Cairo 1

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Please install the M32 Hotfix before playing this mission.

Cairo 1, I don’t think I have played a mission of this style, jumping to another system in a bomber without support, since Wing Commander II. I think that I have a new mission to add to my top ten lists of favorites. Even more than Alcor 1 this mission made me like Honeybear as a wingman. Also in the debrief of Alcor 1 Mastermind, I think, says that you proved the Longbow as a fighter but in my opinion this mission out does the one preceding it hands down in that regard.

The fight against the Sorthak’s was probably the easiest time I have ever had fighting them. With the power shunted from engines to shields and guns the Longbow becomes almost immune to the Sorthak’s Meson Blaster turrets and the Longbow’s well grouped and heavy guns, with their already large energy banks boosted, can lay down heavy sustained fire that makes the Sorthak’s large size a liability. Until the Excalibur comes along I would call the Longbow the perfect counter to the Sorthak.

Moving on the Nav 3 and being attacked there by 3 Dralthi IV and then 4 Darkets. For the same reason as outlined above with the Sorthak the Dralthi with their large plan view are just mincemeat for the Longbow’s guns. The Darkets are actually harder targets due to their speed and maneuverability but having no more fire power than one of the Sorthak’s turrets they are almost impotent when faced with two well flown Longbows. On concentrated full guns burst and they are history.

The distress call at Nav 4 and finding that Confed Scouting Group at Nav 5 was quite a surprise as the mission briefing specifically states the lack of scouting assets in Cairo. Given the reason given in the briefing for why you are scouting Cairo in the first place makes me wonder what Fleet Command was thinking sending those ships into Cairo. Probably a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. It is great to get to see another Kilrathi Ace in the form of Bloodmists.

The attack by Strakha stealth fighters and the arrival of the supporting the Darkets is probably one of the most interesting dogfights in the game. Energy management is a must to survive it as I was killed here in my first attempt at the mission. However if you fight smart then just like the fight earlier at Nav 3 the light and stealth fighters find themselves on the wrong end of a firepower equation. This is where the eight IFF missiles are worth there mass in gold. They are perfect for popping off each time a Strakha decloaked and the particle cannon tail guns almost always score some kills.

Arriving back at the jump point to find a CL and three corvettes was a surprise. They certainly produced a lot of weapons fire. In fact if the Kilrathi force blockading the jump point in Brimstone 4 had positioned itself like that then that mission I think would have been much harder. When you Jump through the jump point I noticed that Honeybear’s Longbow takes an awful lot of hits from laser and tachyon turrets but seems to take no damage. I assume that during the sequence Alpha wing is protected from damage?

After arriving back in Alcor I thought something was more was going to happen but was still a bit surprised when Bloodmist and three more Paktahn bombers came through the jump point. I liked this fight because I think it is one of the very few times that Kilrathi and Confed bombers fight each other directly. I think the biggest thing in this fight is to stay out of the gun arc of the Paktahns as they have the heaviest gun armament short of the Excalibur. Fortunately they have almost no maneuverability or speed advantage and weaker shields and hulls.

I actually feel that of the Kilrathi Aces we have faced so far Bloodmist was the most over rated. Destroying his wingmen was downright simple. With boosted power to the shields the Paktahn’s tail guns were effectively blunted and, as I had saved my HS missiles due to how difficult it is for a Longbow to use them on the light fighters earlier, I just expended double shots of Javelins along with gun fire in to each of them. Add in that I was working with Honeybear via “attack my target” commands it was pop, pop, pop, wingmen gone. After that concentrated gun and missile fire from the two of us and it was all she wrote for Bloodmist.

The thing that made me go “I can’t believe they did that.” was that the cruiser and three corvettes followed us through the jump point. Fortunately that did not have any fighter cover with them. Here right near the end in where I think you have a couple of issue with the mission. First, the cruiser upon arrival is separated from the corvettes. It is like the corvettes slow down much more quickly than the cruiser upon leaving the jump point which leaves the cruiser unsupported. This might be intentional however due to the second issue. When you asked for support Commander Sweeney tells you to “Stay clear of our missiles.” and the Hermes is also supposed to be close by. However no Warhammer CSM’s appear. The Beta wing bombers do show up and deal with the cruiser and corvettes quickly. Upon arriving back at the Hermes and having been cleared for landing I noticed some blips of the radar and when I cycled through targets with the T key there it was “Warhammer CSM” in the lower left hand display. They were moving at high speed and at long range. I did not write it down but I think the range was around 40,000 and claiming.

Also the weapons loadout screen is not available at the start of this mission.

Overall it is a wonderful mission to play but still with a few issues that need resolving. If I am right the first one may not even be an issue the Fra'lath is meant to be dangled out there as a CSM target. After having been on the receiving end of Kilrathi CSM salvos I look forward to seeing them on the receiving end of one. As I think it will be impressive witness a mutually supporting Confed missile and bomber attack.

Light wrote:However no Warhammer CSM’s appear.

On my playthrough the CSM launched from Hermes did arrived but all were destroyed by Kilrathi capship turrets.

Light's play through of this mission was similar to mine. Having played a very old mission I was surprised at some of the changes that it has sustained since I played it last.... I was expecting to see Bloodmist blow everything up but the battle at the waypoint on the other side of the jump point provides that really exciting twist bringing the mission from above average to spectacular.

Very cool!

No bugs or issues encountered so far.