Federation Commander

[Sean Xor]

I am a fairly new player to Federation Commander, only playing a dozen games or so.

I really like Romulans with Plasma and cloaking. I would love any tips you more experienced players have on how to best play Romulans.

When should I and when should I not cloak?

What is the most effective way to use Plasma?

What are the most important things to keep in mind when playing with Romulans?

Thanks!

[DNordeen]

OK...here goes:

Caveat: None of these are set in stone and circumstances WILL force you to go against these concepts.

When to cloak: For the most part, cloak when you're loading plasma. Don't bother cloaking when the plasma is loaded and ready to go. You have better uses for that energy.

When to not cloak: When drones are coming at you. When you have something better to do with the energy. When the enemy can't fire at you. When you need to go fast.

Plasma is hard to use because:
1) It takes 3 turns to load (with exceptions)
2) The enemy tends to outrun it.

Your best time to launch is when the enemy is right in front of you. Good luck getting that to happen though.

Some folks prefer to use Plasma Bolts with directed damage to get some engine damage and then start launching torpedoes after the other ship can't go fast.

The cloak is there to help you survive while loading plasma. It's not a superweapon and if you abuse it, you're opponent will walk all over you.

You're also weak against seeking weapons. You have to be willing to use suicide shuttles, maneuver, and speed to avoid seeking weapons.

If you search back through this section of the forum, you'll probably find some good Rom tactics.
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Speed is life; Patience is victory

[Klingon of Gor]

Romulans are a tough race to play well. Here are a few tips for the beginning Romulan player.

The best time to use cloak is in the first turn of the game. Cloak before the enemy can get a drone volley off, and don't decloak until it's too late for him to get a volley off in that first turn. This takes that double drone volley of impulse 8 turn 1 followed by impulse 1 turn 2 off the table. This is important for Romulans, who are frequently short of phasers, usually don't have D racks, and don't have ADDs.

Seeking plasma puts the enemy on the horns of a dilemma. He can take the plasma, and lose a shield, or turn and run the plasma out, and thus lose the initiative. If you make him turn, you can get on his tail, and it can be hard to get you off. But keep something in reserve. For example, if you're flying, say, a King Eagle, you might launch the R torp and force him to turn away, but keep the F torps in reserve to discourage him from turning back on you if he runs the R torp out.

A lot gets written about the advantages of bolts vs seekers. In general, bolting works better in a squadron game, where you can throw a lot of bolts at once, and can do serious damage, even if half of your bolts miss. Remember too that F torps don't run very far, so they can be more useful as bolts than as seekers. R torps are persistent. They run a LONG time, and so can keep the enemy running for a while. They can be useful as seekers sometimes even if they don't hit. And failing your to hit roll when you bolt an R torp is a pretty miserable experience. S torps are a middle case. They can be useful as bolts or as seekers, depending on circumstances. But if you're using them to turn the enemy away and make him run, they won't make him run hearly as far as an R torp will

If you launch seeking plasma at Feds, remember that you want him to meet the plasma before he hits range 8, where he has a 50-50 chance to hit with a photon torpedo and he can use overloads. On the other hand, if you bolt, remember that you have a 50-50 chance to hit at range 10, so do unto the Fed as he would do unto you, but do it first.


Sometimes the threat is stronger than the fulfillment. A plasma torpedo in the tubes can give the enemy a disincentive to close. Launch it, and after he runs it out he can bore in on you. Think twice before launching the last plasma torpedo you have live.
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"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away" - Philip K Dick

[DNordeen]

Good points. Especially the cloak against drone races.

Also...

F torps in F launchers are no power to hold. Keep those for the can't let this shot pass moments.

Don't forget about 2 turn Fs. If they turn back and you want them to run again, add 2 more energy and launch an F.

Lastly, don't overlook the upgrade rule. I almost always load G-torps. They're cheaper to load, cheaper to hold, and I can upgrade at the moment of launch without penalty. In other words, it costs the same to load an R torp as it does to Load a G and upgrade at firing to an R. BUT, I save all that holding energy (well that and R's can't be held), but the same goes for S torps which can be held, but for more energy.
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Speed is life; Patience is victory

[ncrcalamine]

You cannot upgade a plasma G to S or R if thelauncher gets damaged, usually by a marine raid.

Nicole

[Klingon of Gor]

You can risk loading a torp up to G and upgrading if you're up against an enemy who hasn't got a lot of direct fire heavy crunch. Also, it helps if you have some smaller F torp launchers you can take as damage instead of your heavies. A KR who tries the upgrade trick is running more risk than a KRC. Likewise, a War Eagle is running more risk than a King Eagle.

Another pointer: if you do try to tag an enemy with seeking plasma, you may have a better chance if you fire immediately after he turns, before his turn mode is satisfied. If he has to move five hexes in a known direction before he can turn, he may have a harder time running the plasma out. Also, remember that at the start of the turn, he has the most reserve energy he's going to have all turn long. If you launch on impulse 1, he's got reserve energy to use buying acceleration. Likewise, very late in the turn, if your torpedo doesn't hit before impulse 8, then it means he's going to get energy again, and he can buy acceleration. In the middle of the turn, he may have used energy to power weapons or buy acceleration or deceleration. A plasma torpedo launched while his energy reserves are low, and before he gets to allocate energy for a new turn, might just nail him.
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"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away" - Philip K Dick

[Kang]

Also remember the rule that allows you to launch a completed plasma torp from a disabled launcher. If the torp is ready to go, you can still launch it even if the launcher gets clobbered.
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[Bolo_MK_XL]

[DNordeen]

Good points again. I usually get hit when I'm trying to reload so never really ran into the disabled launcher problem with upgrades. Good to know for future use.
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Speed is life; Patience is victory