Tactical Operations Briefing: TOD 4 Operation 1

Escort Corvettes Fleeing Yavin

"I love flying the A-wing," said Kallysto, Corsair's XO. "There's nothing like being as fast as the solar wind, and watching hot death fly by like so many Tamorian slugs."

Kallysto grinned. "Well, it's the first of a long run of missions, this is. So it's not like the Imps are going to hit too hard."

"Personally, I think it might have something to do with the destruction of the Death Star-- if you've been following the sims this far, that is."

The holoactor turned, and the Rebel pilot grinned. "Anyway. To business." With a wave of his hand, he calls up the tactical screen.

"Your task is to protect a flight of Alliance Corvettes. There's a flight of GUNs in the distance harassing a freighter when you begin the mission, but you'll never reach it in time, even at ELS 0/0."

"The real threat is going to come from the FRG Red Wind, which shows up behind the CRVs shortly after some hotshot pilots might have gone off to engage the GUNs. So, remember to Protect Your Objective: stay with the CRVs."

"Sounds simple enough, right? Well, there's the little problem called Torpedoes. You see, the FRG launches a flight of TIEs and three flights of T/Bs-- Alpha, Beta, and Zeta flight."

"Well, as I've said in the past, The Best Defense is a Good Offense." He pointed at the smaller dots as the T/B flights separate from their carrier. "Set your ELS to 0/0, and switch to torpedoes. At 180 MGLT, you can reach the first flight -- Alpha -- before they even get close to torpedo range. Ignore the T/Fs- they're novice pilots."

He switched the tactical system to a film clip. "On your approach, use the IFF to lock onto the first T/B. Fire as soon as you get a red lock and then hit the 'T' key to switch to the next bomber. You'll fly right by them; switch your ELS to 100/100, and you'll find that your momentum will bring you right up on the tail of the next T/B of the flight. Dumbfire the torpedo into the T/B, then switch to guns. Shoot the third T/B of the flight to Hull Dmg, and then leave it alone, repeating the process with the next flight."

"A good skill to develop is dumbfiring torpedoes. You have to get pretty close, but on the other hand, a T/B on its initial approach run will ignore you on its six."

"You can ignore the GUNs, and single damaged survivors of the the T/B flights. The CRVs guns will take care of them and they'll be cautious enough not to do damage."

"Bored? Adventurous?"

Kallysto leaned close, eyes glittering. "Have at the Frigate."

"The Red Wind is relatively unprotected, except for its usual complement of guns. With the A-Wing, set your ELS to 100/75, and make short attack runs on the FRG."

"Keep an eye on the Tac status line-- occasionally the CRVs will tag the last of a bunch of T/Bs, and the FRG will launch a fresh batch. Always, always, make destroying most of the flight of T/Bs your primary objective."

"Eventually, the CRVs will jump out without a hitch. You can at your option hang around and try and take out the Red Wind -- she fires slow, and all you need to do is swerve left or right when you see her main salvo fire, and remember to keep charging and rebalancing your shields."

"One of the easiest FRG kills in the game. Just don't fly in a straight line too long."

"Good luck, and good hunting."

Author: Jeff Young (Kallysto - Corsair 11)
Strategy: Jeff Young