Hey everybody Daniel from Spacedock here, back with another top five lists.
Again, this is based on my personal preference and is not meant to reflect the tactical value
of each ship.
This time we’re looking at Corvettes, one of the smallest types of warship and a popular
choice for hero ships in Science Fiction.
OLYMPUS CLASS CORVETTE – BABYLON 5 In fifth place, the Earthforce Olympus Class
Corvette from Babylon 5.
These ships were most prominently used across the course of the Earth-Minbari War, where
they tended to get pretty regularly torn to pieces by super-advanced Minbari warships,
but that never stopped them from trying.
I’m a big fan of high-realism designs, so I really appreciate the big chemical engines
and heat shields on this ship, and I also really like the horizontally mounted missile
pods; a lot of sci-fi fails to realize that it doesn’t really matter where you deploy
a missile from a vacuum, because the missile can just immediately fire up its RCS and shoot
off in any direction you like, regardless of the ship’s orientation.
ATF VIDAR – X3 This one is super obscure, it’s from Egosoft’s
‘X-Series’ of Space Simulators, specifically from the X3 Expansions.
Even within the mythos of the game this awesome-looking ship has a well-deserved reputation, it’s
so manoeuvrable that it flies more like a fighter than a corvette.
The ship has a frightful amount of forward firepower, with ten separate bow hardpoints
normally loaded with electromagnetic plasma cannons, and she’s also equipped with Millennium
Falcon-style turret positions on the dorsal and ventral hull.
The Vidar’s speed and agility allow it to pretty soundly defeat any other corvette,
as well as being able to engage small frigates by hopping between blind spots and confusing
point defence.
CR90 CORELLIAN CORVETTE – STAR WARS This one had to be on here, the first spacecraft
we see in the entire Star Wars saga, and one of the most versatile warships of its era.
The look of the CR90 is iconic, and it’s become a symbol of the Rebel Alliance, this
is perfectly appropriate as the corvette is amazingly well suited to Alliance tactics,
able to perform rapid hit-and-fade attacks, alone or with a group, and live up its nickname
by running Imperial Blockades.
I love how much screen time these ships have got in Star Wars Rebels, especially in their
awesome blue paint schemes, it’s great to see how important their role in the rebel
fleet is, especially in the early years.
RAIDER CLASS CORVETTE – STAR WARS Another one from Star Wars now, and a lot
of you know how much I love this design.
The Imperial Raider Class is an incredibly cool looking ship that really nicely fills
a gap in the Empire’s fleet composition.
We’ve also recently learned from Battlefront II trailers that at least some of these ships
have small hangers hidden beneath their armor that can hold at least a couple of TIE Fighters
each, this is a really nice and seamless addition to the original Raider design.
I’m really glad that this ship is getting the spotlight in Battlefront II as the X-Wing
miniatures guys who originally designed it did an amazing job – one of my very favourite
Imperial warships.
MCRN CORVETTE – THE EXPANSE Anybody who knows me knew this was coming,
the Queen of Corvettes – this is the ultimate hero ship, it works flawlessly as a home for
the characters and as a tough reliable craft with tons of personality.
It’s a thoroughly hard Sci-fi design which always scores points for me, and it’s grounded
– functional aesthetic is amazing to watch on screen.
I love the retractable PDC emplacements and the smoothly integrated torpedo bay, plus
the interior is just gorgeous – the guys working on the show who get to walk around
those sets every day are unbelievably lucky, and both the ship’s interior and exterior
have been brilliantly adapted from the books by the VFX and Set Design Teams respectively.
A simply awesome sci-fi spacecraft.