This is the article on the Somtaaw ship created during the Beast War. For the Dreadnaught created by the Progenitors, see Progenitor Dreadnaught. |
The Archangel-class Dreadnought was built by Kiith Somtaaw during a fierce battle against the Beast.
Background[]
The Archangel was based on deep scans of Bentusi tradeships, which inspired Somtaaw engineers into trying to replicate the radial binding design that enabled incredible durability and easy energy distribution with limited success and a number of casualties due to failed stress tests. The desperate situation of the Beast War prompted Somtaaw to scramble for more firepower, but they could not procure technologies necessary to construct the Avatar class heavy cruiser in time to make a difference. Instead, Somtaaw engineers introduced some conservative reinforcements into their radial binding template to achieve desirable results while still within the limit of Hiigaran manufacturing techniques. Then, after Kuun-Lan came to the aid of the Faal-Corum halfway during the war, these engineers came up with the idea of converting their ore processors into a Destroyer Drive. All such incremental improvements to technologies in the Somtaaw's possession were swiftly combined to finalize the design for the Archangel, a fusion of Hiigaran and Bentusi construction.
Armed with four Energy Cannons, six Missile Launchers and protected by a hull that deflects more damage than it absorbs, the Dreadnought quickly became the king of the battle field. Despite a lack of maneuverability, these ships can easily dominate a battlefield, each greatly superior to a Qwaar-Jet.
After encountering the Nomad Moon's repulsor emitter, the scientists incorporated a somewhat weaker version of the device into the Dreadnought, though at a high cost: the two emitter domes were placed at the top and bottom, with the latter obscuring the lower Ion Cannon's frontal arc, greatly reducing the Cannon's already limited coverage: by being attacked from above or below, the Dreadnought can only bring one Ion Cannon to bear, a design flaw which is shared with the much-later Battlecruiser.
Overall, the Dreadnought is designed more to take on multiple opponents at once than to fight, for example, a single infected Heavy Cruiser. Rather than being armed with a relatively few very-powerful heavy weapons, the Dreadnought due to the circumstance of its creation is armed to the teeth by carrying a larger array of regular weapons divided among different firing arcs. Of these, the missile launchers can run out their payloads in a prolonged firefight while the ship's internal missile production facility can only replenish their magazines at one-third of their maximum rate of fire, which means the launchers will only be firing a third as many per salvo until magazine reserves can be built up again. One on one with equal levels of upgrades, it will lose to a Heavy Cruiser even if the Beast Infection Weapon isn't used. Instead, it is less vulnerable to being overwhelmed by multiple frigates and destroyers if they attack it from above and below.
Trivia[]
- In the Homeworld: Cataclysm manual, it is referred to as an Archangel-class Dreadnought.[1]
- The Dreadnought is the unit featured on the covers and box art for both Cataclysm and Emergence
Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ Homeworld: Cataclysm manual