What on earth is the vidar anyway?

[TheGoldElite]

I was just wondering, what the heck is the vidar anyways, some special prototype m6? I dont recall ever even seeing the standard model about. Why on earth would they give this unique, unstoppable tank of a ship to some low ranking pilot anyways???! just thought it didnt rally make sense, IIRC its far stronger than a standard Terran M6.

[Baddieus]

Maybe the Vidar is given out to increase the life expectancy of their newer pilots.

[A5PECT]

The Vidar was the ATF's primary corvette before it was superseded by the Vali.

It has a unique history in the ATF's fleet, similar to how the Paranid never pushed the Hyperion into mass production, so there are only a handful of units spread around the entire Paranid fleet. In the Vidar's case, production of the Vidar stopped to make way for the Vali, and as the old corvettes were replaced they were relegated to auxiliary roles (like boarding practice).

[TheGoldElite]

Aaaaah right okay. ATF have unique ships IIRC. Doesn't that mean that even old ATF ships excel newest Terran models? Selfish buggers eh??

[deca.death]

ATF is something like Terran OTAS. Special forces. Vali is heavy M6 while vidar is obviously no longer produced light corvette.

[A5PECT]

OTAS is a private company, while the ATF is a branch of the USC military. The OTAS sell their ships and technology freely, while the ATF won't share anything with anyone.

But yeah, they do share some similarities in being generally above-average in terms of hardware.

[Gothsheep]

I have always said, and will always continue to say, that the ATF should be regarded as the Terran military force, while the USC (Or whatever they call themselves) should be regarded as Terran civilian police.

The entire dynamic makes a lot more sense if you tell yourself that.

[A5PECT]

I have always said, and will always continue to say, that the ATF should be regarded as the Terran military force, while the USC (Or whatever they call themselves) should be regarded as Terran civilian police.

The entire dynamic makes a lot more sense if you tell yourself that.

Going from lore directly in the games that is the most logical analysis. USC ships are never seen outside of Terran space. The only times the Terrans had a significant military presence outside of the Sol system were:

1) First contact with the Commonwealth at Heretics End.

2) Reuniting and expanding the Aldrin colonies.

3) Fighting the Argon Secret Service in Black Hole Sun.

The only ships used by the Terrans during those events were ATF. Although I like to think of the Terran government as a heavy-handed military state. Even though the USC are "only" police, they get firepower well above any of the home security forces of the Commonwealth. So much so that they could be considered a military force in some respects.

P.S. I thought it was weird how the acronym "ATF" contains another acronym ("AGI").

[deca.death]

I have always said, and will always continue to say, that the ATF should be regarded as the Terran military force, while the USC (Or whatever they call themselves) should be regarded as Terran civilian police.

Yeah, and Osaka is typical police vessel ; ). IIRC game explains ATF as a anti AI /ex terraformer branch of Earth military forces. So there is normal military, an there is special "anti AI terrorist" military : )

[TTD]

USC ships are never seen outside of Terran space.

But you do see Terran ships in commonwealth sectors.
Sabre in my games,iirc

[A5PECT]

There are lots of Terran weapons dealers and other trade ships in Commonwealth, but they very rarely have military ships outside of their space.

As opposed to say, the Argon, who usually have at least one large fleet meandering through various races' space to get to a Paranid sector.

[Gothsheep]

Yeah, and Osaka is typical police vessel ; ). IIRC game explains ATF as a anti AI /ex terraformer branch of Earth military forces. So there is normal military, an there is special "anti AI terrorist" military : )

Right, and I think that is dumb, and will continue to think that's dumb, so I reject the official explanation and replace it with my own.

And you might think the USC is too heavily armed for civil protection, but I disagree, given the context of their mission. The Osaka specifically would have probably been developed with the objective to secure jumpgates (Or whatever the Terran equivalents are) by bringing enough heavy firepower to bare that no ship could reasonably except to survive running a gate unauthorized and to trap criminal ships within one sector. Also probably to destroy illegal stations when the Terrans didn't feel like committing the forces to capturing it.

[pjknibbs]

just thought it didnt rally make sense, IIRC its far stronger than a standard Terran M6.

Not really. The Terran Katana has the same shielding and is about as fast. It doesn't have as many forward guns (6 compared to 10) but it has 3 double turrets rather than the Vidar's 2. So, the Vidar has a bit of an edge on firepower over a Katana, but it's not as enormous as all that.

[vr01]

just thought it didnt rally make sense, IIRC its far stronger than a standard Terran M6.

Not really. The Terran Katana has the same shielding and is about as fast. It doesn't have as many forward guns (6 compared to 10) but it has 3 double turrets rather than the Vidar's 2. So, the Vidar has a bit of an edge on firepower over a Katana, but it's not as enormous as all that.

Vidar's advantage is front firepower as stated above AND most importantly maneuverablility. Add to that its small profile... in my mind it is the ultimate dogfighting machine.

Just don't lose it before you get the PHQ and a chance to re-engineer it!

[deca.death]

Not really. The Terran Katana has the same shielding and is about as fast. It doesn't have as many forward guns (6 compared to 10) but it has 3 double turrets rather than the Vidar's 2...

[continued]...Vidar's 2 that are single turrets and next to useless. Very powerful in front, yes but if armed with MAMLs not so great vs small targets and with very low cargospace left. That and low speed makes him pretty lousy players ship, in spite his good sides IMO.

[Infekted]

Vidar is a kickass player ship. Its the turning ability that makes it that much superior to the Katana/Vali imo.

[GCU Grey Area]

Not really. The Terran Katana has the same shielding and is about as fast. It doesn't have as many forward guns (6 compared to 10) but it has 3 double turrets rather than the Vidar's 2...

[continued]...Vidar's 2 that are single turrets and next to useless. Very powerful in front, yes but if armed with MAMLs not so great vs small targets and with very low cargospace left. That and low speed makes him pretty lousy players ship, in spite his good sides IMO.

I also agree with those assessments. Aside from the fact that I dislike Terran ships for their limited selection of armaments, if I was forced to choose (e.g. if I was doing a xenophobic Terran ships only game) think I'd go with the Katana for the extra speed & cargo capacity. I am rather fond of missiles & drones so cargo capacity tends to be a prime requisite for my ships.

[vr01]

Not really. The Terran Katana has the same shielding and is about as fast. It doesn't have as many forward guns (6 compared to 10) but it has 3 double turrets rather than the Vidar's 2...

[continued]...Vidar's 2 that are single turrets and next to useless. Very powerful in front, yes but if armed with MAMLs not so great vs small targets and with very low cargospace left. That and low speed makes him pretty lousy players ship, in spite his good sides IMO.

You just need to learn how to fly it. The Vidar can take down everything with its guns except Khaak capitals (the beam weapons are just too good). However if you start firing Wraith / Poltergeist missiles then you have a good chance of even taking them down.

[deca.death]

You just need to learn how to fly it.

And you are missing the point. In that game phase 95% of your enemies are fighters and you have to fly through long terran sectors quite often, both is pain for vidar. Plus, very quickly you will be in possession of a springy and we know what that means. My vidar ended up fully armed and stored in goner's temple to jump in if I really need it, which was never. Cargo and speed are priority on player's ship that's exactly why SB excels so much.

[vr01]

I'm not missing any point... that would be you

I was only pointing out the Vidar's combat ability (across 2 posts), I made no mention of cargo space nor was I comparing to any other M6, talking about 'game phase' or whatever.

BTW the Vidar's 2 turrets (better known as flyswatters) are double turrets