Defending Atlantis

[Hjarloprilllar]

I am lost.

If the gate is open. Then we can ship through the phalanx system.
No 'Dart' would even get close. a quad phalanx on east west north south piers
would obliterate wraith . rail guns are human directed. 98% of rounds going nowhere.
Phalanx KILLS. It can kill artillery rounds in flight. let alone missiles and ships.

But human tech would not make the nail biting of shepard flying a jumper into a hive ship.

Human tech is played down.. Human tech would crap on wraith.

If we wanted that

[Durgia]

This is a problem with making modern day Earth vs the Universe, for us to have a chance we have to dumb down the enemy capabilities to the point we can beat them, by doing that we have to selectively forget certain things. If the writers had put in enough work they could have worked out some of these things better, but they did pretty well over all.

The railguns have a very fast rate of fire, more ammo storage and would be extremely effective if put into a similar platform as the current C-Ram or comparable units. But it would not be as entertaining

[Xaeden]

I can't say I've heard of this system before, but I find it difficult to believe that one such device on one pier would be able to handle thousands of darts, like you seem to suggest. That's not to say that what they used would have been able to handle thousands of darts either... fortunately, the Wraith only sent a small initial offering, but if they encountered serious resistance, they could have opted to respond with more serious force.

Also, what are the range of these things? Greater than a dart's energy weapon? I don't know what kind of accuracy those darts have, but the only reason the darts got close enough to hit was because their primary goal was to use their short range beams to drop Wraith into the city. But, if they weren't able to do so, they could have tried firing at specific targets from a safe distance before moving in. It's risky as they might damage the hyperdrive, (and other systems that might interest them) but if it was their only option, I'm sure they would try.

Granted, it would have been nice to see a greater range of Earth weapons in the series. But, unfortunately, budget concerns limited what they could use - It works both ways, though. The series was limited in what weaponry they could afford to depict and since the Stargate program was being funded in secret, they couldn't just throw everything and the kitchen sink into it without drawing some serious attention to what was going on. So, they made do with small covert teams designed to get in and out (rather than sending armies through the Stargate to confront their enemies head on) and they eventually diverted a chunk of their budget into building a small, but strong fleet. As part of that, they designed rail guns that were sitting around, waiting to be installed on the Prometheus, so it was easy to ship them through the Stargate; both because they already came out of their budget and because they had to leave almost right away and I don't imagine it's a simple matter to reallocate very expensive weapon systems from various branches of the armed forces, especially without setting off alarms that something big is going down in secret.

[garhkal]

Plus as seen, even the rail guns we had some were taken out. having Phalanxes on just the piers would have not worked any better imo.

[Durgia]

Plus as seen, even the rail guns we had some were taken out. having Phalanxes on just the piers would have not worked any better imo.

except they would be taking out targets much farther away so that wraith could not beam out. Manual gunnery stations vs fast targets are not that effective compared to a good weapons targeting system, but it is not as entertaining. You would need more than a handful to create an effective coverage area though when dealing with that high of volume of targets, plus they would not be easily moved through the gate. The entire defense strategy was to hold until Daedalus got there with a ZPM not to defend indefinitely.

[garhkal]

And their ammo is bulkier.

[McAvoy]

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_Phalanx.htm

Technically, even WW2 anti-aircraft weapons could shoot down Darts. However, just like experience has shown WW2 sailors/soldiers, it isn't that effective against a large number of aircraft. We can presume all we like, how durable a Dart is, and how accurate currents weapons can be, but it really comes down to determination and pure numbers.

In any event, these weapons need to be resupplied. Sure Atlantis could fit a hundred AA guns all over the place, but a determined enemy would eventually overwhelm these defenses.

In actuality, the best defense is a good offense. Siege minded defenses is always self defeating. It would be better for Atlantis to convert one of the skyscrapers or something into a a decent sized 302 bay.

It would also be a nice idea for Atlantis to fit Asgard Beam Weapons. Earth can apparently make them, so it could be a good possibility to fit three or four of these weapons.

[Durgia]

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_Phalanx.htm

Technically, even WW2 anti-aircraft weapons could shoot down Darts. However, just like experience has shown WW2 sailors/soldiers, it isn't that effective against a large number of aircraft. We can presume all we like, how durable a Dart is, and how accurate currents weapons can be, but it really comes down to determination and pure numbers.

In any event, these weapons need to be resupplied. Sure Atlantis could fit a hundred AA guns all over the place, but a determined enemy would eventually overwhelm these defenses.

In actuality, the best defense is a good offense. Siege minded defenses is always self defeating. It would be better for Atlantis to convert one of the skyscrapers or something into a a decent sized 302 bay.

It would also be a nice idea for Atlantis to fit Asgard Beam Weapons. Earth can apparently make them, so it could be a good possibility to fit three or four of these weapons.

I was assuming we were specifically referencing the Siege Part 2 where we tried to hold the city for 4 days. If you start looking after that episode the shield/cloak are by far the most effective means of defense. As long as we have enough drones they have proven to be one of the most effective weapons ever made.

[McAvoy]

I was assuming we were specifically referencing the Siege Part 2 where we tried to hold the city for 4 days. If you start looking after that episode the shield/cloak are by far the most effective means of defense. As long as we have enough drones they have proven to be one of the most effective weapons ever made.

We? I wasn't at Atlantis. Were you?

The shield works when there is power, but as that episode showed you, when the shield is down, Atlantis needs to protect itself. Without a large supply of drones, the expedition relies on it's own technology.

[Durgia]

We? I wasn't at Atlantis. Were you?

The shield works when there is power, but as that episode showed you, when the shield is down, Atlantis needs to protect itself. Without a large supply of drones, the expedition relies on it's own technology.

I apologize for phrasing my response in a improper manner. While putting myself in the medium of the story to relate I didn't shift my phrasing back. That should not create a huge problem I hope.

That time-frame and those 3 episodes were a specific time and event that is not likely to happen again (unless the unemployed writers decided to I suppose). The Wraith were trying to capture Atlantis whole, otherwise they could have fired on it from space while the shield was down. They were also being cautious after having 1 of their ships taken out by the Satellite weapon.

If it comes to fully defending Atlantis then a shield and drones (possibly to be replaced by Asgard weapons, if we cannot figure out how to manufacture drones) would be the way to go. That being said, the addition of some good weapons platforms might be a good idea since it is sitting on Earth, it would be easy to transport them and resupply them. It is also highly unlikely given the end of the show to need to defend itself from the Wraith any time soon.

If we are limiting our talk to the Siege Part 2 then I stand by my first post from Nov 17.

[Laxian of Earth]

i will agree with you on that the weapons in "The Siege (Part 2)" were not well chosen.

they used rocket-launchers (not even real MANPADS as far as i remember, but dumb-fire-missiles without guidance!), they do not have "real" anti-aircraft-weapons (like CIWS-Systems with a combinations of missiles and AA-Guns (Gattlings or Revolver-Cannons like on a Navy-Ship or on land based C-RAMs)), they do control their Rail-Guns manually (those are guns designed for a starship - the Prometheus in facts would have gotten them if it had not been destroyed, as mentioned in the episode itself - so why did they re-tool them to be operated by a gunner? - i would network them (via cables, radio can be jammed to easily) to a computer and have that assign targets and fight them (with a weapons-officer controlling it and overriding it if necessary) and they have brought .50 cal Machine-Guns...while those are good for vehicle weapons i would not use them in an AA-Role for a larger fight...i would want a MANTIS-System (that is a German C-RAM) or an Oerlikon Skyshield...but not .50 cal Guns and grenade-machine-guns -.-

greetings LAX
ps: yes, those weapons would not have dealt with the hive-ships, but they could have kept darts well clear of the city!