Tripping the Boulder

Written by Darth Persia on May-10-2006

I’ve noticed that often when an inexperienced player begins losing a battle, they either don’t retreat, or simply give up when they do retreat, not using proper tactics to do increase the losses of the enemy. Remember, a good retreat can inflict heavier costs on your enemy than a desperate stand.

When retreating

  • Before you begin your retreat, move any heroes away from the battle in different directions if possible. Your ships are sitting ducks when retreating, making them easy and tempting targets. They WILL get picked off easier by your enemy if you don’t follow this.
  • (Generally for Rebels) Activate any specials involving more powerful shields, health regeneration, or invincibility. This will allow more of them to survive.
  • (Rebels only) Fighters are fast and maneuverable. Move them away in as many directions as possible, spreading them out as you judge prudent before you begin a retreat.
  • Light vehicles are quick and easily elude stronger, slower enemies. Move them away from danger before beginning a retreat. Try and keep them spread out to prevent a “traffic jam” in any tight areas.
  • (If defending a planet) If it is obvious that you are going to lose and will not be able to defend the planet with what you have, retreating will self-destruct the station. Against Rebels, this can be particularly devastating if their fighters\bombers are grouped around or near the station, as this can significantly damage their fleet. This also works if some of their capital ships are damaged.
  • Never retreat when you are defending a planet on land. You will lose your men anyway, so you may as well take a few of the enemy down with you.

When the enemy is retreating

  • Attack the engines of capital ships. Once the engines are destroyed, you can move on to another capital ship, as ships without engines that try to retreat are automatically destroyed.
  • Don’t relent on a damaged ship or hero. If you see a ship limping off, don’t hesitate to send a few less than vital ships after it to finish it off. This goes especially for hero ships with powerful specials such as Boba Fett, Red Squadron, Captain Piett etc.
  • Move your ships away from an enemy space station. There’s no sense getting half your fleet destroyed in a “victory”.
  • Concentrate fire on hero units first. These are not replaceable to your enemy and are generally vital to victory.
  • If you see the signs of an imminent retreat, try and follow your enemy’s movements and don’t allow a badly damaged capital ship or hero unit to escape your sight if possible.