Part 36: Skinning Cats, Sirius System, Sol Sector (Gameplay)

OK, it's Saturday somewhere, if not here.

29th December 2668, Sirius System, Sol Sector
Episode 4, Mission 4 - Skinning Cats

Bradshaw learns of Spoons' death just as a small Kilrathi strike force closes in on the TCS Firekka, and responds in typical Bradshaw fashion.

Mission Briefing:
There is no actual briefing, since this mission is a scramble, but something does happen on the flight deck:

Those of you who enjoy laughing at Standoff's cutscenes should love this one.
Cutscene Video (Youtube)

: Captain Bradshaw, I don't think this is a good idea.
: Get. Out. Of my way.
: Forget it, Captain. I've seen pilots go out like this. If you fly this one, you won't come back.
: I'm flying this mission.
: I'm not prepping a plane for you.
: Look man, she's right. You shouldn't be flying like this.
: Shut up, Cougar. And Henderson, dammit, get me a plane. Now!
: Or what? You'll report me to Reismann?
: Cougar, where's your Sabre?
: Well, it's number 5 as always sir.
: Hey, wait a second, what are you doing?
: Bradshaw, that's MY plane!
[climbing into a Sabre]: Not any more. You're grounded.
Scene: Sabre launches
: I can't believe this!


Mission Video (Youtube)
Pictured: A Kilrathi ace being slightly less talk than usual.

Kills this mission: 17

So here's a return of one of WC1 and 2's old favourites, a mission which you're given the wrong fighter for. This time, it's an intercept (a Rapier mission*) in a Sabre (though at least it's a fighter loadout Sabre with 4 IR and 4 DF). Unlike the previous games Standoff at least attempts to justify it - Bradshaw has stolen Cougar's Sabre because Chief Henderson was correctly refusing to prep a fighter for him given rather obviously impaired judgement. I do really like this storyline section - I don't think Bradshaw's VA could have sold a depressive-style reaction to Spoons' death (which is also why I tend to think killing off Sparrow, while probably narratively smarter, would have been a bad idea - Sparrow's VA is actually competent, keep her alive!) but he does pull off something like this pretty well (and Captain Unbelieving does a nice turn here too). Anyway, the actual mission is pretty simple - provided you manage to dodge the Gothri who are right behind you at the start, and you remember to focus on the bombers, there's no real difficulty to keeping either the Firekka or the Reims safe.

*One might argue that everything is a Rapier mission in Standoff, but this is more obviously one that most.
Tactics Corner
Firekka Nav:
Friendly forces:
1x Wake-class Escort Carrier TCS Firekka (home carrier - must survive)
3x Stiletto light fighter
3x Sabre heavy fighter

Enemy forces:
3x Gothri heavy bomber
3x Jalkehi heavy fighter
5x Krant medium fighter (reinforcements, arrive after 45 seconds)

This is a pretty simple 6v6, rather complicated by the fact that those three Gothri start off behind you and pointing towards you:


The first 10 seconds are a case of holding down the afterburner and flying your favourite evasive pattern. Then you can come about and engage the Gothri (and as always, it's best to shoot the bombers first). Ideally you'd like to have two Gothri at least down by the time the Krants arrive. You could probably spare a couple of missiles for this, though I'd certainly save the dumbfires for the next engagement when you're actually outnumbered.

There's a pretty good rule of thumb in Standoff: if you can make it to the Krants, you ought to survive that engagement. And so it is here; the Krants don't pose much threat to a Sabre especially, which can pretty much go head-to-head with them if it's at full shields; unlike the Rapier II which can't quite kill one in a head-to-head pass if it fires until it's about to get hit and then breaks, the Sabre's slightly greater punch (mass drivers over lasers) means that it sometimes can if the Krant doesn't juke.

After that we head off to the Reims. Who you take with you depends on who's alive. Squealer comes with you if he's still around, and if Trigger's alive then he drags his Stiletto wing along.

Reims Nav:
Friendly forces:
1x Waterloo-class cruiser TCS Reims (mission objective - must survive)
2x Sabre heavy fighter (if Squealer alive)
3x Stiletto light fighter (if Trigger alive)

Enemy forces:
7x Drakhri medium fighter
1x Drakhri ace Dakhath "Deathstroke" (nar Caxki?)
3x Grikath torpedo bomber

Deployment:


Drakhri are more dangerous than Krants - the three lasers have a longer range and about the same damage output as two mass drivers, and they have dumbfire missiles; and, of course, there's an ace here (who, notice to previous complainants, I actually killed this time), though that mostly means he's a highly dangerous shot with his DFs (fortunately the Sabre can take one hit, provided it's not from behind which might destroy the afterburners). For all that it's a standard intercept; bombers first, then anyone who might have a decent chance of actually killing you, giving priority to the ace here; then the rest. The Reims has decent turrets and can to some extent take care of itself, but still worth dumbfiring the Grikaths into oblivion kn'thrak.

Ship of the day:
Grikath

Class: Torpedo Bomber (Kilrathi)
Length: 17.72 m
Mass: 27 tonnes
Max Velocity: 330 kps
Afterburner Velocity: 1160 kps
Maximum Yaw/Pitch/Roll: 30 degrees/sec
Weapons: Neutron Guns (3x), Neutron turret, Friend-or-Foe missile (3x), Torpedo (3x)
Shields: Fore: 170 Aft: 170
Armour: Fore: 160 Left: 140 Right: 140 Rear: 160

Game says: While slow and unwieldy, the Grikath is a highly dangerous torpedo bomber. The rear turret offers good protection against rear and flank attacks alike. Grikaths have a large payload and must always be considered top priority targets.

I say: It's a Grikath, probably the bomberiest enemy bomber (WC3's is a strong rival, though) in all Wing Commander. Slowish, turreted, lumbering, large target profile (looks kind of like a bat'leth actually). You usually kill them first.

Total kills (Standoff): 18 missions / 223 kills
Total kills (including previous thread): 130 missions / 1145 kills

Next time on Standoff:
Why are all these carriers named after 20th century battles anyway?