Federation Commander

[Cadmus02]

I am an SFB player who is dabbling in FedCom. I've played two games recently as the Hydrans vs the Lyrans. They did not play out like I thought they would in SFB and I got trounced. I want to figure out what I am missing.

In SFB the normal tactic I would use would be to approach at moderate speeds with fighters and to try and get as close as possible before firing. The key difference to me is that if an SFB Lyran uses his ESG I could use my hellbores to knock it down. Also hellbores will follow any other damage I do that impulse into a damaged shield. Flying this way in SFB the Hydran tends to get the upper hand at range 2 or less, forcing the Lyran to play for distance.

In FedCom the Lyran seems to have superior close in firepower. His ESGs combine with all his other weapons. Hellbores now do not. If I play for distance he has disruptors. My opponent has also had good luck taking out fighters at the middle ranges before they can close.

So I am a bit perplexed. How should a Hydran player in say Dragoon CA or Lord Admiral CC approach an opponent like a Bengal Tiger CCH?
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Proud member of Battle Group Toronto

[Klingon of Gor]

SFB tactics will frequently get you shot up in Fedcom. They are two different games. I never played a lot of SFB, and in none of the games of it that I played did I ever encounter Hydrans or Lyrans. I've seen quite a bit of both in Fedcom, as I know a fellow who likes playing Hydrans, and plays them well.

My first thought is that hellbores should allow me to work from a distance, and from a distance is best when fighting Lyrans. If I'm armed with fusion beams, or need to commit fighters, I'd get in close and tractor him before popping the fighters out. Hydran ships are tough, and should be able to take an ESG hit. Once the fighters are out, the number of targets should dilute the effects of his ESG.

If I had a hellbore ship, I'd stand off and use them, and deploy the fighters as a screen in case he charges. He might take the fighters with his ESG, but is he does, he won't have the ESG available for my main ship and its overloaded hellbores.

With Lyrans I'd probably be more afraid of his disruptors than anything else, since directed damage weapons is the death of Hydrans.
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"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away" - Philip K Dick

[Cadmus02]

Thank you for your reply. I was able to play two more games with squadrons of ships since then.

Using the hellbores at distance was one of my first thoughts too. I did not have success with this. A Lyran Ship with one functioning ESG can negate nearly three ranged hellbore shots and ESGs can be repaired a lot faster in FC so my opponent will usually have two on each ship.

To work right hellbores have to fire after your other weapons. I found that meant I had to fire early, between ranges 5-8 and then fire the hellbores at around range 2-4. In a task force you can send the fusion ships ahead a few hexes but your phasers will be less effective. In future games I wouldn't bring any hellbores if I could choose.

Fighters where also a bit of a shock, they can only fire one fusion a turn and get no ECM bonus. There is a trick in SFB where if you have enough fighters you can double fusion at range 10 and knock down a shield. You can have them approach under EM which helps. You can also anchor a ship and then launch fighters. Fighters feel like less value than in SFB.

They are excellent for drawing fire, what you said about using them as a screen could work. My opponent likes to use his phasers and disrupters to take them out range 4+, if he used ESGs that would mean they could get a very mean shot off before going out. I think I need to practice timing in FC to take advantage of fighter screens.

Fusions and Phaser-Gs still work well, when playing Hydrans I will probably lean on those. It's just tricky against the Lyrans because at range 0-1 his firepower is about equal to yours due to the ESG. So in games with squadrons of ships I will only close with stacks of ships to reduce ESG damage to any one of them. I am still unsure how to proceed in situations of single ship vs single ship.
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Proud member of Battle Group Toronto

[DNordeen]

Fighters can use EM for free.
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Speed is life; Patience is victory

[storeylf]

Single ship games are probably not the best to see some of the weapons working well, in particular where you facing something with a device specifically designed to neuter said weapon. FC works best at squadron to fleet level fights. I always thought the Hellbore was meant to be the fleet support/artillery type weapon, so never worried about that, especially against the hard ESG counter.

In small games on limited maps fusion Hydrans and/or mass fighters are utterly brutal. Stingers can double tap the fusion to fire out to range 10, and if you have full complements of them they will nobble enemy ships quite quickly, if they close you gatling them to death. Fusion ships move fast and hit hard. Sure the Lyran has ESGs up close but he is spending a lot more points for his similar size ship, and the ESGs tend to force the Lyran to disperse where as the Hydrans don't. You can take 4 hydran cruisers to 3 lyrans. If he disperses to use ESGs he risks being overrun piecemeal.

In general my squadron (450pt) games of hydrans saw me launch fighters from a good range and be ready to double tap at range 10. The fusion cruisers just cruised around waiting to pounce or cut off escape routes. They were largely unbeatable on small 42*30 maps.

Hellbores start to come into their own in larger fights. A couple of Hellbore ships behind the lines to help pick off stuff that has turned a down shield away is very nice. At the same time Lyrans are getting harder to play due to the ESG interaction stuff and manouvering 7-12 ships.