Wing Commander Replay Week 1

Dundradal said:
Enyo 1

The first mission. I wonder how much time they spent deciding what should go into this mission. It introduces the player to the first of the two obstacles which still are dangerous, although one of my favorite things in this game is fighting right on the edge of an obstacle field hoping to push the enemy into a fatal move. The launch animation is still the best of all the games (although I do love the WCP launch tube loading). Watching the cockpit close and then being launched into space gets you right into the mood to take on the best the Empire has to offer.
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I did have to stop and post something brief about this one. Enyo 1 is classic Wing Commander for so many of us. It's super simple and straightforward - yet there's thousands and thousands of people out there who can recount this mission in minute detail and then talk for hours and hours about flying different routes, encounting their first Dralthi, tips for doging asteroids, whether or not they could figure out how to request landing on the Claw and so much more. What a great, great mission.
 
Whee! Finished Prophecy so back to the beginning. Wow are things different.

Enyo 1:

There's just something about blowing up Dralithi that feels Wing Commander-ish. 1 took out one before Spirit rammed the second, didn't destroy either of them but I had to be careful in watching over her as she wouldn't return home. Asteroids aren't quite as fun as WC2, but definitely more fun than Privateer's Death Rocks (tm). The last Salthi in the mission died to a heat-seaker as I finally realised that button 3 on my joystick is no longer launch missile and that I'd have to use Enter.

Enyo 2:

Spirit must be possessed by the spirit (ha!) of a Kamikaze ancestor. This time she nicked a Salthi. The fight against the Dralthi was hectic as I was escorting two ships, not just the Drayman. Drayman made it out with a few scratches and Spirit finally accepted the order to head home. One asteroid field later and I land another unscratched Hornet.

McAuliffe 1:

I have to agree with Iceman here, I'm not a fan of the Scimitar. The extras HS' are nice and so are the bigger guns, but it just doesn't feel elegant. First time I failed to destroy every enemy ship, too, as a Salthi took off after taking severe damage.

McAuliffe 2:

Now THIS was fun! always did enjoy destroying cap ships. Pumped plenty of DFs into it, too.

McAuliffe 3:

Whoops, I kind of screwed this mission up. Destroyed the enemies at Nav 1, but chased after a fleeing Krant to kill it. By the time I was done, the transport was most of the way back to the 'Claw. Bhurak ran when his wingcat was taken out by the 'Claw's CAP. Fortunately, the transport survived.

Gimle 1:

Now for some real firepower with the Raptor, though a bigger gun capacitor or faster recharge rate would be nice. I need to learn to be less trigger-happy. I blame the Stormfire Mk2. The Exeter sure seemed tough, it took a pounding from the Jalthis as I tried to scrape them off.

Gimle 2:

My first time back in the Rapier and it feels good. Until I rammed a Dralthi. I finally remembered to slow down a little in the Rapier and enjoyed success from then on. Still, I don't think Confed HQ appreciated me leaving the left-side Neutron Gun in a Gratha.

Gimle 3:

Blowing up 9 Dralthi is so very Wing Commander-ish. Deathstroke didn't stand a chance, though I liked to setup for his survival with Blair saying that he only saw the ship blow up.

Now, off to the Dakota system. Checking the game guide makes me very thankful that I'm not stuck in a Scimitar in Brimstone.
 
Dundradal said:
(...)
Shotglass has some interesting things to say about the one habitable world in Gimle. It's a nice touch that adds depth to the Kilrathi at this early point. It's hard trying to forget all the information that comes later and remember that at first this is all we knew. Hearing about how the Kats treated POWs made me want to rush right to the briefing and get to it. Damn furballs.
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Yes, learning about the war/the Kilrathi only by listenting to your bartender and wingmen was awesome.
Though I'd like to know why I never ever disliked the Kilrathi even if the game tries hard to make them despisable. Probably just out of spite.


Dundradal said:
Gimle 3

Back to the Raptor. Large groups of bogies are moving around the system. 9 Drathli in this mission including Deathstroke. Oh man, It's a slaughter. Angel and I cut through the first wave no problem. I suffer a bit of side armor damage but nothing really worth noting. Deathstroke leads the second wave I head straight for him. I damage his shields then launch a Spiculum at him along with a few more gun rounds and he's down. So much for kill 79 jerkwad. I return to the Claw and am awarded 7 kills.

(...)
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Ah, one of my favourite missions. Shooting lots of Dralthi in a Raptor is like shooting lots of shambling Zombies with a cool shotgun. :)
 
OK, here we go.

Gimle 2

Flew 3 point patrol in the new Rapier with Angel on my wing. Nothing but asteroids at Nav 1; 4 Dralthi showed up at Nav 2 and there were 2 Grathas at Nav 3. I managed 5 kills and Angel got the last one. On return to Tigers Claw I got promoted to Captain.

Scoreboard shows 7 sorties flown and 32 kills.

Gimle 3

Patrol mission - 5 Dralthi located at Nav 1 - killed them all with guns and then Dakhath showed up - took him out with a few salvos from guns and a couple of missiles. 3 more Dralthi turned up, I got 1 and Angel got the other 2.

Scoreboard now shows 8 sorties, 39 kills.

Jumped to Dakota

First mission is escort ( I hate escort missions and asteroid fields !) Unfortunately, the outbound Dray got toasted even though I killed 4 Jalthis and 1 Krant, the 2 remaining Krants got the transport before he jumped.

Still, I killed 3 more Jalthis and successfully escorted inbound Dray back to Tiger Claw.

Scoreboard is now 9 sorties and 47 kills

Dakota 2

Asteroid field at Nav 1 with 2 Grathas - managed to take out 1 gratha and wingman got the other - quite a few narrow misses with asteroids - I hate asteroid fields !

Came across a Ralari and 6 Krants at Nav 2 - 6 Krants toasted , 5 for me and wingman got the last one, before hitting the Ralari with guns and missiles. I got 7 kills in all.

Scoreboard shows 10 sorties and 54 kills.

Dakota 3

Strike mission - found a Dorkir at Nav 1 escorted by 6 Krants. Krants are a bit hard to down, but we managed it without using too many missiles. Toasted Dorkir after fighter cover destroyed.

Moved on to Nav 2 where we dicovered 2 Dorkirs instead of 1 - Intel is wrong again! No matter, we soon made short work of the 4 Jalthi and 2 Dorkir, and then Bakhtosh Redclaw showed up. I had a feeling he would and had saved 2 missiles for him. I hit him with a Pilum FF first, followed by a few salvos from full guns, then hit him with my last IR missile, a quick burts on afterburners and a couple more salvos and he's toast.

Back to Tiger Claw where I was promoted to Major.

Scoreboard shows 11 sorties and 64 kills

Jumping now to Rostov!
 
Nice! Hopefully you'll be able to catch up to us. We are just starting SM1 this week, but take your time and enjoy the game :)
 
I'm little late to catch up with you but I'll be posting about my progress from time to time. The only thing I can say about Vega campaign is.. it's very easy compared to Special operations especially 2nd. The only hard mission is the infamous Ralari defence. I tried to beat it 3 times but I failed and decided to go on.. (I was able to defend the ship several times before but this time I decided to continue with this one mission failed).
 
Not saving the Ralari lets you do the branching missions. Don't feel bad about losing this mission since you can recover from making mistakes up to a point. There is not as much branching in the subsequent expansions and games until Wing Commander 4.
 
Not saving the Ralari lets you do the branching missions.
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Yep, I know. I like Rostov system, fighting in asteroid fields is fun, especially when you see enemy fighter hitting a rock. :) The only thing I don't like is minefiled..
 
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