Battlestar galactica

How can the battlestar galactica be improved esp wrt to improving the combat scenes , craft and tactics
 
How can the battlestar galactica be improved esp wrt to improving the combat scenes , craft and tactics
which version? OTL BSG or NuBSG. OTL BSG was already very powerful and old. If she had been joined by Pegasus, the two Battlestar's might very well have solo'd the remaining Cylon fleet which was drastically reduced now.

NuBSG on the other hand, I'm honestly unsure about since if not for the Cylon hack. They could very well have fought off the Cylon attacks easily.
 
which version? OTL BSG or NuBSG. OTL BSG was already very powerful and old. If she had been joined by Pegasus, the two Battlestar's might very well have solo'd the remaining Cylon fleet which was drastically reduced now.

NuBSG on the other hand, I'm honestly unsure about since if not for the Cylon hack. They could very well have fought off the Cylon attacks easily.
OTL BSG? Um, you do know what "OTL" means, yes?
 
OTL BSG? Um, you do know what "OTL" means, yes?
Yes I know what it stands for, OTL stands for Original TimeLine. Or did you not know there there are two Battlestar Galactica series. OTL BSG is the original while NuBSG is the new series. Hence why I asked the op if they were talking about OTL or NuBSG.
 
Last edited:
How can the battlestar galactica be improved esp wrt to improving the combat scenes , craft and tactics
You'd have battles taking place with the combatants much further apart, and probably little to no reliance on wee fighter craft with guns, but then you wouldn't have Battlestar Galactica.
 
Now in a "fair" fight between the Colonies and the Cylons well the Cylons would have been murder stomped. Even the Pegasus at it's strongest had taken major damage was not fully supplied and had half it's Vipers. A dozen fully armed and more importantly have the ability to rearm Mercuries could probably pimpsmack about 50 Basestars.
I do think that the Battlestar design doesn't really fit the FTL system that we see but "meh it's a TV show" so I will let it slide. But something realistic is kind of hard to write and make similar. Like Talwar said above fighters are hard to make work. I do think that rather than long distance that "jump in, fire 100 nukes, jump away" makes more sense than the "slug it out" shown on the show. But that wouldn't be as cool.
 
How can the battlestar galactica be improved esp wrt to improving the combat scenes , craft and tactics
some ideas

-add a class of star fighter with FTL drives, or an FTL rings (like with Jedi star fighters in star wars) would add an interesting new dimension to space combat with how these craft would interact with space.

-have Commander Adama clear the Starboard launch pod of its museum section to actually serve a purpose, either in military or even civilian use (since Galactica or even the fleet might not have the personnel or materials to fix the flight pod to the standards needed by the military to launch vipers or raptors or even land ships)

-have Galactica's structural problems known earlier and slowly develop within the show in a similar manner to Roslyn cancer, would make every engagement more stressful.

-Have a smaller and fast class of war ship in the fleet to serve in a somewhat similar role as the Demetrious. one good cannon friendly option would be the Colonial defender Class ship that is shown in the fleet and that some fans think might be the Adriatic that was mentioned in early season two of nBSG as a civilian ship with missiles and other defenses as mentioned by Tom zeric. Maybe have it go back to colonial space to looking for other survivors that are located in pleces not called Caprica.

-Have the Guardian Cylons do something interesting

-Have the marines wear cooler looking armor (maybe something that can move and survive in the vacuum of space)

-Have all crew members carry emergency masks on there person in case of decompression

-make use of "Space Smoke bombs" made out of anything from special chemicals to thousands of pieces of reflective glass to Nano machines that can fuck up sensors and a pilots vision

-make use of Mines. imagine during the 33 minute chase Adama decides to have the fleet jump a little bit earlier while he has the Galactica (and maybe a certain colonial defender class ship) say behind for a fight, he has a minefield deployed via raptor where he thinks the Cylon fleet will be. They jump in, trip on the minefield, and then the Galactica jumps on them like a 400 pound gorilla.

-delve into colonial survivor groups in Colonial space not named Caprica , maybe underground or underwater or on Mobile stations in gas giants or on planets with Extreme weather (think as hot as Venus with an atmosphere that can boil lead and destroy any missiles fired from a Cylon Basestar)

- have Cain seize control of the Scylla fleet and not destroy them but rather have her form her own Military dictatorship with these ships serving as a Mobile recruiting/resource pool that Cain world slower squeeze the life out of. These vessels would all survive to join the Galactica fleet but might also become the back bone of anti-military, anti-government, anti-establishment, anti-war factions, possibly under the manipulation of Gina, who did not get the chance to manipulate Cain into the disastrous attack on then Cylon Communication relay ITTL
 
Last edited:
Yes I know what it stands for, OTL stands for Original TimeLine. Or did you not know there there are two Battlestar Galactica series. OTL BSG is the original while NuBSG is the new series. Hence why I asked the op if they were talking about OTL or NuBSG.
It's more usually used to denote our time line, in which 1970sGalactica and 2000sGalactica are both television programs. They aren't alternate universe versions of each other.
 

MaxGerke01

Banned
It's more usually used to denote our time line, in which 1970sGalactica and 2000sGalactica are both television programs. They aren't alternate universe versions of each other.
They kind of were in that nuBSG was more remake than reboot, The fact that there seemed to be no non human aliens in nuBSG makes it an alternate universe from old BSG. Also the culture of old BSG seems much more Egyptian while nuBSG is much more Greco-Roman.
 
They kind of were in that nuBSG was more remake than reboot, The fact that there seemed to be no non human aliens in nuBSG makes it an alternate universe from old BSG. Also the culture of old BSG seems much more Egyptian while nuBSG is much more Greco-Roman.
No, what I meant was that unlike Star Trek with Mirror Universes, the Kelvin timeline, etc, and the MCU with a functioning multiverse and distinctly different timelines to the extent that they numbered them, BSG didn't have alternate universes. 1970sGalactica wasn't an alternate universe with 2000sGalactica (and vice versa), they were entirely different shows and there's no way to get from one to the other.
 
Last edited:
How can the battlestar galactica be improved esp wrt to improving the combat scenes , craft and tactics

For a television show, you probably can't. The constraints on visual media for space battles are rather large since showing an accurate space fight which could take place hundreds of thousands to millions of kilometers apart would be damn near impossible and involve lots of screen watching by the characters.

As others have said too, space fighters are pretty unrealistic. I've only read a few books that do a decent job of making it believable, and I'll give Babylon 5 props for making it fun like Battlestar. You could probably only write a book where it was done at realistic levels.

Now in a "fair" fight between the Colonies and the Cylons well the Cylons would have been murder stomped. Even the Pegasus at it's strongest had taken major damage was not fully supplied and had half it's Vipers. A dozen fully armed and more importantly have the ability to rearm Mercuries could probably pimpsmack about 50 Basestars.

I think that was one of the reasons the Cylons resorted to subterfuge, they realized that they were massively outclassed by the Colonial military, and so built their whole fleet around carrying out this plan. That bit them in the ass as even moderate resistance from far more capable Battlestars can wipe the floor with Baestars. A fully functional Battlestar group could have thrown the world's biggest monkey wrench into the Cylon attack.

I've always been sad Blood and Chrome never got off the ground because it would have been interesting to see a more purely mil-scifi series done. There were even options on tying it into the Reimagined Series with Adama and Tigh's careers, and a story revolving around Starbuck's mother and her having some experience which helped her discover her daughter was special.
 
I think that was one of the reasons the Cylons resorted to subterfuge, they realized that they were massively outclassed by the Colonial military, and so built their whole fleet around carrying out this plan. That bit them in the ass as even moderate resistance from far more capable Battlestars can wipe the floor with Baestars. A fully functional Battlestar group could have thrown the world's biggest monkey wrench into the Cylon attack.

The Cylin Armada is almost really good. The Raider and Heavy Raider are great. The Basestar is good IF it had a bad ass Armored Cruiser heavy gun ship to support it. Or maybe some high flak light cruiser equivalent. But only having one type of Cylon ship hurt them. The Basestar was much better at killing 50 million Colonials at a time but kind of sucked at combat.
Of course "Adama and everyone else dies leaving Ragnar Anchorage" is a pretty short show.
 

MaxGerke01

Banned
No, what I meant was that unlike Star Trek with Mirror Universes, the Kelvin timeline, etc, and the MCU with a functioning multiverse and distinctly different timelines to the extent that they numbered them, BSG didn't have alternate universes. 1970sGalactica wasn't an alternate universe with 2000sGalactica (and vice versa), they were entirely different shows and there's no way to get from one to the other.
They were entirely different shows that defacto represent entirely different universes whether thats intended or not. They are both about humans from the planet Kobol who founded the 12 Colonies and faced destruction by the Cylons. The details vary in each show but its pretty clear the main plot is the same in both and thats what could make them alternate universes. Have you seen both ?
 
As others have said, the military aspects need tightening up. Much of the show is governed by the rule of cool, rather than real world logic, which I understand because it is an entertainment show, but if you like a little reality to creep in to your shows, there are 'niggles'.
Space fighters and their pilots are great TV but iffy in terms of actual capability/utility (I can’t find it at present, but there was some years ago a very good summary of physics/power ratios etc that almost proves fighters wouldn’t be practical or even possible); I think the original book of the OTL series said that Galactica was almost as fast as her fighters. If you must have fighters, at least give them some punch like a few missiles, not what looked like 30mm cannons.
No escorts or lighter scouting vessels seem to exist. What proctected the battlestars or civilian ships in an emergency?
Marines should probably have better all environment suits/armour.
Cylon basestars seem weak, taking only a few hits to destroy compared to a battlestar.
The handful of fighters left aboard Galactica seem to be hard to kill, as numbers never seem to drop significantly and they are always kept in service. I realise the ship is huge (launch tubes alone are supposedly 170ft long) but to keep operating without any outside support (a base or even a fleet support ship/tender) is stretching things.
Even at near light speed, distances are so vast that battles would be a lot of time watching screens to see what had happened minutes or hours before (lag from light reaching sensors means what you see on screen is what has happened, not what is happening) then trying to react to it, something a few recent novel series such as The Lost Fleet get right. Accurate but poor TV viewing.
Mines, probably in reality stealthy missiles waiting in ambush, would be a good idea.
As for “Space Smoke Bombs”, definitely a doable concept. My thoughts turn straight to the Traveller RPG, where ships could carry something called Sandcaster, which was basically like chaff for the space age, distorting radar returns, damaging incoming missiles and ablating laser fire etc. At a pinch it could even be used like a giant shotgun round, throwing lots of crap in front of attacking fighters. Traveller and the similar 2300AD, though 'just games', had a very good base concept for designing spaceships. You had to do the sums to work out what you could squeeze into a hull and what you could achieve in terms of manoeuvre, distances and speeds etc. Again, not so great for a TV show but if you want to have at least a little science in your fiction then they had it.

A couple of troublesome aspects for me (I gave up watching quite quickly and then only dipped in and out, so may have missed explanations for these) are that

  • How does a humanoid Cylon get into the Colonial Fleet? Surely they can’t just appear with no background, no history and rise through the ranks like Tigh did? My admittedly patchy understanding is that they seem to be unboxed by the Cylons pretty much as they exist in the series. Even if they ‘age’, which they must do or they would soon be spotted, how is there no discrepancy with their lives?
  • Twelve colonies, but no one seems to have moved out and colonised other worlds, or at least the exodus doesn’t seem to encounter any other smaller colonies. Surely with the amount of independent shipping that existed some people would have set out to found their own worlds? Whether they be for commercial, religious or criminal reasons, or simply the need to get out from under the government, some group would have mortgaged themselves to the hilt and taken a ship away from the twelve.
  • I would have expected at least the Colonies central governments to have sent out scouting missions beyond their worlds. In that case, planets and resources would be mapped and known, at least for several jumps distance in every direction except towards Cylon space, and exploration ships or way stations might be encountered along the way. Even today we know where our near neighbour stars are. A civilization with FTL technology would be unlikely to restrict itself to 12 crowded worlds, bordered by a known enemy, without at least looking further afield. I had a concept idea for a parallel adventure based around a 'Phoenix' ship, a huge cargo vessel packed with the wherewithall to allow survivors to rebuild on anogther planet if anything happened to the main 12. It would have given the fleet, if they found its hiding place, the resources to use when they got far away from the disaster.
  • Galactica broadcasts calling for ships to gather at the depot, which must have been an FTL transmissions beamed out across space, yet Pegasus didn’t appear to hear or know until they met up later.
 
The 80's show had outlier colonial/weirdo settlements plus aliens. Even had an Earth substitute at one point. I actually was looking forward to the updates, but alas... The new show either didn't want or had no budget to do aliens or outlier colonies. Plus they would have lost Olmos as a lead.
 
If you must have fighters, at least give them some punch like a few missiles, not what looked like 30mm cannons.

My greatest complaint. I mean, accepting the conceits of the show's premise.

We see occasions where vipers do employ missiles, but it's rare.* But what both Galactica series had in common was a love affair with WW2 style dogfights.

* And even then, as with Lee's Blackbird strike, it's fired at very short range!

 

MaxGerke01

Banned
A couple of troublesome aspects for me (I gave up watching quite quickly and then only dipped in and out, so may have missed explanations for these) are that

  • How does a humanoid Cylon get into the Colonial Fleet? Surely they can’t just appear with no background, no history and rise through the ranks like Tigh did? My admittedly patchy understanding is that they seem to be unboxed by the Cylons pretty much as they exist in the series. Even if they ‘age’, which they must do or they would soon be spotted, how is there no discrepancy with their lives?
  • Twelve colonies, but no one seems to have moved out and colonised other worlds, or at least the exodus doesn’t seem to encounter any other smaller colonies. Surely with the amount of independent shipping that existed some people would have set out to found their own worlds? Whether they be for commercial, religious or criminal reasons, or simply the need to get out from under the government, some group would have mortgaged themselves to the hilt and taken a ship away from the twelve.
  • I would have expected at least the Colonies central governments to have sent out scouting missions beyond their worlds. In that case, planets and resources would be mapped and known, at least for several jumps distance in every direction except towards Cylon space, and exploration ships or way stations might be encountered along the way. Even today we know where our near neighbour stars are. A civilization with FTL technology would be unlikely to restrict itself to 12 crowded worlds, bordered by a known enemy, without at least looking further afield. I had a concept idea for a parallel adventure based around a 'Phoenix' ship, a huge cargo vessel packed with the wherewithall to allow survivors to rebuild on anogther planet if anything happened to the main 12. It would have given the fleet, if they found its hiding place, the resources to use when they got far away from the disaster.
  • Galactica broadcasts calling for ships to gather at the depot, which must have been an FTL transmissions beamed out across space, yet Pegasus didn’t appear to hear or know until they met up later.
Then there was the fact that not all of the biospheres of the 12 Colonies were especially friendly to human life with at least 1 possibly 2 "water worlds",1 or 2 "ice worlds" and 1 or 2 very arid worlds. They would have needed more living space. https://en.battlestarwikiclone.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Colonies_of_Kobol
The 80's show had outlier colonial/weirdo settlements plus aliens. Even had an Earth substitute at one point. I actually was looking forward to the updates, but alas... The new show either didn't want or had no budget to do aliens or outlier colonies. Plus they would have lost Olmos as a lead.
Hard to believe they let one actor even if the lead actor summarily dismiss a major plot element. Would have been very interesting to see Colonial offshoot worlds and an alien civilization or 2.
 
Last edited:
Top