How do you use scouts?

[Captain Kremmen]

I tried a Narn / Centauri game yesterday and used the little narn scout for the first time as an experiment. Now Centauri don't have stealth so I thought I would try using it to influence the set up and 1st turns initiative and then use it to help rerolls from my larger ships...

Initial set up I lost the roll, so rerolled as have a scout and still lost.
1st turn initiative I won anyway so did not need scout ability.

My understanding is you do a crew quality 9 check with the scout if you pass then say one G'Quan's beams get rerolled on the first roll if they miss for one target for one turn. Plus the scout has to be within 24" from the target.

Because you attack in turns do you get the scout ability when you activate the G'quan to fire it's weapons, or do you have to wait until the scout is activated?? It is basically this sequencing issue that confused us.

Against Non Minbari is it fair to say scouts aren't much use? If you think they are can you explain what I am missing?

Ta

Kremmen

 

[Davesaint]

I tried a Narn / Centauri game yesterday and used the little narn scout for the first time as an experiment. Now Centauri don't have stealth so I thought I would try using it to influence the set up and 1st turns initiative and then use it to help rerolls from my larger ships...

Initial set up I lost the roll, so rerolled as have a scout and still lost.
1st turn initiative I won anyway so did not need scout ability.

My understanding is you do a crew quality 9 check with the scout if you pass then say one G'Quan's beams get rerolled on the first roll if they miss for one target for one turn. Plus the scout has to be within 24" from the target.

Because you attack in turns do you get the scout ability when you activate the G'quan to fire it's weapons, or do you have to wait until the scout is activated?? It is basically this sequencing issue that confused us.

Against Non Minbari is it fair to say scouts aren't much use? If you think they are can you explain what I am missing?

Ta

Kremmen

Scouts are very useful. If they make the CQ 9 roll, they allow one weapon per ship(yes, this means if you have 2 G'Quons, you get both lasers) to get the effect of CAF on a given target. If the roll was sucessful during the Special Action phase, each ship gets to use it during their firing stage.

Scouts aren't worthless against the Minbari as they can also be used to reduce stealth


Dave

 

[Twin-Linked Aldades]

The scout trait is used after all movement but before the shooting starts, you `tag` a vessel and EVERY ship that shoots at that target can re-roll ONE weapon system.

 

[Captain Kremmen]

Thanks guys, the big mistake we made was we thought it was one weapon on one ship. Not one weapon on every ship firing at that target. That could be VERY useful in the right circumstances.

Guess in a campaign it would be worth paying XP points to get your scouts crew scores up as high as possible.

Thanks for clarifying when you do the scout action, that makes a lot of sense.

Because of their stealth I had always assumed scouts were essential against stealth.

Ta

The Big K

 

[Silvereye]

I played one campaign where I had two CQ 6 Leshath's kicking about. They were quite scary.

Scouts aren't essential against Stealth as most races (i.e. not Minbari) will field only a couple of Stealth ships. It's the redirect ability you want from them most of the time.

 

[Reaverman]

Thanks guys, the big mistake we made was we thought it was one weapon on one ship. Not one weapon on every ship firing at that target. That could be VERY useful in the right circumstances.

Guess in a campaign it would be worth paying XP points to get your scouts crew scores up as high as possible.

Thanks for clarifying when you do the scout action, that makes a lot of sense.

Because of their stealth I had always assumed scouts were essential against stealth.

Ta

The Big K

Thats a common mistake, a lad in the last Tourney that was did that, and I explained how he should use the scout rules (bear in mind, he was my opponent)

BTW more than one scout, can redirect fire for other weapons systems

 

[Burger]

Yes high crew quality is very useful on scouts. Hence, Vree Vaarls are the best in the game
(Patrol level, and Vree get +1 crew quality due to Telepathy)

 

[H]

Or Drakh scouts Versus Stealth. Patrol and +1 against stealth

of course in my campaign, I rolled crew quals 2, 3, 3, for my sodding scouts didn't, thank god for flight computers

 

[Captain Kremmen]

Yes high crew quality is very useful on scouts. Hence, Vree Vaarls are the best in the game
(Patrol level, and Vree get +1 crew quality due to Telepathy)

My Drazi are a league fleet, think I need a couple of Vree scouts for them... Campaigns only of course, unless Armawhatsit brings back combined league fleets.

Seems reasonable a force would be just Drazi at patrol or skirmish, maybe raid. But at battle or war you surely would have ships from all the major non aligned worlds that's the point of the league...

Cpt Kremmen

 

[CZuschlag]

If you're running Drazi, Kremmen, there's one other huge reason to use scouts -- initiative sinks. The scouting ability's arc is T, effectively. This means you can force a few ships to move so the Drazi's boresight weaponry isn't necessarily wasted on targets that haven't moved yet. A big deal!

By the way, it's never said (to my knowledge) in the rules, but do scouts need line of sight to their targets to instantiate a redirect or a stealth reduction. I see the range restriction, but, without LOS, this would be ... slightly odd. Feels way cheesy, too. Hmm. Double Gloucester?

 

[Destroid]

By the way, it's never said (to my knowledge) in the rules, but do scouts need line of sight to their targets to instantiate a redirect or a stealth reduction. I see the range restriction, but, without LOS, this would be ... slightly odd. Feels way cheesy, too. Hmm. Double Gloucester?

Technically, you always have a line of sight. Given that ships do not normally block LOS for other ships [unless of course you're Maneuvering to Shield Them] for purposes of shooting at them, this would be consistent for use of a Scout ability, as this can be abstracted as targeting an enemy ship, but but not firing anything.

The range limitation is fine by me; unless you've got a Delphi your giant laser pointer can only go so far

 

[Geekybiker]

By the way, it's never said (to my knowledge) in the rules, but do scouts need line of sight to their targets to instantiate a redirect or a stealth reduction. I see the range restriction, but, without LOS, this would be ... slightly odd. Feels way cheesy, too. Hmm. Double Gloucester?

I've never seen anything in the rules to suggest that you need LOS either. Just think that you can generally detect objects out of sight by their EM signature. I think it makes sense in the context of a EW type ship. Its not like you're relying on optics.

 

[locarno24]

There's a thought, though - what happens if you're firing on a "tagged" ship and someone else pulls manouvre to shield them?

Which is the only time line of sight comes into it. bear in mind you cqan realistically be about 5" above or below the table (more than that and weapon ranges are a bit funny.....)

 

[Burger]

Asteroid fields, planets and space stations block LOS. But no, scouts do not need LOS to do their scouty stuff.

 

[Tank]

Mostly coz they have sensors and not mk1 eyeball or mk2 optical viewing device :lol:

 

[Burger]

Well, the thing about a Shadow Ship - it's main distinguishing feature - is it's black. And the thing about space, the colour of space, your basic space colour, is black. So how are you supposed to see them?
:lol:

 

[locarno24]

Ah, but they have a highly stylish midnight-blue marbling.

Curse the highly developed aesthetic sense of the ancients......

 

[Tank]

But you see the main thing about scouts, the real main thing is that altho space camo is groovy, scouts dont use optical scouting devices, they use other type of scouty devices, so black ships could just as well be bright pink and be just as stealthy :lol:

 

[Geekybiker]

But you see the main thing about scouts, the real main thing is that altho space camo is groovy, scouts dont use optical scouting devices, they use other type of scouty devices, so black ships could just as well be bright pink and be just as stealthy :lol:

What if they're bright pink AND have ruffles?

 

[Slightly Norse John]

As an example of a Someone Else's Problem Field, that should work almost as well as disguising it as a small Italian restaurant. Better, actually, considering Garibaldi.
In space, no one can smell you bake pizza?

One other slight techncal glitch; there isn't a Drazi scout. Yes, there's Rich Bax' Eyehawk, but it isn't official- yet, I hope.