Part 80: Locanda System, Epsilon Sector, Mission 1 (Gameplay)
^^^Too late. Video has been recorded etc. In fact...20th August 2669, Locanda System, Epsilon Sector
TCS Victory
The Victory tries to push Kilrathi raiders back from strategic locations in Locanda, while also attempting to identify Kilrathi objectives in this system.
Conversation videos (Youtube)
Briefing Video (Youtube)
Mission Video (Youtube) Mission Video (Polsy/Gamerstube)
Kills this mission: 17 Yeah, yeah, I didn't get the ace. I got the destroyer, and I got 16 out of 21 other ships, so I'm not feeling too guilty about that. Besides, I've already killed Najji "Fireclaw" nar Ragitagha once, back in Standoff (Youtube video). Killing him twice might do bad things to the universe. Also, this mission is sodding hard in a T-bolt and I didn't particularly feel like replaying it another ten or so times, and the update was already late enough.
Right, that's enough excuses. So, this mission? Like I said, really hard. If you fly the Arrow, then you're constantly dealing with being outnumbered and outgunned, and you've got to wear the enemy down through attrition, making very few mistakes and just nibbling away at their armour while not getting hit yourself. It's how I normally do it, but it would take forever in a video and editing 14 minutes of audio is bad enough. If you fly the Thunderbolt you're on a level with the cats in terms of firepower, but when 4+ Dralthi face you in an engagement you've either got to kill them quickly or hope Cobra distracts them, because only the Arrow and Excalibur could hope to dodge all the IR missiles fired at them. You're going to get hit - the trick is trying to take as little damage as possible (and to not get hit twice on the same shield/armour facing).
Ship of the day:
Vaktoth
Class: Heavy Fighter
Length: 36 m
Mass: 19 tonnes
Max Velocity: 380 kps
Afterburner Velocity: 950 kps
Maximum Yaw/Pitch/Roll: 45/55/40 degrees\second
Weapons: 1x Tachyon Gun, 2x Plasma Gun, 2x Ion Cannon, 1x Dual Meson Turret, 8x Missile Hardpoints (default loadout is FFs)
Decoys: 8
Shields: 20 cm durasteel equivalent all sides
Armour: 10 cm durasteel all sides
Other: Jump capable
Official Strategy Guide: The Vaktoth is a classic heavy fighter. It's quick, and very well armored (for a Kilrathi). You can probably take on a Vaktoth with just about any Confed ship, but you can't take it for granted. The Vaktoth has a formidable gun array, including a couple of rear-mounted meson gun flyswatters. Try to approach it from an angle, to stay out of its sights. Because of their armor, Vaktoth take longer to destroy than other Kilrathi fighters. When fighting a mixed group of Kilrathi that includes Vaktoth, it's probably a good idea to take the Vaktoth out first, to neutralize the threat from those big guns.
I say: Vaktoths are the fighters most players have memories of hating, because on the default difficulty setting the Vaktoth AI is tuned a bit higher than that for other fighters, so it makes much more effective use of its afterburners. On Nightmare though, they're the easiest of the bunch, because they're so big they're hard to miss, and provide irresistably huge targets while turning, which they do slowly. In the Arrow, you can try parking yourself a bit above the Vaktoth and behind it, where the turret seems to have a bit of a blind spot, and merrily blasting away there for a while. In the T-bolt, just shoot at it. Won't take long. The Strakha is easier, but not much else is.
Total kills (Wing Commander III): 8 missions / 56 kills
Total kills (this thread): 35 missions / 433 kills
Total kills (including previous thread): 145 missions / 1349 kills
Next time on Let's Play Wing Commander:
You're a loose cannon, Lieutenant!