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Liandra size(spoilers)

Talathanar

Beyond the rim
How big would the Liandra be compared to a White Star? In another post some questions were borrowed and one was "Why not green slicer beams?"



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Does anyone know how large the crew is?

<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black> I thought I only saw one healer, Firrel. But when David calls for a healer he says "I need a healer in here". I think that implies there is more than one. </font></td></tr></table>



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"The Bible is a book: it is a good book, but is is not the only book" - Inherit the Wind

"I do not believe that the same God who
has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."—Galileo

hypatia@b5fan.b5lr.com
 
The Liandra is equal to a wet navy PT boat or coastal patrol craft. It crews about 20 people and is heavily armed for its size and mission.

As we all know the Liandra is an old ship, so its weapon systems are not nearly as powerful as a White Star. Plus it is a Ranger craft not a Minbari Warrior Caste ship, such as a Sharlin.

The "fireball" type weapons reflect this. There are no "slicer beams" because the ship isn't big enough to mount them. Patrol boats in WW2 typically were armed with an automatic cannon, machine guns and 4 torpedos. Compared to a battleships 16 inch guns, heavy armor, numerous smaller cannon and machine guns a PT boat is a sitting duck.

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Lyta lives!
 
20 in the crew, huh? Then I suppose it's safe to assume:


<table bgcolor=black><tr><td bgcolor=black><font size=1 color=white>Spoiler:</font></td></tr><tr><td><font size=2 color=black> that there were others in the engine room with her while she was cursing. And that there are probably more than one healer. </font></td></tr></table>



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"The Bible is a book: it is a good book, but is is not the only book" - Inherit the Wind

"I do not believe that the same God who
has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."—Galileo

hypatia@b5fan.b5lr.com
 
I would guess it to be around 80 meters but I haven't seen the movie so my guess means diddly.
smile.gif


And I have no idea why JMS said the Liandra is not big enough to mount beam weapons, since Nials and even their transports manage to mount them.

But I think the Liandra is not meant to be a warship, but more of an assault troop transport of sorts. So instead of diverting power to weapons, most of it is used for the jump engines. It has to be short ranged since it uses projectiles, which means it has a limited range. Since a plasma charge moving at a mile a second, at a target 20,000 miles away, is gonna be ineffective.

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Marc Cosgrove

"From chaos, order came. As was inevitable." -Summoning light
 
I don't know if there is a need to "spoiler this" (I feel I'm using the spoiler box too much lately) but I'll warn you this might be spoiler stuff, I'm not sure:
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I thought that something JMS had said indicated that the small size of the Liandra could be just perfect for its uses. I thought I read something about how the Rangers (the group, not the movie) tend to work quietly and invisibly on the sidelines. I would think at least some of them would have to have small, unobtrusive, ships to fly around in.

Incidentally, does anyone know how it is decided which Rangers are assigned to ships, and which work more “solo” (like Marcus did)?


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"The Bible is a book: it is a good book, but is is not the only book" - Inherit the Wind

"I do not believe that the same God who
has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."—Galileo

hypatia@b5fan.b5lr.com
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>So the Liandra is smaller than a Minbari fighter? Strange, how a crew of 20 could fit inside such a small vessel.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

No, naturally it is much larger, but not large enough for continuous fire. Minbari fighters use a light version of their neutron cannon, but they can't fire it continuously. They have three main guns, all of which shoot short pulses.

And the comment about targeting systems would be reasonable. Liandra's current targeting system *could* be used to deliver continuous fire, but probably less efficiently.

[This message has been edited by Lennier (edited January 23, 2002).]
 
Calling healer does not necessarily mean there is more than one. There are various reasons including: standard procedure, what Firell would listen for, new crew not needing to remember names, ect.

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"Crying isn't gonna get your dog back. Unless your tears smell like dog food. So you can sit here eating can after can of dog food until your tears smell like dog food or you can go out there and find your dog."-Homer in The Canine Mutiny
 
funny... wonder what happens if Sarah accidentally stretches herself after a battle, would the Liandra start firing everywhere??
laugh.gif


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We live for the one, we die for the one. and... I am the one.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>wonder what happens if Sarah accidentally stretches herself after a battle, would the Liandra start firing everywhere??<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Reminds me of an Earth Force commander muttering "ah hell" on the bridge of a White Star.
laugh.gif


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"We are the universe, trying to figure itself out.
Unfortunately we as software lack any coherent documentation."
-- Delenn
 
I don't think it's ever been well established how big any of the ships in the B5 universe are. Since it's all computer graphics it seems that relative sizes can vary from episode to episode; it's been observed by some fan sites that the White Star ships gradually get bigger throughout the course of the series.
As far as the Liandra not having beam weapons I imagine the rationale is that it doesn't have the power to use the size of beam weapon that the White Stars use and that the smaller beam weapons used by the Minbari fighters are too small to be of any use to a ship the size of the Liandra.

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Spoo: it's what's for dinner.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>There are no "slicer beams" because the ship isn't big enough to mount them.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

There has to be another reason. Even fighters (the so-called Nial class) and Minbari personal flyers use that type of weapons. Their fire is pulsed, not continuous -- probably because a small ship doesn't have enough power for continuously firing weapons.

[This message has been edited by Lennier (edited January 23, 2002).]
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Lennier:
Their fire is pulsed, not continuous -- probably because a small ship doesn't have enough power for continuously firing weapons.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yep. As has been posted in another thread, here's what JMS said about this:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Q: The Liandra, a 20 year old ship, hit the enemy ships, several times with her fireballs (why no traditional Minbari green slicer beams?)

A: Not a big enough ship with a big enough power source.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>



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"Isn't the universe an amazing place? I wouldn't live anywhere else." - G'Kar, B5: Rangers
Kribu's Lounge | kribu@ranger.b5lr.com
 
That clears a lot up thanks guys and gals!
smile.gif


I hope that if/when this becomes a series we can see Liandra next to a White Star just for fun.

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So the Liandra is smaller than a Minbari fighter? Strange, how a crew of 20 could fit inside such a small vessel.
 
another reason is how would Sarah fire a beam with the holo interface? point at an enemy?

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So come on rally round this brave and valiant cause with tradition, pride, and honor at its core. With swords drawn to defend stood these noble-hearted men. Faugh-an-ballagh, clear the way, me boys!!
-Dropkick Murphys: Heroes From Our Past
 
The rationale for calling "Healer" instead of a Name reflects current practice among our Own armed forces:

Army calls: Medic!
Marines Call: Corpsman!

even though, in most cases, the people involved are probably on a first name basis because they usually live and train together.



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Do not ascribe your own motivations to others:
At best, it will break your heart.
At worst, it will get you dead."
 
Great points, bakana and Dr. Gonzo. But I thought that maybe in a crew as large as 20 more than one medic (sorry, "healer") might be practical, too. I’d also think that the engineer would need a bit of help.

I don’t know if they are not there, or if it was just better to “not show” them during a very expensive pilot that already has enough characters to make you pay attention.


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"The Bible is a book: it is a good book, but is is not the only book" - Inherit the Wind

"I do not believe that the same God who
has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."—Galileo

hypatia@b5fan.b5lr.com
 

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