Description
Help enforce the blockade of the Polaris-Epsilon Pegasi jump node from fleeing NTF forces that are heading for the nebula beyond the Knossos...

Storyline:
Points of Departure has a fairly original storyline, in which a couple wings of fighters and some Destroyers must hold off several waves of NTF fighters and Destroyers. The briefing and debriefings are average, with a few minor errors. The storyline is a bit redundant because although the NTF forces are supposedly "fleeing", they actually just attack the friendly capital ships (with one exception). Kudos to the author for using familiar ship names from other missions.

Balance:
Despite the total chaos of this mission, it is actually fairly well balanced. Your task is to tackle several waves of enemy fighters and bombers, while the capships fight it out. As such, you can't really affect the outcome of the battle, but you can at least minimize the threat from enemy bombers. The balance could be improved by making bombers with stilettos available - then the pilot could choose whether to intercept bombers or disarm ships.

Design:
The overall design in this mission is okay, but could have been better. Waypoint paths are used, all events execute correctly, and there aren't any flaws in the design. Extra points for the loadout, which is almost perfectly balanced (it doesn't just give every ship and weapon to the player). However, if the loadout had included some type of bomber and Stiletto II's, the gameplay and balance might have been improved. Another interesting note on the design is that the author used the ship-invulnerable sexp to make several friendly fighters and capital ships unkillable.

Gameplay:
Moderately fun - sort of a dogfight around a bunch of capships. I'd recommend protecting the Deimos and the Alabama - the other capital ships are invincible. The mission could have been made a lot more fun if the loadout included some type of bomber and Stiletto II's - then the player could choose whether to intercept fighters & bombers or to disarm capital ships. Still, even without that option, Points of Departure is pretty fun to play.

Other Thoughts:
An interesting blockade mission, with some unused potential. If the loadout were tweaked a bit, and the enemy capital ships actually tried to run the blockade, rather than just mindlessly attacking, this would turn into a fun mission with some replayability.