Eliminating Star Destroyers
Tactical Operations Briefing 1
By Lieutenant Eddie "Storm" Schenk, Rogue 3 (Retired)
"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, it is nice to see so many
faces for the first of our technical lectures, if you will please
take a seat I will begin."
"It has come to my attention that some pilots are not comfortable
when engaging Imperial Capital Ships, namely Star Destroyers (STD),
so it is my intention to discuss tactics for attacking these ships.
As you are all serving pilots I will assume you understand the basic
controls of the four craft that you may fly. Each one has it's strengths
and weaknesses and I will touch on each of these briefly during
the course of the lecture."
"When flying into an unknown situation the fighter of choice is
the X-Wing. It is our finest all around craft, and the one we will
concentrate on today. With the A-Wing providing cover there are
no ships than can't be disposed of. So our hypothetical flight group
will consist of one X-Wing with two A-Wings flying cover. The mission
is to destroy an Imperial STD protected by the usual compliment
of T/Bs, T/Is, T/Fs and a handfull of T/As."
"The most dangerous craft so far as your own safety is concerned
are the T/Bs and T/As due to their capability of firing missiles
and or photon torpedoes at you from long range. You must instruct
your wingmen to engage these craft first, leaving you free for more
important matters. STDs are one of the easiest capital ships to
take out, all that is required is a steel nerve and accurate 'no
lock' shooting."
"Before exiting hyperspace configure your ship's initial ELS setting
to 100/100/50, transfer all laser energy into your shields, and
continue doing so until there are fully charged. Instruct your wingmen
to engage the enemy fighters, bearing in mind the craft I listed
before. Locate the STD and assign it to your combat computer's memory.
Select dual fire torps and approach the STD from the rear, your
primary objective is to destroy the two shield generators located
on top of the flying bridge. It will not be possible to lock the
shield generators in your CMD as they are surrounded by a heavy
damping field, you must rely on line of sight shooting, the closer
the distance from the time you release your torps to the generators
the better. Select one of the shield generator towers, they are
the two domes above the flying bridge, very near the rear of the
ship, just forward of the engine exhaust ports. Flying a weaving
approach, fire a pair of torps into the selected generator, immediatly
loop back and fly out of reach of the laser turrets, perform another
180 degree loop at about 0.5 klicks out and approach the opposite
tower to the first one engaged. Fire another pair of torps into
this one, loop and return again selecting single fire torps, place
one more torp into each of the towers, with both generators gone
the Star Destroyer's shields will fall."
"From this point the mission becomes much easier, assuming that
your wingmen are still earning their keep, all that is required
is to fly a weaving pattern whilst firing lasers into the STD, looping
and returning when it gets too hot. You must remember in all the
excitement to rebalance and transfer power to your shields as often
as needed. The type of laser config you use is not important, as
your energy banks can only supply power to fire at a maximum rate
of four shots per second, whether they are used in single mode or
quad mode, the number of shots hitting a given target in a set time
will always remain the same."
"There are some exceptions to this technique. The A-Wing by it's
very nature is a nimble and fast craft, it's main role is bomber
support along with exceptional dog fighting capabilities. But these
small fighters can still take down a STD. The startup procedure
should remain the same, but because the AW carries missiles in place
of the heavier photon torpedo, its killing power is somewhat reduced
when dealing with capital ships. You need to fire 9 missiles into
each of the shields generators to bring them down, now as the AW
only carries 12 missiles it is impossible to take the generators
down with missiles alone. So you should concentrate on one tower
only and pump 9 missiles into it, when that has been destroyed fire
your remining 3 missiles into the other tower, and then finish it
off with lasers. Using the same loop and retreat manover that I
listed before. If you find that you have exhausted your supply of
missiles before you reach the second tower you will need to fire
90 full power laser blasts into it to achive the same result."
"The Y- and B-Wings are the best craft to use on a mission of this
nature, setup is identical to the X-Wing except when you have destroyed
the shield generators switch to Ion Cannons. Once the shields are
down Ion Cannons will quickly disable the STD rendering it's laser
turrets inactive, making your job much safer. Then fire your remaining
torps into it and finish off with lasers as before."
"That concludes the lecture, I hope it has been of use to you,
and I will now accept questions from the floor."
The group of pilots was gathered around a hover sled on which stood
Rogue pilot Captain Eddie "Storm" Scheck. "Captain Schenk, assuming
you cannot disable the Impstar, is it still necessary to close with
it to take it out? I mean even without shields that's a lot of turbo-laser
fire to endure while trying to penetrate the hull."
Storm nodded, "Very good question, and it hinges on whether or
not you have eliminated the extant fighter cover before you make
your attack on the Star Destroyer. Preferably you have taken out
all the fighters in the vicinity. If you have then you do not have
to subject yourself or your ship to unnecessary risks, perhaps I
could ask my friend Captain Lee to elaborate further... what do
you say Raven?"
Rogue 19 stepped in front to the pilots gathered in the hanger
bay and stepped up on the sled. "The Class 1 Impstars have several
design flaws, the most notable of which is, of course, the vulnerability
of the shield towers as Captain Schenk has detailed. But intelligence
from KDY as well as much hard won knowledge from actual combat engagements
has revealed two blindspots from which the Class 1's can be attacked
from relative safety even when not disabled."
"First if the STD is stationary you should maneuver to the front
of the ship, about 3 klicks out. Approach it head-on right off it's
nose. Cut your speed to one-third and close to about 2.3 klicks
and come to a full stop. You should be just 2.2 or 2.1 kilometers
off the tip of the STD's nose. From this position you'll find that
the enemy Star Destroyer is within your gun range but you are not
within it's turbo-laser targeting computer kill zone. You are essentially
hidden from the enemy's scopes and can pound the Impstar until you
cause a hull breach."
"If the enemy Destroyer is underway things get more interesting.
Make your attack run from dead astern and target the central engine
nacelle. During your approach you will be subject to turbo-laser
attack from all stern guns so you need to recharge your primary
and secondary shields to maximum before you close and you had best
be able to jinx while still flying a reasonably direct course."
"Close to three-quarters of a klick from the main engine exhaust
port. This puts you so close that you may be buffeted by the exhaust
discharge. It is critical that you match speeds exactly with the
Impstar and maintain the .75 klick distance. There is a narrow spot
just off the main engines that are not covered by the sweeps of
the rear turbo-lasers. From this position you can fire into the
engine port with impunity."
"But be advised to stay alert to your combat situation. Neither
of these tactics are without risk. If you are off the nose of a
stationary STD you must watch your Combat Multi-view Display closely
in case the Destroyer begins to maneuver. A few tenths of kilometers
movement and you are the blue plate special as the turbo-lasers
will instantly lock and begin to fire."
Captain Lee stepped down from the hover sled as Storm again stood
in front of the group and made a few final statements, "Remember,
with either approach you must keep an eye on your forward and rear
screens as any enemy fighters will find you a sitting duck in either
the bow or stern positions. If there are no further questions we
conclude this lecture."
