Ambush EA Vs Narn - Raid

F

fluffy05

Mongoose
Hi All,

I am playing a rematch against a Narn opponent.

When we last played the Ambush Scenario I was the attacker (3 point Raid fleet) and took:

Nova
Olympus x 2
Oracle Scout

I did really well as the attacker and basically killed 5 points of Narn Raid.

One trick I used was to open a jump point to hyperspace from my Oracle and fool him into thinking I was running.

He then closed on my Nova, Oracle and one remaining Olympus where I opened fire out of multiple arcs and managed to kill half his already damaged fleet basically leaving him with a damaged Varnic on the table.

Now it is my turn to be a defender (5 Raid Points) against the Narn (3 Raid points) which means I have to endure 1-3 turns of Narn firepower depending on his positioning etc...

For my 5 point Raid I am looking at using:

1 Nova
2 Olympus
2 Sagitarius (new rules from S&P)
2 Hyperions standard

What do you guys think?
 
Not sure that the Olympus' and Sagitarrii are a good idea, after all hull 4 means they will pop pretty easily and in the first turn the Narn could easily boresight with every ship.
You may be better off with Artemis frigates for Hull 5 survivability.

Just my two pennorth
 
I'd opt for higher hulled ships in this scenario, the Narn aren't as disadvantaged by their maneuvreability and could bring a lot of boresights to bear!
 
I thought the Sagis could be good as they could pretty much fire from my first turn.

I was thinking of firing and running away from the Narn as the side arcs and 30 inch range would be good.

I do have an Omega but I don't think it would be good for this scenario one or two Criticals could shut the ship down and it takes up 2 Raid slots.

We are playing under SFOS rules (I don't have Armagedeon yet)

I even toyed with taking 5 Novas :wink: but if he deploys to far away I will be in trouble.

I will have a look at the Artemis Frigate though.

Anyone else have good feedback?

I also think he likes the Narn Scout ship so it may make an apperance or 3 :shock:
 
Only an Idea.
Use masses, like many Hermes.
He can kill ony a handfull of ships in a round.
And the Narn has no Interceptors so you can use Heavy Missiles on the Hermes to have hard hitting power and you can use the Starfury Flights to force the Enemy Player to set up his fleet in a greater distance.

I´ve used this tactic to save my ships in the middle of my fleet :).
 
fluffy05 said:
I thought the Sagis could be good as they could pretty much fire from my first turn.

I was thinking of firing and running away from the Narn as the side arcs and 30 inch range would be good.

I do have an Omega but I don't think it would be good for this scenario one or two Criticals could shut the ship down and it takes up 2 Raid slots.

We are playing under SFOS rules (I don't have Armagedeon yet)

I even toyed with taking 5 Novas :wink: but if he deploys to far away I will be in trouble.

I will have a look at the Artemis Frigate though.

Anyone else have good feedback?

I also think he likes the Narn Scout ship so it may make an apperance or 3 :shock:
Click to expand...

A good comander would eat Nova's for breakfast in this scenario, but you know him better than I. the Saggi is an OK option, if it's Sfos, it's raid and hull 5 isn't it? 5 of them with SAP missiles could mess up any narn skirmish ships quite well, if you use them deploy them at a slight angle so you can "jink" alternating between your rear and side arcs. Beware of frazi though, 4AD each, so you need to consider fighter cover, Also beware if he takes a Dag Kar. In this scenario, the Ship busters can hurt like crap, but it's only hull 4 and easily taken down IF you have the ships to shoot it!
 
Try an Explorer. Your opponent will be hard pressed to destroy it or even cripple it, plus the +1 command and Fighter compliment is very handy.
 
The trouble with the exlorer is that your opponent will most likely ignore it for the initaly ambush turn and kill the fragile ships with good weapons like Olympus and Saggis.

The above two ships are great for attacking in ambush but frankly they will all be dead before they get a shot off if theyre on the revieving end...

Id suggest tougher ships with lots of good weapon arcs. Lots of Novas, maybe even something big and tough like an Oresetes if your feeling daring (though the 'big ship' option can backfire badly if he gets a few lucky rolls).

Id suggest 5 Novas personally :)
 
I was thinking Novas and Sagis

What about:

3 Novas

4 Sagitarius (S&P Rules)

Deploy with Sagitarius forward of Novas and on first turn move Sagis and Turn to have arcs on Narn ships and constantly move them away to fire at long range.

Novas turn into Narn fleet to get up close and draw the Narn in. Leaving the Narn to figure out if they are going to pummel the Novas and get targeted by Sagis.

Novas can absorb a fair amount of damage and have Starfury flights.

Hermes could be good but only have a forward arc for their missiles.

Chronos could also be an option
 
If your using Armageddon rules Chronos are not available in the same list as either Nova's OR Saggis.

Also Chronos as tough as they are suffer from a little problem in this scenario:

On turn one the Narns will boresight them and bypass all those lovely interceptors with their beams. Chronos dont last long under those situations even with their hull 6.

The problem with using the Sagg's at all is that as good as the Nova's are he will still (if he has any sense that is!) shoot the Sagg's. They simply have far too much firepower to not kill as soon as possible! (he can also then break off out of the Nova's weapons ranges and come back and engage at will) (also of note that due to the deployment rules of this scenario you wont be able to take full advantage of the Saggi's range)

Dont get me wrong I LIKE the S&P Saggi and think they've finally got it just right but they are simply dog meat in this scenario!
 
Assuming you'll probably be on the receiving end of a Narn bat squad of with a selection of Sho'Kar/G'Karith/Ka'Toc/Thentus.

I'd consider, given the Ambush setup conditions of being attacked fromPort/Starboard ships with side weaponry and ships that can turn:

2x Nova Dreadnaught
1x Hyperion Cruiser
1x Oracle Scout (scout re-roll, boresight laser and turret missile rack)
1x Saggitarius (flash missiles in P/S launchers, heavy missiles F/A)
2x Artemis
 
Agree with all above here.

The main thing with Ambush is the first turn of 'you get shot and do nothing' using hull 4 ships is just giving your opponent cheap kills. Although massed Hermes has a certain appeal.

Think I'd go for 1 Nova, 2 Chronos, 4 Artemis or if you want missiles, four Hyperion missile ships. The Hull 6 Chronos ought to survive fairly well even against massed Ka'Toc/Ka'Tan attacks, and the Turret Mass Driver means as soon as it can fire it has a good chance to hit something.
The missile Hyperions have a reasonable hull and halfway decent all round firepower.
 
Again people still seem to be suggesting lists that ignore the new points split (but I not theyre still suggesting picking the upgunned Saggitarius as opposed to the original S&P one...) You can't have your cake and eat it ;)

Incidentally I cannot overstate how much Chronos DONT work (especially in small numbers where it's alot easier to focus on the one or two really dangerous enemies) in ambush scenarios. Its easy to look at them and go 'ah hull 6 and 3 interceptors eh? Theyre invincible!' but you must remember they can only take 18 crew hits before theyre dead. And only about 15 I think to cripple them! And in an ambush every beam will be boresighted on you ingoring those interceptors on turn one. If you're going to play crusade EA in such a scenario Im not entirely sure WHAT I'd suggest in this situation but Id be more inclined towards a couple of Omegas or Marathons and a Delphi. As soon as you can move you peg it from the enemy and hit them with your aft boresights (and these ships are tough enough that is is highly unlinkely youll get your ass handed to you before you can move. Remember the attacker only has 3 FAP in this scenario though it does still favour them strongly...
 
I suspect the fact he said they are playing SFOS, kind of makes the new points split irrelevant ;-)
I agree, Chronos is not a good ship here, it is outranged by a Ka'Toc (just), and the beam will punch straight through the interceptors.
 
Not a bad fleet SQ but in this instance again Id drop the Hyp for another Nova (or drop the hyp AND a nova for a second Omega).

The Hyp suffers from the same problem that Chronos, Olypmus, Saggitarius etc do in this case in that it is an obviouly much more fragile target than the rest of the fleet but still packs as much if not MORE firepower than the other ships, with the enemy getting a free turn to blast away its just going to pop.

The key in Ambushes is to either take LOTS of expendable ships so that even if you lose a few your overall fleet wont suffer much or take a few really tough ships that are likely to whether the initial onslought in one piece!
 
Locutus9956 said:
Not a bad fleet SQ but in this instance again Id drop the Hyp for another Nova (or drop the hyp AND a nova for a second Omega).

The Hyp suffers from the same problem that Chronos, Olypmus, Saggitarius etc do in this case in that it is an obviouly much more fragile target than the rest of the fleet but still packs as much if not MORE firepower than the other ships, with the enemy getting a free turn to blast away its just going to pop.

The key in Ambushes is to either take LOTS of expendable ships so that even if you lose a few your overall fleet wont suffer much or take a few really tough ships that are likely to whether the initial onslought in one piece!
Click to expand...

2 novas @ 45 deg oppersit edge omega up the center and the hyp as well or 2x Art
 
The Orestes is *verrryyyy* nice...

Its slow, but hey, you're not the one who's going anywhere...
And look at the frontal firepower:
3AD R25(!) Beam DD SAP
3AD R15 Beam SAP
4AD R12 AP DD

Plus a broadside of 10AD of Twin-Linked Pulse Cannons, a *rear* boresight of 3AD R15 Beam SAP, and 6 dice of Particle Beams to vaporize fighters.

Plus, it has a hull of 6 and 48 hits!

That's why I'm taking 2 in the Vassal Tournament...

Run, run for your lives Minbari! I'm coming for you! :twisted:
 
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