> A kiloton of TNT is 4GJ, so it’s also like a 500 kiloton bomb going off every second.
Funnily, my first reaction to this comparison is that it makes it seem more plausible to me that this is possible. After all, a Star Destroyer can take gigaton level hits!
But the problem with that is Star Destroyers are fictional.
I've been spending too much time on spacebattles.com.
The canon energy levels given for Star Wars weaponry are so inconsistent with the presentation that one either ignores canon or accepts that the Star Wars galaxy has fundamentally different physics.
Extreme geek caution: I've been running a Star Wars pen and paper RPG since . . oh dear. . 2015, in an ancient simulationist[1] game system, and the only way I've been able to make anything consistent is dialing everything down to WW2 levels. 7.62x5X, .50 BMG, 46 cm/45 Type 94 capital ship weapons. All except for exceptional plot items, like lightsabers and doomsday weapons, which behave . . well, they're magic. Sensors are likewise pretty primitive, enhanced with canon exotics like Kronau radiation, so engagement ranges are (relatively) piddling, hostiles zip by each other all the time. Electronics and technology in general must be barely understood by literally anyone, with the powerful assemblies - hyperdrive cores, droid motivators, repulsorlift "sand" - being exotics, possibly xenotechnology from the deep past mined by xenoarchaeologists[2], but hooked together by varying degrees of "competent 1950s electrician".
In short, it's a fantasy setting with guns that players get excited about. And a community of worldbuilders that is, let's not dice words here, insane. That second point is huge if you're not 24 or otherwise gifted with a combination of hubris and spare time.
[1] All the kids today with their streamlined narrative-focused games! Seriously, though, I get it. The physics simulationist in me that brings me to HERO System says more about me as a person than my players.
[2] Archaeology a much more valuable degree in the Star Wars universe.
Your description reminds me of Star Fleet Battles. As a young teen I made the mistake of treating SFB like Star Trek, while also making the mistake of not realising that Star Trek itself was just doing space combat as ${year of filming}-era naval battles with latex and lightbulbs.
SFB is 1900-1945 naval warfare, but themed with every plot point from TOS and TAS and probably some novels too, so has the Kzinti, Tholian webs, Klingon stasis field generators, and two distinct weapons where the TV series uses just photon torpedoes.
Funnily, my first reaction to this comparison is that it makes it seem more plausible to me that this is possible. After all, a Star Destroyer can take gigaton level hits!
But the problem with that is Star Destroyers are fictional.
I've been spending too much time on spacebattles.com.