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Let's re-cap:
---Dreadnoughts---
+ Dreadnoughts pack a huge amount of firepower over long range with their main gun.
- Dreadnoughts have to line up their main gun before firing which means lining up the entire ship.
- Dreadnoughts severely lack in maneuverability. That slows down the lining-up-process as well as making it unlikely to evade enemy fire.
- They are extremely large and thus easy to target.
- Once in close combat range, their main gun is useless because it can no longer line up properly.
- Conventional dreadnoughts seem to lack armaments apart from their main gun.
- Dreadnoughts are extremely expensive.
- They need a large crew.
---Reapers---
+ Reapers also pack a huge amount of firepower, enough to destroy a cruiser-class vessel in a single hit. The maximum effective range has yet to be determined but it apparently is not too short either.
+ Reapers have flexible weapons that don't require the entire ship to line up.
+ Reapers apparently have maneuverability that far outmatches anything around in the galaxy. That makes it more likely to evade incoming fire, especially on long-range engagements where there is enough time to react.
+/ - Reapers are extremely large and easy to target but they also possess protection systems that are far ahead of anything in the galaxy.
+ Reapers can take enormous amounts of firepower but still "survive".
+ Due to the flexibility, the Reapers' weapons are still useable at very short ranges.
+/- We don't know if Reapers have more weapons than those we know of yet.
+ Reaper hulls are strong enough to simply crash through a cruiser-class vessel without even getting a scratch.
+ Reapers are apparently surprisingly fast for their size.
Now, if we combine those things, we could pretty much arive at this battle scenario:
The galactic fleet will set up in a standard fleet formation for the battle. Their procedure would likely be to keep back for as long as possible to use their dreadnoughts as much as possible because they have the single largest firepower and thus the single largest possibility to actually damage the Reapers. They could send in the rest of the fleet early on in the battle but I doubt they would do so - casualties and wasted dreadnought shots due to friendly fire are the last thing the galactic fleet needs when fighting the Reapers.
The Reapers have the superiority in all aspects so they will probably go for an all-out charge at full speed.
That situation gives us a few problems for the galactic forces, though:
a) At long to medium ranges, the Reapers might be able to utilize their superior maneuverability to evade incoming dreadnought fire.
Even if the Reapers are hit by a dreadnought projectile, we don't really know how much damage that would actually do to one of them.c) The Reapers might be able to get into close range so fast that the dreadnoughts can only take a few shots.
d) The rest of the fleet cannot act as a screen for the repositioning or retreat of the dreadnoughts because the Reapers could simply crash through any ship in their way while still firing. If it goes that far (and it most likely will), the dreadnoughts are toast.
That's why I don't see any real reason why dreadnoughts would be feasible weapons against the Reapers. They might offer the highest single firepower of any ship class but they are extremely lacking in any other respect. And if it comes to close range combat, the conventional dreadnoughts are useless.
The ships that I see as far more useful against the Reapers are fighters and frigates.
+/- Thanks to a weapons development in ME2, they can have firepower rivaling a cruiser. (No real reason that tech wouldn't be shared if the galaxy is on the brink of destruction). We don't know how effective that weapon is if used en-masse against Reapers yet but we can have a lot more overall firepower this way.
+/- The mentioned weapon does not have the range of heavier ships'
weaponry but close combat is the preferred combat range for fighters
and frigates anyway.
+ They are very maneuverable and lining up weapons should be a non-issue for these ships. It is also more likely for these ships to evade enemy fire.
+ They are very small and thus far more difficult to target than larger vessels.
+ They are far cheaper than larger vessels.
+ They require far less crew than larger vessels.
Basically, preferring fighters and frigates to dreadnoughts would result in a far higher ship count (and possibly even higher overall potential firepower) while keeping costs and manpower demands either at the same or a lower level. Given that those ships would be more likely to actually survive a Reaper attack for some time due to their maneuverability and small target profile, they would also be far more cost-effective than dreadnoughts. The other ship classes would naturally remain in service as long as they are still fit for fleet duty, but I think they should be refitted to carry more fighters than they currently do (maybe even refit dreadnoughts into full carriers). In any case, the more widespread usage of fighters would likely result in species other than Humans taking on the carrier vessel concept.
Right, so far for my 2Cents about dreadnoughts.
Modifié par Tankfriend, 27 février 2010 - 11:53 .
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