Nah it's deliberate. Like the Sabre, they've got a rear-mounted turret.

I had the same problem until I realised that those turrets are absolutely lethal. Your best bet is, and this goes against the entire WC1 experience, don't tail them. Really, just don't. Blast them from the side, if their butt faces towards you get out of there.

I also destroyed all the fighters except Kur first, he's got much higher shields and armour so I figuered it was better to have as few shots coming my way while I dealt with him.

Hey did you wind up finishing WC1?

I did! And SM 1 & 2. They were a lot of fun once I gave up on trying to have a balanced speed and just accepted the slowdown.

I had heard that WC2 didn't have this issue but while it is better it is still there. I wonder what year games stopped having speed issues related to the CPU. Even later games like Daggerfall or Arena had issues with 'porridge too cold porridge too hot' where there was no solution CPU Cycle solution that kept the game at the right speed in all areas. However, in those games and others I found that a high enough CPU cycle for the most intense parts with VSync (SVN Daum) to cap the FPS worked as the perfect solution - for WC and WC2 it does not.

Thanks for the help! I see now from the manual that my Broadsword also has turrets for use! Now if I can just figure out why sometimes the game will bug out and not allow me to fire any of my secondary weapons... even when I have a lock on or am attempting a dumbfire..

Nice! I'm working my way through it too - just finished WC2 SO1. Prob have to stop for a week or two though, life intrudes.

Can't help you with the CPU stuff, that's over my head. In WC1 I just embraced it, usually when it happened the screen was full of ships and bullets so I was kinda thankful.

In WC2 I think I'm having the same problem as you - when there's a lot of ships on screen I get a touch of slowdown but more annoyingly my missles won't fire. Which is a pain because that's precisely when you'd really like to fire them. I had assumed it's because the program is working overtime trying to manage the current number of projectiles so it won't allow you to add to them. That may not make any sense but it's all I can think of.

Oh tip for the bombing runs coming up - apparently you can lock onto a cap ship from 17000km if you switch to flares, then back to torpedos. Haven't tried it myself but I read that tip just after I really needed it.

Took me 2 perfectly landed torpedos to destroy the supply depot -- real pain in the ass but satisfying once I blew the MF'r.

Ok, this is actually IMO the devs messing with us. In wing1 we needed to get behind the heavies and chip away at them, in wing2, shelton slides and odd deflections in chicken runs are the way to go. I killed Kur by taunting him constantly and killing his squadmates. then empty your full gun battery in his front shield and follow with a df or ff missile.