*gets a notification but notices something is off* Lol, wow. In a video where Eck mentions deleted comments, mine gets deleted for imitating a Battle Droid 😂
What's funny is while many later sources show Concussion Missiles doing less damage then Proton Torpedoes the Return of the Jedi novelization says the opposite. The reason Wedge hit the Power Regulator instead of the Reactor was his Proton Torpedoes didn't have enough firepower to take out the Reactor while the Falcon's Concussion Missiles were able to destroy it.
Maybe the Falcon’s Concussion Missiles are larger than the Proton Torpedoes X-Wings carry which means while typically Proton Torpedoes are still more powerful the Concussion Torpedoes on the Falcon had larger warheads?
I think its more like comparing two different kinds of tank or warship rounds. You can launch them from the same system if the base size and launch mechanism is similar or the same. So yeah, it can easily be a matter of just one ship having bigger things in the first place.
My opinion of Concussion Missile vs Proton Torpedo is heavily influenced by games like TIE Fighter and Squadrons. Concussion Missiles are better at shooting down fast things, Proton Torpedoes are better at shooting down armored things, and Heavy Space Bombs are somehow slower than a B-Wing and won't hit no matter how many you launch with TIE Fighter's infinite ammo mode on. Hey Eck, why didn't more pilots just use cheat codes? Would've made the war a lot shorter. jk
While I understand the mechanical reason for how they are in Squadrons, proton torpedoes are very maneuverable by how they made a 90 degree turn to destroy the Death Star.
I wonder if that could be chalked up to jedi space magic, though I like the idea of proton torps being maneuverable but short range due to them being so small and not having a lot of room for additional fuel.
Lore has since indicated that the vent was an intentional design flaw though. So it may well have been specifically set up to help guide a munition in.
@@SephirothRyu The design flaw was with regards to it being a self destruct button. And while other design points could have helped munitions down, they still had to be maneuverable enough to make that turn. And it was apparently feasible enough for Galen Erzo and the Rebellion to plan on, while pushing the limits enough for the Empire to not notice, and for that one guy to think it was "impossible, even for a computer." Even with that, it was a difficult shot, since one attempt impacted on the surface (probably turned too early or late) and Luke definitely had some Force guidance.
@@yarnickgoovaerts I doubt it was only possible due to space magic. If it was literally impossible with out the force then the Rebels wouldn't have even tried because it would just waste time, resources and lives since they (as far as they knew) didn't have any force users in their military. It would make the Deathstar's secret weakness a non-issue since space wizards are so rare. Certainly Luke had some help with space magic, but I'd view it more as making a really difficult shot a guarantee, rather than making an impossible shot possible.
I like how the x-wing games handled them; missiles are faster, more maneuverable, better at tracking, but have smaller warheads and a shorter range, while torpedoes are the slower, less maneuverable heavy hitters...
Sounds reasonable. And you could really put either warhead on either a missile or torpedo. For some reason a lot of people seem to think that the warhead type defines the weapon itself. You can put a solid APHE warhead or a thermobaric on a short range missile with a high turn rate if you wanted to, you just might not WANT to do this because a different warhead type is simply better for a fighter attacking another fighter.
Why would they write concussion misses to be so much worse than regular Earth missiles? A range of 700m would be basically useless in space especially.
A bunch of the ranges from early material made no sense. Some of the direct-fire weapons (turbolasers IIRC, but I could be misremembering) had a shorter range than the length of a Star Destroyer, which certainly would have made them interesting to use.
@@Archaeus777which can't be true Each ISD is like over 1km And u can see their is enough space for everal isd1 between them and their targets. Wait concussions wouldn't even be able to got from the tip to the end of a ISD....
SO GLAD you covered the Fall of the Empire. So many people I talk with go "but if they had just done this, the Empire could have survived after the death of Palpatine!" and you finally just outright stating "the Empire wasn't supposed to outlive him" just...finally hit that sweet spot. This is true even for Legends, as Palpatine's clone was deliberately ENCOURAGING the infighting and chaos that resulted from the Warlords and the varying factions infighting, even as the New Republic got ever-more ascendant: his plan to "weed out the weak" was arguably what caused the New Republic to ultimately defeat the Empire Reborn, as so many of otherwise loyal forces were too busy blowing each other up to stop the New Republic Senate from garnering ever-more galactic support.\ In Cannon, his secret orders, as well as placing a majority of the senior command staff on either the Death Star II or the Executor, all but guaranteed the Empire would utterly collapse following his death. Anyone loyal was relocated to secret outposts, and anyone disloyal was left with trying to salvage whatever assets they could before their fellow mid-level officers (and Rebels) could do the same. Cannon collapsed even faster than Legends because at least in Legends you had various Moffs and admirals in charge of much of the galaxy outside of Palpatine's immediate command. In Cannon, they all either got killed off via assassins (both Imperial and Rebel), were sent to be a part of secret projects, or just outright surrendered to the New Republic due to the sheer level of rebellion the Moffs faced without Palpatine backing them up. The Moffs were VIOLENTLY unpopular, and without any kind of central support there was basically nothing stopping mass planetary revolts. The backstabbing and infighting and competition of the Imperial Officer culture pretty much damned everyone into a "fend for yourself" position unless you were one of the lucky few in charge of a secret project...or had enough personal power/clout to form your own rogue faction without central support.
When it comes to warheads, my head canon usually sticks to the X-Wing / TIE-Fighter / X-Wing vs. TIE-Fighter / X-Wing Alliance rule set. You have concussion missiles for use against starfighters, proton torpedos against lighter capital ships like corvettes and frigates, heavy rockets for the coarse stuff and the heavy space bombs as the almost passive punches that no one actually uses.
Just a side note for those that don't know: the "New" essential guide to weapons and technology is indeed 20 years old at this point. These were the guide books that were released in preparation for Revenge of the Sith. I actually have both versions right here in front of me, I also have both ship guides and the droid and chronology guides as well. There's so much new in the lore from the last 20 years I think it's time for another version of them all. That being said I hope they don't change anything, but it would be cool to hear about some of the newer stuff.
"slim" > proceeds to show a nearly meter wide concussion missile, perhaps the sort a Victory would use. "Bulky" > proceeds to say that a Y wing can "only" carry 8. A fighter that carries 8 torpedoes INTERNALLY. Um, Noodleladder? you sure this isn't just a matter of different warhead types? Like how, if you want, you can fire an AP and a pure HE round from the same tank or battleship cannon, so long as you have the applicable round?
It's funny when you realize the Venator star destroyer is 1100 meters long... You are firing a rocket that can't even travel further than your own ship
@@andersalbertsson215 TBF this is true for basically any air combat with tech beyond the 1980s. BVR missiles have been standard for decades, but nobody wants to watch a dogfight that consists mostly of pixel hunting.
Senpai noticed me. Thanks for answering and helping me as a GM. It's one of those questions that came up a while ago from me trying to run a Star Wars tabletop campaign. If you can customize your ships' weapons, why would you pick one over the other?
Its because they were used to disable enemy ships, not destroy them - Separatist missiles were effective but probably proved costly - so a reusable, droid which is guaranteed to cripple an enemy vessel and bypass shields is going to be much more cost effective, I guess
@@KingCitrusIII Are you really going to be able to economically recover tiny buzz droids in the middle of space? Space is big. Seems like a small explosive charge should be cheaper than building a high tech robot. If you specifically need to disable enemy ships, isn't that what ion cannons were used for?
I mean you didnt need to really hit the ship directly, they could blow up in the area and as long ad thr fighter got near the buzz droids could get on like in ROTS
I think there are different sizes and varients of torpedos and missles, the fact that some capital ship versions seem a much higher yield plus firing lots of them, so a starfighter could probably have more that are better vs fighters or fewer anti capital versions.
I think that is accurate, but that there are also different kinds of rounds/missiles too. Both a battleship and a tank can choose between a HE type round and an AP round, and that is ignoring all the neat new stuff we came up with in the past 60 years (sabots, APHE, HEAT, thermobaric, whatever else). Range and tracking is based on the missile or torpedo part, i.e. the part that is NOT the warhead. But for whatever reason people keep yapping like there is a fundamental difference in the warheads as if they are married to only a specific missile or torpedo frame and that it is somehow impossible to apply them to another kind for some bizzare reason.
@@SephirothRyu Torpedo Implies anti ship while missile is more get what you need for the use case, but yeah I don't think it matters a lot although consistancy would be nice
@@chrisk3127 technically there are anti ship missiles too. IRL the distinction is a warhead that travels either through air or water. Air is missiles, water is torpedo. In space there's a vacuum, but it makes sense to treat it as air, but fiction treats it more like vibes than anything.
The range figures given for concussion missiles are frankly absurd. 700 meters? We have shoulder-fired missiles irl that have ranges measured in multiple kilometers, and that's with our more primitive technology, as well as the missile having to fight against atmospheric pressures and gravity conditions which a concussion missile fired by a starfighter generally wouldn't have to deal with. As for roles, I never thought of concussion missiles as being shorter ranged than proton torpedoes, but they always came across as being the cheaper, easier option. They were what a military organization would opt to use if they wanted to save money and simplify logistics compared to the much more powerful, but also more expensive and difficult to manufacture proton torpedo. I also just kind of assumed from the name that they would be more effective in-atmosphere rather than in space. Like, maybe CMs make for better bombardment weapons due to being engineered to create massive shockwaves, while proton torpedoes are better at punching through shields and heavy armor due to their more tightly-focused and high-energy detonations.
it's funny because i am working on a spiritual successor to empire at war and every time i am working on something (for example shipyards or this) you make a video about it
In my “Omega Fleet” story, a flotilla of VSD’s were retrofitted to exclusively fire massive salvo’s of ordnance as an alpha strike, and a custom Republic fleet draws much more heavily on projectiles and special ordnance too
When it come to space weapons. Missles have less DV but thier smaller size means faster thrust and smaller yields. Torps have way more DV are larger in size means you could have large heavy payloads OR smaller payloads with lots of thrust and all that extra DV means it can change its direction more over long distances.
Thanks for this. My conception of SW weapons came from the TIE Fighter game which I loved until the computer just kept crashing on it. But, the moment when Pellaeon used a trick with torpedoes shadowed behind TIE Interceptors against a false-flag operation in one of the post-Thrawn novels has lived on in my head rent-free for years.
Hey Eck, What about talking about some of the more interesting lightsaber crystals types in old EU canon? It's an interesting and expansive topic with all the cool options they had for lightsabers.
The way I've always seen concussion missiles and proton torpedoes is the difference between electrical damage from the protons of the proton torpedo disrupting the flow of electrons, and physical damage from the concussion blast of the concussion missile.
I watch these on my commute to work every morning now. (By watch I mean listen) And it is super nice having daily content like this. My only complaint is I wish the vids were longer so they lasted my whole commute! 😂
The shadow bombs removed not only the guidance equipment but the propelling equipment as well in order to fit more explosives for a larger yield. As for proton torpedo vs concussion missiles the former was the higher yield, longer range, more $$$, harder to procure (especially for the Rebellion/early New Republic) as the material needed to make it(namely Baradium, the same fissionable material used for thermal detonators) was not common and the facilities needed to make them were guarded places. If I remember correctly that's a big reason Rogue Squadron went to the planet of Adumar in 'Starfighters of Adumar' as they had the facilities and materials to make proton torpedoes there.
Things definitely get inconsistent when it comes to how certain weapons perform next to others. I wonder how missiles and torpedoes operate in the X-Wing game series, since it's been a while since I played X-Wing Alliance and I don't recall seeing a good breakdown there. As far as the new canon, it seems to me that they took inspiration from the names as they relate to real world weapons; proton torpedoes are, like real-world torpedoes, not very manoeuvrable and geared more towards higher yields because they're anti-ship weapons. Concussion missiles are more akin to fighter-launched missiles, probably something smaller than a Harpoon. Now, this is all based on a layperson's understanding of a torpedo versus a missile, not a reflection of the reality of either weapon; in truth, modern anti-ship missiles have longer ranges than any torpedo. But vibes and all that!
Fun fact in canon, the 2nd deathstar was started before the 1st was complete. Not only is it unfathomable for the empire to have built the 2nd deathstar within 3 years if the 1st took like 2 decades. But in andor, the shot of the deathstar doesn't match the one in revenge of the sith. We know that the one in revenge of the sith was the first deathstar mostly constructed by geonosion worker drones. Why would the empire then need mass slave labor camps for the 1st deathstar? The empire would need the prison camps shown in andor if they we're constructing the 2nd deathstar.
If I recall correctly, in the old X-Wing and TIE Fighter games concussion missiles and proton torpedoes worked pretty much the same way they did in Squadrons
My head-cannon is that torpedoes vs missiles is more a matter of how it is stored and fired, rather than yield and intended target. Torpedoes have a dedicated launcher that is primarily responsible for accelerating it up to speed, which is why it looks like two warheads that come out of Luke's X-wing, while a missile has accelerant built into it, which is what we see with missile use in Clone Wars. Both have the ability to maneuver after being fired. There are heavy missiles designed to target cap ships, and light torpedoes that are designed to target fighters, as well as vise versa. That is how I explain that we hear about them being used against each type of target.
My understanding of Torpedoes vs Missiles, is that Proton Torpedoes used a shaped charge to direct all their explosive force forward to penetrate heavy capital ship armour whilst Concussion missiles did not. The latter instead radiated their explosive force in all directions creating a concussive blast wave in atmosphere (hence the name) which was their intended use. As a side effect they were effective against starfighters as a near-miss could still damage or destroy multiple fighters, even if the blast lacked the power to pierce capital-grade defences.
The Vicstar Conc missiles were said to be Siege weapons on "Planetary scale", according to the sourebooks. To me, the difference was plain from the TIE fighter game (or the X-wing series). The missiles were smaller, faster, better tracking, but smaller payload. Meanwhile the Torps were larger, slower, larger payload. Then you got to the Heavy Rockets, even larger, even slower, but even larger payload, all the way to the "Heavy space bombs" which barely moved at all, were huge, but smashed almost any target they managed to hit. Later you'd get some crazy weapons like MagPulse torpedoes which essentially was an EMP weapon that drained the weapon power on any target it impacted, but that's going a bit beyond the scope of this discussion.
Jedi shadow bombs also replaced the original explosive with the stuff from thermal detonators. They were also Force-propelled, not Force-guided, as they were also drained of fuel. The point of them was to be unnoticed by Vong defenses so they wouldn't be blocked.
Interesting to see you use Xenogenesis as an outro theme...I feel like it fits the outro meme with the doggo way better, but it's also a bit ironic since Xenogenesis is like...EVERY youtuber's outro theme lol. And I'm so used to hearing Resonance lol. Anyway, that's my yapping done. Solid video as always, Eck
My visualization for how the weapons work will always be from the West End Game RPG, X-Wing novels, and X-Wing video games. Starfighter sized concussion missiles seem (in the X-Wing novels) primarily used by A-Wings and tend to inflict light damage - but that also could be said to be due to their smaller size and the A-Wing's frame. At least in the West End Guide sourcebook, we see non-advanced fighters primarily using concussion missiles, which tend to do lower damage (7D vs 9D) than proton torpedos. For as canon as EU game stats you take, at least. Despite descriptions in the WEG stuff, other media in the EU tended to not show them as shield piercing. Or even purely stopped by particle shields. In most EU books where they're prominently used by starfighters (at least in the X-Wing novels which I'll give the most conssitency to) we see them as needing to 'break' the primary shield before they can hit the hull, which implies that capital ship ray shields block them. Rogue Squadron's tactic of having two volleys of proton torpedos hit the near exact place in the shield a couple of seconds apart is designed to break through a shield for the short time there's damage to it before it can reinforce. In the WEG books there seem to be capital ship scaled concussion missiles which are a different thing - we see VSD's use them as well as Corellian Gunships as their primary anti capital ship ordnance. Ship stats will occasionally list a 'proton torpedo' scale capital ship weapon but I can't recall it being elsewhere other than in ship stats. The most prominent time I can think of capital ship missiles being used is in the book 'Isard's Revenge' of the X-Wing series by Michael Stackpole. Random capital ships seem to often have a few of them but this seems mostly in the WEG books and I can't recall this being listed elsewhere so it might be purely that.
He should make videos that break down different capital ships. He probably already have and I’m just daft, but if he hasn’t that would be awesome. Like covering their statistics, functions, and different load outs for things like carriers. That would be so interesting. Probably just me thougj
700 meters? I can hit at that range with sniper rifles, so that seems a bit short. I always saw it as missiles are like a modern naval SAM and torps are like anti-ship torpedoes. Sure, many current SAMs can be used against surface ships. But they have much smaller warheads and are faster than torpedoes
I think maybe also one is a penetrator (concussion missiles) and one might be a proximity detonator (torpedoes) that's why Lando says he will take out the reactor of DS2 cause he's using concussion missiles, no shields so all the damage going off internally in the reactor.
I like the characteristics introduced in the LucasArts X-Wing and Tie Fighter games. Concussion missiles are more maneuverable with less damage and Proton Torpedoes being less maneuverable with more damage. That will always be Canon for me!
A range of 700m in space and primarily good for large slow moving targets. Think about that for a minute. You're shooting at something a kilometer or more long and you have to be within the length of the ship itself to hit it effectively. That's crazy even for Star Wars' 17th century inspired ship-to-ship combat. A historic gunpowder cannon has a longer ranger than that in atmosphere.
I’m pretty sure that proton torpedoes were originally (as in, battle of Yavin) just an unguided ball of plasma. It didn’t turn into a solid, guided weapon until people started writing up lore for it.
Epic video #AskEck I thought of this one day and wanted to know your thoughts on it, Why did the pirates kept grogu, there was quite obviously a bounty on him considering all the hunters with tracking fobes and it being implied that at least some tried to get grogu. I doubt they wouldn't have known about it, so they we're actually protecting him. My theory is that after he was saved after the purge, some senator or rebel group hired these pirates to protect him, but was eventually captured by the empire or forgot about grogu, (why he was never given to the new republic after the war), and the pirates not knowing he was a jedi just kept and raised him till mando showed up, killed them and stole their kid. But what do you think eck?
Then if you go down the route of Star Wars saga edition proton torpedos come in pretty much one size, and the concussion missiles come in everything from tiny starfighter sized missiles all the way up to super heavy anti capital ship variants that can crack capital ships in one volley.
For me, concussion missiles always felt like conventional warheads. Proton weapons seem to be the star wars version of nuclear, based on the name. (Atomic, nuclear, proton). General Dodonna mentions using them because "the shaft is ray shielded," so maybe proton weapons can penetrate shields better.
The torpedo vs missile attributes are one of the few ares in which I kinda prefer the new cannon to the expanded universe. Mostly just for the real-world role of torpedoes sinking ships vs missiles often being able to track fighters
You should do fandom stories on the Old Colony Wars series (PlayStation video game series by Psygnosis). And Starfighter designs from the league of free worlds versus the Earth Empire. 😁 I'd also be interested in seeing matchups, would starfighters from the earth Empire or League of free worlds be able to stand up to an X-Wing or a tie defender?
@@GunsAndAmmo3 that makes no sense I'm not quite sure what you're talking about I'm talking about a comparison of starfighters from various other universes....
Personally and this is just my headcanon. Concussion Missiles are akin to Air-to-Air missiles used in real life. Proton Torpedoes are similar to ATGMs used against heavily armored vehicles such as tanks. Both with clearly defined roles. The Concussion Missiles now just sound like a tandem-charged missile. Initial penetration of armor (Not sure how they deal with Deflectors) and then the main charge goes off. I honestly don't think they could dent a Star Destroyer's hull unless it strikes something like the shield generators. Maybe a lighter ship such as a Blockade Runner could have a thinner hull and therefore they'd be a much bigger threat. Torpedoes just smack into the hull and go off. I could be wrong. I would like to believe given some of what was said in the video, that the torpedoes seem volatile/dangerous which leads me to believe it is a form of anti-matter just Star Wars-style. This would explain how it could cause damage to the doonium plating of an ISD. Volatility due to the substance within the warhead. So I really think they messed it up and should have stuck to Legends continuity on said ordinance. It is almost midnight here. So take my incoherent rambling as you will.
came to hear him yap about capital ship weapons for 10 minutes, as always he yapped for half that and got distracted on some entirely different plotline from legends 😆
Id argue 900 to 1200 meters is the best size for a heavy capital ship like a cruiser in general for Sci fi and its big enough that its considered big but also not a 40k 4 kilometer Light cruiser big
I think the best comparison between concussion missiles and proton torpedoes is to think how they are analogous to real world missiles. Think concussion missiles like AMRAAM or Meteor missiles used for air to air combat and proton torpedoes like Harpoon anti ship missile or Tomahawk cruise missile depending on the use #Askeck
i always thought the main diffrence was proton torpedos were larger weapons and concusision missiles were smaller thus why the a-wing carries concussion missiles instead of torpedos while you only see torpedoes carried on larger ships but that didn't answer why the falcon uses missiles.
Star fighter concussion m. were weaker than proton torpedoes but medium concussions fired from freighters were stronger than protons and heavy concussions fired from capital ships could devastate cities and were stronger than all. A heavy concussion missile would probably cost $10K credit while a proton torpedo would cost $1500-$2K credits.
Fellow Star Wars nerds, please help me out. I seem to recall that the Emperor's giant Black Destroyer's Gun in Dark Empire could destroy entire cities but not the entire planet. Haven't read the comic in a long time but am I correct here or could it in fact destroy an entire planet with one shot? ps. Also, since Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker I keep seeing people online crapping on Dark Empire. Never heard so much hate towards DE since those movies happened 😞
And I guess I'll listen to you yap about Capital Ship Weapons for 10 minutes.
Haha funny
Rodger rodger. Same
Hell yeah dude
*gets a notification but notices something is off*
Lol, wow. In a video where Eck mentions deleted comments, mine gets deleted for imitating a Battle Droid 😂
@@Kurayamiblack Rodger Roger.
I petition for a “Let me yap” series
Yes
I
I second that
Aye
I sense a Modern classic happening 🙂
What's funny is while many later sources show Concussion Missiles doing less damage then Proton Torpedoes the Return of the Jedi novelization says the opposite. The reason Wedge hit the Power Regulator instead of the Reactor was his Proton Torpedoes didn't have enough firepower to take out the Reactor while the Falcon's Concussion Missiles were able to destroy it.
Maybe the Falcon’s Concussion Missiles are larger than the Proton Torpedoes X-Wings carry which means while typically Proton Torpedoes are still more powerful the Concussion Torpedoes on the Falcon had larger warheads?
Maybe they're just different versions of Nagic Missile and the technology is so hand-waved that any effort in continuity is irrelevant
I think its more like comparing two different kinds of tank or warship rounds. You can launch them from the same system if the base size and launch mechanism is similar or the same. So yeah, it can easily be a matter of just one ship having bigger things in the first place.
The concussion missiles on the falcon were larger. About the size of a small kayak actually.
@@williamchamberlain2263 what's Nagic?
My opinion of Concussion Missile vs Proton Torpedo is heavily influenced by games like TIE Fighter and Squadrons. Concussion Missiles are better at shooting down fast things, Proton Torpedoes are better at shooting down armored things, and Heavy Space Bombs are somehow slower than a B-Wing and won't hit no matter how many you launch with TIE Fighter's infinite ammo mode on.
Hey Eck, why didn't more pilots just use cheat codes? Would've made the war a lot shorter. jk
Let’s talk about diamond boron missiles used by the KDB-1 broadside cruiser
And just like that, entire squadrons of X-Wings and Y-Wings disappeared in a blink of an eye
While I understand the mechanical reason for how they are in Squadrons, proton torpedoes are very maneuverable by how they made a 90 degree turn to destroy the Death Star.
I wonder if that could be chalked up to jedi space magic, though I like the idea of proton torps being maneuverable but short range due to them being so small and not having a lot of room for additional fuel.
That 90 degree turn was only possible because Luke used the force
Lore has since indicated that the vent was an intentional design flaw though. So it may well have been specifically set up to help guide a munition in.
@@SephirothRyu The design flaw was with regards to it being a self destruct button. And while other design points could have helped munitions down, they still had to be maneuverable enough to make that turn. And it was apparently feasible enough for Galen Erzo and the Rebellion to plan on, while pushing the limits enough for the Empire to not notice, and for that one guy to think it was "impossible, even for a computer." Even with that, it was a difficult shot, since one attempt impacted on the surface (probably turned too early or late) and Luke definitely had some Force guidance.
@@yarnickgoovaerts I doubt it was only possible due to space magic. If it was literally impossible with out the force then the Rebels wouldn't have even tried because it would just waste time, resources and lives since they (as far as they knew) didn't have any force users in their military. It would make the Deathstar's secret weakness a non-issue since space wizards are so rare.
Certainly Luke had some help with space magic, but I'd view it more as making a really difficult shot a guarantee, rather than making an impossible shot possible.
I like how the x-wing games handled them; missiles are faster, more maneuverable, better at tracking, but have smaller warheads and a shorter range, while torpedoes are the slower, less maneuverable heavy hitters...
Sounds reasonable. And you could really put either warhead on either a missile or torpedo. For some reason a lot of people seem to think that the warhead type defines the weapon itself. You can put a solid APHE warhead or a thermobaric on a short range missile with a high turn rate if you wanted to, you just might not WANT to do this because a different warhead type is simply better for a fighter attacking another fighter.
RANGE of missiles?? In SPACE??? XD
Can we at least pretend that star wars is SCIENCE fiction?
@@HA-gu1qk missiles still need fuel to steer, and if you're trying to hit another fast-moving object, then, yeah...
@@biostemm ok this is the only explanation here that makes any sense. But then for big slow ships this has to be taken into account.
Why would they write concussion misses to be so much worse than regular Earth missiles? A range of 700m would be basically useless in space especially.
Forget missiles, that's worse than earth rockets. From the 1910s.
@Tobias-wb6kd Lee Enfield Mk5 infantry rifle has an effective range up to 700m if you picked the best of three off the production line.
A bunch of the ranges from early material made no sense. Some of the direct-fire weapons (turbolasers IIRC, but I could be misremembering) had a shorter range than the length of a Star Destroyer, which certainly would have made them interesting to use.
Well Star Wars ships even super star destroyers engage in closer range than battleships in the First World War haha
@@Archaeus777which can't be true
Each ISD is like over 1km
And u can see their is enough space for everal isd1 between them and their targets.
Wait concussions wouldn't even be able to got from the tip to the end of a ISD....
SO GLAD you covered the Fall of the Empire. So many people I talk with go "but if they had just done this, the Empire could have survived after the death of Palpatine!" and you finally just outright stating "the Empire wasn't supposed to outlive him" just...finally hit that sweet spot. This is true even for Legends, as Palpatine's clone was deliberately ENCOURAGING the infighting and chaos that resulted from the Warlords and the varying factions infighting, even as the New Republic got ever-more ascendant: his plan to "weed out the weak" was arguably what caused the New Republic to ultimately defeat the Empire Reborn, as so many of otherwise loyal forces were too busy blowing each other up to stop the New Republic Senate from garnering ever-more galactic support.\
In Cannon, his secret orders, as well as placing a majority of the senior command staff on either the Death Star II or the Executor, all but guaranteed the Empire would utterly collapse following his death. Anyone loyal was relocated to secret outposts, and anyone disloyal was left with trying to salvage whatever assets they could before their fellow mid-level officers (and Rebels) could do the same. Cannon collapsed even faster than Legends because at least in Legends you had various Moffs and admirals in charge of much of the galaxy outside of Palpatine's immediate command. In Cannon, they all either got killed off via assassins (both Imperial and Rebel), were sent to be a part of secret projects, or just outright surrendered to the New Republic due to the sheer level of rebellion the Moffs faced without Palpatine backing them up. The Moffs were VIOLENTLY unpopular, and without any kind of central support there was basically nothing stopping mass planetary revolts. The backstabbing and infighting and competition of the Imperial Officer culture pretty much damned everyone into a "fend for yourself" position unless you were one of the lucky few in charge of a secret project...or had enough personal power/clout to form your own rogue faction without central support.
When it comes to warheads, my head canon usually sticks to the X-Wing / TIE-Fighter / X-Wing vs. TIE-Fighter / X-Wing Alliance rule set. You have concussion missiles for use against starfighters, proton torpedos against lighter capital ships like corvettes and frigates, heavy rockets for the coarse stuff and the heavy space bombs as the almost passive punches that no one actually uses.
Just a side note for those that don't know: the "New" essential guide to weapons and technology is indeed 20 years old at this point. These were the guide books that were released in preparation for Revenge of the Sith. I actually have both versions right here in front of me, I also have both ship guides and the droid and chronology guides as well. There's so much new in the lore from the last 20 years I think it's time for another version of them all. That being said I hope they don't change anything, but it would be cool to hear about some of the newer stuff.
"slim" > proceeds to show a nearly meter wide concussion missile, perhaps the sort a Victory would use.
"Bulky" > proceeds to say that a Y wing can "only" carry 8. A fighter that carries 8 torpedoes INTERNALLY.
Um, Noodleladder? you sure this isn't just a matter of different warhead types? Like how, if you want, you can fire an AP and a pure HE round from the same tank or battleship cannon, so long as you have the applicable round?
700m? You can hit someone with a rifle at that range
It's funny when you realize the Venator star destroyer is 1100 meters long... You are firing a rocket that can't even travel further than your own ship
Sci fi weapon ranges are nonsensically short usually because it makes for more cinematic engagements than beyond LOS explosions
RANGE of missiles?? In SPACE??? XD
Can we at least pretend that star wars is SCIENCE fiction?
@@andersalbertsson215 TBF this is true for basically any air combat with tech beyond the 1980s. BVR missiles have been standard for decades, but nobody wants to watch a dogfight that consists mostly of pixel hunting.
Senpai noticed me.
Thanks for answering and helping me as a GM. It's one of those questions that came up a while ago from me trying to run a Star Wars tabletop campaign. If you can customize your ships' weapons, why would you pick one over the other?
Whoa, what the heck is this Star Wars Smash game we see like ten seconds of at the end there??? That looks cool as heck!!!
That's Rivals of Aether, I think. The white robot wasn't from Star Wars, that was an E.M.M.I. unit from the Metroid series.
Speaking of missiles on starfighters, why did the CIS use buzz droid missiles instead of just... blowing the target up?
Something to do, I guess.
Easier to hit I guess
Its because they were used to disable enemy ships, not destroy them - Separatist missiles were effective but probably proved costly - so a reusable, droid which is guaranteed to cripple an enemy vessel and bypass shields is going to be much more cost effective, I guess
@@KingCitrusIII Are you really going to be able to economically recover tiny buzz droids in the middle of space? Space is big. Seems like a small explosive charge should be cheaper than building a high tech robot. If you specifically need to disable enemy ships, isn't that what ion cannons were used for?
I mean you didnt need to really hit the ship directly, they could blow up in the area and as long ad thr fighter got near the buzz droids could get on like in ROTS
I think there are different sizes and varients of torpedos and missles, the fact that some capital ship versions seem a much higher yield plus firing lots of them, so a starfighter could probably have more that are better vs fighters or fewer anti capital versions.
I think that is accurate, but that there are also different kinds of rounds/missiles too. Both a battleship and a tank can choose between a HE type round and an AP round, and that is ignoring all the neat new stuff we came up with in the past 60 years (sabots, APHE, HEAT, thermobaric, whatever else).
Range and tracking is based on the missile or torpedo part, i.e. the part that is NOT the warhead. But for whatever reason people keep yapping like there is a fundamental difference in the warheads as if they are married to only a specific missile or torpedo frame and that it is somehow impossible to apply them to another kind for some bizzare reason.
@@SephirothRyu Torpedo Implies anti ship while missile is more get what you need for the use case, but yeah I don't think it matters a lot although consistancy would be nice
@@chrisk3127 technically there are anti ship missiles too. IRL the distinction is a warhead that travels either through air or water. Air is missiles, water is torpedo. In space there's a vacuum, but it makes sense to treat it as air, but fiction treats it more like vibes than anything.
I always imagined concussion missiles were more like real world gunship rocket. And proton torpedoes were more like missiles
Okay, I will let you yap about capital ship weapons for 10 minutes
LETS GOOO, more yapping
The range figures given for concussion missiles are frankly absurd. 700 meters? We have shoulder-fired missiles irl that have ranges measured in multiple kilometers, and that's with our more primitive technology, as well as the missile having to fight against atmospheric pressures and gravity conditions which a concussion missile fired by a starfighter generally wouldn't have to deal with.
As for roles, I never thought of concussion missiles as being shorter ranged than proton torpedoes, but they always came across as being the cheaper, easier option. They were what a military organization would opt to use if they wanted to save money and simplify logistics compared to the much more powerful, but also more expensive and difficult to manufacture proton torpedo. I also just kind of assumed from the name that they would be more effective in-atmosphere rather than in space. Like, maybe CMs make for better bombardment weapons due to being engineered to create massive shockwaves, while proton torpedoes are better at punching through shields and heavy armor due to their more tightly-focused and high-energy detonations.
it's funny because i am working on a spiritual successor to empire at war and every time i am working on something (for example shipyards or this) you make a video about it
That's why I love Empire at war, explains pretty well the differences between weapon classes
Dawg I've been watching you for like 3 years, this channel is awesome, will continue to watch forever
In my “Omega Fleet” story, a flotilla of VSD’s were retrofitted to exclusively fire massive salvo’s of ordnance as an alpha strike, and a custom Republic fleet draws much more heavily on projectiles and special ordnance too
When it come to space weapons. Missles have less DV but thier smaller size means faster thrust and smaller yields. Torps have way more DV are larger in size means you could have large heavy payloads OR smaller payloads with lots of thrust and all that extra DV means it can change its direction more over long distances.
Thanks for this. My conception of SW weapons came from the TIE Fighter game which I loved until the computer just kept crashing on it. But, the moment when Pellaeon used a trick with torpedoes shadowed behind TIE Interceptors against a false-flag operation in one of the post-Thrawn novels has lived on in my head rent-free for years.
5:55 Why does that guy on the right have a blaster earring?
700 meters is such a short range while in space... That's insane
9:00 "in cannon" Nice edit 😏 There's some great new art in this episode. Awesome finds!
Justin...thoughts on Cloaking Devices LOL
Hey Eck,
What about talking about some of the more interesting lightsaber crystals types in old EU canon?
It's an interesting and expansive topic with all the cool options they had for lightsabers.
Welp, here for the yap.
I’m loving the return to lore videos
I've been a fan since the first of the battle breakdown series started, also keep up the good work!
The way I've always seen concussion missiles and proton torpedoes is the difference between electrical damage from the protons of the proton torpedo disrupting the flow of electrons, and physical damage from the concussion blast of the concussion missile.
I watch these on my commute to work every morning now. (By watch I mean listen) And it is super nice having daily content like this. My only complaint is I wish the vids were longer so they lasted my whole commute! 😂
The shadow bombs removed not only the guidance equipment but the propelling equipment as well in order to fit more explosives for a larger yield. As for proton torpedo vs concussion missiles the former was the higher yield, longer range, more $$$, harder to procure (especially for the Rebellion/early New Republic) as the material needed to make it(namely Baradium, the same fissionable material used for thermal detonators) was not common and the facilities needed to make them were guarded places. If I remember correctly that's a big reason Rogue Squadron went to the planet of Adumar in 'Starfighters of Adumar' as they had the facilities and materials to make proton torpedoes there.
700 meters is ridiculous. Modern air to air missiles have 200 times this range 🤦♂️
What should you yap about next...
handheld weapons
Things definitely get inconsistent when it comes to how certain weapons perform next to others. I wonder how missiles and torpedoes operate in the X-Wing game series, since it's been a while since I played X-Wing Alliance and I don't recall seeing a good breakdown there.
As far as the new canon, it seems to me that they took inspiration from the names as they relate to real world weapons; proton torpedoes are, like real-world torpedoes, not very manoeuvrable and geared more towards higher yields because they're anti-ship weapons. Concussion missiles are more akin to fighter-launched missiles, probably something smaller than a Harpoon.
Now, this is all based on a layperson's understanding of a torpedo versus a missile, not a reflection of the reality of either weapon; in truth, modern anti-ship missiles have longer ranges than any torpedo. But vibes and all that!
Fun fact in canon, the 2nd deathstar was started before the 1st was complete. Not only is it unfathomable for the empire to have built the 2nd deathstar within 3 years if the 1st took like 2 decades. But in andor, the shot of the deathstar doesn't match the one in revenge of the sith. We know that the one in revenge of the sith was the first deathstar mostly constructed by geonosion worker drones. Why would the empire then need mass slave labor camps for the 1st deathstar? The empire would need the prison camps shown in andor if they we're constructing the 2nd deathstar.
If I recall correctly, in the old X-Wing and TIE Fighter games concussion missiles and proton torpedoes worked pretty much the same way they did in Squadrons
My head-cannon is that torpedoes vs missiles is more a matter of how it is stored and fired, rather than yield and intended target. Torpedoes have a dedicated launcher that is primarily responsible for accelerating it up to speed, which is why it looks like two warheads that come out of Luke's X-wing, while a missile has accelerant built into it, which is what we see with missile use in Clone Wars. Both have the ability to maneuver after being fired. There are heavy missiles designed to target cap ships, and light torpedoes that are designed to target fighters, as well as vise versa. That is how I explain that we hear about them being used against each type of target.
Factions compared idea sci fi insect swarm. Such as Tyranids, Arachnids, Zerg, Rachni, Terminids.
Dude your exit misuc was dope !!
My understanding of Torpedoes vs Missiles, is that Proton Torpedoes used a shaped charge to direct all their explosive force forward to penetrate heavy capital ship armour whilst Concussion missiles did not. The latter instead radiated their explosive force in all directions creating a concussive blast wave in atmosphere (hence the name) which was their intended use. As a side effect they were effective against starfighters as a near-miss could still damage or destroy multiple fighters, even if the blast lacked the power to pierce capital-grade defences.
Loving the new outtros
The Vicstar Conc missiles were said to be Siege weapons on "Planetary scale", according to the sourebooks. To me, the difference was plain from the TIE fighter game (or the X-wing series). The missiles were smaller, faster, better tracking, but smaller payload. Meanwhile the Torps were larger, slower, larger payload. Then you got to the Heavy Rockets, even larger, even slower, but even larger payload, all the way to the "Heavy space bombs" which barely moved at all, were huge, but smashed almost any target they managed to hit. Later you'd get some crazy weapons like MagPulse torpedoes which essentially was an EMP weapon that drained the weapon power on any target it impacted, but that's going a bit beyond the scope of this discussion.
Jedi shadow bombs also replaced the original explosive with the stuff from thermal detonators. They were also Force-propelled, not Force-guided, as they were also drained of fuel. The point of them was to be unnoticed by Vong defenses so they wouldn't be blocked.
Interesting to see you use Xenogenesis as an outro theme...I feel like it fits the outro meme with the doggo way better, but it's also a bit ironic since Xenogenesis is like...EVERY youtuber's outro theme lol. And I'm so used to hearing Resonance lol.
Anyway, that's my yapping done. Solid video as always, Eck
My visualization for how the weapons work will always be from the West End Game RPG, X-Wing novels, and X-Wing video games. Starfighter sized concussion missiles seem (in the X-Wing novels) primarily used by A-Wings and tend to inflict light damage - but that also could be said to be due to their smaller size and the A-Wing's frame. At least in the West End Guide sourcebook, we see non-advanced fighters primarily using concussion missiles, which tend to do lower damage (7D vs 9D) than proton torpedos. For as canon as EU game stats you take, at least.
Despite descriptions in the WEG stuff, other media in the EU tended to not show them as shield piercing. Or even purely stopped by particle shields. In most EU books where they're prominently used by starfighters (at least in the X-Wing novels which I'll give the most conssitency to) we see them as needing to 'break' the primary shield before they can hit the hull, which implies that capital ship ray shields block them. Rogue Squadron's tactic of having two volleys of proton torpedos hit the near exact place in the shield a couple of seconds apart is designed to break through a shield for the short time there's damage to it before it can reinforce.
In the WEG books there seem to be capital ship scaled concussion missiles which are a different thing - we see VSD's use them as well as Corellian Gunships as their primary anti capital ship ordnance. Ship stats will occasionally list a 'proton torpedo' scale capital ship weapon but I can't recall it being elsewhere other than in ship stats. The most prominent time I can think of capital ship missiles being used is in the book 'Isard's Revenge' of the X-Wing series by Michael Stackpole. Random capital ships seem to often have a few of them but this seems mostly in the WEG books and I can't recall this being listed elsewhere so it might be purely that.
He should make videos that break down different capital ships. He probably already have and I’m just daft, but if he hasn’t that would be awesome. Like covering their statistics, functions, and different load outs for things like carriers. That would be so interesting. Probably just me thougj
700 meters? I can hit at that range with sniper rifles, so that seems a bit short.
I always saw it as missiles are like a modern naval SAM and torps are like anti-ship torpedoes. Sure, many current SAMs can be used against surface ships. But they have much smaller warheads and are faster than torpedoes
I think maybe also one is a penetrator (concussion missiles) and one might be a proximity detonator (torpedoes) that's why Lando says he will take out the reactor of DS2 cause he's using concussion missiles, no shields so all the damage going off internally in the reactor.
My #AskEck question is; how have you been, dude? How is the family? I just thought it would be good to check in. Long time fan of the channel!
I like the characteristics introduced in the LucasArts X-Wing and Tie Fighter games. Concussion missiles are more maneuverable with less damage and Proton Torpedoes being less maneuverable with more damage. That will always be Canon for me!
The outro music got me so good.
A range of 700m in space and primarily good for large slow moving targets. Think about that for a minute. You're shooting at something a kilometer or more long and you have to be within the length of the ship itself to hit it effectively. That's crazy even for Star Wars' 17th century inspired ship-to-ship combat. A historic gunpowder cannon has a longer ranger than that in atmosphere.
Thanks Eck!
I’m pretty sure that proton torpedoes were originally (as in, battle of Yavin) just an unguided ball of plasma. It didn’t turn into a solid, guided weapon until people started writing up lore for it.
7:48 lol... LMAO, even.
"Yall don't season your starships."
Epic video
#AskEck
I thought of this one day and wanted to know your thoughts on it, Why did the pirates kept grogu, there was quite obviously a bounty on him considering all the hunters with tracking fobes and it being implied that at least some tried to get grogu. I doubt they wouldn't have known about it, so they we're actually protecting him. My theory is that after he was saved after the purge, some senator or rebel group hired these pirates to protect him, but was eventually captured by the empire or forgot about grogu, (why he was never given to the new republic after the war), and the pirates not knowing he was a jedi just kept and raised him till mando showed up, killed them and stole their kid. But what do you think eck?
Then if you go down the route of Star Wars saga edition proton torpedos come in pretty much one size, and the concussion missiles come in everything from tiny starfighter sized missiles all the way up to super heavy anti capital ship variants that can crack capital ships in one volley.
Is a shame you keep getting striked, but on the plus side I like the new outro a lot
For me, concussion missiles always felt like conventional warheads. Proton weapons seem to be the star wars version of nuclear, based on the name. (Atomic, nuclear, proton). General Dodonna mentions using them because "the shaft is ray shielded," so maybe proton weapons can penetrate shields better.
#AskEck 6:00 If they were a band what would be their name? p.s. more yapping please.
I could be using my time and brain storage for my test next week. But no. Now I know the difference between proton torpedoes and concussion missiles.
9:35 Huh. Xenogenisis. It's been a while
The torpedo vs missile attributes are one of the few ares in which I kinda prefer the new cannon to the expanded universe. Mostly just for the real-world role of torpedoes sinking ships vs missiles often being able to track fighters
I would listen to more than 10 minutes of yapping about armaments
In canon Palpatine had Gallius Rax to control and destroy the empire along with the new republic if he ever died.
You should do fandom stories on the Old Colony Wars series (PlayStation video game series by Psygnosis). And Starfighter designs from the league of free worlds versus the Earth Empire. 😁 I'd also be interested in seeing matchups, would starfighters from the earth Empire or League of free worlds be able to stand up to an X-Wing or a tie defender?
🫃Male impregnation
@@GunsAndAmmo3 that makes no sense I'm not quite sure what you're talking about I'm talking about a comparison of starfighters from various other universes....
Ok fine, you have my permission to yap about capital ship weapons for 10 minutes
Hey Eck , did you watch the Squadron 42 gameplay reveal? Would like to hear your thoughts on such a massive ship battle!
So a proton torpedo is basically a capital ship version of a HEAT round. Noice
That’s a solid argument, guess I‘ll listen to you yapping about this for 10 minutes
I think the extra ordnance in the shadow bombs was the same as thermal detonater
So glad I watched to the very end. 👌🤣
Mmmm that Assault Gunboat. I wish it appeared more.
I love hearing you yapping about stuff
The doggo outro!!!!!
Personally and this is just my headcanon. Concussion Missiles are akin to Air-to-Air missiles used in real life. Proton Torpedoes are similar to ATGMs used against heavily armored vehicles such as tanks. Both with clearly defined roles. The Concussion Missiles now just sound like a tandem-charged missile. Initial penetration of armor (Not sure how they deal with Deflectors) and then the main charge goes off. I honestly don't think they could dent a Star Destroyer's hull unless it strikes something like the shield generators. Maybe a lighter ship such as a Blockade Runner could have a thinner hull and therefore they'd be a much bigger threat.
Torpedoes just smack into the hull and go off. I could be wrong. I would like to believe given some of what was said in the video, that the torpedoes seem volatile/dangerous which leads me to believe it is a form of anti-matter just Star Wars-style.
This would explain how it could cause damage to the doonium plating of an ISD. Volatility due to the substance within the warhead. So I really think they messed it up and should have stuck to Legends continuity on said ordinance. It is almost midnight here. So take my incoherent rambling as you will.
came to hear him yap about capital ship weapons for 10 minutes, as always he yapped for half that and got distracted on some entirely different plotline from legends 😆
I'm gonna just keep thinking of Star Wars weapons as they are portrayed in the X-Wing and TIE Fighter series.
Very nice
Dang, I miss the classic eck outro but I get it.
Nice
Depending on the type of capital ship, the optimal size is 900 meters, in my opinion
Id argue 900 to 1200 meters is the best size for a heavy capital ship like a cruiser in general for Sci fi and its big enough that its considered big but also not a 40k 4 kilometer Light cruiser big
@@alecdeter1999 I’d be willing to accept that range
@alecdeter1999
Know any place I go to to look up 40k ship sizes?
I think the best comparison between concussion missiles and proton torpedoes is to think how they are analogous to real world missiles. Think concussion missiles like AMRAAM or Meteor missiles used for air to air combat and proton torpedoes like Harpoon anti ship missile or Tomahawk cruise missile depending on the use #Askeck
i always thought the main diffrence was proton torpedos were larger weapons and concusision missiles were smaller thus why the a-wing carries concussion missiles instead of torpedos while you only see torpedoes carried on larger ships but that didn't answer why the falcon uses missiles.
Stop it! This is way to entertaining 😅
Yap about anything and I will watch
Not sure how to feel about the different outro. It’s nice but the original was more chill.
Star fighter concussion m. were weaker than proton torpedoes but medium concussions fired from freighters were stronger than protons and heavy concussions fired from capital ships could devastate cities and were stronger than all. A heavy concussion missile would probably cost $10K credit while a proton torpedo would cost $1500-$2K credits.
Fellow Star Wars nerds, please help me out. I seem to recall that the Emperor's giant Black Destroyer's Gun in Dark Empire could destroy entire cities but not the entire planet. Haven't read the comic in a long time but am I correct here or could it in fact destroy an entire planet with one shot?
ps. Also, since Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker I keep seeing people online crapping on Dark Empire. Never heard so much hate towards DE since those movies happened 😞
MC75 was pretty badass ship.
750m in space? That's bullshit. Any missile would continue on its trajectory pretty much forever in space after expending its propellant.
Or be programed to explode. But you're right. 750m is too short of a range.
(It's 700m by the way.)
So excited children decided to insert (your choice) weapons and thru our all logic.