The Essential Guide to Force Exile/Niman-class cruiser-carrier

Niman-class cruiser-carrier

Description
The backbone of the Yanibar Guard fleet, the Niman-class was one of the more popular classes deployed and an essential component of the fleet. Introduced in the formative years of the Yanibar Guard, the ships were designed to effectively counter and defeat the Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers that saw frequent use by Imperial Navy groups in the Outer Rim, as well as the Kaloth-class cruisers and bulk cruisers frequently employed by pirate or mercenary groups. A significant amount of time was invested into constructing these ships and the result was a highly flexible mid-size warship capable of fulfilling a variety of roles.

Niman-class cruiser-carriers were heavily armed, equipped with powerful shield generators, and carried a sizable complement of starfighters and ground troops without sacrificing agility. Its weapons load-out was varied between turbolasers, ion cannons, point-defense anti-starfighter batteries and proton torpedo tubes. Three squadrons of fighters were stationed on each Niman-class vessel-originally two Shoto and one Sabre squadron, but one Shoto unit was later replaced by B-wing starfighters. Valkyrie starbombers were originally supposed to provide heavy assault firepower, but problems with their deployment led to the acquisition of the B-wing instead. The ground-assault complement on the Niman, while not meant for sustained combat, could rapidly deploy thanks to a variety of orbital insertion vehicles and transport methods in order to secure key locations. The cruiser-carriers were capable of entering atmosphere, but rarely did so due to power requirements.

To house its sizable complement of fighters and support craft, the Niman-class featured a dorsal and ventral hangar bay that went completely through the ship, reinforced by extra shielding in order to defend the hangar from enemy assault. This design concept was later used by the Bothans in their Bothan Assault Cruisers, constructed years later.

Much like its namesake, the lightsaber combat form VI, the Niman-class was a jack of all trades, but master of none. Its diversity of mission role gives it flexibility, but specialized warships perform better at specific roles, i.e. ground assault. The Shien-class Assault Frigate was later designed to help fill some short-comings of the Niman-class at close-range, prolonged fleet combat, as Nimans did not perform well in sustained combat.

History
The Niman-class was the third class of capital ship deployed by the Yanibar Guard and remained a tried-and-true mainstay of the fleet for decades. The ships could survive incredible amounts of damage for a vessel their size, even managing to escape after enduring withering barrages of fire from Imperial Star Destroyers. In the early days of the Yanibar Guard, the Niman-class served as flagships and assault vessels when dealing with Outer Rim pirates and raiders, until the introduction of the Soresu-class Fleet Defender, which allowed the Yanibar Guard to finally have a vessel capable of challenging Imperial Star Destroyers, which could easily defeat a Niman. The first Niman, the Quinlan Vos, was launched in 5 BBY after a year of construction in the Kraechar Arms orbital shipyards. For years afterward, the Niman remained a central component of the fleet, though, performing admirably in conjunction with other vessels. By 3 ABY, there were six in service, and eight were commissioned in all.

It was the Niman-class cruiser-carrier Quinlan Vos that helped bring about the first Yanibar Guard victory over an Imperial Star Destroyer at the Battle of Drexel. Not only was their adversary, a Victory-class Star Destroyer utterly defeated, but the Yanibar Guard fleet sustained only minor losses in the battle.

Shared components
As a capstone ship of the early Yanibar Guard, many components from the Niman were used elsewhere. The ubiquitous double turbolaser turrets could be found on almost every ship of the Yanibar Guard.

Ship Listing

 * Quinlan Vos
 * Saesee Tiin
 * Kit Fisto
 * Ki-Adi-Mundi
 * Aayla Secura
 * Cin Drallig
 * Adi Gallia
 * An'ya Kuro

Appearances

 * Force Exile IV: Guardian