Crimsonstar
Spaceman
I would say the Heart of the Tiger novel would be much easier to follow than the novel for Price of Freedom. I'm in a mix of yes and no as I would try to fly a Thunderbolt as often as possible since the pilot roster of WC3 were supposedly all apart of Gold Squadron whom exclusively flew Thunderbolts. One downside with the GOG version was the Quasar mission in the losing Blackmane path hasn't been patched and failing leads directly to Proxima. So can't really follow the canonical narrative of Locanda being hit with bioweapons. However, some things the game did better was Angel's fate being shown after the destruction of the Behemoth was far more impactful than after Thrakhath's "Heart of the Tiger" transmission. Severin was important to Vagabond's character and was excluded from the novel. I do try to be nicer than Blair was in the book. Flash's rank was a concern in the book and having him stay on the Victory on a bet treated him as if he was nothing more than a lieutenant was rather peculiar. The game and Eisen was sweating that going after Hobbes was a bad idea and you lose not only Cobra but Vaquero too. The book however stated that going after Hobbes was a no-brainer as without the recorded briefing, the Temblor strike would be in grave jeopardy.
I did stick with Confed for a while in WC4 since I read the book first. But the narrative sure urged defecting to the Border Worlds at the first opportunity as there was more story and not feeling like the odd man out. The novel stated the Intrepid's fighter complement was that of WC2 era fighters and Blair exclusively flew a Thunderbolt. I chose to fly a Vindicator as often as possible since it was the closest match. Never did like the Banshees. Going to Speradon did seem logical as you've got to prepare for the long term and if the worst case scenario comes to pass.
I did stick with Confed for a while in WC4 since I read the book first. But the narrative sure urged defecting to the Border Worlds at the first opportunity as there was more story and not feeling like the odd man out. The novel stated the Intrepid's fighter complement was that of WC2 era fighters and Blair exclusively flew a Thunderbolt. I chose to fly a Vindicator as often as possible since it was the closest match. Never did like the Banshees. Going to Speradon did seem logical as you've got to prepare for the long term and if the worst case scenario comes to pass.