[qwadtep]

I'm pretty sure the new GTVA destroyers are supposed to outclass the Karuna et al. so much that the latter's only chance at (relative) victory is a ramming charge. Much the same as how the Sathanas steamrolls everything the GTVA throws at it in FS2 storywise, even if a Fenris can solo it ingame.

Remember that the Orestes repeatedly forces the Lucifer to retreat in AoA. And then Steele added a sprint drive.

[MatthTheGeek]

The Orestes plus a Chimera plus a Bellerophon. About doubling its firepower.

[-Norbert-]

Plus an Anemoi greatly increasing their endurance. Without the supply ship to patch them up in between the battles, I think they'd have been wiped out before the Bei and the Vishnans arrived to turn the tide.

[qwadtep]

And the Atreus has those things too, and then some, and isn't stranded in Shivan territory.

The point is that the Raynor, with minimal fleet support, is a capable enough ship to defeat a superdestroyer that itself ripped through Great War-era ships in seconds. The Karuna, which was designed for policing and patrol, doesn't stand a chance. It's what makes Narayanas and Solarises so valuable.

[Aesaar]

The Orestes plus a Chimera plus a Bellerophon. About doubling its firepower.

Against the Lucifer and at least a Demon.

[MatthTheGeek]

You mean the Demon that gets so ridiculously nailed in the first seconds of the combat ?

[General Battuta]

HAI LUCY WHATS GOING ON

[Aesaar]

You mean the Demon that gets so ridiculously nailed in the first seconds of the combat ?

  The first second of the battle we see.  There were other battles before, remember?

[esarai]

This is something that has always puzzled me... why do UEF weapons even HAVE a maximum range?  They're mass drivers, and afaik mass doesn't just magically disappear, so theoretically the UEF should greatly outrange the GTVA, given that the GTVA weapons are subject to diffusion effects, provided they haven't attained magnetic bottling abilities on par with the Lucifer.  If they have, then the only logical explanation I can arrive at is that the range we observe is the limit of the tactical targeting computer, and that their actual effective ranges are much greater but only useful against large-scale strategic targets.

[Aesaar]

Presumably for the same reason the one of the longest range guided Fire-and-Forget missiles in FS has a "long" range of 5km.  That reason is Acceptable Breaks from Reality.

I tend to say it's ECM saturation of a battlespace preventing targeting at range, but if that were the case, weapons would probably all have the same range.

[General Battuta]

This is something that has always puzzled me... why do UEF weapons even HAVE a maximum range?  They're mass drivers, and afaik mass doesn't just magically disappear, so theoretically the UEF should greatly outrange the GTVA, given that the GTVA weapons are subject to diffusion effects, provided they haven't attained magnetic bottling abilities on par with the Lucifer.  If they have, then the only logical explanation I can arrive at is that the range we observe is the limit of the tactical targeting computer, and that their actual effective ranges are much greater but only useful against large-scale strategic targets.

FreeSpace physics make no sense. Your explanation also makes no sense. The reason bullets stop after 4.8 km or whatever is the same reason ships stop when they're disabled.

[Scotty]

This is something that has always puzzled me... why do UEF weapons even HAVE a maximum range?

Why do white-hot beams of plasma have a maximum range that's measurable in single-digit or low-double-digit kilometers?

Because otherwise the game would be a chess game of positioning your ships thousands of kilometers away and praying they can't move fast enough to avoid your attack, that's why.

[crizza]

Reminds me of the combat in 40k, where battle ships duke it out at long range.

[esarai]

FreeSpace physics make no sense. Your explanation also makes no sense. The reason bullets stop after 4.8 km or whatever is the same reason ships stop when they're disabled.

Space dude, space.  It has negligible friction, but then again that's me attempting to use real-world physics in a universe that has some magical space-friction that keeps everything right where it is when it's not powered so idkwtf.

[Klaustrophobia]

has everyone forgotten about the standard space handwavium?  inertial dampeners.  i'm pretty sure i even scanned a cargo container containing them in retail FS1 or 2, can't remember which.

[General Battuta]

has everyone forgotten about the standard space handwavium?  inertial dampeners.  i'm pretty sure i even scanned a cargo container containing them in retail FS1 or 2, can't remember which.

The problem is there's no reason you couldn't shut them off when you wanted the advantages of 'normal' physics (i.e. your ship has just been disabled).

[qwadtep]

Why do white-hot beams of plasma have a maximum range that's measurable in single-digit or low-double-digit kilometers?

Because otherwise the game would be a chess game of positioning your ships thousands of kilometers away and praying they can't move fast enough to avoid your attack, that's why.

That and because plasma dissipates too quickly under its own energy to be used as a long-distance weapon. Once it's out of whatever magical containment field FS2 ships lose the beam loses its cohesion and is lost to space.

[Klaustrophobia]

has everyone forgotten about the standard space handwavium?  inertial dampeners.  i'm pretty sure i even scanned a cargo container containing them in retail FS1 or 2, can't remember which.

The problem is there's no reason you couldn't shut them off when you wanted the advantages of 'normal' physics (i.e. your ship has just been disabled).

don't go adding logic into handwavium.  what's the matter with you?

[QuakeIV]

Restrain him!  Handwavium is highly volatile when exposed to logic!   

[qwadtep]

Occam's razor says that they don't turn the inertial dampeners off because the inertial dampeners can't be turned off. Maybe that's the secret project, inertial dehumidifiers.