In "Consider Phlebas" it's stated that at the start of the Culture-Idiran war, GCUs did most of the fighting for the Culture while actual warships were being built. Given that, it seems reasonable to assume that a GCU is a non-trivial challenge even for an enemy with Culture-level technology. Which likely means that anyone with inferior technology is pretty much toast.
My impression is that in the Culture, the distinction between a warship and a "normal" ship has more to do with the ship's Mind's personality than the hardware of the vessel. Given identical hardware and goals, I'd expect an ROU Mind to blow things up in a tactically and strategically optimal fashion, and the General Contact Unit Mind to first work at understanding the situation as thoroughly as possible and then get creative.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2021-06-05 07:14 pm (UTC)My impression is that in the Culture, the distinction between a warship and a "normal" ship has more to do with the ship's Mind's personality than the hardware of the vessel. Given identical hardware and goals, I'd expect an ROU Mind to blow things up in a tactically and strategically optimal fashion, and the General Contact Unit Mind to first work at understanding the situation as thoroughly as possible and then get creative.