[SpardaSon21]

So the UEF has no advantages aside from having Alpha One on their side?  Not that that matters really since Alpha One is on their side.

[Mobius]

Oh God, do we need more posts about the "mighty" power of Alpha One?

[General Battuta]

So the UEF has no advantages aside from having Alpha One on their side?  Not that that matters really since Alpha One is on their side.

Of course the UEF has some advantages. UEF fighter pilots are supposed to be really good (judging from the WiH website) and their fighters look potent. They're fighting on their home turf and they have the moral high ground, as well as a powerful and (probably) well-liked government.

The tactical disadvantage of inferior weapons systems and inferior numbers is not everything.

Blue Planet is, I think, first and foremost a story. The UEF is clearly the underdog here, and that keeps the story interesting. It wouldn't be much fun if the GTVA suddenly became a group of incompetent, tactically inept jokes -- they have to be menacing and skilled, just as they were when Sam was part of their ranks.

It's not a simple war story. The UEF probably won't be scoring victories on the strength of more uberness. There'll probably be intrigue, deception, and a great deal of tactical innovation on both sides. The Vasudans will (I'm guessing) come into play somehow.

Heheh, and if you think having Alpha One is an advantage, try playing on Insane. The only amazing thing Alpha One has is the 'replay mission' button.

Oh, and I forgot to say: the UEF has the advantage of being awesome. Their ships and weapons are sweet. And the fact that they have weaknesses just makes them more interesting.

I really can't wait for WiH.

[Commander Zane]

If the UEF ships were anything like the way they were originally released it would only take one bomber to be able to take down a Raynor.
You wouldn't need Alpha One for that.

[General Battuta]

If the UEF ships were anything like the way they were originally released it would only take one bomber to be able to take down a Raynor.
You wouldn't need Alpha One for that.

Wait, huh? The Raynor is a GTVA ship.

You might mean a Karuna? The Renjian was a Karuna.

[InsaneOne]

I think he's talking about the Saracen bomber

EDIT: or the Durga as it's called in BP apparently

[-Norbert-]

It wouldn't be much fun if the GTVA suddenly became a group of incompetent, tactically inept jokes -- they have to be menacing and skilled, just as they were when Sam was part of their ranks.

You mean the great Command that had the best idea ever:
Here we have the biggest and most powerfull Shivan ship ever encountered.... What shall we do?
Oh yeah, lets send out the Colossus and ONE bomber wing.
What? No.... why should we send out a fighter wing to cover the bombers from enemy interceptors? As if the Shivans ever tried shooting down our bombers...
Besides we only have more than 100 fighters on board the Colossus, we really can't afford to send more than the 4 bombers.

Or the great tactical decision to let an Orion slow down the Satanas.... an Orion that's taken out by the first salvo, before they even manage to finish the sentence about the damage to the ship.
That's like trying to slow down a tank by putting a bike in the way...

You mean those skilled and menacing GTVA tacticians?
Come to think of it, it is more than just a small wonder the Humans survived two wars with the Shivans....

[General Battuta]

There were plenty of blunders, but there were also plenty of good plans.

It wouldn't be very interesting if Command was uniformly right.

And a lot of those missions were somewhat compromised for game balance purposes.

[Commander Zane]

If the UEF ships were anything like the way they were originally released it would only take one bomber to be able to take down a Raynor.
You wouldn't need Alpha One for that.

Wait, huh? The Raynor is a GTVA ship.

You might mean a Karuna? The Renjian was a Karuna.

No, I mean the Raynor. I know it's a GTVA ship which is why I used it in the Example.

I think he's talking about the Saracen bomber

EDIT: or the Durga as it's called in BP apparently

That's right, the original Saracen in the FTA release pack (As well as the Thor, but since it looks like it will not appear in WiH, I didn't mention it) can single-handedly take out any ship, I used a Thor alone to destroy a Lucifer just for the hell of it, a Saracen would easily obliterate a Raynor, my last post was saying you wouldn't need Alpha One if the UEF ships used from --Steve-O--'s FTA pack are anything like how they started off, even the AI is smart enough to properly use those Massdrivers on capital ships.

[General Battuta]

Gotcha.

[Agent_Koopa]

It wouldn't be much fun if the GTVA suddenly became a group of incompetent, tactically inept jokes -- they have to be menacing and skilled, just as they were when Sam was part of their ranks.

You mean the great Command that had the best idea ever:
Here we have the biggest and most powerfull Shivan ship ever encountered.... What shall we do?
Oh yeah, lets send out the Colossus and ONE bomber wing.
What? No.... why should we send out a figther wing to cover the bombers from enemy interceptors? As if the Shivans ever tried shooting down our bombers...
Besides we only have more than 100 fighters on board the Colossus, we really can't afford to send more than the 4 bombers.

Or the great tactical decision to let an Orion slow down the Satanas.... an Orion that's taken out by the first salvo, before they even manage to finish the sentence about the damage to the ship.
That's like trying to slow down a tank by putting a bike in the way...

You mean those skilled and menecing GTVA tacticians?
Come to think of it, it is more than just a small wonder the Humans survived two wars with the Shivans....


Edit: Sorry for my spelling, but I'm just too tired to correct it today... maybe tomorrow...

The Phoenicia was a Hecate, not an Orion. And really that was done for dramatic impact more than anything else.

[SpardaSon21]

Point is Command is a bunch of morons.  While nowhere near as bad as in JAD, they still make some pretty stupid blunders.

And yes, the UEF does has one singular advantage.  It is simply kickass.  Kickass fighters (from what I saw in the vid it looked like his fighter had more firepower than an Erinyes), kickass weapons (nothing can beat ballistic weapons and the flying pieces of metal they shoot when it comes to awesome), and the kickass fighter pilot known as Alpha One.  The guy pretending to be Alpha One, Samuel Bei, (the original Alpha One is still somewhere in the Sol system single-handedly fighting off wings of Shivan Dragons with nothing but a Hercules, a few rolls of duct tape, and a Centaur support ship that shows up intermittently) is pretty cool himself though.

[eliex]

Point is Command is a bunch of morons.  While nowhere near as bad as in JAD, they still make some pretty stupid blunders.

What had happened to the good, smart Command we all know from FS1 . . . 

[ShadowGorrath]

Point is Command is a bunch of morons.  While nowhere near as bad as in JAD, they still make some pretty stupid blunders.

What had happened to the good, smart Command we all know from FS1 . . . 

After the Reconstruction Era, he was asked to be GTVA Command in the ( soon to come ) Second Shivan Incursion. So he started preparing and voicing his lines, until the FS2 GTVA Command came, kicked the FS1 one out, and took over as Command.

At least that's the impression I get from BiteMeJason2.MP3

[General Battuta]

Point is Command is a bunch of morons.  While nowhere near as bad as in JAD, they still make some pretty stupid blunders.

What had happened to the good, smart Command we all know from FS1 . . . 

Most of the people who think Command is dumb in FS2 are missing the fact that most of the mistakes are intentional -- there's an entire behind the scenes plot involving GTI's pursuit of ETAK.

Besides, FS1 command was plenty silly. A single fighter wing to guard the Galatea in 'Tenderizer'?

[Stormkeeper]

Well, if we had a competent Command, Alpha 1 wouldn't really be so important anymore ...

[-Norbert-]

What happened to FS1 Command?
Considering that Earth was the centre of the GTA I'd say they got trapped in the Sol system

And you were right, the Phoenicia really is a Hecate. I never really saw anything other than debris from it before.
But the really strange thing is, before it ALWAYS got destroyed, not even being able to finish the sound-file about the massive damange, but when I just checked, it managed to jump out at 3% hull.

I used a Thor alone to destroy a Lucifer just for the hell of it, a Saracen would easily obliterate a Raynor

Are you so sure about that?
I don't know the bomber you talk about, but a Raynor is far better than a Lucifer when it comes to fighter/bomber defence.
I'd even go so far to say the Lucifer is one of the worst cap-ships of all when it comes to fighter defense... No AAA beams, no flaks and a lot of blind spots and those few blob-turrets it has, have both slow refiringrate and "projectile" speed.
The Raynor on the other hand has AAAs, flaks, and fast-firing blob-turrets. Besides it has a lot more turrets than a Lucifer.

[nuone]

Point is Command is a bunch of morons.  While nowhere near as bad as in JAD, they still make some pretty stupid blunders.

And yes, the UEF does has one singular advantage.  It is simply kickass.  Kickass fighters (from what I saw in the vid it looked like his fighter had more firepower than an Erinyes), kickass weapons (nothing can beat ballistic weapons and the flying pieces of metal they shoot when it comes to awesome), and the kickass fighter pilot known as Alpha One.  The guy pretending to be Alpha One, Samuel Bei, (the original Alpha One is still somewhere in the Sol system single-handedly fighting off wings of Shivan Dragons with nothing but a Hercules, a few rolls of duct tape, and a Centaur support ship that shows up intermittently) is pretty cool himself though.

Your DAMMNNNN RIGHT!!!!
-

[nuone]

If we think about this, (which we have in depth), an efficient use of magnetically accelerated kinetic weaponry would be in the form of ultra high caliber artillery. For instance, if I am not mistaken, HALO capital ships fire "either ferric tungsten or depleted uranium slugs at 30,000 m/s (Bye, bye 4000m beams). The high muzzle speed gives the 600 ton slug the kinetic energy and momentum necessary to damage a target and partially mitigates the unguided nature of the slug and its lack of maneuverability" - Halopedia. Please note the ridiculous size and power of such weaponry. Orbital Defense Platforms, take it up a couple of notches, "3000 tonne slug at 40% of the speed of light, enough to utterly destroy even the largest Covenant ship."

My friends, THAT is FIREPOWER! It would be amazing if at least ODP's were implemented into WiH, at least to defend Earth itself. The mitigating factor being limited salvos and extensive reload times.

[General Battuta]

Ha ha ha, let's not bring real physics or scale into Freespace.

And don't forget that MAC guns are seriously outclassed by Covenant plasma torpedoes and energy projectors.