[Titan]

I know it hasn't been posted in, dear lord...

Anyways, am I the only one that noticed that the hoth ion cannon was roughly the size of.... uhm, something really, really big?

I bet Ion Cannons have to be PRETTY be to disable a ship. I estimate that the hoth ion cannon it several times the size of an isd's. The one's on fighters are probably mostly meant for shields.

[The E]

I don't know if canon measurements exist for that thing, but I don't think the Hoth Ion cannon is representative for ion cannons in general, since it had to be able to reach a ship in orbit with enough hitting power to disable it in as few blasts as possible. Ship-mounted Ion cannons can be much, much smaller, because the range is shorter, and you'll probably get more chances to hit your target.

[swashmebuckle]

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/V-150_Planet_Defender  Didn't see any size measurements, but there seems to be an ESB screen that shows it alongside one of the common ground turrets that isn't too far in the background.  So yeah, it's big, and its dedicated power supply is even bigger.

I think it's safe to assume that your Y-wing's ion cannons will not be crippling an ISD a la X-wing .  That doesn't mean that starfighter mounted ions are only good for breaking shields though; stuff the size of say a Lambda shuttle is probably best disabled with ions as you could end up blowing it away while trying to shoot out its engines with lasers.  Even larger ships like bulk freighters could be appropriate targets for a few fighters--hijacking is an important form of procurement for the Alliance.

[EtherShock]

Perhaps make it that a well organized attack (at least a squad for an ISD) could disable a capship? This way the possibility is still there but uncommon and unlikely.

[Archaic]

no, they dont have the power to breach the isd's hull, they might deactivate the odd turbolaser or tractor beam, but they arent going to be making much of a difference. its like the difference between  putting a 9v battery on your tongue, and doing the same with a power transmission cable.

that one ISD that got hit at Hoth probably suffered severe internal damage, the power of the ion beam would likely have blown many turbolaser capacitors and other delicate systems.

a fighter scale ion cannon might scramble a targeting sensor for 5 seconds

[Dragon]

Maybe use it like Akheton SDG ,not for disabling entire ship at once ,but for surgical strikes on subsystems.
Shoot turbolasers ,engines ,reactor and it will be a sitting duck because of lack of power ,and I think very attractive target for boarding teams. You know ,board the ship ,haul it away ,replace fryed electronics and you have an ISD in your side if you will find a crew for it. I always imagined ion cannons overload electronic systems of the ship ,so even ISD could be disabled by fighters if they shoot at critical subsystems. Hoth cannon was so powerful that it burnt all electonics witch one shot.

[aRaven]

btw, make Ion Cannon shots blue!

The Ion Cannon shots in Adywans Empire Revistited are blue!

[MR_T3D]

maybe the reason that the alliance uses ions is simply that it lacks the resources to have sufficient avaionics for targeting specific subsystems...

[Archaic]

that makes no sense, most of their ships are stolen from the empire. so same kit, regardless.

the alliance uses ion cannons because:
a) it means spare or saleable parts for salvage
b) plays hell with turbolaser banks, reducing the amount of incoming fire on the undergunned rebel fleet
c) they can interrogate survivors to find equipment dumps prime for raiding.

[EtherShock]

no, they dont have the power to breach the isd's hull, they might deactivate the odd turbolaser or tractor beam, but they arent going to be making much of a difference. its like the difference between  putting a 9v battery on your tongue, and doing the same with a power transmission cable.

that one ISD that got hit at Hoth probably suffered severe internal damage, the power of the ion beam would likely have blown many turbolaser capacitors and other delicate systems.

a fighter scale ion cannon might scramble a targeting sensor for 5 seconds

Who said anything about breaching hulls? That's what laser cannons are for. The Rebels aren't going to be able to commit a capship for every capship capture operation like the Imperials could.

Maybe use it like Akheton SDG ,not for disabling entire ship at once ,but for surgical strikes on subsystems.
Shoot turbolasers ,engines ,reactor and it will be a sitting duck because of lack of power ,and I think very attractive target for boarding teams. You know ,board the ship ,haul it away ,replace fryed electronics and you have an ISD in your side if you will find a crew for it. I always imagined ion cannons overload electronic systems of the ship ,so even ISD could be disabled by fighters if they shoot at critical subsystems. Hoth cannon was so powerful that it burnt all electonics witch one shot.

This idea would work well with how FS2 works already. Otherwise, you would have to physically damage components, and it wouldn't make sense to destroy the engines or the reactor if you want to capture the ship, though they should still be left as alternative methods for other situations.

btw, make Ion Cannon shots blue!

The Ion Cannon shots in Adywans Empire Revistited are blue!

Is that finished yet? I can't wait to see it. I prefer purple though, like they were originally. He didn't recolor the torpedoes blue in ANH. They're still pink.

[Archaic]

Who said anything about breaching hulls? That's what laser cannons are for. The Rebels aren't going to be able to commit a capship for every capship capture operation like the Imperials could.

just to point out the utter genius of your statement:

the energy has to make it through the hull(pretty much the definition of breach)

a fighter scale ion cannon will dissipate in the armour and wont do squat.

and further more, imperials dont capture ships, they destroy them.

trying to justify equipment capabilities because of force disposition is wrong. "im a good guy, and i have a pistol, you guys are ****ed even though theres a hundred of you and you all have assault rifles." if the previous sentence made no sense, it wasn,t supposed to. it is a paraphrase of your justification of a fighter being able to disable a capital ship.

yeah, the rebels can't spare shipsto capture other ships, but guess what, that's why they steal them from repair facilities. i dont think you realize it, but the ONLY reason the rebelion didnt get crushed, was because they RAN. they had inferior equipment and munitions, and were vastly outgunned and out numbered.

[Mongoose]

and further more, imperials dont capture ships, they destroy them.

Unless you're the Falcon...or the Tantive IV...or...

[Archaic]

Unless you're the Falcon...or the Tantive IV...or...

Thats Vader, and they didnt use ion cannons, and werent interested in the things being usable after the fact.

[The E]

Yet, for some reason, the Empire mounts these things on their capital ships. There are also EU accounts where the imperial forces use ion cannons to disable and capture enemy craft. The Empire may be evil, but they aren't stupid.

[Titan]

Unless you're the Falcon...or the Tantive IV...or...

Thats Vader, and they didnt use ion cannons, and werent interested in the things being usable after the fact.

???

[EtherShock]

Who said anything about breaching hulls? That's what laser cannons are for. The Rebels aren't going to be able to commit a capship for every capship capture operation like the Imperials could.

just to point out the utter genius of your statement:

the energy has to make it through the hull(pretty much the definition of breach)

a fighter scale ion cannon will dissipate in the armour and wont do squat.

and further more, imperials dont capture ships, they destroy them.

trying to justify equipment capabilities because of force disposition is wrong. "im a good guy, and i have a pistol, you guys are ****ed even though theres a hundred of you and you all have assault rifles." if the previous sentence made no sense, it wasn,t supposed to. it is a paraphrase of your justification of a fighter being able to disable a capital ship.

yeah, the rebels can't spare shipsto capture other ships, but guess what, that's why they steal them from repair facilities. i dont think you realize it, but the ONLY reason the rebelion didnt get crushed, was because they RAN. they had inferior equipment and munitions, and were vastly outgunned and out numbered.

Ah I see, we have one of those types that doesn't appreciate smart-assery, but enough semantics...

Well, since I don't have a degree in physics, I'll let someone else handle the physics of the ion cannon.

General Tagge doesn't think the Rebellion was ill-equipped. I do agree that stealth was their greatest weapon though. Even they knew they would've been annihilated if they didn't flee Yavin. They most certainly have their limits. However, greater numbers doesn't always equal superiority, but it certainly helps.

You've just described the Conservation of Ninjutsu, which makes perfect sense with what we saw in the movies! ^_^ I never said the Empire wouldn't have the same capabilities, and I never said a single fighter should be capable of disabling a ship the size of a Star Destroyer. I was merely arguing game mechanics, but believable game mechanics. I know that's pretty much a dirty word on here. We know the Rebels acquired many Nebulon B Frigates by defection or capture. Maybe there is no source other than the games of capturing anything larger than a Frigate, but I think the project needs to follow the universe just a little more loosely for the sake of variety and gameplay instead of strictly adhering to dogma. Well, the modders have the final say. It's up to them.

[The E]

If we stay with the standard FS way of doing these things, meaning that Fighters won't be able to destroy a capship, only specific subsystems, it's going to work allright, I believe.

As for the Rebels capturing Ships, for obvious reasons (personnel and maintenance, for example) they don't have that many Capships. The few they do have are either purpose built (like the MC-80), were captured in combat or defected outright. As for capturing, I think the biggest one they did catch was Lusankya (a SSD), but that was after the Battle of Endor. Before that, the Rebellion couldn't afford the big capships the Empire built (As one of the WEG sources put it, "A Star Destroyer is 800000 design mistakes waiting to be exploited"), and thus didn't even try to acquire them.