CENTAURI HUNTING PACK: BROKEN?!

[Chandler]

So has anyone else heard about the Centauri hunting pack rule from P+P?

It says that a centauri squadron can include up to six ships at raid level or lower and if one of these ships is in range of a target then the others get +50% to their range too to hit that target.

Broken? I think so. Did the Centauri need something like this to make them better?

Personally I can see a Centauri player taking 6 Demos and having 1 within range with missiles, and this would then give others out of range 30" range to hit the target!

What does everyone think?

 

[Greg Smith]

Well I have to say this was completely different from anything we playtested.

 

[katadder]

yep, this one was quietly slipped by.
tbh the best centauri rule was the one that made the big ships more manoeuvrable at cost of engine crits IMO.
haven't seen P&P yet though so cant comment.

 

[silashand]

tbh the best centauri rule was the one that made the big ships more manoeuvrable at cost of engine crits IMO.

I for one am against anything that auto-crits in a game where such things are often win/lose events.

Cheers, Gary

 

[Burger]

Sigh, why does he always do it?
Let the house rules begin... as per usual...

 

[Da Boss]

I am slightly confused about this - seems a bit of a bolt out fo the blue. I have not seen the book as yet but the info I have seen seems to suggest a potentially large boost for Centauri strike squadrons.

up to six ships, no higher than raid, must all attack the same target (ship or squadron). If at least one of the ships in the pack is in range, then all of them increase the range on their weapons by 50%.

As a Centauri player I am a bit nervous about letting us have 6 ship squadrons - isn't large squadrons a Dilgar advantage.

Being able to increase the range on Centauri guns is a bit deadly - 12" Ion Cannons is already good and being able to reach out to 18" with some of these seems a bit good?

obviously need to read it through, and try it but its worrying ..............esp given the playtesters did not know about it.

@katadder - thanks I still like my concept too

@ Silashand - understand your concern but its self inflicted and seems in character for the Centauri - the new rule may be as well but could turn out to be too good.

Time and testing will tell..............

 

[katadder]

at a guess from the sounds of it it allows all of a squadron to get in range on one ship which can sometimes be problematic from a centauri point of view.

 

[Foxmeister]

IMHO, this poll is broken! There are two choices for "Yes" and only "One" for no, and none of them represent my thoughts on the matter.

Personally, given that the Centauri main weapons are mostly mid/short-ranged for the most part, I don't see this as particularly broken, but I'd like to see it tested. If this is the first that the playtesters have seen of it, I'm rather dismayed, but my answer to this poll would be:

4. Reserve judgement until playtested.

Regards,

Dave

 

[Alexb83]

It can be difficult from everyones' point of view - what it does is allow the 'back end' of a squadron (6 inches max from stem to stem?) with only 12 inch range to match the range of the front end. For all weapons above 12 inches in range it's somewhat more pronounced.
It also opens up fire opportunities for members of a pack engagin in flanking that would otherwise get nothing (their 15 inch forward weapons being out of arc).

Just 'back load' your squadrons with a single lead ship to get within 12 inches, and you can avoid what would otherwise probably be decisive return fire.

Say you get the drop on an Octurion - you put one ship up front in 12 inches (but not 10), sit the rest at 18 inches. He hasn't got many options on what to shoot, has he? You get all of your forward armament from 6 raid ships.

The Demos idea isn't too bad, until you realise that you're not going to be able to take advantage of 30 inches range, when all of your guys have to be within 26 inches by definition. (except against enemies who don't have >24 inch range)

 

[Da Boss]

If it is as above

it does allow you to have say a starting squadron of :

Elutarian, Sullust, 4 x Demos, first turn you can unleash quite a barrage at 30" then split them off if required.

In fact an Elutarian with many varied squadrons of ship can signifcantly increase the range potenial of Centauri small and medium ships (which are already far from weak) - I would have prefered something to assist the larger ships (which are also not weak).

it needs testing - just a shame it does not seem to have been?

As a Centauri player I mainly question whetther we needed the boost?

 

[Clanger]

I thought the idea was to play test the new rules before you printed the book. If the play testers do not know about it :? ..... adding rules just before printing seems an own goal to me.

 

[Da Boss]

It can be difficult from everyones' point of view - what it does is allow the 'back end' of a squadron (6 inches max from stem to stem?) with only 12 inch range to match the range of the front end. For all weapons above 12 inches in range it's somewhat more pronounced.
It also opens up fire opportunities for members of a pack engagin in flanking that would otherwise get nothing (their 15 inch forward weapons being out of arc).

Just 'back load' your squadrons with a single lead ship to get within 12 inches, and you can avoid what would otherwise probably be decisive return fire.

Say you get the drop on an Octurion - you put one ship up front in 12 inches (but not 10), sit the rest at 18 inches. He hasn't got many options on what to shoot, has he? You get all of your forward armament from 6 raid ships.

The Demos idea isn't too bad, until you realise that you're not going to be able to take advantage of 30 inches range, when all of your guys have to be within 26 inches by definition. (except against enemies who don't have >24 inch range)

You only have to be within 6" of any one other ship in a squadron so you can in fact daisy chain your ships

ie 6 Demos - 1st at 20" , 2nd at 26" and the other 4 at 30" - massively reducing chances of return fire on the other ships - or just have 5 Demos and a Elutarian - then they are all at 30".

nicely ties in a reduced range on the White Star if this went through :shock: :?

A great day for the Republic

 

[KennyBoy]

Seeing as how the playtesting on the original rule showed that it was pretty darn powerful, this tweaking seems to have made it even better!
And, as was pointed out by Da Boss (who is very much a Centauri player)
"Do the Centauri need the boost?"
I would say not, the Centauri are easily one of the best fleets in the game... good Initiative, decent selection of ships - especially below Battle PL - and truly impressive firepower! Fleets like the EA and Narn - who are supposed to be the other "big boys on the block" don't stack up IMHO.
As a new ISA player, it seems that the ISA has been scaled back, whilst the Centauri have been given a boost :shock:

 

[KennyBoy]

Well I have to say this was completely different from anything we playtested.

Hey Greg! Instead of you E-Mining the crap out of my ISA next week, how'd you fancy going up against Charles with this rule in effect!

 

[No. 1 Bear]

Yeh but think if this new rule is soo good can you imagine what all the other rules will be so that all fleets equal out. :shock:

Or maybe its just another OTT thing like maybe the old version whitestar.

 

[H]

kinda glad i have moved on then, hey guys playtest this, whilst in secret i'm just going to do what I like anyway, whoo!

 

[Burger]

I dread to see what the FAP table looks like, after this... FAP table seems to be the favourite "make it up 10 minutes before sending it to press" part!

1 level below: 2 ships
2 levels below: 5 ships
3 levels below 43 ships!

 

[McKickaha]

kinda glad i have moved on then, hey guys playtest this, whilst in secret i'm just going to do what I like anyway, whoo!

OOh - The power of the Game Designer. What's it like Hiff.

 

[McKickaha]

I dread to see what the FAP table looks like, after this... FAP table seems to be the favourite "make it up 10 minutes before sending it to press" part!

1 level below: 2 ships
2 levels below: 5 ships
3 levels below 43 ships!

D'ont knock it Burger. My fleets FAP totals keeps getting bigger without buying any more ships.

 

[Triggy]

I thought the idea was to play test the new rules before you printed the book. If the play testers do not know about it :? ..... adding rules just before printing seems an own goal to me.

Well as the third main playtester I not only haven't heard of this rule before but still don't get the full implications of how it works. Does anyone have the exact wording?

If the range boost is on all ships' weapons then you could have a single Elutarian and a horde of Demoses as Charles says or you could have a horde of Demoses on their own, with one in range you then have the whole squadron with a range of at least 18" on all of their guns... not exactly the main weakness the Centauri were designed with!

Why the Centauri need any boost, let alone one as big as this is beyond me.