The B-Wing

[ZzaphodD]

[CRMcNeill]

OK, based on our discussions so far, here is what I would do with the B-Wing. There is a statement in the Star Wars Sourcebook that the B-Wing's gyro-system can be used to "sweep its weapons", so I'm going to take that to the next step.

1). Replace the auto-blasters in the cockpit with a combined sensor / fire control system, then pair it with an identical unit on the weapons pod at the end of the end of the main wing. This dual system would replace the fire control mode of the heavy laser cannon. The blasters would be moved to the rear of the cockpit pod and used for anti-starfighter defense in the craft's aft arc.

2). Place both torpedo launchers at the crux of the wing cruciform, rather than having one at the end.

3). Add a laser cannon to the ion cannon at the end of each S-Foil arm, and modify the arm to include the hinged cannon mount used on the A-Wing. This allows the weapons on the S-Foils to swivel and traverse as per my original idea, which accounts for a large portion of the 4D fire control, as the spin/traverse effect allows the ship to angle itself for an optimum shot regardless of whether or not it can maneuver with the target.

4). Add a heavy ion cannon to the heavy laser at the end of the main airfoil. These are fixed forward, and not a part of the full-body turret system, as they are used to engage relatively immobile space transports and small capital ships.

The resulting stats would look something like this:

Craft: Slayn & Korpil B-wing/E Assault Fighter
Affiliation: Rebel Alliance
Era: Rebellion
Type: Heavy Assault Starfighter
Scale: Starfighter
Length: 16.9 meters
Skill: Starfighter Piloting: B-wing
Crew: 2 (can coordinate)
Crew Skill:
Starfighter Piloting 4D+1
Starship Gunnery 4D+2
Starship Shields 3D
Cargo Capacity: 50 kilograms
Consumables: 1 week
Cost: 250,000 (new)
Hyperdrive Multiplier: x2
Nav Computer: Yes (limited to 2 jumps)
Maneuverability: 1D
Space: 7
Atmosphere: 350; 1,000 kmh
Hull: 4D
Shields: 2D
Sensors:
Passive: 30/0D
Scan: 65/1D
Search: 80/2D
Focus: 4/3D+2
Weapons:
1 Heavy Laser Cannon
Fire Arc: Front
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Rate: 1
Fire Control: 1D
Space Range: 1-3/12/25
Atmosphere Range: 100m-300m/1.2km/2.5km
Damage: 8D
1 Heavy Ion Cannon
Fire Arc: Front
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Rate: 1
Fire Control: 1D
Space Range: 1-3/7/36
Atmosphere Range: 100m-300m/700m/3.6km
Damage: 7D (ionization)
2 Medium Laser Cannon (Fire-Linked)
Fire Arc: Front
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 4D
Space Range: 1-3/12/25
Atmosphere Range: 100m-300m/1.2km/2.5km
Damage: 5D
2 Medium Ion Cannon (Fire-Linked)
Fire Arc: Front
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 4D
Space Range: 1-3/7/36
Atmosphere Range: 100m-300m/700m/3.6km
Damage: 4D (ionization)
2 Proton Torpedo Launchers (Fire-Linked)
Fire Arc: Front
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 3D
Space Range: 1/3/7
Atmosphere Range: 50m-100m/300m/700m
Damage: 9D
Ammo: 20 (one magazine feeds both launchers)
1 Dual Blaster Cannon
Fire Arc: Rear
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 2D
Space Range: 1-5/10/17
Atmosphere Range: 100m-500m/1km/1.7km
Damage: 3D+2

Notes:
-The power demands of the B-Wing's array of energy weaponry dictate that the ship can fire either the Heavy Cannon or the Medium Cannon in any given round, not both, and the gunner must declare which in advance.
-The high Fire Control rating of the Medium Laser and Ion Cannon is dependent on a unique full-body turret design that is only operational when the ship's S-Foils are extended. The cannon can still be fired with the S-Foils in Cruise mode, but Fire Control for both weapons is reduced to 1D.
-The B-Wing's gyro-system fails when it suffers heavy damage. In game terms, when the fighter is heavily damaged, the stabilization system fails on a roll of 1-2. All Fire Control codes are reduced by -1D (-4D for the S-Foil mounted weaponry) and Space falls from 6 to 2 (Atmosphere 225; 650kmh). In addition, all Starship Piloting rolls are reduced by -1D, due to the awkward flight characteristics of the B-Wing when the gyro-system is not functioning.

Capsule:
The B-Wing/E is an attempt to address the weaknesses of the original B-Wing model (specifically its vulnerability to other starfighters) while improving its already formidable anti-ship capabilities. The B-Wing/E features even heavier anti-ship cannon, as well as enhanced light weaponry for dealing with enemy starfighters. The battle-tested gyro-stabilization system has been redesigned to be more durable in combat and less likely to succumb to battle damage. The two-man crew's piloting and gunnery duties overlap, and cooperation is a must for operation of the new and improved B-Wing.

The most notable modification is the full-body turret concept. Combining the B-Wing's gyroscopic stabilizer system with the bearing mounted cannon system from the A-Wing allows the medium cannon mounted on the ship's S-Foils to sweep and cover the entire forward arc, allowing the ship to engage targets in its forward arc even if the ship is not bow-on to the target. Combined with the defensive blaster turret covering the ship's aft, this has greatly increased the B-Wing/E's lethality against enemy starfighters.

EDIT: The A-Wing write-up states that some A-Wing's have been modified so that their cannon swivel all the way aft. If the same technology was applied to this version of the B-Wing, the S-Foil mounted cannon could act as a full turret and I could remove the rear-firing blaster cannon. Alternately, the auto-blasters could be returned to control of the ship's pilot, who would have control of the auto-blasters, the proton torpedoes and the heavy cannon, leaving the S-Foil mounted medium cannon in the hands of a gunner.


Thoughts?
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[CRMcNeill]

[Fallon Kell]

[vanir]

Okay how about this, put that rotating cockpit in a Spitfire from WW2. What does it do for you?

Not a lot in aerial combat (although I maintain an initiative advantage, wings and fuselage take a lot away from pilot view, even things like bubble canopies were invented trying to help that, navy planes have raisable seats for landing to help with that).

But now you're doing a strafing run and rocket attack against a non-manoeuvring target like a ship. Biggest problem? Keeping the target in pilot view to the point of weapon release means pointing your nose at the ground in front of the target in a high speed dive to within a few hundred metres.
If only you could bank and manoeuvre side to side so as to only have to attempt to crash the plane at the moment of weapon release, the period of sighting stabilisation performed during ingress rather than a long and drawn out glide path towards a crash, fire and pull up just in time.
ie. snapshot weapon release doesn't work in ground attack, you must stabilise your sighting of the target or you'll miss and waste the warhead.

You know what would really help? Some sort of gyroscopic, rotating cockpit. You know, so you can stabilise target sighting during ingress with evasive manoeuvring, compromising yourself only during the moment of weapon release. The plane would be manoeuvring all over the place but the whole time the pilot would be gyroscopically lining up his target as if he was doing a dead straight glidepath.

Pilot view and pilot view.

Really I'm just not seeing any other possible benefit, but am certain this could very well be a realistic benefit. I work with flight sims a lot, most centre around ground attack scenarios. A gyroscopic cockpit could help.

The Norden Bombsight was gyroscopic.

[CRMcNeill]

The problem is that the B-Wing is designed for attacks on capital ships in space, where there is no ground to speak of. A B-Wing on an attack run can charge right past his target at any angle and not have to worry about hitting the ground.

Plus, the B-Wing's cockpit is only gyroscopically stabilized in one axis. For the ship to be able to maneuver and twist and turn and still maintain a stabilized sight of a target would require it to be stabilized in all three axes, and for the weapons to be capable of angling independently of the ship's hull, like turrets. All the B-Wing can do is spin around the cockpit; it still has to fly a direct approach on the target, which means it is presenting no lateral movement in the enemy's gunsights.

I think ZzaphodD called it. It's a cool effect that ultimately serves no purpose. You can either shrug your shoulders and go with it or (like me) you can invent a practical application.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[vanir]

Sure, well in that case you should rule that attack starfighters targeting specific locations must fly straight and level for a round or two to stabilise their sighting. That would be realistic.

[CRMcNeill]

[Gamer]

It's only a stupid design that they said 'hey that looks cool'.
It is the absolute dumbest thing I've ever seen with fighters anywhere.
Lets gyrostabilize the cockpit but now lets make the weapons twist and rotate all over the place forcing the weapons targeting system to compensate far more than any other fighter ever made.
Any sane designer would have had the weapons and targeting system gyrostabilzed not the stupid cockpit.
Training time must be longer with it because the pilot needs to be completely retrained in aircraft orientation compared to standard craft.
There is no sane purpose for it, its right next to placing a screen door on a submarine.

[CRMcNeill]

Oddly enough, the B-Wing sounds exactly like something a Verpine would invent, with their tendency to dream up neat new tech and incorporate it into a new starfighter design without thinking the matter all the way through. There was one incident (mentioned in the X-Wing novels, I think), where a Verpine tech rearranged the cockpit layout and screen settings of an X-Wing to be more efficient, completely forgetting that humans have two arms instead of four, count in base ten instead of base twelve and can't see in the UV light spectrum. Oops.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[garhkal]

Maybe they made it to assist those who's eyes DO work more in 3 dimentions (iirc the mon cal worked with them in the roche field)..
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[vanir]

Lead computing gunsights are gyroscopic.

When they introduced them in 1945 they called them the "ace maker gunsight"



I'm adamant a gyroscopic cockpit has to do with this area. Pilot perception.
I'll use the B-wing in this capacity in my game anyway. Our group will creatively find game mechanic benefits through roleplay with it used in this capacity.

[CRMcNeill]

[Gamer]

[garhkal]

From my experience, Bwings (especially in games) fare a lot better against ties than do Y wings...
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!