STL - Syndicate 1000pts

[Mathhammer]

Tier 1
Battleship - Phantom
2x Shadow Frigates

Battleship - Phantom +2WC
6x Bombers
2x Shadow Frigates

Tier2
Gunship 2xWraith
Gunship 2xWraith

Tier 3
Frigate 3xShadow
Frigate 3xShadow

 

I was trying to avoid battle cruisers, also annoyed I can't take them in pairs.
The Battleships can reach 21 dice in the 10" to 16" band.

I figure power up the center and let the bombers take out Tier 2 and let the gunships work up the side.

Thoughts?

 

[Bessemer]

You really need to reserve the Wraiths in. Even with 2 shields each, they simply won't survive any attention that come their way otherwise. Solo Syndicate above Patrol Fleets becomes an uphill battle. Hug the terrain and reserve the max allowed in order to get in your weapon range.

[Mathhammer]

6 hours ago, Bessemer said:

You really need to reserve the Wraiths in. Even with 2 shields each, they simply won't survive any attention that come their way otherwise. Solo Syndicate above Patrol Fleets becomes an uphill battle. Hug the terrain and reserve the max allowed in order to get in your weapon range.

There is no reserving in the local meta (we have 6 active players) Every time I think about reserving all I can think about is that's 2 turns they could have been shooting. I would probably be more interested in reserving my Tier 3 than my Tier 2.

 

Tell me why I'm wrong, and why I should reserve them.

[Bessemer]

A 2 model T2 with 5 HP, multiple Direct weapon systems, no weapon shielding and no Indirect Systems . Similar story with the Phantoms. Against an opponent who knows what they are doing, Wraiths will be neutered before they get into effective range.

My main opponent was going gung ho for a Syndicate fleet, right up to the point we playtested them. Above 800 pts, Syndicate really start to suffer. 

If your local meta is so against reserves, then deploy as one big blob and add some interceptors to try to protect against taking any damage for as long as possible.

Just my 2 pence based on my experience & what others in my group have said. As always, YMMV

[Ryjak]

6 hours ago, Bessemer said:

If your local meta is so against reserves, then deploy as one big blob and add some interceptors to try to protect against taking any damage for as long as possible.

I can barely imagine playing Firestorm without Shunt Entry from Reserve; to me it’s an integral part of the gameplay.  If you no longer have to worry about being Shunt-bombed, then clustering your entire Syndicate fleet around a full interceptor Token is the way to go: +12 PD to everyone. (Two Tokens of 3 Interceptors might be better to start with, since you have two Battleships.) Shuts down all Torpedoes and Boarding Attempts; be wary about intercepting enemy Bombers.  You might be better off taking that 18AD hit to a ship than lowering your fleet’s active defenses.

More importantly, clustering forces your opponent to play the Direct Fire game, which is the only game Syndicate can play.  Then it all comes down to target selection and Activation Order, where the Objective is to maximize the Gunships firepower while minimizing the threat they have to face. Those two Frigate Squadrons will likely be sacrificed to control the game flow.

Once you get good at clustered fleet maneuvers, you’ll probably start crushing all comers.

[Mathhammer]

Interesting @Ryjak @Bessemer

A lot of our games do turn into the PD mountain, so usually torpedoes only really work early game before the interceptors deploy.

I'm not sure about this shunt bomb attack?  So I place something in reserve and on turn 2 I can start trying to break it in.

I see it as wash, I would love to get my gunships into a great position but there is a small chance I can't use, better chance they don't come into late game. And during the first turn I made it so my opponent has fewer targeting choices. Against a shorter range opponent I can sorta of see it.

Would love to see a battle report, will try it this weekend.

 

[Ryjak]

The easy counter to someone employing the tactic I described above (clustering around an Interceptor Token) is to outflank it, which is easy to do with a squadron held in reserve.  Properly executed, this will place the Reserve force is a prime position to do damage (maximum fire into the Vulnerable Arc) and your opponent won’t have any good options to engage them AND the rest of your fleet.  Generally, you don’t want the Reserve Force to arrive until Turn 3 or 4, as the enemy will be fully committed and thus most vulnerable.

With your above Fleet, the Gunships are prime candidates for Reserve Entry.  You want the Battleships on the table to be threatening (look at me with my big scary 21 AD pool, ignore the DR 7 and 2 Shields) and the Frigates will help control the Activation Game to minimize the firepower hurled at your Battleships... and a 4/5 1 Shield Difficult Target can be surprisingly resilient.

The Gunships have just as much teeth as the Battleships, but are much softer.  In fact, they’re the softest target in you Fleet for your opponent’s Medium and Large ships.  You can either protect them with Terrain, Tokens, and Activation Control, or put them into the invulnerability of Reserve.

[Bessemer]

This^^^^^^^^^

Ryjak put this better than I could!

[Mathhammer]

so Saturday tried shunting in all my gunships, it was ...interesting...  I will get a full post up in a few days.