GTD Hecate
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The GTD Hecate is an Allied Terran-designed destroyer, brought into service prior to the start of the Second Shivan Incursion to complement and ultimately replace the Orion line of destroyers. While the Hecate lacks the sheer anti-warship armaments of the Orion, it has a larger fighterbay and much better anti-fighter and bomber defenses. The Hecate's numerous engine subsystems also makes it harder to disable than an Orion.
One of the most famous Hecate-class destroyers was the GTD Aquitaine, flagship of the GTVA 3rd Fleet. The Aquitaine was the first Allied warship to enter the nebula beyond Gamma Draconis and played a major role during the NTF Rebellion as well as the Second Shivan Incursion.
Contents
Description:
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| The GTD Hecate |
FS2 Tech Room Description
The new GTD Hecate class of destroyers is replacing the Orion class as the flagship of Terran battle groups. More heavily armed than the Orion, the Hecate also carries over 150 combat spacecraft and a crew of 10,000. The GTD Aquitaine is a superb example of this new ship class, serving as the flagship of the Capella-based 3rd Fleet.
Developer Notes
None
Name origin
At a certain stage in Greek mythology, Hecate was the goddess of hunting and wilderness, much like Artemis. Later she was seen as the goddess of witchcraft.
Performance:
Statistics
| Type | Destroyer |
| Manufacturer | Unknown |
| Maneuverability | N/A |
| Yaw, Pitch, Roll | 150.0, 150.0, 150.0 s |
| Max Velocity | 15.0 ms-1 |
| Max Afterburner Velocity | N/A ms-1 |
| Armor | N/A |
| Hitpoints | 100 000 |
| Shields | N/A |
| Length | 2174 m |
| Fighter Complement | 150+ fightercraft |
Armaments
| FreeSpace 2 | |
| Turret Type | Amount |
| Terran Turret | 5 |
| Terran Huge Turret | 1 |
| Standard Flak | 6 |
| Long Range Flak | 2 |
| Heavy Flak | 2 |
| AAAf | 6 |
| TerSlash | 4 |
| BGreen | 1 |
Modding Resources
Retail:
- $POF File: capital2T-01.pof
- Textures: capital3( /c), capital4( /b/c), capital6( /c), capital7( /b/c), lights( /c), tbodyA, tbody2, ctile1, ctile2, ctile3, ctile4A, ctile5, SoupTurrets, damage
MediaVP 3.6.10:
- $POF File: capital2T-01.pof
- Textures: capital3, capital4, capital6, capital7, TSoupTile01, lights, tbody, nameplate, SoupTurrets1, doctile6
History
First WIP Post: Raven2001 on 07/08/2005
MediaVP 4.1.X:
- $POF File: Hecate.pof
- Textures: HecateMain01, HecateMain02, HecateMain03, HecateDet01, damage, nameplate, GTVATTurr, HecateDead01, HecateDead02m, HecateDead03
History
Model: Hades. Nyctaeus
Textures: Nyctaeus
An older MVP version of the GTD Hecate.
New MVP Hecate.
Veteran Comments
My best guesses as to why the Hecate would, or could replace the Orion is that it costs much less, and that it holds an extra four and a half squadrons (there are twelve combat-craft in a squadron). Also I suppose in an optimal battle scenario (if there is such a thing) the Hecate would be escorted by corvettes and cruisers.
It does work well in a surgical strike role, hitting smaller warships with its considerable forward firepower before they have much chance to fight back. But if attacked by a warship from any direction but the front, it's in real trouble and needs to either leave fast or rely on bomber wings to take care of the threat.
I wouldn't criticize it for its armament so much as the placement of its armament. While the Hecate is well-armed, and can generally pepper targets approaching it from a range, it has several blind spots. Any fighter or bomber approaching from the front will face minimal anti-fighter fire and can hide in the shadow of the frontal fins and blast away, to name the most significant. The rear TerSlash is useless, because it has a very limited field of fire, and is as a weapon especially useless in the rear. In addition, the Hecate is as slow as the Orion, and has no more armour than the Orion. The forward BGreen and TerSlash, while making the destroyer relatively powerful if aimed properly, is outdone by other destroyers. I guess that the fighter bay has got to count for something but overall the Hecate is ruined potential. It could use a serious armament revision, and some of the turrets could be moved to different spots on the hull.
The massive turrets on top carry only Heavy Flak. This leaves them rather unfulfilling, and their size means they're easily taken out, leaving the top part of the ship more or less open to bomber attack.
Perhaps the best way to think of this vessel would be as a carrier, rather than as a combat destroyer. This parallels the change in focus from battleships (i.e. the Orion) to carriers between World Wars I and II, and the similar growth of importance of small fighter craft. While capable of defending itself against fighter and bomber threats, it is really out of its league fighting other warships. The Hecate's real strength is in its much larger complement of fighters and bombers, which give it a far greater theoretical striking power than the Orion does; like the carrier though, if this ship is caught at close range, it's toast.
