Wing Commander
Unofficial Strategy Guide and FAQ
Including Secret Missions 1 and 2
by Kasey Chang ([email protected])
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 [email protected].
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 [email protected]. 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 [email protected]. (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--
The Spoiler Centre