AuthorDan Knight Our first ship tactical write up and to make it even better it has been written by one of our community members. You can find a general overview of fleet tactics for the fleets here But to kick things off its over to Dan and tactics for the Aurora Class Light Cruiser for the Eldar fleet. An Aurora-class light cruiser is really, in this writer’s opinion, the exemplar of Eldar Corsair ship design. Incredibly powerful weapons, but so fragile a grot could sneeze three star systems away and cripple it. For the weapons it carries, it is very cheap, at a mere 140 points per vessel. A lot of players say that escorts should be the backbone of an Eldar fleet. I disagree. For the firepower you are getting at that price, my recommendation is to use as many Auroras as you can afford. The downside is, of course, its durability. At only 4 hits, the Aurora is very vulnerable to being crippled, and reducing its impressive firepower down to the level of an escort. The trick then, is to not be shot in the first place. To this end, use celestial phenomena. A planet is an Eldar ship’s best friend - it blocks LoS, but with an Eldar ship’s MSM rules, it can approach around the planet, fire then retreat, placing the planet once again in the way. An additional benefit is the free turn - Due to Eldar moving twice, an Eldar ship gains four free 45 degree turns when inside a gravity well. Position your ships properly, and you can potentially keep your vessels on permanent Lock-On orders. Which, given the 2010 faq states that every lance shot re-rolls, is almost a game breaker.
Gas clouds and asteroid fields are trickier to use, but no less effective, asteroids especially. Tactically, Auroras run best in squadrons of two. With the move, shoot, move rules, a player may move their Auroras into base contact with one another, fire, launch their torpedoes in a salvo, then move once more putting distance between them. If they are kept in their salvo formation, then a single blast marker could be placed so it is touching both ships. Such a thing could be disastrous. So to recap - move the ships into base contact, fire everything, then move them apart. Of course, make sure that you do not place them in the path of your own torpedoes. Eldar torpedoes are forced to re-roll hits, so being hit by their own torps would spell certain doom for your squadron. Another benefit to the two-vessel squadron is due to their low hp. A lone Aurora is almost useless once crippled, with only one lance and two torps. Yes, given luck that is enough to heavily damage most cruisers. But really, once a lone Aurora is crippled it is best served disengaging to prevent extra VPs being scored from it. However, a squadron of Auroras remains a credible threat even when one of their number is crippled - they still have three lances and 6 torps at this point. With clever positioning, you can make it so that the undamaged ship is next to take hits, dropping them to two lances and four torps. As this is the same amount of weaponry that a lone Aurora has, and a lone Aurora is a very powerful ship, the squadron is still highly effective in combat. The only problem is the -5cm movement for being crippled. Which, given Eldar speed, is not insurmountable. Whilst an Aurora squadron is a powerful combination, it should not be the main thrust of your fleet. Instead, use them as flankers, harass ships from behind where their guns are less able to be brought to bear. Just because the squadron mitigates being crippled, does not mean your ships are invincible. Another disadvantage is their range - at 30cm, this means that your ships need to be within the enemy’s weapon range to fire. MSM helps with this, but poor positioning has been the bane of many a Corsair Prince. Always check ranges, arcs and potential moves for your enemy before finalising - a single mistake is costly when using Eldar vessels. Targets of choice: Pretty much anything. Get them in range with Lock-On, and whatever they are pointed at will die. Whatever doesn’t die to their lance fire will fall to their torpedoes. Things to avoid: Ships with a lot of guns. Weapons batteries are the bane of Eldar ships, as they ignore the holofield save. Never allow a ship with weapon batteries to close within 15cm of your own vessels, as the bonus for being on top of you negates your holofield’s column shift. If this happens, your ships will die, and quickly. Try to stay behind them, use phenomena as shields. Use your second move to come abeam to enemy ships. Thus, the end of this article. The Aurora has been this writer’s favourite Eldar vessel for many years, and will likely continue to be so for many years to come. I hope this article helps future Eldar players. Cheerio.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AboutHere are some tactics that I have found useful for each of the fleets in BFG. The more I play the more I will update. Some of the community also have provided tactics for ships/fleets Archives
February 2022
Categories |