Need serious help with star wolves 3.

[Darearkin]

So a friend of mine got me this game, and I've been trying to play it for the last few days. And... I can't. Not because of any technical problem, though.

Simply because my fighters/mothership blow up the second they're shot.

I know I'm not going into 'story locked' areas, I'm careful to follow the plot- and yet half the time my ships utterly ignore my orders, and the other half of the time they take amazing amounts of damage without dealing -any- in return.

Even on easy, I lost Ternie the first mission after I got her. It's at the point where I can't launch fighters, because no one will survive a single fighter action.

Am I doing something -seriously- wrong, or what?