SeerK here once again. I was able to
get out over to the west side of the state for a Firestorm Armada
tournament. Battle Front Games in Kentwood, which is by Grand
Rapids, played host to an 800 point patrol fleet tournament. Thanks
go out to Mike Williams for running a fun event. I was initially
going to run my Rense Navy fleet, but I was talked out of it by
Spellduckwrong and Dreadbeard. I am still trying to really get some
competitive wins with my Rense. The last tournament I played in I
ran them and took third. Not to bad, but I am still learning the
system even after a year. Once you learn a system you start to see
the subtleties and tactics and tricks reveal themselves. I get in a
lot of games to learn new tactics and the interactions of rules and
those tactics with each other. I am trying to refine my game by
playing different fleets. I recently acquired some Relthoza to help
me refine my game. Relth have a sharp learning curve and they are a
very good fleet when used properly. They will also help me play my
Rense better. My actual style of play, especially when doing it
competitively, is usually at great odds with my army or fleet
selection. I like armies and fleets that are visually appealing and
have a very common theme of being fast and being played with refined
tactics. That is they are a scalpel when at heart my play style is
more big freaking hammer.
That said, the gang has talked me into
using a fleet that plays in the way that I tend to play at
tournaments. Charging into battle, tactics be damned the Ba'Kash are
my blunt force instrument of choice. The Ba'Kash have not been seen
on the table much until recently. The fleet was prohibitively costly
until the Patrol Fleet and Cruiser box was released when they
redesigned the models. They also received a big boost in ability and
feasibility as a stand alone fleet with the 2.0 rules. So let us
take a look at these Storm Zone raiders.
The Ba'Kash are a clan based society
where might makes right. The strongest lead. They live on their
ships and are a nomadic people. Each ship may be home to a family or
an entire sub clan. Since they rely on their vessels for basically
everything, the ships are well armed and well protected. In game
terms it means they pack a punch and can take a beating. The ships
are very well armed with scatter ad beam weaponry as well as
torpedoes. They have an average mid field ability, but are best
suited for close range combat. The ships have Port and Starboard
Beam weaponry for the most part with a very potent short ranged
scatter weapon concealed by its retractable plating in the fore. All
but the Frigates are equipped with mines.
In terms of protection the ships have a
pretty standard DR and CR. They are protected however by the
retractable plating MAR. This gives the basic Sharnak Cruiser a DR
of 5 and a CR of 8 when in the closed position. Combine that with
its 5 hull points and weapon shielding and you have a very tough and
hard to kill basic cruiser. Lets take a look at the Vessels that
make up this fleet and some tactics.
The newest edition to the Fleet is the
Karrak class Battle carrier. This is the only Tier one choice for
the Ba'kash in anything but a patrol fleet. With its retractable
plating closed it has a DR of 8 and a CR of 12. That is on par with
a banshee class dreadnought. It has 9 hull points which is a tick
above your average battleship. It's weaponry is very deadly at
range band one. Its base wing capacity is pretty good at 9 wings. I
like the Karrak. It is a solid ship and you can outfit it to do a
couple of different jobs. Its actually best suited for boarding
other vessels, especially other tier one vessels. Giving the Karrak
additional movement and additional AP for its hard points and then
giving it the second assault MAR gives it 9 assault points for attack
and defense. My wings of choice would be bomber or Assault shuttles.
The assault shuttles let you continue to launch assaults after you
have expended your own assaults or hit 2 vessels at once. It also
let you assault vessels and still shoot them. I think the real key to
using the Karrak is to just ram it into the enemy. You cannot be
timid with the ship just because your Admiral is on the vessel. You
can use it to really soften enemy vessels for the rest of your fleet.
The Ba'Kash have two cruiser class
vessels. The Varnak Heavy Cruiser and the Sharnak Cruiser. The
Varnak is a beast. Five hull points with a DR of 5 and a CR of 8.
This means a DR of 6 and a CR of 9 when its retractable plating is
closed. That is on par with most Battle Cruisers. It has the
customary Beam weaponry in the port and starboard, although these are
not as potent as the beam weaponry on the Sharnak. The fore mounted
torpedoes and Scatter weapons however are very scary. As with all
Ba'Kash ships the Varnak is at peak lethality in range band one. A
full squadron of Varnaks can throw 18 dice with its main scatter
weapon And 16 torpedo dice.
The Sharnak is, in my opinion, one of
the best cruiser weight vessels in the game. When its plating is
closed it is on par with most heavy cruisers in hull points and
resiliency. Its weaponry is above average thanks to the Pack Hunter
MAR. In fact if you had to open your retractable plating and fire at
range band 3 you are still throwing 8 dice. The real appeal of the
Sharnak, and also the reason I include them in RSN lists, is that
they are only 65 points each when you have them fully upgraded. So a
full squadron with weapon shielding, its only upgrade, is only 195
points. Not to bad.
The Kelor Frigates are the only Ba'Kash
tier three vessels. They are tough little ships. They have a single
fore facing primary weapon. They have retractable plating so they
are a DR 4 and CR 6 when its closed. You do have to open them though
to use their only weapon. They are fast so they can close the
distance pretty quickly with enemy vessels. They also benefit from
having 2 assault points so a pack of 5 of them can actually be a
threat to large vessels in boarding assaults.
The Ba'Kash are good at two things.
Boarding assaults and Close range combat or “Knife Fighting
Distance” as we call it. One of the real keys to use the fleet
successfully is to get them to their targets quickly. Although they
are resilient and can take punishment you are at a disadvantage when
your opponent has you at range. Drives to maximum and Focused Repair
are two TAC's that you should always take. Your opponent can really
hamper your ability to engage them if they prevent you from getting
into lethal range. Targeted strikes to your drive systems can be
very bad. Speed is essential.
If you are using a Karrak it forms
anchor point. Bombers and assault boats are great wings to use, but
I would not max your load out with them. Consider putting some
support shuttles in the mix. Since the Karrak is the Ba'Kash's only
source of wings the other vessels of the fleet can form up around the
Karrak and benefit from the shuttles. This can be real important if
your opponent is packing bio hazard weapons or their fleet relies
upon decrewing vessels. Crew loss gets around the protection weapon
shielding provides your weapon dice pools and it makes it easier to
take your vessels in boarding assaults. The support shuttles can
repair the crew loss and keep your ships in the fight.
Ba'Kash are not fancy and are not a
finesse fleet. If you can get to your opponent quickly you have
already jumped the highest hurdle of the battle. You have to make
sure you prioritize your targets well. Hitting Admirals vessels and
ships that pose a big threat to your Cruisers is essential. The
cruisers are the workhorse of this fleet.
Well thats all for now. I will share
my thoughts on the Ba'Kash as I play them more. It is a good thing
they are natural allies with the Relthoza. I will have to temper my
sledge hammer approach to things as I learn the Relth. Some Ba'Kash
squadrons supporting my spiders will help. Stay tuned also for more
information about Adepticon. We should have more slots very very
soon so get on the wait list if you have not already. It looks as if
we are going to be capping the amount of players at 32 for now.
Thanks to everybody for making this first year start off with a bang.
Until next time crush the Alliance and
as Always...
REMEMBER DRAMOS!!!!
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