The Empire has fallen and a New Republic is born out of the conflict. But in the ashes of civil war, yet another life stirs...
The Victory Star Destroyer was designed in the later years of the Clone Wars as an alternative to the Acclamator, which was showing age and becoming increasingly insufficient for the role it was intended for. While the Acclamator proved useful in the early stages of the war, it's minimal ship-to-ship weaponry left it at a disadvantage if intercepted before it could enter a planet's atmosphere to deploy the troops within.
To solve this problem, the Victory was designed with improved shield generators and hull plating, additional offensive weaponry (including more advanced turbolaser turrets and ion cannons), and an expanded hangar bay on the belly of the ship which supported not only landing craft but several flights of starfighters as well.
It was further suggested by military historians that Kuat Drive Yards also intended the ship to be a direct competitor for Rendili StarDrive's Dreadnaught Heavy Cruiser, which at the time was one of the most powerful cruiser designs available. Researchers have concluded that in fact, the ships could compete on nearly equal terms. However, the exclusive contract that KDY had with the Republic and later Empire meant that the Dreadnaught saw more widespread use and was therefore a more common sight across the galaxy.
The Victory enjoyed immense success and was so efficient that it became the the foundation for the iconic Imperial-class Star Destroyer, which went into production for the Galactic Empire at the very end of the Clone Wars. Though, the Victory itself still saw use for many more years, undergoing an array of modifications and variants, including some with the maneuvering "wings" converted into s-foil style contraptions which concealed additional weaponry or others which removed the "wings" altogether.
what will the 'wing' deploy/un-deploy do?
Kinda hard to see in this screenshot but there are turrets concealed within the wings there. While open, those turrets will fire but will not when they are closed.
So it has more turrets instead of the missile barrage of doom?
Yes. lol
Are those turrets targetable while concealed?
The "wings" will automatically deploy when enemy units are in targeting distance. So in other words, there won't really be opportunity for enemy units to attack those hardpoints when they wings are closed up.
Looking fab as always.
The victory was actually deployed earlier than intended, as a response to Grievous's push into the Core Worlds and the CIS beraking the seige at Foerost
Looks good overall, but to my eyes the wing are a bit too large and thin.
To me it makes the ship appear more flimsy that it actually is. It kinda screws with the proportions.
I know there is no real consensus on these structures or their actual function (wings, just additional batteries etc.), but yours seem just really wide and thin.
Vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net
Pre07.deviantart.net
Vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net
I think that's just artistic license, not that I disagree with your sentiment. This variation made by Farseer reminds me of the Victory Frigate from the original Battlefront II.
As for their functions, it seems extremely weird to have it hide more guns. You'd want your guns ready for battle at all times.
Not necessarily. Concealing your weapons until needed not only adds to the element of surprise but also keeps them protected from light fire. If the VSD isn't engaged in a full broadside and the captain knows they can defeat their target with the standard compliment, then why expose the other guns to potential damage?
Granted, an enemy like the New Republic would know the guns where there because they are an informed military organization...but when going up against militias or pirates (some entity less trained and informed), then the surprise factor would come in handy.
Some seem to think they are control surfaces for atmospheric maneuvering. To me, that sounds ridiculous for a capital-sized ship that functions via repulsor technology. However, aerodynamics really are 100% subjective and irrelevant in Star Wars; you just design what looks cool.
That said, the thin look was conceived when I saw these images here:
Fractalsponge.net
Modelermagic.com
My personal idea was they were basically giant armor sheets that keep the weapon batteries within shielded from fire unless needed in a full broadside. Keep in mind that this isn't a fighter...they may look thin but are still several meters thick. The width was just artistic license.
stunning
"It was further suggested by military historians that Kuat Drive Yards also intended the ship to be a direct competitor for Rendili StarDrive's Dreadnaught Heavy Cruiser, which at the time was one of the most powerful cruiser designs available. Researchers have concluded that in fact, the ships could compete on nearly equal terms."
There's apparently one source to back it up, but this claim seems... odd. The VSD is 300m longer than a dreadnaught and something like 80 years newer (not that age necessarily means much in Star Wars), so I'd expect the Victory to have a significant edge. KDY also sucks at their job if they let their competitor dominate the market for most of a century before they even tried to make a comparable product.
From the wiki:
"...a Victory-class vessel was said to be capable of fighting a Dreadnaught-class cruiser to a stand-still."
So, pretty clear they fight on equal terms. It should be noted that this quote is from the Victory Mk1 page. The Mk2 is more powerful and indeed, the later variants of even the Mk1 would out-class the older Dreadnoughts.
From a business perspective... KDY still wins. Rendili might have held the market on cruiser-sized ships when they pushed the Dreadnought into production but KDY held the market on just about everything else. Then, in the end, they not only met but surpassed Rendili (and it stayed that way basically forever).