Tactical Operations Briefing: Rebel

XvT, Combat Engagement: Attack on Victory-Class Star Destroyer Formidable

Skill Level: Hard
Flight Group: X-Wing Rogue
#Craft: 2
#Waves: 3
Armament: Heavy Rockets (2)
Countermeasures: Chaff

When you first come out of hyperspace, send all of your power to engines (0/0 ELS) and use the "twilight zone" effect on your shields (hit [s] once so your front shields stay at 200%). Head toward the Victory Class Star Destroyer Formidable, target it and assign it to memory location [F5] (hit [SHIFT-F5]), this comes in handy later in the mission. At about 9.00 Km away from the destroyer, deselect the target and dumbfire your rockets at it. Quickly hit the [H] key to get Rogue Two out of the battle.

You will then be sent to Rogue One, hit the [R] key to target a TIE Interceptor form Alpha group. Flight group Alpha should not be more than 5.0 Km away from you, so you only have a few seconds to get lined up and set yourself in a dogfighting configuration. Depending on how you fly your ELS configuration will differ, while in an X-Wing it is usually a good idea to set your settings to 75/50. Take out the three interceptors from Alpha and any other Imperial fighters in your general vicinity (don?t be afraid to kill Gunboat group Tau, they don?t? have any replacement waves). When you are clear of any fighters that could disrupt your aiming, dumbfire your rockets at the Formidable.

By this time all other Rebel craft should be either engaged y the enemy or destroyed. If you wish to let X-Wings from Red Squadron take shots at the Formidable let them, otherwise send all friendly ships home (65% of Rebel craft is not lost if you don?t lose any ships AND you don?t call for reinforcements). The purpose of sending all Rebel craft home is to make every Imperial fighter target you. To keep track of this, you?ll want to hit [SHIFT-F] to see the status of all enemy craft. Once every enemy fighter has you targeted, put your ELS configuration to 0/0 and head toward the VSD. After passing the Formidable, and all fighters are *behind* you, match speed with the closest TIE Interceptor, which should be 111 MGLT (be sure to vary your ELS accordingly, 111 can be achieved at a 0/75 setting at 98% throttle.

Lead the fighters to approximately 100 Km away from the Formidable, keep track of your progress by watching the map, targeting the star destroyer, and by staying a safe distance away from the incoming fighters. After leading the Imperial fighters 100 Km away from the Formidable, take Rogue One a safe distance ahead of the T/Is and go into hyperspace.

The next wave of your craft, Rogues Three and Four, will come out of hyperspace considerably closer than you first did when you began the mission. Hit [F2} then {SHIFT-W] to order your wingman to wait (if you wait too long he may fire the rockets or be under missile attack from the VSD, if this happens, order him to wait and shoot down the incoming concussion missiles). Afterwards, casually launch your rockets, without targeting the Formidable, and take Rogue Three into hyperspace. When in Rogue Four, take your newly acquired rockets and dumbfire them at the destroyer. Once this is done the Formidable should almost be at 0% shields. If it is not at 0% yet, whittle the shields down to zero using lasers (a good approach to this is to keep yourself out of the range of destroyer?s top laser batteries and approach from the front of the VSD, pointing your canons at it?s nose). After the Formidable?s shields fail, take out the laser canons on the destroyers underbelly. Do not destroy the Formidable before you hype out and come back in Rogue Five.

After coming back into the combat area, order Rogue Six to wait for further orders. This time, you should be able to fly to the underside of the destroyer and blast it until the Formidable meets it?s demise. This event prompts the "Mission Complete" status, but you don?t want to hype out if you want the awe inspiring blue ribbon.

After the VSD has exploded, the Nebulon B Frigate Fury will come out of hyperspace. If the Imperial fighters are still a safe distance away (20+ Km) you may want to take on a few of the frigate?s concussion missiles, continue this until it is out of warheads. When the Interceptors or Gunboats target you, or you wingman, you?ll want to postpone your engagement with the Fury and take care of them. Gunboat Tau will be the closest group of fighters if you haven?t already destroyed them. After Tau group has been dispatched, approach the cloud of TIE interceptors that you left earlier in the battle. The first pass on the T/Is should only leave three or four of them in working order, as that the TIE pilots have a tendency to become overzealous and blast each other to scrap. Engage and disengage the fighters, using the technique used to out run them before to recharge their shields, .until you?ve killed them all. Then head back towards the FRG Fury.

Once within range, you?ll want to make sure it?s missiles are depleted. When that is accomplished, attack the FRG with lasers. A good tactic to use when attacking is to approach from underneath the Frigate facing the warhead launcher, and breaking off when needed. Keep an eye on the Frigate?s shield and hull status, because once the Fury?s hull status reads 75% it begins to fly toward it?s hyper point. Pull your X-Wing out of the guns? range then quickly lock on with rockets and fire. Hit [J] to jump to Rogue Six, there?s not enough time to go into hyperspace.

When piloting Rogue Six, close in on the frigate as quickly as possible and fire off your rockets once your lock goes red. This will hopefully destroy the frigate. But if, by some glitch, the Fury is not destroyed be prepared to scatter the FRG with laser fire. Then enjoy your handywork as the Fury explodes. Send Rogue Five home, then follow him into hyperspace. If you complete this on hard, you?ll have earned yourself a Top Performance.

Author:  Tony Marco (Kid - Rogue 6)
Strategy: Tony Marco