Ships Of The Rense pt7: The Banshee Dreadnought

SeerK here again. Well we are finally down to the last ship in the “Ships Of The Rense” series. We are down to our main command ship. The ship that strikes fear into the hearts of the enemies of the federation and in the hearts of disloyal citizens of the Federation. I speak of course of the Banshee Dreadnought. The dreadnought is currently the biggest class of ship in Firestorm Armada. They are capable of devastating firepower and can take as much as they can dish out. They also are rather expensive points wise, justifiably so.

The Banshee is no exception. As Dreadnoughts go the Banshee in my opinion is a good ship, but a little under gunned as compared to other Dreadnoughts. It has the customary Dindrenzi style kinetic weapons in the fixed fore position, but it is not as strong as the kinetic weapons on the Dindrenzi Battleships. The secondary fore arc weapon is a powerful beam weapon, but its limited to 20 inches of range. This gives the Banshee, like the other tier one RSN vessels, the lack of a one two punch that they really need to deal with vessels of the same weight class. The starboard and port beam weapons are very nice though. They have good range and strength for dealing with smaller vessels.

Now despite my opinion the Banshee needs more in the way of weaponry, what it lacks in punch it make up for in secondary systems and tricks to help deal with the enemy fleet. The Ops Center and Dirty Secrets MAR's come standard. This gives you some nice tactical advantages. You can take 4 TAC cards and you can force your opponent to waste a TAC card when he plays it. Dirty Secrets, although you can only use it once a game, can be pretty clutch. This is especially true when facing the new TAC cards in the Marauders fleet manual. Being able to prevent your point defense from being shut off or a ship from shunting out can really give you an advantage to hang over your opponents head.

The Banshee, like all the RSN ships, also has the advantage that it is way more maneuverable than your average Dreadnought. With the ability to reduce your turn limit to one inch and being able to move up to eight inches you can bring your weapons to bear much more easily. I once got in a firefight with a Nausica Battleship and a Retribution Dreadnought with just my Banshee. Spellduckwrong had wiped out my entire fleet say for the Banshee. It was mostly untouched and with 2 shield dice it was proving hard to take out. I was able to out turn both ships in very close quarters and keep my main weapons on target. The game ended before the Battleship died completely sadly. If another turn or two had taken place the Nausica would have died and the Retribution would not have been far behind.

So yes I think its under gunned, but you can use the weapons more effectively. I almost always use the same load out for my Banshee. I add a shield, -1 on the turn limit and add 2 inches to movement. I run at least two Sirens as well. I also add Special forces as I like to run the Banshee in close quarters.

In my experience this is probably the best way to actually run your Banshee. Up close and personal. The fluff refers to Dindrenzi commanders charging headlong into combat. The Banshee cannot really slug it out with other Dreadnoughts or even squadrons of heavier craft at a distance. Basically your lethal operating range is 12 to 20 inches from the enemy vessels you are engaging. With Sirens as escorts this means more accurate fire at your ideal range and you have the ability to bring it to bear in such a way that more ponderous vessels cannot bring their most lethal weapons to bear. Out maneuvering your targets is one of the key to success in running the Banshee. Picking your targets is as well. Be mindful of your targets weapon arcs and ideal ranges. Obviously the rear arc is vulnerable on most vessels. Hitting the vessel in the aft can be difficult and its an obvious tactic. Mine fields and other vessels can easily cover the hind quarters of targets. Hitting the port and starboard arcs or even the Fore can be more desirable to attack as long as the weapons in that arc are weak.

For example, Sorylian vessels tend to have very weak Fore arc weapons. They are set up to broadside enemy vessels. Vessels with lots of turrets can be problematic, but this is when attacking from multiple arcs comes in. I have always said you have to play RSN fleets smart. They are a fleet based on synergy. Dreadnoughts are big targets and you can use this to your advantage. Drawing fire with the Banshee and hitting your target with another squadron helps give you the one two punch that destroys tier one vessels quickly.

Dreadnaughts are big and tough and generally not to be taken in low point lists. Battle fleets benefit from the presence of a Banshee, but a totally kitted out ship can take a big chunk of your points. So choose wisely and make sure the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Well thats all for the “Ships Of The Rense”. I am going to start delving into the Marauders next. They are new and change the game up quite a bit. I will also be covering Planetfall at the end of October. Its up for pre order as of the 9^th and is slated for an October 22^nd release. I have to say I am pretty excited for this game. Firestorm combined with Planetfall for joint games and campaign play is going to be awesome.

I also want to remind everybody I am hosting a Tournament on October 11^th at Evolution Games in Lansing Michigan. The Battle At Cyrax Alpha has an event page on Facebook. All the details are there.

Until next time crush the Alliance and as always.............

REMEMBER DRAMOS!!!!!!

Ships Of The Rense Pt 6: The Spectre Battleship

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!!!!!!!!!