Originally posted by TrashMan
True, but what the hell was the Colossus waiting for? It WAS in the Capella, why didn't it join the GD node blockade?
The Colossus was probably being held in reserve as a last resort; the GTVA wouldn't want to risk its best asset until a moment of its own choosing. Or perhaps it required rearming / repair after evacuating GD and/or the nebula (I don't think the C's position is stated after the Iceni escapes it; the last mission sees it in GD at the node, it next crops up in Capella).
It's not unarguable that it
did join the blockade of the GD node, too; the command brief states that either
The Satahanas has entered the Capella system and engaged the Colossus.
The Satahanas entered the Capella system and obliterated the line of defense we had established to intercept it. We now have no choice but to send in the $f Colossus.
Which don't preclude the Colossus being part of the life of defense (but indicate it is possibly a rearguard element)
Originally posted by TrashMan
Instead it waited for it to be obliterated and only then proceeded to engage the Satahanas with 4 fighters as escort????
Actually, it waited for the Sathanas to be disarmed as much as possible; the Colossus was only able to destroy the crippled Sath by massively overcharging its beams, after all - who's to say it could have done so under intense fire.
And the 4 fighters thing is simply IMO to stop the mission getting too crowded and slow... Volition would probably have preffered a massive battle, but that'd be crippling on most computers at the time.
Also they would have cut down on the number of Shivan fighters to ensure the player had a fair chance of destroying the 4 beam turrets if they failed previously.
Of course, if the previous blockades were large (comprised the 'bulk of the fleet' IIRC), then perhaps there weren't many free ships anyways; the Sath didn't travel alone.
Originally posted by TrashMan
And 1 big blockade is more likely to work against a frigging super ship like a Sath than 3 small ones.
Remember that Bearbaiting was to 'give the Colossus a chance' and you can clearly see why Command would be reluctant to risk not only their best military asset, but a massive propaganda one. You could view the entire GTVA strategy as trying to break down the Sath before the Colossus could reach it (as the Colossus is possibly the only ship able to inflict enough damage to the hull in a single battle)
Finally, we're not taking several small blockades, here. We're talking of a task force to seal the node, a blockade force at the GD-Capella node, and the rallied ships in Capella (including the Colossus); it also means the Sath has to spend more time fighting to get through them.
The first blockade was also partly to allow damaged ships to reach a Capellan rally point and prepare for engaging the Sath (i.e. to buy time).
With a single blockade - even assuming you can assemble and organize them in time, and that you have enough firepower to destroy the Sath - you only have a single shot. If that blockade fails, then you've just doomed Capella.... and there are ways to beat even the largest blockade (simplest being sending lots of ships to distract, disable and harry the blockade ships in order to protect your key assets).
The single blockade plan might work; but if it fails, it is a catastrophe. 'eggs in one basket' and all that.
