Armageddon level competition questions

[High Sierra]

ok my club are holding one on saturday.

1 armageddon

1 War, 2 Battle or

3 Battle

No jump points, nothing smaller cos of time limitations.

do I go with Vree or centauri?

If i go centauri its probably going to be octurian and 2 primus possibly. I havent got an Adira to play with yet. Beam team are going to be strong contenders to win.

but i'm loving the Vree atm - BUT they do lose out a bit at higher priority levels. 3 Xaak just arent going to cut it I think. I could play lets pretend and take a Z'taak and 2 Xaak and try to stand off my opponent for as long as possible. However at some point there WILL be a Victory on the table (I know the player - he WILL use it) and I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to stand up against it.

Other players are likely to be Narn, Minbari, EA, ISA (more than likely a Victory) and possibly Drazi, maybe Shadow or Vorlon as well.

I'm not worried about Narn too much
Minbari could cause trouble with their stealth for both my fleets
EA is...... not having a good time against my Vree lately
ISA will probably use a Victory, white stars pose no problem for either of my fleets (say hello to Beam or Precise DD torps)
Drazi I can probably outfly
Shadow I havent fought yet, but I'm confident I can beat the player
vorlon same again, with either fleet I could cause him lots of agro

I'm not sure whether to go into this to win or to just have some fun. I am happy in my knowledge of both fleets to actually giving winning it a good go.

Suggestions!

 

[Knight of ne]

personally i would go for the vree, they will make your games interesting and its always good to give a major power a run for there money.

 

[Locutus9956]

Actually the Vree could do very VERY well in a game like that.

Consider this. Your opponents are going to have a MAXIMUM of three ships on the table. Most ships at that level tend to be fairly slow and unmaneuverable. Most ships at that level (there are exceptions of course) tend to be very focused on big forward firepower.

Having 3 Supermanueverable ships could be very nasty indeed. Frankly I wouldnt give the Victory that much of c chance, you should be able to outmanuever it easily and blow it to bits while avoiding nearly all its weapons (chances are you will lose one of your ships on the way in though ;P)

 

[High Sierra]

I'm not sure - the Victory goes "10 while my Z'Taak and Xaak only go "8, ok so I get a better turn than he does, but its going to be fairly tricky to begin with to get out of that forward arc.

The other consideration is that if I want to bring any secondary weapons into play along with the torpedo's I only have 2" to play with to stay out of range of his secondary weapons (namely the fusion cannon in that turret)

Will I get away with measuring range from his ship as I move? I'm not sure. Mind you, just sitting in his side arc and pecking away will be good enough I suppose, although 6 interceptors on effectively 3 torpedo's per turn isnt going to be good for me so I'm just going to have to go for it and hope if I cant measure.

 

[Locutus9956]

Well consider this. Most games make you deploy at most about 30" from each other. If the VCD goes all stop right at the start and you go all power to engines you will only have to endure 2 turns firing. Also if you deploy your fleet at oposite flanks then he has to move 4" to turn making things even better for you.

And thats all assuming open space, if youve got any terrain on the table things become even easier for you

 

[tneva82]

I'm not sure - the Victory goes "10 while my Z'Taak and Xaak only go "8, ok so I get a better turn than he does, but its going to be fairly tricky to begin with to get out of that forward arc.

But once you get out of front arc he'll be in world of hurt to get you BACK into front arc. 5" minimum move hurts. Especially when you don't have initiave sinks to back you up :lol:

 

[Burger]

I'm not sure - the Victory goes "10 while my Z'Taak and Xaak only go "8, ok so I get a better turn than he does, but its going to be fairly tricky to begin with to get out of that forward arc.

But once you get out of front arc he'll be in world of hurt to get you BACK into front arc. 5" minimum move hurts. Especially when you don't have initiave sinks to back you up :lol:

Remember he has rear Neutron Laser too though, and turreted secondary weapons. Oh, and can Come About on a 4+ due to CQ+1.

 

[locarno24]

Vree should do OK...and cover is your friend. One thing to remember with Vree and shadow fleets; the game is designed with the assumbtion that terrain WILL be used on tables. Do not fight on a bare table (especially against laser or missile-happy fleets) because people can't be bothered with terrain unless you're prepared to put yourself at a disadvantage.

An Uber beam team would be amusing but pretty predictable. The problem is the complete lack of initiative sinks and lack of manouvrability.

Narn - ump. Narn Big ships are pretty nasty - but tend towards a big front arc and not much else. With no interceptors unless he brings a fast cruiser, he should be torpedo-fodder. Emphasis on should. Watch out for mag guns and torps if he brings the fast cruiser/long range destroyer combo!

Minbari - close range for stealth-beating. Scanners to Full! with your Tzymm wings might help, but be aware you will only get to do this once before they get fusion cannoned to snot. Don't send them in untill you have all your torps loaded and preferably Concentrate All Fire! at the same time. Since he's expecting 1-3 big ships, he might not take a Sheroos - but if he does, it's your primary target as it has 360 degree coverage with those bloody precise lasers.


EA - Fear the command omega. Fortunately, his secondary weapons are short-ranged (compared to fusion cannon), so you can probably drop inside shredder range. You'll need to, to punch through those interceptors!
Omegas are pretty much the same, but keep a sharp eye on marathons. They are disturbingly manouvrable and getting centrelined by that neutron cannon can spell doom for a Xaak.

ISA - Victory. Hull 6, Shedloads of interceptors, 100 hit points and adaptive armour. Probably the nastiest armageddon-priority ship. Split forces, Hug terrain and wait for a chance to flank him. With those fusion cannons, shredders are a dicey possibility, but might be needed. Hit it with all torps, then reload en masse, then repeat. 20 torps generate 10 hits....even with 6 interceptors he'll struggle to shoot down more than 3-4, so a couple of criticals should get through.

Drazi - What are you doing in a big ship fight, mate? Possibly will give the others a nasty surpise, but you have the same speed (8) better manouvrability (2/45 - SM) and he's limited to trying to catch you with boresight weapons with 12" less range than your torpedos. And he lacks interceptors or dodge. Float like a butterfly, sting like a butterfly armed with 20 antimatter torpedos

Shadow - Aaaggh! They turn as fast as Vree do! And the slicer beams cause so much pain! Fortunately there should only be one ship, and it only has forward arc weapons. All I can suggest is whatever you do, dont let up on it - it has better speed whilst SM - don't let it escape!!! It'll undo several turns of damage disturbingly fast. The Tzymm wings may well save the day here....

Vorlon - Expect a light cruiser and a pair of destroyers.....if he turns up with a heavy cruiser, hold a spontaneous party (preferably on the far side of an asteroid field, mind you) as a 1/45 forward arc only ship is a vree dream, however nasty the big guns are. Dealing with the lighter ships...um. Fast, lethal and annoyingly agile. Try and keep the range with the Tzymms (rely on the AP guns) or he'll EMP you silly in 2 turns.
Hold the range, and torpedo the destroyers - LOTS. They're the bigger threat - more firepower per point, and the speed to catch you. Ignore the cruiser to start with, and concentrate every shot on one target at a time.



You can measure range at any time, I think (unlike victory at sea)

 

[Locutus9956]

Yup agree for the most part there. Againt one or two big ships Vree should do very well. The only real nightmare to wach out for is Shadows as noted. They basically work the same way Vree do. Theyre just better at it.

 

[H]

sounds like it should be fun, I wouldn't write off the Narn however, they can be very tough, and a Bin'Tak, G'Vrahn combo puts 8 frazi's on the table, sure, Vree have anti fighter, but some are bound to get through and have a pop. Also, you have 45" mines on the G'Vrahn, lots of precise ion torps, and the G'Vrahn can actually turn around, AND has interceptors.

 

[High Sierra]

hmm some nice suggestions here

however, read the OP - its battle level minimum due to time constraints so there wont be any lower priority ships on the table except fighters.

and im not quite sure about the point with 20 torpedo's (unless you mean 20 attack dice)

its quite interesting - I've never really been bothered about competitions before, I've entered purely for the fun of it and to see where I get. However, with this one im starting to think that I would really like to get serious about winning!

Based on the comments so far I think I am going to have to try with the Vree - I didnt think that they would hold up at the higher priority levels. Of course I am going to have to try for terrain at every opportunity because giving the opponent a couple of turns of shooting at me isnt going to be healthy.

I'll keep you posted, more suggestions welcome!

 

[Silvereye]

I'd go with Vree. Make up some cards with crop circle designs on them and wave them at your opponent at oppertune moments.

Will I get away with measuring range from his ship as I move? I'm not sure. Mind you, just sitting in his side arc and pecking away will be good enough I suppose, although 6 interceptors on effectively 3 torpedo's per turn isnt going to be good for me so I'm just going to have to go for it and hope if I cant measure.

You can measure whatever and whenever you want. So it is possible to thread the needle and stay out of range of secondaries.

 

[High Sierra]

that'll do me, as long as I can stay on the flanks in that 2" gap on the Victory I'm onto a winner.

of course he could bring a white star carrier or something, but I know I can beat that.

 

[High Sierra]

a thought occurred to me on the way home -

Competition Armageddon rules, does that allow you to change the 'canon' ship setups?

i.e. what prints out on one of Chernobyl's rather groovy sheets is what must be used or can I change it?

one of the rules of this comp is that no jump points can be used.