Lyrans vs Federation

Atrox7 · Post by **Atrox7** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 9:46 pm

So I played a Lyran vs. a Fed ship one on one and the Lyran took 4 overloaded Photons and an assortment of Phasers right down the throat! Boom!

Now, granted the Lyran did some damage in return but nothing like what it received. So my question is do you do a Lyran saber dance like a Klingon because of the disruptors, or do you try to get close because of the ESG's? And if you're not going to get close to use the ESG's then are you basically out gunned vs. the Feds?

djdood · Post by **djdood** » Fri Oct 22, 2010 11:26 pm

Every situation will be different, but basically, you need to do both.

You out-range him (unless he forgoes the crunch of overloads) and yes, saber-dancing him to wear down shields would be my personal tactic of choice. It requires careful maneuver to maintain the range and lots of patience, which is sometimes difficult to maintain.

Once you have him roughed up (and ideally after you have negated his photons, either through making him fire them in a disadvantageous way or by gaining position out of arc and with energy-limitations preventing him from fixing that), then the up-close pass for an ESG "ram" is in-order.

I've lost a Fed CS to a clever Lyran doing exactly this to me. I was hopping mad, but I learned some good lessons.

Atrox7 · Post by **Atrox7** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 1:44 am

Well, I'm up for a rematch. I'll try the slow approach and try to end it with a bang. (ESG, not me exploding!)

jmt · Post by **jmt** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 2:11 am

The Lyran primary weapon is not the ESG - it's the Disruptor. While the Lyran doesn't have the turn mode of the Klingons, it has better weapon arcs. Use your disruptors range-band advantage (check the combat chart) and sandpaper the Fed.

Some tips I've found useful fighting a Fed:

Make your oblique attacks and focus on damaging his front shield. The weaker this is, the harder it is on him to bull rush you with Photons.

Don't fire overloads on your disruptors early on - as this prevents you from using directed damage. Rather, direct shots on the weapons column. You're hoping to reduce the number of photons he has. Yes, capital ships can repair a photon in one turn, but then it takes 2 turns to load 'em.

Use your ESG to protect yourself from his drones or shuttles.

And always know the state of his photons. If you have the chance to get in close when the photons can't be fired, get in close and hammer him; but be sure to get outside of 8 before the photons come on line.

While not as slow as a plasma ballet, the longer game suits the Lyran more than the Federation.

ericphillips · Post by **ericphillips** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 2:37 am

I totally agree on not thinking of your ESGs as the primary weapon. I am playing Lyrans in the FCOl tourney and I went in with the attitude that the ESG would be a big plus. I got whipped. Maneuvering to get in range to use them just means you are closing in so they can hit you close range with their weapons beofre you get to range 1- you are really helping them more by moving in.

In the second game I considered my ESGs as secondary. Instead, I playead more like a Klingon, attacking from a medium range, moving out until the wepons reset, and come back in. I got a win.

JimDauphinais · Post by **JimDauphinais** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 2:05 pm

Don't fire overloads on your disruptors early on - as this prevents you from using directed damage. Rather, direct shots on the weapons column. You're hoping to reduce the number of photons he has. Yes, capital ships can repair a photon in one turn, but then it takes 2 turns to load 'em.

I would caution that trying to get into and out of targeted damage range is risky because if you are not extremely careful you could end up within the 8 hex "death range" of overloaded photons. If targeting is forgone, Disruptor and P1 fire at 15 hexes is just as good as it is at 9-10 hexes. Then again, the above advice appears to have been given in the context of ending up within a 10 hex range -- not in advocation of intentionally closing to 10 or fewer hexes (at least not until the Fed front shields have been scrapped away).

Something else to watch out for is Fed use of Drones (or on occasion Shuttles) to water down the effect of your ESGs. To mitigate this you may need to save some power for your phasers when you finally make your ESG charge.

pinecone · Post by **pinecone** » Sat Oct 23, 2010 3:47 pm

Lyrans are great aat long range and short range with ESGs/DISRs respectively. Middle range is where they are weakest, especially since most of their phasers are ph-2s.