We've seen threads about the number of activations people have, with the tendancy switching from 3 towards 4 and 5 ship fleets.
I'm curious to know where people sit with number of deployments. So my question is, in your main fleet, how many deployments do you have?
For me its six.
(Deployment numbers = No. of ships + No. of pairs of squadrons)
My favorite list right now has 8 (4 ships, 8 squadrons). It has 8 because it has one very heavy hitter that I NEED to dictate the location of, and a bunch of very maneuverable ships / squadrons to stall for time.
Six is the lowest number I would have. It is what I usually face against. I move between six and eight.
Eight is right about where I feel comfortable. Eight CR90's, seven plus a pair of fighters, or 3 carriers/10 squadrons.
Five ships, 6 squads.
I don't have any regular fleet builds yet. I end up reading the posts, looking at(and deleting) my existing fleets and using them as the basis of a new build. That being said, I run 3-4 ships. I run upgrade heavy so I normally end up shorter on squadrons unless it's a carrier bid.
For 600pts. add another ship and a butt load of squadrons
Currently I'm running 7 deployments. I feel like 6 should be your minimum as a general rule. It's one of the areas where squadron-heavier fleets can get a real leg up so long as they stay disciplined and don't (further) water down their list with extraneous upgrades.
7 in my regular list. (5 ships, 2 squadrons)
Looking back through my previously used lists, Ive mostly ran 6. Some seven, and a couple of 5.
Moving forward though I think I will be trying to hit 7 as a minimum to give me a chance to put my best ships in best position.
It appears that 8 is tops, 6/7 average and less than 5 on the low side.
Roughly what I expected, and I have increased my list by a couple of squadrons.
Now to make a tie fighter list with 10+.....
I'm currently at 4 ships + 2 squadrons, total of 5 deployments. So, I've usually got activation advantage, but deployment disadvantage. Am currently (still) in the process of stripping my fleet down, see what I really need and what I can do without, to maximise on that deployment advantage. If I can get to seven deployments, I'd be really happy, but will settle for six.
For my primary fleet, I run 3 ships and 8 squadrons here.
I used to run 4 ships, but it didn't turn out well for me at my last tournament.
I used to run 4 ships, but it didn't turn out well for me at my last tournament.
Ooh, story - what went wrong?
while number of deployments is indeed important, I'm starting to really doubt the first/last activation sequence.
everyone denounces Demolisher with it's triple-tap, but in fact a well kitted regular Gladiator or MC30 that gets a last move, followed by a first strike double-tap in the next round can be pretty horrendous to face. Both are kicking out 8 dice of the worst kind-black. (10 for the MC30 if he lines up right). Both can be moving fast enough to potentially avoid the most grievous counterattack.
while deployment and overall strategy certainly help with this, nothing can protect against it the way having an equal or greater number of activations can.
while deployment and overall strategy certainly help with this, nothing can protect against it the way having an equal or greater number of activations can.
I prefer to have both!
2 ships. And I won the last tournament.
I run 3 ships and 9 squads (imperial). However, unless I'm misunderstanding something ship phase and squad phase run sepperate from each other so more activations really means very little
More activations is EVERYTHING.
More Deployments + More Activations = Game won.
For the benefit of anybody who's not following what Gink is talking about: by deployments, he's talking about number of ships + number of pairs of squadrons, which is indicative of how long you can delay deploying your heavy hitter/Achilles' heel. This is a useful number to compare between fleets, because if you have, for example, 4 raiders, 2 TIE fighters, and Demolisher, you may be able to deploy your less threatening, more flexible Raiders and TIEs first, forcing your opponent to reveal the location and aspect of his entire fleet before you place your own most threatening ship--Demolisher--in an optimal location with respect to your opponent's fleet.
This is distinct from activation advantage, which is a measure of simply how many ships you have, and is useful for things like measuring your ability to delay ship activation in such a way that you force your opponent to fly into range of your guns.
Only way I see to deploy squads first would be squad activation order, from a ship. Squad phase does not begin until all ships are activated, therefore you can't stall a ship activation with squads. That's where I'm confused
Only way I see to deploy squads first would be squad activation order, from a ship. Squad phase does not begin until all ships are activated, therefore you can't stall a ship activation with squads. That's where I'm confused
Deploy. Not move.
They are simply talking about the order in which you initially place things on the table.
If you have a "Key" piece, that is going to go after something, you want to know where that sonmething will be.
So you delay putting down a ship by placing 2 squadrons instead...
That is the deployment advantage.
It is related, but separate, to the activation advantage of more ships each turn...
Only way I see to deploy squads first would be squad activation order, from a ship. Squad phase does not begin until all ships are activated, therefore you can't stall a ship activation with squads. That's where I'm confused
When you first put your pieces on the table, after placing your first ship, you can use 2 squadrons or another ship to delay placing your trophy ship. We are only talking about deployment, and not about turns 1-6.
Ahh thank you for clearing that up, Now it all makes sense
I run 3 ships and 9 squads (imperial). However, unless I'm misunderstanding something ship phase and squad phase run sepperate from each other so more activations really means very little
That was exactly my point. Deployments =/ Activations. While building for deployments is good, I think activations are more useful (since they serve both purposes.) This necessarily suggests putting a greater percentage of your points in ships over squadrons, which carries its own risks, of course. All of which is part of the magic of Armada :-)
Only way I see to deploy squads first would be squad activation order, from a ship. Squad phase does not begin until all ships are activated, therefore you can't stall a ship activation with squads. That's where I'm confused
Edit: looks like three or four people beat me to it. 