While he's at range 25-30, the odds are if it's not a snipe or base, it's cloaked.

By Richard Sherman (Rich) on Saturday, January 22, 2011 - 02:39 am: Edit

John,

If the base cloaks, the two SNP are DEFINITELY dead. They can't survive without EW support from the base. If the base does uncloak to support the SNP, that's when he pounds the base (not the SNP).

The reason it has to be that way is because EM allows a ship to achieve 13 to 16 ECM. The max ECCM of any Fed ship when receiving support from the GSC is 12. This means a shift.

But the base can't EM. It's max ECM will always be limited to 12.

So, simply, if the base cloaks, shoot Snipe. If the base uncloaks, shoot the base.

When he does this, the Romulan will either just have to hunker down and take it, or come after him with the damaged KR, K5R, and SNA.

It'll take 15+ turns unless the Romulans sally and try to push the tempo (which will likely just cause them to lose quicker), but the Feds can win this.

Roch, you also need to make sure you use defensive ECM, ECM drones (if you have any), loaning from the GSC, and EM yourself on reload turns. Or, alternatively, brick your facing shield like crazy to blunt the long-range fire from those base P4 (assuming he decloaks). You want the base shooting at you as long as it can't likely achieve significant shield damage. Every P4 shot at you is 2 points less he'll have for shield reinforcement or his EW pool.

Start trying to repair the down shield on the DD, and get the photon (first) and phasers repaired. Given that it is unrefitted, you have 8 labs. You might want to pull her out temporarily to use EDR.

Keep the GSC further back, no closer than range 26 to the base (and your other ships shouldn't be any closer than range 18...and even that is probably too close early on...better to stay at either range 25 or range 30). Her 2 photons may occasionally help, but they blind sensors...and the sensors are more valuable in most cases.

You have 11 regular photons left, with 2 more on the GSC. If you get the 1 you lost back, so much the better. With 12-14 photons and a single-impulse off-center salvo of 14+ P1, you'll have enough firepower to slowly grind the Romulans into space dust.

Thank goodness you don't have a time limit.

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Saturday, January 22, 2011 - 02:30 pm: Edit

Romulans:

Dock the Snipe-Ps and any damaged ship, cloak, use the base's repair facilities to make repairs, keep the base's weapons armed if the Feds try to close.

While docking operations may void a cloak, if the Federation ships are far away their chances of gaining lock-ons are less. The Snipe-Ps will not increase the cost of the base's cloak (smaller unit docked to larger cloaked unit) but will gain all the benefits of that cloak.

By Richard Sherman (Rich) on Saturday, January 22, 2011 - 03:20 pm: Edit

Docking the 2 SNP and the damaged KR leaves the Romulans only the SNA and K5R for maneuver elements. This will either allow the Feds to engage with impunity, even against cloaked ships, or force the remaining Romulan ships back to sitting close to the guns of the base. If the latter happens, the Feds can stop, overload and come into overload range. The Feds have enough DF firepower to kill or mission-kill an uncloaked base at the range.

In other words, yeah, Romulans, do that.

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Saturday, January 22, 2011 - 03:33 pm: Edit

Richard Sherman:

If the Feds stay at long range you cannot really hurt them with plasmas and phaser-4s. The Snipe-Ps may as well move to disengage. If you cloak, the Feds at least have to come in to hit you, giving you an option to decloak and hit them with your seeking weapons.

Make a choice.

Disengage and abandon the base.

Or use the cloak to pull the Feds in closer and try to do some damage.

Do not waffle.

By John Trauger (Vorlonagent) on Monday, January 24, 2011 - 03:11 pm: Edit

Richard,

If the base cloaks, the two SNP are DEFINITELY dead. They can't survive without EW support from the base. If the base does uncloak to support the SNP, that's when he pounds the base (not the SNP)

I was at least trying to say exactly this.

And yeah, docking the snipes is the way to avoid this lose-lose. Since docked units share power, the base can use the snipes to power its repairs to the KR.

By Jim Davies (Mudfoot) on Monday, January 24, 2011 - 06:34 pm: Edit

It presupposes that the damaged Snipe can get near the base. With only 3 power left and needing 1 for shields, it's not going to get there quickly, and tractoring it will merely slow the other ships down. Probably best to sacrifice it to let the other snipe escape.

By Roch Chartrand (Rochc) on Tuesday, January 25, 2011 - 01:24 pm: Edit

Fellow commentators,

Turn 2 is currently under way.
On impulse 1; a real Pl-G hit DD on it #3 taking it down completely EW shift that I had working was of no use due to a nice probability hit roll of 1 from opponant.
On impulse 2 and 3; I had to use most of my Ph available to kill the cripple SNP
On impulse 5 and 6; Base, KR and K5R fire onto DD and strip off shield #4
DD had to ED in order to protect itself against a newly launched PL-G that hit the WW
The 2 PL that was chasing DN ended to be fake.
To protect the stop DD the GSC launched a SP that I thought would bloom on Imp 12, but due to sequence of play it will bloom Imp 13 and will be too close of it target to release (this info is known by opponent, that will act accordingly for sure).

Position at the end of impulse 12;
Rom Base: 2525A
SNA/ SNP: 3125E speed 10 (6 hex away from base)
K5R: 4122B speed 18 (2 hex away from SP, 6 hex away from DD)
KR: 4124B speed 20 (4 hex away from SP, 8 hex away from DD)

DN: 4715A speed 19 with SC to 13 coming soon.
CAR / GSC: 4517B speed 18
DD: 4417B speed 0 shield 3, 4 & 5 gone

Planned actions get DN and CAR facing E ASAP, use GSC to town DD as far as possible before the real torp be launched.

By John Trauger (Vorlonagent) on Wednesday, January 26, 2011 - 01:50 pm: Edit

Keep track of who launched fake plasma. If the DD has any reserve warp, you might want a mid-turn speed change once the decel perios has passed. It's time to get out of plasma range until you have photons to fire.

By Roch Chartrand (Rochc) on Thursday, February 03, 2011 - 11:37 am: Edit

Hi,

SITREP on the Fed base assault.

1 SNP and DD are dead.

All Rom ships are near the Base (under 5 Hexes) except the K5R (4639D) that is running at speed 25 from DN.
DN is 7 hexes behind (4433D) the K5R in hot poursuite, map edge/corner is getting close about 11 hexes in from of K5R.
CAR and GSC are following at a slower speed.

KR and K5R are out of Plasma, 2 possiblility for K5R:
1. try to cut in front of DN at very high speed (28+) to get back closer to the base, or
2. cloak to break my lock-on and slowly get back to the base.

My dilema is the following to be able to cut K5R from getting back to the base at high speed I most maintain high speed also. If K5R cloak in order to break my lock-on it will need to go slow speed 5 to 8 and I will over run it. If I plan against the the K5R cloaking DN will never be able to catch the K5R if he sprint to the base!

Any usefull comment on this dilema?

By John Trauger (Vorlonagent) on Thursday, February 03, 2011 - 01:39 pm: Edit

What are the DN's photons and phaser caps like? It sounds like you're at a turn break?

Where's the KR? Can it interfere?

I'd say you have the K5R right where you want it with the DN between it and the base.

No matter what he does, you want speed.

If he runs, you want speed to keep yourself between him and the base.

If he cloaks, you want speed to close range on him during fadeout. Optimally you want the option to tractor him before he gets completely under cloak. If he's smart, he'll deny you this by running at high speed then dropping right after he cloaks to force a lock-on reroll.

Don't neglect your GSC and CAR in this. If he's running for the base, they can attempt to intercept him if he gets by the DN. Being slower doesn't mean they can't get between the K5R and the base. Use them as speed bump between K5R and the base rather than as straight pursuers.

If the K5R cloaks, they should have at least one opportunity to overrun before he gets to the base.

If I were to bet, I'd bet on the K5R running at high speed precisely because of the overrun threat. If he cloaks, odds are you'll blow him apart despite the cloak at range-0. While you always want a kill if you can get it, your mission is base-busting. Forcing him to disengage works just dandy towards that end.

By Roch Chartrand (Rochc) on Thursday, February 03, 2011 - 03:15 pm: Edit

John,

Y turn break we are doing EA turn 4.

DN will have 4 Std Photons on hold, 4 Ph Cap charged, rest of power is basicly for movement; speed 27 for 6 imp then speed 21!

KR is located 2725D, 17 hex from DN, It may be able to do speed 20 this turn and try to cut GSC from joinning CAR and DN that is 19 behind DN!

It's going to be very thight to try tractoring K5R before it is completly cloaked, DN is 7 hexes away!

Trying to bring CAR and GSC as speed bump will bring them in arms way of the base and KR.

By John Trauger (Vorlonagent) on Thursday, February 03, 2011 - 03:44 pm: Edit

You could do worse than have the GSC and the CAR double-team the KR if it gets in their way. Skirt the base at range 16+, best speed to intercept the K5R if it runs.

Does the DN have reserve power?

If you can't get to the K5R before it cloaks, you want range 5 if you can get it. Then moment he announces cloaking think VERY hard about hitting him right then. The way fadeout works, it will probably be your best firing solution until and unless you manage to get into his hex. 16 points average from your photons should about account for his shield with your phasers going in for damage.

If you have batteries, dump them into P-1s that bear but couldn't otherwise fire.

You can hold out for an overrun too. Depends on how fast you expect to see him go and whether you think you can get into his hex before he gets into the base's danger zone.

By Roch Chartrand (Rochc) on Thursday, February 10, 2011 - 12:54 pm: Edit

Hi,

SITREP on the Fed base assault.

As expected K5R has run like hell trying to get around DN and back under the base EW umbrella to no avail! It is now a piece of slag flotting in space, as it receive 4 Std Photons at R2 in a weak shield followed by a SS! Unfortunatly DN as receive 10 internals from 2 Fs.

KR has use the previous turn to repair some damages and is in pursuit of CAR and GSC. Both Fed ship have link together and are ready to give KR a bloody nose in the first few impulse.

The 2 Snipes are following the KR into action all Rom ships are now to far from base to get EW support from it but they all have their S ready.

There is no way my CAR or GSC can avoid PL that are sure to come this turn, so I am considering Tact so I will be able to use WWs to protect against the first PL volley, and load up the Photon in the red to return as much damages as possible!

Any comment or possible unsee details?

By Joel Archer Philson (Varian) on Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - 09:56 pm: Edit

as a basic, fire 2 ovld phot per ship per turn, so you constantly barrage him w/heavy weapons.

i only have basic set, so i don't know what these advanced ships can do. still, a handy tip.

By Phil Viverito (Philviverito) on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - 01:33 am: Edit

Hello,

This is my second post here.

I was wondering what the best way to teach a new player tactics? My friend wants to fly a Federation CA. We have played three scenarios; the introductory duel as printed, Fed CA vs. many shuttles and then the introductory duel Fed CA vs. a Rom KR (no cloaking for me).

My friend has a funny habit of turning away from the nose of my ship or stopping dead. In the first game that was really bad vs. the Klingon. He ate up the shuttles in the second game. In the third game he handled my first plasma torpedo nicely, but then stopped dead while I was reloading. He "won", but he ignored the two plasmas I fired into face at range 2. Had we tallied that damage, he would have burned too.

Is there any website or product that teaches how to fly a Fed ship? Is there a particular ship I should use against him?

Thank you in advance.

By Koen van der Pasch (Croga) on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - 03:18 am: Edit

I always thought fed tactics were limited to "fly to range 8, feed 4 overloaded photons, watch him explode". But then again, I don't like the feds much ;)

There's a pretty good tactics manual available from the store. That would be a possible way to go.
Alternatively: Don't teach him anything! Let him find out for himself what works and what doesn't. I've had amazing results with pupils that weren't tainted with "obvious tactics that have been around for years".
As oldies like me (and most of our group) tend to look at the rules and then see what is possible, this one guy looked at what he wanted to do then asked me which rules would enable that. This was in a 2v2 battle with me+newbie versus 2 oldies and let me tell you; the other oldies were quite baffled when the newbie pulled out a tactic none of us would've ever thought about.

Maybe keep that tactics manual handy for after his stroke of genius; let him see that there are other options as well ;)

By Phil Viverito (Philviverito) on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - 12:29 pm: Edit

Would a pair of Fed CA's have a chance against a couple of warbirds?

I thought about having 2 warbirds advance across the map and lob their plasmas every third turn. I wouldn't even use the EA form for them as they would be pretty dumb targets, we would assume that weapons would be ready if they weren't shot off.

Then my friend and I would kill them with 2 Fed CA's. I figure he would get a taste of cloak and plasma while being responsible for all of the movement since the targets don't move much. Would that be a good mechanics game? I figure we could repeat it to tinker with more rules like tractors, boarding, weasels and ECM.

By John Trauger (Vorlonagent) on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - 01:13 pm: Edit

At 125 BPV per Fed CA vs 45 for a WB, 60 for a WB+, the Feds should stomp them into the pavement nicely.

By Randy Blair (Randyblair) on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - 02:07 pm: Edit

A pair of Fed CAs would eat two Warbirds for lunch, without silverware or a napkin.

By Phil Viverito (Philviverito) on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - 02:54 pm: Edit

He-he-he...

I think it might be a good "mission" for a beginner. If I add more stuff like more warbirds, shuttle or fighters it simply comes down to too many targets for too few weapons.

I just want to give him a taste of maneuvering and shooting, not a plasma induced heart attack.

By Randy Blair (Randyblair) on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - 03:23 pm: Edit

Try using War Eagles.
The Fed CAs will still beat the stuffing out of them, but at least they'll have a fighting chance.

By Mike Strain (Evilmike) on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 - 05:14 pm: Edit

Give him a Fed CA, and you take a Gorn CL. No refits, etc.

Lets him deal with plasma, WW's, and PPT's without having to deal with cloaks and other strangeness.

Once he is comfortable with that, switch to a Kzinti CS with speed 20 drones (all type-I's, no craziness) and teach him how to deal with scatterpacks, etc.

Go easy on using shuttles. Aside from scatterpacks (Kzinti/Klink) and WW's, keep it real simple. Teach him about suicide shuttles later (when you take a Lyran CL against him...)

By Chris Smith (Casmith1) on Monday, August 01, 2011 - 12:33 am: Edit

Gents, I have a scenario coming up and wanted to review my selection with you. We're playing a three way scenario system. (Using the PBEM) We have 900 points and the scenario is a BATS attack/defense. Each player attacks a BATS, defends a BATS, and moderates the other two. So. For my BATS attack I have selected: (Y179 BTW) DNG (244), BCG (180), CAa+ (141), DD+ (100), DD+ (100), and CLD+ (109). Leaves 26 to upgrade the drones. This gives me 22 photon torpedoes, and 44 phaser 1's that can fire down the front sheild. The CLD+ while unable to mount a large enough drone offense on its own, would act largely in defense of the fleet, and act also as a scout. Plan would be to park at R25-30 and play the averages. If his defense forces come in, then there are 15 drone racks full of little nasties to meet him. Now I have to use the same fleet against both opponents, and it looks like one will take Lyran and the other is torn between Romulan/Hydran. Any thoughts would be helpful. I have yet to plan my BATS defense fleet. But I have 900 points for that as well. So if you're real bored I'd love to hear some suggestions.

Thanks
C.

By Troy Latta (Saaur) on Monday, August 01, 2011 - 10:52 am: Edit

I hope the 900 BPV on defense includes the BATS itself. After you add the HBAMs and fighters it'll be around 300 points by itself.
As for your attack fleet, I'm pretty sure no one ever deployed DNs and BCHs in the same force, but I guess it's legal by (S8). I've always preferred the BCF to the BCG, but that's a personal preference thing and for this battle plane I think you have the right mix.