Wolfs Shipyard Forum

Thanks Kurt, if you look closely from the stern from the side view, the landing bays are concealed between the two sets of upper and lower engine blocks, whereas at the bow similarly between the original saucers and between the accommodation blocks and forward bridge which are coloured yellow to denote living quarters.

Therefore the forward and aft landing bays are completely concealed from above and below.

Your right that the number of raiders is relatively low but again correctly assume this is for internal barracks and quarters for a massive marine invasion force of some 25-30,000 Centurions.

In their arrogance the Cylons wrongly assumed the colonials were a mere remnant force and felt 12,00 raiders would be more than enough to overwhelm the Terran settlement, unaware it was in fact a fully fledged Armed and protected city.

In essence your also correct that the vessel was all but impregnable but the apertures to the landing bays were so difficult to access that only a skilled Cylon pilot could navigate them or alternatively an automated landing was possible.

The real Achilles heal of the Behemoth was the fact that once attacked and severely damaged the landing bays effectively trapped the entire compliment of raiders inside as there were no lateral, dorsal or ventral landing bays creating a virtual tomb. She was also very slow and a massive target with poor power engine ratios.

So much time and effort was spent on this hulk that the more versatile Base Stars were neglected which again proved costly.