Sovereign vs 1 Star Destroyer?

[Cocytus]

If that's the case, then I have to wonder where the Executor's shields were. Crynyd and his wingman were skimming the ship's surface, presumably meaning they had already penetrated the shields. No shield was observed to offer any impediment whatsoever to the A-Wing attack which took out the shield generator/sensor dome. If the ship were equipped solely with ray shields which extended a fair distance from the ship itself, those examples would make sense. Capital ship attacks would be repulsed, while the "insignificant" fighters could fly through the shields to attack vital areas. As far as canon evidence goes, it appears most vessels in the Star Wars galaxy make use only of ray shields, which stop only certain kinds of energy. Particle shields, which stop physical objects, are rarer. The DS2 had one, as did the Hoth base, since both shields had to be opened to allow transports and shuttles in and out. Certainly the Avenger's shields were of the more generic ray variety, since Solo flew the MF right through them in TESB. Nevertheless, one wonders why a ship as important as Vader's personal flagship wasn't more comprehensively shielded.

[Jedi Master Spock]

Well, there are a couple examples of shields stopping objects. The DS1's "magnetic" shield pushed back hard in ANH, the Rebels' energy shield needed to be dropped momentarily to let ships fly out in TESB, a Rebel fighter smashed against the shield projected around the DS2 in ROTJ, and in ROTS, the screenplay indicates ray shields are lowered to allow droid fighters to exit the hangar bay. Droideka shields also stop shrapnel, and Anakin and Obi-Wan are more or less trapped by one.

You'd think that if ship shields commonly didn't stop objects from driving through, we'd see more torpedo use, but then, if torpedos weren't widely used or particularly high yield, there'd be little reason to shield against them

While Han did fly through the shields in his TESB attack run, they were raised in response - whether because that would mitigate impact, or just in case the Falcon might strafe instead of ramming, or just out of panic is unclear.

On the flip side, we do have all the skimming fighter attacks I mentioned, and droids walking right through shields in TPM, and the buzzdroids latching on to fighters with no problem, et cetera.

[Kazeite]

But do Jedi Fighters even have shields? I know EU says they don't.

[Narsil]

That whole idea is fucked up.

We wouldn't be Britain if we didn't have silly laws.

[Mike DiCenso]

But do Jedi Fighters even have shields? I know EU says they don't.

We've seen no canonical evidence that the Jedi starfighters seen in AoTC or RoTS have shields.
-Mike

[Mike DiCenso]

Well, there are a couple examples of shields stopping objects. The DS1's "magnetic" shield pushed back hard in ANH, the Rebels' energy shield needed to be dropped momentarily to let ships fly out in TESB, a Rebel fighter smashed against the shield projected around the DS2 in ROTJ, and in ROTS, the screenplay indicates ray shields are lowered to allow droid fighters to exit the hangar bay. Droideka shields also stop shrapnel, and Anakin and Obi-Wan are more or less trapped by one.

You'd think that if ship shields commonly didn't stop objects from driving through, we'd see more torpedo use, but then, if torpedos weren't widely used or particularly high yield, there'd be little reason to shield against them

While Han did fly through the shields in his TESB attack run, they were raised in response - whether because that would mitigate impact, or just in case the Falcon might strafe instead of ramming, or just out of panic is unclear.

On the flip side, we do have all the skimming fighter attacks I mentioned, and droids walking right through shields in TPM, and the buzzdroids latching on to fighters with no problem, et cetera.

It may be somewhat vague, but when Anakin's Naboo starfighter in TPM was restarted, we not only see the shield bubble due to "air-glow", but also we see the craft "bounce" upward, seeming to rest on the shields themselves (though that could also be repulsor field induced).
-Mike

[Mr. Oragahn]

But do Jedi Fighters even have shields? I know EU says they don't.

The ROTS didn't. They were becoming close to TIE fighters, and I supposed that removing the shield generators and auxiliary reactor mass to support them lightened the fighters a good deal.
Rather deadly for the average pilot, and typical of the Empire, but we're talking about Jedi here.

[Mr. Oragahn]

But do Jedi Fighters even have shields? I know EU says they don't.

We've seen no canonical evidence that the Jedi starfighters seen in AoTC or RoTS have shields.
-Mike

As far as the EU is concerned, for those who accept the info, the New EGVV says the Delta-7 have shields.

[Mike DiCenso]

Oh, okay. I'd forgotten about that thread. But still, if they do have shields, they're aren't much better than gigawatt range capacity based on how easily Slave-I's blasters were able to penetrate them, and we know that Slave-I's blaster yeilds are not much more than the low tens of gigajoules. Hell, even if they were "dialed down", it still does not bode well for the Delta-7's shield and armor capacities.
-Mike

[Mr. Oragahn]

Well, there are a couple examples of shields stopping objects. The DS1's "magnetic" shield pushed back hard in ANH

The EU confirms this in Death Star, with the shields deflecting debris from the planet Despayre.

the Rebels' energy shield needed to be dropped momentarily to let ships fly out in TESB

I think even a hole had to be made for the ion cannon to fire through.
It's funny, I know the EU has a couple of such notes about destroyers opening holes in their shields to fire through.

a Rebel fighter smashed against the shield projected around the DS2 in ROTJ

Yes, that's in the novelisation. I never read it though.

and in ROTS, the screenplay indicates ray shields are lowered to allow droid fighters to exit the hangar bay.

Where those ray shields the same ones used to contain the atmosphere? Like all those invisible walls used in the Death Star's turrets, or even for the Venators' and Invisible Hand's gaps for the side cannons?

Droideka shields also stop shrapnel, and Anakin and Obi-Wan are more or less trapped by one.

They say that they have the "ray" component.
I always wondered if the EU wasn't a bit too literal in the interpretation of the ray shield from ANH.

You'd think that if ship shields commonly didn't stop objects from driving through, we'd see more torpedo use, but then, if torpedos weren't widely used or particularly high yield, there'd be little reason to shield against them

Which would be a problem for the EU, considering how a small saturation of torpedoes on a given point can pierce such a shield of an interdiction capable Star Destroyer.

While Han did fly through the shields in his TESB attack run, they were raised in response - whether because that would mitigate impact, or just in case the Falcon might strafe instead of ramming, or just out of panic is unclear.

It's a problem. First, we'd supposed that since Han landed on the ship, there was no field against good solid matter. We'd have to consider that Needa never through the smuggler would literally try to ram the bridge.
But what if Han fired missiles then?
Did Needa only expect laser cannons to be used, and only had ray shields raised? Was is imperial incompetence?

Then come plenty of suggestions. Like... did Han really get through the shield? Didn't he deploy shield-piercing clampers (something similar to what the killer droid did in AOTC against the protection on Padmé's building)? That would be rather far fetched. Just how many times would a pilot get the chance to do that?
And if it was true, then it would implications about the ability for small devices to get through capital ship level shields.

On the flip side, we do have all the skimming fighter attacks I mentioned, and droids walking right through shields in TPM, and the buzzdroids latching on to fighters with no problem, et cetera.

I remember that no fighter could get through the shields protecting the droid control ship, and Anakin entered when a wing of droid fighters exited (dumb luck, sorry -- vive la Force!).
Those shields stopped torpedoes as well.

Mhh... I'm not trying to make a point. :)

[Cocytus]

Well, there are a couple examples of shields stopping objects. The DS1's "magnetic" shield pushed back hard in ANH, the Rebels' energy shield needed to be dropped momentarily to let ships fly out in TESB, a Rebel fighter smashed against the shield projected around the DS2 in ROTJ, and in ROTS, the screenplay indicates ray shields are lowered to allow droid fighters to exit the hangar bay. Droideka shields also stop shrapnel, and Anakin and Obi-Wan are more or less trapped by one.

You'd think that if ship shields commonly didn't stop objects from driving through, we'd see more torpedo use, but then, if torpedos weren't widely used or particularly high yield, there'd be little reason to shield against them

While Han did fly through the shields in his TESB attack run, they were raised in response - whether because that would mitigate impact, or just in case the Falcon might strafe instead of ramming, or just out of panic is unclear.

On the flip side, we do have all the skimming fighter attacks I mentioned, and droids walking right through shields in TPM, and the buzzdroids latching on to fighters with no problem, et cetera.

Aside from the incongruities present in ROTS, most of them related to the Invisible Hand, Star Wars has been fairly consistent in the demonstrated effects of shields IF the assumption that ray shields are commonly the only shields equipping starships is correct. If Star Destroyers had particle shields as a general rule, I can think of no better place they should have been used than in the TESB asteroid field.

As for Han's little maneuver against the Avenger, I think the simplest exaplanation may be the best. Needa raised ray shields against a perceived attack run, and Han landed the ship right through them. The most damning thing about that scene is that none of the other Star Destroyers notice her when Avenger regroups with them.

[Mr. Oragahn]

The most damning thing about that scene is that none of the other Star Destroyers notice her when Avenger regroups with them.

Luck? I'm not sure people think it's useful to poke an eye through the window when you have a legion of sensors sweeping the whole region of space.

[Mike DiCenso]

In fairness, this kind of "don't go to a window and look out" nonsense isn't limited just to SW. In ST2: TWoK, you would think that either Kirk or Khan would have sent lookouts to various windows on their respective ships when it became obvious the viewscreen was inoperable. ;-)
-Mike

[Praeothmin]

In fairness, this kind of "don't go to a window and look out" nonsense isn't limited just to SW. In ST2: TWoK, you would think that either Kirk or Khan would have sent lookouts to various windows on their respective ships when it became obvious the viewscreen was inoperable. ;-)

Yeah, but then, they would have had to run back to their posts to operate the ship afterward (they didn't seem to have too many extra crewmembers)... :)

[Cocytus]

This wasn't my point. I meant that no Star Destroyer locates the Falcon with sensors. Her sudden, inexplicable disappearance would surely have set every Star Destroyer to sweeping the area, as Mr. Oragahn mentioned. Even if the Falcon's energy emissions were very low, it's hard to believe no scan could pick them up. An engine wake, a metallic signature, something. Luke, with his comparatively tiny X-Wing's sensors, was able to detect Threepio's presence on Cloud City when he was still a few hundred thousand kilometers from Bespin.

And Threepio was offline and in pieces at the time.