So this is it! As I promised here are some in dept dwarven tactics to have an advantage against the rest of the Uncharted Seas factions. Let´s see: We have dwarves, their ships are the slowest moving ones of the game, limiting your maneuvering with them; also, they also are not good at boarding so they crew slow moving ships that are easy to board for other fond-at-boarding factions. Their guns are short ranged, so those evil factions can just stay at range and bombard your dwarvs while getting nothing in return, and/or close for the kill or just outmaneuver your poor dwarves. I almost forgot to mentinon the dwaves have no magic, so they can also zap your little dwarves from time to time....
AAARGH! WHAT CAN WE DO?!!
Are the dwarves the underdog faction of The Uncharted Seas? How can they win? If you still like the Iron Dwarves I welcome you to the most challenging faction of the game. Let´s talk about their strenghts: mostly, all the Iron Dwarves have in their favor is their ingenuity and hard working. Unlike the other factions their ships are steam-powered and are heavily armoured in iron plates. They also developed turrets that allow to fire in any direction and they also built submarines that safely sink in the surface and emerge to attack their surprised preys. They also even have airships. Their fleet is one of the most advanced of the Uncharted seas (and the other more advanced is dwarf too) This all means their ship is not dependent on the wind (despite some may say they are so slow they count as being against the wind all the time) and is difficult to damage at range due to armor. Their guns might have short range but they tend to hit harder than other factions guns', and they offsett magic with the famous dwarf counter-magic. Their ships seem to be as headstrong as their owners and sometimes they refuse to sink in more than one situation (they have lots of repair cards).
TACTICS
OK, your fleet is slow so there is no room for fancy maneuvering around. You might want to flank with your frigates or use sea monsters for that, but your deployment is more imortant than any other thing, and the most direct and easy route towards your objective is the one you should take. Don´t worry about being predictable, that's the dwarf way!
Let´s take a look at your ships:
-The frigates are the only ones that allow you to efectively react to your enemy or flank him, but you also need them to block boarding routes towards your more important ships. They have turrets so you don´t really need too much maneuvering to hit your foes, just make sure you don´t block the movement of your other ships.
- The cruisers and heavy cruisers are the backbone of your fleet and are the point form you will put the hurt on the enemy fleet you can use the frigates to screen them from the enemy fire from an angle, so they arrive to the main gunfight untouched when it starts. Again, make sure the frigates do not block their movement or firepower. Speaking of their firepower, it is located mostly on their brodasides. The heavy cruisers have turrets, but those are ancilliary weapons. This means, the dwarf cruisers have to form up a battleline which is done as follows: first approach the enemy fleet in line abreast formation (see the picture above). Once they get within range they all turn 90 degrees to one side, changing formation into line astern (i.e. making a queue), so the broadsides of all three ships are pointed at the enemy. I have found is useful not to link if you are firing at other cruisers, as this will weaken them individually , but against battleships link with everything you have to crit them. If you need to board, your heavy cruisers are your ships for the job (also your troop transports for obvious reasons)
- Submarines: they are your scouts, the eyes of your fleet and also they are your most important key for victory. They come in squadrons of one or two and each small sub costs like a frigate, which means they make the CHEAPEST squadrons of the game if they come in squadrons of just one sub, which translates in the following: if you fight against Iron Dwarves, you don´t out-activate a clever Iron Dwarf admiral. He out-activates YOU, and the submarines are the perfect tool for that, as they submege and are very difficult to sink (even if they are sunk they are not revealed as that until their next activation) Your best submarine for that is the Kraken, as the only reason for being in squadrons of two is linking, and they have no weapons to link and they cannot board, so there is no sense in making squadrons of two. The Kraken is also harder to destroy than the Belcher (they are like sumersible destroyers). The Belcher needs to deploy in squadrons of two in order to damage cruisers or destroy frigates they are your anti-frigate weapon (working alongside with the destroyers in that role). Make sure you deploy the belchers next to each other. If you want a Belcher in each flank in order to react against flanking enemy frigates, make two squadrons of one. Bear also in mind submarines have a 360ยบ degree turning rate, but only when they are submerged, on the surface, they use the small turning template , so the orientation when they are submerged MATTERS if you plan to surface them in the next activation. Remember they also need to move at least 2".
- Battleship/Flagship: is your long-range ship. You can try to hurt/sink frigates in the early game, but is very slow, so don´t do that if it will position you outside of the incoming main fight. Is preferable to place your admiral in the flagship, the battleship is too vulnerable to boarding and the flagship has more crew, more speed and a nasty red ram rating. Use the ship in the same way as the cruisers, turnging to bring broadsides, but be carefull against boarders (remember my last battle in this blog) stay miles away from them, never plot a course that would bring your most important ship near them and if you can´t avoid that use frigates, submarines and troop transports to block any ramming course against your ship from boarders. If you have a flagship you might survive a boarding action against enemy battleship but you won´t survive against heavy cruisers or any boarding-dedicated squadron. The Iron Dwarves also have a floating citadel, but I don´t have it, so I can´t tell how effective is it against boarding actions.
-Airship: this is the meanest ship in the dwarf fleet, a squadron of two are really intimidating, specially the bombs they carry that can decimate a frigate squadron or heavily damage a cruiser. Also, if you fly them over the enemy you may make him guess about what to do: using crew to fire at it or man the guns, but is preferalby to stick them to the main fleet and move them to react to the enemy move, because they fly they won´t block your movement or firing, and the proper way to use them is the same as cruisers, because their main guns are in the broadsides too. Wacht out for enemy flyers!
-The fleet in general: as I said, dwarf fleet is predictable in the deployment but not so afterwards if you brought with you enough submarines to out-activate the enemy fleet (but don´t get too carried away with them, after all they only are a threat against frigates, mostly, and the occasional destroyer) plot a route for the fleet that will bring your broadsides at a range, and when you turn the fleet to make battlelines, make sure there is no islands or obstacles. Ideally you might also want to make your opponent to move against the wind, but be watchfull about their boarders, and have a plan to deal with them. The enemy battleship is also a boarding threat, but not as dangerous as other dedicated ships. If you brought rockets with you, rememeber to weaken the crew on board the battleship. Also take the simplest and most direct way, you just don´t have place for too much maneuvering. Make sure your card deck is "in movement" in order to get your repair cards and probably you will be in good possition to earn the glory of the day!
That's mostly all. Dwarves also have piston ships, but I do not own them, so I can´t tell how effective they are.
Hope it helped!
Dan
No comments:
Post a Comment