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Sharlin/Liandra Theory

I personally think that Sharlins use the same kind of gunnery pods.

In the series we never get to see the Minbari bridge (no not the grey council thing). So no one can assume that Sharlins use push button weapons.

A very well trained Minbari would be able to handle the 40+ cannons on a Sharlin. Especially since a Minbari has way more endurance than a human female.

It makes sense sort of......what kind of member in the warrior caste would want to be constrained to a seat pressing buttons? If that were me I wouldnt feel very warrior like.

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Exactly, and who says there can be only one gunnery pod on a ship. The bigger ones can have dozens of them for all we know.

As I said in another thread, minbari warriors are realy into face to face fighting and martial arts. Such a system would be right up theyr ally. A human solder just want to destroy the enemy and go home (so to us the system looks inefficient and dumb). A minbari Warrior LIVE to fight. They would much prefeer a slightly less effecient system that allow then to use theyr skills, even in a space battle, rather than to sit on the bridge and just press the "kill all enemies in range" button once in a while. It's a cultural thing.

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Yeah, that does seem to fit with the warrior caste. Maybe the pod could be modified into something easier for a human to use (and a bit less cheesy).

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I would partly agree. But there are some differences. I would think that on a warcruiser, the chain of events/commands would go this way:

1. The main tactical centre, like the one we saw in "Shadow Dancing". One or more commanders observe the battle and give orders to ships, squadrons and larger units.

Example: the fleet commander notices an enemy ship escaping. He points at the ship and says: "warcruiser X, prevent ship Y from escaping." Seeing that the ship opened a jump point, he quickly follows it up with: "all units, prevent that ship from escaping!"

2. Computers relay orders, deciding who is capable of responding. Depending on the priority specified, the scope of the order varies.

Example: at first, the targetward fighter wings and gunners of warcruiser X get the order as high-priority. Others get the order as low-priority. They open fire and start closing in on the enemy, but it opens a jump point.

After a few moments, the order is updated. All ships within interception range get the target as high-priority. They engage it, no matter their current task, with main guns if possible.

3. Gunnery crews and fighter pilots carry out the orders. They have their own targeting instruments, holographic screens with accessible targets and priority markers. They try to shoot according to set priorities, but can alter the priorities manually.

Example: the main gun operator of warcruiser Z has ship Y within range and targeting angle. When the fleet commander orders the neigbouring warcruiser X to target ship Y, it becomes marked as a low-priority target.

After that, the fleet commander orders all ships to prevent ship Y from escaping. It lights up as the main target. Now, for the sake of diversity, let us imagine that the navigator of warcruiser Z detects a fighter trying to ram them. He quickly yells "incoming fighter" and the gunner resets priorities to defense. Computers take control of the gun, quickly destroying the incoming fighter.

Whew! Complicated!

Yet the efficiency of Minbari forces in battle suggests a tactical system no less complicated. The upper level of their command system would be on fleet level, followed by group level, ship level and finally, individual firing positions. With sufficiently good interfaces and powerful computers, they might manage to coordinate actions and relay both direct and indirect orders through all these levels.

That would truly explain why Earth Force never had a chance.

[This message has been edited by Lennier (edited January 20, 2002).]
 

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