You sure about that? Because Diamond Baron missiles were extremely expensive to the point that even the empire with it’s immense resources didn’t use them much.
Doubt the alliance would be able to afford them much less in numbers enough to make them useful.
From the Wookieepedia article (https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Marauder-class_Assault_Corvette/Legends):
“The Rebel Alliance also employed a few of the ships, which were mostly acquired from the Corporate Sector through piracy. Many Alliance Marauders had their turbolasers replaced with Diamond boron missile launchers, turning them into much more capable combat vessels able to handle most targets from range.”
There is no source directly attached to the paragraph, but it seems likely that the information was either taken from the Truce at Bakura Sourcebook, like the paragraph after it, or was extrapolated from missile armed Marauders appearing only in the Empire at War video game, and not in any other sources.
The Empire likely didn’t use them much for doctrinal reasons. They tended to focus on ships that needed as little ammunition as possible, which makes sense considering that they were maintaining frontline, reserve and customs fleets across the galaxy. The Broadside Cruiser and the Victory-I Star Destroyer are exceptions that prove the rule, since they are very ammunition-hungry, and simultaneously rather unpopular and looked-down-upon in Imperial naval circles.
As for the Rebels, it’s important to remember that the Alliance was not a monolith. It was, after all, an “Alliance” of various rebel groups, some of which had lavish funding and an abundance of fully-trained, professional manpower, while on the other end of the spectrum you might have a “Rebel cell” that was just a few armed yokels operating out of an abandoned warehouse, with their “fleet” amounting to one or two of the starfighter equivalent of a toyota hilux with a machine gun bolted onto the back.
It’s possible – even probable – that the diamond-boron missile frigate variant was produced by one or more of the really wealthy cells, like the Chandrilan resistance. Or maybe they were products of the Mon Calamari, who functionally had the entire resource and industrial base of a small interstellar empire at their disposal, and could thus afford to produce expensive missile ships in reasonably small numbers to help their allies in the Rebellion.
In any case, it wasn’t a widely used ship
Last edited 6 months ago by Loki's Brand
Shaun
7 months ago
I have never liked the Marauder… For whatever reason, for me, it was the embodiment of all the lazy, poorly thought, disastrously executed garbage that was pervasive in the early comics and writing. The Marauder is to space ships as Jaxxon is to characters, essentially.
This, however, is expertly executed. Proportion, scale, character… Chef’s kiss.
If I may be a blatant fanboy for a minute…that’s exactly why I LOVE Fractal’s work. Our gracious host and overlord has managed to take so many of those early, sloppy designs and make them look like a real part of the Star Wars universe.
FollowTheBlu
7 months ago
GORRRRGEOUSS
jdpeterson34
7 months ago
I used to read the “Star Wars Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels” religiously as a kid, and I remember staring at the Marauder and loving it. I wonder if Fractal’s version of the Marauder has retractable turbolasers in the chin and “shoulders,” as marked in the Essential Guide.
Chris
7 months ago
Beautiful work as always. I do have a question…is there a way to enclose the hangar or is it always wide open like that?
No need to close it. Atmospheric shield + combat shield does the same job as a physical door. Pilots board in the artificial gravity section as the TIE rack rotates the vessels around for embarking purposes. Like a Sushi belt in those fancy restaurants, but for starfighters.
Atmosphere shields only hold in the air and the combat shield (ray and particle) do different things. Since the fighters need to move through the hangar opening that means that the particle shields (the ones that stop solid objects) are not always on. That leaves an opportunity for proton torpedoes or concussion missiles to impact inside the hangar.
Until seeing it from all angles, I never realized how “Klingon” the Marauder is in general shape. Not that I’m complaining…it looks fantastic! I’m just curious how much the illustrator for the original Essential Guide to Vehicles was inspired by the Bird-of-Prey.
I’ve always thought the Marauder was inspired by the merchantman from The Search For Spock.
jdpeterson34
7 months ago
Love it. It’s an underrated ship. Only 177 crew, but can carry 80 stormtroopers and deploy them by 2 Delta-class shuttles, as well as a full squad of TIE Fighters, for only 3 million credits. It also packs a punch with those 4 turbolasers. It’s definitely not an escort corvette since it doesn’t have any point-defense turrets, but it seems like a step up from ships like the Sphyrna, c70 Charger, CR90, and DP20 as an assault corvette.
Is this a hatch for a boarding tube akin to Episode 1 of the Skeleton Crew series?
According to wookipedia its supposed to have 8x Double Turbolasers, 3x Light tractor beam emitters, a squadron of fighters and two shuttles.
The squadron I see, the shuttles I can imagine, but I only see 4 single light turbo lasers, and only 2 tractor beams.
It is wise to take Wookieepedia with a grain of salt.
It’s possible since some of those dual turbolasers are supposed to be located in the nose/chin of the ship.
Fun Easter egg in the second render: the Nebulon B is carrying a parked Lambda Shuttle.
Not to mention the utilitarian beauty of the Marauder, 10/10
Was the Marauder supposed to be that big?
Didn’t have those diamond boron missiles or something?
Iirc, that was an Alliance conversion to make the ship more useful for their purposes, not a production model.
You sure about that? Because Diamond Baron missiles were extremely expensive to the point that even the empire with it’s immense resources didn’t use them much.
Doubt the alliance would be able to afford them much less in numbers enough to make them useful.
From the Wookieepedia article (https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Marauder-class_Assault_Corvette/Legends):
“The Rebel Alliance also employed a few of the ships, which were mostly acquired from the Corporate Sector through piracy. Many Alliance Marauders had their turbolasers replaced with Diamond boron missile launchers, turning them into much more capable combat vessels able to handle most targets from range.”
There is no source directly attached to the paragraph, but it seems likely that the information was either taken from the Truce at Bakura Sourcebook, like the paragraph after it, or was extrapolated from missile armed Marauders appearing only in the Empire at War video game, and not in any other sources.
The Empire likely didn’t use them much for doctrinal reasons. They tended to focus on ships that needed as little ammunition as possible, which makes sense considering that they were maintaining frontline, reserve and customs fleets across the galaxy. The Broadside Cruiser and the Victory-I Star Destroyer are exceptions that prove the rule, since they are very ammunition-hungry, and simultaneously rather unpopular and looked-down-upon in Imperial naval circles.
As for the Rebels, it’s important to remember that the Alliance was not a monolith. It was, after all, an “Alliance” of various rebel groups, some of which had lavish funding and an abundance of fully-trained, professional manpower, while on the other end of the spectrum you might have a “Rebel cell” that was just a few armed yokels operating out of an abandoned warehouse, with their “fleet” amounting to one or two of the starfighter equivalent of a toyota hilux with a machine gun bolted onto the back.
It’s possible – even probable – that the diamond-boron missile frigate variant was produced by one or more of the really wealthy cells, like the Chandrilan resistance. Or maybe they were products of the Mon Calamari, who functionally had the entire resource and industrial base of a small interstellar empire at their disposal, and could thus afford to produce expensive missile ships in reasonably small numbers to help their allies in the Rebellion.
In any case, it wasn’t a widely used ship
I have never liked the Marauder… For whatever reason, for me, it was the embodiment of all the lazy, poorly thought, disastrously executed garbage that was pervasive in the early comics and writing. The Marauder is to space ships as Jaxxon is to characters, essentially.
This, however, is expertly executed. Proportion, scale, character… Chef’s kiss.
If I may be a blatant fanboy for a minute…that’s exactly why I LOVE Fractal’s work. Our gracious host and overlord has managed to take so many of those early, sloppy designs and make them look like a real part of the Star Wars universe.
GORRRRGEOUSS
I used to read the “Star Wars Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels” religiously as a kid, and I remember staring at the Marauder and loving it. I wonder if Fractal’s version of the Marauder has retractable turbolasers in the chin and “shoulders,” as marked in the Essential Guide.
Beautiful work as always. I do have a question…is there a way to enclose the hangar or is it always wide open like that?
No need to close it. Atmospheric shield + combat shield does the same job as a physical door. Pilots board in the artificial gravity section as the TIE rack rotates the vessels around for embarking purposes. Like a Sushi belt in those fancy restaurants, but for starfighters.
Atmosphere shields only hold in the air and the combat shield (ray and particle) do different things. Since the fighters need to move through the hangar opening that means that the particle shields (the ones that stop solid objects) are not always on. That leaves an opportunity for proton torpedoes or concussion missiles to impact inside the hangar.
I assure you, doors would not fix that.
Until seeing it from all angles, I never realized how “Klingon” the Marauder is in general shape. Not that I’m complaining…it looks fantastic! I’m just curious how much the illustrator for the original Essential Guide to Vehicles was inspired by the Bird-of-Prey.
I’ve always thought the Marauder was inspired by the merchantman from The Search For Spock.
Love it. It’s an underrated ship. Only 177 crew, but can carry 80 stormtroopers and deploy them by 2 Delta-class shuttles, as well as a full squad of TIE Fighters, for only 3 million credits. It also packs a punch with those 4 turbolasers. It’s definitely not an escort corvette since it doesn’t have any point-defense turrets, but it seems like a step up from ships like the Sphyrna, c70 Charger, CR90, and DP20 as an assault corvette.
a treat indeed.