Author Topic: Destroyers in Act 4  (Read 16104 times)

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And the UEF can't really do point jumps.
The good Christian should beware of mathematicians, and all those who make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that the mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of Hell.

 

Offline Mars

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And the Atreus in that mission had just jumped multiple times, and was prepping for another jump. And still usually manages to take out an installation.

 

Offline Darius

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And the UEF can't really do point jumps.

Saturn shows us otherwise!

 

Offline CT27

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If the Toutatis or Eris does die do you think it will be from:
-a GTVA destroyer
-Serkr
-massive bomber strike
-some combination?

 

Offline CT27

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What kind of destroyer would likely be used to take out a Solaris class of the UEF?

A Titan with a shockjump or an Erebus for a slugging match?

 

Offline QuakeIV

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I feel as if a Titan is somewhat more likely, due to its incredible firepower and long range.

 
I think the Erebus might be the safer choice. A Titan relies heavily on shock jumping to cripple or destroy its targets, and with all the E-warfare going around, there's no guarantee that its main beams will hit a Solaris and deal full damage. Even then, you'd need a couple of TEI corvettes to back it up.

Between ECMs, torpedo spam, gunships and bombers, it would be a risky engagement for the more aggressive GTVA assets. Better send in an Erebus + Diomedes & Deimos corvettes, then bring in bigger guns to deliver the killing blow or counter jump artillery frigates.

 

Offline Haji

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IIRC War in Haven was supposed to be five chapters. As such chapter 4 will end with one of two possible outcomes.

The first outcome is the defeat of the UEF with Tev victory, but the survival of the super secret Earth project which was well hidden (most likely in the kuiper belt). As the project will result in immediate UEF victory chapter 5 will be about survivors of the Sol forces defending it until completion. In such a case we will likely see the destruction of at least one, most likely two, possibly even all three Solaris class destroyers, but I also expect them to have a lot of Tev company - they already had some 4-5 destroyers in the system and more are on their way. We may see the destruction of several of those.
The second outcome is much more mundane. The UEF successfully defends Earth but there has to be a cost to an all out Tev attack, so at least one Solaris will end up dead, but it's hard to tell which one. Tautotis is being refitted with experimental long range railguns (those use on the heavy frigates) implying that it's supposed to be used more aggressively, making it a logical casualty. Eris is guarding Mars and we know rather little about it, so it may be relatively safe. Solaris is "safely" on Earth, but since Earth is the target, I'd say Solaris is in the greatest danger. That of course implies that Steele decides to not be crafty and attack Mars to throw off Cassandra. On the Tev side I'd say a failed all-out attack on Earth will result in quite few losses, at least a destroyer or two. I'd like to point out however that BP is big on rewarding player skill. For example under normal circumstances 2/3 of the enemy warships (including Hood, a Hecate class destroyer) will simply retreat, but may be annihilated if the player is good enough. As such we may see a situation where a destroyer or two will always end up dead and two or three more may survive depending on player competence.

In both cases however I'd say Atreus is safe. Steele was brought in specifically because the previous officers were not getting the job done, and he's the driving force behind the current strategy. In fact with the emergency powers getting activated, he may be the driving force behind the entire Tev war effort. If he's dead it will be very hard, story wise, to introduce a new, engaging antagonist.

 

Offline Rabid

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I'm more concerned about that new GTVA heavy bomber seen engaging the Masyaf in the ending cutscene

I can't be the only one who is hoping that she's not a free-floating cloud of Narayana debris, right?


-----
Im extremely disappointed in the (single??) UEF fighter assigned to the Masayf. 4 mere bomber-mounted autoturrets killed a Feydayeen pilot before they even fired a shot. The bombers didn't even use any primaries or secondaries.
I'll be further disappointed if the Masayf:

Has no other fighters available.

Is unable to call in the fancy Shielded Custos for support (where would they keep this ship hidden anyway? A secret Feydayeen base? why isn't it kept in the dark next to the Masayf if not deployed on some secret mission?)

Has no contingency for being discovered - If I'd been sitting still off in a quiet corner for any length of time, I'd have my nav officers compute 3 solid escape vectors and save the results, so I could jump quickly if ambushed. Especially if I was the cloak and daggers experts. I'd also keep my jump drive at least partially charged - im not using my frigate for shooting things yet, but the ability to be wherever I'm needed quickly seems to be a top priority.

 

Offline Gray113

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Are we sure those are TEV bombers?

Might Byrne be willing to risk a bit of exposure to get the Feydayeen brought to heel?  :nervous:

 

Offline Mito [PL]

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@Rabid: I'd say that Spatha is a wing of fighters, not a single one. Fedayeen name their wings (at least stealthy ones) with names of Greek/Roman swords, and Spatha is of no exception. Plus, it seems that the bombers seen there just jumped in the vincinity of Masyaf - and it takes a bit of time to launch fighter wings.
And what makes you think that Fedayeen would make those three critical mistakes?

@Gray113: F3 lab -> GTB Gorgon. It looks Tev, smells Tev, acts like a Tev, its turrets shoot Tev Balor and it fires Tev bombs... Anything else to mention?
How do you kill a hydra?

You starve it to death.

 

Offline niffiwan

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the bombs fire beams  :pimp:
Creating a fs2_open.log | Red Alert Bug = Hex Edit | MediaVPs 2014: Bigger HUD gauges | 32bit libs for 64bit Ubuntu
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Debian Packages (testing/unstable): Freespace2 | wxLauncher
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m|m: I think I'm suffering from Stockholm syndrome. Bmpman is starting to make sense and it's actually written reasonably well...

 

Offline Gray113

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  • There comes a time when the odds are against you,
first time I have seen the Gorgon, though she is pretty by TEV standards  :)

I don't think the Masayf is a cloud of scrap yet though, I would think Steele has them on the run.

 

Offline -Norbert-

  • 211
@Haji: There is a third possibility for chapter 4. Less likely than the two you listed, but still quite possible I'd think and with some potentially very satisfying bits in it.
If the Vasudans learn (and believe) the truth of what Steele did, they are quite likely to withdraw their logistical support - at least until Steele is put up on charges and replaced - which will almost assuredly push the final decisive battle back a long way.
Or in the most extreme (and most unlikely) case the Vasudans might even threaten the Terran part of the alliance into stopping the war, even if just temporarily.
Depending on how hard-headed Steele is and how strongly he believes that defeating the UEF is necessary for Human survival, we might even see Steele going rogue with his most elite forces, bringing the war between Steele and the UEF on a much smaller and more equal and more intense scale.

That actually sounds like a pretty cool idea, since Steele would have even more need (and chances) to show off his tactical genius without immediately annihilating all opposition due to his limited ressources.

 

Offline crizza

  • 210
If the Vasudans learn and pressure the TEVS, I guess Steele would be informored over a secure channel by Torqueville (Secretary General of the TEVs?) and he would order the operation carried out.
But in the ending cutscene we see that the operation has started, so no way he would stop it.

 

Offline docfu

  • 27
Don't forget it's an election year...

 
I'm more concerned about that new GTVA heavy bomber seen engaging the Masyaf in the ending cutscene

I can't be the only one who is hoping that she's not a free-floating cloud of Narayana debris, right?


-----
Im extremely disappointed in the (single??) UEF fighter assigned to the Masayf. 4 mere bomber-mounted autoturrets killed a Feydayeen pilot before they even fired a shot. The bombers didn't even use any primaries or secondaries.
I'll be further disappointed if the Masayf:

Has no other fighters available.

Is unable to call in the fancy Shielded Custos for support (where would they keep this ship hidden anyway? A secret Feydayeen base? why isn't it kept in the dark next to the Masayf if not deployed on some secret mission?)

Has no contingency for being discovered - If I'd been sitting still off in a quiet corner for any length of time, I'd have my nav officers compute 3 solid escape vectors and save the results, so I could jump quickly if ambushed. Especially if I was the cloak and daggers experts. I'd also keep my jump drive at least partially charged - im not using my frigate for shooting things yet, but the ability to be wherever I'm needed quickly seems to be a top priority.

1) Are we sure that the stealth fighter was killed? Was it even a stealth fighter?

I find it hard that a Fedayeen fighter would be so easily killed by bomber turrets. Fedayeen operators are amongst the best pilots in the UEF - and perhaps even in the GTVA. Just 4 Fedayeen operators in "Her Finest Hour" slaughtered wing after wing of the Carthage's fighters.

2) If Steele really knew how important the Masyaf was, there would a dedicated hunter-killer team jumping in. The Tevs most likely saw that there was a single, isolated frigate on their scopes, and decided to send a small contingent of Gorgons for a test-run.

 
Judging by the unmistakable red particle effects seen in the final cutscene that fedayeen fighter has exploded. It was black and really hard to spot against the skybox so it was almost certainly an Ainsarii. An Uhlan or Kentauroi would be much easier to see. Whether the pilot ejected or died is irrelevant.
Also, massed bomber turrets are no joke, especially on the Gorgon. 4 Gorgons with quad balors on their turrets results in 16 balors worth of firepower. That's 1408 shield DPS and 1216 hull DPS. That will 100-0 an Ainsarii with perfect shield management in under half a second.
« Last Edit: January 23, 2017, 01:54:45 am by FrikgFeek »
[19:31] <MatthTheGeek> you all high up on your mointain looking down at everyone who doesn't beam everything on insane blindfolded

 
There were only two gorgons in the strike, as I recall.

The Masyaf is almost certainly dead because Steele would not commit to a strike on it unless he knew it would succeed.
The good Christian should beware of mathematicians, and all those who make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that the mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of Hell.

 

Offline General Battuta

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I think there are a lot of scenarios where that's not true. An ineffective or reduced Fedayeen capability is worth showing some cards.