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Originally posted by Embassy:
I always intepreted "Angels" as Close Air Support from the Browncoat Air Force...

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Originally posted by Talvin:

2) Naval action between capital ships just really wasn't part of the war! A pretty good case can be made that this was the first ever Interstellar War (and only one so far), so alot of stuff had to be made up along the way. Ground and Air Combat tech would have been in goodly supply from Earth-that-Was, but such "navy" ships as existed were primarily Cutters and Corvettes for anti-piracy, anti-smuggling, etc. Colony Transports could be turned into Troop Transports very quickly, but Ships of the Line are another matter entirely. The Alliance Cruiser could well have come along at the end of the war, or even after. What we see of the "Cruiser" indicates that it is more of a mobile base than anything else; there to support ground troops, carry a wing of fighters, etc. It does NOT come across as a ship that thinks it will ever run into a hostile in its own class.

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Originally posted by Talvin:
Hera and Serenity Valley had some pretty large troop numbers, at least according to the deleted scene, and I don't think they walked or took little ships like the Firefly class.

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Originally posted by MilesLong:

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Originally posted by Talvin:

2) Naval action between capital ships just really wasn't part of the war! A pretty good case can be made that this was the first ever Interstellar War (and only one so far), so alot of stuff had to be made up along the way. Ground and Air Combat tech would have been in goodly supply from Earth-that-Was, but such "navy" ships as existed were primarily Cutters and Corvettes for anti-piracy, anti-smuggling, etc. Colony Transports could be turned into Troop Transports very quickly, but Ships of the Line are another matter entirely. The Alliance Cruiser could well have come along at the end of the war, or even after. What we see of the "Cruiser" indicates that it is more of a mobile base than anything else; there to support ground troops, carry a wing of fighters, etc. It does NOT come across as a ship that thinks it will ever run into a hostile in its own class.

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I would think that option 2 is the most likely. But if the Civil War inspiration holds true, then remember that there was signifigant Naval action. The Union managed a blockade that streched all along the southern states in the Atlantic. That is no small feat. The thing that makes it so forgetable is that the South never had a fleet to challange it with, nor any highly skilled Captains (with the level of competence of a Lee or Jackson). So the South lacking a Naval Hero and a Fleet for him to command, never caused a noteworthy sea battle.

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That said there were blockade runners and such. But they wern't very successful. Heck they lost the South's diplomat to the Union Navy and the Union only released him to prevent Britan from siding with the South.

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Originally posted by Kugelblitz:
dumb little heat seeking missiles have to fight gravity, turbulence, air resistance and maneuver against targets. That is now. Such devices are easily feasible in future.

B]

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Originally posted by BadgersHat:
The logistics involved (stabilizing a vehicle against the launch velocity, tracking from space, launch-to-target guidance, propelling from a space-based launch site, etc)--very much difficult.

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Originally posted by BadgersHat:
a satelite is a stationary object, already well within the planetary gravity well.

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Originally posted by BrownCoat1:
As to the South's "lack" of skilled sea captains, I would like to remind you of Captain Raphael Semmes, commander of the CSS Alabama, a very successful commerce raider. The Alabama sunk the USS Hatteras and captured its crew. It only lost to the USS Kearsarge due to poor powder sold to them by an English merchant. The powder was of such low quality that it was slow to light or did not provide the power to accurately fire the Alabama's cannons.

There was also Capt. James I. Waddell, commander of the CSS Shenandoah. In less than a year on the seas the Shenandoah burned seven Union ships and captured two more for ransom, all with the liability of a crew less than what was necessary for the proper running of the ship. After taking on more crew in Australia, they captured four more Union ships before learning the war ended. They then sailed to Britian and gave up the Shenandoah so they could return home.

Very true. Only lack of resources and actual ships to convert to warships kept the South from having a navy of note. There were skilled officers enough, just no ships for them to command.

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