Tactical Operations Briefing: Imperial

BoP Combat Engagement, ISD Conqueror vs. 3 Alliance Frigates

Skill Level: Hard
Duty Roster: Slot 4, Tie Bomber Beta
Ship: Assault Gunboat
#Craft: 3
#Waves: 4
Armament: Heavy Rockets (16)
Countermeasures: None
Beam: Decoy

The key to this mission is Duty Roster and Craft Selection. If you choose the same roster slot/ship as above, you should be able to overwhelm the Rebels with superior firepower. The goal is to destroy three Alliance Frigates (one FRG, two M/FRGs) before they can destroy your ISD. To do this, you must deal with the FRG and M/FRGs fairly quickly and then go after Rebel starfighters.

When you enter the mission you should be pointed directly at FRG Ornik, so this will be the one you deal with first. Set ELS to 0/0 and beam to maximum recharge. This lets your beam recharge extremely quickly, and doesn?t sacrifice much in the way of speed. Since you have 16 Heavy Rockets in your load, you are packing quite a punch. And since you have four follow up waves, it is a good idea to use one wave per Capitol Ship.

As you head towards the Ornik, don?t target it, as it will fire Concussion Missiles at you if you do. Check for any Imperials attacking you periodically using the ?E? key. If any Rebels are targeting you, hit the ?B? key to use your decoy beam for a few seconds. This makes you completely invisible to enemy sensors. When your attackers have selected other targets, turn your beam off. When you get within range (9 km, although I usually like to wait until about 7.5 km) fire all 16 of your Heavy Rockets at the FRG (I like to turn on my beam for good now). Immediately jump to your next ship (if it is targeting the FRG, select a starfighter so it won?t fire missiles at you), turn on the beam and fire all 16 of it?s Heavy Rockets at the FRG. Then do the same for your last ship. With the decoy beam still on, hyper out of the combat area until you are in a ship with fresh Rockets.

By this time the Ornik should have bitten the dust. If it hasn?t for some reason, fire Rockets at it until it does. This will give you a full kill on the FRG, and another 10,000 in bonus points. Now is the time to turn your attention to the two M/FRGs. I use exactly the same strategy as I did with the Ornik on the M/FRG Lion, and M/FRG Lance. Each of the M/FRGs that is destroyed gets you another 10,000 bonus points. This 30,000 in bonus points, plus the points you get for getting full kills on the FRG and M/FRGs should put you over the 50,000 point level, which is a Top Performance. If, for some odd reason, it doesn?t, it is easy work to take out a few starfighters until you have reached 50,000. Just set your ELS to 100/50 and beam recharge to 50. Use the decoy to get attacking ships off your back, and destroy a few Rebel ships (I like to kill the B-wings first, since they are more powerful, and thus worth more points).

Once you have 50,000 points, you have two choices, hyper out for the guaranteed blue ribbon, or stay in the battle for every point you can scrounge and risk a draw.

If you decide to stay, your main goal is to take out the ships attacking the ISD. These groups are X-wing Rogue (2 FGs, each 3 groups of 2), B-wing Green (2 FGs, each 3 groups of 2), and Y-wing Gold (3 groups of 4). At the same time, there is a squadron of A-wings (6 groups of 2) Blue attacking you. This is where the decoy comes in handy. Do not let the STD withdraw though, if it does, a draw is declared, and you won?t get a Mission Complete ribbon.

Author: Brennan Roth (Rainman ? Rogue 5)
Strategy: Brennan Roth