Prometheus strike cruiser.... what's the point?

[Zarathustra Suicune]

Can someone please tell me what good is it? I'm looking at it's rules (in my copy of the full rulebook with pictures and everything) and I just can't see what it offers, it costs more then either the Constitution or the Wolverine, both of which I would prefer to have by far as they are tougher, and the Wolverine has more phasers which I have so far found to be my favorite weapon along with plasma.) At the moment I am thinking of using mine as a Kirov, all it would take is a bit of Greenstuff and BAM, extra Kirov. Or is there some secret to the Prometheus?

 

[scuy]

2nd drone rack. 4 torps vs Wolverine 2 torps

Lack of Damage points, I would not put him in the front lines if I don't have to, but the Prometheus can manage.

Really comes down to how you use it. Best bet is to just use a ship and see how it works in a given fleet format and your play style.

 

[Zarathustra Suicune]

Ahh didn't see the extra drone, though in my games so far they have never been that much help, must admit my usual tactic is to get close quickly, swamp my fleet around the enemies strongest ships and so after the initial salvo I tend to focus on shields, hands on deck and blast doors rather then reloading. May try having the prometius hold back and guard my rear/flanks.

 

[Ben2]

Two drone racks counts for a lot when you're facing a drone race, as 2 ADDs on a ship makes it a lot more survivable compared to the one on the Constitution or Wolverine.

 

[Nerroth]

Well, historically the Prometheus-class was considered to be a failed experiment.

In SFB, the ship has a very unorthodox movement cost, due to the reduction in size of its secondary hull; due to the way the conversion process works between SFB and FC, it ended up being more capable a ship in Federation Commander than it was in Star Fleet Battles.

Actually, one advantage of the ship in those games that isn't reflected here is the ability of the side phasers to fire "above" the flat nacelles in hemispheric arcs; in SFB and FC, the nacelles on the CA block phaser fire in the aft 60* arcs on either side of the ship (though SFB lets you fire those phasers directly aft of the ship, between the nacelles). This detail was lost with the shift from hex-based firing arcs to the 90* arcs we see in ACtA:SF.

However, the thing that really did for the class, logistically-speaking, was the need to build them in cruiser yards. The Kearsarge-class new light cruiser could be built in destroyer yards, leaving more room in the cruiser slipways for more heavy ships; making the strike cruiser impractical to field in large numbers.

Their presence in ACtA:SF is meant to show an example of the kind of one-off designs which had been transferred to the "bone yard" of the Sixth Fleet; where the Romulans were seen as less of a threat than Third Fleet's Klingon border. (This meant that when the Romulans launched their own invasion of the Federation in Y173, they ran into many of these "oddball" designs in the first waves of their assault.)


Not every ship in every fleet works out well in-universe; which is just as well, since it adds a little more flavour to the setting than simply having only ships that always happened to work out just fine for the empires operating them.

 

[Zarathustra Suicune]

Did kind of think that after reading the description and thought it fitted it, may try it out in games though before deciding to convert it or not, may wait till I have faced other federation players or Khzinti.

 

[Greg Smith]

My experience in playing against one, was to think 'oh sh*t, a Kirov'.

So I have concluded its best use is to scare the enemy into thinking you have its look-alike.

 

[Zarathustra Suicune]

And hope they concentrate their whole fleets firepower on it and destroy it before finding out it is not in fact a Kirov.
"The wild Prometheus, whilst being the starship version of a Magikarp, is in fact a master of disguise, having developed to look almost identical to one of the most feared predators, the Kirov."

 

[McKinstry]

I find the dual ADD to be a big deal when facing Kzinti or Klingons. It is an expensive light cruiser but it can survive far longer than a CA in a heavy drone environment.

 

[Zarathustra Suicune]

I have only played against Romulans so far, so that may be the problem, I know my local gaming store and uni gaming group have at least one Klingon player, so it may be an idea to possibly take one in my Battlefleet, only problem I made it to be 2000pts exactly and I am not sure what to drop.
I am actually thinking it may work well with a bismark variant Kirov, the kirov speeds forward into the middle of the enemy fleet, possibly using all power to engines or high energy turn to get into a position where most of the enemy ships can't fire their most powerful weapons without moving into abad position to face the rest of your fleet, and unleashes it's plasma torpedoes (in any form) at an unlucky enemy ship (if against Klingon, a high energy turn may be good to get at side or rear arcs).
The Prometheus hangs back, covering the kirov's back, possibly using the fact that it looks so much like a kirov to make the enemy think twice before getting in between it.
Just thought of a game within the main game, see how long you make your opponent think a Prometheus is a kirov

 

[dix]

Of course, anyone reading this forum now knows about the deception. :lol:

 

[Zarathustra Suicune]

True, but I don't think any of the other players from my area are on here Plus how often do you think non Federation players would look at a thread about a federation ship?
Plus they will still have the initial "Oh no it's a kirov!" effect.

 

[nekomata fuyu]

Am I the only one who had no problems telling the 2 ships apart about 30 seconds after having first looked at them?

 

[Iain McGhee]

No, but they're similar enough at tabletop distances that I reckon it'd be easy for your opponent to mix the two up if they weren't familiar with the Prometheus.

 

[Greg Smith]

Am I the only one who had no problems telling the 2 ships apart about 30 seconds after having first looked at them?

Put one on the opposite side of the table, with it's hull hidden by the saucer, all you can see is saucer and two horizontal nacelles, it is damned hard to see which one it is.

Look at the small hull, or put two side by side then it is obvious.

 

[nekomata fuyu]

My main telltale is the nacelle struts are completely different. Also, to be fair, at opposite-end-of-the-table distances I would start finding a lot of ships start looking similar to another class.

 

[Da Boss]

My main telltale is the nacelle struts are completely different. Also, to be fair, at opposite-end-of-the-table distances I would start finding a lot of ships start looking similar to another class.

Indeed it can be a problem in games having to keep ask - is that a D6 or D7 etc etc......