Part 27: Destroyer Rescue, Warsaw System, Vega Sector (Gameplay only, no story)

Doubleposted updates. That's a bit ominous. Anybody still here? I know that escort mission was pretty bad but seriously everybody stopped watching? (it was the "next time" line, wasn't it? If it was, this one won't bring anyone back).

24th December 2668, Warsaw System, Vega Sector
Episode 3, Mission 4 - Destroyer Rescue

A flight of fighters from the Firekka escorts some Clydesdale minelayers in order to delay the Kilrathi advance and allow Tolwyn's fleet to disengage.

Mission Briefing:

There is no briefing. This mission is a scramble. Similarly, since we're going back out straight away after the previous sorties, there's also no e-mail and no cutscenes, so I'm going to dispense with the story update for this mission and just go straight to the gameplay. We're trying to save an Exeter-class destroyer, the TCS Sao Paolo.

Pictured is the most common result of this attempt:

Mission Video (Youtube)

Kills this mission: 13
Short but hectic. I really do love this mission, both for the way it achieves its difficulty and the fact that it's really rewarding when you do get it sorted. The first fight is massively frantic - you're almost never off the afterburner, haring around chasing Grikaths coming from all directions and trying to dodge the Drakhri you don't have time to shoot back at. The second one is a bit more conventional, though it's probably best to remember that you ought to be attacking the Corvettes (which can hurt the Breslau) rather than the fighters (which can't).

Oh, I have another question here too. I've got persistent displays turned on so that my damage indicators stay up in order that you guys can see how badly I'm doing. Unfortunately that means that things like the comms screen also stay turned on. Are they really annoying and so should I turn persistent gauges back off, or at least make a major effort to remember to switch communications off again when I'm done giving orders?

Tactics Corner

Sao Paolo Nav:
Friendly forces:
1x Exeter-class destroyer TCS Sao Paolo (mission objective - must survive)
6x Rapier medium fighter

Enemy Forces:
9x Grikath torpedo bomber
6x Drakhri medium fighter

Deployment:


Looks bad, doesn't it? It is. The Sao Paolo will last about two minutes if you don't intervene. There's no time to bother with the escort fighters at all, you have to go straight for the bombers. In fact there's not even going to be time for all the bombers before the Sao Paolo goes down. Fortunately, this is the Vision engine, which means that in order to destroy a captial ship you have to torpedo (or plasma cannon, but we're not playing those games) the engines and the bridge. Therefore, all you have to do to keep the Sao Paolo alive is to kill all the Grikaths behind it, which would have position to attack the engines. Very fast. Hit the afterburners, use all your missiles, taunt the bombers liberally, shoot accurately and make sure every burst contains particle cannon shots, and the Sao Paolo will survive. Probably. By the time you've cleared the Grikaths your wingmen will likely have dealt with the Drakhris, though if there's a couple left you could always give them a hand, though I tend to conserve afterburner fuel since nothing is a threat to you or the mission objectives.

Breslau Nav:
Friendly forces:
Surviving Rapiers from last navpoint
1x Exeter-class destroyer TCS Breslau (reinforcements, arrives after 45 seconds, mission objective, must survive)
3x Rapier medium fighter (reinforcements, arrive with Breslau)

Enemy Forces:
3x Kamekh-class corvette
6x Sartha light fighter
6x Krant medium fighter

A much easier fight, this. If you saved the Sao Paolo you intercept the enemy group before the Breslau arrives, like so:


If you didn't save the Sao Paolo then you're with the Breslau, but the enemy deployment is the same both ways. It's safest to concentrate on the corvettes first, but there's no real risk here except for being tagged with a dumbfire so you can usually get away with killing the fighters first - the Breslau's panicky transmission when she arrives can safely be ignored, as the enemy is nowhere near her:



Though if it is repeated it may be more of an issue. However, with somewhere in the region of nine Rapiers in this fight the Kilrathi aren't going to last long and the biggest threat to you is probably friendly fire. Don't hang around on the tail of enemies is the easiest solution, or go after the corvettes which you can easily hit from range. Dying in this fight after saving the Sao Paolo would be really annoying, so don't take risks.

Ship of the day:
Exeter-class Destroyer

Class: Destroyer
Length: 360.02 m
Mass: 8000 tonnes
Max Velocity: 150 kps
Cruise Velocity: 100 kps
Maximum Yaw: 2 degrees/second
Maximum Pitch: 2 degrees/second
Maximum Roll: 2 degrees/second
Weapons: 11x Laser turret (4 dual, 6 single, 1 triple) in original configuration. Standoff model has 8 turrets, I think 6x flak and 2x AMG.
Shields: Phase Shields
Armour: Front: 220 Left: 220 Right: 220 Back: 200
Fighter complement: One squadron, sometimes

Game says: Exeters first appeared in the 2640s, when the new emphasis on torpedo strikes placed capships without fighers at risk. Some were modified to include hangars, but this proved costly, and so they were replaced quickly by the Gilgamesh class ships.

I say: Wing Commander 1 callback, doesn't show up much except this mission in which the Sao Paolo goes down very fast if you don't throw caution to the wind in trying to save it. May well be in the game because a Gilgamesh, which has some very good turret defences as I commented back when we were on the Lionheart, might have faired entirely too well against the Kilrathi bombers in this mission. Whatever, it's pretty pathetic as these things go.

Total kills (Standoff): 14 missions / 166 kills
Total kills (including previous thread): 127 missions / 1088 kills

Next time on Standoff:
You cannot be Sirius (end of episode/start of episode update)