I too am a fan of the D’deridex. They are elegant, blood green, behemoths. They can appear out the black to make any beings plans seem like a big mistake. Also I’d give give a spot on my list to the Klingon Vor’cha over the rest of their fleet on looks alone.
@@generaljimmies3429 The Romulan D'Deridex will always and forever be my Number 1# favorite Romulan starship design. I'm really glad they brought back this fearsome, iconic, bird like Romulan D'Deridex class Warbird back into newer proper Star Trek Shows such as "Star Trek: Lower Decks". The Romulan ships in "Star Trek: Picard" however are just plain AWFUL (all except the modernized TOS 23rd Century T'Liss Romulan Bird of Prey)
the vorcha is nice but I like the STO Online Vo'quv klingon carrier ,shame it doesn't have a cloaking device but it can load FOUR klingon birds of prey.
Yeah!!! I concur!!! Those D'Deridex class ships were just... Something! Super cool looking... Sleek... And one of the most high tech ships around, that ran on Black Holes (albeit artificial ones!) for Christ Sakes!!! You can't get much cooler than that! And as for their combat abilities? Well... If it came down to a Galaxy class verses one of these... My money is on the D'Deridex! Definitely agree with the number one status!
There’s only 2 shown the fighter and the battle ship which was just a repainted vermilion battle cruiser kit bash from the lefter over tng model (still looked good though) so can’t say I mind he left them off with how many cooler ships there is
I can't argue with your #1 choice. The D'Deridex is the ultimate statement of will and power, right down to the Robocop-looking bow. You can almost hear the ship saying, "Dead or alive, you're coming with me."
I would add Vor'Cha to this list. It's my favorite Klingon ship, maintaining the grace of a D7 without the delicate spindlyness which I never liked in a ship design.
I’ve always felt the Cardassians had one of the strongest design aesthetics, with the curves, points, circles and lack of squares. It really gives everything from their ships to their architecture this really alien look that just screams none human.
For me, its the D7 because you can see it as the base design in a long line of future Klingon cruisers. Even though the B'rel is more omnipresent. Also agree with the Mogi/Valdor. I love that sleek low profile ship that still retains that Romulan raptor silhouette. Am I the only one that likes that arrowhead design of Tholian ships?
I do like the Tholian ships as well. I kind of wonder what their capital ships would look like. I could see them designed in such a way as to allow for the quick deployment of the single pilot ships. Perhaps even attached like external escape pods that launch off the mother ship like spines off an angry animal. Of all the species in Star Trek, I can see them as the most likely to use a Carrier-Fighter combat doctrine.
It came as a shock to me to learn that the ship's official class name was "Mogai," after searching through Memory Beta, but I do agree that there is something raptorial and menacing about the Mogai/Valdore.
My dad and me always nerded out over the D7's scene in TMP. It encompassed that Klingon militaristic feeling so well. Whenever I think of the D7 the first thing that comes to mind is the torpedo launcher turning red to fire at Vger. The second is those rotary phaser and torpedo launchers on DS9 shredding them endlessly. Definitely my favorite non-UFP ship. However I agree with your positioning of the Klingon Bird of Prey because I am a neverending ST4 fanboy.
I hope I don't ruin your childhood here, but there are no D7s in TMP. Those ships are K'Tinga class battlecruisers, the bigger/badder successor to the D7 (sort of like the Excelsior class to the Constitution class) there are actually no D7s in any of the movies or the next gen era shows. One reason a lot of people confuse them is because there is a Voyager episode where they encounter a K'Tinga and refer to it as a D7, but this is a production error, the writers didn't realise there was no post TOS D7 model and the studio wouldn't give them time/money to build one or re-record the dialogue.
I totally knew what would be take the first spot and do approve it completely. Also gotta add that my surprise favorite non Starfleet or even major faction vessel is the Kobali Samsar Cruiser, just because of the looks of it. Don't like the Kobali at all.
Samsar is a nice design, yet, it feels weird to me, almost not fitting in with the aestetics of star trek and I am not entirely sure why. Possibly due to it's base shape resembling empire of man ships and something from star control, but not close enough to be like them.
I'm surprised you didn't include the Borg Cube. It was a modern art grenade tossed into what had been a pretty classically-inspired show. It truly took the spaciness of space into account. I'd even say, if not for the particular, frontless design, Wolf 359 would've been a VERY different story. I'm actually kinda surprised the Federation didn't abandon aerodynamic designs in light of the Borg's superiority.
Needed the Xindi Aquatic ship in there. So few aquatic races in sci fi and they did a good job on that. Plus Devore Warships. Like snake heads and dark with a Warbird like curve. Awesome ships.
Me: Please pick the warbird for number one... please pick the warbird for number one... Rick: And for number one, it's the D'Deridex. Me: Woohoo!!! Before I'd ever seen Star Trek, my dad had a model of one and I've loved the ship ever since. Jolan Tru!
My favorite has always been the D7/K'Tinga class Klingon battle cruisers. There is just something about that design that just looks menacing to me and it is iconic. The Cardassians have the most unique looking ship design of the major powers in DS9 and was glad to see a ship that didn't have the same double nacelle design that every other power had.
Good list... I do love me a Ferengi D'Kora class, I might've added that to honorable mention. Hmm possibly constellation class as well, always loved the 4 nacelle look mixed with TOS styling.
Love the Klingon bird of prey. One took down the Enterprise-D. Sure, they cheated by having the Enterprise's shield frequencies, but you've got to expect some asymmetric warfare tactics when taking on a galaxy class starship with your tiny bird of prey.
The harsh reality of that movie is that it actually revealed how poor of a tactical officer Worf actually was. Shields or no shields, the galaxy class could have taken that bird of prey with one barrage. Worf just didn't use his weapon systems properly.
Great choice for Number One!!! I would have added the Jem'hedar Battleship/Battlecruiser to the list. I only wish we got to see more Breen ships in the show since the Breen are the coolest aliens in all of Star Trek!
Not my personal favorite but one of the ship designs I think deserves more love is the Xindi Aquatic cruiser, just the sheer scale and power of it for a 22nd century ship makes so formidable. The thing could literally house a smaller starship inside itself and was probably the most powerful starship class in known space at the time.
Plus: Meeting spaces between aquatic and non-acquatic species. Something we've didn't get to see on starfleet vessels for the longest time even though it fits the idea of the Federation so perfectly.
I have to say, the Negh'var has been my favourite ship, visually at least, since I first saw it. If we're looking specifically at STO ships, I'd have to say either the Vo'Quv Science Carrier of the KDF, or the Jhu'ael flight deck Escort of the Romulan Republic. And no, it's not _just_ because they can launch fighters. I think they look really good, and different as they are, I like how they handle. The Vo'Quv is a massive ship, larger than any cruiser in the KDF fleet and capable of supporting a whole battle group if necessary. Sure, it has the speed and manoeuverability of a small city, but it's not the sort of ship that needs to be nimble. The Jhu'ael on the other hand is a fighting Bird of War on par with the Mogai, albeit slightly larger. Unlike a full carrier, it doesn't rely on its fighters, but rather leads them into battle. Of course, both of those ships look really cool as well.
About the D'deridex, you forgot to mention how the nacelles can be scaled down to the size of a handheld tool that Dr. Bashir can use to adjust medical equipment with. Specifically the episode of DS9 where O'Brian is moving around in time. He used a vastly downscaled D'Deridex engine to make adjustments to the device on O'Brian's arm.
Everytime I see the D'deridex's open mid-section, I keep thinking that it'd be great if it was actually a launching platform for their smaller and more agile ships, much like what aircraft carriers do but for space.
The Scimitar! I’m really surprised, looking through the comments, to not even see one person mention it! That beast of a ship was absolutely stunning in my opinion.
I think the scimitar was a little too OP ship like the Borg ships that probably sours a few people not to mention it was a 1/1 ship not a class or even at least two of them even. I’m surprised no mention of a sona ship yet too
The First Federation ship always reminded me of a highly mobile Death Star... but I'd say it's more like the Death Star aped the First Federation design.
I'd have certainly chosen the same top two! But I think I'd have thrown in Ferengi D'Kora as I think there's something kinda 'rolls royce' about those rich guys rides! 👍
I love your list. I'm impressed you resisted putting more romulan ships on there. I would have cheated and made it a top 15 with the deihu, vastam, d7 dyson romulan science ship and the reskava. I know I lean alot into sto but through their piles of dog do do there are some real gems in there. But I am a fan of all things romulan. I remember being so excited about nemesis and picard. Oh well 🤣
I absolutely adore the Ar'Kiff class Warbird. Even more than the Mogai. The Dhelan is also a solid design . . . really, just Romulan Republic ships in general are great
The hull section of T'liss/V8 Romulan Bird of Prey always reminded me of a float we used whilst learning to swim at my primary school. 1# D7/K't'inga 2# D'deridex 3# Dominion attack ship 4# B'rell Bird of Prey 5# Vorcha 6# D'kora 7# Mogai 8# Neg'var 9# Tzenkethti Shuk'din 10# Bortis'qu
I guessed your number 1 even before you began the list. The excitement you get when you have spoken of them in other videos… 🤣😂🤣. It’s awesome to hear.
I’d love to see you break down the X-303, BC-303, X-304, & BC-304 (and yes, they’re all different). They are probably my favorite ships in all of fiction because we just get so much character and backstory on them as we see each step of the Tau’ri getting to the point they can finally build the things.
Merry Christmas….Admiral and to give you a long overdue applause and praise for the time and effort you put into your videos and in turn providing us trekkers with insightful, enjoyable entertainment. Keep on the same heading …warp 9.9 !
The K'Tinga/D7 is my #1. First time I saw that design in the opening scene for TMP I just... it left an impression on child-me and I still cry with how many times I've seen them getting wrecked in DS9.
I agree with a lot of your choices. I'M not into STO, so I can only rank TV and movie vessels. My personal choices are: 1. Romulan Warbird TNG (same as yours) 2. Klingon Bird of Prey (same as yours) 3. Vulcan Ringship ENT (your 6th spot) 4. Species 8472 (your honorable mention) 5. Romulan Bird of Prey TOS / PIC (your 7th spot) 6. Ferengi Marauder TNG 7. Borg Cube 8. Cardassian Galor Class (I like it a lot) 9. Jem Hadar Fighter 10. Klingon Ship of the Dead DSC Honorable Mentions: Klingon D7, Narada, Scimitar, Borg Diamond, Fesarius (!), Doomsday Machine, Son'a Ship, V'Ger, Krenim Time Ship (which resembles B5 a lot 🙂), Whale Probe The Andorian Ship reminds me of Serenity from Firefly...
No surprise at number one, great ship design What I like about it, is it balances looking and feeling alien but also looks and feels pragmatic. I always dug the Breen ships, it also had no-nonsense pragmatic look to them, the Tholian ships are also cool also La Sirena from Picard
The galor class was Iconic (I'd definitely pick that over the STO ship oyu chose). The Negh'var in the DS9 battle is also a ship that can't be left out.
The singularity powered warp core is not just the Romulans being contrarian. Dilithium is a vital compost in antimatter fueled warp cores and is a limited resource which cannot truly be synthesized. This mean dilithium represents a bottle neck for starship construction and operation in societies which are otherwise considered “post-scarcity”. The singularity core frees the Romulans from the dilithium bottle neck, giving them a means to build and operate starships at numbers greater than the empire’s dilithium supply would allow. It’s a logistical game changer.
In Bridge Commander, D'eridexes were absolute monsters capable of taking on even ships that were supposed to outclass them such as Sovereign class, or hybrid ships. They merely required a commander, who was not a complete doofus and knew when to decloak and what subsystem to attack first. Just as Romulan war doctrine dictated
Great list! The only thing I would change is drop the Voth ship and add the Klingon D7 and switch the Klingon bird of prey with the Romulan bop for number 1 spot. Great job on the video!
The time ship in voyager is a very intresting ship to look at and the story behind that is very good and would have made a wonderful series instead of a 2 part episode
Your list is pretty good and I do agree that the D'Deridex Class is probably the best on this list. It's definitely the most recognisable and I have fond memories of it when TNG first aired and I was collecting the Star Trek Fact Files.
This was bloody brilliant great job. p. s I'm not a fan of the first classic Romulan ship but I absolutely love their modern subsequent ship designs that look like actual birds of the raptor family. 👏👏👏👏👏👍👍
Talking purely visually there are two ships in STO that I love: The Valkis Temporal Dreadnaught Warbird and the Obelisk Carrier. The Valkis has the ultimate look of a giant bird of prey, it's a refinement of the older ships of the romulans. The Obelisk is the most alien yet straightforward ship of that nature, it's a set of blocks that flies.
The D'duradex will always be my favorite. I always loved the design and color. From first sight, I had one design misconception. I'm initial impression was, "That is awesome, they swoop in, decloak, disable a smaller ship, tractor it into the empty space, recloak, and warp away." Imagine your on the battle field, and your pawns just start disappearing.
I love the Kumari class because it took one of the tenets of trek design and turned it on it's head. Vertical stacked warp nacelles! Not only that, it made them look amazing
On the Tzenkethi battleship, he calls the weapon loadout "dozens of cannons and torpedo launchers". Officially the most weapons any NPC in STO can mount forwards is 4, but I admire the roleplay stats here! It really helps bring an online game scale to life. 👏👏👏
Big fan of most of the ships mentioned in this list. A personal favorite of mine is the Fesarius, flagship of the First Federation from the original series episode the Corbomite Maneuver. While it only made one appearance in any Star Trek series it really leaves an impact on me as I think it's the first alien ship in Sci-Fi that truly looks alien. Rocket ship designs have pretty much been around since the late 19th century and flying saucer designs have been around in Sci-Fi for a long time too. With the exception of the Tripods in War of the Worlds, most all science fiction films prior to Star Trek followed either the rocketship or flying saucer design. Two things which despite being depicted as alien vessels in other films or television are still easily recognizable to us being human designed. The Fesarius, to me, looks completely different then anything that came before it.
I liked the Warbird. I even played one on Net Trek so very long ago. Yours is a good list. I'd have found room for the Bajoran light ship, I don't care if it's implausible. I like it. I'd have also included the D-7. With that forward point looking like a punch to the face, it's great and aggressive.
I would have added the Breen cruisers from DS9. They were menacing...and came with an energy dampening weapon. Plus the angular shapes and sharp edges made the ships look dangerous.
Among the ones that stick out in my mind are the Bajoran lightships and Bajoran raiders. The raiders may not be much to look at, but the Bajoran Resistance really used them well in fighting the Cardassians. The lightships are just beautiful to look at. They sail through space the way sailing ships sailed the ocean waves. And the Bajorans definitely deserve a spot on a list of non-UFP ships, simply from how much time we spent with the Bajorans on DS9.
Good evening Ric, I wish you a wonderful Christmas Weekend, THANK YOU for sharing your list. I like many of them because I have them myself as models. Your NUMBER ONE is in my top three 3- Klingon Vor'cha class 2- Romulan D'deridex Warbird 1- Klingon Bird of Prey B'rel class This ship has so much style BUT it is a so close I also LOVE THE TOS D-7 Klingon Battle Cruiser Because I loved to see it in the episodes
Loved seeing the romulans or borg show up when I watched TNG with my dad. He got me the dderidex playmate toy and that ship has been my favorite since.
I did always like the D'Derydex and the Valdore, but my favourite personally was always the Winged Defender from the FASA game. Helped I kept brutally savaging my UFP opponent every time we played, but I also really like the bird thing... Swoopy lines FTW!
I came up with a theory about the singularity core of the D'Deridex class! It's to prevent crews going rogue. Reaching for real physics for a second, the way Black Holes would be used as power sources would be as effectively batteries rather than power generation in of themselves. So what I'm thinking is the D'Deridex is loaded up with a singularity core that'll last for the duration of the mission with some overhead, but if the crew goes rogue they'll be unable to refuel efficiently enough or the singularity would evaporate, leaving the ship to be picked up later with a potential dead mutaneous crew. This also handily explains why the Federation didn't use them afer the Burn as they'd still require dilithium to fuel effectively.
Quite nice list and u agree on most of it. I too felt for the Dauntless at her first introduction. I still love the iconic look of the Klingon BoP, it's like Star Treks X-Wing and it's moving wings still feel menacing to me.
I must agree with you 100%. The D'Deridex-class Warbird is also my favourite ship, period. I'm kind of surprised that you didn't have the D'Talla-class Warbird as well.
I'd add the "Husnock" ship from TNG. Even though it was shown as a replica and not one made by the Husnock species, it looked like a space faring battleship would look like. My one problem with the Phoenix is how did it land? Rockets of our era tend to have detachable nose cone landers. But leaving the warp drive part in space would be pointless. It didn't seem to have landing gear like a Falcon rocket does either. It did land in one piece, it ends up in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum sometime after it's first flight.
This list highlights so many great designs! Examples like the Kumari really make me wish we could've learned a bit more about some non-starfleet vessels throughout the shows. I would've loved to have learned a lot more about a great old klingon Battleship, or vessels of Federation-Members operating alongside Starfleet. When it comes to the D'deridex and many other "warships" of alien species, I wish Star Trek would portray them as legitimately more powerful in what they're doing. The strength of Starfleet really shouldn't be to match the firepower of an imperial warbird with one of their exploration starships. There are so many more interesting ways to explore that conflict than the often rather straight-up firefights and incompetence of alien officers we get to see.
The Devore Imperium's ship as seen in Counterpoint. The Bajoran Interceptor, The Val Jean marquis raider, the Kazon Raider (I seem to like "raiders") The Ferengi D'kora, The Borg Queen's vessel, The Elachi cruiser annnd... Hmmmm you know I like Annorax's timeship. I loved that episode and its 20'000 leagues under the sea homage. Honorable mention to Captain Proton's rocketship and the Cardassian freighter because it reminds me of Red Dwarf
I would add the Scimitar. It looks amazing, one of my favorite Romulan/Reman starships of all time (with the D'deridex ofc.) And all the things, the full weaponsystem capable to fire under cloack, the shield still working while cloacked, the double shield, the world killer thalaron weapon, the Scorpion fighters. People can argue how good or bad Nemesis was, but the Scimitar is an absolute great Top5 ship.
I was totally getting ready to complain about you not mentioning the d'deridex and then you saved it by making it number 1. I think it's a bit to do with next gen being the first trek made in my era, I remember how scary it was when it showed up for the first time. So sentimental value for sure. 😉
D'derideix is probably the most awsome looking ship in sci-fi. I've seen lots of lists and it had taken the number 1 spot on all of them. It is certainly my favorite.
Good choices. I also like the Hideki-class ships of the Cardassians and the Ferengi Marauders. I wish they had gotten as much story detail as the Klingon and Romulan ships.
I don't care for the Cardassian designs or the Dauntless, but your preference for Romulans is certainly fair given their gorgeous stylistic elements. D'deridex will always be my favorite ship. That said, I think some love for the Orion ships and the Xindi Aquatic Cruisers is warranted.
I pretty much agree with your picks, but my personal favorite will always be the Klingon D7/K'tinga. I still remember seeing it during the first run of TOS and thinking about how much it reminded me of a predator getting ready to pounce on its prey. Seeing the updated versions a decade later in TMP just cemented my love for the look.
I like the simplicity and actual practical function of both the Borg cube & sphere. It's space, lifting or control surfaces are useless so most of these ship designs are only for looks and serve no practical function whatsoever.
I too am a fan of the D’deridex. They are elegant, blood green, behemoths. They can appear out the black to make any beings plans seem like a big mistake.
Also I’d give give a spot on my list to the Klingon Vor’cha over the rest of their fleet on looks alone.
Blood Green? Heh, I see what you did there ;)
@@generaljimmies3429 The Romulan D'Deridex will always and forever be my Number 1# favorite Romulan starship design. I'm really glad they brought back this fearsome, iconic, bird like Romulan D'Deridex class Warbird back into newer proper Star Trek Shows such as "Star Trek: Lower Decks". The Romulan ships in "Star Trek: Picard" however are just plain AWFUL (all except the modernized TOS 23rd Century T'Liss Romulan Bird of Prey)
the vorcha is nice but I like the STO Online Vo'quv klingon carrier ,shame it doesn't have a cloaking device but it can load FOUR klingon birds of prey.
Yeah!!! I concur!!! Those D'Deridex class ships were just... Something!
Super cool looking... Sleek... And one of the most high tech ships around, that ran on Black Holes (albeit artificial ones!) for Christ Sakes!!!
You can't get much cooler than that!
And as for their combat abilities? Well... If it came down to a Galaxy class verses one of these... My money is on the D'Deridex!
Definitely agree with the number one status!
"Thats a nice plan you got there. However, 20 D'deridex Warbirds decloaking in your location"
Your #1 pick is my #1 pick. Every time I saw this on screen I cheered! It felt genuinely alien, imposing, and awesome.
I am surprised the Jem Hadar ship didn’t even make an honorable mention. The defining enemy ship of DS9
I kept waiting for the Jem Hadar to make an appearance on this list as well.
There’s only 2 shown the fighter and the battle ship which was just a repainted vermilion battle cruiser kit bash from the lefter over tng model (still looked good though) so can’t say I mind he left them off with how many cooler ships there is
As the Klingons say, the Jem'Hadar have no honour.
Yes I wish we got to see more of the biggest ships, I believe in ds9 it was only the cruisers and not the battleships that were seen
I can't argue with your #1 choice. The D'Deridex is the ultimate statement of will and power, right down to the Robocop-looking bow. You can almost hear the ship saying, "Dead or alive, you're coming with me."
I love the Ferengi D'Kora class. It looks like an aggressive beetle from the front and back. Like a scarab or a giant tick.
(Laughs in Jem Hadar Attack Ship)
I would add Vor'Cha to this list. It's my favorite Klingon ship, maintaining the grace of a D7 without the delicate spindlyness which I never liked in a ship design.
I’ve always felt the Cardassians had one of the strongest design aesthetics, with the curves, points, circles and lack of squares. It really gives everything from their ships to their architecture this really alien look that just screams none human.
but in a way that's still elegant and good looking
Don’t forget the feature of subordinates having to literally having to look up to there superiors
For me, its the D7 because you can see it as the base design in a long line of future Klingon cruisers. Even though the B'rel is more omnipresent.
Also agree with the Mogi/Valdor. I love that sleek low profile ship that still retains that Romulan raptor silhouette.
Am I the only one that likes that arrowhead design of Tholian ships?
I'm also quite fond of the Tholian ships, sleek and triangular, they appear elegant yet menacing. Sometimes the simplest of designs work the best.
The Tholian designs are quite alien and memorable, so I appreciate them.
Good point on the D7.
I do like the Tholian ships as well. I kind of wonder what their capital ships would look like. I could see them designed in such a way as to allow for the quick deployment of the single pilot ships. Perhaps even attached like external escape pods that launch off the mother ship like spines off an angry animal. Of all the species in Star Trek, I can see them as the most likely to use a Carrier-Fighter combat doctrine.
It came as a shock to me to learn that the ship's official class name was "Mogai," after searching through Memory Beta, but I do agree that there is something raptorial and menacing about the Mogai/Valdore.
My dad and me always nerded out over the D7's scene in TMP. It encompassed that Klingon militaristic feeling so well. Whenever I think of the D7 the first thing that comes to mind is the torpedo launcher turning red to fire at Vger. The second is those rotary phaser and torpedo launchers on DS9 shredding them endlessly. Definitely my favorite non-UFP ship. However I agree with your positioning of the Klingon Bird of Prey because I am a neverending ST4 fanboy.
I hope I don't ruin your childhood here, but there are no D7s in TMP. Those ships are K'Tinga class battlecruisers, the bigger/badder successor to the D7 (sort of like the Excelsior class to the Constitution class) there are actually no D7s in any of the movies or the next gen era shows. One reason a lot of people confuse them is because there is a Voyager episode where they encounter a K'Tinga and refer to it as a D7, but this is a production error, the writers didn't realise there was no post TOS D7 model and the studio wouldn't give them time/money to build one or re-record the dialogue.
@@llynellyn haha no worries. I was trying to remember which one it was and decided to roll the dice. Thanks for the correction! Hopefully it sticks 😀
@@llynellynSame difference, really, out here in the real world. The "K'tinga" is just a big-screen-detail version of the D7.
The Romulan Bird of Prey has always been my favorite non-UFP ship. So simple, sleek, and a little menacing.
I totally knew what would be take the first spot and do approve it completely. Also gotta add that my surprise favorite non Starfleet or even major faction vessel is the Kobali Samsar Cruiser, just because of the looks of it. Don't like the Kobali at all.
Samsar is a nice design, yet, it feels weird to me, almost not fitting in with the aestetics of star trek and I am not entirely sure why. Possibly due to it's base shape resembling empire of man ships and something from star control, but not close enough to be like them.
I'm surprised you didn't include the Borg Cube. It was a modern art grenade tossed into what had been a pretty classically-inspired show. It truly took the spaciness of space into account. I'd even say, if not for the particular, frontless design, Wolf 359 would've been a VERY different story. I'm actually kinda surprised the Federation didn't abandon aerodynamic designs in light of the Borg's superiority.
The sheer intimidation these ships exude is also a factor. Only the Borg would show up and have everyone immediately into a panic.
Im glad they didn't build a rectangle. That would've been the red headed stepchild of both ship design.
@@LetsTakeWalk "DON'T PROVOKE THE BORG!"
@@janders79 Yeah when even the Q have a dont fuck with that group policy you KNOW shits bad.
@@Perktube1 how about a pyramid?
Needed the Xindi Aquatic ship in there. So few aquatic races in sci fi and they did a good job on that. Plus Devore Warships. Like snake heads and dark with a Warbird like curve. Awesome ships.
Me: Please pick the warbird for number one... please pick the warbird for number one...
Rick: And for number one, it's the D'Deridex.
Me: Woohoo!!!
Before I'd ever seen Star Trek, my dad had a model of one and I've loved the ship ever since. Jolan Tru!
FUCKIN-A JOLAN TRU!! THIS ONE MUST CONTINUE!!!
Peace... \\//_ ...and Long Life! _\\//
Ric with the fire yet again. Man I appreciate these.
I flew the Vulcan ships in STO. They were unique and I loved the detachable shuttle. Nice to see it had another fan!
I have to admit, I kind of like the Mogai-class. It's got that overall Klingon Bird of Prey shape, with a touch of the D'deridex-class streamlining. 🙂
The reason it has a certain Klingon bird of Prey shape, is, that the Romulan designed the Bird of Prey, and sold it to the Klingons.
"It's just a few geometric shapes, but they work." -- The defining characteristic of all the best ships in the franchise.
Star Wars certainly made a giant Pizza-Slice of Doom iconic
My favorite has always been the D7/K'Tinga class Klingon battle cruisers. There is just something about that design that just looks menacing to me and it is iconic. The Cardassians have the most unique looking ship design of the major powers in DS9 and was glad to see a ship that didn't have the same double nacelle design that every other power had.
Good list... I do love me a Ferengi D'Kora class, I might've added that to honorable mention. Hmm possibly constellation class as well, always loved the 4 nacelle look mixed with TOS styling.
love the tholian ship designs. though slightly undeveloped they truly show some unique tech and design for an exciting race.
Love the Klingon bird of prey. One took down the Enterprise-D. Sure, they cheated by having the Enterprise's shield frequencies, but you've got to expect some asymmetric warfare tactics when taking on a galaxy class starship with your tiny bird of prey.
To quote one of my favorite Battletech youtubers "Asymmetric Warfare, also known in laymens terms as tactical fuckery"
The harsh reality of that movie is that it actually revealed how poor of a tactical officer Worf actually was. Shields or no shields, the galaxy class could have taken that bird of prey with one barrage. Worf just didn't use his weapon systems properly.
@@marilynfink5771 TVTropes also features the "Worf Barrage," an instance of an all-out, no-holds barred attack having zero effect on its target.
The K'Tinga shoulda been on the list
Great choice for Number One!!!
I would have added the Jem'hedar Battleship/Battlecruiser to the list.
I only wish we got to see more Breen ships in the show since the Breen are the coolest aliens in all of Star Trek!
Not my personal favorite but one of the ship designs I think deserves more love is the Xindi Aquatic cruiser, just the sheer scale and power of it for a 22nd century ship makes so formidable. The thing could literally house a smaller starship inside itself and was probably the most powerful starship class in known space at the time.
Plus: Meeting spaces between aquatic and non-acquatic species. Something we've didn't get to see on starfleet vessels for the longest time even though it fits the idea of the Federation so perfectly.
I have to say, the Negh'var has been my favourite ship, visually at least, since I first saw it.
If we're looking specifically at STO ships, I'd have to say either the Vo'Quv Science Carrier of the KDF, or the Jhu'ael flight deck Escort of the Romulan Republic. And no, it's not _just_ because they can launch fighters. I think they look really good, and different as they are, I like how they handle.
The Vo'Quv is a massive ship, larger than any cruiser in the KDF fleet and capable of supporting a whole battle group if necessary. Sure, it has the speed and manoeuverability of a small city, but it's not the sort of ship that needs to be nimble.
The Jhu'ael on the other hand is a fighting Bird of War on par with the Mogai, albeit slightly larger. Unlike a full carrier, it doesn't rely on its fighters, but rather leads them into battle.
Of course, both of those ships look really cool as well.
About the D'deridex, you forgot to mention how the nacelles can be scaled down to the size of a handheld tool that Dr. Bashir can use to adjust medical equipment with. Specifically the episode of DS9 where O'Brian is moving around in time. He used a vastly downscaled D'Deridex engine to make adjustments to the device on O'Brian's arm.
No one forgot anything. You just wanted to mention something different.
How on earth i didnt know about this channel before its beyond me its everything i needed to satisfy my star trek hunger
Everytime I see the D'deridex's open mid-section, I keep thinking that it'd be great if it was actually a launching platform for their smaller and more agile ships, much like what aircraft carriers do but for space.
The Scimitar!
I’m really surprised, looking through the comments, to not even see one person mention it! That beast of a ship was absolutely stunning in my opinion.
It's an upscaled mogi with a warcrime weapon. Damned impressive profile and even without the thaloron weapon it's damned impressive in a fight.
I think the scimitar was a little too OP ship like the Borg ships that probably sours a few people not to mention it was a 1/1 ship not a class or even at least two of them even.
I’m surprised no mention of a sona ship yet too
I'm surprised it didn't get a reference here. I'd like to see it against a Borg cube
The First Federation ship always reminded me of a highly mobile Death Star... but I'd say it's more like the Death Star aped the First Federation design.
I'd have certainly chosen the same top two! But I think I'd have thrown in Ferengi D'Kora as I think there's something kinda 'rolls royce' about those rich guys rides! 👍
I love your list. I'm impressed you resisted putting more romulan ships on there. I would have cheated and made it a top 15 with the deihu, vastam, d7 dyson romulan science ship and the reskava. I know I lean alot into sto but through their piles of dog do do there are some real gems in there. But I am a fan of all things romulan. I remember being so excited about nemesis and picard. Oh well 🤣
Great picks, Ric. Personally, I really like the chunkier, industrial-looking ships, like the Xhosa and Malon freighter.
I had a Micromachine tm D'deridex class warbird as a kid, I loved the look of that ship. I held on to that for years damn house fires.
Same I remember the bottom part of the neck popping out cause it wasn't glued in well loved that thing
I absolutely adore the Ar'Kiff class Warbird. Even more than the Mogai. The Dhelan is also a solid design . . . really, just Romulan Republic ships in general are great
The hull section of T'liss/V8 Romulan Bird of Prey always reminded me of a float we used whilst learning to swim at my primary school.
1# D7/K't'inga
2# D'deridex
3# Dominion attack ship
4# B'rell Bird of Prey
5# Vorcha
6# D'kora
7# Mogai
8# Neg'var
9# Tzenkethti Shuk'din
10# Bortis'qu
I guessed your number 1 even before you began the list. The excitement you get when you have spoken of them in other videos… 🤣😂🤣. It’s awesome to hear.
I’d love to see you break down the X-303, BC-303, X-304, & BC-304 (and yes, they’re all different). They are probably my favorite ships in all of fiction because we just get so much character and backstory on them as we see each step of the Tau’ri getting to the point they can finally build the things.
Lol what do you mean by “they”? Are you not human too?
@@jamesbizs
The Tau’ri are exclusively the humans of the SGC and Homeland Security.
Good list! My absolute favorite is the dominion Battle cruiser (not the battleship) I find it so graceful in its proportions and also pretty menacing
Merry Christmas….Admiral and to give you a long overdue applause and praise for the time and effort you put into your videos and in turn providing us trekkers with insightful, enjoyable entertainment. Keep on the same heading …warp 9.9 !
This is a very agreeable list. And you can never have too many Romulan ships.
The K'Tinga/D7 is my #1. First time I saw that design in the opening scene for TMP I just... it left an impression on child-me and I still cry with how many times I've seen them getting wrecked in DS9.
I agree with a lot of your choices. I'M not into STO, so I can only rank TV and movie vessels. My personal choices are:
1. Romulan Warbird TNG (same as yours)
2. Klingon Bird of Prey (same as yours)
3. Vulcan Ringship ENT (your 6th spot)
4. Species 8472 (your honorable mention)
5. Romulan Bird of Prey TOS / PIC (your 7th spot)
6. Ferengi Marauder TNG
7. Borg Cube
8. Cardassian Galor Class (I like it a lot)
9. Jem Hadar Fighter
10. Klingon Ship of the Dead DSC
Honorable Mentions: Klingon D7, Narada, Scimitar, Borg Diamond, Fesarius (!), Doomsday Machine, Son'a Ship, V'Ger, Krenim Time Ship (which resembles B5 a lot 🙂), Whale Probe
The Andorian Ship reminds me of Serenity from Firefly...
No surprise at number one, great ship design
What I like about it, is it balances looking and feeling alien but also looks and feels pragmatic.
I always dug the Breen ships, it also had no-nonsense pragmatic look to them, the Tholian ships are also cool
also La Sirena from Picard
The galor class was Iconic (I'd definitely pick that over the STO ship oyu chose). The Negh'var in the DS9 battle is also a ship that can't be left out.
An absolutely delightful video and I too think the top pick is the best ship amongst the non-UFP offerings in Star Trek.
It occurs to me that with Klingon naming conventions, the B’rel class is most likely named after a woman. Which is pretty cool.
It'll always be the valdore-class to me, which would likely be near the top of my list. Merry Christmas and 🖖
The d'deridex is my favorite also. Many fond childhood memories of playing with the ship toy back in the 90's. It had paser and torpedo sound buttons!
The singularity powered warp core is not just the Romulans being contrarian. Dilithium is a vital compost in antimatter fueled warp cores and is a limited resource which cannot truly be synthesized. This mean dilithium represents a bottle neck for starship construction and operation in societies which are otherwise considered “post-scarcity”. The singularity core frees the Romulans from the dilithium bottle neck, giving them a means to build and operate starships at numbers greater than the empire’s dilithium supply would allow. It’s a logistical game changer.
In Bridge Commander, D'eridexes were absolute monsters capable of taking on even ships that were supposed to outclass them such as Sovereign class, or hybrid ships. They merely required a commander, who was not a complete doofus and knew when to decloak and what subsystem to attack first.
Just as Romulan war doctrine dictated
Yes, I absolutely agree, the D'deridex is a thing of beauty.
Great list! The only thing I would change is drop the Voth ship and add the Klingon D7 and switch the Klingon bird of prey with the Romulan bop for number 1 spot. Great job on the video!
The time ship in voyager is a very intresting ship to look at and the story behind that is very good and would have made a wonderful series instead of a 2 part episode
The time ship should have looked a little bit more Starfleet.
Your list is pretty good and I do agree that the D'Deridex Class is probably the best on this list. It's definitely the most recognisable and I have fond memories of it when TNG first aired and I was collecting the Star Trek Fact Files.
This was bloody brilliant great job. p. s I'm not a fan of the first classic Romulan ship but I absolutely love their modern subsequent ship designs that look like actual birds of the raptor family. 👏👏👏👏👏👍👍
Excellent video! Thanks for the Christmas cheer!
Merry Christmas Ric, thanks for your videos.
Talking purely visually there are two ships in STO that I love: The Valkis Temporal Dreadnaught Warbird and the Obelisk Carrier. The Valkis has the ultimate look of a giant bird of prey, it's a refinement of the older ships of the romulans. The Obelisk is the most alien yet straightforward ship of that nature, it's a set of blocks that flies.
The D'duradex will always be my favorite. I always loved the design and color. From first sight, I had one design misconception. I'm initial impression was, "That is awesome, they swoop in, decloak, disable a smaller ship, tractor it into the empty space, recloak, and warp away." Imagine your on the battle field, and your pawns just start disappearing.
Always had a fondness for the Son'a Battle Cruiser with it's Bow/Boomerang design.
I love the Kumari class because it took one of the tenets of trek design and turned it on it's head. Vertical stacked warp nacelles! Not only that, it made them look amazing
On the Tzenkethi battleship, he calls the weapon loadout "dozens of cannons and torpedo launchers". Officially the most weapons any NPC in STO can mount forwards is 4, but I admire the roleplay stats here! It really helps bring an online game scale to life. 👏👏👏
Excellent choice but damn, that Kumari...Woof! Stunning.
Big fan of most of the ships mentioned in this list. A personal favorite of mine is the Fesarius, flagship of the First Federation from the original series episode the Corbomite Maneuver. While it only made one appearance in any Star Trek series it really leaves an impact on me as I think it's the first alien ship in Sci-Fi that truly looks alien. Rocket ship designs have pretty much been around since the late 19th century and flying saucer designs have been around in Sci-Fi for a long time too. With the exception of the Tripods in War of the Worlds, most all science fiction films prior to Star Trek followed either the rocketship or flying saucer design. Two things which despite being depicted as alien vessels in other films or television are still easily recognizable to us being human designed. The Fesarius, to me, looks completely different then anything that came before it.
I liked the Warbird. I even played one on Net Trek so very long ago.
Yours is a good list. I'd have found room for the Bajoran light ship, I don't care if it's implausible. I like it. I'd have also included the D-7. With that forward point looking like a punch to the face, it's great and aggressive.
I would have added the Breen cruisers from DS9. They were menacing...and came with an energy dampening weapon. Plus the angular shapes and sharp edges made the ships look dangerous.
Among the ones that stick out in my mind are the Bajoran lightships and Bajoran raiders. The raiders may not be much to look at, but the Bajoran Resistance really used them well in fighting the Cardassians. The lightships are just beautiful to look at. They sail through space the way sailing ships sailed the ocean waves. And the Bajorans definitely deserve a spot on a list of non-UFP ships, simply from how much time we spent with the Bajorans on DS9.
Merry Christmas Ric _and_ everybody else reading this!
I always loved the Vulcan Warp Ring. It just looks cool as hell.
The D’deridex is also my favorite non-federation ship. Such a majestic and iconic look. Second place for me is the Galor. XD
Good evening Ric, I wish you a wonderful Christmas Weekend, THANK YOU for sharing your list. I like many of them because I have them myself as models. Your NUMBER ONE is in my top three 3- Klingon Vor'cha class 2- Romulan D'deridex Warbird 1- Klingon Bird of Prey B'rel class This ship has so much style BUT it is a so close I also LOVE THE TOS D-7 Klingon Battle Cruiser Because I loved to see it in the episodes
The D'Deridex is an awesome ship design, especially with the forward section literally shaped like a raptor's head and sharp beak.
Loved seeing the romulans or borg show up when I watched TNG with my dad. He got me the dderidex playmate toy and that ship has been my favorite since.
100% agree on the D'Deridex... it's there on my top 10 sci-fi ships list.
I did always like the D'Derydex and the Valdore, but my favourite personally was always the Winged Defender from the FASA game. Helped I kept brutally savaging my UFP opponent every time we played, but I also really like the bird thing... Swoopy lines FTW!
Agree with number 1 spot. I also love the Borg interceptor and the Romulan Vidar
I came up with a theory about the singularity core of the D'Deridex class! It's to prevent crews going rogue.
Reaching for real physics for a second, the way Black Holes would be used as power sources would be as effectively batteries rather than power generation in of themselves.
So what I'm thinking is the D'Deridex is loaded up with a singularity core that'll last for the duration of the mission with some overhead, but if the crew goes rogue they'll be unable to refuel efficiently enough or the singularity would evaporate, leaving the ship to be picked up later with a potential dead mutaneous crew.
This also handily explains why the Federation didn't use them afer the Burn as they'd still require dilithium to fuel effectively.
Quite nice list and u agree on most of it. I too felt for the Dauntless at her first introduction. I still love the iconic look of the Klingon BoP, it's like Star Treks X-Wing and it's moving wings still feel menacing to me.
To me, the BoP is the only Star Trek starship that pulls off a graceful landing!
I must agree with you 100%. The D'Deridex-class Warbird is also my favourite ship, period. I'm kind of surprised that you didn't have the D'Talla-class Warbird as well.
I'd add the "Husnock" ship from TNG. Even though it was shown as a replica and not one made by the Husnock species, it looked like a space faring battleship would look like.
My one problem with the Phoenix is how did it land? Rockets of our era tend to have detachable nose cone landers. But leaving the warp drive part in space would be pointless. It didn't seem to have landing gear like a Falcon rocket does either. It did land in one piece, it ends up in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum sometime after it's first flight.
I assume a rather extensive system of Parachutes
This list highlights so many great designs! Examples like the Kumari really make me wish we could've learned a bit more about some non-starfleet vessels throughout the shows. I would've loved to have learned a lot more about a great old klingon Battleship, or vessels of Federation-Members operating alongside Starfleet.
When it comes to the D'deridex and many other "warships" of alien species, I wish Star Trek would portray them as legitimately more powerful in what they're doing. The strength of Starfleet really shouldn't be to match the firepower of an imperial warbird with one of their exploration starships. There are so many more interesting ways to explore that conflict than the often rather straight-up firefights and incompetence of alien officers we get to see.
10) Tin Man/Gomtuu
9) V'ger Vessel
8) Tholian Spinner class
7) Kumari class
6) Jem'Hadar Battleship
5) Tamarian Cruiser
4) Tarellian Plague Ship
3) D'kyr class
2) Mogai class
1) K'tinga class
The Devore Imperium's ship as seen in Counterpoint. The Bajoran Interceptor, The Val Jean marquis raider, the Kazon Raider (I seem to like "raiders") The Ferengi D'kora, The Borg Queen's vessel, The Elachi cruiser annnd... Hmmmm you know I like Annorax's timeship. I loved that episode and its 20'000 leagues under the sea homage.
Honorable mention to Captain Proton's rocketship and the Cardassian freighter because it reminds me of Red Dwarf
Thank you for all the videos 📹 you make, i at least appreciate your hard work. Keep it up sir.
I would have loved to have seen your number 1 choice in its original configuration from The Art of Star Trek book as well. Good list!
Great video, love your work!
I would add the Scimitar.
It looks amazing, one of my favorite Romulan/Reman starships of all time (with the D'deridex ofc.)
And all the things, the full weaponsystem capable to fire under cloack, the shield still working while cloacked, the double shield, the world killer thalaron weapon, the Scorpion fighters.
People can argue how good or bad Nemesis was, but the Scimitar is an absolute great Top5 ship.
I was totally getting ready to complain about you not mentioning the d'deridex and then you saved it by making it number 1. I think it's a bit to do with next gen being the first trek made in my era, I remember how scary it was when it showed up for the first time. So sentimental value for sure. 😉
D'derideix is probably the most awsome looking ship in sci-fi. I've seen lots of lists and it had taken the number 1 spot on all of them. It is certainly my favorite.
Merry Christmas, Rick!
11:45 - Yes! Mine too!
That Excelsior joke got me.
Please rank your favorite shapes as personified by Borg vessels.
Happy holidays. I love your channel.
The D'deridex and Neg'Var are my personal favorites non-Starfleet ships with the Vulcan and dominion ships being a couple more
Good choices. I also like the Hideki-class ships of the Cardassians and the Ferengi Marauders. I wish they had gotten as much story detail as the Klingon and Romulan ships.
I don't care for the Cardassian designs or the Dauntless, but your preference for Romulans is certainly fair given their gorgeous stylistic elements. D'deridex will always be my favorite ship.
That said, I think some love for the Orion ships and the Xindi Aquatic Cruisers is warranted.
I pretty much agree with your picks, but my personal favorite will always be the Klingon D7/K'tinga. I still remember seeing it during the first run of TOS and thinking about how much it reminded me of a predator getting ready to pounce on its prey. Seeing the updated versions a decade later in TMP just cemented my love for the look.
The Andorian and Romulan ships are my favorites.They are such badges looking ships.
I like the simplicity and actual practical function of both the Borg cube & sphere. It's space, lifting or control surfaces are useless so most of these ship designs are only for looks and serve no practical function whatsoever.