180º spin back and open fire. Roll: Close on your target while performing a corkscrew roll. Shake: Also called Zig-Zag. Perform back-and-forth 45º evasive maneuvers while closing on a target. Varying between Shake and Roll tactics while closing is usually termed a Shake, Rattle, and Roll. Sit-'n'-Kick: An evasive maneuver especially useful against large ships. Make a 90º thrn in --------- 15 Years Ago --------- On 2639.033, Kilrathi occupation forces land on the human-occupied world Enyo, put a quarter of a million human prisoners under orbital guns, and await Terran reprisals. So begins the Enyo Engagement, a tactical situation made difficult by the presence of so many hostages. Phase One of the Enyo Engagement involves bringing in an attack force against teh Kilrathi fleet at Enyo. The attack force consists principally of Raptor-Class heavy fighters reconfigured to carry extra Porcupine Space Mines and practically no milssiles. The force is small enough that Kilrathi foces at Enyo are certain of victory. The Phase One forces drop their Space Mines in one region of space near Enyo and engage the enemy. Kilrathi ships maneuver to get out of the mined region and turn their attention to destroying the invaders. By the time the Kilrathi navigators realize that the mined region corresponds to Enyo's principal jump point, it is too late: Phase Two has begun. A single radio signal detonates all the specially-modified Porcupine mines, and moements later the remainder of the Terran fleet appears at that jump point, in the middle of the engagement. The Terran fleet strikes first against the gunships threatening the human colonies. The enemy ships are destroyed with minimal loss of life among the colonists. Then the two fleets settle in for a pounding match. The Enyo Engagement ends with the Kilrathi in retreat. Losses have been nearly identical between the two fleets, but the Kilrathi have been forced to abandon a strategic position. any direction. Shut off engines and spin to face your target; open fire. Then, make another random 90º turn and hit your afterburners. Sit-'n'-Spin:Kill your engines and perform a 360º spin, firing on any targets that enter your cone of fire. Once you've spun to your original course, re-engage engines and continue. Tail: You all know how to tail a target ship. But don't forget: Until you're sure of your most effective tailing range, try to maintain a range of 1000 meters, the "by-the-book" range. Tight Loop: Perform a minimum-radius turn in any direction until you resume the course you held at the beginning of the maneuver. Properly performed, this will put you behind your pursuer, or at least shake him off your tail for a moment. Turn-'n'-Spin: This is like the Kickstop, except that you also kill engine power. Evasion Tactics With that review of maneuvers fresh in our mind, let's review evasion tactivs for combat situations. Yes, aggressive tactics will let you rack up the kills... but evasive tactics will keep you alive so that you can rack up the kills. Here's the situation: You have an enemy to your rear, and you're in his sights. What now? If you have a critical target in your sights, and you know that your pursuer's guns are not going to crack your shell with one hit, then it's permissible - barely - for you to take that hit, drop your load, and then come around to deal with your attacker. In any case, don't do this unless you're within 2,500 meters of your target.