SeerK here with another installment of
“The Ships Of The Rense”. We are coming to the end of the
series. We have one more tier one vessel after this installment. It
seems fitting one of the main command ships of the Rense Navy is
named Spectre. A Spectre is a ghost. A silent shadow lurking in the
dark. It is also the name of the antagonistic organization from the
James Bond series. Special Executive
for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge
and Extortion.
Also strangely fitting due to the role the Rense Navy plays in the
Dindrenzi Federation.
Engineered
and built by The Directorate for the Navy as it began to take on the
role of spies, secret police and Elite cadre above the normal main
line Dindrenzi fleet, the Spectre is a formidable ship. Equipped with
Tried and tested Dindrenzi Rail Guns /'and Directorate Plasma
weaponry it is more than a match for all but the heaviest vessels. It
also is the hub of Intelligence gathering for any Rense fleet.
Lets
take a look at the Spectre. We have a good DR of 7 and CR of 11.
Eight hull points, good crew and assault points. Excellent point
defense and mines. Weaponry with long range in all arcs except the
rear. We also have a shield, which is a rarity in the Federation
Navy. A wing capacity of 4 gives us some options. I like to go with
Interceptors or bombers, it depends on what I am planning on doing
with the ship. Fighters are actually a good choice in most
situations though as they have the ability to multi task. They can do
offense and defense.
We
have two hard points with several good options. I almost always
choose the -1 turn limit option as one of them. This is mainly
because of the fixed fore main kinetic weapon. I know this is also a
default choice for Dindrenzi Fleet Marshals as well. Any opportunity
to make our ships more maneuverable should be taken. You need to be
able to get your weapons to bear as quickly as you can.
Adding
AP is nice but the options I usually have a hard time choosing
between is the additional 2” of movement, which takes the ship up
to a move of 9,” and the Ops Center MAR.
I
choose based on what I am purposing the ship for. If it is my
primary tier one ship I usually go for movement. People do not
expect fast moving Tier one vessels from the Dindrenzi. Our upgrades
are Special Forces, which I also always take and Precision strike for
the Kinetics. As I typically do not bother with precision strikes I
don't take this option.
We
do have quite a few options for Escorts. We can take up to three
Sirens, a single Cerberus and up to three escorts from Zenian League
members. With the Marauders rules out this also opens up options as
the fleet building section specifies that you can take OSO or STL
escorts if it states the ship can take Zenian league or Kurak
escorts. I am kinda sad that it states OSO and STL as I would love
to take the Grief escorts from the oroshan. Its like Having
Dindrenzi bucklers that you can either have AP or PD on albeit 5
points more expensive. Which is ok as it has more guns and a better
CR than the Buckler. But I digress....
The
Escort options are varied and this is where you have to make some
tough choices. Sirens are good as they add a point defense screen
few can penetrate and you can use Target Resolution on 3 systems if
you have three Sirens, or a much easier command role at long range.
If I run sirens this is usually when I run Bombers or Fighters if I
am running wings. I run Sirens if I am sitting back and trying to
hit targets at range. Ships that rely on close range shooting find
themselves in the danger zone quick as they close. Target Resolution
can really increase your damage output at close range.
I
take the Cerberus if I am going to be getting into the thick quick.
Especially if I think I am going to have to square off with a
Dreadnought. The Cerberus adds a lot of fire power for engaging big
ships and it can deal with cruisers and escorts with gusto. For
instance, I do not combine fire when dealing with carriers. The
Spectre can deal with a carrier pretty well on its own. If the
Carrier has Cruiser escorts or Gunship escorts the Cerberus is well
equipped to deal with them on its own. This way I can inflict a
maximum amount of damage on a squadron made up of medium and larger
ships. You can also do a nice one two with your torpedoes if you
give the Cerberus the Torpedo Spook MAR.
If
you are willing to sacrifice your fleet tactics bonus, this opens up
some other interesting options. Dindrenzi Buckler Escorts add some
additional fire power with some mid to short range gun racks which
can be nice for taking out frigates and smaller vessels. I find the
power of frigates oft underestimated. Having a gun escort gives your
larger vessels some better protection in the form of offensive power
vs small vessels, that is when fired separately they hit easier.
Relthoza
escorts are nice if you are planning on hitting a target with a
massive assault. Having 6 additional AP can be nice. Granted you
don't get the benefit of Special Forces on these guys though.
Directorate Escorts are actually pretty nice They give you the PD of
a Siren and they are unmanned so they do not suffer penalties from
having 0 crew. You can also give them assault points. The Marauders
give you access to one escort, the STL Trader Penitentiary class,
which gives you access to Grav weapons. They are restricted by the
Tractor Beam rule, but if you want to be that guy and push things
into planets this is the escort for you.
All
of these Escorts are nice, but may not add anything as good as your
standard ones. It really depends on what you are trying to do. I
personally don’t like using allies that take my Fleet Tactics bonus
to 1. You kind of get used to having the first activation when you
have a fleet tactics of 3.
The
Spectre is a nice ship, but it does have some weaknesses. Compared
to other Zenian League Battleships it is a little under most on hull
points. The Directorate battleship also has 8 hull points, but it
can have 2 shields. When you compare it to a Terran Battleship it is
a little lacking in a point for point comparison. The
Apollo/Razorthorn is 20 points cheaper with 2 shields base. It is a
point less on DR and CR, but you have a lot of options to really kit
it out and three hard points. It comes down to out maneuvering the
Terran commander and trying to stay out of his optimal firing arcs
and ranges. The Terrans benefit from Weapon shielding as well so in
a slug fest the Spectre is on the loosing end as it takes damage.
You
have a vulnerable rear arc as well. You must drop your mines to cover
your rear. You must not forget to drop the mines. Drop them in a
good staggered pattern to cover your rear area as to discourage ships
from shunting in close or making it difficult to get a good firing
position for ships maneuvering to get your rear arc. This especially
gets very important as you make your way into the battle field.
The
Rense have Expensive ships so you have to build smart and play
smarter. Well thats all for now. We bring “Ships Of The Rense”
to a close in our next installment. We cover our last vessel.
Occupying the top of the current food chain we have the Banshee
Dreadnought.
Until
then, crush the Alliance and as always...
REMEMBER
DRAMOS!!!!!!!!!
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