The Rebel Faction

Sounds fine to me.

1in

Damnit, Ahnk. I keep seeing your pp and thinking you're Rusty (or whatever his name was) and wanting to tell you to shut up.

Anyway, I was merely commenting. I don't think much of the X-Wing books in terms of technical ideas, either. Though I agree with Simon's idea that shields have to project further on a fast-moving ship to protect it.

On a capital ship, I would say more than 1', however. Probably (imo) between 1 - 10 meters.

I know this is kindof old, and everyone seems to have agreed on this topic, but after watching Episode I recently, I'm going to have to disagree. When the queen's ship was escaping, several of the shots from the Trade Federation's blockade dissipated above the ship, suggesting it impacted the shields about one or two meters above the hull.

Later, when Anikin landed inside the droid control ship, he had to restart his fighters systems. When he did, you could see the shields activate, and they were only 3 or four inches from the ship's hull. I looked it up on the star wars website, and it said:

Starship deflector shields are projected just a few molecules underneath hull plating, but different power setting and configurations can extend a shield farther away from the hull. Later generation shield projectors could actually support the weight of a starship with its energy.

And:

Since smaller ships have limited power with which to generate deflector shields, they often only protect set areas, or arcs, of the vessel and rely on maneuverability to avoid fire.

It also said that Luke Skywalker developed a tactic by which two starfighters at very close range could network their shield generators to increase strength. This might help to explain the "shield trio" thing that all of the X-wing books talk about.

I realize that what I found on the website contradicts what I saw on the movies, and both of them are official, but it would probably be best to go with the website, because movies don't really have to make sense, as long as they're exciting to watch.

So, basically, capital ships' shields are projected onto their hulls, but some ships can expand their shields, though I'm sure doing so would weaken them by forcing the same ammount of protective energy to cover a greater surface area.

Anyway, have fun!

The Rule is Common Sense and Write-A-Good-Story. If in the course of a fleet thread you should find yourself debating this very thing, my suggestion is thus; don't bother. It's a dated argument that can easily swing back and forth citing any number of sources and should, in my humble opinion and with all things this petty, be reserved for story development... if a Shield is to project two meters from the hull, then it should probably do so for the sake of the plot where-as if it is going to be six inches from the hull of a starship then, similarly, I feel it should do so for the sake of the story.

These things can be quibbled over and debated for days on end, and they have been. The best resolution is the one that sees the 'story' provide the best elements and is the same observation George Lucas has made when Star Wars Geeks quiz him about inconsitancies in the movies. So take it or leave it, this is the playground we play on and if even the Master Himself cannot establish a "ONE RULE FOR ALL" then how the heck can we claim to do so?

In summation; Mwah!