Space Combat for Dummies

[Vansen Tyree]

We've got a lot a' frakkin' nuggets cloggin' up the ranks these days; and clearly they're so wet behind the ears that it must a' drowned out any hope a' hearin' what they were taught in basic.

So, this is for you, rooks. Listen hard, and listen good. :mad

In all seriousness: we've got a lot of new pilots, new fleeters, and what not getting involved lately (which is awesome); just in the interests of making sure we're all on the same page, here are some core concepts that some of us have been chatting about and hashing out lately. Mostly with a pilot slant, but y'all fleeters might find some of it useful too.

Huzzah! :pirate

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Terminology and Slang

A glossary of pilot terms and slang from the movies, from EU, from real life, and from usage on Fans. Possibly some stolen from Battlestar Galactica too, since we tend to do that a lot. :uhoh

Assorted Trivia

Navy types say port and starboard, while Army types are more comfortable with left and right. Pilots float somewhere between the two, but generally prefer the latter ("break left!") since a lot of their instructions require urgency, rather than someone going "Crap! Which way is port?"

Describing how you Fly

Altitude - The height of a craft relative to a planet's surface, or some other common point of reference (see also: Attitude)
Attitude - The orientation of a craft relative to the horizon, its direction of motion, or other common point of reference (see also: Altitude)
Bank - A lateral (horizontal) turn executed by rolling and pitching, rather than using rudder
Break - To break formation; alternatively, to change direction with urgency ("Break left, now!")
Climb - A steep, vertical ascent (relative to the previous direction of flight, in the absense of gravity)
Dive - A steep, vertical descent (relative to the previous direction of flight, in the absense of gravity)
Goose - To gently accellerate, with small and repeated applications of thrust ("Goose the throttle")
Jink - A quick, evasive turn
Juke - To dance around; to decieve or outmanoeuver; evasive action to shake pursuit
Pitch - Movement vertically, to climb, dive, etc; achieved by pulling back or pushing forward on the stick
Roll - Rotation along the axis of travel: lifting or lowering a particular wing; achieved by moving the stick left or right
Yaw - Movement horizontally; usually achieved with rudder pedals

(Specific) Nicknames for Ships

Bright - A TIE Advanced, TIE Avenger, or any other non-standard TIE
Dupe - A TIE Bomber
Eyeball - A TIE Fighter
Gladstar - A Gladiator-class Star Destroyer
Impstar - An Imperial-class Star Destroyer
Impstar Ace - Specifically, an Imperial I-class Star Destroyer
Impstar Deuce - Specifically, and Imperial II-class Star Destroyer
Squint - A TIE Interceptor
Trip - A TIE Defender
Venstar - A Venator-class Star Destroyer
Vicstar - A Victory-class Star Destroyer
Vicstar Ace - Specifically, a Victory I-class Star Destroyer
Vicstar Deuce - Specifically, a Victory II-class Star Destroyer
Vicstar Tri - Specifically, a Victory III-class Star Destroyer

General Terms and Slang

Ace - A pilot with five kills to his name; also, a nickname for Callsign One (Rogue One, etc), if they are not also Callsign Leader
Actual - Callsign for the CO of a starship (eg. "Challenger Actual")
Alert Fighters - Pilots whose planes are on standby and who are suited up, ready to launch ASAP
Angels - Altitude, measured in thousands of feet (Angels 10 = Ten Thousand Feet, etc)
Ape - Any non-pilot member of the military, implying that they are less evolved, simple minded, etc; see other primate-derived terms
Bandit - A sensor contact that has been positively ID'd as enemy / hostile.
Bingo - Empty, as in "Bingo Fuel"; also, a nickname for Callsign Zero (where used)
Bird - A "small craft" of any kind: starfighter, shuttle, airspeeder, etc
Bogie - A sensor contact that has not been positively ID'd as friend or foe (A "UFO")
CAF - Pun on "CAP"; refers to the alert fighters, likely drinking caf in the ready room
CAG - "Commander, Air Group"; the officer commanding fighter forces aboard a carrier
CAP - "Combat Air Patrol"; the on-duty air defense element of a fighter group
Copy - Message recieved and understood
Deuce - Slang for two, or Mark II (A-Wing Deuce, Impstar Deuce, etc); also, a nickname for Callsign Two (Rogue Two)
Eyes - short for Eyeball; also, Imperial fighters in general ("What eyes are we looking at?" "Dupes and Squints, lead.")
Five by Five - Communications quality is measured on a scale of Volume and Noise; Five by Five equates to "Loud" and "Clear"
Fiver - Alternate for "five"; adding an extra syllable to compensate for static, prevent it sounding like "fire", etc
Frag - Short for "fragment"; to destroy an enemy target, particularly with large starships that cannot be "Vaped"
Gorilla - Derrived from "Ape"; refers to SpecForce Commandos, possibly as a pun on their "Guerrilla" tactics
Klick - A measure of distance, equal to one kilometre
Knuckle Dragger - Derrived from "Ape"; refers to a ground tech
L.T. - Pronounced "El-Tee"; a Lieutenant
Loot - A Lieutenant
Monkey - Derrived from "Ape"; a general term for non-pilot military officers ("There's a lot of monkeys down here, lead")
Nest - Where "birds" (starfighters) are kept; could be the home base ("roost"), or specifically the hangar
Niner - Alternate for "nine"; adding an extra syllable to compensate for static
Nugget - A new pilot; implies that they are raw and unrefined
Paint - To "paint" a target is to mark it as such, with targetting lasers, targetting sensors, etc
Plane - A "small craft" of any kind: starfighter, shuttle, airspeeder, etc
Rocket Jock - A starfighter pilot; also derrogatory amongst pilots for arrogant loudmouths
Rookie - Also, "Rook". Any pilot who has passed training, but is not yet an Ace
Roost - Refers to a squadron's home ship or base, or to the act of returning to said base ("go home to roost")
Shiny - Something brand new, particularly a new pilot or ship; implies inexperience, or the possibility of kinks that still need working out
Shotgun - The gunner in a craft such as a Y-Wing ("riding shotgun"); alternatively, a fighter following his wingman ("I'm lead; you're shotgun")
Slug - A non-explosive projectile (bullet); crude slang for missiles or torpedoes ("I'm out of slugs"); also, derogatory for Hutts, or Hutt Fighters
ST Connector - The "Stick-to-Throttle" Connector, aka. the Pilot; used to imply pilot error, rather than a technical fault ("I think your ST Connector is fried")
UBAH - Pronounced as "Yubah" - Use A Bigger Hammer
Vape - Short for "vapourise"; to destroy an enemy target, particularly with small starships that explode upon destruction
Yap - Unauthorised comm chatter; specific to pilots who have been told to "Shut your yap!" by Vansen Tyree

[Vansen Tyree]

Alliance Fighters

We toss around a lot of terms like Interceptor, Space Superiority, and Bomber, without necessarily being a) 100% sure what it is we actually mean by that, and b) 100% accurate with the terms we're using. Rather than try to explain what all that techno mumbo jumbo actually means, here's a short list of the fighters the Alliance commonly uses, and what they're commonly used for.

A-Wing Interceptor
The RZ-1 A-Wing Interceptor is bloody fast. The whole point of this contraption is to go screeching around space at as break-neck a pace as possible, and then flip the thing on a dime before screeching off somewhere else. The Laser Cannons mounted on either side are capable of pivoting up and down: the thinking there is that the A-Wing can plow through the centre of a swarm of TIE Fighters, scattering shots all over the shop, to either take out a few on the way through, or make them scramble and scatter. Once out the other side of the swarm (probably too fast for the TIEs to have a hope of shooting it), it loops around, and plunges in again. They carry Concussion Missiles to help in this air-to-air combat.

A-Wing II Interceptor
Imagine if an X-Wing and an A-Wing got jiggy, and had a baby. Then imagine if everyone said to the A-Wing Aww, she looks just like you! while saying to the X-Wing But she has your guns. That's pretty what the RZ-2 A-Wing Interceptor is. The A-Wing II was developed by SoroSuub in the Fans timeline (rather than Incom), and is a little bit larger, a little bit faster in a straight line, and has a little bit more hull armour. It saccrifices some of that crazy, chaotic agility and those scattershot tactics for a bit more blunt force firepower, exchanging those pivoting Laser Cannons for fixed Heavy Laser Cannons that do more damage, to make every hit count. It retains the air-to-air Concussion Missiles.

ARC-170 Fighter
Though not commonly used because of their size - and because it takes three pilots to crew them - the ARC-170 still saw (and sees) use with the Rebellion; more as a Heavy Starfighter than as the Advanced Reconnaissance Fighter it was built as. The presence of a rear gunner in addition to forward firing weapons makes it effective as an escort, and it's sensor and electronics equipment makes it particularly useful as an ECM ship to support squadrons on lone missions (though the inability to bring EVA pilots aboard - unlike a shuttle - is a disadvantage); not to mention the advantages offered to interceptor squadrons by having a craft that can fire Proton Torpedos. Think of it as half way between an X-Wing and a Y-Wing, but much sexier looking.

B-Wing Assault Fighter
We all know what the B-Wing is: aerodynamic craziness with a bunch of guns strapped on. As the name suggests, they're designed for Assault type missions; in particular, against enemy starships in zero atmosphere. They have Blaster Cannons for rapid fire, Laser and Ion Cannons for taking out small ships, and Proton Torpedos for hitting big ones. While the craft can enter an atmosphere for ground attacks, that big wing of theirs makes them a little hard to use effectively; they're most certainly a space fighter first and foremost.

Cutlass-9 Patrol Fighter
The Cutlass is a small, fast, interceptor-like craft from SoroSuub, that perhaps is to the A-Wing what the Z-95 is to the X-Wing: a poor man's version. Like the Preybird however, it does have an advantageous feature that elevates it slightly from being entirely redundant: it carries Proton Torpedos, and is the only Interceptor-type craft to do so. It is also extremely adept and agile in atmosphere, and has the potential to make for an effective escort for Y-Wings on bombing runs.

Preybird-class Starfighter
Produced by the SoroSuub Corporation of Sullust - which is, of course, now part of the Rebel Alliance - the Preybird is probably best described as a "Heavy Interceptor". Indeed, the weapons loadout of the craft - heavy Laser Cannons and Concussion Missiles - matches the loadout that SoroSuub eventually put in the A-Wing II. Unlike either however, it has a separate gunner; and he has the rather unique option of firing Concussion Missiles backwards, as well as forwards; particularly useful if you are being followed. It fills an amorphous, nebulous blob then, somewhere between the A-Wing, X-Wing, and Y-Wing.

X-Wing Starfighter
The T-65B X-Wing Starfighter from Incom is obviously iconic. It's described as a "Space Superiority Fighter", but it is far more than that. It combines dogfighting speed and agility with a respectable weapons loadout, which includes Proton Torpedos. It isn't as good as a Dogfighter as an A-Wing, or as good as an Assault Fighter as a B-Wing or Y-Wing, but it is extremely versatile and adaptable. It also features a quad-linked system with it's Laser Cannons, allowing pilots to fire either four bursts in quick succession; two paired blasts in slightly slower but more potent combination; or one quad blast at a much slower rate, but mcuh higher combined power.

X-Wing Recon Fighter
The Recon-X or "snoopscoot" is an X-Wing that saccrifices its torpedos in favour of advanced sensor gear. Prior to its advent, recon-equipped Y-Wings had been used; being slower and less formidable in a dogfight, they frequently fell foul of Imperial resistance. Recon-X planes retained their agility and Laser Cannons, making them far better for dogfighting.

Y-Wing Starfighter
Though pretty old as designs go, the design is still performing the role it was built for reasonably well. Y-Wings are slow, but capable of deploying a decent amount of ordnance over impressive distances. They're cut out for ground-attack missions, air strikes, and "trench runs" on large enemy ships; and provided they've got a decent gunner, and a decent escort, they can still get the job done. While the B-Wing is perhaps better at the space attack part, the Y-Wing is still the king of the ground attack bombing run.

Z-95 Headhunter
The Headhunter is the X-Wing's baby cousin; and because of that, it is commonly used as a trainer for new pilots, to help them grow accustomed to the manner in which such craft operate - get them used to having shields and a hyperdrive if they are Imperials, etc. Weapons loudouts vary - generally, it matches either an X-Wing or an A-Wing II - as does the general configuration of the craft; there is even a version with S-Foils, used as an X-Wing trainer. It is also at times flown in combat as a "reserve" fighters, to fill in the blanks where more advanced alternatives aren't available.

[Vansen Tyree]

Alliance Starships

To be added later...

[Vansen Tyree]

Laser Weapons

There are various different words like "Turbo", and so forth that are used to describe the guns on fighters and starships. Here is a glossary of what those terms mean.

Just a basic concept aside, to help you with the "rate of fire" premise: imagine that lasers are a water pistol, where you need to pump up the pressure before you fire. If you only pump up a little bit of pressure, then the stream of water coming out isn't very powerful. You can pump it up more, and get a more powerful stream of water; but that takes longer.

Blaster
A Blaster Cannon is the "weakest" form of energy-based weapon. On the flipside, it is also the fastest: that weak amount of power doesn't take very long to recharge. In Episode II, when Jango (aboard Slave 1) was popping off those super-fast shots at Obi Wan while flying through an asteroid field, that was a blaster cannon at work. Each individual shot may not do as much damage, but you're more likely to hit. Unfortunately, blasters can't do a huge amount of damage against armoured targets: hence the Snowspeeder's ineffectiveness against AT-ATs.

Laser
Lasers are the "standard" weapon, like the guns on an X-Wing. It takes about a second for them to recharge between each shot: but as a result they are able to charge up more power, and thus deal more damage in each hit. They're ideal for fighter-on-fighter combat, but don't have the clout to deal damage to a starship's heavier armour. They're also carried by starships as part of their anti-starfighter defense.

Heavy Laser
Some ships, like the Preybird or the A-Wing II, featured Heavy Laser Cannons. They are akin to regular lasers, but are more powerful. How much more powerful (and how much longer they took to recharge) depends entirely on the specific model of weapon.

Turbolaser
These are even more more powerful; and alas even slower, taking a couple of seconds to recharge. They're the starship-on-starship combat weapon of choice, and are good for combat between frigates and small cruisers; but something like a Star Destroyer (over a kilometre in length) is going to be tough to beat with mere Turbolasers.

Heavy Turbolaser
The biggest, most powerful, and slowest. They exist to allow Star Destroyers and similarly massive ships to duke it out. The recharge time is long however.

Quad
A big achilles heel of bigger weapons is the recharge rate. To combat that, these weapons are grouped together; four is a common grouping. Quad Lasers allow the power of a laser cannon to be unleashed every quater-second, rather than every second, making them particularly good for the anti-starfighter weapons on ships like the Millennium Falcon or the Lancer Frigate. Similarly, the X-Wing has "linked fire" on it's weapons, allowing it to fire its four blasters in quick succession. Alternatively (and with Quad Lasers) all four can be fired at once: reducing the rate of fire, but dealing more damage per hit, making them a little more useful against larger, slower enemy targets.

Ion
Electricity is conveyed by negatively charged particles: electrons. Ions are also charged particles. Throw the two together, and you get chaos: power fluxuations that scramble your enemies' systems. Effectively, it has a similar net effect to an electromagnetic pulse (or a HERF gun), except that it is far easier to aim. They come in various sizes, from the Ion Cannons on a Y-Wing to Turbolaser- and Heavy Turbolaser-sided batteries.

Cannon
A cannon is just a single gun, on its own. A "Quad Laser Cannon" has four laser emitters, but mounted onto a single unit, controlled by a single operator / gun crew.

Turret
A turret, like the one on top of a tank, can swivel and rotate as well as aiming up and down, allowing it to cover a much larger area of "sky". The big turbolaser cannons from the Death Star trench run are an example; the Quad Laser Turrets on the Millennium Falcon are another. Generally, a turret is commanded by a single gun crew, and fires (more or less) everything at once.

Battery
A battery is an array of cannons that are not turret-mounted, lined up close together. Each individual cannon has its own gun crew, and can "fire at will". Imagine the cannons on a 17th Century pirate ship; all lined up down one side, all contained within the same room; all with individual sailors firing them.

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Missile Weapons

There are a few different missile-type weapons used by fighters and starships that are worth talking about. Each one has a different role, and when it comes to them being mounted on fighters, the standard-issue launchers often have a different magazine capacity, too (note: many fighters have two launchers). We've also established a sort "Fox code" system like in real life, so you get to say "Fox-2, Fox-2!" and pretend your character is in Top Gun or something.

(Just no homoerotic volleyball, alright Rogues? :mad)

As a science aside, a Proton is the same thing as a Hydrogen ion; and ionized gas is known as Plasma. Star Wars sometimes refers to Plasma Torpedos; it can probably be assumed that all Proton Torpedos are Plasma Torpedos... though some Plasma Torpedos may use other gases (boron, like the Diamond Boron Missile, perhaps?).

Proton Bombs (Fox-1)
If you strip out most of the guidance and the propulsion from a Proton Torpedo, and beef up the explosive yield, you get a Proton Bomb. So that they can be used in space (where there is no gravity), they do still retain a little thruster power for basic steering and propulsion; they are "laser guided", so they can steer towards a target to some degree. Unlike the launchers for Proton Torpedos and Concussion Missiles, you can't "swap on" a Proton Bomb launcher, so you either need a special bomb bay launcher, or hardpoints: places where the bombs are physically attatched to your wings/hull.

Proton Torpedos (Fox-2)
The real Fox-2 is "radar guided", and these are much the same: the Proton Torpedo has a sophisticated guidance and steering system that allows it to hit a target based on telemetry from the targetting computer. Its targetting and guidance is so advanced in fact that you don't need to be able to even see the target: a scout can relay the telemetry back to your targetting computer, allowing an entire squadron to unload torpedos at a single point. The payload is larger too, and the weapon is intended for air-to-surface uses: either military hardware on the surface of a planet, or targets on the surface of a large starship; they can still be used against Starfighters though, making them fairly versatile. The downside is that all that extra explosive and gadgetry makes them bigger, so they take up more space in your fighter.

Concussion Missiles (Fox-3)
Like the real Sidewinder "Fox-3", the Concussion Missile is designed for air-to-air: it is fired to target enemy fighters. It is small and slender to make it harder to shoot down; but as a consequence there is less space for guidance equipment and payload, making it slightly less destructive: it can take out an enemy fighter, but won't have so much success against an enemy starship. Effectively, it's a "heat seeking" missile, rather than being a true "radar guided" missile, so you basically need to be able to "see" the target you're firing at, rather than merely having the telemetry. Because of it's small size though, it's easier to fit more of them inside a starfighter.

Diamond Boron Missiles (Fox-4)
These are "special" missiles that are armour plated to make them nigh impervious to starfighter and quad laser fire. Their warheads are also extremely high yield (and unfortunately volatile), and can be detonated as an area effect in space to take out multiple starfighters at once. They can be fired from a starfighter - in standard Concussion Missile tubes - or from the Concussion Missile launchers on starships. Unfortunately, they are prohibitively expensive, and so are used very sparingly. Effectively, they are the Star Wars version of a "nuke", and should be thought of with a similar degree of reverence.

[Vansen Tyree]

Know the Enemy

Information on Imperial ships and fighters (from a "how to blow them up" / "how loudly to swear when you see them" perspective) to follow...

[Aros Indigu]

Hey! This should be stickied, because it sure helped me. Haha...Now I feel like one of those informmerical guys.