easily come from asteroids, the asteroid belt in our solar system is chock full of resources you could thrive on for a long time.

[Stormkeeper]

There is a possibility that the Shivan vessels are organic, you know. Their interior, although we don't have a really good look at it, makes the ship seem grown rather than built. Also they way the Saths curved their beam arms before jumping is impossible for a normal ship to achieve. It means either the Shivans have radically different construction materials, or their ships are organic.

[AlphaOne]

I'l go for some sorth of techno-organic materials. As for the smaller ships getting through...well...if it jumped just a second or so afther the sath then in theory it should be able to fire at least one salvo before it is taken out.

[Grizzly]

Aren't we a bit off-topic now?

[Gamma_Draconis]

Hmm, I just came up with a radical idea of what the Shivans really are. Maybe the Shivan ships are actually another species and that the Shivans we see inside of them are another species and together, the two species share a symbiotic relationship.