An Objective Analysis of the Z-1 Nova Class (Feat:@Drachinifel )

After nearly two years the time has now come for me to take a second look at the Romulan Z-1 Nova Class Battleship. A ship with which i am intimately familar but that i have yet to fully Critique. Instead allowing my Romulan Bias to dictate its portrayal hitherto. now i return to ask if the ship is truly all i claimed it to be? Asking why it does not appear alongside its contemporaries in the Dominion War?

Credits:
Nova by Starfox and Jetfreak-7
STO renders by the "4th Combined Fleet"
Music:
Kevin Macleod
Twin Musicom
Aaron Kenny

[Qardo]

As a Pro-Klingon Agent. I know for a fact that Vemon Geek is NOT a Pro-Klingon Agent. He is a Romulan Spy! GET HIM!

[samuelvine]

"I have a pro-Romulan bias"... Gee we couldn't tell :P

[frostysimon]

I just heard Battlestars and got all tingly with anticipation.

[jeffhallam]

Uh duh? We love you for your bias for Romulans!

[theodoremccarthy]

The D’deridex is such a fantastic and distinct design that filling the gap between it and the Romulan ships of the TOS era is no mean feat. Your documentaries are a fantastic take on that evolution in ship design. As a fan of TNG era Romulan designs I have a deep appreciation for your work.

[farshnuke]

The thing is I think Romulans have fascinating story potential but if Star Trek has a weakness it's that it lacks nuance in alien representation. The fact Vulcans and Romulans all have the same haircuts for example. (and I know there are exceptions but that only makes the majority having the same hairstyle odder) I don't actually care about Romulans because they are so frequently just capital E Evil when there is this interesting potential of them being Vulcan's twin that went down a different path.

That said I like hearing you discuss the Romulans and their ship design.

I do think it'd be interesting to discuss the idea of Battlestars in Star Trek because at least in the books that seems to be basically the role of the E. That she can turn up to a planet on the verge of crisis deploy her shuttles and transport down officers to take control of a situation. Why shuttles? Because a planet is hecking big and the E's sizable transporter complement is busy so the shuttles are basically mobile armored transporter platforms to extend the reach of the main vessel.

[christopher]

Coal powered starships are now cannon.

[occultatumquaestio]

An enjoyable video. Cool to see another Drach collab. The Z-1 Nova being analogous to 1860s coal powered Ironclad is an interesting comparison. And I see Tomalok in the corner there.

[sonofeyeabovealleffoff]

Who controls the Romulan Emperor's Crown?
Who keeps putting all of the Klingons down?
Venom does!
Venom does!
Who hates the Oberth class, yet keeps promoting the Excelsior, too?
Venom does!
Venom does!
Who keeps the Borg under wraps?
Who rigs every Wings of Romulus report?
Venom does!
Venom does!
Who holds back starfleet's trans warp?
Who dictates every succesful plasma torp' strike?
Venom does!
Venom does!

I'm kidding. We absolutely know you love the Romulans.

[erikjaroy]

I think Alpha Strikes should be the bread and butter of just about ALL Romulan ships. It just fits with their approach to combat so well.

More than any of the other powers in Star Trek, the Romulans base a lot of their methods on a single image: the Raptor. They fight like birds of prey. How do birds of prey fight? Generally they don't. They drop out of the sky and try to strike a killing blow before their prey even realizes they are under attack.

Romulans should be the same way. They don't want to get into a drawn-out slug fest. They want to sweep in, strike hard, then break off and set up for a follow-up attack if one is needed.

[gmradio]

The Nova might not fit with modern Romulan Fleet Doctrine, but given the shape of the Dominion War, it doesn't have to. The Nova fits closer to the space equivalent of trench warfare than the modern infiltration and deep strikes with single ships or small fleets. Something that the Dominion war could bog done to.

Run it in its own task forces and let fill the role in the old battle doctrine. It will need a modernization refit, but that is par for the course for all ships from that era. At the very least it will take weight of the D'Dirdex and free ships up for other operations. It will also be comparatively cheaper in both material and opportunity cost.

Just as long as it is NOT used with modern fleet elements it should be fine. Same way you don't deploy K'Tingas with Galaxys. Their designed roles work against each other.

A Romulan wolf pack is a Romulan wolf pack, it is going to hurt.

[joshpetersen]

I'd love a video about a Star Trek Battlestar. As for the video the visit to the HMS Warrior seems quite apropos, since the Nova does indeed seem to be a transitional design that kind of straddled two worlds. Edit: I just had thought based on the Novas weapons layout. It's a very Soviet navy style ship absolutely covered in weapons, (compare the Slava class vs the US Ticonderoga class cruisers the former is almost literally covered by weapons, but the later has relatively few visible weapons but is just as effective theoretically) compared to the relatively highly refined Klingon and Starfleet weapon fits.

[hmsverdun]

It feels like the Excelsior and Kamarag are also a lot more modular then then Nova. I could very well see an old excelsior being just upgraded until there isnt much left of the thing with the warp core, phasers, torpedoes, computer core shield generators, warp nacelles etc all being different and its almost just a scortch plate. Even they are getting up there though by DS9 and the Excelsior2 is being planned because a good cruiser design that works is a good cruiser design that works. Similar with the Kamarag where you can give it a new head unit, new nacelles disruptors etc. The Nova just doesnt look like that and as you say if you cant upgrade the warp core why bother.

Oh and i like this series of Star Trek and real life navies being weaved in.👍

[SPatrickRoss]

Maybe the Nova could function as a system defense vessel in the Dominion War?

[AluVixapede]

That was a great episode, I like it. -- Further, it always rankles me when someone says "I am completely, 100% unbiased.". Nah, we all have a little bias. It can be informed bias. eg: "History proves, this design, while flawed, carried X through Y, reliably if not comfortably" vs "It's Y, which is my team, so obviously Y is better :)"
These Colabs are great too.

[toriasdax]

When he mentioned Battlestars I instantly thought of the “Bridge Commander” Mod that doesn’t just have Galactica but a Federation Refit Galactica, where all its heavy ballistic cannons fire both Photon and Quantum Torpedos.
But it would be interesting which faction in the Star Trek Universe has the best carriers.

[OllamhDrab]

Wait, what, Venom likes Romulans? Really! You! I'm shocked. :)

(Really your take on he Nova though is a lot less scary than the FASA RPG was when you had like yer one hero ship, , probably a Connie, (big reason for Connies to get aft torpedoes, really: A Chandley might be an even match though. )

[fanuluiciorannrxd]

Making an enemy/rival design seem awesome makes your design seem even more so when it wins against said enemy. I think in some Chinese historical war drama movies the enemy gets depicted as competent and/or the exploits they did and times they had the upper hand are shown in a very serious and powerful light thus making the aspects that lead to victory or the retreat of the adversary even more awesome.

[Jay-lnco]

I always imagined that on starships the "engine room" encompasses both the reactor and generator room, while the nacelles, though containing space for people, are more like the spaces for propeller shafts and gearboxes, where the power from the reactor/generators is transferred into propulsion.

[shmeeful]

got to ask, how could anyone think venom is pro klingon?

He made a 30minit vidoe on how the klingon empire is about one good sneeze away from total collapse and has rabbed on nearly every klingon ship to the point i think their might be one or two he acturaly likes but i fail to recall which