Here is something that has been rolling in the back of my head for sometime. Call it my obsession with ship design, functionality, "what-if", why...and the like...but the Assault Frigate MK 2 makes little sense to me in design. I'm also sick of talking about the demolisher nurf, and "wave three".

So I'm gonna pick the MK 2 design apart...for how silly it is.

Now before people go off on the "well actually" as I've heard many a gamer/nerd/kylo ren say....let me just be clear I honestly have looked that bird over dozens of times and I can't make much sense of it.

However odd...it looks like the b*****d child of a Mon Cal Cruiser and a Klingon Bird of Prey....which to be perfectly honest makes it stand out as one of the silliest and flat out off looking ships I have ever seen designed...let alone for a star wars game.

Yet from a design standpoint...it still makes little sense. Right so the big bird beak has a recessed gun-deck and a bunch of armor up to...which I assume is to combat imperial destroyers...okay...so all I need to do is to go at it from the ventral angle, or perhaps dorsal..issue solved...I'll get through that armor.

What exactly do these wings do? I mean are there guns on the wings? Shields...? Do you intend to go top gun? I mean sure...I guess I could blow em off and watch a few redshirts fly out of the holes...

So what's up with the horse **** hanging from the bottom? Are we trying to make a statement here "oh well yeah...the ship looks too clean/put together...lets add some cargo pods and try to make it hodgepodge to make it more rebel!"

Eh no...the Nebulon B is coming home soon, so you can't dress up this child with the pod prong at the bottom to hide the fact the Bird of Prey got busy with the MC80....sorry...

Towards the rear it gets even more odd...the little tower at the back...what's that there for? I mean towards the rear of this thing I get the idea that the designer flat out said "oh well I'm board...lets add this and make it look cool" Me I'd be like "oh cool, how many fish heads do I fry when I dump a salvo here...!"

The back end just...disappoints me...we have ships with mass that have multiple engine clusters.....this...well this just has one engine.

Wait? One engine? You mean like...one...not a bank...just one?

Yup you guessed it, one engine...one engine to push this ugly blimp to fight the empire. Major Rhymer took one look at told his boys "kill the whale boys, hit it in the rear" and as that one flame went out (with no back up) the empire netted a nice juicy prize ship full of prisoners to tor...I mean "re-education".

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Now I'm an Alliance Sympathizing engineer designing a starship...and someone in my department (who probably sleeps at his desk, or is secretly on the down-low with D-Vader) puts this up for production. I sit there and look at it...and realize that it's big, and poorly propelled. The Mk 1 frigate (the real one...not this wizards BS) had multiple engines in the rear...take out one...cool we're still trucking. It has a slim profile, multiple emplacements throughout the hull and can engage many threats...best part is...you can make them faster due to stripping a dreadnought and adding parts.

I thought it was better with the lore this way:

After the Rebellion sympathies of this splinter group was discovered within their company, Rendili StarDrive beat the splinter group to death with a rolled up newspaper for making a silly design that isn't really...combat capable....but it looks cool bro!

But. . It's my favorite. I like its fishy tendencies.

Engine? That is a thruster nozzle the "Engine" is not hanging out the ass end of the ship.

And all star wars ships are ridiculous, try flying in space with thrusters that only fire in one direction, even the fighters only have them facing one direction, well rudders and / ailerons do not work in space, you need an atmosphere. So with no atmosphere you need thrusters that fire in multiple directions, one for every way you want to move in, and one on the opposite facing to stop that movement.

And when you are in space you have velocity/momentum, the only way to arrest that velocity/momentum is by firing counter thrust in exactly the opposite direction, and I do mean exactly, or you will start moving in a different direction, so shooting the thruster nozzle on the AFMK II will do nothing to stop its movement. So disabling thrusters, then "pulling" a ship towards you with a tractor beam, only works if you have a way of pushing it away again, to stop its momentum you imparted when pulling it in your direction.

Uuuh, if you think that ship makes no sense take a look at Bossk's ship.

Honestly, in which way do most of the other SW ships or squadrons make sense from an astronautical point of view? Wings, elevated command bridges with windows (looking at you star destroyers!), bulky rear engines with no visual signs of lateral thrusters.Let us not even start to discuss squadrons. Its more fantasy than sci-fi, and you somehow agree to this level of illogicality the first time you pick up an SW game, novel, movie.

All ships also stay the same way up and I have heard there is an entire 3rd dimension that non of them ever use.

All ships also stay the same way up and I have heard there is an entire 3rd dimension that non of them ever use.

Heretic, burn!

I assumed the pods were squadron bays, similarly on the neb.

How is the MC80 so neat?

All ships also stay the same way up and I have heard there is an entire 3rd dimension that non of them ever use.

I believe that 3rd dimension is called imagination.

Only thing I can Imagine is that some ships need the wings when flying through hyperspace. That still leaves the question of why others don't.

Honestly? It looks more like a super sci-fied version of the Nautalis than a space ship. So I'll buy it as a submarine. But as a Star Wars ship it leaves me scratching my head. Those wings make some sense if it was atmosphere capable, but then it's got that enormous keel hanging down. What is it? A landing gear pogo stick?

I might, if I ever play Rebels, buy one. But only so I've got a legal card to use with the Mk.I I'll order from Shapeways.

Modern warships have multiple engines, screws, and rudders so that if one system is damaged the ship can still move. So the single nozzle engine on the AF Mk II is truly odd to me.

I think it looks quite nice: It resembles the Mk I/Dreadnought a bit, enough so you can see where it's coming from, yet has a distinct personality. The only thing I don't really like is the engine section, which I think stand too far apart from other SW ships. It should have had a blocky engine section with multiple nozzles.

And all star wars ships are ridiculous, try flying in space with thrusters that only fire in one direction, even the fighters only have them facing one direction, well rudders and / ailerons do not work in space, you need an atmosphere. So with no atmosphere you need thrusters that fire in multiple directions, one for every way you want to move in, and one on the opposite facing to stop that movement.

Well, here's your problem! You're assuming that space in Star Wars is like space in our own real universe. If this were the case, then indeed Star Wars ships would make zero sense, as would many other things from Star Wars.

But, I've always been of the persuasion that space is Star Wars is something more like the "aether" theory of space. It's not a vacuum, but rather some sort of medium. If this were the case, it would help explain why:

• Sound travels in Star Wars Space (SWS)
• Having wings and fins and such help maneuvering in SWS
• Ships fly in a single direction like airplane dogfights in SWS
• People can walk around or float around in near-space with just a breathing mask on (think of Han and friends in breathmasks in the asteroid cave or how Rebel pilots eject with just a breathmask like in X-Wing PC games)
• Real world spacecraft have to invest a lot of resources and design space to getting rid of heat, since in a vacuum people and vessels will quickly overheat since heat is not easily transfered out while in a vacuum, but Star Wars ships never seem to include things like radiators to vent heat into the vacuum
• et cetera

So, you can assume that Star Wars Space is just like our real-universe space (a near vacuum), in which case almost nothing in Star Wars makes any sense. Alternatively, you could assume that Star Wars Space is nothing like our real space and is instead more like the old "aether" theories of space, in which case a lot of the stuff in Star Wars could make more sense.

It resembles a Mon-Cal/Mk1 combination look which is where I think they were going with it. Plus I always imagine that the armored prow and extra shields at the front would make an excellent ramming vessel. :3 FULL SPEED AHEAD AND **** THE TORPEDOES!

So, you can assume that Star Wars Space is just like our real-universe space (a near vacuum), in which case almost nothing in Star Wars makes any sense. Alternatively, you could assume that Star Wars Space is nothing like our real space and is instead more like the old "aether" theories of space, in which case a lot of the stuff in Star Wars could make more sense.

You would also have to assume that this kind of "aether" space somehow changes in physical characteristics depending on the shape and form of each ship. The way ships are designed in SW is not consistent at all, and there is no apparent pattern of aetherdynamics to which ships have to adhere to. Wedges, spheres, spacewales, wings, no wings, too much wings - they all propell through this aether because first Lucas and now Disney decides it is able to do so, not because it makes sense, in this universum or any other.

Why does reality matter at all, again?

Why does reality matter at all, again?

It doesn't really. Its just something to discuss while we wait for more wave 3/4 news

I plan on replacing them eventually. Oh Shapeways, why for art thou so expensive?

Gimme that Assault Frigate Mk I! The one that looks like the bumpy Frankenship that all Rebel fleets are supposed to be!

Agreed, I held out on buying the ship because I just couldn't stand looking at it. I mean, say what you want about four huge wings, each 100 meters long, on the sides and tail, that couldn't possibly serve any purpose. Say what you want about it being the only ship in the Rebel fleet to only have one engine (Neb-B: 7, CR90: 11 engines growing out of every surface available, MC80: 10 engines, MC30c: at least 5 - aft and mid, AFM2: 1 friggin engine). Say what you want about a 700 meter warship being clearly made in the image of a Siamese fighting fish.

But the dumbest thing about the AFM2 is the observation tower that can't see a thing because it's positioned directly behind a gigantic hull pod that completely blocks everything happening in front of it. What the hell is that tower doing there?

Why does reality matter at all, again?

Yeah, here on the FFG forums, we really like to keep the discussion hard-hitting and meaningful /s

I think the AFM2 is Ugly as Hell. Seriously ugly. I'd like 2 cards from it, but I don't feel the need to buy something as ugly and IMO wrong. The Mon Cals designed things for their use then converted them during the rebellion. Per the lore, they are supposed to be rare, and they were also supposed to be based on a dreadnought. There's no trace of the dreadnought. What resulted was some video game designer's impression, which FFG for some sad reason picked up.

AFM1 was ugly, but it fit. Old refitted starship, with extra stuff tacked on because of limitations.

And all star wars ships are ridiculous, try flying in space with thrusters that only fire in one direction, even the fighters only have them facing one direction, well rudders and / ailerons do not work in space, you need an atmosphere. So with no atmosphere you need thrusters that fire in multiple directions, one for every way you want to move in, and one on the opposite facing to stop that movement.

May I introduce you to the Starfury? Space combat done (mostly) right.

The AFmkII is to be the ugliest ship in the entire (expanded) universe. I would really enjoy flying a rebel medium cruiser. I really would. But the model is just so horrendously ugly, I refuse to buy one.

I get this is space-samurai 12'o'clock high non-sense sonic charges in space-type stuff going on. I really don't care (and this is someone that complained during Saving Private Ryan that Jackson fired 8 rounds from his springfield 1913 without reloading!). I get that the neb-b was built out of crap from the model store + a bucket of floquil paint + Lucas saying, "what if it looked like an outboard motor." That's cool.

What I don't understand....

Considering these fire out of its sides, it has higher reinforccement along the sides. i think the guns are in the trench.

That little viewing room or sensor array in the back kinda makes sense if youre shooting sideways.

Also, you dont need a large engine hole if you don't really accelerate much. the afs tend to go from speed 2 to speed 3.

If you really think about it, burning fuel in this game is about acceleration, not about speed, as you simply intertially drift.

Makes as much sense as any other make believe plastic model space ship......