Galactic Tour’s Combat Ship of the Year: SuperHornet vs. Vanguard Warden

What would TESTies choose?

  • Varden!

    Votes: 22 30.6%
  • Hornet!

    Votes: 24 33.3%
  • You kiddin'? BEER!

    Votes: 26 36.1%

  • Total voters
    72
  • Poll closed .

BUTUZ

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Well, I didn't get to fly it properly yesterday as was too busy but just played 10 mins of vandul swarm and my god monoboating with the M7a is absolutely lethal. It also has great shields and a very stout hull. I crashed into 5 dead vandul ship huls and one asteroid and she still kept going!!! My bank manager is getting worried I can see! :D
 

AstroGimp01

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The Varden is just too sexy, IMO the SC equivalent of the F-14 Tomcat, also known as 'The Big Fighter' and 'The Turkey'.

Now that I have accidentally achieved Concierge status and given up all pretense of controlling my backing of the BDSSE I may acquire a Varden next time they are awailable.

'Gimp
 

AstroSam

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Its a long time since I've flown the Warden. Today, I tried again to handle her. Was a mess. Its not my kind of fighter. Plus, for most efficient operations you at least have to fly her with two people (1 cockpit, 1 shield/energy management) + 1 NPC (turret) - or best case 3 human operators. The SuperHornet can be flown by a single player + optional 1 NPC. 2 human players are not necessary at all. Perhaps the SuperHornet has a little bit less shield capacity compared to the Warden. But the SH compensates this with her better manouvering abilities. Looking to the fire power I think both are pretty similar; perhaps the Warden has more rockets on board?

That said, the main difference for me is: the Hornet is built to be a "close encounter dogfighting tank" - a tank, yes, but nevertheless a dogfighter - whereas the Vanguard Warden is a long-range heavy military (modular) support vessel with some minor dogfighting abilities. It looks incredible designed and seems to be a dangerous dogfighting machine on the paper. But looking more closely on the paper, you'll see that it has some weaknesses (length, manouverablity, multi-crew) which can't be argued away.

Ergo: this poll by CIG is totally crap. Imho.
 
Last edited:

Thalstan

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Sam,

I agree with your statements, but we do need to remember these are 2 very different craft with 2 very different roles.

The Super Hornet is made for carrier/short ranged usage. It has 3 size 3 weapons and 2 size two. It's one of the best single player craft out there, PLUS you can have a buddy tag along. It's designed to get into the fight and survive.

The Warden is made for long range use (it's fuel tank is over twice the capacity of the Super Hornet), with 3 size 2, a size 5, plus another 2 size 2 in the turret. It's really made for 2-3 people, but it can be solo flown. It's NOT designed to close on the enemy, instead, blow them apart from afar with a S5 laser cannon. If the enemy gets close, you lose, but they have to GET close in the first place.

I would not equate the SH and the VW with each other. Instead, it's SH vs Sabre Vs Bucc. Likewise, it's Van W. vs Freelancer. In the latter comparison, both are larger vehicles. Both can be solo vehicles, but are better with 2-3. Both hit like a ton of bricks. The freelancer is slower, but is able to carry cargo as compensation vs the Warden.

If you want a ship that you will be able to take a mission, go fly to your destination close by, and return to base, the SH is your fighter of choice. If you want to take on a mission that crosses the star system, kill the ship and come back, as well as bringing along 2-3 friends in case of a ground assault, then the warden is for you. (between these two)

Question is...would you rather have a Sabre/Warden combo, or a Super Hornet/Warden combo in your hanger? (you could argue Bucc/Warden as well). One for solo play, one for bringing along some fellow Test members.
 

AstroGimp01

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I took a loaner Varden into a knife-fight with a very well-flown SH the other day, we were in a strafe-circle fight for 10 minutes, he eventually was able to land more shots (Varden is bigger target and I am not really familiar with the ship since I don't own one) - the SH eventually beat me (in fairness I was almost out of ammo on the ballistic when we engaged since I found a Public Enemy at ICC returning from 2nd or 3rd straight mission without resupply) but it was an outstanding fight (we both congratulated the other, it was truly epic).

If I had had a gunner OR someone managing shields I believe not only would I have won the fight, but I'd have done so in half the time (not running out of ammo halfway through the fight would have been good too).

Properly flown and manned I think the Varden CAN be used as an effective fighter, it is a freaking tank, has great shields (it seems) and deals out a lot of damage in stock loadout let alone a custom monoboat or sniper setup. When missiles and countermeasures get more effective and realistic I think the Varden could be a solid escort that gets down and dirty with the best of them.

And it looks dead sexy, although the Hornet redesign is shit-hot.

'Gimp
 

AstroSam

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Sam,

I agree with your statements, but we do need to remember these are 2 very different craft with 2 very different roles.

The Super Hornet is made for carrier/short ranged usage. It has 3 size 3 weapons and 2 size two. It's one of the best single player craft out there, PLUS you can have a buddy tag along. It's designed to get into the fight and survive.

The Warden is made for long range use (it's fuel tank is over twice the capacity of the Super Hornet), with 3 size 2, a size 5, plus another 2 size 2 in the turret. It's really made for 2-3 people, but it can be solo flown. It's NOT designed to close on the enemy, instead, blow them apart from afar with a S5 laser cannon. If the enemy gets close, you lose, but they have to GET close in the first place.

I would not equate the SH and the VW with each other. Instead, it's SH vs Sabre Vs Bucc. Likewise, it's Van W. vs Freelancer. In the latter comparison, both are larger vehicles. Both can be solo vehicles, but are better with 2-3. Both hit like a ton of bricks. The freelancer is slower, but is able to carry cargo as compensation vs the Warden.

If you want a ship that you will be able to take a mission, go fly to your destination close by, and return to base, the SH is your fighter of choice. If you want to take on a mission that crosses the star system, kill the ship and come back, as well as bringing along 2-3 friends in case of a ground assault, then the warden is for you. (between these two)

Question is...would you rather have a Sabre/Warden combo, or a Super Hornet/Warden combo in your hanger? (you could argue Bucc/Warden as well). One for solo play, one for bringing along some fellow Test members.
I agree, and I stated it also before: not the ships are crap - the poll is ;)
It would have made more sense to start a poll i.e. Sabre vs. SH.

But under the line, CIG doesn't want to compare anything. Thats allll most brilliant strategy. They for sure know that there are more user owning a SH than a Warden. And the market for "wanting a Sabre" is saturated. So how making new money? Ah yes, starting a poll. CIG now shows again, how money making works, pushing former non-existing needs to the max, and thus pushing their numbers by saying "hey you dumb fuckers. Heres the very last chance for buying your ship of dreams" (and I'm 100% sure that this is not true, haha) - a ship which for quite some time was not offered for purchasing. That is so excellent!
 

DarthMatter

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TEST results:
Warden: 52.5%
Hornet: 47.5%
(Not counting beer votes since the SC page ignored that option)

SC page results:
Warden: 53%
Hornet: 47%

TEST is a surprisingly good estimate of the SC community as a whole... if you take away the beer. :)
 

Blind Owl

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I took a loaner Varden into a knife-fight with a very well-flown SH the other day, we were in a strafe-circle fight for 10 minutes, he eventually was able to land more shots (Varden is bigger target and I am not really familiar with the ship since I don't own one) - the SH eventually beat me (in fairness I was almost out of ammo on the ballistic when we engaged since I found a Public Enemy at ICC returning from 2nd or 3rd straight mission without resupply) but it was an outstanding fight (we both congratulated the other, it was truly epic).

If I had had a gunner OR someone managing shields I believe not only would I have won the fight, but I'd have done so in half the time (not running out of ammo halfway through the fight would have been good too).

Properly flown and manned I think the Varden CAN be used as an effective fighter, it is a freaking tank, has great shields (it seems) and deals out a lot of damage in stock loadout let alone a custom monoboat or sniper setup. When missiles and countermeasures get more effective and realistic I think the Varden could be a solid escort that gets down and dirty with the best of them.

And it looks dead sexy, although the Hornet redesign is shit-hot.

'Gimp
Great writeup 'Gimp. You know, at the end of the day, I just want to own both.
 

AstroGimp01

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Blind Owl

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I accidentally turned my Sabre into an exploration Mega-Pack. Now I need a fighter. Either of these will do methinks. I wonder if they'll sell variants of the warden if she wins out.
 

Phantomoftruth

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I accidentally turned my Sabre into an exploration Mega-Pack. Now I need a fighter. Either of these will do methinks. I wonder if they'll sell variants of the warden if she wins out.
I don't think we will see the variants until anniversary sale. Most of this belief is related to no variants during the Reliant Flyable Sale.
 
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