Overview
This is for a mod: http://www.moddb.com/mods/thrawns-revengeI am not part of the mod team, but am a huge fan of this mod. I played it before I bought steam for 200 – 400 hours, and still continue to play it on steam. Almost all my game time is devoted to ICW. With 2.2 coming, I decided to start playing, and felt like putting together a little guide.It may grow, eventually, but for now it will be just a simple format.
Best of Class – Part I
Super’s are actually my least favorite ship class, but most newbies think they are ‘really cool’. So we will start here.
#1 – Imperial Preater
This is barely a super, and probably the reason I choose it as the best of the supers. It is a pocket super, but sports their sizeable fire power, fighters, and shields. It is also a lot cheaper. Tactics wise, it will serve well jumping into the middle of an enemy fleet and blasting crap to bits, like the other supers. However, as of 2.1, it’s weapon range is far superior to almost anything else. So it’s ideal role is Sniper.
Park this somewhere safe, and let it trash your enemy as they approach. I would estimate it’s effective range is between 2 to 3 times that of normal ships. However, I expect this to be ‘fixed’ in the coming 2.2 patch.
Honorable Mention – Star Defender
A true super, and far more manueverable, but still packing the same stats. Manueverability is where your supers will get destroyed. So thats a big bonus. You will still find that it will get hung up in asteroid fields
These are your real combat workhorses. Expected to take a beating and keep smashing crap. I usually only bring one of these into a battle. It is your Tank Class. Put it where you expect the nastiest fighting. As a rule, vulnerable to fighters AND bombers.
#1 – Majestic
Easily the most OP ship in the game at this point (2.1). Boy is this thing Majestic. It has tough shield, strong weapons, and best of all… It is small and manueverable. It is closer in size to a frigate than a true ship of the line, and would come in at one of the least manuverable frigates out there. However, it isn’t a frigate. Careful planning can fit FOUR of these in roughly the same space as a ISD II, and they are more than able to fullfill the role of frigate. Top it off, it also sports a concussion launcher, so some anti-fighter as well.
As the new republic, I am more than content to bring 10 Majestics to a battle, but I expect them to get nerfed. There primary adavantages will still leave them in a favorable position.
#2 – ISD II
My all time, preferred cap ship. It is slow, and very vulnerable to fighter/bombers, but it is heavily shielded, and sports some of the most powerful weapons in the game: Octuple Turrets. A decent volley from these turrets is more than enough to shred even armored hardpoints. The only real problem is that the DPS is so high it requires a lot of micro-managing, otherwise you will waste fire.
Proper management will result in a ship that ‘feels’ like it can one-shot unshielded targets, big or small.
Honorable Mention – Empire of the Hand
Empire of the hand kinda lack a true ‘tank’ ship. Acually my favorite frigate is EotH, and it does well enough at tanking, the roles are kinda funny. The Line ships are more dps and speedy, frigates are more tanky. This does not mean you should underestimate EotH Line ships, unless you like to lose ships. EotH philosophy is focused on small, high powered, cost effective ships, and their tactics go to prove it.
Best of Class – Part II
In any navy, the frigate is the ship that gets the job done. While they tend to be weaker then true ‘warships’, their ability at other tactics makes them invaluable. I tend to use frigate heavy forces for hit and run tactics. 4 to 8 frigates, with some carriers, and scouts. This force can hit an enemy system, trash a bunch of the smaller, more fragile ships without engaging the warships and retreat safely.
#1 – Chaff
The chaff is a decently tough frigate, a bit on the slow side, but it has several very interesting attributes. First, it has no shield hard point. So long as you can disengage from the fight, it will get shields. For many engagements, this is critical as it allows a ship with only 1 or 2 hardpoints to survive. Second, it has no engine hard point. It can always retreat to safety. this is critical in hit and run tactics.
Additionally, it also sports a diversified weapons variety. This means that it can bring down almost any other ship, without a need for support. The perfect hit and run ship, and it also can double down and take a solid beating from a ISD without breaking.
#2 – Bothan Assualt Cruiser
I guess it’s technically a cruiser. The BAC is a behemoth of firepower. It carries a crap ton of torpedo launchers, and can make quick work of almost anything it can actually engage. Tougher than the Chaff. In a straight up fight it will always defeat the Chaff. However, the Chaff is far more versatile. Many BAC’s have died because thier shield generator gets blown.
#3 – Victory Star Destroyer
I prefer the mark 1, but many people like the mark 2. The crimson Victories are truely nasty, but rare enough that it isn’t a significant factor. Mark 1 has massive anti-fighter potential, but is a bit weaker in ship to ship engagements. Mark 2 is more of a warship, but I find bringing Mark 2’s means you are entirely reliant on the lancer for anti-fighter duty. As the Empire usually fights factions that have a ton more fighters, you should plan accordingly.
Honorable Mention – Warlord Gunship
This is the second EotH frigate on the list, but it is small enough to almost be a corvette. It’s price is a lot higher than typical corvette’s however. This is basically a reduced version of the Bothan Assualt Cruiser, and boy does it pack a punch. Little to no shield strength means that it dies easy, but eight of these will bring down a super star destroyer. You wont lose them either, if you can keep other stuff off of them.
Corvettes are filler/dps. For their stats they do pack a ton more damage potential than anything else in the game. However, they have almost zero survivability due to their lack of protection, it is off set by lower cost and ability to be built anywhere with a space station. You want most of your casualties to be in this category, as they are the least painful to replace. Deploy them in postiitons to ‘save’ a wounded ship, even if they die. Big ships are a pain to replace.
#1 – Corona
A true oddball, I use these as the republic carrier. They bring a crap ton of fighters, and that is their true rule. However, in a pinch, they can join in the battle marginally well. Decent offensive systems, combined with the ‘restore shields’ ability gives them surprising lasting power. Micro-manage them, and they would be a crucial ship in the fleet. However, the Republic doesn’t really need to micromanage them, what with the swarms of fighters killing everything. Early tech, these are nebulon B-frigates, and still follow a similar role. I think Mk 1 is better, but can’t remember.
#2 – Vindicator?
Another triangular ship. Follows the same pattern as all triangle warships. Tough, good guns, and not much else. I like these because they are like mini-tanks. And their low cost means that you won’t mind losing them. Slow as any triangle ship. It really hurts.
#3 – Kariek
This used to be my number one favorite ship, back before 2.1. They had the ‘restore shields’ ability, fast, powerful weapons, and decent shields. Properly managed, I could take down twenty thirty ships using almost only these bad boys. Way to OP. Having been nerfed, I don’t relish using them anymore. It is just too painful.
Don’t mistake that though. They are still one of the best dps/cost units out there. Meaning that for a fraction of the price you can bring four to five times the firepower of that ISD II.
Every fleet should have a scout. It is critical. Always send in a scout. It allows you to manually place ships as you need them, controlling the flow of battle like a zen-master.
Millenium Falcon
No other scout needs to be mentioned. This is the single reason the new republic wins. Period. I have cleared entire systems of 40 – 60 ships with just this one ship. It has te speed of any fighter, and the anti-fighter turrets to kill the only thing that can catch it. Everything else is too tough for it to kill, but fortunately, ships have the habit of chasing it into asteroid fields. A couple laps around the map, and no fleet left to mention.
Honorable Mention Tie Defender
Ok, I lied. The Tie Defender can be mentioned. It isn’t as awesome as the falcon, but these little titans are tough. They only lack the turrets of the falcon, meaning if you want to kill the fighters chasing you, you must stop kiting the big ships. I find they will still make a lap or two, because fighters usually pick them off one by one doing so.
Reunification – Hard – Imperial Remnant Guide
Ok, got bored tinkering and waiting, and so I have decided to go after my white whale. The Reunification Campaign on Admiral Difficulty while playing the Imperial Remnant. The scenario is particularly challenging, but I have come close to beating it on several occasions. Never the less, it has managed to elude me until now. I decided that I was going to beat it before 2.2 is released.
The real challenge to this scenario is the massive limitation to your force strength. With only the Maw and Kessel under your control, you have serious limitations to yourforce strength. In contrast, your enemy has several major shipyards, a fully developed fleet, and enough wealth to use them.
Stats
Money is around ten thousand, a little more, if I remember right, and you can bump your weekly income up to one thousand. This is pretty decent and thanks to controlling Kessel, however, you wont be able to produce infantry if you go this route. So you will probably want to halve your income for the ability to produce infantry (or light vehicles), but it is your choice.
Command Points are the real issue, at 42 total points you will find that to be the real problem. A solid fleet can function at 30, but 40 is better. A solid land force should be at least 5, but again I would prefer 10. This scenario has you starting right next to the New Republic’s main fleet, and I find that they usually will attack Kessel in the first couple of weeks. This means that you need some form of garrison at Kessel. A garrison won’t be able to stop an enemy fleet, but it should give you a fighting chance at taking out some enemy ships.
A previous attempt, had a golan II (no command points) and ISD defending. Rebel fleet attacks and I loose both, ouch, but I took out some of their carriers to even out the loss. I still lost more, but it wasn’t as crushing a blow.
My counter fleet was 30+ and barely missed killing thier fleet. Instead their invasion army arrived, and I killed all their land heros save Luke (almost got him too). Built a shipyard (600 res) and withdraw. I waited.
Got a message that an invasion was coming. Waited for a few more seconds, and launched my fleet. The shipyard was wiped out, but my fleet arrived just behind that battle. Took out two MC90’s, Ackbar, and some frigates.
A 20+ command point fleet is the minimum to holding kessel (+shipyard and golans), and with only 42 total points, that will completely gimp your ability to attack Hakkon. So don’t do it. Rather, just leave Kessel as bait. Wait for an invasion and launch your counter AFTER they trash the shipyard. NOTE: You are closer, so if you launch your fleet as soon as you get the message, you while arrive before the Reb’s, and be at a disadvantage. So wait. Not too long though.
Here’s the startup screens. Well, the second one is from further in, but gives you a good look at my force composition. I believe I kept two ISD’s at Kessel, and strangely the AI didn’t attack, so I decided to attack Hakkassi.
I decided to use Daala, and am fairly pleased with the results from this decision. I managed to get out of the way of an incoming raid fleet, and tried to use them as a damage boost, but strangely they did next to nothing.
This is a good shot of my initial formation. It is a very solid formation, and is hard to beat. I only had to VSD’s for this battle, because I kept all three ISD’s and the dreadnaught. Scrap one ISD and the dreadnaught and you get two VSD’s. The fighters usually hide behind the formation, only coming out to kill wounded ships that get out of range.
This shot is trying to show you how to manuever your ships. Traditionally, players will click WHERE you want the ship to go, and this will only screw things up. Think of the ships as boat and water vessels, and you will do better. Use the stop command when the ship is where you want it.
I was hoping the screenshot would catch my mouse clicks, but it didn’t. I am wanting the ship to get into the position left of the ISD, but I am clicking at the top right of the screen. I pull my ships accross the front of the formation before turning, as this gives me more control over the manuever. If I just clicked at my desired destination the ship will do this big huge awkward left turn.
Keep in mind, these are warships, and they can’t turn on a dime. So his left ‘turn’ looks more like a giant loops, and it will usually involve the idiot driving straight through the left flank of the enemy formation, all by himself, easy for the AI to snipe.
By pulling him along the front of my formation, he is always in proximity to the support of my main fleet. The AI might try to attack him, but he wont be far from strike cruiser support ships. Once past my formation, click on the bottom right of the screen, far away and he will perform a nice gentle right turn/loop. Always click PAST where you want the ship to go, in a line. Turns are always awkward, and require management.
My real victory is this shot, Terroc himself, moved into an exposed position. So I risked losing ships and charged him. Got him too, but stretched out my formation into a line to do it. Started taking serious fire from his ISD. Tried to turn on the ISD, but was caught perfectly exposed. So I jumped out.
Results of the battle, lost both ships in the dash to kill Terroc. Totally worth it. It was this point where I decided to start scrapping the reserve and get two more victories (point the slightly behind, flanking the current VSD’s as a reserve. When a VSD’s shields get hammered to hard, pull em accross the formation and into a resreve. While pulling the reserve into the fight itself.
This is the only shot from the second battle, when I attacked, I noticed that the Reb’s wiped out Hakkassi, so I charged in to kill them before they could garrison on the ground. This shot shows you my mainline battle formation, but missing the ISD, it SHOULD be in the nice big gap center-right.
However, I jumped the fleet into a forward position of the ISD to hammer the rebel ships. The reb’s died in seconds.
Note: The formation is very adaptable, but is still vulnerable to the turning mechanics. It is easy to go forward, but it is hard for the formation to go back. Normally, move slowly, so you don’t have to perform awkward retreats. Keep your formation tight, remember to use the stop command. Tight formation equals victory. If you have to break fromation because your fleet is getting hammered. I would recommend that you just retreat from the battle as a whole.
It’s like Total War series. When an army is routed, you can inlict more casualties hunting the retreating forces than the battle itself.
Reunification Part II
The land defenses where pitiful, as the rebels had just taken the planet themselves. This means rebels died taking the world for me! So nice of them.
Hakassi is a breath of fresh air. 72 command points! You can operate 1 fleet, 1 army, and have a decent second half-fleet. Better still, is there is easier territories to the south just begging to be claimed. One is an asteroid, no army needed.
My recommendation is to build up a second fleet, ignore the army. Use the asteroid’s CP to get more army power.
At this point, I deleted my save. TLDR: Don’t ‘clean’ your computer when you are exhausted from a long work schedule.
Just pushed me to write the guide properly. I will go ahead and write the full guide instead. 😀