[MatthTheGeek]

Remember that the forces present at the node were expected to hold. If the Imperiuse had been brought in, it may have destroyed the Karunas, but it would have been at risk from the Big T, and the element of surprise lost. At the point the Tev forces began to show signs of weakening, the best contingency for Steele was probably to wait.

A ship held back in reserve is always a bigger threat than a ship that is sortied.

Yup, which is why Steele should have waited for the Big T to be sortied to jump the Imperieuse in. Which he didn't. He could have basically won the war in one shot. Where's your tactical genius now, huh ?

I have another hypothesis : The Temeraire wasn't hiding for all that time, it did transit to DS but came back sooner and its return was hidden. Maybe it was still in DS by that point.

[Mars]

Yup, which is why Steele should have waited for the Big T to be sortied to jump the Imperieuse in.

And swiftly lose it. The Titans rely entirely on their forward firepower for everything. As impressive as they are, an unsupported Titan is unlikely to take out a similarly uparmored Solaris before being defanged and destroyed. All of Serkr had already been expended, the Siren was destroyed, the most that could have escorted the Imp would be a few Deimos.

[LordPomposity]

Yup, which is why Steele should have waited for the Big T to be sortied to jump the Imperieuse in.

And swiftly lose it. The Titans rely entirely on their forward firepower for everything. As impressive as they are, an unsupported Titan is unlikely to take out a similarly uparmored Solaris before being defanged and destroyed. All of Serkr had already been expended, the Siren was destroyed, the most that could have escorted the Imp would be a few Deimos.

I'll agree with that. Slap the two in FRED together, and a Solaris will utterly curbstomp a Titan--even if the Titan has the most optimal engagement angle possible. There's more to actual battles than FRED, of course, but the discrepancy is pretty large. There's still the mentioned-above point that the Imperieuse had a full fighter complement while the Toutatis was empty, but sending the Imperieuse after the Toutatis would still have been an excessive risk at the very best.

Then again so is propping up terrorists against your allies, but whatever.

[Mars]

I think the Titan and Raynor are tougher against the Solaris in BP canon, but even if they were equivalent warships, its an awful risk.

[Luis Dias]

You are assuming that the Imperieuse would win that war if deployed. I have my reservations about that. And even if true, that fight was being fought by UEF terms with new tricks up their sleeves and the overall tactical superiority on their side. GTVA was caught red handed on that one, still tried to correct things by bringing the Diomedes. Toutatis only jumped in in the last few seconds. Notice that if they brought the Imperieuse, the Hood would completely fall. Why? Because they couldn't leave the Imperieuse all by itself trying to deal with the Toutatis and a duel of Karunas. So they would have to leave the Hood to defend the Imperieuse, but it would fall on the spot. And then the Imperieuse would be in a real tight situation, with uncertainty looming big at its chances.

Steele was rather a gentleman. He recognized superior tactics and had a cool head. He knew how to let go.

[Mars]

Also, that's the same reason you don't see a full fleet on fleet engagement between the GTVA and UEF, their forces are even enough to existentially threaten each other. The reason there was no imp in that mission is the same reason a Solaris doesn't show up at the Sol jump node.

[Kosh]

Yup, which is why Steele should have waited for the Big T to be sortied to jump the Imperieuse in.

And swiftly lose it. The Titans rely entirely on their forward firepower for everything. As impressive as they are, an unsupported Titan is unlikely to take out a similarly uparmored Solaris before being defanged and destroyed. All of Serkr had already been expended, the Siren was destroyed, the most that could have escorted the Imp would be a few Deimos.

As I recall Serkr team was still out and about. The Marcus Glaive, Hydra, and Pilum all made it through WiH. Serkr + Imperieuse + shock jump = one really dead Solaris.

[Buckshee Rounds]

Also, that's the same reason you don't see a full fleet on fleet engagement between the GTVA and UEF, their forces are even enough to existentially threaten each other. The reason there was no imp in that mission is the same reason a Solaris doesn't show up at the Sol jump node.

Exactly. Everybody seems to be forgetting there's still a whole UEF bomber corp out there. If the Imp had warped in, with minimal fighter support too, it would have been swiftly defanged and smashed by gunships/durgas. 2nd/3rd fleets were both occupied, but I'm sure even conservative 1st fleet wouldn't have missed such a golden opportunity.

Yup, which is why Steele should have waited for the Big T to be sortied to jump the Imperieuse in.

And swiftly lose it. The Titans rely entirely on their forward firepower for everything. As impressive as they are, an unsupported Titan is unlikely to take out a similarly uparmored Solaris before being defanged and destroyed. All of Serkr had already been expended, the Siren was destroyed, the most that could have escorted the Imp would be a few Deimos.

As I recall Serkr team was still out and about. The Marcus Glaive, Hydra, and Pilum all made it through WiH. Serkr + Imperieuse + shock jump = one really dead Solaris.

Still being beam jammed? Remember too that the GTVA was only just able to track the Agincourt and block the intrasystem gate, for a great deal of time they had no idea where it was. They were just able to deploy Serkr and the Hood. I don't see an unescorted Titan being really useful. This is supposed to be a war, not every scenario can be tackled 100% perfectly, even by Steele.

It's a testament to the man that he managed to take a crushing defeat and deliver a catastrophic defeat.

[Flak]

And in addition, we haven't seen those experimental units yet. Byrne and the Fedayeen probably kept the Vajras well hidden until the time comes to unleash the big surprise.

[Kosh]

Still being beam jammed?

That is something that would be taken into account. A TAG from a Pegasus can break through the jamming and it isn't clear how many AWACS craft the UEF really has that are fully operational (one of which was destroyed).

They were just able to deploy Serkr and the Hood.

Because the 2nd and 3rd fleets launched a major diversionary assault, during which the Eris was nearly destroyed and their supporting artillery units were seriously hurt.

I don't see an unescorted Titan being really useful.

Yet one of them single handedly wiped the floor with the Wargods. When deployed properly don't underestimate the amount of damage that thing is capable of inflicting.

This is supposed to be a war, not every scenario can be tackled 100% perfectly, even by Steele.

It's a testament to the man that he managed to take a crushing defeat and deliver a catastrophic defeat.

True.

[-Norbert-]

They were just able to deploy Serkr and the Hood.

Because the 2nd and 3rd fleets launched a major diversionary assault, during which the Eris was nearly destroyed and their supporting artillery units were seriously hurt.

When Byrne said that he was clearly angry at the risk taken. I wouldn't take his wording too literally here.

I don't see an unescorted Titan being really useful.

Yet one of them single handedly wiped the floor with the Wargods. When deployed properly don't underestimate the amount of damage that thing is capable of inflicting.

Not entirely true. The Imperieuse didn't just wipe the floor with the wargods all on it's own. The Karunas were already damaged from a very intense and long battle and there were the Carthage and a strike corvette there as well, both of which pack quite some firepower as well.

[Destiny]

The AWACS with the Hood was scrambling Calder's torpedo locks in that mission...etc.

[crizza]

Who said, that the Deimos and Aeolus were truly captured by the Feds?
There ist still this SOC Diomedes, which could escort a repair team in and take them back?

[MatthTheGeek]

I think everyone has forgot that the Imperieuse is a battlecarrier. With a full complement of fighters and bombers. Which are more than enough to wipe the floor with a Big T that had left its fighter complement behind.

[Luis Dias]

In hindsight of course that the GTVA could have done X and Y and Zed. What matters is what you can do within ten minutes, specially when you are being defeated by completely surprising technology like the beam jammer. Of course that if you had previous knowledge of this weapon you could have prepared against it and armed your ships with "tag missiles". But you didn't because you were caught with your pants down.

To have a sudden cruiser just come out of nothing with TAG missiles ready within just 5 minutes of the Serkr team being surprised would be a completely irrealistic plot. No army is able to think and execute a reaction that fast.

Yet one of them single handedly wiped the floor with the Wargods.

This is utterly ridiculous. The imperieuse won that war because the wargods were already pressed with the Carthage and its escort, and by the surprise effect. You cannot possibly believe that a single Titan is able to destroy four Karunas. Because it isn't.

Further, a Solaris and two Karunas will kick the Imperieuse's ass in less than one minute. (Not that my own experiment was a good one, since I didn't get the ****ing Titan to open beam fire, but still it was an eye opener)

[Dragon]

Titan has impressive firepower, but only on the front. Flank it and it's down to a medium beam and pulse turrets.

[Luis Dias]

I think everyone has forgot that the Imperieuse is a battlecarrier. With a full complement of fighters and bombers. Which are more than enough to wipe the floor with a Big T that had left its fighter complement behind.

I really lost count on how many bombers I killed on that mission. If you stay close to your big ships, you'll be overwhelmed but surviving. And the Imperieuse still falls down. So I don't think so.

[Deadly in a Shadow]

Yet one of them single handedly wiped the floor with the Wargods.

This is utterly ridiculous. The imperieuse won that war because the wargods were already pressed with the Carthage and its escort, and by the surprise effect. You cannot possibly believe that a single Titan is able to destroy four Karunas. Because it isn't.

The problem is:-the Imperieuse was escorted by a Chimera Corvette.
The Imperieuse destroyed the Altan Orde and the Katana. The Kyoto and the Insuperable were destroyed by both the Imperieuse and that corvette.
Then it destroyed the Yangtze. Three Karunas and two Sanctus cruisers (with help from the Imperieuse's squadrons, that one Chimera and the plethora of bombers arriving) are really good for a titan scratchboard.

[Luis Dias]

Conceded, still you don't have the Solaris in DE. It just isn't a comparable setting. In the first engagement, the Titan would run into serious trouble and risk. Not in DE, where they pwned the wargods without a scratch. Comparing those risks, I'd say that Steele is so much a better strategist than many of you .

[-Norbert-]

Without a risk, because the mission was specifically rebuild to make it that way.
In earlier (pre-release) versions of the missions the wargods sometimes succeded in disarming the forward beams of the imperieus, resulting in all GTVA vessels on scene being destroyed!
So much for the Imperieus singlehandedly taking on four Karunas "without any risk"...