29 replies to this topic

[Ghostrider]

Step into the wrong cantina, tell fat jokes to a Hutt, or fly against illegally modified fighters and transports are three quick ways to die.

As the campaigns have evolved, so have the pirate variants and assorted semi-legal and illegal starfighters, transports and even larger pirate vessels. Some of the semi-legal variants are simply custom modifications using more expensive shielding and standard weaponry components, but there are a handful of very unpleasant surprises in the galaxy, using some extremely illegal technologies.

Any planet with a shadowport or underworld is likely to have some of the shady or semi-legal units, but as the true illegal units carry an automatic death mark on most civilised worlds, these are seen only where organised crime has the upper hand.

Semi-legal or customised variants

Aggressor Assault Fighter
This large and rugged heavy fighter/transport is the perfect craft for bounty hunters, with heavy laser cannon, good shielding and a secure hold for up to 8 prisoners. Additional power cores gives this a Power to Weapons ability.
Era: 18BBY onwards

Preybird-class Starfighter
The original Soro Suub product is a very rugged fighter with medium Laser cannon and concussion missile launcher, while the Mark II upgrade is the staple production model of deep space pirates and features a major overhaul with increased shields and significantly upgraded weapons. Dual missile launchers and heavy laser cannon make this a raider to be feared.
Era: Mark I – 18BBY onwards. Mark II pirate production model: 7 ABY Onwards

Barloz Heavy Raider
This rugged transport is a favourite with deep space pirates and scavengers, and features a light turbolaser, 3 dual laser cannons and a rear-facing torpedo launcher to discourage active pursuit.
Era: 18BBY onwards

Delta-class DX-8 Transport
This older model troop transport is armed with forward facing laser cannon and torpedo launchers and is relatively easy to obtain on the grey-market.
Era: 18BBY onwards

Gamma-class ATR-5 Assault Transport
As a military specification transport, this usually requires excellent contacts to obtain, and often finds service as a heavily armed scout/exploration vessel or as a premium armoured courier sporting 3 turreted dual turbolasers and a proton torpedo launcher.
Era: 18BBY onwards

Guardian-Class Assault Shuttle
More gunship than light cruiser, this semi-legal variant packs in heavy lasers on every facing and adds a rapid firing missile system to counter heavy starfighters. Often deployed to protect shadowports from intruders.
Era: 18BBY onwards

HWK-290 Medium Raider
As true quads are illegal in the Empire, this craft mounts fixed forward facing quad blasters and quad ion cannon as well as a turreted octuple blaster cannon to comply with customs regulations – barely. Often used by opportunistic types to snag the odd cargo when no-one is looking.
Era: 18BBY onwards

YT-1300 Medium Raider
More armed smuggler than true pirate, this is still capable of packing a punch with top and bottom turreted quad blasters, side-firing concussion missiles and a forward facing laser cannon.
Era: 18BBY onwards

YT-2000 Blastboat
This custom upgrade is perfect for bounty hunters and smugglers alike. Heavily armed and manoeuverable, this performs more like a high performance self-escorting bomber with the added bonus that it carries a decent amount of contraband and can punch through most blockades with ease.
Era: 0ABY onwards

YV-666 Assault Transport
Very much the poor-man’s version of the ATR-5, it still hits corvettes hard with turreted dual turbolaser and turboion cannons and a modest torpedo armament.
Era: 18BBY onwards

Fire Ships
Some of the medium freighters have been packed with explosives and converted into Fire ships.
Explosions come in 3 sizes; small, large and very messy. Era: 18BBY onwards

Marauder Missile Cruiser
This is a rather expensive conversion as the standard armaments have been swopped out for 4 concussion missile launchers that each fire one missile every 3 seconds in a terrifiyingly deadly barrage. Although not illegal, this is definitely only obtainable on the black market!
Era: 18BBY onwards

Super Transport VII Interdictor Frigate
Perfect for pulling convoys out of hyperspace and stripping them of escorts, this converted heavy transport carries Dual Laser Cannon, Ion Cannon and multiple warhead launchers to make a killing as a pirate raider.
Era: 18BBY onwards

Super XI Fleet Carrier
A poor man’s Venator or a large pirate cruiser, this dumps multiple squadrons of cheap fighters supported by modest turbolaser, laser cannon and missile launcher emplacements, but is no match for a decent warship.
Era: 18BBY onwards

Illegal Fighters

Alpha-3 Nimbus-class V-Wing (Illegal)
Readily available to those with contacts and cash, this is a superior Disruptor-armed dogfighter.
Era: 18BBY-0BBY

Cloakshape Fighter (Illegal)
Modest shielding, Disruptor cannons and an Advanced torpedo launcher make this multi-role heavy fighter a favourite craft for outlaws and pirates.
Era: 18BBY onwards

Mankvim Light Interceptor (Illegal)
Almost a contradiction in terms, this is a cheap, disposable illegal fighter with light shields and slugthrower cannon, and is a favourite of bargain-hunting crime-lords, such as the Hutts.
Era: 18BBY Onwards

Preybird-class Starfighter (Illegal)
As the Preybird eventually became the staple pirate raider, an illegal variant was swift to appear, and is deadly. Heavy Dual Disruptor cannons and 2 advanced concussion missile launchers usually result in a swift demise for any opponent.
Era: 4ABY onwards

R-41 Starchaser (Illegal)
Wingtip mounted Disruptor cannons and a rapid firing slugthrower cannon in the nose act like a chainsaw to opposing fighter squadrons. Advanced missile launchers add to the carnage.
Era: 18BBY onwards

StarViper-class Attack Platform (Illegal)
Modelled on Prince Xisor’s personal craft, this can blow away a medium bomber in a single burst from two Double Disruptor cannons. It’s probably the worst thing ever.
A cargo of Buzz Droids makes this craft a match even for Shadow Droids.
Era: 7ABY Onwards

T-65 X-Wing (Illegal)
4 fire linked Disruptor cannons and Advanced proton torpedoes mounted onto an Incom T-65 X-wing make for a very hard-hitting heavy fighter. These are normally extremely hard to get hold of, and as such are rare.
Era: 4ABY Onwards

T.I.E. Starfighter (Illegal)
With huge numbers of salvaged Republic T.I.E Starfighters left taken from Clone Wars battlefields, this rapidly became the basic Disruptor-armed fighter of choice for many early pirates, and is moderately dangerous when encountered in large numbers.
Era: 18BBY, very rare by 0BBY

TIE Fighter (Illegal)
Fast moving disruptor-fighter replacing the obsolete T.I.E Starfighter (Illegal)
Era: 0BBY onwards

TIE Interceptor (Illegal)
Exceptionally fast and agile this is a superb Disruptor-armed interceptor, normally commanding a very high black market price, and often limited to senior criminal commanders and renegade imperials.
Era: 4ABY Onwards

Z-95 Headhunter (Illegal)
Triple slugthrowers on each wingtip fire an average of 18 armor piercing slugs per trigger burst, making the illegal R41 look like a cheap toy in comparison. Cheap and very nasty en-masse.
Era: 18BBY – 10BBY

The semi-legal variants and illegal snubfighters are the most common form of custom pirate modifications on the black market.
Part II of this study will explore the heavy guns of the pirate world – illegal bombers and anything of corvette sized and larger that has been modified with illegal disruptor weaponry, mass drivers and the very expensive black market missile systems. . .

Edited by Ghostrider, 10 September 2010 - 02:37 PM.

[evilbobthebob]

Disruptors and mass drivers? Oh dear...these pirates are going to be nasty

[Aizen Teppa]

I really do hope that neutral forces/pirates will put more of a fight with v.1.2 because so far it was far too smooth and easy.

Absolutely amazing update. Already drolling with excitement and waiting for another one (popping-in every day to see if there is something new, so you get general idea how much I need v.1.2 in my life) .

[Casen]

Might I comment...it's heavily implied that Disruptors are almost never, or in fact never mounted on space craft, being too costly. I think this is a bit overdoing it?

Also I am curious what actually makes this Mankvim illegal. Nothing it mounts is illegal.

Edit: Merged.

Edited by Phoenix Rising, 10 September 2010 - 09:13 PM.

[Phoenix Rising]

Might I comment...it's heavily implied that Disruptors are almost never, or in fact never mounted on space craft, being too costly. I think this is a bit overdoing it?

Also I am curious what actually makes this Mankvim illegal. Nothing it mounts is illegal.

Well, for one, illegals should be more of a rarity than they previous were. In peacetime (galactic politics aside), possession of something like this would get you an unpleasant visit from the galactic defense forces. They're meant to represent underworld/invisible market/rogue planets.

Jump to Lightspeed features disruptor cannons in regular use, so we're going on that. A personal disruptor is maybe five times the cost of a blaster, which is not an insurmountable cost.

Space slugthrower cannons are meant to fire depleted radioactive rounds. The authorities generally frown on that kind of ammunition being in civilian possession.

[SpardaSon21]

Space slugthrower cannons are meant to fire depleted radioactive rounds. The authorities generally frown on that kind of ammunition being in civilian possession.

Er, how close to modern technology are these slugthrowers, and does Star Wars have a completely different periodic table of elements?

[Phoenix Rising]

It's presumed to be different, yes. Or at least they might be using different names for certain elements than we do. This is all very speculative though, because such a table has never been compiled.

Slugthrowers can be more or less advanced than modern technology, but they all use a chemical propellant to launch a solid projectile.

[SpardaSon21]

Well, regardless of technology, chances are a non-depleted ammunition for slugthrowers can be used instead of depleted fissionables, and without invoking the wrath of law enforcement, such as tungsten carbide, which can be used just fine for anti-armor penetrators. Although it seems odd that depleted fissionable rounds are problematic considering armaments such as turbolasers, concussion missiles, and proton torpedoes are classed as semi-legal (Gamma ATR-5, DX-8, Barloz Heavy Raider, Guardian Assault Shuttle).

PR, I have gone through Wookiepedia searching for the various elements, and it has listings for most of them, and what is listed is identical to what we know of them. I think it is safe to assume Star War's periodic table is identical, just with different names for some elements and greatly expanded. Titanium is listed as part of the armor for TIE Fighters due to its strength and low weight, and uranium is listed as a heavy fissionable. Aluminum happens to be an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, is light, and corrodes slowly. Tungsten has a stub that says it was used in welding, which coincidentally is one of today's uses for it due to its high melting point.

Edited by SpardaSon21, 11 September 2010 - 12:27 AM.

[Reedek]

They made the Star Wars elements the same since it was one of the ways for us to bond with this other universe. As to elements and a periodic table it would be an interesting publication that LucasArts could make money off of. Though then some people would actually take those elements as a reality...some people forget that Star Wars is not possible in this universe.

Edited by Reedek, 11 September 2010 - 01:29 AM.

[Phoenix Rising]

Well, regardless of technology, chances are a non-depleted ammunition for slugthrowers can be used instead of depleted fissionables, and without invoking the wrath of law enforcement, such as tungsten carbide, which can be used just fine for anti-armor penetrators. Although it seems odd that depleted fissionable rounds are problematic considering armaments such as turbolasers, concussion missiles, and proton torpedoes are classed as semi-legal (Gamma ATR-5, DX-8, Barloz Heavy Raider, Guardian Assault Shuttle).

You're right; it should technically be semi-legal. We just refer to them collectively as illegals in internal documentation. The Mankvim is at the lowest end of that spectrum.

I was actually trying to generalize from depleted baradium (said to be an element, by the way). Not a good thing to be caught with in any form.

[Ghostrider]

Space slugthrower cannons are meant to fire depleted radioactive rounds. The authorities generally frown on that kind of ammunition being in civilian possession.

Er, how close to modern technology are these slugthrowers, and does Star Wars have a completely different periodic table of elements?

This sounnds like depleted uranium.
Uranium is exceptionally hard and makes excellent AP rounds.

[SpardaSon21]

Yep Ghost, I know about U-238 being useful for AP rounds. You should see all the edits I did to my second post as I was trying to refine it. I also checked Wookiepedia about baradium and what it is and what it does to see if it was similar to uranium. Chances are depleted baradium would be much, much better than carbide, but depleted baradium rounds would make you a wanted man, most likely with the death sentence on twelve systems.

[Casen]

I've noticed that in Phoenix Rising slugthrowers are really damn effective.

If I'm Empire or CSA, and I'm having serious fighter problems, the best fighter to deal with the issue is the Preybird. My God, it just chews through everything.

I mean it makes you wonder why they even use energy weapons in the first place...well, at first.

I guess logistically laser/energy weapons are more ergonomic (no ammunition) and have longer ranges.

[SpardaSon21]

Blasters and lasers require tibanna and other gases, so yes, they need ammunition of a sort. However, they're still probably far more logistically efficient than slugthrowers. Take the Lancer, replace its quad lasers with quad slugthrowers, and see how much ammunition it ends up chewing through in a single battle.

Edited by SpardaSon21, 11 September 2010 - 04:48 PM.

[Tropical Bob]

To be effective in space combat, any mass driver/slugthrower weapon is probably a variant of some type of rail gun. Chemical explosives on their own probably don't accelerate projectiles to a high enough velocity to guarantee decent hit percentages. The power costs for those kinds of weapons may tax reactors more than a plasma weapon.

Gas can also be compressed down to probably a much smaller volume than physical ammunition, saving valuable space for other important starship components.

[Phoenix Rising]

Mass drivers usually are... I'm not aware of any "slugthrower" that uses electromagnetic acceleration though. I'm not sure where these numbers are from, but that seems fast enough to hit just about anything.

[SpardaSon21]

I don't see any glaring issues with the numbers being unfeasible. They may be unsourced, but they make sense. The U.S. Navy has tested a railgun with a maximum velocity of 2.4 km/sec, and with SW materials and power supply handwavium we could easily match or exceed 6km/sec.

Tropical Bob, kinetic weapons are actually more power-efficient than energy weapons. Tell me turbolasers don't seem needlessly complex and power-hungry compared to railguns. One advantage turbolasers do have over railguns though is relatively smaller size, since a sizable rail would be needed to accelerate a slug to velocities with comparable impact energy to a turbolaser blast.

[Tropical Bob]

Mass drivers usually are... I'm not aware of any "slugthrower" that uses electromagnetic acceleration though. I'm not sure where these numbers are from, but that seems fast enough to hit just about anything.

I don't see any glaring issues with the numbers being unfeasible. They may be unsourced, but they make sense. The U.S. Navy has tested a railgun with a maximum velocity of 2.4 km/sec, and with SW materials and power supply handwavium we could easily match or exceed 6km/sec.

The MR Browning machine gun was used for anti-aircraft defense on Navy ships during WWII has a muzzle velocity of 887.1m/s. Even the Palanx CIWS only has a muzzle velocity of 1,100m/s. I can't really see even hyper-futuristic chemical propulsion being able to get entirely too much faster. Handwavium may bee an extremely efficient explosive element in addition to its other uses.

That's why I'd figure relying solely on chemical propulsion in space would be a mistake. I'm thinking it's probably a hybrid of chemical and electromagnetic. Apparently, 20km/s speeds have been achieved with small projectiles with the hybrid design. Link.

Tropical Bob, kinetic weapons are actually more power-efficient than energy weapons. Tell me turbolasers don't seem needlessly complex and power-hungry compared to railguns. One advantage turbolasers do have over railguns though is relatively smaller size, since a sizable rail would be needed to accelerate a slug to velocities with comparable impact energy to a turbolaser blast.

I was talking on starfighter-scale weaponry, more so than capital. Whereas the turbolasers are said to have multiple different amplication phases, a laser cannon will have less. This could tip the balance on power consumption.

Another fiction example we could take from would be Halo. The MAC cannons that run the entire length of the UNSC ships should accelerate projectiles to epic speeds, but many shot can often miss or be avoided, because of the distances battles in space usually take place in.

[SpardaSon21]

Mass drivers usually are... I'm not aware of any "slugthrower" that uses electromagnetic acceleration though. I'm not sure where these numbers are from, but that seems fast enough to hit just about anything.

I don't see any glaring issues with the numbers being unfeasible. They may be unsourced, but they make sense. The U.S. Navy has tested a railgun with a maximum velocity of 2.4 km/sec, and with SW materials and power supply handwavium we could easily match or exceed 6km/sec.

The MR Browning machine gun was used for anti-aircraft defense on Navy ships during WWII has a muzzle velocity of 887.1m/s. Even the Palanx CIWS only has a muzzle velocity of 1,100m/s. I can't really see even hyper-futuristic chemical propulsion being able to get entirely too much faster. Handwavium may bee an extremely efficient explosive element in addition to its other uses.

That's why I'd figure relying solely on chemical propulsion in space would be a mistake. I'm thinking it's probably a hybrid of chemical and electromagnetic. Apparently, 20km/s speeds have been achieved with small projectiles with the hybrid design. Link.

Keep in mind the Wookiepedia entry for slugthrowers lists them as basic firearms little different in operation from ours, and it is stated they go from handguns to most likely autocannons. This is just a guess, but I am assuming the slugthrowers on fighters are most likely 12.7mm autocannons for the light ones (that isn't a weak projectile at all, and in Star Wars fighter engagements are point-blank affairs) and going up to 20mm and higher for the heavier models. The GAU-8 Avenger would probably count as a quad heavy or quad advanced slugthrower. 4,200 rounds per minute is not ordinary by any means, especially when compared to the M242 Bushmaster, Bofors, and M230, especially when you consider the Avenger's 30mm cartridges are much larger than ordinary 30mm autocannon cartridges.

Tropical Bob, kinetic weapons are actually more power-efficient than energy weapons. Tell me turbolasers don't seem needlessly complex and power-hungry compared to railguns. One advantage turbolasers do have over railguns though is relatively smaller size, since a sizable rail would be needed to accelerate a slug to velocities with comparable impact energy to a turbolaser blast.

I was talking on starfighter-scale weaponry, more so than capital. Whereas the turbolasers are said to have multiple different amplication phases, a laser cannon will have less. This could tip the balance on power consumption.

Another fiction example we could take from would be Halo. The MAC cannons that run the entire length of the UNSC ships should accelerate projectiles to epic speeds, but many shot can often miss or be avoided, because of the distances battles in space usually take place in.

First, lasers are still highly complex weapons, and if they're being retconned by PR into laser-induced plasma weapons, then you're dealing with both the plasma-inducing laser and the magnetic coil assemblies needed to accelerate the charged plasma, so again, high power usage, and if fighter-based slugthrowers are autocannons and not magnetically-accelerated projectiles, power consumption is insignificant at worst. Second, lasers and turbolasers in Star Wars are subluminal weapons, so being able to evade laser and turbolaser projectiles at long range is still possible, especially if Star Wars combat took place at the huge ranges Halo combat does.