SW:EAW: Forces of Corruption - Kuat

Star Wars: Empire at War - Kuat
This is a hint / walkthrough for a planet in Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption. The index of all our guides for Empire at War: Forces of Corruption is here.

Although you can see Kuat and send stealth units into orbit there, you cannot attack the space or invade the planet until much later into the campaign.

Black Market (Corruption Income +60)
You are required to choose this Corruption for Mission 6 (Black Market Establishment) and Mission 7 (Tyber's Recon), although through an exploit (?) you can set up a Black Market on Kamino as early as Mission 4 (Piracy on Mandalore). Doing so will not, however, allow you to proceed from Mission 6 to Mission 7.

After Mission 15 (Baiting the Hook), Tyber Zann can no longer Buy technology at Kuat, but you can still send Urai Fen.

Kidnapping
This Corruption mission requires Bossk and is not possible in the Forces of Corruption campaign.

Space Battle
You cannot invade Kuat in the Forces of Corruption campaign until the final mission to capture the Eclipse.
The special space battle here is very long, but nowhere near as hard as the battle over Carida (assuming you wanted to come out of that one with no units lost). My fleet into Kuat was composed of Tyber Zann, IG-88 (who turned out to have a minimal role), four Keldabe-class Battleships, and four Marauder Corvettes. No reinforcements -- I didn't plan on losing any units.

Before you enter Kuat space, put Tyber Zann or IG-88 in the initial deployment slot. When you enter Kuat, you will then have just that one ship plus a Boarding Shuttle to take over the Eclipse. It will therefore be easier to move about and arrange your forces.
In space combat, you can bring reinforcements in wherever there is safe, empty space. You can therefore bring in the rest of your ships in the northwest corner, and arrange them to defend the Eclipse. Be careful about putting them too far east or south as you will come under fire from the space stations there. Arrange them in a defensive huddle with missile ships behind capital ships.

When two space stations are destroyed, capture the Eclipse. The Rebellion turns hostile, but they are typically too busy with the Empire. Start clearing the map, but do not take out the final space station until the area is reasonably clear. In particular, you should take out any large clumps of leftover fighters (sometimes 10+ wings defending a cruiser). A fast way to do this is with a missile ship like a Marauder or Broadside.
Use the Eclipse to destroy incoming cruisers and Broadsides or Marauders threatening you from afar. Since I was counting on my Marauders to help me against fighters and bombers, it was critical that I not lose them.

Shortly after you destroy the final space station, the Super Star Destroyer and its escort of three Imperial Star Destroyers, plus continuous reinforcements (Acclamators and Interdictors) will come in. They focus on the Eclipse, so your own ships will only come under fire if their weapons can't reach the Eclipse.
Grab all your ships you can safely use (being careful of your missile ships) and target the Imperial Star Destroyers first. The Keldabe Battleships will take care of their shields, so ignore the Shield Generators and go straight to their weapon hardpoints. When a ship has all its weapons destroyed, ignore it and go for the next one. When you have done this to all the Imperial Star Destroyers, turn your attention to any cruisers that have come.
After a few minutes, the Eclipse main gun will come on line again and one shot will tear apart the Super Star Destroyer.
The rest of the mission is just mopping up. Rearrange your units into a defensive huddle again and calmly clear the map.

Land Battle
You cannot invade Kuat in the Forces of Corruption campaign.