[Spoilers] The Missing scene?

n7axw wrote:I can see the bcs as having value for the job of dealing with pirates and other opponents not in possession on the GA's latest and greatest. The Nevadas and Indifatigables received their updates more faithfully than the sds and had a lot more use.

Having an SD as a status symbol isn't about utility or updates. It is about having a Superdreadnought for shock and awe -- mostly awe -- value when visiting neighbors or when neighbors visit.

Weird Harold wrote:

n7axw wrote:I can see the bcs as having value for the job of dealing with pirates and other opponents not in possession on the GA's latest and greatest. The Nevadas and Indifatigables received their updates more faithfully than the sds and had a lot more use.

Having an SD as a status symbol isn't about utility or updates. It is about having a Superdreadnought for shock and awe -- mostly awe -- value when visiting neighbors or when neighbors visit.

SDs for pirates? Dubious at best, they're not all that much faster than the MM ships they're chasing, Plus given the crew size needed, thats a lot of splits for the crew. SDs for anti piracy makes as much sense as using them for piracy. One does not need Ship-of-the-wall power to take down a merchant ship. Now empire building is yet a different kettle of fish, and I can imagine those former SLN fleet commanders going the Barregos/Anderman route and coercing their planetary governments into capitulating

pappilon wrote:Having an SD as a status symbol isn't about utility or updates. It is about having a Superdreadnought for shock and awe -- mostly awe -- value when visiting neighbors or when neighbors visit.

SDs for pirates? Dubious at best, they're not all that much faster than the MM ships they're chasing, ...[/quote]

I doubt Pirates would be interested in SDs (although, given the undesireable nature of SLN SDs for any practical use, they're bound to be cheaper than BCs and smaller. ) Status Symbol SDs are for tin-pot dictators and wannabe warlords.

pappilon wrote:Having an SD as a status symbol isn't about utility or updates. It is about having a Superdreadnought for shock and awe -- mostly awe -- value when visiting neighbors or when neighbors visit.

SDs for pirates? Dubious at best, they're not all that much faster than the MM ships they're chasing, ...[/quote]

Weird Harold wrote:
I doubt Pirates would be interested in SDs (although, given the undesireable nature of SLN SDs for any practical use, they're bound to be cheaper than BCs and smaller. ) Status Symbol SDs are for tin-pot dictators and wannabe warlords.

Agreed. However, there will be several if not many tin pot dictators. Their possession of SDs will sort of fuel demand for Manty cruisers capable of killing them. Well, at least LACs capable of defending the homeworld.

PeterZ wrote:Agreed. However, there will be several if not many tin pot dictators. Their possession of SDs will sort of fuel demand for Manty cruisers capable of killing them. Well, at least LACs capable of defending the homeworld.

Which is why I think the next few decades are going to be a boom time for arms merchants.

Weird Harold wrote:

PeterZ wrote:Agreed. However, there will be several if not many tin pot dictators. Their possession of SDs will sort of fuel demand for Manty cruisers capable of killing them. Well, at least LACs capable of defending the homeworld.

Which is why I think the next few decades are going to be a boom time for arms merchants.

Ayup. Anything coming out of the Alliance, even designs that are slight upgrades of SLN ships and weapons will carry a permium.

Heck, I can see the Rembrandt yards designing a Mars knockoff with better components to compete with the SLN surplus. Perhaps not the Mars, but a more modern RHN cruiser. They'll use the penultimate RHN missiles. Not sure the capacitor based RHN MDM had the baffles for the impeller nodes, but if not then those would be a good weapon to export.

I can see the Quadrant getting rich selling their goods to the region as a Manticoran source, but at discount prices. Their cost structures are very low, but they have a cache to sell their goods at a slight premium.

PeterZ wrote:]Ayup. Anything coming out of the Alliance, even designs that are slight upgrades of SLN ships and weapons will carry a permium.

Typos can be funny.

Google wrote:Did you mean: premium

Search Results
Permium - definition of Permium by The Free Dictionary
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Permium

Define Permium. ... adj. Of, relating to, or being the period of geologic time from about 299 to 251 million years ago, the seventh and last period of the Paleozoic Era.

Every ship comes with a selection of Trilobytes and Pre-dinosaur carnivores.

PeterZ wrote:I can see the Quadrant getting rich selling their goods to the region as a Manticoran source, but at discount prices. Their cost structures are very low, but they have a cache to sell their goods at a slight premium.

It won't be just those with access to RMN or RHN designs and surplus.

The Anderman Empire has a very modern navy and presumably a lot of surplus equal to or better than SLN equipment since they just upgraded to podnought designs and Keyhole II.

Technodyne (and other SLN arms suppliers) still have their shipyards and loads of new ideas derived from GA encounters with the SLN.

Only RFC knows where and what the next great innovation is and how it will affect the storyline(s)

PeterZ wrote:Agreed. However, there will be several if not many tin pot dictators. Their possession of SDs will sort of fuel demand for Manty cruisers capable of killing them. Well, at least LACs capable of defending the homeworld.

Wait! Are we calling Elizabeth III a tin pot dictator? IIRC HMY Duke of Cromarty is one of those gold plated SD's

pappilon wrote:

PeterZ wrote:Agreed. However, there will be several if not many tin pot dictators. Their possession of SDs will sort of fuel demand for Manty cruisers capable of killing them. Well, at least LACs capable of defending the homeworld.

Wait! Are we calling Elizabeth III a tin pot dictator? IIRC HMY Duke of Cromarty is one of those gold plated SD's

Nope. HMS Cromarty is maybe goldplated (in fact, as far as the rooms for Her Majesty and her guests are concerned, she probably is), but she is derived from a Agamemnon-Class BC(P). 1.6 Mio tons, if I remember correctly. A litte small for a SD(P). But after the experience of the Cromarty-Assassination noone who has a saying in this matter would be settle for something less than that as a royal yacht.

Weird Harold wrote:

Slneezy wrote:I can see pirates or third rate navies wanting light units but the SLNs grossly obsolete SDs and BCs are at most good for tech samples - they'd be extremely expensive to man and maintain otherwise.

It's hard to put a price on Status Symbols. Having a bigger, more luxurious flagship (yacht) than your neighbor is worth any cost or hardship to some people.

There's a limit for white elephant prestige spending - at least for people that don't want the same treatment as the Legislaturalists.

A SD as an yacht would be pretty ruinous for a poor system.


The first pod layers were converted cargo ships. If one such ship can whack a squad of SDs you'll bet a lot more people are going to invest in those rather than in obsolete SDs. That's made worse by how manpower intensive SLN's SDs are compared to their long range punch.

They're actually supposed to be very good at short range but they also happen to be slower than anything out there so few navies are going to shell out money for a furious dwarf armed with a lightsaber when their neighbours get something that can shoot said dwarf from half a mile away.

pappilon wrote:
Wait! Are we calling Elizabeth III a tin pot dictator? IIRC HMY Duke of Cromarty is one of those gold plated SD's

Isn't Elizabeth's ship a podnought?

At the very least it'd be a lot faster and better armed than any SLN SD.