Beating The Beam Team...

[Dies Irae]

Okay... So after I graduated from complaining about the Sagittarius nerf, I'm currently in a load of problems on how to beat the Centauri Beam Team.

Between Sulust and Tertius, my Early Years EA Fleet has consistantly been curbstomped viciously, with entire ships disappearing before even getting into range.

So far, my only real response has been to play around in the 5 inch gap where my missiles can reach out and touch someone (before either bouncing off the Hull 6 or getting gunned down by Interceptors), since my boresight Hull 5 Hyperions disappear under a battle laser barrage before they get the shot off and my Novas generally die long before getting there.

I'm not exactly sure how to approach the problem. His ships are faster, more heavily armored, and have the advantage of non-boresight lasers. I can't flank him, I can't go toe to toe... heck. Even if I do get there, I get chewed up by the Tertius' secondary batteries.

Of course, the beam team is being played by the guy who complained my trio of Sagittarius Cruisers was overpowered and is currently sitting at the top of the store league.

Does anyone have any advice?

 

[Locutus9956]

Well frankly I think the guys is a being a bit cheap complaining about you using overpowered ships with the fleet hes fielding. The Sullust is very nasty but Id say its just about fair. The tertius on the other hand I would NOT say is a fair balanced ship. Its not quite as broken as the old Saggitarius was but its still far too good imho.

The Centauri beam fleet is a very hard one to beat and when using the Tertius too its an absoulte nightmare (at least he isnt using Prefects too....). For early EA the only thing I can suggest is to swamp him with Saggs and missile the hell out of him, it may be rather cheesy but your simply outmatched against a fleet like that otherwise Im afraid .

 

[katadder]

other option is offer to play using in service dates. the tertius wasnt even made when the EA early era fleet was in use.

 

[Ripple]

he's playing in a league, not likely that in service dates are part of their base standards.

The three ships you mentioned are all argued around here as being hugely overpowered to needing a tweak. The only reason you don't see current threads is that most people have stated their position one way or the other and do not want to waste their finger pads futilely typing into the void. In the tourney pack the Sulust was drastically reduced in effect, and both the Prefect and the Tertius were not allowed same as most variants. Strangely it did not seem to have any impact on how well the Centauri did in tourney's around here.

That said if you are using the current Arm. breakdowns you can get some good mixed fleets to fight the beam team. We've found that breaking down at least 3 of 5 points works pretty well. In early years you also have excellent hyperion variants. Try using the larger numbers of hermes/missle tethys as a sub for the reduced sag's, yes its not the same firepower wise but the increase in init sinks gives you a better chance of picking and choosing when your hyps lunge.

Squadron up your laser boats so that losing init is not such a big deal. You'll always shoot at least second so make sure that slot is strong enough to destroy something.

It's a tough fight, and we have had only middling success around here in defeating it. Generally it means our centauri player rolled bad, so I understand the frustration.

Ripple

 

[Triggy]

Unfortunately in a League, it's very difficult to use in service dates. Locutus has it on the money about the good and the bad of this matchup. Fighters and Breaching Pods may be an interesting way to tackle this one...maybe try this (5 point Raid):

2 Avenger
3 Nova

(half Starfurys and half Breaching Pods)

The point of this fleet would be to hang back until everything was launched (turn 3) then pile forwards as quickly as possible, relaunching fighters if possible along the way. That many Breaching Pods ought to be able to take down a Tertius in two-three turns once they get there. Even if the Centauri player tries everything to stay out of the way, this will gain you position with less CAFing and fewer turns of forward firepower. Another way to use this fleet would be to deploy the Avengers by hyperspace and deploy the Breaching Pods directly into base contact with enemy ships...

This is only an idea but in this sort of situation it often helps to think outside the box. Good luck.

 

[CheesyRobMan]

Triggy mentioned hyperspace - remember that while Centauri ships may be more manoeuvrable than yours, you can still drop out of hyperspace on their flanks or rear and it'll be at least a turn before their beams can get at you (rear-arc beams notwithstanding). Centauri ships tend to be lacking a bit in powerful secondary guns, so if you can close range with them you'll have a much better chance - I play Centauri and find that if I get in close I tend to lose ships quite rapidly. If you can take advantage of special actions like running silent or CAFing then do so.

 

[Chernobyl]

use terrain as best you can...don't settle for "open space" battlefields if you don't have to.

Chern

 

[Locutus9956]

As Chern says, you should always try to play the game on at least randomly generated terrain or reasonably 'terrainy' boards. It may take a bit more effort to set up but trust me, ACTA is a MUCH more tactical game and less of a 'my fleet is better, I win' sort of affair with lots of terrain to play about with

Oh and Triggy, thats actually quite a cunning idea on the breaching pods, the Centauri ships in question (sullust, Tertius) are all actually pretty poo in terms of fighter numbers (in fact, do they even HAVE any?)....

Just checked and true enough both those ships have essentially no antifighter defence at all, and pretty low troop counts too

My god! Triggy, I take my hat off to you I think you may have just stumbled onto the big achilles heel of the Tertius (and sullust, though theyre not as evil )

 

[Locutus9956]

HOLY CRAP!!! It works vs Prefects too!!! Right thats it, next time I fight Centauri the fan headed ponces are getting a face full of marines

ps. If you swamp him with breaching pods Id expect this to work once very well but after that Id expect to see him turn up with somewhat better fighter escort (maybe a wing of Rutarians or a Balvari or something )

 

[Target]

My Beam Team is
1 Primus
2 Sulust
3 Corvan
Flights are Raziks
Usually gives EA a good trouncing, it has just enough fighter cover & interceptors to stop those annoying missles plus they are some of nicest models in the Centauri fleet.
The breaching pod thing only works once.
Hope they aren't reading this.
Our group stopped the whole CAF thing saying having your hull drop by 1 if you do it. Now we have think about when we CAF.
We also having regenerating fighters means EA can swamp you eventually which makes me tale a Balvarix as well.
My Early era opponent usually takes
1 Nova
1 Hyperion
1 Avenger
1 Sag
1 Olympus
4 Hermes
it will probably be 2 Nova & 2 Sag when finishs painting droping the Hyperion & Olympus.
Not sure how EA can beat the beam team under current rules, ignore what Centauri player says the Sag i think & use them. It means that he will have to target first them instead giving you a chance to move your other ships in range while hopefully doing some damage before they die.
The Primus/ Tertius is the target as the rest of the fleet are weak vs fighters. Furies chew up Corvans.
If i was EA
1 Avenger or Nova
2 Nova
2 Sag
4 Hermes.
The hyperion is just not a good option as he will die to easy vs beams of doom.

 

[Abraxas]

ps. If you swamp him with breaching pods Id expect this to work once very well but after that Id expect to see him turn up with somewhat better fighter escort (maybe a wing of Rutarians or a Balvari or something )

But if he wants fighter support he is going to need to take out some beam ships... right? Granted he could just downgrade a Teretious to a Prefect and use the raid point left over to buy some Razicks...

Oh well. I play as Centauri and I make an effort to avoid the Prefect and Teretious because of the animosity behind it's use. I don't usually use the Sulust because it is too focused and does not allow for ANY tactical flexibility. I also plan on rewriting what everyone says about Vorchans.

I prefer a cap ship (Daragan or a Primus) and a wolf pack of Vorchans and 1 - 3 Covrans giving logistic support. Haven't been able to use these fleets yet... but SOON :twisted: .

 

[Target]

Just use missles & nova's since they are your toughest ships, they can take a heap of damage, and 5+ save since they don't really need to turn. They can close while they try to take out the Sags because they are the thorn in his side.
The breaching pods might work if you have a avenger to get out your escorting fighters out to protect them since the nova's will be in 2 minds whether to APTE or Scramble or Close blast doors ( thats 3 minds ).
If he doesn't take any fighters breaching pods will give him the fright of his life. Double points for captured ships.
I'd use a lot of normal missles if there are a lot hull 6 ships or flash if he uses Sulusts instead. Multi warhead is another option ignore those interceptors.

Abraxas good luck with the Vorchans, i went off them when my squadron of 3 couldn't kill a Strikehawk with CAF, that was the last straw for them. They just gather dust at the moment.
Might break them out again since we added the "Evasive Manuevers" SA.
The ships must move far enough to complete 2 turns, only one wpn system can fire. Gains +2 to dodge to a max of 3+ dodge. CQ 8

 

[animus]

other option is offer to play using in service dates. the tertius wasnt even made when the EA early era fleet was in use.

Second this.

 

[Triggy]

HOLY CRAP!!! It works vs Prefects too!!! Right thats it, next time I fight Centauri the fan headed ponces are getting a face full of marines

ps. If you swamp him with breaching pods Id expect this to work once very well but after that Id expect to see him turn up with somewhat better fighter escort (maybe a wing of Rutarians or a Balvari or something )

Therefore either way you've succeeded as you've either won the game or forced your opponent to change his fleet away from some of the "broken" ships to include some fighter cover.

 

[Locutus9956]

precicely. You will get one probably crushing victory and after that hell field a more balanced fleet and then you can play some much more closely fought games .

Personally I quite like the idea of 1 Pirmus and 6 Vorchans, though I do think the Vorchan could use a SLIGHT upgunning sadly

 

[locarno24]

Having seen a pair of tertius go down to a Drazi fleet consisting of the sleekbird-wing-from-hell I can assure you this works....

And even if he does compensate in some way, a strike-craft heavy fleet tends to do well against centauri - a Balvarin takes too long to launch to make much of a contribution, a Balvarix costs you a damn Battlecruiser...and even swapping back to a Primus only gains you a pair of fighters.

Fighters, on the other hand, are one of the pre-minbari war EA fleet's big advantages.

A shedload of breaching pod wings and starfuries (if he's got lower hull ships, consider tiger-class starfuries) will make the point rather well.

 

[Silvereye]

Perhaps play around with some more EA Skirmish choices (and some Hermes) to complement an Avenger. Artemis/Rail Hyperions (2 for 1 over the Hyperion) to deplete interceptors before a Saggi barrage. Assault Hyperions (troops 6) for all that boarding action goodness. Spend the first turn on All Power to Engines and head straight down his throat to limit the time you are under his beams (accept the casualties). With the full Foreward firepower of the assault type ships, you don't have to worry about aligning boresights. Also putting General Lefcourt on one of your ships might be an interesting twist - he gives you +2 initiative, a bonus to crew quality and allows the ship to attempt two compatable special actions a turn.

If you are using Hermes, consider using them to Manoeuvre to Shield them to soak up any CAF!ed Beams.

Finally, a couple of Breaching pod wings and a Hermes as Hyperspace reinforcements could be quite funny.

Just a pity EA breaching pods don't have Afterburners.

 

[Target]

Just take Sags & Olympi.
While he's killing Sags the Olympi get close & hurt bad.
Maybe give the Olympi Heavy Missles & Multi Warhead for Sags, that will make him come after the Sags first or maybe this
4 Sags
3 Olympi
6 Hermes ( Flash or Heavy) & maybe Tiger furies to get behind Prefects
Not quite as beardy as 6 Sags & 4 Olys or is it?
He should only be able to kill 2 sags a round & you should crited him bad for the oly's to finish him off.
The Oly's with Heavies should make a mess of his Tertius with interceptor 1 + railguns. Maybe squadron things up, just fire all at once since no boresight.
I think Early era is just bout stronger than the other era's.

 

[Ripple]

Why do folks think the Tiger fury is worth anything? It's speed and weaponry is not superior to the Aurora (ie regular) starfury so what encourages the use of a slow, weak hulled, poor dodge, poor dogfighting cousin like the Tiger?

Ripple

 

[Target]

Why do folks think the Tiger fury is worth anything? It's speed and weaponry is not superior to the Aurora (ie regular) starfury so what encourages the use of a slow, weak hulled, poor dodge, poor dogfighting cousin like the Tiger?

Ripple

I was thinking there was no fighters to intercept them and might be able to get behind the prefects otherwise they are toast.