Starship Showcase: Mandator IV Siege Dreadnought
Like I have said before this is my own head canon so I get to correct actual canonical short comings of the canonical designs. And yes this craft was canonically designed with built in problems so as to be a plot device. In head canon we don't have those problems because we can actually design a functional star ship without having to come up with a weakness just so the heroes can exploit them.
The Mandator Line is possibly the most successful line of Star Dreadnoughts in the galaxy. Being first built in the years leading up to the Clone Wars these were some of the first true dreadnoughts built since Russan. The Mandator I was a powerful dreadnought that was limited by a hyper drive with an extreme short range only being able to jump within a few tens of light years from their Home Bases. These mighty warships guarded key core worlds leading up to the Clone Wars. The military revolution of the Clone Wars allowed for the Mandator II line to be brought into service with an update on weaponry and more importantly updated hyper drives that allowed the Mandators to cross the galaxy having no need for treaty limits. All of the Mandator I models were upgraded to the Mandator II specs to help supplement the Republics new Dreadnought battle lines. During the Post Clone Wars years the Empire built the newer Mandator III it was the first of the Super Dreadnoughts the Empire would later field being a whole 50% longer than the older models of Mandator. The Empire also fielded the smaller cheaper Bellator class Dreadnought to be a cheaper more numerous Dreadnought to fill its ever expanding need for dreadnoughts. (note all 3 Mandator/Bellator dreadnoughts were in service at once as dreadnoughts were expensive investments and were built to last so as long as they were not lost in combat they would see very long service lives.)
With the brief history of the Madator line out of the way we can now look at the Mandator IV. This was a specialized dreadnought that was built for planetary bombardment first and foremost. These dreadnoughts shared the same keel and power generation system of the Mandator II but has a very different design from there. All of the heavy armor and weapons have been stripped off of the Mandator IV. She is given smaller engines and the hilt section of the aft hull has been removed. This is because the mission profile of the Mandator IV does not need to waste energy on faster engines as its main goal is to engage and destroy planetary shields. The traditional command tower has been removed and replaced with a tower which spans nearly the whole width of the hull pact with different targeting sensors and arrays for the whole purpose for this ship. The two massive orbital auto cannons were built to be able to over load planetary shields and to then slag anything on the ground once the shields have been brought down.
These orbital auto cannons although quite powerful would need to be used in conjunction with several dreadnoughts and a fleet of lesser ships to bring down powerful shields of a developed world. But when it comes to smaller threat shields like the one used by the Rebel Alliance on their Hoth base then the orbital auto cannons are quite capable of bringing those down with ease. The Mandator IV is also capable of being able to use its massive cannons on opposing fleets of ships although it is not recommended to engage the ship in close combat as it is slower and less maneuverable than other ships of its weight category and its auto cannons have a relatively limited firing arc meaning that a good fleet commander could easily move their forces out of the main firing arc of the Mandator IV and keep its guns out of the fray.
The Mandator IV is 7669.72 meters in length being slightly longer than the Bellator dreadnought. The immense power consumption of the orbital auto cannons has forced the Mandator IV to only be equipped with a light armament of 26 heavy turbolasers on its dorsal side as well as a light array of point defense guns to defend against enemy fighter and capitol ship threats. Mandator IVs should never be used without a heavy escort of destroyers, cruisers, and frigates as they are quite expensive and are the most vulnerable of any Star Dreadnought in the Imperial navy. This is not only because they have such a light array of defensive weapons but also because the Mandator IV must also sacrifice powerful shields to power its auto cannons. This means it is equipped with a shield system more akin to one fielded on a smaller destroyer sized ship.
The Mandator IVs mission of planetary assault means that they carry an array of planetary assault vehicles and drop ships to go along with their complement of 22,000 Storm Troopers. This is due to the massive number of troops needed to take a world and if the Mandator IV has to be present to bring down planetary shields then at the very least it can help ferry some of the troops that will be needed to pacify the world if it is deemed that the world does not qualify for a Base Delta Zero operation. The Mandator IV also fields one wing of 72 star fighters for defense.
The Mandator IV is the most specialized dreadnought in the fleet. Theses vessels can be the most powerful vessels in a fleet while also being the glass jaw of the same fleet. Their great cost and resources required to run them makes these mighty vessels a liability if not properly protected. However their ability to crack planetary shields can not be under estimated. Planetary shields can block a planetary invasion and must be breached before any planetary conquest can proceed. This is why the Mandator IV is a game changer, and for this the Imperial Navy will field these mighty vessels.
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| Mandator I |
With the brief history of the Madator line out of the way we can now look at the Mandator IV. This was a specialized dreadnought that was built for planetary bombardment first and foremost. These dreadnoughts shared the same keel and power generation system of the Mandator II but has a very different design from there. All of the heavy armor and weapons have been stripped off of the Mandator IV. She is given smaller engines and the hilt section of the aft hull has been removed. This is because the mission profile of the Mandator IV does not need to waste energy on faster engines as its main goal is to engage and destroy planetary shields. The traditional command tower has been removed and replaced with a tower which spans nearly the whole width of the hull pact with different targeting sensors and arrays for the whole purpose for this ship. The two massive orbital auto cannons were built to be able to over load planetary shields and to then slag anything on the ground once the shields have been brought down.
These orbital auto cannons although quite powerful would need to be used in conjunction with several dreadnoughts and a fleet of lesser ships to bring down powerful shields of a developed world. But when it comes to smaller threat shields like the one used by the Rebel Alliance on their Hoth base then the orbital auto cannons are quite capable of bringing those down with ease. The Mandator IV is also capable of being able to use its massive cannons on opposing fleets of ships although it is not recommended to engage the ship in close combat as it is slower and less maneuverable than other ships of its weight category and its auto cannons have a relatively limited firing arc meaning that a good fleet commander could easily move their forces out of the main firing arc of the Mandator IV and keep its guns out of the fray.
The Mandator IV is 7669.72 meters in length being slightly longer than the Bellator dreadnought. The immense power consumption of the orbital auto cannons has forced the Mandator IV to only be equipped with a light armament of 26 heavy turbolasers on its dorsal side as well as a light array of point defense guns to defend against enemy fighter and capitol ship threats. Mandator IVs should never be used without a heavy escort of destroyers, cruisers, and frigates as they are quite expensive and are the most vulnerable of any Star Dreadnought in the Imperial navy. This is not only because they have such a light array of defensive weapons but also because the Mandator IV must also sacrifice powerful shields to power its auto cannons. This means it is equipped with a shield system more akin to one fielded on a smaller destroyer sized ship.
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| Mandator VI |
The Mandator IV is the most specialized dreadnought in the fleet. Theses vessels can be the most powerful vessels in a fleet while also being the glass jaw of the same fleet. Their great cost and resources required to run them makes these mighty vessels a liability if not properly protected. However their ability to crack planetary shields can not be under estimated. Planetary shields can block a planetary invasion and must be breached before any planetary conquest can proceed. This is why the Mandator IV is a game changer, and for this the Imperial Navy will field these mighty vessels.
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