False Equivalences
Often we see tales of clone wars era equipment that is supposedly obsolete because there is a newer and larger imperial model that is somewhat similar therefore the old model is obsolete and inferior in every way. This was a brain bug that originally came about pre prequels era EU but continued even after the prequels. Take the Victory and Venator star destroyers. Fine destroyers that filled their roles well but if we are to believe the EU then they were all made obsolete because the Imperator was developed only 2 to 3 years later and because its larger it must have completely replaced them.
Now we have examples like the Destroyers but we also have examples like Imperial walkers. During the Clone Wars the AT-TE were the main battle walker of the Republic yet by the time we see another full scale ground battle the AT-AT seems to be filling the role as main battle walker. We have big problems with these assumptions though. Are we to assume that these two walkers are going to fill the same role?
Clearly these two walkers fill different roles. Yes they share some similarities as they both can deploy troops into battle but nonetheless they fill very different roles. The AT-TE fills the role of an infantry support tank being a low enough and covered with enough anti infantry weapons to protect an infantry advance as well as a heavier cannon with variable ordnance to defend against larger armored vehicles or buildings much like the M4 Sherman was used on Earth. The AT-TE would be ideal for supporting infantry in an urban environment being small enough to navigate streets while also large enough to smash through obstacles while also having weapons coverage for 360 degrees. paired with an infantry squad or platoon these war machines are quite effective.
The AT-AT fills the role of an APC that doubles as light artillery. The AT-AT has no real world counterpart as we clearly don't have weapons like them but we can still see their use. They are great for carrying troops over open fields under heavy enemy fire. To be able to deal with the heavy enemy fire the AT-AT is equipped with a heavy forward firing arc of heavy blasters and lasers. These weapons are limited in their fire arc but are powerful enough to smash most things they can actually hit. Where the AT-AT fails is that their is no protection on its underside or rear which means that they will need protection from smaller vehicles like the AT-ST, AT-PT, or even our old friend the AT-TE.
What this comparison shows is that these two vehicles although may be large walkers fill different roles. Whats funny is that both walkers were used during the Clone Wars together filling each of their own unique roles. Both vehicles have a role in the order of battle the only problem falls to lazy authors who can not comprehend that smaller vehicles which would not be as powerful as the larger one may have a use and in fact may be more useful on the battle field than the larger more powerful war machine.
Now lets address the Star Destroyer conundrum. EU authors for years talked of how the Victory was so obsolete compared to the Imperator even though we now know that the ships were developed only 2 to 3 years apart. To me this looks more like Republic naval planners had plans for a multi ship classed fleet and that the Victory and Venators were just the first ships to be produced hence they did the majority of the fighting during the Clone Wars since the Imperator only saw service in the last months of the conflict. This helps explain why the Venator a nominal destroyer/ carrier was being used in the role that the Imperator should have been used for.
Lets analyse what each ship class would have been most effective at. Firstly we have the Victory Class. Being the smallest of the classic Republic /Imperial Era destroyers. The Victory would have been both cheaper and less crew intensive compared to heavier vessels and adding its heavy missile battery the Victory is really an ideal pocket destroyer. Both cheap but being able to fight at above its weight class would imply. These ships would have been perfect for filling in defense fleets rosters, as well as filling the destroyer escort role for large dreadnought lines.
Now to the Venator which saw extensive use during the Clone wars primarily because of the Imperator not being on line in time these ships suffered disproportionate higher losses than needed due to the fact that they were being used as a main battle line destroyer even though they are more suited for a support role in the battle line. The Venator although larger than the Victory packed a similar punch in fire power while also carrying a massive fighter wing of over 500 star fighters. The Venator would have been ideal for also escorting planetary assault fleets and transporting ground units to battle fields with their massive hangar bays. The great down side to the Venator is that because of their massive hangars they are somewhat glass jawed and can take less damage than both the Victory and Imperator as the Venators hollowed interior is naturally going to fail sooner than the more densely built sister designs.
Finally we have the Imperator class Star Destroyer. (also known as the Imperial class but considering that Imperator falls in line with Kuat naming and it just sounds more cool) The Imperator out masses both the Victory and Venator by an order of magnitude. Her reactor is many times larger than either ship class which is important when your weapons are energy based and need to draw from a reactor meaning that Imperators are an order of magnitude more powerful. As ships of the line go the Imperator is well rounded being able to both inflict massive damage as well as being able to absorb large amounts of damage due to its heavy armor and powerful shields. The Imperators standard load out is a nice mix of fighter craft and ground assault vehicles making these ships ideal for patrolling the vast Empire having enough support craft for most low intensity conflicts. The down side for the Imperator class and why there is a need for other classes of destroyer is primarily in the extreme costs in man power and resources these craft would require. I'm not saying that money is a problem for a galactic Empire that can build multiple Death Stars but that its more efficient to use multiple Victory Class ships which also gives a fleet commander more flexibility.
My over all hypothesis is that even though some models of vehicle may be more powerful they are in fact there to supplement the rest of the military not to out right replace the other craft in the military. Most of our physical evidence for vehicles being replaced by more powerful models is mainly from the Clone Wars which is not an ideal time as the Republic military was constantly changing as new weapon systems were being developed and produced. Remember prior to the Clone Wars the Republic had been through 1000 years of peace and had no institutional memory of how to wage a galactic war. These vehicles were meant to work together in a fully combined armed military where they would be able to support each others strengths and weaknesses. I should also state that their are probably many more examples of multiple weapon systems being used in tandem instead
of being replacements for each other but these were the quick few that came to my mind
Now we have examples like the Destroyers but we also have examples like Imperial walkers. During the Clone Wars the AT-TE were the main battle walker of the Republic yet by the time we see another full scale ground battle the AT-AT seems to be filling the role as main battle walker. We have big problems with these assumptions though. Are we to assume that these two walkers are going to fill the same role?
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| All Terrain Tactical Enforcer at the Battle of Bothawui |
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| All Terrain Armored Transport at the Battle of Hoth |
Clearly these two walkers fill different roles. Yes they share some similarities as they both can deploy troops into battle but nonetheless they fill very different roles. The AT-TE fills the role of an infantry support tank being a low enough and covered with enough anti infantry weapons to protect an infantry advance as well as a heavier cannon with variable ordnance to defend against larger armored vehicles or buildings much like the M4 Sherman was used on Earth. The AT-TE would be ideal for supporting infantry in an urban environment being small enough to navigate streets while also large enough to smash through obstacles while also having weapons coverage for 360 degrees. paired with an infantry squad or platoon these war machines are quite effective.
The AT-AT fills the role of an APC that doubles as light artillery. The AT-AT has no real world counterpart as we clearly don't have weapons like them but we can still see their use. They are great for carrying troops over open fields under heavy enemy fire. To be able to deal with the heavy enemy fire the AT-AT is equipped with a heavy forward firing arc of heavy blasters and lasers. These weapons are limited in their fire arc but are powerful enough to smash most things they can actually hit. Where the AT-AT fails is that their is no protection on its underside or rear which means that they will need protection from smaller vehicles like the AT-ST, AT-PT, or even our old friend the AT-TE.
What this comparison shows is that these two vehicles although may be large walkers fill different roles. Whats funny is that both walkers were used during the Clone Wars together filling each of their own unique roles. Both vehicles have a role in the order of battle the only problem falls to lazy authors who can not comprehend that smaller vehicles which would not be as powerful as the larger one may have a use and in fact may be more useful on the battle field than the larger more powerful war machine.
Now lets address the Star Destroyer conundrum. EU authors for years talked of how the Victory was so obsolete compared to the Imperator even though we now know that the ships were developed only 2 to 3 years apart. To me this looks more like Republic naval planners had plans for a multi ship classed fleet and that the Victory and Venators were just the first ships to be produced hence they did the majority of the fighting during the Clone Wars since the Imperator only saw service in the last months of the conflict. This helps explain why the Venator a nominal destroyer/ carrier was being used in the role that the Imperator should have been used for.
Lets analyse what each ship class would have been most effective at. Firstly we have the Victory Class. Being the smallest of the classic Republic /Imperial Era destroyers. The Victory would have been both cheaper and less crew intensive compared to heavier vessels and adding its heavy missile battery the Victory is really an ideal pocket destroyer. Both cheap but being able to fight at above its weight class would imply. These ships would have been perfect for filling in defense fleets rosters, as well as filling the destroyer escort role for large dreadnought lines.
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| Victory star destroyers. |
Now to the Venator which saw extensive use during the Clone wars primarily because of the Imperator not being on line in time these ships suffered disproportionate higher losses than needed due to the fact that they were being used as a main battle line destroyer even though they are more suited for a support role in the battle line. The Venator although larger than the Victory packed a similar punch in fire power while also carrying a massive fighter wing of over 500 star fighters. The Venator would have been ideal for also escorting planetary assault fleets and transporting ground units to battle fields with their massive hangar bays. The great down side to the Venator is that because of their massive hangars they are somewhat glass jawed and can take less damage than both the Victory and Imperator as the Venators hollowed interior is naturally going to fail sooner than the more densely built sister designs.
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| A squadron of Venators |
Finally we have the Imperator class Star Destroyer. (also known as the Imperial class but considering that Imperator falls in line with Kuat naming and it just sounds more cool) The Imperator out masses both the Victory and Venator by an order of magnitude. Her reactor is many times larger than either ship class which is important when your weapons are energy based and need to draw from a reactor meaning that Imperators are an order of magnitude more powerful. As ships of the line go the Imperator is well rounded being able to both inflict massive damage as well as being able to absorb large amounts of damage due to its heavy armor and powerful shields. The Imperators standard load out is a nice mix of fighter craft and ground assault vehicles making these ships ideal for patrolling the vast Empire having enough support craft for most low intensity conflicts. The down side for the Imperator class and why there is a need for other classes of destroyer is primarily in the extreme costs in man power and resources these craft would require. I'm not saying that money is a problem for a galactic Empire that can build multiple Death Stars but that its more efficient to use multiple Victory Class ships which also gives a fleet commander more flexibility.
 |
| a group of Republic era Imperators |
My over all hypothesis is that even though some models of vehicle may be more powerful they are in fact there to supplement the rest of the military not to out right replace the other craft in the military. Most of our physical evidence for vehicles being replaced by more powerful models is mainly from the Clone Wars which is not an ideal time as the Republic military was constantly changing as new weapon systems were being developed and produced. Remember prior to the Clone Wars the Republic had been through 1000 years of peace and had no institutional memory of how to wage a galactic war. These vehicles were meant to work together in a fully combined armed military where they would be able to support each others strengths and weaknesses. I should also state that their are probably many more examples of multiple weapon systems being used in tandem instead
of being replacements for each other but these were the quick few that came to my mind
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