new to bfg... ad mech fleet!

[Ladislao]

Hello fellow brothers... I m thinking about playng bfg.. actualy i m still reading the manual LOL!

 

Btw, i was focused on using a ad mech fleet... is it viable? Or maybe are they the tau of bfg? ( lol)

 

And on what should i focus when building the list?

[GhostLegion]

admech plays like imperial, but slightly more variables are available thanks to access to additional ships. Really, with any imperial fleet, cruisers are your friend...the admech are no different here imo. admech just have some nice looking models to add in...

 

Escorts are a must for games over around 800 points...though i would never take cruisers without escorts. I would recommend weapons battery or torpedo escorts...save your lances for cruisers or bigger.

 

one thing i have seen with admech that helps is using escorts from the space marine fleet...this has hurt my fleets more than once, and seems to be effective for the points as well.

[Ladislao]

Thx for your reply.. i just looked some more in the rules and list... and i have a question about fighters and bombers... i would like to stay low on them, a truly manly fleet should use big cannon, not pansy bomber! Btw i guess i will have to use some of them to win some battle, right? And where should i take them from? From a big emperor battleship? Or from the cruisers?

[Vaaish]

admech is tough to play well because of the randomness of the gifts and the expense of the ships to get the extra benefits. This is problematic since, as was mentioned, they have IN ships which are already difficult to play competitively. Since all of their craft outside of escorts have 3+ turrets, you can take a lot less AC that you would otherwise need in a BFG fleet. I've played them with 4 or fewer LB and found things to work well enough with few hits being scored even with larger waves hitting.

 

In terms of ships, the marine escorts are excellent. For cruisers, the gothic is also quite nice since it now has three turrets and an additional 60cm lance. Tyrant is also acceptable again with 45cm batteries. Lunars are also good ships now sporting the extra lance and 45cm batteries with the upgrade. Another fun ship is the endeavor CL. they give you a pretty cheap s8 batteries @45cm and a 30cm lance and still has 3 turrets. As far as battleships go, the retribution works well with the magnos and selecting AWR as as the gift. I've also had some fun with the Oberon. The emperor is unnecessary since you can get what you need from the oberon or dictator.

 

Overall though, you will be outnumbered and outgunned with the same weaknesses inherent to the IN which will make the fleet unforgiving of mistakes.

[Brother Smitty]

Thx for your reply.. i just looked some more in the rules and list... and i have a question about fighters and bombers... i would like to stay low on them, a truly manly fleet should use big cannon, not pansy bomber! Btw i guess i will have to use some of them to win some battle, right? And where should i take them from? From a big emperor battleship? Or from the cruisers?

 

A list short on ordinance is possible but in my opinion you will get absolutely hammered against a carrier based chaos fleet or a torp heavy Imp fleet. Ordinance will not win you every game but the lack of at least a decent screen will cost you every time.

For instance, my Chaos fleet incorporates a Despoiler BB (8 bombers) plus a Styx Hvy Cruiser (8 bombers) and that leaves me enough pts to get a sizable cruiser fleet @ 1500pts. Without a good screen of at least 6-8 fighters those 16 bombers (or assault boats) will absolutely crush you before your fleet gets within range to do damage (30-45cm usually). Firepower means diddly if you get crippled before you have a chance to throw slugs.

 

Take at least an Emperor BB for fighter support. It'll toss out 8 fighters AND be able to shoot 15 FP broadside @ 60cm. That's the best BB the Imp's have so use it if you have it. That alone will be enough for a decent fighter screen.

[Vaaish]

plus a Styx Hvy Cruiser (8 bombers) and that leaves me enough pts to get a sizable cruiser fleet @ 1500pts. Without a good screen of at least 6-8 fighters those 16 bombers (or assault boats) will absolutely crush you before your fleet gets within range to do damage (30-45cm usually). Firepower means diddly if you get crippled before you have a chance to throw slugs.

 

This is incorrect on a couple of levels. For starters, the Styx only has 6 LB. Since one is a cruiser and the other is a BB you can't combine the AC wave (because you can't squadron the ships) meaning you will get hit with two separate waves of 8AC and 6 AC respectively. Against admech, everything has at least three turrets outside of escorts. It might not sound like much but look at how that plays out.

 

For instance, the dictator will have 4 turrets. So against a dictator, you lose two bombers to turrets and of the remaining 6 you have to roll a 5 or better to even get an attack run against the ship. That nets you around two attack runs for your 8AC.

 

Take at least an Emperor BB for fighter support. It'll toss out 8 fighters AND be able to shoot 15 FP broadside @ 60cm. That's the best BB the Imp's have so use it if you have it. That alone will be enough for a decent fighter screen.

 

This is a bad idea in an admech fleet. You have much better options available and you need the guns to make up for the higher cost of ships. Since you have much better defenses against AC you can get away with only 4 AC making the emperor overkill especially since you can get a more efficient AC ship in the dictator letting you take the faster and better Retribution with AWR.

 

While it is true that the emperor is the best that the IN can toss out, don't forget that the admech ISN'T the IN.

[Brother Smitty]

[

This is incorrect on a couple of levels. For starters, the Styx only has 6 LB. Since one is a cruiser and the other is a BB you can't combine the AC wave (because you can't squadron the ships) meaning you will get hit with two separate waves of 8AC and 6 AC respectively. Against admech, everything has at least three turrets outside of escorts. It might not sound like much but look at how that plays out.

 

For instance, the dictator will have 4 turrets. So against a dictator, you lose two bombers to turrets and of the remaining 6 you have to roll a 5 or better to even get an attack run against the ship. That nets you around two attack runs for your 8AC.

 

Take at least an Emperor BB for fighter support. It'll toss out 8 fighters AND be able to shoot 15 FP broadside @ 60cm. That's the best BB the Imp's have so use it if you have it. That alone will be enough for a decent fighter screen.

 

This is a bad idea in an admech fleet. You have much better options available and you need the guns to make up for the higher cost of ships. Since you have much better defenses against AC you can get away with only 4 AC making the emperor overkill especially since you can get a more efficient AC ship in the dictator letting you take the faster and better Retribution with AWR.

 

While it is true that the emperor is the best that the IN can toss out, don't forget that the admech ISN'T the IN.

 

I stand corrected on the # of LB's on the Styx. It was off the top of my head. And to your point on bombers, the math is true. But what about assault boats? That 5+ goes to 2+ and a critical hit can be just as nasty than a damage point (if not more).

[Vaaish]

Not particularly scary. Against escorts the AB is pretty nasty, destroying them on a 2+ (this will be going to a 4+ in the FAQ about to be released), but against capital ships the utility is greatly diminished since they rarely do any actual damage. They can be useful but I wouldn't stake my strategy on them. TBH you could counter them by sacrificing an escort or if there aren't other targets shooting them. I've just never seen them perform well against anything other than escorts. More annoying than anything against capital ships.

[Ladislao]

plus a Styx Hvy Cruiser (8 bombers) and that leaves me enough pts to get a sizable cruiser fleet @ 1500pts. Without a good screen of at least 6-8 fighters those 16 bombers (or assault boats) will absolutely crush you before your fleet gets within range to do damage (30-45cm usually). Firepower means diddly if you get crippled before you have a chance to throw slugs.

 

This is incorrect on a couple of levels. For starters, the Styx only has 6 LB. Since one is a cruiser and the other is a BB you can't combine the AC wave (because you can't squadron the ships) meaning you will get hit with two separate waves of 8AC and 6 AC respectively. Against admech, everything has at least three turrets outside of escorts. It might not sound like much but look at how that plays out.

 

For instance, the dictator will have 4 turrets. So against a dictator, you lose two bombers to turrets and of the remaining 6 you have to roll a 5 or better to even get an attack run against the ship. That nets you around two attack runs for your 8AC.

 

Take at least an Emperor BB for fighter support. It'll toss out 8 fighters AND be able to shoot 15 FP broadside @ 60cm. That's the best BB the Imp's have so use it if you have it. That alone will be enough for a decent fighter screen.

 

This is a bad idea in an admech fleet. You have much better options available and you need the guns to make up for the higher cost of ships. Since you have much better defenses against AC you can get away with only 4 AC making the emperor overkill especially since you can get a more efficient AC ship in the dictator letting you take the faster and better Retribution with AWR.

 

While it is true that the emperor is the best that the IN can toss out, don't forget that the admech ISN'T the IN.

 

 

a question about ''taking'' the awr upgrade.... i red the meccahincus gift are random.. there is a way to choose them instead of rolling?

[Vaaish]

a question about ''taking'' the awr upgrade.... i red the meccahincus gift are random.. there is a way to choose them instead of rolling?

 

You may only ever choose one by taking an archmagos, all others are at random. It's partly what makes the fleet so hard to play since you never know if you will get something useful or trash.