Standard Starship Scuffle: Difference between revisions

[[File:StarTrekIIBattle_6679StarTrekIIBattle 6679.jpg|link=Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|frame|Yarr! Firin' a broadside of [[Frickin' Laser Beams]], captain!<ref>A scene from ''[[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan]]'', as digitally rendered by [http://wolf359a.anet-stl.com/jim.html Jim Varner].</ref>]]

This is the [[Super-Trope]] for many [[Tropes in Space|tropes]] and clichés concerning ship-to-ship combat... [[Ship-to-Ship Combat|the ]]''[[Ship-to-Ship Combat|literal ]]''[[Ship-to-Ship Combat|kind]]. <small>IN SPAAAAACE!!!</small>

[[Space Fighter|Space Fighters]]s have [[Old School Dogfighting]]. [[Standard Sci-Fi Fleet|Capital ships]] get this trope instead, and you can think of it as "''[[History of Naval Warfare|Very]]'' [[History of Naval Warfare|Old School Sea Fighting]]." Founded on the idea that [[Space Is an Ocean]], it harks back to the age of [[Wooden Ships and Iron Men]], when large warships, [[More Dakka|making up in fire-power]] [[Mighty Glacier|what they lacked in manoeuvrability]], pounded each other with cannon fire until one finally took enough damage to be forced to withdraw (or until a [[Attack Its Weak Point|lucky shot]] [[One-Hit Kill|hit a]] [[Stuff Blowing Up|powder magazine]]). The [[The Laws and Customs of War|honour and military tradition]] of those long-gone days will often be evoked as well.

It may be [[The Climax]] of a tense [[Mexican Standoff|standoff]], the conclusion of a [[Stern Chase]], or the outcome of a [[With Catlike Tread|cunning surprise attack]]. Two [[Cool Starship|Cool Starships]]s from opposing [[Space Navy|Space Navies]] will park [[See the Whites of Their Eyes|within arm's reach of each other]], and proceed to fire [[Space Is an Ocean|broadsides]] of [[Beam Spam]] and [[Macross Missile Massacre|Macross Missiles]] at each other's [[Attack Its Weak Point|Weak Spots]]. The [[Point Defenceless|Close In Weaksauce System]] -- if—if it ''exists'' -- will—will valiantly try to intercept enemy attacks, and fail. [[Deflector Shields]] will [[Some Kind of Force Field|flash and crackle]] as they slowly drop [[Hit Points|percentage point by percentage point]]. [[The Engineer]] will rush to prevent [[Phlebotinum Overload|Phlebotinum Overloads]]s while avoiding the inevitable [[Stanley Steamer Spaceship|torrents of burning steam]], providing essential [[Techno Babble]] all the way. On [[The Bridge]], [[Bridge Bunnies|Bunnies]] will shout out [[Subsystem Damage|damage reports]] while [[Explosive Instrumentation]] claims the life of many a [[Red Shirt|Redshirt Ensign]]. Everyone flails about as each enemy hit brings on a [[Star Trek Shake]]. [[The Captain]] will sit stoically at the centre of it all, providing important [[Hollywood Tactics|tactical guidance]], such as "[[Reverse the Polarity]]!" or "[[Tim Taylor Technology|Give me more power]]!"

In a ''really'' [[Rule of Drama|dramatic]] battle, he or she may turn to [[Crazy Enough to Work|daring and original plans]] -- attempts—attempts at [[Stealth in Space]] (to turn the battle into a [[Hot Sub-On-Sub Action|submarine analogy]]), aversions of [[2-D Space|Two-Dimensional Thinking]], uncharacteristically creative applications of usually-[[Misapplied Phlebotinum]], etc. Unfortunately, such daring plans will usually [[It Only Works Once|Only Work Once]].<ref>There's another possible parallel to the [[Wooden Ships and Iron Men|Age Of Sail]] here. Long ago, [[Brits With Battleships|British]] admiral [[Eyepatch of Power|Horatio Nelson]] shocked the world and revolutionized warfare by discarding traditions and turning to risky new tactics that won him many battles. His tactics didn't [[It Only Works Once|Only Work Once]], of course, but this was before the days of radio (/SubspaceAnsible/what have you), so his tactics -- and the need to develop countermeasures for them -- likely didn't have the chance to spread as quickly. (Also, after Trafalgar, there wasn't anyone with the resources or impetus to develop countermeasures, because no one had a strong enough fleet to challenge the Royal Navy.)</ref>

If neither side is willing to retreat, sooner or later one of the [[Cool Ship|Cool Ships]]s is likely to suffer a [[Critical Existence Failure]]. The crew will scramble for [[Escape Pod|Escape Pods]]s at the last possible second (this step can be skipped if there is nobody important on board), and the subsequent [[Explosions in Space]] (with optional [[Planar Shockwave]]) will [[The Climax|fittingly wrap up]] the action.

When this trope is [[Averted Trope|averted]], it will generally be done in one of two ways: Either large ships will engage in [[Old School Dogfighting]], displaying manoeuvrability usually reserved for [[Space Fighter|Space Fighters]]s, or combat between spacecraft will actually be shown as a completely new kind of warfare, with weapons and tactics shaped by [[Space Does Not Work That Way|the realities of the outer space environment]] rather than by the [[Rule of Cool]] or naval parallels.

To see the different kinds of ship likely to be involved, inspect the [[Standard Sci-Fi Fleet]]. If the ships are [[The Battlestar|Battlestars]], this trope may occur side-by-side with [[Old School Dogfighting]]. This trope is not to be confused with [[Space Battle|Space Battles]]s, though there is certainly overlap.

* ''[[Star Wars]]'' gives ''far'' more focus to [[Old School Dogfighting]] between [[Space Fighter|small fighters]] than to this trope. Usually when capital ships engage each other it is a brief fight. One side will be attempting a [[Hyperspeed Escape]] from the very start, or the fight will be a [[Curb Stomp Battle]] with one side at a huge disadvantage, and in either case there will be little time for a [[Standard Starship Scuffle]]. For example, we see many of the elements of this trope brought out in ''[[The Phantom Menace]]'' when the protagonists' [[Shiny-Looking Spaceships|Shiny Looking Spaceship]] is breaking through the Trade Federation's blockade, but from the start the focus is not on the fight, but on trying to ''escape'' it.

* ''[[Gratuitous Space Battles]]'' was explicitly designed to provide a pure fix of [[Standard Starship Scuffle]] visuals. The player designs a fleet of fighters, frigates and gargantuan battleships then pits them against another fleet in a firestorm of technicolour glory. If you want to see [[Deflector Shields]] shimmering under the onslaught of [[Beam Spam]] while [[Tractor Beam|Tractor Beams]]s struggle to pin elusive microfighters, this is the game for you.

* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' averts this -- atthis—at least according to the [[All There in the Manual|Codex]].

* The [[X (video game)|X]]-Universe games often feature slug fests between capital ships at fairly short ranges, even though the weapons will reach out 8km8&nbsp;km, they're too slow to kill the enemy before they close to sneezing distance. Battles between the player capital ship and AI capital ships usually end with the player[[Ramming Always Works|plowing his ship into the AI ship.]] AI vs AI capital ship battles sometimes result in them both smashing into each other (if the player is speeding up time) due to the poor maneuverability of capital ships and the slow reaction time of sped-up AI.

* ''[[Star Trek Legacy]]'', ''[[Star Trek Bridge Commander]]'' and the ''[[Star Trek Starfleet Command]]'' games all feature this heavily, as their respective settings lack [[Space Fighter|Space Fighters]]s. Most Trek games are like that.