SneakyPete
Mongoose
In anticipation of the new releases (I have a Kzinti Fleet Box on order) I played several rounds of Kzinti vs Gorn using proxy ships. After my first two battles it was looking grim for the Gorn. Using 750 pts and a DN, BC, and BCF vs the Gorn they were absolutely crushed by drone fire. (using the latest errata rule changes, roll to hit after 18" and no more than three targeting one ship) (Gorns also used tractors after running out of phaser)
If they approached slowly with IDF I would concentrate on ships which succesfully made the IDF role tossing 14 drones per turn as IDF does no good when you are the target. With their minimal phaser suites and no ADD, they were in bad shape by the time they were close enough to strike. On the turn when they got to unleash their massed plasma my Kzinti used APE to rush out of effective range (while all the while my BCF circled around behind them). In another battle when they tried to rush ahead to minimize the number of turns they were exposed to drone fire they took another beating as they had no IDF at all due to using APE and once again the Kzin extended at the last moment and used their plentiful phaser1 and 3's to knock out most of the Plasma fired at them. Another thing that made it hard for the Gorn was that once the Kzin went APE to escape the plasma blast they also became able to roll to evade the Plasma as they were no longer fronted toward the incoming blast and had moved more than 12" (Per Evading Seeking Weapons, pg 17)
Understandably if their had been heavy cover it would have helped the Gorn considerably although there was a 4" comet with a 10" tail on the middle of table for all the games.
The huge initiative disparity between Gorn and Kzin does not help either....
Does anyone have some good strategy tips to help the Gorn out against Kzin. Two other tactics I want to try next time we play are:
1. To have the Gorns use many small ships instead of fewer large ships when facing Kzinti. That way the number of drones is muted somewhat by the volume of targets, it also gives a higher probability of an decent average of successful IDF rolls and while one or maybe two maybe lost before the first plasma barrage a single FF or DD loss is not a major blow. The down side is that while the total plasma number is nearly the same it needs to be shot from closer to be effective as a Plasma F 8" E-Bleed is 50% diminished. (It would be nice if the Gorn had a few more Plasma R ships...) Also a wide net of many ships reduces teh Kzintis ability to maneuver out of the Gorn's effective arcs. Finally it may also give the Gorn a good initiative sink if the Kzin go with larger ships, which always helps with strategic movement.
2. If the Gorn charge towards the enemy using APE turn 45 degrees away at the end of the turn so their forward arc is no longer facing their Kzinti target, this way they also become eligible to roll to evade all drones. This should work well while still at long range, but also somewhat as well at close range since most Gorn plasma swivel so much, although it would limit the total amount of Plasma available to fire. While it might be a bit of a cheesy maneuver (rule exploit?) it is not all that far removed from F4 pilots in Vietnam pulling a hard bank just when SAM's became visible to out turn them.
Any other ideas to help the Gorn out vs Kzin drones?
If they approached slowly with IDF I would concentrate on ships which succesfully made the IDF role tossing 14 drones per turn as IDF does no good when you are the target. With their minimal phaser suites and no ADD, they were in bad shape by the time they were close enough to strike. On the turn when they got to unleash their massed plasma my Kzinti used APE to rush out of effective range (while all the while my BCF circled around behind them). In another battle when they tried to rush ahead to minimize the number of turns they were exposed to drone fire they took another beating as they had no IDF at all due to using APE and once again the Kzin extended at the last moment and used their plentiful phaser1 and 3's to knock out most of the Plasma fired at them. Another thing that made it hard for the Gorn was that once the Kzin went APE to escape the plasma blast they also became able to roll to evade the Plasma as they were no longer fronted toward the incoming blast and had moved more than 12" (Per Evading Seeking Weapons, pg 17)
Understandably if their had been heavy cover it would have helped the Gorn considerably although there was a 4" comet with a 10" tail on the middle of table for all the games.
The huge initiative disparity between Gorn and Kzin does not help either....
Does anyone have some good strategy tips to help the Gorn out against Kzin. Two other tactics I want to try next time we play are:
1. To have the Gorns use many small ships instead of fewer large ships when facing Kzinti. That way the number of drones is muted somewhat by the volume of targets, it also gives a higher probability of an decent average of successful IDF rolls and while one or maybe two maybe lost before the first plasma barrage a single FF or DD loss is not a major blow. The down side is that while the total plasma number is nearly the same it needs to be shot from closer to be effective as a Plasma F 8" E-Bleed is 50% diminished. (It would be nice if the Gorn had a few more Plasma R ships...) Also a wide net of many ships reduces teh Kzintis ability to maneuver out of the Gorn's effective arcs. Finally it may also give the Gorn a good initiative sink if the Kzin go with larger ships, which always helps with strategic movement.
2. If the Gorn charge towards the enemy using APE turn 45 degrees away at the end of the turn so their forward arc is no longer facing their Kzinti target, this way they also become eligible to roll to evade all drones. This should work well while still at long range, but also somewhat as well at close range since most Gorn plasma swivel so much, although it would limit the total amount of Plasma available to fire. While it might be a bit of a cheesy maneuver (rule exploit?) it is not all that far removed from F4 pilots in Vietnam pulling a hard bank just when SAM's became visible to out turn them.
Any other ideas to help the Gorn out vs Kzin drones?
