Difference between revisions of "FS Short Hand"

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'''Dreadnought''' - Generally understood to be a destroyer-sized craft, but built for the sole purpose of ship-to-ship combat and lacking a fighterbay or supporting a very limited number of fighters purely for self-defense.}}
 
'''Dreadnought''' - Generally understood to be a destroyer-sized craft, but built for the sole purpose of ship-to-ship combat and lacking a fighterbay or supporting a very limited number of fighters purely for self-defense.}}
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[[Category:The games]]

Revision as of 18:09, 24 September 2008

Ingame Terminology


Wing - A unit of fightercraft, varying in size from one to six ships. The normal number is four. Ships of a wing are labelled by their wing name and a number (i.e. Alpha 1, Alpha 2, and so on). The GTVA uses the Greek alphabet for its wings and the signs of the zodiac for hostile wings. In FS1, Shivan wings were named after Hindu gods. Wing is also sometimes used for freighter or transport groups.

Cruiser - Smallest combatant capital craft classification. Cruisers are at least several times the size of a fighter or bomber and posess mainly antifighter weaponry, with one or two (or in the case of the SC Rakshasa, three) anticapital weapons. The defensive fire of a cruiser is rarely capable of stopping a determined bomber wing, and most are vunerable to even a well-handled lone fighter. Unable to carry fighters. Canonical examples include the Fenris and the Leviathan. In FS1, cruisers were deployed for both offensive and defensive tasks by all sides to any situation not requiring the attention of a destroyer. In FS2 Shivan cruisers are often deployed in mainline antiship and strike roles, while GTVA cruisers tend to be used as escorts and patrol craft.

Corvette - Middle ground combatant capital craft, falling between the cruiser and the destroyer in size and capablity. Equipped with between two and four anticapital weapons and considerably more impressive antifighter armament than a cruiser. Corvettes are capable of defending themselves adequately against a small number of enemy fighters or bombers. With the exception of the SCv Moloch, corvettes are unable to carry fighters of their own. Corvettes appear to handle most of the antiship and strike duties for the GTVA fleet; Shivan corvettes are extremely rare and have only been deployed against GTVA destroyers canonically. Whether this is their role or not is guesswork.

Destroyer - Large combatant capital craft, combining the functions of destroying enemy ships and transporting fighters. Destroyers vary wildly in armament and effectiveness against different types of targets. They will have at least one heavy-calibur anticapital weapon and probably several more, plus a number of cruiser-corvette anticapital weapons. Destroyers tend to need fighter cover more then corvettes; some of them actually mount fewer antifighter weapons, and all have much larger amounts of surface area that needs to be defended. Any situation with the direct involvement of a destroyer-class ship is by definition serious.

Superdestroyer - Bigger, meaner, and tougher than a destroyer, yet too small for the juggernaut classification; first applied well before the juggernaut classification came into existence. Only the Hades and Lucifer have canonically been given this classification. The nature of the canonical superdestroyers was such that any appearance by them indicates the major effort by the controlling side. Their success is often decisive for that system, while their failure is a blow that is difficult to recover from.

Juggernaut - The pinnacle of combatant capital craft. A juggernaut is capable of making mincemeat out of an enemy fleet singlehanded and is superbly equipped to combat other capital craft. Due to its large surface area its defenses against fightercraft attack are generally somewhat thinly spread, but a juggernaut's sheer ability to absorb damage means that only another juggernaut or a mass attack by corvettes and destroyers is capable of destroying one in anything like a timely manner. Only the SJ Sathanas has canonically been given this classification, though the Colossus could also be classified as juggernaut. The presence of a juggernaut, like a superdestroyer, indicates the controlling side considers the mission absolutely essential; decisive for the system if not the campaign or the entire war.

Installation - A space station, described as "installation" because of its size, self-sufficency, and permanence. The only installation class canonically known is the Arcadia. The GTVA's naming system for installations generally includes something indicating their nature. Installation Riveria, Tombaugh Station, Enif Station, and the Vega Installation are examples.