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Master Ciaphas

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It sound like the deployment bit you in the butt, since your Devs weren't able to use those 4 60cm lances from turn one like you would've hoped.

 

What were you doing with your attack craft, just launching fighters to defend against torps and bombers?

Ah...very good question that..as I evidently can't tell the difference between the Carnages that I ACUTALLY had versus the Devastations that I wished I had and that I wrote I had.

 

Belay all references to Devatastions in the previous post. I had none of those, as they were 5 points too expensive for the Cruiser Clash mission. I solely and only had Carnages.

 

The rest of the after action report, though, ought to be correct.

 

Sorry for misleading you, Minigun et al.

 

Regards,

Master Ciaphas

I think part of the problem having been that Slaughterers are terribly hard to use efficiently. Especially in such low point battles and especially if you are a new Admiral.

 

I think had the two of you gone with a Carnage and a Devastator each the battle would have been quite different.

 

TDA

Ah - but no - we played a 2x2 battle, where "my" side faced 2 Space Marine Strike cruisers with bombardment cannons, extra shields and honour guard aboard, and 2 Eldar Craftworld Wraithships with phantom pulsars and keel launch bays and torpedoes. To face this, we had 2x Slaughters and 2x Carnages.

 

I think, that had we had a Devastation to supply close air patrols, that we would have fared slightly better. After all, the Wraithships on their own, managed to almost cripple a Carnage and a Devastation on their own...

 

/Master Ciaphas

I knew that, the Slaughterers are still inefficient at such a battle. They are at their best hanging back and then picking off lone ships already pounded by other cruisers.

 

Which are why they are not beginner friendly.

 

The pair of Carnage ships will chew through Eldar ships without problem if used correctly thanks to range 60 weapon batteries.

 

And the Devastation ships should chew through the Marine ships without too much problem.

 

The reason I said for both of you to take a Devastation and Carnage each was because of the comment of not being able to take two Devastation cruisers at once because they would cost to much for the battle. :tu:

 

TDA

Hail

 

Thanks for the replies. Well - I would have liked to bring even one Devastation, but sadly they are 5 points too expensive for the scenario. Cruiser Clash caps at 185 points, and the Devastations are 190 each, thus too expensive.

 

My coplayer did not want to bring Carnages as well, as he thought that it would be boring for us to have 4xCarnages, and thus wanted something different. Alas, his ships did nothing except get pounded like mine... :-/

 

Regards,

Master Ciaphas

Just reading through your battle report, a few things occured to me. I maybe having a bit of a blond moment or something, but if they did 3 HP damage, how did they get 4 Crits on your Carnage? I think if the game had carried out you may have been able to pull it back, as it does sound like you guys were very unluckly (you must have displeased the Dark Gods!).

 

Also, sounds a lot like luck went against you to do so little damage with two Carnages firing on the Eldar cruiser. Did you remember to lock on?

I honestly have no idea. The two others just rolled some dice, and told me that my Carnage had lost prow, port and starboard weapons, and a fire had started. So - I assumed that that equated four criticals.

 

Oh, well.

 

I did try to lock on, but I failed the first Leadership test, and my coplayer had moved and turned his vessels, thus he could not "Lock On". The Space Marine cruisers would be ready to scamper into our midst the next turn where he could bombard us as well as launch 4 hit and runs, which probably be unpleasant for my side...

 

Regards,

Master Ciaphas

So have you got another game lined up?

 

If I could make a suggestion? why not have a few friendlies against the other chaos player? That way you can get a feel for all the chaos ships as you'll both be running them, as will he, you can both take different ships that way and you can learn the rules and bounce off ideas about how to cripple the marine and eldar forces.

 

you should be able to fit at least 2 games into an afternoon with just the pair of you. more if one of you stops the night. and then when you face off against the forces of "good" you should fare a little better.

 

I can't stress enough you need to get comfortable with the basic rules and how your ships perform, that way you'll have much more fun blowing up your opponent! :)

4 critical hits on 3 damage is incredible! Especially because they need 6's to cause a critical, and you only get one chance per hull hit...

 

I'm pretty sure they just did it completely wrong. Remember, have everyone re-read the book!

 

This is how you resolve incoming fire:

 

1. Roll to hit against target's Armor (5+, in your ships' case, or 4+ for lances no matter what).

2. Each hit first takes down a shield.

3. Each hit beyond those that take down shields cause 1 point of damage to the hull.

4. For each point of damage on the hull, roll a dice. On a 6 it causes a critical hit; roll on the critical hit table.

 

Don't take things at face value, and most importantly pay attention to what's happening!

 

You said your opponent's Strike Cruisers had the extra shield upgrade. You're going to want to print these off too, as that's where it came from: 2010 Compendium. You might find the Inferno class cruiser of interest.

 

Suggestions for your fleet:

 

2 Devastations and 2 Carnages is a fantastic base to work with, and that's what I use at 1000 point games or less. The Repulsive and Desolation make things even better. Don't bother with a Styx; 290 points is quite pricey for a slightly buffed cruiser, even though dumping out 6 attack craft can be handy. Instead, build your last two cruisers as Acheron Heavy Cruisers; their combined firepower can really lay into enemies at range.

 

When you really start to get up in points and can use all the ships at your disposal, it will be totally legal too. Here's how:

 

2 Carnages unlock 1 Acheron

2 Devastations unlock 1 Acheron

2 Carnages + 1 Acheron unlock 1 Repulsive

2 Devastations + 1 Acheron unlock 1 Desolation

 

Chaos works best with wolf-pack tactics. Squadrons need not be large, and hitting an enemy from all sides will lay them out. Squadron the Acherons, Devastations, and Carnages together in packs of two. The Devastations can stay at range, launching fighters/bombers as needed and sending out some long range lances (present your flank; don't fly at them head-on). The Acherons will do similar, but along a flank. The Desolator can do that as well from a different flank. The Carnages can plunge right into the middle, giving an absolutely brutal broadside with 32 Firepower from the combined weapons batteries. Getting in closer makes them both a target and gives them the best chance to cause the most damage.

Hello!

 

Thank you for a very detailed answer, SeaHawk. I am much obliged.

 

With regard to the hits caused on my fleet, it was the Eldar player who did with his Eldar Phantom Pulsars. If I recall correctly, it worked something like 2 pulsars pr. Wraithship total of 4 shots, being pulsars they hit on 4+, could be re-rolled because they were Eldar-thingy, each hit could be rolled to hit again up to a maximum of three three hits pr. die, a total maximum of 12 hits. Fortunately, he rolled really poorly, and did only 3 points of damage - and being Eldar pulsars the three hits would cause criticals on 4+ with each successful critical being rolled again up to a maximum of three crititcals?

 

My luck that he rolled really poorly.

 

Fortunately, we did find out that weapon batteries are not affected by his holo-fields, so that evens the playing field a little bit.

 

The Acheron is a beautiful ship, so I will go with that advice. When the ships are all done, I will look to expand the fleet to the more...colourful choices with Murders, Planetkiller and so on.

 

I have finished painting my two Carnages, and I will try to get a picture of them up here Monday at the latest.

 

Thanks!

 

Regards,

Master Ciaphas

Your Eldar friend misread.

 

First, Pulsars (cruisers cannot get Phantom Pulsars, those are only for Escorts). They only get as many shots as their number says; in the Wraithship's case, it's 2. Then, for each hit, they may try again in a chain style. So, if both hit (on a 4+), then he may start one chain, one shot at a time. If he keeps hitting, he can get up to 2 extra hits. As soon as he misses one though, that's it, no more for that chain, so a Wraithship with Pulsar 2 can only get up to 6 hits total. They don't get rerolls. They never cause Critical Hits on a 4+...that is only the Bombardment Cannons that the Space Marine ships have. Even so, there are no rerolls to cause criticals either.

 

Second, the armament. Both a Wraithship and a much higher costed Dragonship can only have one prow and one keel weapon, either the launch bays or torpedoes, not both. They definitely took too many weapons systems than was allowed :P

Thank you!

 

I will do well to remember that.

 

When the next game has been played, I will make sure to post my thoughts and a description of the events leading to victory or defeat.

 

In the meanwhile, I have a few pictures to show:

 

2 x Devastations

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/Master_Ciaphas/Malenhandskeapril002.jpg

 

2 x Carnages (finished)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/Master_Ciaphas/Malenhandskeapril004.jpg

 

Regards,

Master Ciaphas

Thank you!

 

I will do well to remember that.

 

When the next game has been played, I will make sure to post my thoughts and a description of the events leading to victory or defeat.

 

In the meanwhile, I have a few pictures to show:

 

 

Regards,

Master Ciaphas

 

Battles are won or lost before the dice are even rolled, it's all in the mind! There is only victory, and maybe sometimes a tactical withdrawl :lol:

 

Looking good on the pics there mate, keep us posted!

Hail!

 

Indeed you are right - victory is all in the mind...and the list built to meet the foe. I am relatively certain that a lance/torpedo exclusive list would have a rough encounter with an Eldar fleet...

 

Anyhow - my fleet has been expanded with some Swiftdeath fighters and Doomfire bombers...protected by the Carnages:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/Master_Ciaphas/Malenhandskeapril015.jpg

 

Enjoy!

 

Regards,

Master Ciaphas

Ah - the weekend allowed me to finish my two Devastations, and to assemble an Acheron class heavy cruiser.

 

I present "Devastation's Hand" and "Ahesver" to you all:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/Master_Ciaphas/Malenhandskeapril016-1.jpg

 

Furthermore, here are some close-ups of my fighter and bomber markers:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/Master_Ciaphas/Malenhandskeapril013.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/Master_Ciaphas/Malenhandskeapril014.jpg

 

Regards,

Master Ciaphas

Hail!

 

Thank you, MagicMan.

 

I have assembled an Acheron-class heavy cruiser as well as a Repulsive grand cruiser. Unfortunately, I have run out of the proper weapon battery turrets to complete a second Acheron, so I am thinking of doing either a Styx heavy cruiser or perhaps another Devastation (or Carnage)...

 

Btw - both the Repulsive and the Desolator class grand cruiser/battleship are absolutely huge models, dwarfing the normal cruisers...I can hardly wait to have them finished!

 

Regards,

Master Ciaphas

I think you'd want to aim for 4x cruisers, in 2 squadrons of 2. Thats enough to give you 2 heavy cruisers and a battleship or grand cruiser.

 

In larger games, adding another 2 cruisers gets you +1 heavy cruisers and +1 battleships/grand cruiser.

 

I think at least, its all off the top of my head.

Indeed - but I already have 2x2 cruisers (2 Carnages and 2 Devastations)...and an Acheron. It is just that I have run out of the correct gun turrets to make a second Acheron, so I was contemplating doing something else with my last, unassembled cruiser frame.

 

Cheers!

 

Regards,

Master Ciaphas

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