http://www.fsmod.com/index.php FirstStrike News Sat, 28 Apr 2012 14:13:05 CDT http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-042012-1.htm Sat, 28 Apr 2012 14:09:41 CDT Greetings Troopers!

Hi there, I'm FSDev Twigs, and I've been asked to give you all a little bit of an update regarding things here at First Strike towers and what I've been involved with. Now as regular readers will know, I try to get involved with a bit of everything, but lately I've been getting stuck into continuing to improve our AI (yep, those evil bots are my fault, sorry), as well as adding it to new maps. Well, by new maps I mean existing maps of course, I know nothing about that new space map.

Now of course, when I say new space map, what I actually mean is that we have added AI to a space map! Of course, I can't go any further without first thanking Dnamro. He's been a hugely overlooked member of the team throughout the AI implementation, working hard to add AI coding to various vehicles, weapons and maps.

Space was a difficult area to get the bots working properly. They are very fussy little things and don't much like piloting capital ships. The way many of our vehicles are coded simply isn't compatible with the bots coding. Parmel and Convoy Raid were pretty easy to run since they are purely starfighter maps, but we wanted more. We wanted Battle of Taloraan, and that's exactly what we have now.



We had to get creative with the coding here and it's been a joint effort, with Dnamro creating special clones of some weapons just for this map while I did the same for some vehicles. We have auto piloting cap ships now, that move as a massive convoy towards the centre for an impressive fleet battle. To prevent bots getting in the pilot seat, we had to remove spawns during these initial stages and in place of the traditional guns, added automated turrets, both anti fighter and cap ship killers, just like in the MP version.

The result of all this work, is a mass fleet engagement that rivals those seen on the big screen. Fighters dash in and out of laser fire, torpedoes fly through space and explosions rock all around you. Of course, it's still early days. There are refinements to be done to the AI, and some balance issues to look at, but so far, it's shaping up to be a superb Co-Op and Singleplayer addition to First Strike.




I shall leave you with one last tantalising teaser. For some time now I've been working on my own little map which has involved creating new objects (or at least coupling things together to create new scenery!). Including this....



Next time, I'll let you know how it works and where it will eventually appear!

Until then, this is Twigs signing off.


]]> http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-042012-1.htm http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-032012-1.htm Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:28:00 CDT Greetings Troopers!

Welcome to the second article in our series of non-Hoth related updates. Hoth is still on track, but with us harping on about that map for a while now we thought you might like to hear news of some of the other assets we currently have in the pipeline.

This week we bring to you news of the development of a brand new vehicle to First Strike. The vehicle selection within the mod is pretty extensive as it is with the majority of the original trilogy's more iconic vehicles already covered, with EU (Expanded Universe) assets filling the gaps in both faction's arsenals where no movie based vehicles will fit.

However I think you'll find this new vehicle quite unique, as it's origins (akin to those of the ever popular MLC-3 asset featured in the Jundland Wastes map) hark back to the original toy line from the 70's and 80's, and one of the most popular toys back then was the Troop Transporter, and so we started to develop the ITT (Imperial Troop Transporter), not a direct replica of the original toy, but using that as a starting point to develop a mean looking Imperial war machine which also filled a gap in the Imperial arsenal, the need for a ground troop transport. Sure they have the Lambda and Sentinel to get about the maps rapidly, but for maps that don't include aircraft the Imperials are woefully lacking in transport, as seen in maps where a couple of civilian speeders are used by the Empire, which just doesn't fit their MO at all. With the ITT the Empire will have a dedicated APC, light and nimble enough to traverse city streets and clear out any Rebel troops who might be hiding out there, and heavily armed enough to at least be the equal of the Rebel's APC Freerunner, and with the possibility of an anti-air version with guided rockets and more powerful blasters than fitted on the APC, this asset could become a firm favourite wherever it is deployed.

Below are a few work in progress images of this asset for you to enjoy.






Continue visual scanning for further updates to come.



See you out there Troopers!

]]> http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-032012-1.htm http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-022012-1.htm Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:34:23 CST Greetings Troopers!

Just in case you were all getting a bit sick of us telling you about all the cool stuff that is going into the Battle of Hoth map, and what an awesome experience it is going to be when we finally get it out of the door. We thought you might like to hear about some of the additional projects we're working on in conjunction with our development of Hoth. So here is the first in a short series of production updates illustrating what else other than Hoth we have planned this year.

First up, we have the development of another blaster for you all to take great pleasure in fragging your opponents with. The EE-3 Blaster Carbine is an impressive weapon made infamous by the notorious Bounty Hunter Boba Fett. Within First Strike we haven't quite decided what role it will play, though it is more than likely that it will replace one of the weapons used by the Rebel faction, and that the weapon it replaces will become an additional pick up kit, similar in nature to the Bounty Hunter kit currently available on the singleplayer and co-op versions of Mos Espa. It will come equipped with a similar play style to the Imperial's MG-15 blaster which should make it a fun and formidable weapon to use.

Below are a few WIP (Work In Progress) images for you to enjoy.





Keep your sensors peeled for future articles in this series to come.



See you out there Troopers!

]]> http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-022012-1.htm http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-012012-3.htm Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:34:09 CST


Leaning heavily on his gnarled glistening obsidian cane, Palpatine made his way over to one of the massive transparasteel viewports, gazing out into the shadowy darkness of deep space beyond. Losing himself in the abyss always made him feel more in tune with things, with his insignificance when compared to the void, and yet the knowledge that his great power extended over all he could see and far beyond. His unlimited power over all things, through the dark side of the Force, and through his iron will and the might of the war machine that was his Galactic Empire. He turned from the void, his thoughts focused through dark meditation to a razor sharp point, looking over one shoulder to face his apprentice.

"Lord Vader, I believe we have given this pitiful outlaw Rebellion enough rope to hang themselves with. We have allowed them to win some significant victories, their spirits will be high, they will be confident, which will be their downfall. Have the fleet commence final operations as planned. I will see this Rebellion crushed once and for all."



ROUND 1: TATOOINE: MOS ESPA

Once again facing their enemy over this much contested area of Tatooine, Rebel commandos moved south through the sleepy town of Mos Espa to engage Imperial forces advancing north from the town's old slave quarters district in the south. Making contact in the main street just north of the palace ruins at the centre of the settlement the fighting was once again fierce. The battle moved backwards and forwards between these ruins and Jabba's abandoned town house as each faction gained the advantage over the other. Until finally overstretched the Rebels made a fatal error allowing the Imperial Sandtroopers the chance to gain a foothold in the town house and then consolidate their position. Once this happened the Rebels had few places left to fall back to, and despite fighting tooth and claw for each scrap of dirt remaining, were soon overrun by the superior forces of the Empire.



ROUND 2: JUNDLAND WASTES

Imperial forces were determined to finally once and for all eradicate the Rebel presence on Tatooine. After previously engaging the Rebel Alliance cells in the deserts of the Jundland Wastes region, Imperial commanders decided to take out these forces before they had the time to go to ground again and deployed a full assault force to the area. Sentinel landing craft and AT-ST Walkers made short work of the Alliance troops stationed at Motesta and swiftly moved on to the abandoned Jawa Sandcrawler that the Rebels had fashioned into a fortress. The Imperial troops even made use of local transports to hamper the Rebel's air superiority by fighting their T-16s with ones stolen from Motesta, this move made the Imperial Sentinel craft all the more deadly. Moving into the south the Imperial forces had to contend with masses of MLC-3s blasting at the advancing Imperials in a bid to defend their secret base at Anchorhead. Imperial troops managed to infiltrate the facility, but were intercepted by Alliance commandos. In the end another electrical storm disrupted the conflict, forcing the Rebels to evacuate their base before the storm left them stranded with Imperial troops on their doorstep. The Empire has finally managed to drive the Rebellion from Tatooine.



ROUND 3: STRIKE AT PARMEL

The Imperial research station in the Parmel system once again became the stage for an epic struggle between the two factions in the Galactic Civil War. Which force's strategy for space superiority would win out? The lightly armed, but speedy and manoeuvrable Imperial TIE Fighters? Or the Alliance's hardier and well shielded starfighters? This final battle would surely highlight which method was the better, but as with all things nothing is ever cut and dried. The Rebel space forces started off strong, tearing a swathe of destruction through the less well armoured TIE Fighters as they swarmed over and around the space station. The Alliance pilots managed to maintain a convincing level of space superiority for the majority of the battle, but in the closing moments the Imperial pilots made a concerted push back. Resulting in some dogfights and engagements with multiple targets which ended badly for many a seasoned Rebel starfighter pilot, which quickly saw the Rebellion's lead fade away. With a final burst of emerald green laser fire the last of the Rebel ships was destroyed, drawing to a close one of the most epic space battles so far of the war.


With that final epic struggle this campaign must also draw to a close. And what a campaign it has been, with battles hard fought, and results so close and hard to call, you never knew who was going to end up victorious from week to week. In the latter half of the campaign the Rebellion managed to command a convincing lead over the Empire, making it look like the forces of light might finally bring peace to the Galaxy, but in the final weeks the Empire have come back strongly, and with the final week's battles being worth double the points, victory could not be taken for granted no matter how big your lead.

With a clean sweep the Empire have managed to make the most of those extra points and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, with the final scores standing as:

Galactic Empire: 103

Rebel Alliance: 95

Final campaign results don't come much closer than that. Thanks to everyone who participated, we hope you had a lot of fun, and we look forward to the next event, as we hope you do too. Until then, don't forget that the First Strike Community Games will be running on both Saturdays and Sundays from 8pm GMT, so head on then to get in some games with fellow First Strike players.

So with that there is little more to say, other than congratulations to the Imperials, well played. It is safe to say that...

Order has been restored.

Until next time,



May the Force be with you.]]> http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-012012-3.htm http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-012012-2.htm Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:14:30 CST


Before I get into the business of reporting on the action from last week's exciting battles, I'd like to draw your attention to the fact that First Strike has now been made available via ModDB's Desura download and installation facility, which is big news. This will hopefully raise the profile of our mod and make the process of installation all the easier.

Now we just need EA to release BF2142 on Steam to help rid us of the complication of all those different supposedly final patches they released for BF2142, which will also encourage new people to pick up the vanilla game, and we'll finally be cooking with gas.

The deck plates rocked under foot as another blast struck the Imperial Star Destroyer, Lieutenant Cumba caught himself on a bulkhead to steady himself and reached out to grab a fellow pilot who was in danger of tumbling through the doorway ahead, beyond that lay the gantries and catwalks that lead to the TIE Fighter launch racks, and that was somewhere you really didn't want to venture when off balance, it was a long way down to the hanger floor below. The pilot thanked him, and regaining his footing, headed to the ready room to pick up the last of the gear they'd need before grabbing a ship and entering the battle. Other members of their squad were already in there snatching up their helmets and rebreather gear. Another blast struck the ship causing it to shudder. The sound and impact wasn't consistent with a laser blast. The Alliance didn't have much capable of cutting through an ISD's formidable ray shielding. They had to be using a planetary ion cannon, and a powerful one at that. Uncharted settlers my arse. Thought the Lieutenant. Captain Piett's hunch about the Hoth system had been right, only the Rebellion would be packing that sort of weaponry. Cumba headed out to the gantry above the vast main hanger helmet in hand, and raced over to the twin cylindrical hull of his chosen vessel. Dropping into the crampt cockpit he placed the shiny black helm over his head and proceeded to complete his pre-flight checks as the hatch closed above. His TIE Bomber's twin ion engines swiftly warmed up and he was given clearance to launch. With a dull thud explosive bolts released his ship from the rack and taking control he swooped across the hanger and out into open space ahead, momentarily blinded by the bright surface of the ice world below. No Rebels would be escaping today. Not on his watch.



ROUND 1: TATOOINE: BESTINE

Following the unfortunate shooting down of one of their transports, which had ventured too close to the Imperial capital city on Tatooine of Bestine, Rebel forces were faced with no choice but to set down their remaining transports to search for survivors, and disable the city's powerful turbolaser towers before they could leave. Sending in a covert team of commandos, the Rebels hoped to secure the hill that overlooks the city and houses the Imperial Overwatch complex. They were after a quick and decisive victory here to minimise their losses and swiftly disable the turbolaser control systems. Unfortunately the Imperial troops garrisoned there were ready for them, and once they had secured the Overwatch defended it tenaciously. Turning what the Rebels hoped would be a surgical strike into a wholesale slaughter of some of their best troops. This was not a promising start for the Rebellion.



ROUND 2: TATOOINE: BESTINE

Following the failure of their initial tactic of a surgical commando strike on the Imperial Overwatch complex above the city of Bestine, the Rebel forces had to adapt and formulate a new plan to assault the city. offloading heavy equipment from their transports the Rebels mobilized armoured APC Freerunners to support their advance through the city. Deploying troops and providing valuable sensor support for their infantry, the Freerunner proved vital in allowing the Rebels to advance on their dug in foe. The main route up the hill proved to be problematic however, with Imperial engineers deploying anti-vehicle mines to hamper the Rebel advance, but once this was overcome and the Rebels achieved a significant foothold at the top of the hill, the Imperial forces started to fight a loosing battle. Even with the support of the formidable AT-ST Walker they could not hold back the Rebel advance and had to retreat from their stronghold, giving this victory to the Rebels.



ROUND 3: ESCAPE FROM HOTH

In the aftermath of a pivotal battle on the planet Hoth, Rebel forces made a desperate attempt to flee the ice planet, utilising a powerful planetary ion cannon to cut a hole in the Imperial's orbital blockade of the planet. They deployed Gallofree medium transports escorted by Rebel starfighters along that vector. Though the Imperial Star Destroyer was partially disabled by the powerful ion cannon fire, it still managed to launch it's compliment of TIE Fighters and Bombers, with orders to intercept the fleeing Rebel ships. In addition to this the Imperial cruisers technicians were hard at work attempting to get the vessel's main heavy turbolasers back on line, which could have devastating consequences for the approaching Rebel craft. As the first wave of transports approaches things look pretty promising for them, despite strong defensive measures from the Imperial TIE Fighters, Rebel Y-Wings manage to break through and destroy the Imperial cruiser's heavy turbolasers. However when the first wave of transports close into range Imperial TIE Bombers do a formidable job of assaulting the craft, and despite augmented shields and defensive quad laser batteries only one of the Gallofree transports survives the dangerous gauntlet and makes it past the Star Destroyer to make the jump to the safety of hyperspace. The second wave fares even worse, with a slightly longer trip to the hyperspace beacon, these last two escaping transports take the full brunt of the firepower of the Imperial bombers left in orbit, and both are destroyed long before either see the freedom of open space. Victory this day belongs to the Empire.



So with one round left to go in the second Nations In Conflict First Strike Campaign things still remain very interesting. After two weeks of devastating defeats at the hands of the Rebel Alliance, last week the Empire has made a phoenix from the ashes like comeback, punishing the Rebels for ever thinking they could take on the mighty Galactic Empire with a convincing round of victories which leave the scores at 55 to the Empire and 95 to the Rebellion. Is it too little too late? Perhaps not, as don't forget that this week's battles will award double points, which means there are a maximum of 60 points up for grabs. Which in turn means that if the Empire do really well this week they might just possibly grab a victory from the claws of defeat. As ever it is very much still all to play for.


If you like what you see here, fear not, you haven't missed this event, it is still ongoing. We hope to see more players than ever for the final battle of this campaign, so if you haven't joined up already get involved and sign up here:

Nations In Conflict




Until next time,



May the Force be with you.

]]> http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-012012-2.htm http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-012012-1.htm Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:49:23 CST


Catapulted forth from the azure vortex of hyperspace, Gold Leader checked his instruments and then looked up to see the distinctive shape of Kessel silhouetted by, and hanging precariously on the edge of the Maw. So he was where he was supposed to be, but where...? As if in response to his unvoiced question a blur of motion beside his vessel revealed the bone grey hull of a massive Nebulon-B escort frigate, deployed on this mission not to get involved in the action, but just to provide support should things get too hairy. To his other side multiple craft warped out of hyperspace. His squadron of Y-Wings, better late than never. Finally a group of smaller arrow shaped fighters entered the system. The Alliance's brand new A-Wing interceptors, basically two rockets with a seat stuck between them and a pair of laser cannons. Only the craziest pilots signed up to take those things out for a spin. He much preferred the security of at least knowing there was heavy shielding and some good solid chunks of armour between him and enemy fire. He initiated the standard sign in protocol and listened as his pilots all sounded off. Only waiting for one more guest to join the party now.

An alarm went off on his console and in the distance a blur of motion ushered in the final guests, a column of Imperial bulk freighters jumping in on their last stop before joining the Imperial fleet stationed out beyond the Outer Rim. Now it was on. Painting the first target, a freighter right in the centre of the flotilla of ships he gave the order to attack, pushing his craft forward to attack speeds. Just before entering effective combat range the alarm went off again, more enemy ships were entering the system, but what? The Empire didn't have hyperspace capable starfighters... There was suddenly a stream of emerald green laser fire and his wing man erupted in a ball of flaming gas. Ordering his men to stay on target Gold Leader pressed on grimly determined to fulfil his mission. Coming into range of his target he released his entire magazine of torpedoes at the freighter before him just as a distinctive tri-winged shape fell into view. The last thought to go through Gold Leader's mind, was how much he hated uninvited guests.



ROUND 1: NULL SENSOR STATION

In an effort to prevent an Imperial sensor station from going on line, a Rebel strike force has been combat dropped into the foothills at the base of the mountain where the installation is situated. Deploying troops they hope to quietly secure the landing pad compound at the foot of the mountain. Success here will give them a staging ground for a final assault upon the mountaintop base itself. Splitting into two units the Rebel troops assault the compound via the front gates, but also over a secluded mountain trail which gave them access to the rear of the compound. Imperial forces reacting to the unexpected invasion, advanced from a nearby gate house complex at the mouth of the mountain pass that leads up to the base, but by the time they mobilized they found the Rebels had already secured the landing pad compound. Effectively locked out of an area of their own complex the Imperial troops deployed snipers in the hills in an attempt to soften the Rebels up before their main force of troops advanced on the entrance to the complex, but despite their best efforts the Rebels were too well dug in, and eventually the Imperial commander ordered his troops to pull back to the more easily defendable mountaintop complex. This round would go to the Rebels.



ROUND 2: NULL SENSOR STATION

After losing control of the foothills to their mountaintop base, Imperial forces pulled back to secure the more easily defendable mountain pass that leads up to the valuable sensor installation. Rebel forces having secured the base of the mountain were now free to deploy vehicles in their efforts to secure the Imperial base, but the going would not be easy, the mountain pass was treacherous, and would prove and easy kill zone for the Imperial defenders to take advantage of. Sure enough at various choke points along the pass Imperial troops set up heavily defended positions, deploying anti-vehicle mines and heavy blasters, these were also backed up by powerful Firehawke tanks and the ever dependable and deadly to infantry AT-ST Walkers. The Imperial installation however was undermanned due to not yet being fully operational, and as a result the Rebel and Imperial forces were on a level footing. After taking devastating losses on initial attack waves the Rebels finally broke through the Imperial lines and managed to get a speedy APC Freerunner up to the mesa atop the mountain. Once there Rebel troops could be deployed as the APC kept moving to prevent it from being easily neutralised by Imperial forces. Once it was finally taken out it was too late. Rebel troops by this point had infiltrated the base, first securing the tank garage, cutting the Imperials off from the valuable asset that was their armour. From that point on the Rebel commandos had to simply sweep the upper levels and secure the command deck. Then the day was won.



ROUND 3: IMPERIAL CONVOY RAID

Employing hit and fade missions the Rebel starfleet was doing it's best to cripple and hamper Imperial operations in the Outer Rim by engaging Imperial supply runs to the sector. Receiving intelligence regarding one such mission that would stop off near Kessel on its way to supplying a fleet stationed out there, Gold Squadron supported by a Nebulon-B frigate, and an escort squadron of the Alliance's brand new A-Wing interceptors was tasked with either crippling or destroying the Imperial convoy before it could jump back into hyperspace. As the fighter bombers engaged however, it was they who were left surprised. A squadron of the Empire's latest heavily armed fighters, the TIE Defenders jumped out of hyperspace before them, and the game was afoot. Under these conditions the best the Rebels could hope for was to destroy the enemy freighters before they could make the jump. The Rebel squad leader didn't allow the volitile situation to faze him and gave orders to focus all fire on one ship at a time. The focused bombing runs made short work of the freighters even with the powerful TIE Defenders running interference. The Rebel pilots stayed on target and the Imperial convoy was lost.




Happy New Year Troopers!


Following the campaign's break over the festive holidays we have had yet another exciting round of battles. This campaign has been an exciting one, with one faction after the other taking the lead with the scores always remaining quite close from week to week, but with this and last week's victories solely going to the Rebels we at last have a very clear leader. With the scores now standing at 41 points to the Empire, and a whopping 88 points to the Rebellion. With two weeks left to go in this campaign it is still all to play for however, especially with the final week's rounds awarding the victor double points, there is still every chance that either faction could come away from this campaign victorious.


If you like what you see here, fear not, you haven't missed this event, it is still ongoing. We hope to see more players in the coming weeks, so if you haven't joined up already get involved and sign up here:

Nations In Conflict




Until next time,



May the Force be with you.

]]> http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-012012-1.htm http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-122011-8.htm Tue, 27 Dec 2011 11:08:19 CST Greetings Troopers!





As mentioned earlier in the holiday season here are the finalised dates for the Black Intel sponsored First Strike Gaming Events which will be held on the BI server, the first one being tonight. So we look forward to seeing you there and at the event dates to follow for some festive fragging.



Happy Holidays Troopers!]]> http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-122011-8.htm http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-122011-7.htm Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:43:40 CST Merry Christmas from all at First Strike.

As thanks for your votes over the recent MOTY Awards, and to celebrate the season, we'd like to present you with this selection of festive (Well they DO have snow in them) screenshots from the upcoming Battle of Hoth map, a little something to shove under the tree, or on the mantelpiece from the First Strike team.





As an additional gift, we're planning to get some games in this week during the break in the campaign event until after the new year. If you'd like to join us, we'll be starting on Rebel Defiance from 8pm GMT every night. We have direct admin control so can change maps, edit map lists and ticket counts etc on the fly. Ideally, we'd like to be able to reach a point where Rebel Defiance is full to capacity and we have to switch to the larger BI server. If you'd like to help see a fully populated First Strike server, then feel free to jump on. Remember, its from 8pm every night this week (except of course Christmas Eve, Christmas Day etc), you don't have to be there on the dot, there will be no password, just come and join us for some great games.

As an added bonus, if you'd like to join some team chat and have Ventrillo, We will open up the Dev Team's private Ventrillo server for use. Feel free to join it and talk with other players, increasing team work and community relations!

Ventrillo details:

Hostname/IP = vent.killercreation.co.uk

Port = 33839

If you are interested in joining this vent channel, then please try to connect early. This is so that if you have any problems you can post on the FS forums for help, but also because space is limited on there.

Finally, in conjunction with Black Intel we'll be hosting a number of gaming event nights over the Christmas and New Year season on their server, so stay tuned for details on the dates and time of those events.

So that's the lot then guys, the Devs are stepping up to the plate and calling you out! Get your game on this holiday season with First Strike!




Once again a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all, and remember...



The Force will be with you, always.



]]> http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-122011-7.htm http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-122011-6.htm Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:02:13 CST

The Captain stepped onto the bridge of his vessel, the Carrack class light cruiser Dominant. Taking his seat at the centre of the relatively small command deck, the Imperial Naval officer signalled to his helmsman to drop them out of hyperspace. The Lieutenant acknowledged the command with a curt nod and pushed forwards on the control lever, disengaging the hyperdrive while simultaneously bringing up the sublights. The maelstrom of hyperspace dropped away before them to be replaced by the massive orb of the gas giant Taloraan as they sped into orbit.

The slender Imperial vessel was soon joined by two escort Lancer class frigates and the rear was brought up by a bulk freighter, their mission, a resupply run to Taloraan for the Outer Rim Fleet. A simple mission which was about to get a lot more complicated. An alert chimed from the tactical officer's console, who turned to face his Captain just as he stepped forward from his command chair. Looking at the tactical display the Captain could see an impressive looking strike force of Rebel cruisers between them and the planet. It looked like they might find glory in this blue milk run after all. He steps back up to his chair, pressing a switch on the command console on one of the arms as he sits down, activating a fleet wide communications channel.

"All capital ships form up, prepare to launch fighters."



ROUND 1: ENCOUNTER AT MOS ENTHA

After their ship is crippled in an engagement in low orbit over Tatooine, the Naval Marine complement of a Rebel Corellian Corvette must fend off an advancing platoon of elite Imperial Sandtroopers on a seek and destroy mission to the deserted town of Mos Entha. The Rebels knew they had to act decisively or risk being overrun amongst the wreckage of their downed cruiser. Aggressively they moved out into the town in small fire teams moving swiftly hoping to catch the Imperial forces unawares in the shadows of the night. There were light skirmishes here and there, and then the commanders of both forces found that they had bypassed each other's main patrols and occupied the area their enemy had previously had control of. This game of cat and mouse continued until the Imperial forces were isolated in the town entrance area to the north. Deploying his forces in a wide search pattern the Rebel Commander moved in, careful to not allow any enemy troops to slip through the net, culminating in an intense street battle until a second unit outflanked the dug in Imperial troops and finally eliminated the threat.



ROUND 2: BATTLE OF RYLOTH

Acting on intelligence gathered by Imperial Probe Droids, the Star Destroyer Vengeance was ordered to Ryloth to investigate reports of a hidden Rebel base. Following a lengthy bombardment a task force was deployed to mop up any survivors. The base however was hardier than expected, and the Rebel forces stationed there were more than ready for a fight when the Imperial troops arrived. A lethal combination of swift but deadly T-47 armoured Airspeeders and BTL-S3 Y-Wing fighter bombers tore into the Firehawke tank columns moving in on the Rebel positions to devastating effect, halting the Imperial ground assault in it's tracks. The Empire did make formidable use of armoured Lambda shuttles, making swift and dangerous combat drops deep into enemy territory to deploy troopers to hold key installations in the area, but they never could quite break the Rebel's hold on air superiority in the region, leading to thrilling aerial chases through the region's deep canyons, and fierce fighting on the ground. In the end the Imperial task force had to withdraw from the area due to overwhelming odds, and were forced to return back to their Star Destroyer in orbit to rethink their strategy.



ROUND 3: BATTLE OF TALORAAN

Engaged in a supply run for the Outer Rim Imperial Naval Fleet Command, a small flotilla of Imperial cruisers finds a Rebel task force between them and the planet Taloraan when they exit hyperspace. Intent on collecting the vital supplies, and preventing the Rebel forces from escaping with their prize, the Imperial fleet pulled into formation to assault the Rebel cruisers. Reacting swiftly to the surprise arrival of the Imperial forces, the Rebel fleet commander deploys all his starfighters in an all out assault on the Imperial fleet. The intention, to deal as much damage as possible to the enemy capital ships before they even close into effective weapon's range. The first wave of fighters targeted the Imperial bulk freighter, that ship's repair and re-arm capability made it a valuable target that had to be destroyed as swiftly as possible. Wave after wave of focused proton torpedo attacks from X & B-Wing fighters buffeted the freighter before the Imperial fleet could close formation, and this craft's early destruction dealt a serious blow to the Imperial fleet. Once in formation the Imperial fleet moved in, and the heavily armed and armoured Rebel starfighters shifted to their next target, the Carrack command ship of the fleet. Swift moving and agile Rebel Corvettes were the first of the Rebel capital ships to move into battle, supported to the rear by a Gallofree Medium Transport converted for repair duty. The first Corvette went head to head with the heavier Carrack class light cruiser, jinking from side to side to avoid that ship's deadly salvos of proton torpedoes. Concentrated heavy turbolaser fire finally caused the Carrack's shields and hull integrity to buckle and fail resulting in another loss for the Empire. The Corvette swiftly changed target to an escorting Lancer altering it's heading to bring all weapons to bear, as the Rebel fleet surgically selected target after target to focus all their collective firepower on. The second Lancer swung around and attacked the Gallofree from behind, destroying this valuable asset and robbing the first Alliance Corvette of that vessel's much needed repair facilities. Taking on too much damage the Corvette erupted into a superheated ball of gas and debris, but it's Lancer foe wasn't far behind, succumbing to the deadly torpedoes of an attack wave of Rebel starfighters. The final Imperial Lancer tried to disengage and break orbit, but caught by the onslaught of the focused firepower of all the Rebel fleet's remaining ships had little chance of escape, and was inevitably blown apart drawing the Battle of Taloraan to a close.

So in our fourth week things continue to get interesting, with a full three match clean sweep for the Rebellion this week, which should see them take a slim lead. A fitting way to enter into this holiday season mid campaign break for Christmas and New Year, with the scores so close that it is still anyone's guess who will end up victorious in the end. This week's matches were great, with good participation, and an interesting mix of maps taking in infantry, a classic combined arms map, and a fleet assault space map, all the good diverse stuff that First Strike has to offer.


As an added bonus. Alliance intelligence have managed to intercept encrypted Imperial coded transmissions. Which when code broken were revealed to be battle logs of the Imperial forces engaged in this week's battles. Imperial Holonet News and Imperial COMPNOR intelligence agencies tried to bury this data, but we have it for you here right now, so check them out before they manage to disrupt our transmissions:


http://livestre.am/1bwOq

http://livestre.am/1bxfx

http://livestre.am/1bxfv


Additionally, we have helmet cam footage and sensor recordings from Rebel troops and spacecraft engaged in these Alliance victories, follow the link bellow to gain access to the data which the Rebel Alliance are streaming to all their hidden cells across the galaxy.





If you like what you see here, fear not, you haven't missed this event, it is still ongoing, and will commence again early in the new year. We hope to see more players in the coming weeks, so if you haven't joined up already get involved and sign up here:

Nations In Conflict


Also during the holidays during the break in the campaign, we plan to hold a few event nights for public play, where new players can engage in some good well populated non-competitive games, so keep your sensors peeled for more news on that as we get it.


Finally, for more information on the mod and access to exclusive material, you can follow First Strike on Twitter, just search for FirstStrikeMod to gain access to this additional content.


Lastly, one final thank you to everyone who voted for us, it has certainly been an interesting MOTY Awards this year, and it seems a very exciting time to be involved in the modding scene with some fantastic work appearing in all game genres. Good luck everyone. See you on the other side.



Until next time,



May the Force be with you.

]]> http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-122011-6.htm http://www.fsmod.com/newsfull-122011-5.htm Sun, 18 Dec 2011 17:55:41 CST



Greetings Troopers!

As this year's Mod of the Year Awards season draws to a close we'd like to thank all of you who voted for us, propelling us once again into the much coveted position as one of the MOTY Top 100 Mods, that means a lot to us and makes all the hard work seem worthwhile.

So to show our appreciation we'd like to lay one last treat on you just in time for the Christmas holidays. FSDev Twigs has been hard at work shooting a second preview video of some of the content being developed for the Battlefield 2142 Star Wars mod First Strike's most anticipated new map, The Battle of Hoth. This example features work in progress (WIP) in game footage, and so as such does not represent the final product we expect to deliver, but it does provide you with a tantalising glimpse of what we intend to achieve.





Enjoy.

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