[Skyline]

First, I want to say that I'm new here, love FS2 Open (I played FS2 years ago and then discovered Open and all the great mods created since), and am now trying Blue Planet after playing Derelict.  I'm hopelessly stuck on Forced Entry, and I really don't want to cheat.  I don't get even close to seeing the Ravana, and the Naberus chews through the ships in no time at all.

I normally snipe at long distance with missiles, but that requires a support ship that I don't have in Forced Entry, so after killing off the first two Shivan ships I try to rotate Alpha and Beta on protection detail of the different ships coming through.  I try to take out beam cannons, and I send Delta and Sanctuary Beta after ships, if I get that far.  I've read the other thread and have changed my loadouts to favour the Trebuchet, Prometheus and Maxim/Kayser.

Am I slow, rusty, not a very good pilot, using a bad strategy or some combination of all four?     I've played it on every difficulty level from Medium to Very Easy several times.

[General Battuta]

Hrm. So, the main problem you're having is taking out the beams on the Naberus?

Well, my advice would be to take only Trebuchets and not use any of them on Shivan fighters or bombers. Just use them to take out beams, including the Naberus' rear beam. You can target the turret under your reticle with 'v'; use that to select the beam rapidly. Sounds like you're doing everything right, so as long as you can get the Naberus' beams out, you should be okay. Just remember: as soon as the Temeraire jumps in, scramble everything to protect it, and rush to get as far behind it (towards its entry point) as you can.

Forced Entry would be ungodly frustrating if it wasn't so cool. Don't worry, we'll help you through it. (Took me a good six or seven tries...)

[asyikarea51]

Not your fault, the mission is like that, very difficult.

And no, I never finished it (the ironic twist was me surviving the longest in my most hated fighter craft in all of FS...)

[General Battuta]

Wait, you never finished it!?

Oh, man, you are missing so much good stuff. Including the even better (but nowhere near as difficult) mission that comes right after it.

The key is to carry a lot of Trebuchets. Know where the Shivan warships will jump in, and be ready to disarm their main beams. Don't get caught in bomb shockwaves. Kill the Aeshmas before they nail the cruisers with their Hornets, too. When you get to the end, try taking out the Ravana's rear stinger beams as well as the two forward beams (the LReds mounted on the two lowermost of the four forward prongs.)

When you succeed, you're going to feel like a golden god.

[asyikarea51]

[hey, how about use some spoiler tags next time - Battuta]

[Kolgena]

For me, the Lilith caused me more headaches than the Ravana did. Probably because I only got past the Lilith and bombers once, and therefore saw the Ravana once, and was lucky enough to somehow be within range of it with Trebbs when it jumped in.

But yeah, follow GB's advice. You seem to be on the right track, and I don't think it's bad piloting skills that is responsible for your difficulties. No one passes that mission in one shot unless they've memorized where all the ships jump in.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

No one passes that mission in one shot unless they've memorized where all the ships jump in.

I can. I just rely a lot on sensor data and ETS power shunting.

A Herc II with two banks of Trebs should be more than enough to disable the beam cannons of every hostile warship. Your missile firing system should also be set to single-fire mode unless you're disarming the Lilith. andicirk says that one Treb is enough to kill a beam cannon on the Ravana, but I usually use two for good measure.

Use your wingmen to their fullest extent. Order them to protect any warships except the GTL Solace, which seems capable of holding its own, even without escort. When the Temeraire jumps in, get at least one wing to guard it.

[Skyline]

Well, I did it.  The Temeraire made it out at 3%, but a win is a win.  Thanks for all the advice...I was about 2.5 km behind the Temeraire by the time the Ravana showed up and it helped a lot.

One thing that confused me was that the objectives say to destroy forward beam cannons, but the Temeraire got destroyed twice by other beam cannons after I killed the forward cannons.  I ran out of Trebs at this point and had to perform surgery on the Ravana to get the rest of them.  Is that supposed to happen?

What's the right angle to take on the Lilith?  I ran out of Trebs because sometimes, one is enough.  The majority of the time I approach it, it takes two to take out a beam cannon.

[asyikarea51]

I got stuck at the Lilith - the LRed tears through the... cruiser or corvette... whatever it was, waaay too fast (charge/shoot/cooldown/charge/shoot/etc)... and I always happen to be outside of Treb range.

BTW skyline just curious, you say you ran out of Trebs, which ship did you use to finish the mission?

(sorry Battuta - just strung out atm. crapz. I should've mentioned that this is my second playthrough and the first run was a VERY LONG TIME AGO XD)

That time long ago when BP first came out, I think I got as far as the Ravana and I was either Trebbing or launching bombs at it... then it was a classic case of a friendly getting shot down, or the Ravana just decided to "tear me up" with anti-warship beam fire...

[General Battuta]

Well, I did it.  The Temeraire made it out at 3%, but a win is a win.  Thanks for all the advice...I was about 2.5 km behind the Temeraire by the time the Ravana showed up and it helped a lot.

One thing that confused me was that the objectives say to destroy forward beam cannons, but the Temeraire got destroyed twice by other beam cannons after I killed the forward cannons.  I ran out of Trebs at this point and had to perform surgery on the Ravana to get the rest of them.  Is that supposed to happen?

What's the right angle to take on the Lilith?  I ran out of Trebs because sometimes, one is enough.  The majority of the time I approach it, it takes two to take out a beam cannon.

Well done! You're a hero!

There's one more mission that might give you a really hard time (Keepers of Hell), but assuming you're using the newest version of BP, you shouldn't have tooo much trouble.

What do you think so far? Liking it?

[Skyline]

BTW skyline just curious, you say you ran out of Trebs, which ship did you use to finish the mission?

Myrmidon with Prometheus S/Kayser and 3-3-5 Trebuchets.  Swapped out the rest of Alpha with Myrmidons and a similar loadout except a Tornado/Hornet combo for secondaries, and Beta got Herc IIs with Maxim/Prometheus and Harpoon/Tornado, if I remember correctly.  Played on Very Easy.

Statistics said that one Trebuchet actually missed its target, and I had to double up on the Lilith.

Well done! You're a hero!

There's one more mission that might give you a really hard time (Keepers of Hell), but assuming you're using the newest version of BP, you shouldn't have tooo much trouble.

What do you think so far? Liking it?

I don't know about hero...flying that close and in front of an active beam cannon was risky to say the least...crazy may be more accurate.

The version of Blue Planet I'm using was downloaded from the BP site...the version from the installer gave some errors.

Blue Planet is pretty engrossing and I like it as much as I like Derelict so far.  The music really fits, especially on Forced Entry.  I don't know if I have enough of the story yet, but from what I've seen, it's been done really well.  I like the new ships except the new heavy assault fighter.  Difficulty wise, Derelict was easier.

My only real complaints are that when I fail a mission, there's no recommendations.  Some campaigns give you the crown jewels to the mission, but all I want is subtle hints like the ones in FS2.  That may not be possible on a mission like Forced Entry, but I failed my first attempt at Preserving the Balance and got no debriefing nor recommendations. My second is my grumbling about "forward beam cannons" - the mission shouldn't say "OK, you're done disarming this Shivan capital ship, go prioritize bombers" when the remaining beam cannons that I didn't touch are going to destroy the ship I'm going to protect.  That'll make me start ignoring directives.

[Rodo]

mirmy loaded with balors and trebs.

DON'T USE TREBS until you see the Ravana jumping in.

destroy the shivan cruisers beams without getting pulverized.

hunt bombers with a load of balor volts

don't get near the bombs

take your time and give orders to your wingman.

[General Battuta]

BTW skyline just curious, you say you ran out of Trebs, which ship did you use to finish the mission?

Myrmidon with Prometheus S/Kayser and 3-3-5 Trebuchets.  Swapped out the rest of Alpha with Myrmidons and a similar loadout except a Tornado/Hornet combo for secondaries, and Beta got Herc IIs with Maxim/Prometheus and Harpoon/Tornado, if I remember correctly.  Played on Very Easy.

Statistics said that one Trebuchet actually missed its target, and I had to double up on the Lilith.

Well done! You're a hero!

There's one more mission that might give you a really hard time (Keepers of Hell), but assuming you're using the newest version of BP, you shouldn't have tooo much trouble.

What do you think so far? Liking it?

I don't know about hero...flying that close and in front of an active beam cannon was risky to say the least...crazy may be more accurate.

The version of Blue Planet I'm using was downloaded from the BP site...the version from the installer gave some errors.

Blue Planet is pretty engrossing and I like it as much as I like Derelict so far.  The music really fits, especially on Forced Entry.  I don't know if I have enough of the story yet, but from what I've seen, it's been done really well.  I like the new ships except the new heavy assault fighter.  Difficulty wise, Derelict was easier.

My only real complaints are that when I fail a mission, there's no recommendations.  Some campaigns give you the crown jewels to the mission, but all I want is subtle hints like the ones in FS2.  That may not be possible on a mission like Forced Entry, but I failed my first attempt at Preserving the Balance and got no debriefing nor recommendations. My second is my grumbling about "forward beam cannons" - the mission shouldn't say "OK, you're done disarming this Shivan capital ship, go prioritize bombers" when the remaining beam cannons that I didn't touch are going to destroy the ship I'm going to protect.  That'll make me start ignoring directives.

There's a thin line between madness and heroism.

Hrm. We're going to re-release a voice acted version at some point (pretty soon, hopefully.) We should definitely toss in some recommendations. Good idea!

The story going forward is quite bold and twisty. I liked it my first time through, and as I've spent more time with it, I've grown to love it (as evidenced by my BP dev team badge!) Stick with it, I promise it'll pay off.

[Skyline]

There's a thin line between madness and heroism.

Yeah, and I'm confident I crossed it.  In my defense, the cannon fired after I brought it down below 20%.

Hrm. We're going to re-release a voice acted version at some point (pretty soon, hopefully.) We should definitely toss in some recommendations. Good idea!

No problem.  If I have other suggestions, how do I get them to you?

I'd love to see a voice acted version of this campaign.  It's great.

[General Battuta]

We're almost done voice acting it. Hopefully it'll be out by the end of the summer.

You can post a review thread right here! Stack it full of praise and criticism - it's what keeps creative minds going.

[asyikarea51]

Myrmidon?

....

I wasn't expecting that but oh well. XD

[Androgeos Exeunt]

One thing that confused me was that the objectives say to destroy forward beam cannons, but the Temeraire got destroyed twice by other beam cannons after I killed the forward cannons.  I ran out of Trebs at this point and had to perform surgery on the Ravana to get the rest of them.  Is that supposed to happen?

Destroying the forward beam cannons should be your main objective as a single blast from both will easily destroy the Temeraire. The Abel also has two smaller beam cannons located on top of it that will do a lot of damage, but not enough to destroy the Temeraire. You also have to bear in mind that the Shivans aren't so stupid as to rely on their large ships to destroy other large ships. That's why they sent bombers out in the first place.

Myrmidon?

....

I wasn't expecting that but oh well. XD

Believe it. The Myrmidon is faster and more agile than the Herc II, so it's also a viable alternative if you don't want to shunt ETS energy about. It can also carry 11 Trebuchets, which is just enough for every beam cannon you need to take out if you fly it right.

[General Battuta]

Destroying the forward beam cannons should be your main objective as a single blast from both will easily destroy the Temeraire. The Abel also has two smaller beam cannons located on top of it that will do a lot of damage, but not enough to destroy the Temeraire. You also have to bear in mind that the Shivans aren't so stupid as to rely on their large ships to destroy other large ships. That's why they sent bombers out in the first place.

To be fair, if the Abel gets a shot off with its LReds, the rear stinger SReds can still kill it. I always try to disarm them.

[eliex]

Even if the frontal beams are destroyed, the secondary stinger SReds can pull off about 3 volleys on average before the Temeraire's torpedoes destroy it. With little hull integrity to begin with, leaving those SReds alone is devastating.

[Droid803]

You could tell all your bomber squadrons to gank the Abel to bring it down faster.