- chickenlittle
- |
- Fabled Mythic Member
Posted by: OrderedComa
Posted By: chickenlittle
If that were true, it would have been done in the past to help even the odds. It's not that the AI couldn't do it. It's just that the UNSC captains never thought of trying it, or all failed trying.
We don't know all the details of all the battles, it's not an impossibility that Covenant plasma has been turned against them before.We don't know for sure for some battles. However, considering we know of at least a dozen others where the plasma was not used, and only one where it was, and that being an extremely desperate maneuver, the logical conclusion was that human fleets used conventional tactics, not using the plasma.
When you need three ships to make an even fight with the enemy's one, that is pretty much the definition of curb stomping right there. I'm not saying the UNSC didn't have any victories; they did, scattered here and there. However, the vast majority of naval engagements were losses due to the overwhelming superiority of Covenant ships.
We are going to have to agree to disagree on this one, I don't hold the whole 3:1 ratio as law, heck I don't even really agree with it at all because I think the books do an awful job with Covenant military might, they make them too powerful. The way the power of the Covenant ships and weaponry is described the UNSC should not have had any victories or even had the chance to destroy Covie ships except by Spartan nuke delivery service.What? The UNSC won because they had 3:1 odds. If it had been any less they would have lost every time. Please read privet caboose's post for sources of this.
When the gameplay is limited by the technology available, it is reasonable to do so. When you have the capacity to add something, but don't, and it doesn't make any sense, it is not a valid excuse. The escorts and turrets on the ships do what they're supposed to. They're turbolasers; hell, in Episode IV, some random Imperial tells Vader the single ships are too small to hit with turbolaser. Even so, they still attack the single ships. The only thing changed is their effectiveness, not their role.
That's not the only time it's a valid excuse. It makes perfect sense to not include something that should be there because it'd make things too hard, case in point the majority of the Covenant shipboard plasma weaponry, you wouldn't stand a chance against the standard ship weaponry. And I don't think the ones in BFII are supposed to be turbolasers, they're not in the right places for one thing.On the other hand, you'd have plenty of good chances. Plasma torpedoes aren't used against single ships, which can evade it. Only the the pulse lasers are for single ships, which you actually see firing at you, and they can kill you. In this case, it seems to be a case of "I don't think they'll notice, let's place minesweeper instead!".
As far as I know from the novels, the only things necessary for Slipspace travel are the Slipspace drive, and enough mass to hold together during exit into normal space, which Unyielding Heirophant would have, based upon its size. As for the dropships, that's another hole. Toward the end of First Strike, the Spartan II's use a Spirit dropship to drop out of Slipspace while the Gettysburg stays on course. Due to the dropship being tiny, it would normally shake itself to pieces during the transition. The team reinforced it using enough Titanium A beams that there was barely room to stand. When it finally did transition, the dropship was a broken wreck, with the beams and chassis mostly broken or melted.
I don't think it's entirely about the mass, I think it's more about how it's built. Take for instance the ship Halsey comandeers, it sounds about the same size as the Phantom or the Spirit, and it can go through Slipspace just fine and dandy without damaging the structure of the craft. And all the Covie craft except the Spirit are built rather aerodynamically you could say, the Spirit is not, it's got a funky shape that doesn't look like it'd hold up well from a Slipspace jump. Yes, the UNSC ships are not really close to aerodynamic and are a little blocky looking, but they still look like something that'd hold up from a jump. The way the Unyielding Heirophant is built, it doesn't sound like something that'd hold together from a jump, it doesn't sound like it's shaped the way most Covie craft and stations are. High Charity, however, holds to the "aerodynamic" design of Covenant craft and looks like something rock solid and able to easily go through Slipspace and come out in one piece.High Charity is a big ball of hollowed out rock with engines on the back. Unyielding Heirophant wasn't a big ball, but rather a huge centre with docking stations on either end. Both have massive mass, so shape shouldn't be an issue. Especially considering apparently Banshees can now leave Slipspace perfectly intact, while Spirits can't.
As for the Chyloptera(sp?) class vessel Halsey took, it was designed as a stealth craft. Oni discontinued it because it broke down too often. It was specially designed to enter Slipspace and transition out of it with a very small wake. It would have taken them quite a while to get the design right.