I haven't forgotten about the Backlog Burndown. However, things have been a bit hectic, what with summer schedules, and it's mostly going on hiatus until fall, when weather turns colder and darker.
I must be getting older, because sitting inside playing video games on a sunny June day has a lot less appeal to me than going outside and riding my motorcycle somewhere, or taking my kids to a park.
Star Wars: X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter - Balance of Power, however, is a game that was part of my #ForceFriday streams. I finally finished it a couple months ago, and got around to publishing the Backlog Burndown column for it.
This is it! The final mission in the Imperial campaign. There is a lot of stuff going on here, and in many ways this is a mirror image of the final Rebel campaign. You'll be fighting off waves of Rebel fighters, kamikaze attacks by remotely piloted Dreadnoughts and Y-Wings, and assisting in the capture of a Rebel cruiser by defending a few Assault Transports.
This is it, the penultimate mission in the Imperial campaign! Oh boy is it a doozy. The mission objectives don't seem all that tough, just inspect some ships and destroy some mines and gun platforms, but there's a fifteen minute time limit that makes things extremely unforgiving. Unlike almost all the other campaign missions where getting your ship destroyed is a temporary annoyance, in this mission the distance from your spawn point to your objectives basically ensures that a single death will doom the mission.
With the time limit, this is probably the toughest mission in the Imperial campaign. The best technique seems to be picking one of the TIE Avengers that is armed with Advanced Concussion Missiles, and save those for firing in pairs at the gun platforms. Inspect the Nebulon B cruiser as it flies past you, then you can get the rest of your inspections (save for the reinforcing Calamari Light Cruiser) done in one pass.
Have your wingmen focus fire on the minelaying Escort Transport, and take down the gun platforms, followed by the mines. Don't forget to keep your decoy beam charged, otherwise you'll almost certainly end up eating an enemy missile. Finish up by scanning the Rebel cruiser. Good luck!
Ambush! On the way to the final confrontation with the Rebel starshipyard, the Rage gets intercepted by group of Airam capital ships and fighters. To make matters worse, Rebel reinforcements arrive soon after. It appears that the Rebels have developed an Interdictor-type cruiser of their own!
Essentially this mission boils down to a clock management battle. In the TIE Avenger, focus on knocking out the R-41s of the Airam fleet, then intercepting Rebel B-Wings, preferably before they can get into torpedo range of the Rage. By the time the B-Wings have all been destroyed, the Calamari Cruisers will likely be in direct fire range of the Rage. Use your Mag Pulse warheads to prevent the cruisers from finishing the job that the B-Wings started.
Eventually the Assault Gunboats and the Rage will start having an effect on the Cruisers. Right about this time reinforcements, in the form of Super Star Destroyer Vengeance will arrive. Hold out until the last few Rebel ships withdraw or are destroyed, clean up the disabled dreadnoughts, and the mission is over. Congratulations! On the the penultimate test!
Trickery! Deception! Not exactly the Imperial way, but certainly effective when they work. This time out you're defending a resupply drop for the Rage. The TIE Advanced is almost always going to be the right choice here, because you're going to need all the speed you can get to put yourself between the vulnerable transports and the Rebel X-Wings and B-Wings that are firing torpedoes.
The good news is that the first two waves of enemies will explode after you get their hulls to around fifty percent, a result of the sabotaged warheads they're carrying. The bad news is that you still need to intercept a bunch of proton torpedoes, then make sure that fighters making gun runs don't destroy the transports either.
“Okay, now this is something different.” I’d test flown the
four TIE variants that had comprised the vast majority of the Empire’s forces
during the days of the Galactic Civil War. Of the four, the TIE Fighter (TIE/LN
or “Eyeball”) was as expected, the TIE Bomber (TIE/sa
or “Dupe”) was a slug,
the TIE Interceptor (TIE/in or “Squint”) was a hotrodded deathtrap, and the TIE
Avenger (TIE/ad or “Bright”) was a world beater. But the Empire hadn’t
exclusively fielded TIE series craft.
While rarely seen in line forces, the Imperial procurement
groups had recognized the need for a hyperspace-capable fighter armed with
warhead launchers and ion cannons to serve a role analogous to the Y-Wing.
Assigned primarily to scout squadrons, the craft would be used for advance
scout duties and during rapid capture operations where ion-cannon armed
transports would prove impractically slow. Cygnus Spaceworks, designers of the Lambda-class T-4 shuttle and Sentinel-class landing craft, answered
the procurement call with the Alpha-class
Xg-1 Star Wing.
Utilizing a folding wing system similar to the larger
shuttle designs, the Alpha-class,
commonly known as “Assault Gunboats” was able to have a shipborne footprint
similar to a standard TIE/ln design. Armed with two laser cannons, two ion
cannons, and a large warhead launcher bank, the Assault Gunboat was more than
capable as a heavy scout or long-range escort. The Assault Gunboat also carried
heavy shielding, and was often equipped with a beam system.
It was also designed to operate semi-autonomously, with
landing skids, and a pressurized cockpit that eliminated the need for the TIE
pilot’s bulky environmental suit. Entering the craft was much closer to
entering a Y-Wing cockpit than a typical Imperial fighter design. After verifying
my familiarity with the controls, we closed the canopy and I powered the ship
up.
After experiencing a series of TIE craft, the lack of the
engine howl was jarring. I had to double check that the engines were even
running given that only a quiet hum reverberated through the craft. Unlike the
TIE engines, the hum was the extent of engine sounds during normal operations.
While the Assault Gunboat could rack launch like a TIE craft, the corporation’s
examples were kept in the simpler and more maintainable grounded landing
section. Takeoff was a simple matter of calling for clearance, gliding out of
the hanger bay on repulsors, and transitioning directly into spaceflight as the
wings lowered to flight position and the gear retracted.
Powering into the practice area, the Xg-1’s biggest flaw
became readily apparent. Much like the Y-Wing, it was slow and especially
ponderous in comparison to the fast as thought maneuvering of most of the TIE
series craft. Small wonder that the Gunboat generally fared poorly against
X-Wing and A-Wing starfighters, but was more than a match for the typical
pirate forces.
Engaging targets showed off the design’s strengths. With ion
cannons and lasers mounted above and below the cockpit, respectively, maximum
firepower could be brought on target quickly and accurately. The gunboat’s
multipurpose weapons bays could normally house a load of sixteen concussion
missiles, or twelve proton torpedoes. The cockpit itself had excellent
visibility, which came as a relief after hours in TIE cockpits.
Combat proved my earlier theories correct. Against slower,
less maneuverable legacy fighters, the Gunboat could easily hold its own.
However, faster, more maneuverable foes could easily hit and run, wearing down
the massive shield shell without taking more than a stray hit or two. Only
advanced units equipped with a tractor or decoy beam stood a chance under these
conditions.
The Gunboat was much more like the Rebellion/Republic
fighters that it opposed than like most other single-seat craft in the Imperial
arsenal. That the design largely dead-ended there, save for some rumored
extremely advanced prototypes spoke more about Imperial procurement priorities
than it died about the performance of the Xg-1 itself.
Let's welcome the Compellor back to the fleet, shall we? Unfortunately she's still undergoing repair/refitting and is a sitting duck for a Rebel strike force. Fortunately, however, now that we've got fighters with hyperdrives, we can combine with the Rage to hit targets from multiple directions.
TIE Advanced or Assault Gunboat, either way your job is basically the same. Kill the enemy Assault Transports once the Compellor is disabled, then kill the B-Wings and anything else trying to destroy the Compellor once the boarding and capture attack fails.
Another mission, another capture op. I chose the TIE Advanced, as usual. From that, your main role is going to be interdicting fighters before they can take out the capturing transports, and defending against reinforcements.
Roughly the same if you go the Assault Gunboat route, but you'll focus on disabling the two ships for capture before moving over to help the Brights as best you can.
Another intercept and destroy! This time I ended up taking the Assault Gunboat. Ion cannons and Proton Torpedoes are a lot more useful when a bulk of the enemy craft are capital ships or heavy freighters.
Time to try out the new hotness! I recommend the TIE Advanced for this one, although the gap between the Bright and the Assault Gunboat is a lot lower for a lot of missions. Still, this one has a lot of fast inspections and fighter killing, so the Bright is usually the best choice.
Roll in fast, and try to get your inspections done quickly. Note that the two Corvettes are hiding inside the repair yard, so either wait for them to come out, or fly close (or inside) the repair yard to get your inspection goals done. Just try not to crash into anything.
After that, it's mainly just another round of killing overmatched enemy fighters, and making sure the Rage doesn't take too much damage from attacking Rebels.
They're almost here! It's nearly time to upgrade from your shielded Squint, Dupe or Eyeball if you've been flying one of those instead during this campaign. This mission has you escorting replacement fighters from a carrier to the Imperial Star Destroyer Rage.
Unfortunately, the fighters are unarmed and defenseless during this transfer. The Assault Gunboats launch first and are easy enough to see over to the Rage, but the TIE Advanced are another story. You'll need to watch these like hawks, and defend them as much as you can against Rebel attacks.
Even more importantly, if any of the Brights get disabled by attacking B-Wings, you need to prioritize taking out the capture shuttles ASAP! Once everything is clear, two tugs will launch from the Rage to slowly make their way to any crippled Brights, re-activate them, and let them complete their missions.
"You've got a what?" I was incredulous. The TIE/ad, also known as the TIE Advanced, TIE Avenger, or "Bright" to Rebel/Republic pilots, was one of the rarest finds outside of Imperial remnants. There were two others even more rare, but this...
The tech grinned. "Right this way. They never bothered to put environmental systems in these either, so you'll still need your EV suit, but I think you'll get a kick out of this one."
He wasn't kidding! Originally based on Darth Vader's one-off TIE Advanced x1, production Avengers used radically cut wing panels with a quartet of wingtip lasers, built in warhead launchers, and provision for a small hyperdrive. It also sported shields similar in strength to an A-Wing, but could out turn and out run any fighter fielded by the Rebellion/Republic during the Galactic Civil War. It had originally be slated to re-equip all TIE squadrons operating the TIE Fighter, however cost and Imperial doctrine dictating unshieled short-range fighters meant that the TIE Interceptor went into high rate production while the Avenger was restricted to a few elite unites.
Initial start-up and launch was standard for the type. The engine howl was as familiar as always, but once clear of the hanger pattern, what a difference between this and the other TIE variants I'd flown! At full throttle, the Bright tore through space like a scalded Gundark, leaving my A-Wing chase bird rapidly in its wake. Maneuvering was similarly aggressive. At 90% throttle, the Bright could practically turn on a ten credit chip and give you back nine credits of change.
Setting up some simulated threats in the practice area, the Bright could easily hold its own in 4-on-1 dogfights against A-Wings. Where things got dicey was when enemy pilots started bringing advanced missiles to the party. The Avenger's shields could shrug off a few laser hits, or even a standard Concussion Missile, but an Advanced Concussion Missile was a killing shot the moment it hit.
Common tactics for the Imperial squadrons that equipped the Avenger with to slash in, kill a few enemies with missile shots, dogfight if the odds favored them, and if not, throttle up and disengage. The Avenger's superior speed made it easily possible.
Cockpit comfort was typical TIE, however, which was to say minimal. I couldn't imagine spending hours stuck in one of these EV suits on a multiple jump hyperspace patrol. Then again, had I been an Imperial Navy pilot, it would certainly have beaten most of the alternatives I could be flying.
The Rebellion was fortunate this ship hadn't reached wider use before the Battle of Endor. Going up against squadrons of these, rather than TIE Interceptors, could have been absolutely disastrous for Rebel squadrons.
Another capture operation. This time there's no Interdictor cruiser to back up the Rage, however, so you'll have to be more aggressive. As usual, your main goals are to keep the attacking fighters away from the capturing stormtrooper transports and Cargo Ferries. Just be fast about it!
Back on the offensive again! This time the target is a stationary target. Take out the fighter defenses, protect the capturing transports, and win the day!
Finally, we were getting into the interesting portion of the Imperial ships! While the TIE/ln Fighter and TIE/sa Bomber were certainly interesting from historical perspectives, the next ship, the TIE/IN Interceptor, or "Squint", was well known as a hot-rod to match the classic A-Wings. I hoped I wouldn't be disappointed.
The Squint had been designed prior to the Battle of Yavin, but was not yet in heavy use at that point. Afterwords, given the superiority shown by the X-Wings and A-Wings of the Rebel Alliance, production of the Squint had been increased. By the time of the Battle of Endor it constituted roughly twenty percent of mainline Imperial fighter squadrons.
With its bent wings and visibility cutouts, plus heavier armament and greater speed and maneuverability, the Interceptor certainly looked as though lessons had been learned from the design of the Eyeball. Unfortunately, the Empire had once again chosen to streamline production by forgoing shields, life support, and hyperdrive assemblies. This decision meant that most Squint squadrons were still reliant on external motherships for support, wore bulky environmental suits in the cockpit, and were still seriously vulnerable to any stray laser blasts during combat.
After the now familiar procedures to access the cockpit of the TIE series fighters and start up, I made my way out of the hanger by and towards the corporation's practice zone once again. With a speed of 111 MGLT, the Squint could run away from anything in the Rebel fleet save the A-Wing. Even slowed slightly for maneuvering and cannon recharge, it was still more than a maneuverability and speed match for the X-Wing, much less Y-Wing or B-Wing strike fighters.
The corporation's version had been retrofitted with shields, which was a common field upgrade even in Imperial task forces where resupply was limited and a Star Destroyer's supply of advanced fighters was a precious commodity. A slightly boosted reactor allowed both shield and laser recharge rates to be maintained without loss of speed, however, in heavy combat, speed definitely began to suffer as shields and lasers began drawing more power. Another common retrofit, a beam weapon, would further exacerbate the problem when used.
In the practice area, I matched up against a few A-Wings for some simulated combat. Without shields, I could manage 1v1 and 2v1 combat pretty well, but found myself quickly overwhelmed beyond that. With shields, 4v1 was managable.
To my mind, there was no question that had the Empire begun fielding this ship earlier in the Galactic Civil War, or perhaps had they been willing to invest in widespread adoption of shields for their Squints, the GCW might have had a dramatically different outcome.
Of course, it couldn't be all offense missions. The Rebels are going to come after Interdictor Compellor hard. Once again, the TIE Interceptor is the best choice. You'll mainly be focusing on taking out what's attacking the Interdictor.
Ah, here we go. Task Force Vengeance is really going on the offensive now, interdicting a Rebel convoy. As usual, the TIE Interceptor (with shields and a jamming beam) is probably the best choice. You'll need to dump power into the engines to get close to the freighters at the start, then let the TIE Bombers take out the transports as you ID them. After that, it's back to trying to defend Interdictor Compellor from Rebel attacks.
After my adventure in the TIE Fighter, the next ship on my list was the twin-hulled TIE/sa Bomber,known to Rebel and Republic pilots as the "Dupe". LIke nearly all TIE series craft, the Dupe features a common cockpit layout, engine systems, and lasers. It's also unshielded, lacks a hyperdrive, carries no life support, and requires a significant amount of external support to be effective.
Imperial Star Destroyers would typically carry a squadron of Dupes for heavy attack roles. This slow speed made them vulnerable to attack, necessitating a fighter escort. However, when loaded with Concussion Missiles, sixteen of which could be carried in the internal weapons bay, the Dupe could be highly effective at standoff ranges. As a last resort, the Dupe was also equipped with a pair of wingtip mounted lasers. As I would see later, these were best reserved for strafing vulnerable targets.
Ingress was typical of the series, requiring ground support and a launch gantry to exit the hanger. Start-up was simple to accomplish and the Dupe shares the trademark TIE howl with its faster siblings. Max cruise topped out at 80 MGLT. Full throttle with max charge was 60 MGLT, with standard combat configuration yielding 70 MGLT. Essentially the Dupe shares identical performance figures with the later single-seat Y-Wing variants, though without the latter ship's shields, ion cannons, or hyperdrive.
Engaging static targets in the corporation's practice area revealed the Dupe's major flaw in laser placement. Positioned at the center of the Dupe's bent solar panels, the unzeroed laser spread is worse even than that of the X-Wing, without any of that fighter's benefits. Against fighter-sized targets, the Dupe is effectively guaranteed to miss at least fifty percent of its shots. It's only when engaging static or slow-moving targets that the laser armament is effective.
Combat maneuverability was roughly as expected. Turn and roll rates were slow, but the Bomber did provide a stable , sturdy platform for deploying various ordnance types. Given the typical training and replacement rates of Imperial pilots, common controls and ease of use were helpful factors.
Its size, particularly compared to other Imperial fighters, also lent the TIE Bomber to be adapted to a variety of other rolls. Troop transport, crew shuttle, and additional hulls for greater weapon capacity were some of the common modifications. Much like the Y-Wing, the venerable Dupe outlived many of its replacements by being an adaptable, easily modified platform.
Even modified with a hyperdrive, shields, and life support it wouldn't be my choice for touring the galaxy, but at least you'd find common parts nearly everywhere.
Ah, now we're talking. The thing that sets the Imperial campaign apart from the Rebel one is that the Imperial side spends a lot more time on offense. Starting right here, with taking over a supply yard.
This is the template that a lot of the following missions will run - play a little bit of defense for some capturing transports or other ships, but mainly blow up a bunch of stuff! There's plenty of challenges ahead, but this is where it starts get fun.
We're finally back to Star Wars missions on Youtube! Assuming I've done math properly and can hold a timetable, this should* be a consistent run for the next seven weeks!
Today we start with Mission #1, an remarkably difficult start to the Imperial campaigns. There's ships to inspect, pirates and Rebels to destroy, and two friendly capital ships to protect. The Imperial Star Destroyer Rage is helpful enough, but the Interdictor Compellor is remarkably fragile - a problem that will come up a few more times during this campaign.
In fact, I would definitely recommend playing through the Rebel campaign first. Not to say that the Rebel campaign is easy in the slightest bit, but the difficulty curve doesn't start with a massive spike.
