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I've had the 2005 patch installed for several days and aside from one crash very early on, things have run fine. I'm really enjoying the new mission types and the increased variability of points awarded. And I have just had three very interesting missions. So if you would like to take a break from the flame wars, read on....
I am currently playing the Gorn vs ISC campaign, Admiral difficulty, middle era. Being the good Gorn skipper that I am, I have been spending my time on the Romulan border given the Rommies a hard time and making a name for myself. Yesterday, however, I ran into a tougher opponent than the rest...
On the map I saw in an adjacient hex a little green "CA". OK, methinks, I'm in command of a Gorn CCF Command Cruiser, BPV=164 and a pretty nice ship overall, although it turns around slower than a dead otter. Let's go over there and squat in this guy's ice cream.
Going into the hex I'm presented with a mission option of "Patrol". Great, no obligations or special requirements, just some good old butt-kicking. Start the mission, go to red alert, speed to ten, set energy priorities, start converting a weasel, check out the opponent.... HOLY CRAP! Sure, it's a Heavy Cruiser... a stinking R-KHK, KillerHawk Super-Heavy Cruiser (BPV=224). Man, look at all those pretty shield lines, lots of white ones, too. Well, I think, let's get closer and trade some paint. As I approach I mis-time the start of my turn and suddenly I'm facing more fancy colored balls than a ten pin on league night. I popped the weasel and waited for him to go past... and as he does he rips open a shield with a lot of phaser power and drops a couple of mines just to make sure I got the message; this is his turf, and I just came to a knife fight with a rubber spatula. I decide that maybe I should reconsider my options at a greater separation and so I slap it in gear, pop the clutch and make tracks while the Hawk chews on my butt. At least when I exit the battlefield I get prestige points, the game's way of telling me that I might want to pick on someone more my size next time.
So I head back to a star base and get all nice and pretty again, and load up on spares and marines. Now where do I go? Hmmm, that green "CA" is still in that hex, but it's the most logical location to move. So I go there and am presented with a Patrol mission and also a Convoy Escort. Well, don't have to poke me in the eye twice. I select convoy escort, which pretty much has been a snoze for me, since they usually send some poor sap frigate to get pasted.
So I start the convoy escort mission... red alert... priorities... weasel... check the opponent... damn, it's that KHK again. Well, no dummy me, I'm not going head to head, I'll let him chew on a frieghter or two while I nail him from behind. So I swing out W-A-Y W-I-D-E to come up behind him. I watch him plaster a freighter with a couple of plasmas and then I let him have a volley... it's too obvious, and he weasels my balls. Drat. I know better than to hang around near him, so I accelerate away from the convoy and he follows. No problem, I've seen this before, he'll turn back to the convoy soon... oh, crap, no he's not, he's still following after me. Well, this is ducky for the cargo-tubs, but I'm a bit concerned. I keep my speed up and start to turn back, but he cuts across the arc and his phasers are pounding my shields apart. I start trading plasma shots with him but he has a better broker and soon I am on the losing end of the deal. If I run he shoots me through my down aft shield, if I turn he fires plasma at me, if I weasel he fires phasers at point blank range. He has completely forgotten the frieghters and wants my butt for his trophy wall. I've never seen this before; every other time the bad guy would always go focus on the convoy while I repaired and reloaded. And I don't want to leave the map while my frieghters are still there... wait, there's only two showing, the other two must have departed. OK, slick, now it's time to show you a little Gorn razzle-dazzle. I HET, then zoom past him, dumping mines and plasma and making him alter course out a little bit as he chases me. Suddenly I see that the other two cargo-carriers have departed and I mash the gas and run for daylight, err, starlight. I get lots of points for this one, all of which get eaten up paying for the biggest Earl Shieb paint job the shipyard has ever seen.
So I'm back at the starbase, looking at the map, and again I see that little green "CA". He's taunting me. I head back into the hex. My only mission choice - convoy raid. Oh, yeah, let's see how he likes being a sheep dog. This time I'm the wolf.
I start the mission, do my usual preps... check out the opposition... five freighters and... that same KHK. Fasten you seatbelts, fellow lizards, we're in for a bumpy ride. I give the Hawk the twenty-third century version of a head fake and roll in on the nearest freighter. Two F and two S plasmas and... he's still in one piece. Damn. At my speed turning around is about as easy as docking the Titanic in a dingy slip, so I have to slow while I recharge my weaps. As I do I find Mr. Hawk has beat feet and is coming up behind me. Being a Gorn I find caution overrated so I keep coming about, and the Hawk thanks me by sending a few plasmas my way. I hesitate, then weasel. Good news is that I've taken care of my problem with turning around, the bad news is that I am now a sitting duck, err, lizard, and I start taking hits from every direction. I finally start building up speed and here is the Hawk again, and here is another plasma coming my way. Weasel or no weasel? Yes, no, yes... too late. I take a good smack that has my damage display flashing more than a pervert at a cheerleader competition. I use up the rest of my spares and start thinking about an early retreat. Wait, what's this? A freighter is meandering my way. I transport a mine to make him turn a bit more towards me, then give him a Gorn howdy right in the head shield. He's badly damaged but still in one piece and I've used up all my weapon charges. And Good-time Charlie the KillerHawk is bearing down on me again. So a dump a mine to let him know I still care and start making tracks towards the sidelines. Only it's the freighter and not the Hawk that reaches the mine first, and BOOM, he goes to pieces faster than an apple pie at a picnic. One down, and I'm trucking. Only as I reach the edge of the convoy I find myself near that freighter I shot up on the first pass. Well, heck, it's a shame to waste a couple of charged weapons, only they are on the wrong side and the Hawk is getting closer and... oh, the hell with it! I HET and spin round and nail the freighter, then weasel to distract the plasmas that the Hawk has so thoughtfully provided for my amusement. Only now by turning I have exposed a dropped shield to the Hawk and his phasers toast a bunch of my lizards like it's Death Valley on the Fourth of July. But my HET did do one thing for me; I'm now pointed the opposite direction of the Hawk and as I accelerate out of the convoy he is still turning around. Two kills net me only 75 points, which isn't enough to get the dents out of the fenders.
So now it personal between me and the Hawk. I'm going to find him and have it out one last time. Only this time, I think I am going to bring a friend... or two!!