So this is the pure battlecruiser variant of the Tyrant-class, huh? Its looks have quite some elegance to it and just like its sister design give some serious mixed late-Republic/early-Empire vibes.
Still, just like with the Tyrant-class before, I’m a bit iffy on the naming of the class when it comes to the prospect of it being originally a Republic vessel. Dictator-class is dotes fine when it comes to Imperial usage but imho doesn’t fit the theme of the Republic.
On a side note, I do wonder where this beauty fits strength-wise. if it is 4.000+ meters like the Tyrant it nominally fits into the Battlecruiser range yet due to being an older design, I’m sure it wouldn’t last long against a Praetor Mark II.
However, I’m intrigued how it would measure up against a Praetor I, a Maelstrom, a Procurator or a CIS Bulwark Battlecruiser.
A Chiss advisor
4 months ago
does it carry any missiles or does it only have energy based weapons on board?
I’m not entirely sure, but it has what looks like blast shields with armored actuators that may be covering missile batteries. Many of them on the ventral hull look positioned for Ortillery Bombardment.
It depend on the loadout but it have good hangars, that should be bigger than ISD, that can easily take several hundred fighters in the full carrier mode so Dictator may take same about at least and I bet it is possible to pack much more.
The Dictator-class has the same hangar as the Secutor, which Fractal has said in the past usually caries 8 wings of starfighters though the exact number will wary depending on the mission and types of fighters caried.
That’s a good estimate, but the Secutor was a dedicated carrier, while the Dictator seems to be more of a multi-role warship to me, so I’m not quite sure if it has enough internal storage to carry up to 576 fighters :/
It can easily do that, and probably considerably more – Fractal’s complement estimates are generally a comfortable middle ground on volume usage rather than a maximum load. Secutor probably does have more internal space proportionately than the Dictator, but then, the Dictator is just a much bigger ship – proportionately less internal volume dedicated to hangars is still a lot of volume in objective terms. Fighters are small, and SW warships are gigantic – I would not be shocked by the Dictator’s maximum load of TIEs or some other small fighter being in the low 1000s
Cmdr_JT_Wayland
4 months ago
May I offer a suggestion on the history of this class and the Tyrant class as well a other pre and post Clone Wars ship classes. Before the war, KDY was a producing a large number of different designs, sometimes designed to explore different design concepts for possible sales, but mostly designed to specific requirements of different system and planetary Defence Force requirements.
In the Imperial period, KDY was mass producing certain classes, e.g. Imperator class SD, but occasionally, developed experimental prototype ships, either by in-house design teams and/or at the request of the Imperial Navy, again to test a tactical concept. Also, at the possible request of a powerful Admiral/Moff for a personal flagship.
May I also suggest that at some point, someone develops a possible list of when the ships on this site were designed and built, both pre and post clone wars as well as how rare or mass produced they were?
The design, the greebling, the shape of the hangar bays….
Just…. mwah!
Last edited 4 months ago by FollowTheBlu
Phoenix
4 months ago
I like the ship I’ve been waiting for this design for what feels like years ever since I saw the concept for it I think it was when you released the tyrant. The design did not disappoint.
You sure it is 38 quad turbolasers? I only counted 24.
soda drink
4 months ago
Some lore I came up with for this design:
The KDY Dictator-class was designed alongside the Allegiance-class as a candidate for the Imperial Navy’s Heavy Star Destroyer Program. The Navy started the program in response to the Rebellion’s increasing use of Mon Calamari ships, whose shields and armor outclassed that of a standard ISD. While these two ship types were designed alongside each other, their design philosophies were very different. The Dictator lacked the Allegiance’s armor and firepower, but its hangar bays, wider firing arcs, and unrivaled speed (for its size) gave it self-sufficiency that the Allegiance couldn’t hope to match. Ultimately, though, the Allegiance was chosen to be the HSD, as the Imperial Navy felt its massive turbolaser and ion batteries gave it a higher upside against MC ships. The Allegiance HSD prototypes were developed into the Allegiance-class Battlecruiser that we all know, while the Dictator was retooled into the Tyrant-class Missile Cruiser, a rare ship that was sometimes used in place of the venerable Victory-class Star Destroyer.
From the guy who coordinated the crowdfund which got this thing made – the Dictator is a very old ship by the time we get to the Empire. It’s intended to be an early Ruusan design to serve as a fleet sensor picket and pursuit ship for larger forces, and local flagship for smaller forces. Approximate time of introduction is about 500-700 years before the Prequel trilogy. And an Allegiance would eat a Dictator alive – the two occupy totally different niches in a fleet.
That’s odd considering the tyrant it’s sister design is late republic early empire tech. Though I suppose the tyrant could be a brand new design based off the dictator similar to how the venator is based off a ancient Mandalorian ship of an almost identical design.
I do have to chuckle at the thought of the dictator being a picket ship though given that it’s around 4km’s long.
Fractal’s generally imagined the Tyrant as a mid-Ruusan ship – it’s one of the Ruusan Republic’s equivalents to the Torpedo Sphere. There’s nothing about here that isn’t easily doable with Ruusan shipbuilding norms.
And you’d need big sensor pickets when you’re dealing with supercapital lines of battle – otherwise the sensor picket will get deleted with a single salvo, which is not good news for your sensor resolution at extreme ranges.
Hmm I suppose that is true though if any ship were to take that role I figured it’d be the legator class. It’s like twice the size with 3 times the weaponry and what looks like 4 massive sensor globes along with several smaller secondary sensor globes and other gear.
The Legator comes several hundred years after the Dictator’s introduction – she’s a late Ruusan period ship, where the Dictator’s very much early-mid Ruusan period. You’re right in that it’s essentially the same role – just at different time periods and scales.
So this is the pure battlecruiser variant of the Tyrant-class, huh? Its looks have quite some elegance to it and just like its sister design give some serious mixed late-Republic/early-Empire vibes.
Still, just like with the Tyrant-class before, I’m a bit iffy on the naming of the class when it comes to the prospect of it being originally a Republic vessel. Dictator-class is dotes fine when it comes to Imperial usage but imho doesn’t fit the theme of the Republic.
On a side note, I do wonder where this beauty fits strength-wise. if it is 4.000+ meters like the Tyrant it nominally fits into the Battlecruiser range yet due to being an older design, I’m sure it wouldn’t last long against a Praetor Mark II.
However, I’m intrigued how it would measure up against a Praetor I, a Maelstrom, a Procurator or a CIS Bulwark Battlecruiser.
does it carry any missiles or does it only have energy based weapons on board?
Probably just energy weapons, though I can’t tell for certain
Yup, pure gun cruiser
I’m not entirely sure, but it has what looks like blast shields with armored actuators that may be covering missile batteries. Many of them on the ventral hull look positioned for Ortillery Bombardment.
I am – I organised the crowdfund that commissioned the model in the first place
How many fighters do you reckon this carries? 2 wings? Maybe up to 4?
It depend on the loadout but it have good hangars, that should be bigger than ISD, that can easily take several hundred fighters in the full carrier mode so Dictator may take same about at least and I bet it is possible to pack much more.
The Dictator-class has the same hangar as the Secutor, which Fractal has said in the past usually caries 8 wings of starfighters though the exact number will wary depending on the mission and types of fighters caried.
That’s a good estimate, but the Secutor was a dedicated carrier, while the Dictator seems to be more of a multi-role warship to me, so I’m not quite sure if it has enough internal storage to carry up to 576 fighters :/
It can easily do that, and probably considerably more – Fractal’s complement estimates are generally a comfortable middle ground on volume usage rather than a maximum load. Secutor probably does have more internal space proportionately than the Dictator, but then, the Dictator is just a much bigger ship – proportionately less internal volume dedicated to hangars is still a lot of volume in objective terms. Fighters are small, and SW warships are gigantic – I would not be shocked by the Dictator’s maximum load of TIEs or some other small fighter being in the low 1000s
May I offer a suggestion on the history of this class and the Tyrant class as well a other pre and post Clone Wars ship classes. Before the war, KDY was a producing a large number of different designs, sometimes designed to explore different design concepts for possible sales, but mostly designed to specific requirements of different system and planetary Defence Force requirements.
In the Imperial period, KDY was mass producing certain classes, e.g. Imperator class SD, but occasionally, developed experimental prototype ships, either by in-house design teams and/or at the request of the Imperial Navy, again to test a tactical concept. Also, at the possible request of a powerful Admiral/Moff for a personal flagship.
May I also suggest that at some point, someone develops a possible list of when the ships on this site were designed and built, both pre and post clone wars as well as how rare or mass produced they were?
My honest reaction:
The design, the greebling, the shape of the hangar bays….
Just…. mwah!
I like the ship I’ve been waiting for this design for what feels like years ever since I saw the concept for it I think it was when you released the tyrant. The design did not disappoint.
O and before I forget here is the weapons for the dictator class at least everything that I could see.
DBY-827 Dual Heavy Turbolaser Turrets (64)
Quad Turbolaser Turrets (38)
Turreted Twin Laser Cannons (127)
You sure it is 38 quad turbolasers? I only counted 24.
Some lore I came up with for this design:
The KDY Dictator-class was designed alongside the Allegiance-class as a candidate for the Imperial Navy’s Heavy Star Destroyer Program. The Navy started the program in response to the Rebellion’s increasing use of Mon Calamari ships, whose shields and armor outclassed that of a standard ISD. While these two ship types were designed alongside each other, their design philosophies were very different. The Dictator lacked the Allegiance’s armor and firepower, but its hangar bays, wider firing arcs, and unrivaled speed (for its size) gave it self-sufficiency that the Allegiance couldn’t hope to match. Ultimately, though, the Allegiance was chosen to be the HSD, as the Imperial Navy felt its massive turbolaser and ion batteries gave it a higher upside against MC ships. The Allegiance HSD prototypes were developed into the Allegiance-class Battlecruiser that we all know, while the Dictator was retooled into the Tyrant-class Missile Cruiser, a rare ship that was sometimes used in place of the venerable Victory-class Star Destroyer.
It’s interesting headcannon though it should be noted the dictator and the tyrant are both according to fractal old republic ships so clone war era..
From the guy who coordinated the crowdfund which got this thing made – the Dictator is a very old ship by the time we get to the Empire. It’s intended to be an early Ruusan design to serve as a fleet sensor picket and pursuit ship for larger forces, and local flagship for smaller forces. Approximate time of introduction is about 500-700 years before the Prequel trilogy. And an Allegiance would eat a Dictator alive – the two occupy totally different niches in a fleet.
That’s odd considering the tyrant it’s sister design is late republic early empire tech. Though I suppose the tyrant could be a brand new design based off the dictator similar to how the venator is based off a ancient Mandalorian ship of an almost identical design.
I do have to chuckle at the thought of the dictator being a picket ship though given that it’s around 4km’s long.
Fractal’s generally imagined the Tyrant as a mid-Ruusan ship – it’s one of the Ruusan Republic’s equivalents to the Torpedo Sphere. There’s nothing about here that isn’t easily doable with Ruusan shipbuilding norms.
And you’d need big sensor pickets when you’re dealing with supercapital lines of battle – otherwise the sensor picket will get deleted with a single salvo, which is not good news for your sensor resolution at extreme ranges.
Hmm I suppose that is true though if any ship were to take that role I figured it’d be the legator class. It’s like twice the size with 3 times the weaponry and what looks like 4 massive sensor globes along with several smaller secondary sensor globes and other gear.
Could be wrong though.
The Legator comes several hundred years after the Dictator’s introduction – she’s a late Ruusan period ship, where the Dictator’s very much early-mid Ruusan period. You’re right in that it’s essentially the same role – just at different time periods and scales.
I see fair enough then.
Stellar work, as always!