I have a massive soft spot for escort type ships and small or midsized warships over the big ones (In many space 4X games I usually build a ton of frigate class vessels with the larger vessels reserved for roles where the smaller ships aren't effective.) Consequently I usually make killing the escort type vessels first my standard strategy in any games involving fleet combat whether they are tactics game, or controlling a single ship. The limits on how many Escorts you can build in this really annoyed me because I was used to the Battlefleet Gothic tabletop game where the number of Cruisers you can deploy is limited based on how many Escorts you have rather then vice versa.
The basic rule of attrition in naval warfare is kill the opponent's weapons faster than they kill yours. Not ships. Weapons. In most "naval" wargames, small ships are quicker and easier to kill than large ones. So kill the small ships first.
I play Ad Mech, so I have large ships and only one escort usually. Due to the extreme tonnage of my fleet I have to pick my battles. I use my escort constantly to scout out the small ships and nova them into pieces before I find their large ships. Once their fast moving scouts are just fireballs in space, I can focus on the large ships. Fortunately for me, Orks, even on the highest difficulty, often tend to group their ships in clusters, making novas absolutely devastating. But the large number of ship clusters makes it so I constantly have to scout which one will net me the largest advantage. I'm also well aware my nova meme fleet of Ark Mechanicus and 4 cruisers with nova cannons (2 with launch bays, 2 with macro), does not work in pvp.
The problem is that Escorts fail miserably if your opponent doesn't have any. They simply don't have the punch to deal a deadly blow and can be, as you yourself said, picked apart with ease. Heck in some cases one Nova Cannon can pretty much destroy all the Escorts.
Exception to this is the necron escorts. The Jackal has the same armament as a light cruiser, for a fraction of the cost, with the penalty being less hull, though much more maneuverable. Setting up a Jackal gunline with dispersed lightning arc, then switching to reload when theres only a few ships left.
My first play through of the campaign, I was not good with Escorts, but after that I got quite handy at using them in Campaign, and found the Imperial Firestorm is great. With engine upgrade and admiral scouting enhancement they're fast, have great detection and the lance means they harass very well; the amount of times my main fleet is safely hidden and just battering away at the AI fleet while my 3-5 Firestorm's are niggling away at cruisers and even battleships so they arrive at the main fight with worn shields or systems knocked out. It's meant that I do absolutely go after the enemy Escorts, because without them, my Escorts are free to do their thing. Plus, during the campaign, they're so cheap to replace I'm not too sad if I lose one (Although I had one in my recent playthrough that survived most of the campaign so I was gutted when it got destroyed)
Great Video and so true, as somebody who has put a fair amount of time into Drukhari I can tell you this is spot on for countering a stealth player and also for zoning out any player or forcing a points win. Good use of escorts in conjunction with tactical knowledge of your opponent's strength and weaknesses is a key skill to learn for new players.
A few line ships + lots of escorts usually always fail to defeat an enemy which has more line ships, with less or without escorts at all. They simply don't have enough durability and/or firepower. In my opinion, Cobra Widowmaker is the most useful escort right now, thanks to its powerful radar. Apart from capturing areas (a game mode apparently liked by no one) and performing scanning, there is really no point in having escorts.
while the caputure is certanly not liked by anyone, its an understandable addition since players that where defeated in combat sometimes hid there last ships in corners. If you played as an orc and the enemy was an eldar there was simply no way for you to kill him unless he wanted to engage against you (or was stupid), the game would then drag on until the match timer runned out and a draw was called. Of course there could have been better ways to fix this issue like giving the win to the player who had more fleet points left at the end of the match, i dont like this mode ether i only want to say what the developers where probably thinking when they made this change.
anyone see the chaos subfactions that rep the gods get 2 more skills then all other factions the extra skills are based around the god the subfactions reps
Good video Hydra! I'm wondering, as you can't know which faction you'll be up against on ladder, how many escorts do you take? Also what are your thoughts on fleet lists that go wide (lots of smaller ships, LCs, C's and Escorts perhaps with one capital class ship) - is it viable? I'm not sure how the armour system but it looks like smaller craft don't pack the calibre to even damage bigger craft - making this non viable unless you go for a capping victory purely. What are your thoughts? Keep up the good work!
Love your tutorials, eagerly awaiting tutorials on the races. I also love the game but the learning curve is way too steep, how can I learn to micro my ships better?
i think the real issue with this game is the fact that ships dont actually do anything with their main guns seriously the dps/dmg output of the main guns is pretty pathetic compared to ability damage as an example play as admech and miss your novas lol GG
@@np7736 Yes ramming works against them but evading, even with escort scan is impossible. Nids are super fast with their rush. Rush needs to be nerfed.
I have a massive soft spot for escort type ships and small or midsized warships over the big ones (In many space 4X games I usually build a ton of frigate class vessels with the larger vessels reserved for roles where the smaller ships aren't effective.) Consequently I usually make killing the escort type vessels first my standard strategy in any games involving fleet combat whether they are tactics game, or controlling a single ship. The limits on how many Escorts you can build in this really annoyed me because I was used to the Battlefleet Gothic tabletop game where the number of Cruisers you can deploy is limited based on how many Escorts you have rather then vice versa.
The basic rule of attrition in naval warfare is kill the opponent's weapons faster than they kill yours. Not ships. Weapons. In most "naval" wargames, small ships are quicker and easier to kill than large ones. So kill the small ships first.
Yup, same rules apply.
Indeed
Once you have mostly disarmed an opponent, they will be helpless to stop you; and you can do with them as you wish.
I play Ad Mech, so I have large ships and only one escort usually. Due to the extreme tonnage of my fleet I have to pick my battles. I use my escort constantly to scout out the small ships and nova them into pieces before I find their large ships. Once their fast moving scouts are just fireballs in space, I can focus on the large ships.
Fortunately for me, Orks, even on the highest difficulty, often tend to group their ships in clusters, making novas absolutely devastating. But the large number of ship clusters makes it so I constantly have to scout which one will net me the largest advantage.
I'm also well aware my nova meme fleet of Ark Mechanicus and 4 cruisers with nova cannons (2 with launch bays, 2 with macro), does not work in pvp.
The problem is that Escorts fail miserably if your opponent doesn't have any. They simply don't have the punch to deal a deadly blow and can be, as you yourself said, picked apart with ease.
Heck in some cases one Nova Cannon can pretty much destroy all the Escorts.
Exception to this is the necron escorts. The Jackal has the same armament as a light cruiser, for a fraction of the cost, with the penalty being less hull, though much more maneuverable.
Setting up a Jackal gunline with dispersed lightning arc, then switching to reload when theres only a few ships left.
My first play through of the campaign, I was not good with Escorts, but after that I got quite handy at using them in Campaign, and found the Imperial Firestorm is great. With engine upgrade and admiral scouting enhancement they're fast, have great detection and the lance means they harass very well; the amount of times my main fleet is safely hidden and just battering away at the AI fleet while my 3-5 Firestorm's are niggling away at cruisers and even battleships so they arrive at the main fight with worn shields or systems knocked out.
It's meant that I do absolutely go after the enemy Escorts, because without them, my Escorts are free to do their thing. Plus, during the campaign, they're so cheap to replace I'm not too sad if I lose one (Although I had one in my recent playthrough that survived most of the campaign so I was gutted when it got destroyed)
Croissant au fromage vert! Lovelly!
To me, in chess, the strongest unit IS the pawn. A strong formation of little pawn will wreck everything.
Great Video and so true, as somebody who has put a fair amount of time into Drukhari I can tell you this is spot on for countering a stealth player and also for zoning out any player or forcing a points win. Good use of escorts in conjunction with tactical knowledge of your opponent's strength and weaknesses is a key skill to learn for new players.
Thanks for the tips, keep them coming!
A few line ships + lots of escorts usually always fail to defeat an enemy which has more line ships, with less or without escorts at all. They simply don't have enough durability and/or firepower. In my opinion, Cobra Widowmaker is the most useful escort right now, thanks to its powerful radar.
Apart from capturing areas (a game mode apparently liked by no one) and performing scanning, there is really no point in having escorts.
while the caputure is certanly not liked by anyone, its an understandable addition since players that where defeated in combat sometimes hid there last ships in corners. If you played as an orc and the enemy was an eldar there was simply no way for you to kill him unless he wanted to engage against you (or was stupid), the game would then drag on until the match timer runned out and a draw was called.
Of course there could have been better ways to fix this issue like giving the win to the player who had more fleet points left at the end of the match, i dont like this mode ether i only want to say what the developers where probably thinking when they made this change.
Really good to hear these tips-they have made me a much better player
anyone see the chaos subfactions that rep the gods get 2 more skills then all other factions the extra skills are based around the god the subfactions reps
very good video i find alot of people on the ladder do not understand these basics
Im so glad you pointed out that this is a meme fleet. So many people think the Cairn is competitive, and it's bonkers bad in terms of points vs value.
it's kinda a meme, but I did really well with it :D
Very interesting
Please keep this up I love this game and these videos will help the noobies.
Don't worry I got you :D
Tuturial tips:
How use big slow capital ships vs nids without instantlosing.
The game design leaves a lot to wish.
Completely fascinating!
Hope its useful :)
Good video Hydra! I'm wondering, as you can't know which faction you'll be up against on ladder, how many escorts do you take?
Also what are your thoughts on fleet lists that go wide (lots of smaller ships, LCs, C's and Escorts perhaps with one capital class ship) - is it viable?
I'm not sure how the armour system but it looks like smaller craft don't pack the calibre to even damage bigger craft - making this non viable unless you go for a capping victory purely. What are your thoughts?
Keep up the good work!
Can you dedicate a section to Ork escorts? No silent running makes them hard to keep alive.
I need to do a few ork streams first :)
There are different types of escort between factions and sub factions
1 that is sneeki breeki capture all point or 1 that become a suicide bomber etc
I shall have to look into this!
Love your tutorials, eagerly awaiting tutorials on the races.
I also love the game but the learning curve is way too steep, how can I learn to micro my ships better?
Tyranid Escorts are Imba^^
Little nom nom rockets^^
Is it just me. Or is his camera crazy zoomed out?
Yeah... A gigantic advantage in RTS games.
I have zero escort so far... And is focused in full nova cannon fleet
i think the real issue with this game is the fact that ships dont actually do anything with their main guns seriously the dps/dmg output of the main guns is pretty pathetic compared to ability damage
as an example play as admech and miss your novas lol GG
Battlefleet Gothic: Armada
Make an anti nid tutorial??
Escorts are probably the best anti nid strategy. The scanners are the bet way to fight against their stealth abilities imo.
@@np7736 Yes but even with recon your big slow capital ship can never evade them. Why is taking a capital ship and auto loss vs nids?
Bad game design.
@@Pyriel2 well there's always plan B I guess
RAM THAT SHIT!
@@np7736 Yes ramming works against them but evading, even with escort scan is impossible. Nids are super fast with their rush.
Rush needs to be nerfed.
@@Pyriel2 Make the nid's weapons on their bio-ships your number one priority. Once they're gone they won't be able to use their offensive abilities.
Using escorts is Slaaneshi heresy.
first?