Rust_Lord

Not bad, although im curious as to why you would bother commiting and losing stormtroopers etc when the planet is only going to be destroyed anyway? Still, good luck; I agree with your sentiments re Binks. Surely they could have come up with a better form of comic relief.

correct me if im wrong but wouldnt the bribery only stop the TIEs from the station not the ISDs as well? I dont recall it doing that? Still, I wouldnt be advertising that i lost 30 ISDs to a bunch of fighters...poor guy....at least have some tartans in your fleet and if you at first dont deploy them and find you really need them you can bring them in.

Haha welcome to EaW. Honestly 180 point fleets are uncommon. I dont think I have ever encountered one bigger than about 150. The AI usually withdraws even a big fleet such as this when I bloodied its nose; they build up and keep harassing you. Like in Rebellion it usually came down to one almighty pitched battle so build yourself a gravity well generator or interdictors, amass what you can and intercept one of their attacks on your stations. You need the free units. Kill as many as you can and you will either break their back militarily or they will be licking their wounds for quite some time while they rebuild.

10 Keldabe and 10 Aggressor.....that is nasty! Bravo for the victory. As for using the interdictor, I always put the interdictor in the centre of my ships which are in a tight formation. The interdictor field is not very big and will not cover a fleet if it is spread out; and at 3 population each, I dont want to use anymore than one because they have almost no offensive ability. Have a spare just in case it gets taken out by assault/sturm frigates which seem to love going for the poor little interdictor.

Welcome Apostolos. I enjoyed your rather sedate analysis of the game. A few of us (myself among the worst offenders) are rather more animated and vicious, so its good to have some normal people around. Its been mentioned before but i was surprised it was not mentioned here but Vaders voice in FOC for Executor was positively the worst attempt ive heard. Zann wasnt so bad and I liked Thrawn although having played the TIE series years ago, (and I know the voice for Thrawn in that was crappy) it has somehow stuck in my head. Silri was designed to be annoying so you would buy the next expansion just for the opportunity to kill the bitch! As far as overcoming the ZC, corruption is not something to be overly concerned about early game when you are raising funds. Dont try to keep pace with the ZC corruption because you will be wasting valuable money you could be spending on units to use in attacking (or defending). I will only uncorrupt worlds that get a black market on them (ASAP) and to a lesser extent, piracy. Racketeering is another good one to remove if you can afford it because that gives the ZC good income. Every defiler that sabotages is out for play for a bit and their attacks seem to come in waves. It is a real annoyance but I couldnt imagine deflier sabotage alone crippling your entire cause; if it did, I would not expect you to have lasted long anyway. It is very annoying that there is no way to intercept defilers apart from using a hero (fett). I wish there was some way you could at least detect their presence.

*SPOILER* If you havent finished the campaign yourself you might want to look away and save yourself the same disappointment I felt when I watched the sixth sense on dvd and watched the extra features first and spoilt the big twist for myself...let that also be a lesson to you At the end of the campaign Silri has discovered the location of a cache of sith warriors/lords frozen (probably by carbonite it looks like) by using the sith artifact she got off Zann, which she intends to awaken and use for her own nefarious agenda.

Cool...45 is more like it....and as for the proof, that is pretty damning...3 ISDs...pppfftt...the AI could be a little more discreet about cheating couldnt it?

I get the same feeling of dread when I see them but they dont do much damage to me because I give them the respect and attention they deserve. Interdictors are far more useful now but I could see that if you dont use them the MC30 would really hurt you. They are rather expensive and when they usually throw a dozen or so at me spread amongst big fleets and lose them all it must hurt. When playing as ZC you just have to laugh because Vengeance frigates take out the torp lauchers with ease.

That is weird...there seems a disproportionate amount of ISDs used compared to other ships....only 15 Int Sdqns and 4 VSDs lost compared to 5 ISDs? AI must have gone for broke and teched up fast. Before day 20 youre fighting MCs?? Are you starting on tech 5? I only ever start on the default tech.

My feeling is there is no consideration for another patch. Not yet anyway. And if one is released in the short term it will only be a bug fix and not change units. I havent seen too much cheating in the way of GC although I have heard of some nasty stories from players playing on hard. Sure the AI likes to use big fleets but they are not invincible. Its skirmish that the AI does not play fair. It seems that even if you take out all the enemies mines and even supply depot, they receive decent income to keep them competitive. I have seen instances where they have been without income for some time and still been able to call in reinforcements such as Vengeance frigates and aggressors which are not cheap (let alone being able to upgrade tech). I went looking for such a script but couldnt find anything. Just one other thing about the AI that i remembered; enemy rebel AI never seems to produce Mon Cals. I played a huge game recently and was at tech 5 halfway through and running around with SSD and DS2 and despite throwing huge fleets at me the only MC I saw was Ackbar. Keldabes get produced but are rare. To be honest, I dont recall the Empire AI building many ISDs either, though in the game i played they were being bled white by the ZC.

Ive whinged ad naseum about a variety of things that, if PG read the threads, would mean I dont need to repeat myself. I must affirm what Wedge says about the Aggressors pathfinding. I know its supposed to be unmaneuverable but giving it almost random navigation is a bit much! Please fix the bug where you win a land battle in GC and your force disappears requiring a reload. The ZC imbalance issues are most prevalent in skirmish and having played with my brother who specialises with the Rebels and having our asses handed to us by two ZC AIs I can agree with those of you on these forums who play as rebels and feel like your bashing your head against a wall. I firmly believe that in space skirmish it is not so much a question of OP units but more their cost and therefore their rate of production, but in land skirmish its the units that are OP. I dont mind ZC having cutting edge units and tech but the rate they produce them is too great, especially considering the results of the tests I conducted with the ZC ships clearly superior. I recommend reducing the credit multiplier on Medium to 0.9 and Hard to 1.1. Reduce the Space AI contrast multiplier on Medium to .95.9 and on Hard to 1.1/1.05. I wouldnt mind so much if I had to fight such nasty ships as long as they didnt outnumber me! I really have no idea of how to rebalance the rebels against the ZC in skirmish. The rebels fighters are simply not durable enough and are too expensive for what they do. Land units that I think need to be addressed include the Canderous tank (reduce unit size to 2?) and the effectiveness of proton turrets. I think that MAL launchers and Pulse tanks are also pretty powerful but probably dont need to be changed. I am just amazed at the casualties the ZC can dish out on land. I do think SPMA artillery should be available at tech 2.

Greetings all, merry xmas and happy New year...back to topic...yes Doctor I had little else to do....i thought I could actually do these tests or continue getting frustrated by trying to overpower ZC in skirmish without resorting to sending my heroes to blow up their mines....anyway.....the ZC ships are rather powerful and I found that I could be a bit lazier when I was using them as oppossed to fighting against them where I had to concentrate on what I was doing. Just a point on corvettes, Crusaders are the least accurate against fighters, bombers and corvettes while Tartans are the most accurate but the difference is only a couple of percent at the most. Crusaders have 11 lasers hence the barrage of fire from them and the greater proportion of shots that would miss. Valter as for the VSD, if you can can get it in close you can win but that is not easy, even in a one on one and being able to use the whole map. In regular maps you are restricted by debris etc. But yes I would feel more confident with a VSD than an ISD sadly. Just a point on the Aggressor tho, I did test the Imperial ships with their TIEs against the ZC and unless the ISD sits on its start point on the otherside of the map and sends out its TIEs the Aggressor will still close in and beat the crap out of it. It wont necessarily win but there wont be much left of the ISD. If an ISD advances on the Aggressor it is in serious trouble. The Aggressor moved quick enough to be able to outrun some torpedo salvoes fired at long range from the bombers. Against aggressors always fly at an angle and dont stop. They are not good at hitting moving targets. I do agree with you Wedge, tactics played a big part, however the tactics I have used would have limited application in skirmish (only when you only had a few ships) and almost no application in GC where you are using fleets; as mrsparkle says its the ZC strength as a combined force which is really OP. I also agree with your suggestions and would like to add that mass drivers should be as inaccurate against fighters and bombers as a TL. TL inaccuracy is 70%(f)/70%(b) yet MD are 60/55. Ships with MD can basically provide their own support against bombers, even if they are shielded...as we all know the Keldabe can even fire at ships on its tail... I just want to make a clarrification too; Just because Imperials ships get TIEs doesnt mean they win automatically. When i used ZC ships against Imp craft, the Keldabe, Int IV and Vengeance could all destroy their Imperial opponent even with bomber support. I can relate to your experience Mr Sparkle, when i used ZC, my lvl 4 and lvl 5 stations were attacked by rebel fleets over 120 cap strong and I didnt even lose a hardpoint.

One would think there is going to be an expansion based on how FoC finished but as expressed above what is to become of the Empire and how are they going to be included in a campaign if at all? While it does not necessarily have to translate into the game, the Empire diminishes alot very rapidly and could be considered a minor faction. So will the bad guys now be a resurrected sith faction with all new (and even more unbalanced) ships, vehicles and units? There would not be much in the expansion otherwise if it didnt but it will feel so far removed from Star Wars as we know it. And since Palpatine possessed the artifact and was a Sith himself then I dont understand why he would not have made use of his brethren in stasis. That whole point seems quite ridiculous though I guess someone will reply saying the old Sith Lords were way more powerful than Palpatine and he feared they would overthrow him but thats all EU s&$t is about, making things bigger and better and I couldnt care less about EU....you cant say Palpatine, as powerful as he was, and a true sith lord, couldnt control this sith army, yet silri can? yeah right....Im actually keen to seen the next expansion to see what a bastardisation of SW it is going to be.

Ive already had a whinge about the patch and justifiably so. I have been playing around with the map editor and as I did in EaW I have got ships to face off, one on one, and see how they compete. I tested on medium and hard difficulties to give me an idea of how comparable ships are. Obviously in real game play you have multiple and different ships that can totally distort balance by nullifying certain advantages and change the outcome. Of course in a one on one situation, all Imperial warships defeat their opponent due to the TIE support. They were tested without their TIEs, and since every player will usually have a corvette to escort a capital ship or frigate, this is not far off reality, since one corvette can slaughter many sqdns and with the crusader, intercept torps. I tested with both sides since the AI is obviously not up to human standard. I will have to admit from the outset that the order that you attack hardpoints is often absolutely critical and means the difference between victory and defeat. VSD vs Vengeance = While I did win with the VSD on both difficulty levels it was only due to the AI not targeting the Turbolasers first. The VSD has good firepower, especially with its special ability and can win if the Vengeance concentrates on other hardpoints. Computers might make this mistake but a human wouldnt. The Vengeance should always have the initiative, being able to cloak and sneak up behind the VSD or relocate if needed. Assault Frigate vs Vengeance = Again the Vengeance only needs to concentrate on taking out the Ass Frgs TLs and it will win easily. The Ass Frg is much more nimble than a VSD but this strength can be easily taken away by taking out its engine. If a VSD or assault frigate can somehow take out the mass drivers while still retaining their sheilds and at least one TL they can win. Aggressor vs Assault Frigate = While the Aggressor is a capital ship and the AF a frigate, the Aggressor has no real counterpart and was tested against both Hvy Frgs and capital ships. The Assault Frigate actually defeated the Aggressor by using its speed and maneuverability and getting in close. It took quite some time to work down the Aggressors tough shields and management to avoid fire from the Aggressor but it was possible. This fight would very much depend on the ships positions when they encountered each other; the Aggressor easily dispatches the Ass Frg if encountered head on. The Ass Frg needs to fly at an angle, never dead straight. Aggressor vs VSD = Surprisingly the VSD is quick and maneuverable enough to destroy the Aggressor but its weapons have far more limited fire arcs and requires alot more care than the Ass Frg. It also stands no chance if it engages head on. If the Aggressor takes out the engines on the Ass Frg or VSD then it has no hope. Aggressor vs Mon Cal = Flying straight at the Aggressor or getting engaged in a slugfest is a certain death for the Mon Cal. It must fly at an angle and use its speed and maneuverability to get behind the Aggressor. Once alongside, the Aggressors limited fire arc and the wide fire arc of the Mon Cal gives the MC the advantage. The only risk is the Aggressor taking out the engines of the MC. If it loses its engines it becomes just as slow and cumbersome as the Aggressor and is in trouble. The Aggressor should try and take out the MCs engines first. Aggressor vs ISD = The ISD is very vulnerable to the Aggressor since it does not have the maneuverabilty to keep out of its fire arc. This should always result in a defeat for the ISD, depending on how it encounters the Aggressor. If from the side or behind it has slightly more chance, however the Aggressor only needs to concentrate on the ISDs TLs and it will win. The ISD can only target the bottom mega cannon first then the turbolasers and hope for the best. I did defeat the Aggressor with an ISD but it was rather tricky and you only need to mess up the maneuvering of the ISD once and its a goner. Keldabe vs ISD = The Keldabe should destroy an ISD with impunity by concentrating its fire on the TLs and leaching its shields. By the time the Keldabe loses its shields at least one or two of the TLs should be destroyed. With half firepower the ISD would be lucky to take out a hardpoint. Keldabe vs Mon Cal = The Keldabe can be defeated by getting around to its rear, which the MC is capable of. Knock out the rear mass driver and take it from there. Once in the Keldabes rear using shield boost will protect from the good TL and Ion cannon coverage of the Keldabe. If you try to slug it out the Keldabe will make short work of the MC, again by targeting the TLs. Crusader vs Corvette = The Corvette deals with the crusader very easily and does not even need to take hull damage. Crusader vs Tartan = This is a little more competitive. The Tartan will take some damage but will still win. A timely use of the weapon boost ability will reduce the amount of damage the tartan takes. The high cost of the crusader is obviously due to its very effective special ability rather than its combat ability. Interceptor IV vs Neb B = If the Interceptor slugs it out with the Neb B the Neb B will win provided it targets the missile launcher first. If used properly the Int IV should win every time by using its special ability and speed to make a pass on the Neb B and take out its TLs first and then laser cannons. It should withdraw out of fire after each run to recharge its special ability and shields. Knocking out the engines can further increase the speed advantage of the Int IV. Interceptor IV vs Acclamator = The Int IV doesnt even need to use its special ability and the Acclamator is already in trouble. Its weak hardpoints are vulnerable to missiles and the Int IV should target the missile weapons on the Acclamator to protect its own. Both the Neb-B and Acclamator are at a big disadvantage since the Int IV has assault frigate armour and takes about 1/3 damage compared to a Neb -B or Acclamator. Starviper Sqdn vs TIE defender sqdn = Starvipers never lose. If the Defenders are lucky they may kill one starviper. Buzzdroids really help while the defenders ion ability is useless and power to weapons ability makes them sitting ducks. This really should be addressed. Starvipers vs Awings = By using their special ability the Awings should always win, even when surprised. Even with a good use of the buzz droids the starvipers will almost always lose. Only by sheer luck will they win but they wont have many fighters left. As I have found, almost all ZC ships are clearly superior to their comparable craft. They are not invincible however and while some alterations could be made my biggest gripe is still the speed and amount at which the AI produces ships, which is most felt when playign against the ZC. Unless you take out their mines and slow their economy they outproduce you with superior ships and then it becomes impossible. I dont feel you should have to resort to taking out mines to beat the ZC; you should be able to do it militarily. I havent even touched on the imbalances in land combat with the MAL launchers, Canderous tanks, and proton turrets. The number of shield equiped units combined with their firepower make them devastating.

GC is fine since its not simply pure space battles, its space skirmish that really doesnt work. Bwings do work well against the Vengeance unless there are some crusaders around. None of the ZC ships are invulnerable its just their comparative strength and the rate of their production that makes them nearly impossible to overpower...hence the space station rush. With the Bossk/IG bug I would select on a point for them to move to and they would just continue to fly around. It wasnt until I repeatedly clicked on a point and forced them to perform some radical turn they would snap out of their pattern. It was weird; i got it a few times in GC.