Wing Commander Unofficial Strategy Guide and FAQ Including Secret Missions 1 and 2 by Kasey Chang (ksc1@aol.com) released December 5, 2001 0 Introduction 0.1 A word from the author A quick browse through the gamefaq.com shows that there despite the age of Wing Commander 2, there is no FAQ for it. As I had written USG for WC3 and WC4, I thought it best to complete the series. You'll see guides for WC1, WC2, and later, WCP and WCP:SO. This is a FAQ, NOT a manual. You won't learn how to play the game with this document, and I'm NOT about to add it to ease the life of software pirates. This USG only covers the PC version since that's the only version that I have. 0.2 Terms of Distribution This document is copyrighted by Kuo-Sheng "Kasey" Chang (c) 2000- 2001, all rights reserved excepted as noted above in the disclaimer section. This document is available FREE of charge subjected to the following conditions: 1) This notice and author's name must accompany all copies of this document: "Wing Commander: Unofficial Strategy Guide" is copyrighted (c) 2000-2001 by Kasey K.S. Chang, all rights reserved except as noted in the disclaimer." 2) This document must NOT be modified in any form or manner without prior permission of the author with the following exception: if you wish to convert this document to a different file format or archive format, with no change to the content, then no permission is needed. 2a) In case you can't read, that means TXT only. No banners, no HTML borders, no cutting up into multiple pages to get you more banner hits, and esp. no adding your site name to the site list. 3) No charge other than "reasonable" compensation should charged for its distribution. Free is preferred, of course. Sale of this information is expressly prohibited. If you see any one selling this guide, drop me a line at ksc1@aol.com. 4) If you used material from this, PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE the source, else it is plagiarism. 5) The author hereby grants all games-related websites the right to archive and link to this document to share among the game fandom, provided that all above restrictions are followed. Sidenote: The above conditions are known as a statutory contract. If you meet them, then you are entitled to the rights I give you in 5), i.e. archive and display this document on your website. If you don't follow them, then you did not meet the statutory contract conditions, and therefore you have no right to display this document. If you do so, then you are infringing upon my copyright. This section was added for any websites that don't seem to understand this. For the gamers: You are under NO obligation to send me ANY compensation. However, I do ask for a VOLUNTARY contribution of one (1) US Dollar if you live in the United States, and if you believe this guide helped your game. If you choose to do so, please make your US$1.00 check or $1.00 worth of US stamps to "Kuo-Sheng Chang", and send it to "2220 Turk Blvd. #6, San Francisco, CA 94118 USA". If you don't live in the US, please send me some local stamps. I collect stamps too. 0.3 Distribution This USG should be available at Gamefaqs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) and other major PC game websites (such as gamesdomain.com, gamespot.com, etc.). To webmasters who wish to archive this FAQ on their website, please read the terms of distribution in section 0.2. It says exactly what it says. 0.4 Other Notes There is no warranty for this unofficial strategy guide. After all, it depends on YOU the player. All I can do is offer some advice. To ALL readers: if you actually DO have a question about this USG, chances are it's already answered, but you are NOT reading the latest version. The latest version of the FAQ is at gamefaqs.com. So please look there first. Otherwise, PLEASE let me know if there's a confusing or missing remark... If you find a question about this game that is not covered in the USG, e-mail it to me at ksc1@aol.com. I'll try to answer it and include it in the next update. 0.5 The Author I am just a game player who decided to write my own FAQs when the ones I find don't cover what I want to see. Lots of people like what I did, so I kept doing it. Previously, I've written Unofficial Strategy Guides (USGs) for XCOM, XCOM2:TFTD, Wing Commander 3, Wing Commander 4, Fade to Black, Spycraft, 688(I) Hunter/Killer. Mechwarrior 3, MW3 Expansion Pack, and Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed, Mechwarrior 4, Mechwarrior 4: Black Knight, and many, many others... Look for them on GameFAQs.com Most of them should be on gamefaqs.com, the biggest FAQ site around. You can also find some of them on my KC Game Nexus website at http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Alley/6275. If you need to write me, send e-mail to ksc1@aol.com. (Any spam will be reported to respective authorities). 0.6 Disclaimer/ Copyright Information Origin, Wing Commander, the distinctive Wing Commander logo, Secret Missions, Special Operations, Vengeance of the Kilrathi, Heart of the Tiger, Privateer, Wing Commander Academy, and Wing Commander Armada, and any other Wing Commander-related trademarks are trademarks of Origin Systems, Inc. Origin Systems is a wholly owned subsidiary of Electronic Arts. This USG is not endorsed or authorized by Origin or Electronic Arts. The information compiled in this USG has been gathered independently through the author's efforts. As such, they will have some discrepancies. The count of fighters at a particular encounter may be wrong, etc. The author disclaims any responsibility for such errors. 0.7 Spoiler Warning The USG contains spoilers about all missions in Wing Commander and Secret Missions 1 and 2. Only get enough help to get past the hump, so you don't spoil the sense of accomplishment. 0.8 Release History 15-NOV-2000 Initial release. 05-DEC-2001 Updated terms, fixed typos and grammar here and there 0.9 The Most Frequently Asked Questions Q: Can you send me Wing Commander (or portions thereof)? A: No. Q: Can you send me the manual (or portions thereof)? A: No. Q: Can you tell me how to play the game? A: Read the manual. Q: What's the latest version? A: This game is before games get patches. Though you can get the Kilrathi Saga version. Q: How do I get Kilrathi Saga? A: Try eBay.com's auctions, expect to pay well over $100. Q: How many expansion packs? A: Just two: Secret Missions 1, and Secret Missions 2. There are four sequels (WC2, 3, 4, and WC: Prophecy). Q: Where are the cheat codes? A: See last section Q: The game runs too fast! A: Use a slowdown program like mo'slo, or buy the Kilrathi Saga (which contains code to be speed independent). Q: How do I win medals? A: See 6.0 Q: How do I get promoted to higher rank? A: See 6.0 Q: Do medals and rank have any effect on the Kilrathi opposition? A: No. Q: Is there a particular taunt that is more effective than others? A: Maybe, but probably not. Try taunt #3? Q: How do I land? A: (sigh). Find the carrier. Request permission to land. Locate the BOW (front) of the carrier. Approach the area in FRONT of the bow. When you see the carrier off the side window, stop. Turn toward carrier, rotate until you're right-side-up, approach carrier slowly until you land. Q: Why does the game look so different from the movie? A: It is not really possible to reconcile the movie with all the games without ignoring all the obvious things. In any case, Chris Roberts claimed that the movie is the way WC should have been. 1 Game Information 1.1 Background It is the year 2645. The Kilrathi have been at war with the Confederation for the past 20 years, since the Iason incident. The war is virtually at a stand-still. You are a young lieutenant recently graduated from Confed Flight Academy. You are joining a 20-year old war that was only getting worse. Due to your excellent performance in school and your first tour of duty, you were assigned to the Bengal-class carrier TCS TIGER'S CLAW, pride of the Confederation Navy. TCS Tiger's Claw is assigned to the Vega vector to spearhead the attack. 1.2 Hardware Requirement Wing Commander was originally designed for fast 286's and early 386's (20-25 MHz or so), with VGA graphics card and optional SoundBlaster or Roland MIDI card. You can run WC on a Tandy 1000 TL (286) with 768K of RAM and the built-in graphics card (which is a copy of the IBM PC jr graphics card). The Kilrathi Saga, which includes WC, SM1, SM2, WC2, SO1, SO2, and WC3, was released after WC3. The older games get speed- compensation so it will run correctly on any computer speed, though it is still fundamentally a DOS game. 1.3 Wing Commander Innovations Wing Commander was not the first to use many of the following features, but it is the first to combine them all into one program for a truly immersive experience: --Lip-syncing dialogue (in the bar), distinctive voice actors, full speech --Space combat taunts (send Kilrathi some taunts and see if they react!) --Wingman that acts intelligently, and responds to commands --3D full-color crafts (albeit bitmap based) in full 3D space --Medals and promotions, killboard to record your exploits --Between-mission interactions to advance the story via dialog --Winning and losing campaign trees, with "second chances" nodes --Music that changes depending on combat tempo, Roland MIDI compatible 1.4 Wing Commander Trivia Wing Commander was originally titled "Squadron". When Origin decided to fund the project, the title "Wingman" was chosen. Then Origin found that "Wingman" was taken (it's the name of a WW1 aerial dogfighting board game from Avalon Hill). The title was then changed to Wing Commander. Chris Roberts had NEVER designed any sort of flight-sim or sci-fi sim before. All his previous efforts were RPG - type games. Wing Commander helped sell 386's, SoundBlaster sound cards, and Diamond Speedstar VGA cards, as it was a great technology demo. No one had believed that PC's were capable of such an experience back then. Now it looks primitive, but at that time, it was heads and shoulders above what was available. The name Kilrathi doesn't mean anything. When questioned, Chris Roberts said he wanted a race of humanoid cats as the villains, something like the Kzinti in Larry Niven novels. Then... Cats kill rats... Kilrat! Kilrathi! 1.5 Other WC versions Wing Commander was later released for virtually all consoles. 3DO get Super Wing Commander, which includes new cut scenes and animations. Even N64 gets Wing Commander. Don't forget Wing Commander the motion picture... 1.6 WC Graphics Engine Back then, the graphics engine of WC was absolutely amazing. How did the ships look so real on a simple 386, when all the other 3D games are wireframe graphics? The answer is simple: Chris Roberts "cheated" by using bitmaps. He "pre-rendered" the ships in certain orientations, and have a software sprite draw routine that can quickly rotate the bitmaps to any angle (though probably only in 15 or 30 degree increments) and zoomed to any size. The ship shapes are combined into a big file. The 3D engine then determines which of the stored bitmaps to display, and how far to zoom and rotate each one, based on the visibility and the angles involved. 2 Confed Crafts / Crafts you'll fly As a new graduate of the Confederation Flight Academy, you have the training, but not the experience. May this guide assist you in your survival. Missile types: DF=Dumbfire, HS=Heatseeker, IR=Image Recognition, FF=Friend or Foe 2.1 Hornet Hornet is the first craft you get to fly. While it is very light and very maneuverable, its two lasers are so weak it'll take you a LONG time to kill anything without the missiles, which you don't carry in great quantity. You have to spend a lot of time wearing the enemy down. Shields and armor are also quite light. Don't get hit. 2 lasers, 2 DF, 1 HS 2.2 Scimitar Scimitar is so average, it makes you feel the truth of the expression "designed by committee". It's slow. Its maneuverability is average to bad. At least its shields are somewhat heavy and its mass drivers are pretty hard hitting when you're in range. Use the heavier shields to absorb the hits and use slashing attacks. Get in, shoot, get out of range, then come back. You can't out-maneuver any one, so don't try. 2 mass drivers, 2 DF, 3 HS. 2.3 Raptor The heavy Raptor is a lot of fun to fly. With 2 neutron guns and 2 mass drivers, the close-range firepower is unequaled. The heavy armor and shields give this fighter unequaled endurance in battles. It could use a bit more visibility out the cockpits though, and some more maneuverability would be nice too. 2 mass drivers, 2 neutron guns, 2 HS, 2 IR, 2 FF, 1 mine 2.4 Rapier The new medium fighter has almost the maneuverability of Hornet, with shields almost matching Raptor (but armor of Hornet), as well as 2 lasers and 2 neutron guns, plus a good complement of missiles. It should be a pilot's dream, but in actual combat, the weapon mix proved to be a problem, as it's hard to find a good fighting range. 2 lasers, 2 neutron guns, 2 DF, 2 IR, 2 FF 2.5 Drayman-class freighter A typical Confed freighter you need to escort. With only one flak gun, they're virtually helpless. Its armor is not that much thicker than a heavy fighter's armor. Protect them. 2.6 Exeter-class Destroyer A Confed destroyer that you'll need to escort sometimes, it doesn't protect itself that well and requires fighter protection. 2.7 Bengal-class Carrier (i.e. Tiger's Claw) Need we say more? Turrets and over 100 fighters... It can be killed by a lot of fighters... But it's actually pretty hard to kill 3 Kilrathi Crafts The Kilrathi are fierce fighters, though not exactly the smartest. We seem to be the only race that fought the Kilrathi to a standstill, and this has earned us some respect, though they still consider us prey animals. Expect no mercy from them, nor should you give any. 3.1 Salthi Salthi is the Kilrathi equivalent of Hornet. It's lighter and faster, in fact. With very light shields and armor, they are easy to kill. Of course, that's assuming if you can actually hit one. If you need to fight one, lock on to one and stay on it until you kill it. 2 lasers, 1 DF 3.2 Dralthi Known as the "flying pancake", Dralthi is armed just like Salthi, and slightly more armored. It's also a lot less manueverable, and a much bigger target, esp. when pitching up or down. 2 lasers, 3 HS, 3 mines 3.3 Krant Equivalent to Raptor in terms of armor and performance, there are only 2 lasers on this fighter. It very under-armed and you should be glad the Kilrathi designed it that way. 2 laser, 1 FF, 3 HS 3.4 Jalthi While the conversation in the bar makes Jalthi sound like flying death, the truth is they maneuver as bad as (or worse than) Scimitar. As long as you avoid their bow (where they shoot), they are quite easy to kill, esp. from the rear. 3 neutron guns, 3 lasers, 2 FF, 1 HS 3.5 Gratha Another heavy fighter, it's armed with mass drivers and lasers, which can really chew you up at close range. The armor and shields are slightly less than Jalthi's, but it's also a bit more maneuverable. Those mines can hurt a little bit, but only a little. 2 lasers, 2 mass drivers, 1 IR, 3 HS, 2 mines 3.6 Dorkir-class transport Kilrathi version of Drayman... It's virtually helpless to fighters. 3.7 Ralari-class destroyer Kilrathi's equivalent of our Exeter-class, it requires fighter escort as well. 3.8 Fralthi-class cruiser/carrier Kilrathi do not operate true carriers like the Confeds. Instead, they operate larger groups of cruiser/carriers like the Fralthi, which carries two eights (2 groups of eight) of fighters (plus spares). 4 Weapons 4.1 Laser cannon Found in Hornet and Rapier as well as many Kilrathi crafts, this has the longest range of any fighter weapon you have, but also the weakest. 4.2 Mass Driver A decent medium range weapon, it is quite hard-hitting at closer ranges. 4.3 Neutron Gun Close-range heavy hitting weapon, get close and let them have it! 4.4 Dumb-Fire Missile (DF) Straight-shooter, it could be used against fighters if it's heading straight toward you or away from you, but best used on cap ships, which can't get out of the way. 4.5 Heat-Seeking Missile (HS) Heat-seeking missiles need a "rear aspect" lock-on, so you have to get behind a fighter and stay there until the lock-on. Best used on slow and heavy fighters. 4.6 Image Recognition Missile (IR) IR missiles can be locked on from any angle, so they are much more useful than HS missiles. Reserve them for really manueverable enemies. 4.7 Friend-or-Foe Missile (FF) True fire-and-forget missile, its warhead strength and range is less than other missiles, but you can fire them blind in a dogfight to keep enemies off your back. 4.8 Mines Of all the Confed crafts, only Raptors carry mines, and those aren't that useful as they don't do much damage. If you have enemies behind you and you're out of weapons, drop one. Otherwise it's useless. 5 General Tactics 5.1 The AI WC AI is above average for its time. The way AI works is it has a set of prescribed actions for specific situations. When a situation presents itself, it will choose the matching action set, then roll a dice and pick one of those actions depending on the assigned probability table. This means that AI DOES behave similarly though not identically under identical situations. The Aces in WC1 have different reaction tables than the "general" Kilrathi fighters. This makes them less predictable. 5.2 Taunting the Enemy Taunting Kilrathi does have a chance of making them mad at you, and shift them into attack mode against you, thus diverting them from their goal. It does not always work though. Some people swear by taunt number three as more effective than the other two, though that is not confirmed. 5.3 Your Wingman Your wingman does follow your commands, though how well they do so is dependent on their "personality", which is again, just some numbers that affects the AI situational die roll. You should be able to finish most missions by yourself, as the wingman rarely if ever score kills in WC. It's not uncommon for you to score HUNDREDS of kills by the end of WC while your fellow pilots score only in the teens and twenties. Therefore, if you want to keep the wingman alive, send them home and do the mission all by yourself. In WC1, it's possible to kill your wingman (or allow them to be killed). That means they are not available for later mission series, which can be bad. It's gotten so random that Origin decided to assume NO ONE died in SM2 just to keep the story line straight. 5.4 Escorting Cap Ships Don't fight right next to the cap ships. WC's graphics engine does not show exact details on where you can and cannot fly next to cap ships. If you get too close, you will collide, even though the space looks clear in front of you. Instead, stay a few thousand meters beyond the cap ship. Constantly attack the enemy fighter that is attacking the cap ship, but don't follow it around until you kill it. The other enemy fighters may be killing your ship. Instead, stay near the cap ship and just hit the attacking fighters. You may not kill all of them, but the cap ship will be safe. Taunting the fighter shooting at the capship is a good way to stop his attacks (of course, he'll turn his attention toward you!) 5.5 Killing Enemy Cap Ships In WC1 it's easy to kill capships (capital ships, destroyers and larger). Take out all the fighter escort, then park yourself behind the capship and keep shooting at the engine cones until it goes boom. Try to match the capship's speed if it's moving. If your shields get low, turn around, afterburn out, wait till shields recharge, then come back and do it again. 5.6 Ramming the enemy While kamikaze is quite old, it is a valid tactic in WC due to fighter shields. When you need VERY quick kills, and don't mind a bit of damage to your own craft as a result, ramming is a valid tactic. Get behind the enemy, then tap the afterburners in short bursts until you smack into the rear of the enemy fighter. Turn around and afterburn away unless your gun is already recharged. In that case, you may as well kill that fighter right now while its shields are down. There will be a mission or two where ramming is the only way to win. 5.7 Routing the enemy In missions where you face multiple waves of enemy fighters, you can prevent the later waves from showing up by NOT destroying the first wave. Damage the last fighter in the first wave to force it to retreat, and the later waves won't show up. This is technically a bug, but when you're fighting against overwhelming odds, you need every advantage you can get. 6 Missions Wing Commander has 13 series, for a total of 40 missions. There's a "winning" branch, a "losing" branch, and a lot of "in-between" branches. The losing branch missions are a bit harder as you fly inferior crafts and face slightly more enemies. Each series can be won or lost except the final two. Series missions have "victory points", which are counted toward the series. If you accumulate more victory points than the minimum required for the series, you win the series and continue on the winning path. Otherwise, you lose the series and follow the losing branch to another series. You can lose some missions in the series and still win the series as long as you have the required victory points to win the series. The after-action briefing you get with Colonel Halcyon will be different depending on you win or lose the mission, but that in itself does not dictate the series win or loss. You should NOT try to win every mission. This distracts from the fun. Most of the Wing Commander players never see the losing series or the in-between series, despite all the efforts spent by Origin to design the missions. Just play the best you can, and "enjoy the ride". Winning medals and promotions depends on amount of "medal points" you accumulate. Killing Kilrathi ships wins medal points, so does saving Confed ships. Losing Confed ships loses medal points. These points have nothing do with the victory points listed above. When you accumulate certain number of medal points, you gain one rank. Certain missions have a possibility of winning a medal. If you accumulate enough "medal points" in that mission you win that medal. I don't have an exact chart for this, but you can guess that killing capships would win a lot more points than killing puny fighters. Your rank and medals has no effect on the game. They are there only as "rewards" for your performance. Each mission is then broken down into "action zones", which are either on the nav points, or between nav points. As there are a maximum of four nav points in a WC mission, N12, N23, and N34 will be used to denote the "in between" action zone encounters between nav 1 and nav 2, nav 2 and nav 3, or nav 3 and nav 4 respectively. Tiger's Claw or start is considered nav 0 for this purpose. 6.1 Mission Tree Key: Series name (number of missions), Win goes to, Lose goes to Enyo (2 missions) W = McAuliffe L = Gateway McAuliffe (3 missions) W = Gimle L = Brimstone Gateway (3 missions) W = Brimstone L= Cheng Du Gimle (3 missions) W = Dakota L = Brimstone Brimstone (3 missions) W = Dakota L = Port Hedland Cheng Du (3 missions) W = Brimstone L = Port Hedland Dakota (3 missions) W = Kurasawa L = Rostov Port Hedland (3 missions) W = Rostov L = Hubble's Star Kurasawa (3 missions) W = Venice L= Rostov Rostov (3 missions) W = Venice L = Hell's Kitchen Hubble's Star (3 missions) W = Rostov L = Hell's Kitchen Venice (4 missions) You win Hell's Kitchen (4 missions) You lose If you draw this on paper, you'll see that there are a LOT of second chances. Unless you end up in Hell's Kitchen, you can always fight yourself back onto the winning track and get to Venice, where you win the Vega sector. If you want the quickest way to win WC, you can eject in all Enyo, all Gateway, all Cheng-Du, and all Port Hedland. Play Hubble's Star 1 and Hubble's Star 3 perfectly, eject from Rostov 1, win Rostov 2 and Rostov 3, then eject from all Venice missions. You only need to play four missions. If you want maximum number of kills, then you need to lose Gimle and Kurasawa (almost everybody loses Kurasawa any way) to play Brimstone and Rostov for two extra series. Note about the mission listing: The series is listed with name of the system, and the points needed to win next to points available. For example, Enyo Series (11/15) means there are 15 victory points in this series, and you need 11 to win this series and end up in Gateway. If you don't, you go to McAuliffe. 6.2 Enyo Series (11/15) In Enyo, you pilot the Hornet along with Spirit. She listens to your orders (just humoring you, really. After all, you're the rookie just out of the Academy!) and she's not too bad in the cockpit either. The missions are easy. If you can't handle this, you're not fit to sit in the cockpit. 6.2.1 Enyo 1 (6/6) Patrol Nav 1 (2), Nav 2 (1), Nav 3 (2), Land (1). No medals possible. Simple patrol. N01 has 3 Dralthi. Asteroids at N2. 2 Salthi at N23. Some asteroids at N30. You can bypass most of the asteroids at nav 2 by going N1, N3, N2, then N0. 6.2.2 Enyo 2 (5/9) Escort nav 1 (2), nav 2 (2), Drayman escorted out (5), Bronze Star for 52 medal points. Your first escort mission have your wing escorting Drayman out to the jump point. N01 has 2 Salthi, and N12 has 3 Dralthi. There are a few asteroids at Nav 2. Wait until the Drayman jumps out before returning to the Claw. 6.3 McAuliffe Series (32/37) McAuliffe is on the winning track, and you'll be flying with Paladin. After the light armament of the Hornet, you'd think Scimitar is armed heavily... But it handles like a pig. Things are still easy, as you'll get your first chance to fight enemy aces and conduct cap ship strikes here. You'll also get your first taste of a minefield. 6.3.1 McAuliffe 1 (8/10) Patrol N1 (2), N2 (2), N3 (2), N4 (2), land (2). No medal possible. Simple patrol again. There are 3 Dralthi at N01, mine field at N32, and 3 Salthis at N34. With mass drivers, you outgun all of the enemy crafts. With Scimitar you can actually play "chicken" with a Dralthi. Just keep firing when you're in range, and you should kill it before you two collide head-on. 6.3.2 McAuliffe 2 (11/12) Cap ship strike, N1 (1), destroy Ralari (10), land (1). Bronze Star for 65 medal points. Your first strike mission has 4 Dralthi at N01, and the Ralari with 2 escorting Krants at N1. Just take out the escorts, then park yourself behind the Ralari and fire away. 6.3.3 McAuliffe 3 (16/17) Escort. N1 (1), Escort Drayman (10), kill Bhurak (5), land (1). Silver Star for 86 medal points. Escort freighter, N01 has 4 Krants, while 3 Salthis (including Bhurak Starkiller) attack you at N10 after you come back with the Drayman. Your first serious escort mission requires you to go out, meet a freighter, and escort it back to the Claw. The 4 Krants on the way are pretty tough, though they don't have much firepower. The Salthis on the way back really move around, and Bhurak will try to draw you away from the freighter so the other two Salthis can kill it. Taunt the other two Salthis to attack you (and thus ignoring the freighter), then take out the Salthis. 6.4 Gateway Series (35/44) Gateway is the first series on the losing track, though there's plenty of time to fight your way back. Unfortunately, you fly the Hornet, which are way too weak to be an effective escort. 6.4.1 Gateway 1 (6/8) Patrol, N1 (2), N2 (2), N3 (2), Land (2), no medal possible. Asteroids at N01, N1 is clear. N12 has 4 Salthis. N23 has 2 Grathas. N3 is clear, N30 is clear. Your first encounter with Gratha is not a pleasant one. They are so heavy that it'll take a LOT of shots to kill them. Don't get too close or their mass drivers will chew you up. 6.4.2 Gateway 2 (20/20) Scramble, keep Tiger's Claw alive (20), Silver Star for 50 medal points. Your first scramble mission features a LOT of enemies attacking your home base. 3 wings of 2 Dralthis attack the Claw. Kill them all, and you win this mission. If you kill five out of six, you get the medal too. 6.4.3 Gateway 3 (15/16) Escort mission. Escort Drayman (15), kill Bhurak (1), Silver Star for 62 medal points. There are 5 Krants at N01, and 3 Salthis (including Bhurak Starkiller) at N10. Taking out the Krants with a Hornet requires a lot of patience. Use your HS here as you won't get a chance to use them on the Salthis. Keep the DFs for the Salthis. Again, escorting the Drayman is the primary objective, and those Salthis will go after the Drayman unless you divert them by shooting them or taunting them. 6.5 Gimle Series (25/35) You fly the Gimle series with Angel in a Raptor, probably the best fighter in the game, and you get to try out the new Rapier as well. You are definitely on the winning track. It is possible to lose the Exeter in Gimle 1 and still win the series, but you can't afford to lose any more points other than those 10. 6.5.1 Gimle 1 (12/12) Defend mission. Defend Exeter (10), land (2). Gold Star possible for 83 medal points. You launch and immediately run into 2+2 Salthis (2 waves of 2). Don't use up all your missiles against them. Use full guns and wipe them out. One solid hit will cripple it. Your first encounter with the three Jalthi is not a happy one. The three of them can take out the Exeter quickly unless you even the odds ASAP. Blow one up with missiles and full guns. Then send Angel to keep one busy while you take out the other one. Your shields can take ONE salvo of those six guns, but only one. If you have to, ram one of the Jalthis. 6.5.2 Gimle 2 (9/10) Patrol mission. You get to try the new Rapier. N1 (1), N2 (3), N3 (3), kill Gratha(s) (3). Launch, area is clean. N1 has asteroids but otherwise unoccupied. Rapier's high speed may make navigating the asteroids difficult, so slow down! N12 has 4 Dralthis. N2 is clear. N23 is blocked by 2 Grathas, which are pretty hard to kill. 6.5.3 Gimle 3 (9/13) Patrol mission, each Dralthi is 1 point except the last one, while Dakhath is 5 points. 80 medal points for a Bronze Star. Launch is clear. When you hit N1, you find 5 Dralthis. When you kill them all, Dakhath (Dralthi Ace) and 3 more Dralthis show up. After that, go home. If you can't handle these Dralthis in a Raptor, you really shouldn't be flying. 6.6 Brimstone (28/28) You get here by losing McAuliffe, or winning Gateway. Unfortunately, you're flying Scimitar with Maniac, who almost never follows orders. If you can keep him alive, you are good. You must complete EVERY goal of every mission, or you lose the series. 6.6.1 Brimstone 1 (8/8) Patrol mission. N1 (2), N2 (2), N3 (2), Land (2). No medal possible. Launch is clear. N01 has a Salthi. When you take it out, 3 Grathas jump in. 2 Krants block N12. Asteroids are at Nav 2. Nav 3 is clear. 6.6.2 Brimstone 2 (10/10) Escort mission. Exeter escorted to the Claw (10) Asteroids with 4 Salthis are at N01. While you may want to bypass them, that's actually a bad idea, since they will show up at N2 later if you don't destroy them. Instead, take your time and wipe them out. Then head on out to N1 and take out those 4 attacking Dralthis. Then go home via N2 and you're done. 6.6.3 Brimstone 3 (10/10) Strike mission. Must destroy Dorkir (10). On the way to N1, 2 Jalthis block your way. At N1, 4 Krants are escorting the Dorkir. When you kill them, 2 more Krants show up. Take them all out and go home. 6.7 Cheng-Du Series (26/26) While Cheng-Du is on the losing track, it's in the mid-way losing. To win the game really fast, you should consider losing this series. If you do so, you just need to win at Port Hedland, Rostov, and you're at Venice. If you win, you end up at Brimstone, Dakota, Kurasawa, then Venice, one more series and 3 more missions to fly. You fly with Angel in Cheng-Du. The problem is you'll be flying Hornets, which are just too light to do serious work. 6.7.1 Cheng-Du 1 (6/6) Escort / Strike mission. Escort Valkyrie (5), land (1) Valkyrie is in a Hornet at N1, under attack by 4 Krants. If you take out the 4 Krants, the Ralari Valkyrie saw may show up with 2 Krant escorts. If so, destroy it (then the victory point becomes 16, with the Ralari worth 10 pts). Otherwise, go home. In WC, the Ralari may or may not show up. If you use the SM2.EXE to run this mission, then the Ralari always show up. Guess there's a bug in the mission script. (see 9.3 on the SM2.EXE alternate way to run WC). 6.7.2 Cheng-Du 2 (10) Escort mission. Safely escort Exeter (10). Who the heck decided to run a destroyer through asteroid fields? There are THREE asteroid fields between N01. You must escort the Exeter to N1, and keep the Dralthis (one of them piloted by Dakhath) off the Exeter until it jumps. After you take care of them, 5 Salthis will jump you at N10 (on the way back). 6.7.3 Cheng-Du 3 (10) Defend mission. Successfully defend the Claw (10). Silver Star for 75 medal points. Upon launch, 2+2+2 Grathas attack the Claw. Take them all out, enough said. 6.8 Dakota Series (50/67) Dakota series is on the winning track. While Raptor is good, Knight is below average. At least the missions are challenging. 6.8.1 Dakota 1 (17/17) Escort mission. Escort Drayman out (5), Escort Drayman in (10), land (2). Silver Star for 150 mp. Launch, rendevous with Drayman. At N01 5 Salthis (4 Jalthis?) attacked. 3 Krants waited at N1. Freighter jumped. Upon arriving at N2 3 Jalthis (4?) attack Drayman. This mission is hard, with two escort segments. Both require good shepherding and quick kills. 6.8.2 Dakota 2 (17/23) Patrol / Strike mission. N1 (2), N2 (2), N3 (2), land (2), destroy Ralari (15). Silver Star for 105 mp. Launch is clear. Asteroid field and 2 Grathas are at N1. Dogfighting in asteroid field can be quite tense. Ralari with 6 Krants are sitting at N2. N3 just have a few more asteroids. 6.8.3 Dakota 3 (17/27) Strike mission, Dorkir (5), Dorkir (2 x 10), land (2). Gold Star for 135 mp. First Dorkir is at N1 escorted by 6 Krants. Toast them. At Nav 2, you find instead of 1 Dorkir that Colonel Halcyon said to expected, you see two Dorkirs! 2 Jalthi escorts each Dorkir. And Bakhtosh Redclaw is there in a Jalthi... So take them all out. 6.9 Port Hedland Series (X/X) As you must complete each and every goal in this series, there's no point in listing the individual victory points... This series features the Scimitar... Not good. You're flying with Knight, which is almost as bad. Be careful out there. 6.9.1 Port Hedland 1 (X/X) Escort the Drayman back to the Claw. Bronze star for 130 mp. 4 Jalthis jump you at N01, and 3 Grathas jump you at N10. 6.9.2 Port Hedland 2 (X/X) Patrol / Strike mission. Hit all nav points, and take out the Fralthi. Silver star for 130 mp 3 Dralthi await you at N1. N2 just have some mines. Fralthi and 3 Grathas are at N3, while some asteroids are at N4. 6.9.3 Port Hedland 3 (X/X) Defend / Defend / Strike. Gold Star for 165 mp. Upon launch, 4 Jalthis are attacking the Claw. Once clear, head for N1, where 4 Grathas are attacking the Exeter. Once that's clear, head for N2, where 4 Krants are escorting the Fralthi. Take them all out and go home. 6.10 Kurasawa Series (40/50) This is known as the impossible series. You finally get to play with the Rapier, and Bossman flies quite well. Despite that advantage, mission 2 is just about impossible, so we'll see you at Rostov... 6.10.1 Kurasawa 1 (20/20) Strike mission. Take out Dorkir (10), Dorkir (5), and Dorkir (5). No medals. You find 5 Dralthi and a Dorkir at N1A. N2 has a Dorkir escorted by 4 Krants. At N1B 2 Jalthis are waiting for the Dorkir to jump in. Take care of them, then the Dorkir when it jumps in. 6.10.2 Kurasawa 2 (15/15) Escort mission, escort the captured Ralari back to the Claw (15). 98 pm for Silver Star. (hah!) This is the impossible mission. There's an asteroid field between you and N1. Inside are 4 Salthis, so take them out. Once you come out of the autopilot at N1, you have about 15-20 seconds to save the Ralari, which is NOT enough time to distract all 4 Grathas unless you're extremely lucky or good or both. You can try this 100 times and you won't succeed. It's THAT frustrating. If you really want to try, you need to kill two Grathas VERY quickly. Quickly find the ones attacking (some may just be flying around). Quickly send taunt to all four while you afterburner in. Send Bossman to attack one. Fire one missile at the next one, then full guns. That should kill that one. Turn toward next one, kamikaze into it, hopefully right after you fired your missile at it. By then your missile should lock and/or your guns should be recharged. Kill that one. Now two are down and the odds are even. Hopefully the Ralari is still alive then. Then just kill them and you win the mission. 6.10.3 Kurasawa 3 (15/15) Escort mission, escort the Exeter (15) back to the Claw. No medal. This one is actually quite easy. There's a minefield between N01. Five Dralthis are attacking the Exeter at N1.Kill them. Rendevous with Exeter. As you reach N2, 4 Krants attack. Take them out, and you're home free. 6.11 Rostov Series (40/55) Rostov is the turning point. If you win, you go to Venice. If you lose, you go to Hell's Kitchen. While Rostov missions are fun, all those asteroid fields also make the missions quite tedious. You're flying with Iceman in Raptors, and you'll need the shields and firepower to win the day. 6.11.1 Rostov 1 (12/15) Patrol/Strike. 4 Nav points (1 pt each), Dorkir (10), land (1). Bronze Star for 135 mp. So many asteroids... It's boring. N1 is in asteroids. 2 Dralthi at N12. N2 is in asteroids. N3 has 5 Grathas and a Dorkir. N4 has asteroids, and more asteroids between N4 and home. 6.11.2 Rostov 2 (15/15) Strike mission, destroy the Ralari (15). Silver Star for 113 mp. Launch is inside an asteroid field. Wing of 2+3 Salthis is between N0 and N1. 4 Jalthis are escorting the Ralari at N1. 6.11.3 Rostov 3 (25/25) Patrol/Strike mission. Find Fralthi (15), kill Fralthi (10). Gold Star for 120 mp. N01 has nothing. N1 has nothing. At N2 you'll find the 4 Krants and the Fralthi. Kill them. Between N20 you'll find 4 Dralthi between the asteroids. 6.12 Hubble's Star Series (65/90) You fly with Knight in Scimitars. Missions are a bit tougher... Mainly due to lousy fighters. 6.12.1 Hubble's Star 1 (50/50) Patrol / Strike mission, kill Ralari (15), Dakhath (15), and both Dorkirs (2x10). Note: if you have killed Dakhath in a previous mission, you get those 15 pts automatically. Launch is clear. N1 has the Ralari and 4 Krants. 4 Dralthi (including Dakhath) and the 2 Dorkirs are at N2. N3 has some mines. Be careful about Dakhath. If you damage him, he'll run away. Kill him, THEN worry about the transports. 6.12.2 Hubble's Star 2 (20/20) Escort two Draymen (10 each) back to the Claw. 120 mp for Bronze Star. Launch is clear. 4 Dralthis intercept between Claw and N1. Then you run into a minefield. At N1 4 Gratha are attacking the Draymen. Note: you can lose both tankers, this mission doesn't matter that much. As long as you do mission 1 and mission 3 perfectly you win the series. 6.12.3 Hubble's Star 3 (20/20) Defend the Claw (10), kill Redclaw (10), 110 mp for Silver Star. Note: if you had killed Redclaw in a previous mission, you get the 10 pts automatically. You go off to N1 to find the strike force... And through some asteroids. Upon arriving at N1, you see only a few Krants. Guess where they are? Yep. Kill the Krants, get back to the Claw, and you see the 4 Grathas attacking. When you take them out, 2 Jalthis join in (one of them would be Redclaw if he's still around). Take them out, and you get the chance at Venice. 6.13 Venice Series As long as you are at Venice, you have won (you'll see the winning endgame). You can eject from every mission in this series. It does not matter. You fly this series with Hunter in Rapiers. 6.13.1 Venice 1 Patrol, Silver Star for 155 mp. Exeter at N1, mines and 2 Jalthis at N2, mines at N3, asteroids at N34, 4 Krants at N4. There may be 4 Grathas and a Ralari at N4, unconfirmed. No tricks, just kill all the enemies you see. 6.13.2 Venice 2 Strike, with a little help. Take out the Fralthi at N2. No medal... Launch and rendevous with other Rapiers. Approach N1 with asteroids and you'll run into 4 Grathas, though they should be no problem. On the way to N2 you'll run into 4 Salthi. And finally, at N2 you see the Fralthi with 4 Krants as escort. 6.13.3 Venice 3 Patrol / Strike / Defend. Clear out the way for Tiger's Claw to get into position to attack the Kilrathi starbase in Venice. It may be possible to get a Bronze Star on this mission, though medal points is unclear. N01 has a minefield. N1 is clear. N12 has 2 Jalthi. N2 is clear. N3 has a Ralari and 2 Dralthi. As you reach N4, you see 4 Gratha attacking Tiger's Claw. 6.13.4 Venice 4 Strike mission: take out the Starbase. You can get a Pewter Planet for 243 pts, but you can't keep it, even though you had to kill just about everything personally to get it. The game ends so you can't save that Pewter planet. N01 has a minefield. At N1 there's a Fralthi escorted by 4 Krants. At N2, 4 Grathas, followed by 4 Salthis, then 4 Jalthis protect the Starbase. When you take out the Starbase and return to the Claw, the game ends. You get your debriefing and maybe the medal, then the winning endgame, without a chance to REALLY admire your Pewter Planet you may have won. 6.14 Hell's Kitchen Oh, great. You'll on the losing track, and you're in a Scimitar flying with Hunter. As you WILL lose, there's no point listing the victory points. Is there? 6.14.1 Hell's Kitchen 1 Escort mission. Go to N1, escort the Drayman in. Between N01 are 4 Salthis in your way. At N1, 3 Krants will attempt to stop you. Then 2 Krants (including Khajja the Fang) will attack. Drayman jumps in. On the way back, 4 Grathas attack. 6.14.2 Hell's Kitchen 2 Patrol / Strike. Between N01 is a minefield, and 3-4 Salthis. At N1, you either see 4 Grathas or a Fralthi escorted by 3+3 Grathas. 6.14.3 Hell's Kitchen 3 There are 4 Salthis in the mine field between N01. 4 Grathas (and 4 Dralthis?) are attacking the Exeter at N1. Dakhath, if you haven't killed him, will be in one of the Dralthis. 6.14.4 Hell's Kitchen 4 Patrol / Strike, clear the way for Tiger's Claw's retreat. N1 has 2 Grathas and a Ralari. N2 has 4 Salthi. Take care of all the enemies fast, since the Tiger's Claw won't wait forever! 7 Secret Missions 1 You celebrated the victory at Vega sector, but SOS arrived from Goddard Colony... They were under Kilrathi attack, then nothing. Tiger's Claw has been ordered to rush to Deneb sector, Goddard System to investigate or rescue... Game-wise, there are no changes. Almost the same crafts, same enemies. The Kilrathi gets a new transport called the Lumbari, but it's really just the Dorkir with a little different paint job. The missions are tougher, there are more enemies, and there is not much of a mission tree. It's straight-through, win or retreat. 7.1 Mission Tree Goddard (2 missions) Continue to Border Zone Border Zone (2 missions) W = Midgard L = Retreat Midgard (2 missions) W = Jotunheim L = Retreat Jotunheim (3 missions) W = Bifrost L = Retreat Bifrost (3 missions) W = Valgard L = Retreat Valgard (2 missions) W = Vigrid L = Retreat Vigrid (2 missions) W = You win! L = Retreat Retreat (2 mission) You lose! 7.2 Goddard Series You fly Hornets with Hunter in Goddard. Why do they assign Hornets to escort and strike duty? I have no idea. It makes no sense. 7.2.1 Goddard 1 Defend, strike, escort, sweep... What don't you do in this mission? N01 has 4 Salthi and a Lumbari. Asteroids with 2 Salthi are at N12. At N2 you need to protect the Diligent from 3 Krants. When you reach N3, the Venture-class corvette is under attack by 3 Krants. As you escort it to the Claw 3 Salthis attack. At N12, try to lure the Salthis out of the asteroid field to fight them. Save the missiles for the fight at N2, as the Diligent is more fragile than the corvette. 7.2.2 Goddard 2 Defend then strike... Silver Star possible for 115 mp? 2 Grathas and 3 Krants attack when you launch. At N1 4 Salthis escort the Lumbari. There is an asteroid field between N1 and N2. At N2 2 Krants are trying to protect a Dorkir. 7.3 Border Zone series You fly Raptor with Angel as wingman, and you'll need the extra firepower. Some new "super weapon" wiped out Goddard. Tiger's Claw is the only ship capable of taking out that weapon before it escapes... One of the Drayman in Mission 2 must survive in order to win the series. 7.3.1 Border Zone 1 Strike mission. When you launch, 4 Krants attack. There's a minefield between launch and N1. Upon reaching N1, you'll find the Fralthi escorted by 3 Krants and 4 Grathas. When you return, Claw is under attack by 3 (5?) Dralthis. 7.3.2 Border Zone 2 One of the two Draymen must make it out... Two Krants attack while you are on your way to N1. Then you hit a minefield. When you are near N1 three Jalthis will attack. Once you secured the nav point, the two freighters will come in. Get within 1500 meters of each to make sure they will follow you. Stop at N2 and wait for them to jump out. Head back, and you'll run into 3 Grathas and 2 Krants. Make it back to the Claw. Note: If the briefing says you only got one Drayman out, but you got both out, don't worry about it. This is a game bug. They never expected for you to save both ships. 7.4 Midgard series (35/50) The Claw chased the attack fleet into Kilrathi space. You will be flying a Scimitar (demotion?) with Bossman. You can fail some objectives and still win the series. 7.4.1 Midgard 1 (20/25) Strike/sweep. Two Jalthis attack N01. Two Krants attack at N1, followed by the captured Drayman (20) and 2 more Krants. Destroy all of them. A Ralari (5) with 2 Salthis are at N2. Take them out and return to the Claw. 7.4.2 Midgard 2 (25/25) Escort, probably the toughest escort mission of all, you need to bring a captured Dralthi back home. This mission have so many enemies, it's not funny. However, you really only need 10 pts to win the series. Near N1, you find 2 Gratha and a Ralari (5). At N2, 3 Dralthis are shooting at the friendly Dralthi. (10) At N3 (5) , there are 4+5 Dralthis, and maybe a Fralthi (5). If you return to N1, a Fralthi (5) and 4 Jalthis may show up. This one is horribly tedious if you want the maximum amount of points. Or you can go the speedy way, use afterburners to run away really fast after you got the Dralthi following you. Keep issuing the order "Join on my wing" and keep running away. The long way: Kill the Ralari will get you 5 points. At N2 the Dralthis are attacking, just clear the area. Afterburn your way past the enemies. Bypass all the nav points and take the Dralthi back directly. Once you got that, double back and take out the Fralthis. If you see Spirit and Knight in the bar, you're in Jotunheim. If you see Spirit and Angel in the bar, you're in Retreat series. 7.5 Jotunheim Series (27/35) The Claw chased the attack fleet DEEPER into Kilrathi space. You will be flying a Raptor with Spirit. You can fail some objectives and still win the series. 7.5.1 Jotunheim 1 (12/12) Strike, then escort. Kill Fralthi at N1 (5) escorted by 3+3 Salthis. N2 (2) is guarded by 4 Grathas. 4 Krants are at N3. After you take care of them Drayman jumps in (5) then 3 Krants show up. Escort the Drayman back to the Claw. 7.5.2 Jotunheim 2 (23/23) Strike. N1 is occupied by a Dorkir (5) with 2+2 Salthis. N2 has asteroids and 3 Krants (1 each). N3 has Fralthi (5) and 3+2 Grathas (2 each). Maniac's gone cuckoo... And Iceman is talking about the mythical Gwenhyvar, an Exeter-class Destroyer captured intact by the Kilrathi... Is that a hint or an omen? 7.5.3 Jotunheim 3 Patrol / Defend / Strike mission. This is a really weird mission. 4 Gratha attack on the way to N1, followed by 4 Jalthi. At N2 you meet 4 RAPIERS and the Gwenhyvar! On the way back 4 Krants and 2+2 Grathas ambush you. Yep, you run into the Gwenhyvar... The Gratha and Jalthi are easy. It's the Rapiers that can really kill you. Save the missiles for them. Keep a lot of AB fuel, as you'll need some to kill the Krants and Grathas. Note: if you don't kill ANY enemy fighters, just come back and land, you may get a Bronze Star. Or you can choose to eject and get the Golden Sunburst (ejection medal) instead. Of course, that doesn't look good on your killboard... 7.6 Bifrost Series (25/40) The Claw chased the attack fleet DEEPER into Kilrathi space. The Claw will take out the nearby fuel sources, then whittle down the escorts. You will be flying a Raptor or a Scimitar with Paladin. You can fail some objectives and still win the series. 7.6.1 Bifrost 1 (11/12) Strike mission. It is not possible to "win" this mission without cheating. 3 Jalthis (2 each) protect N1. N2 (2) has a Ralari and 2 Krants. At N3 (2) is the Sivar (2) escorted by 6 Jalthis. Just kill everything you can reach and go home. Strangely, this mission has 2 of the victory points assigned to the destruction of Sivar, which is impossible. As soon as you target it, it'll jump out. You won't even get into weapons range! You'll get yelled at, but that's okay. 7.6.2 Bifrost 2 (25/30) Strike mission again. N1 has 3 Salthis. 4 Krants and Lumbari (5) are near N2. N3, the fuel depot / starbase (25), is guarded by 4 Jalthis and 5 Grathas. You'll need to go through a minefield to go home. For the Vega sector vets... Doesn't this mission remind you of Venice 4? It's not that hard... Just tedious. Take out the escorts first, then kill the starbase. 7.6.3 Bifrost 3 (15/20) Strike Mission. Tiger's Claw is sitting at the location of the former fuel depot. Kill ALL enemy presence, no enemy ships must be allowed to escape to warn the Sivar. N1 has 2 Lumbaris (5 each) with 3 Krants. N2 has a Ralari (5) with 3 Grathas. N3 has a Fralthi (5) with 4 Jalthis. Some mines and 3 Krants sit on your way home. 7.7 Valgard Series (25/40) The Claw has taken out the fuel supply. Now we just have to kill all the incoming ships and keep the secret... You will be flying a Rapier with Iceman. All objectives must be accomplished. 7.7.1 Valgard 1 (20/20) Take out most of Sivar's escorts (5 pt per capship). There's quite a few of them. N1 has 4 Krants and a Lumbari. N2 has 4 Jalthis and a Dorkir. The big group is at N3, with 2 Fralthis, 4 Krants, and 2 Grathas. When you take care of the fighters, 2 Grathas and 2 Jalthis will join in. The orders were to avoid the minefield between N3 and home by going past N1. When you head back to N1, you run into 3 Grathas and a Ralari. Avoid damage as much as possible, as there are a LOT of enemies you must go through, and save afterburner fuel for when you really need it. When attacking capships, try to lure the escorts away from the ship. Then deal with the escorts. When no more can be teased, just go in with guns blasting. 7.7.2 Valgard 2 (25/25) Scramble! Tiger's Claw is under attack from the "orphaned" Kilrathi fighters! Defend the Claw! (25) 2+2 Krants, 3 Jalthis, then 3 Grathas and 3 Krants attack. Take them all out. 7.8 Vigrid Series The Claw has taken out most of the escorts and Sivar is now low on fuel. Just have to find it and kill it... You will be flying a Rapier with Knight. 7.8.1 Vigrid 1 (0/0 Must win) Strike / Defend. No medals possible. 2 Jalthis block your way to N1. Once you're at N1 you find a Ralari escorted by 2 Jalthis. 5 Grathas join in later. When you return to the Claw, it is under attack by 2+3+3+3 Grathas (yep, 4 waves). Try not to get hammered by the Grathas at N1. Use taunts to draw the Grathas from the Claw at the end. 7.8.2 Vigrid 2 (0/0 Must Win) Strike / Defend. Gold medal possible for over 200 mp (exact number unsure) There's 4 Krants and a Fralthi, the last escort at N1. Don't waste any missiles or afterburner here. Take them out with guns only. The mission objective is at N2. 4 Krants will try to stop you while you're on the way. The Sivar is at N2 with 2 more Krants. As you take care of the Krants multiple waves of Jalthis and Grathas will try to stop you. The numbers gets a little confusing here, as some reported 5-6 Jalthis and anywhere from 6- 9 Grathas. When you toast them, Sivar is just a very big target. 4 Krants show up around N3, then it's home free. 7.9 Retreat Series If you lose ANY of the series (except Goddard, which you can't lose), you end up here. If that's not bad enough, you fly with Maniac in Scimitars. At least the ending is worth looking at. 7.9.1 Retreat 1 Strike mission. Clear the way for the Claw to get out of here. No medal possible. N1 has Fralthi and 4 Krants. 5+5+5 Dralthis are at N2. Finally, 2 Ralaris with 3 Grathas show up at N3. 7.9.2 Retreat 2 Defend the Claw. Clear out these final fighters attacking... And we're out of here! No medal possible. 5 Dralthis attack the Claw upon launch, followed by 5 Grathas. This is one mission where the Grathas CAN take out the Claw if you don't work fast. On the other hand, if you force the last Dralthi to retreat, the Grathas don't show up. 8 Secret Missions 2 With that tough op behind you, Tiger's Claw has been posted to Firekka as the "honor guard" to welcome this new civilization to join the Confederation. Game-wise, there are no changes. Almost the same crafts, same enemies, but there's quite a few improvements under the hood. You run this game with SM2.EXE instead of WC.EXE. Also, it seems that Origin finally found some good writers, as SM2 really improved the sense of drama. There's a lot more background info and a lot more dialogue in the bar for exposition. The Kilrathi get Imperial Guard pilots called Drakhai. These are pretty good pilots and their ships get tougher shields. Otherwise, they are just like the "Aces" in the original. Kilrathi also gets a new super fighter named Hhriss, as well as a true carrier called the Snakeir. The Dralthi Mk2 gets 2 mass drivers instead of those weak lasers. The Hhriss is bad news. It's armed like Raptor, tough like Jalthi, more armor and shields than some capships, and manueverable like the Hornet. Why is it that the Confeds can't make fighters like this? As for the Confed side, you'll get to fly the Dralthi, for once, but it's really a Scimitar with even WEAKER shields. Bossman will die, and Paladin gets reassigned, but you get two new wingmen: Doomsday and Jazz. The missions are tougher, there are more enemies, and there is not much of a mission tree. It's straight-through, win or retreat, just like Secret Missions 1. There's really no point in listing the victory conditions, is there? 8.1 Mission Tree Firekka A (2 missions) Continue to Firekka B Firekka B (2 missions) W = Firekka C L = Enslaved Firekka C (2 missions) W = Corsair A L = Enslaved Corsair A (3 missions) W = Firekka D L = Enslaved Firekka D (3 missions) W = Corsair B L = Enslaved Corsair B (2 missions) W = Corsair C L = Enslaved Corsair C (2 missions) W = Charon L = Enslaved Charon (2 missions) W = You win L = Enslaved Enslaved (2 mission) You lose! 8.2 Firekka A Series You will be flying Hornets with Iceman. This series is impossible to lose, but then you're just getting started. 8.2.1 Firekka A 1 Escort the Exeter to the jump point. (Noticed the briefing says Corvette?) N1 has 4 Dralthis. N2 has 2+2 Dralthis. The Exeter will jump out at N2. As you head back to the Claw you run into 2 Grathas / Drakhai, leading 2 Gratha and 2 Krant escorting a Ralari. Remember that these are Dralthi Mk2's, with mass drivers. Don't play "chicken" with them. Those Drakhai are pretty tough, keep sliding and use missiles on them. 8.2.2 Firekka A 2 Patrol, find the enemy... What would the Kilrathi want around here? If you find the convoy, do NOT engage! Just target them and bring back the intelligence! On the way you N1 you run into 2 Dralthi / Drakhai and 2 Dralthi. When you reach N1 you see 4 more Krants. The convoy is at N2. And it consists 3 Fralthis, escorted by 5 Jalthi / Drakhai, followed by multiple Dralthi / Drakhai. You COULD try taking out the convoy yourself, but Colonel Halcyon won't like that. He mean it this time... Just get back and don't waste time. 8.3 Firekka B Series There's a Kilrathi battle fleet coming to Firekka, but why? You will be flying Rapiers with Knight. You have to complete every objective or you lose... 8.3.1 Firekka B 1 Patrol the area and sweep the enemy presence. 3 Krants (1 Drakhai) between you and N1. There's an asteroid field at N1. 3 Hhriss and a Snakeir are at N2. 3 Krants (1 Drakhai) and 3 Grathas guard N3. Hhriss is really tough. Keep tagging one until you kill it. Snakeir is quite hard to kill. Tougher than starbase, believe it or not! Try it for yourself! Save some missiles for the asteroid dogfight. 8.3.2 Firekka B 2 The Diplomats are being evacuated out of Firekka due to the incoming threat. Escort two Exeters out to the jump points. (Is it me or did the briefing say Corvettes again?) 190 mp for Bronze Star. There are asteroids and 3 Jalthi in your way to N1. At N2 4 Krants will attack, and these guys are pretty nasty customers. Taunt them away. One of the destroyers will jump at N2. Before you reach N3 you'll run into 4 Dralthis and 4 Salthis. The Exeter will jump out if you can keep the fighters off of it for a while. If you get MOST of the fighters, you should have enough for a Bronze Star. 8.4 Firekka C Series The turning point... Now you'll know why, but can you actually do something about it? You'll be flying Raptors with Spirit. 8.4.1 Firekka C 1 There's a Fralthi coming in to defect... Captained by Ralgha nar Hhallas. As you can imagine, he's being chased by lots of Kilrathi. Get him home... On the way to N1, you run into 2 Hhriss. Once you reach N1, there are two Fralthis there duking it out, while 2 Krants (1 Drakhai) and later 4 Krants (1 Drakhai) are attacking. Rendevous with the Fralthi, take out the chasing Fralthi, and escort him back. On the way back, 3 Dralthi (1 Drakhai) attack. Compared to the next mission, this one is easy. There's a chance for a Gold Star if you take out most of the enemies yourself at about 190 mp. 8.4.2 Firekka C 2 Escort the Drayman out, then rescue TCS Austin. Near N1, you run into 2 Jalthis (1 Drakhai) in the asteroid field. On the way to N2 you run into 3 Krants, then 4 Dralthis are attacking the Drayman. At N3 you see 4 Salthis. Then finally 4 Grathas are attacking TCS Austin at N4. Keep the Drayman safe! If you can rout the last Krant at N2, the Dralthis may not show up. Keep the Grathas busy at N4 and TCS Austin will jump out soon. 8.5 Corsair A Series Tiger's Claw have retreated just out of the system and still need to know what is going on, so you'll fly Dralthis back to Firekka to investigate. Try not to blow your cover. Of course, if they attack you... 8.5.1 Corsair A 1 Just hit Nav 1. You don't need to engage ANY fighters. Just fly by them. 5-6 Hhriss (at least 1 Drakhai) are between you and N1. N1 itself is occupied by a Snakeir with Krants and Jalthis, didn't bother to get an exact count. If you want, you CAN take out the Snakeir and all the fighters, but why? Dralthi is such a lousy fighter any way. Jazz is a decent pilot... 8.5.2 Corsair A 2 Patrol again. Hit all the Nav points. Between launch and N1 are 3 Jalthi / Drakhai. Just fly by them. At N1 you see 3 Dralthis and 2 Rapiers, who attack you! At N2, 2 Jalthi and 2 Rapiers (yes, Rapiers) also attack you. Somehow they have some IFF code that you don't have... You need to make it back to tell Colonel Halcyon. 8.6 Firekka D Series Escort missions are no fun when you are doing it with the wrong fighter... Doomsday is just too gloomy to be fun, honest. 8.6.1 Firekka D 1 Escort the marine strike force from Nav 1 to Nav 2. You'll be using Hornets on this mission. On your way to N1, you see 4 Salthi (1 Drakhai). You'll find the 2 Draymen under attack by two Grathas. If you route the last Gratha, the 4 follow-on Salthis won't show up! One of the Draymen will jump from N1. You'll need to get close to the other one to lead it to N2, where 5 Dralthis will attack. Keep the Dralthis off the Drayman and it'll eventually jump out. 8.6.2 Firekka D 2 Apparently TCS Powell was taken by Kilrathi, but the Marines are fighting back. Take the Dralthis and patrol some nearby nav points, and get the TCS Powell back here. Before you hit N1, you'll find 4 Krant/Drakhai. Just fly by them, as they should not attack you. At N1, you find the Powell there with 4 Hhriss, but the Powell will jump out. If you don't attack the Hhriss you can keep flying. At N2, three Jalthis will attack the Powell. Take out those Jalthis quickly! Finally, three Krants attack when you are trying to go home with the transport. 8.7 Corsair B Series The Kilrathi are not happy about your interference... The Claw retreated to Corsair. The rest is up to the Marines, but every ship you can destroy is one less that'll bother the Marines. You'll be flying Raptors with Hunter. 8.7.1 Corsair B 1 Upon launch, 5 Salthis and 5 Dralthis attack you. After clearing them out, N1 has some asteroids. N2 has 3 Grathas and a Ralari, then 3 Dralthis (1 Drakhai) joined in. Finally, 3 Jalthi escorting a Snakeir was found at N3. With a Raptor, you should have no problem taking them all out. 8.7.2 Corsair B 2 Kilrathi are sending in ground troops to take on the Marines. You need to take them out. On way to N1, 3 Salthi (1 Drakhai) attacked. Then 5 Salthi followed near N1. Between N1 and N2, Dorkir were found escorted by 5-6 Dralthis. Second Dorkir shows up soon after. N2 itself has an asteroid field and 2 Hhriss. The Dorkirs will jump out if you try to take out all the escorts first. Dralthis can't do you that much damage, so go in there, ignore the Dralthis, and take out the Dorkirs. You can skip N2. 8.8 Corsair C Series The Marines have succeeded, and it's now time to cover their retreat. Just do your best. You only need to take out the Ralari in Corsair C 1 to win the series. You'll be flying Dralthi or Rapier with Angel. 8.8.1 Corsair C 1 You must take out the Ralari. The Drayman doesn't really matter, but why should you let a cat add the transport to his killboard? You're flying a Dralthi on this mission. On the way to N1, 4 Grathas and a Ralari is in your way. 2 Krant/Drakhai and then 2 Krants attack the Drayman at N1. On your way back, 4 Salthi (1 Drakhai) try to stop you. 8.8.2 Corsair C 2 Fighter sweep, kill everything. At N1, Salthi (more?) (Drakhai) was followed by 3 Hhriss. There are 4 Grathas between N1 and N2. 2 Krants (1 Drakhai) and 2 Jalthis are at N2. There are 4 Salthis after N2, some reported a Dorkir there as well. 3 Jalthi and 1 Fralthi were found at N3. Upon return to Claw, 3 Dralthi and 4 Krants attack. Theoretically it's possible to route the Salthi to stop the Hhriss from appearing, and at the final defense, if you route the last Dralthi the Krants don't show up either. 8.9 Charon Series Kilrathi are really mad and coming after us. The Claw is leaving, but there's a small fleet in our way. Take them out. Unfortunately, you get to fly with Maniac. At least you get to fly the Raptor. 8.9.1 Charon 1 This is your only chance to keep the Medal of Valor (i.e. Pewter Planet) if you get it ... Kill just about everything. Last one you got at Venice 4 can't be "saved". N1 has 2 Jalthis waiting there. At N2, you see 2 Ralaris and 4 Grathas. At N3, 5 Krants (at least 1 Drakhai) cover the Snakeir. If you don't take out the Snakeir quickly, it'll jump out. 8.9.2 Charon 2 Tiger's Claw defense. Hold the line against multiple incoming waves, and the ship is safe. Launch, and run into 3 Dralthis. That was followed by 3 more Dralthis, then 5 Salthis, and finally, 3 Hhriss (1 Drakhai). Congratulations, you've caused enough damage to force the Kilrathi to leave Firekka! Colonel Halcyon is thinking of retiring and you're the likely successor. Angel is leaving to take over flight ops at TCS Austin. Life is good, right? To be revealed in Wing Commander 2... 8.10 Enslaved Series This series is actually identical to the Charon series, except you get a different ending, where Firekkans are slaughtered and enslaved by the Kilrathi... 9 Other Information 9.1 Wing Commander Cheat Start the game with Origin or Origin -k as command line parameter. The O in Origin must be capitalized. That activates the "debug mode". While the debug mode is activated, you can destroy any ship by pressing ALT-Del The -k makes you invulnerable 9.2 Run WC missions with SM2 As this modification involves some unauthorized file manipulations, you perform these at your own risk. Start WC, and start a new campaign. Then visit the Barracks and save the file. Remember this save's name. Exit the game. If you have SM2 installed, there should be a CRUSADE.WLD in the GAMEDAT subdirectory in the directory where WC and SM's are installed. Make a copy of that file. There should be a SAVEGAME.WLD in the GAMEDAT directory, created by WC. Copy it to CURSADE.WLD in the same directory. Now you can start SM2. Continue existing game, and pick that save name you saved in WC. Now you can play WC missions! You get frame rate adjustments, and some of the missions behave "better" with SM2. There are a few problems, of course. 1) Paladin will show up, but he'll be referred to as Doomsday. Bossman will be referred to as Jazz. 2) Dralthi will be Mk2's (mass driver instead of laser). 3) Instead of different behavior for different aces, they'll all now fly like Drakhai and be named Drakhai instead. --THE END--