Part 90: Ariel System, Vega Sector, Mission 1 (Gameplay)

Gah. I think this must be something like the third or fourth time running the update has been delayed because I did something stupid with the audio and had to do a bunch of it again. I'm sure I used to be (barely) competent at this.

28th August 2669, Ariel System (Mission 1), Vega Sector
TCS Victory

The Victory launches strikes to defeat spread-out Kilrathi forces in the Ariel system in detail before they can regroup or retreat and inform Kilrathi sector command of the incursion.

Conversation videos (Youtube) (Polsy/Gamerstube)


Briefing Video (Youtube) Briefing Video (Gamerstube/Polsy)



Mission Video (Youtube) Mission Video (Gamerstube/Polsy)

Kills this mission: 10, including a corvette and the game's first fleet carrier (there'll be more). Cobra got six, including most of the carrier's escort fighters; partly because I was busy torpedoing it and partly because her missiles hit their targets before mine did. That's generally how things are in a Longbow. This mission's pretty easy in any fighter, though you need to know about flying inside a carrier's hangar bay (I'm pretty much guaranteed to show that trick off at some later point in the LP) for it to be straightforward in a light fighter. The Longbow's heavy torpedo load makes it very simple since you can just kill the carrier in two attack runs like I did.

Ship of the day:
Longbow

Class: Bomber
Length: 38 m
Mass: 22 tonnes
Max Velocity: 320 kps
Afterburner Velocity: 700 kps
Maximum Yaw/Pitch/Roll: 30/40/30 degrees\second
Weapons: 2x Plasma guns, 2x neutron guns, 1x mass driver turret, 16 missile hardpoints (default loadout 8xFF 8x HS), 4 torpedo hardpoints
Shields: Front: 50cm durasteel equivalent Rear: 50 cm durasteel equivalent
Armour: 30 cm durasteel equivalent all sides
Decoys: 24
Other: Jump capable

Official Strategy Guide: Something about the Longbow seems to invite nautical metaphors. "Beached whale" and "sitting duck" are two of the choice descriptions applied by pilots who fly this ship. There's only one reason to fly a Longbow - overwhelming torpedo offense against heavy cap ships. The Longbow is the only Confed fighter with multiple torpedoes, so if the target doesn't pop the first time, you can come around and try again. Also, if you have to torpedo more than one ship in a single mission, the Longbow is your only choice. You do have a few offensive and defensive assets in addition to sheer defensive bulk - a plethora of decoys, and the largest missile load-out in the game. Those missiles are particularly important - the simple fact is that the Longbow isn't fast or maneuverable enough to track and nail an evading enemy, but a missile is. Let your missiles go after enemy fighters while you concentrate on your primary target. Your guns are powerful, though not overwhelming. Your rear-mounted particle gun is particlarly useful, because at your size and speed enemies will try to crawl up your tail pipe. Your rear turret has limited self-targeting ability. It's not particularly fast or accurate, and you're lucky if your rear turret takes out even one enemy on its own, but it makes enemy light fighters think twice about blasting your rear shields. If the enemy rear attack becomes particularly heavy or threatening you can take manual control of your rear turret with the F4 key. If your armor is intact and your shields are at maximum power, try ramming lighter enemy
ships. Your shields are stronger than theirs.

I say: It's a bomber with an afterburner. Don't get too excited though, it's still slow as molasses, though the burner is useful for torpedo runs. Basically it has three ways of engaging an enemy - fire a missile at it, try to goad it into a head to head, or shoot at it with the turret. None are particularly effective against Dralthi so it's rather fortunate they're not apparently found in the same missions as large capship clusters. It can be quite satisfying to dump a bunch of FFs into an engagement and watch the fireworks, but you can't carry enough missiles to survive a prolonged dogfight given how hard it usually is to get into a position in which one will normally hit. In missions with lots of capships and few fighters, it's the best choice; there are not very many of these (in fact, there may not be any others; the next one, sort of). Vying for the title of most useless Confed fighter in the game with the Hellcat. Fortunately, only actually compulsory once.

Total kills (Wing Commander III): 13 missions / 111 kills
Total kills (this thread): 39 missions / 476 kills
Total kills (including previous thread): 149 missions / 1391 kills

Next time on Let's Play Wing Commander:
Once more, with nebulousness.