Essential Guide #10: Are These Campaigns Impossible?!
Last week I showed you how to win against the odds. Here are 6 campaigns to try: from the Mandalorians to the shattered Hutt fleet in exile.
Welcome back to the Essential Guide! Last week I explained the strategy of ASSERT. It’s a way for smaller factions to bring down galactic superpowers and local bullies. It’s how the Rebel Alliance defeated the Empire.
(In short, you should assess an unfavourable galactic map, find weak spots, gather your forces, protect what you can realistically defend, preserve a fleet-in-being, and grind a superior opponent down over time.)
In the Age of Legends mods, there are many scenarios - which might look completely hopeless - where this strategy can actually result in triumph. This article provides a rich variety of different campaigns where you can try the ASSERT strategy for yourself, with a huge range of different factions. Read on!
41 ABY: Mandalore Unvanquished
Mandalorian Clans campaign.
This is the strongest starting position of any Mandalorian scenario, but their forces are still outnumbered and scattered: reflecting their diminished position in the post-Endor Galaxy compared with the glory days of the Mandalorian Empire!
You have a few options to start with, you can move south and conquer the local Hutt border worlds, or else work on consolidating the area around Mandalore. But the danger of pursuing a conventional strategy is clear: the resurgent Galactic Empire is a very powerful adversary, and its fleets significantly outnumber yours. Your best option is to gather your fleets as best you can, keep them on the move - moving along the Corellian Run or the Hydian Way is a good way to keep them mobile while also picking up some credits - and Entrench your key planets: Mandalore, Concord Dawn, Taris, Ord Mantell.
28-29 ABY: The Hutt Underground
Hutt Cartel campaign.
The Hutts have been driven from the “Glorious Jewel” of Nal Hutta and into exile by the Yuuzhan Vong. In this campaign the Hutts are fighting for their very survival, with a few bases on the periphery of their once great domain.
They start with a relatively concentrated fleet (saving you a step if you’re following the ASSERT strategy). And the Hutts also have a lot of stealth-capable land units and bounty hunter heroes: they are a natural faction for raiding and guerrilla warfare, and can then pivot easily to conventional fleet tactics when the time comes thanks to their mighty Chelandion-class warships. But until that time comes, you have to keep your last fleet safe until Hutt Space can be retaken.
40-41 ABY: The Reign Of Caedus
Jedi Coalition campaign.
This campaign from the Rise of Caedus expansion pack is an interesting variation on this theme. A series of devastating strikes at the start of the campaign can knock out Galactic Alliance fleets before they are able to gather: leaving the Jedi Coalition in a position where it can fight a conventional war. But there’s a HUGE risk…