Part 18: 17 - The King's Gambit

Let's play The King's Gambit



It's time for a grand bombing mission, in which I get to do very little actual bombing. For once, our side is overpowered.

Movie & Briefing
Viddler | Polsy | YouTube

Level
Viddler | Polsy | YouTube HD | Download .mp4

Let's meet the Cyclops, Artemis, Artemis D.H., Mjolnir, and Typhon!



The cyclops is a bomb. It blows up.



The Artemis is the most agile bomber... wait, it already said that. Well, it is a vastly different ship than an Ursa or Boanerges, being able to actually move. As I've said before, this is actually very important, because of how poorly the AI covers you from fighters. Unfortunately, it still suffers from the problem of many bombers: not being able to carry many of the better anti-fighter missiles, to actually defend itself properly.



As you saw in the jump-out shot, this is the ship I was actually using, having switched between recording the briefing and my actual victory, many tries later. The D.H. is unlocked for having completed the SOC loop earlier. Despite what the description says, it really is just the same ship with a different texture, and one less tail fin.

However, the real stars of this level are the big turrets, provided by the following:



The Mjolnir is an absolute beast, especially compared to what's passed for an automated turret so far in the series. Despite what the description says, they have just one huge beam turret, and no appreciable way of defending themselves from fighters. It is also the Alliance's strongest beam cannon, and sticking a ring of them around a jump node is about the smartest tactical move the GTVA has ever made.

Meanwhile, the Typhon returns from FS1, upgraded with a pile of beams itself. Between it's odd appearance, and role in this level, I tend to think of it as basically a huge wall of cannons rather than much of a ship. It's perhaps not as powerful in reality as some of the new-to-FS2 Vasudan ships, but it sure looks imposing.