Tactical Review:Seltorian CA
Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2020 12:39 am
Over the years I've enjoyed playing the Seltorians. Particularly with the modifications we've instituted with the Particle Cannon. As a review of these mods;
Heavy weapons: The Particle Cannon, as modified above, is now a viable weapon. It has the flexibility, and uniqueness of being one of the few heavy weapons that can fire twice per turn. It has the ability to snipe at medium-to-long range with a 50% chance of hitting out to R15 for 3 points of damage with a standard shot. This is particularly efficient if that shot is the second shot of the turn as it would only cost 1 point to inflict 3 points of damage making it a useful tactic to attempt to soften enemy shields.
It's flexible to be able to fire an overloaded shot either on the first or second shot of the turn. Damage is comparable to a Disruptor for the most part and costs 1 point less than an overloaded Disruptor. The offset is that the range brackets and 'to-hits' aren't quite as good.
The Combined shot allows it to have a slight increase on an Alpha Strike without making it 'to good'. Capable of inflicting either 9 or 12 points of damage, it again is comparable (or just slightly better) with an overloaded Disruptor (for 1 additional point of power) albeit without the to-hit chance of the Disruptor. Also comparable with the Vudar Ion Cannon.
The goal is to keep each Particle Cannon capacitor at a full 5 points if possible. However, the ability to operate with less can be of profound tactical significance. Three points would get you two standard shots or a single overloaded shot.
The Shield Cracker is an interesting addition to the ship. While not capable of damaging a ship, it can weaken the shields. This helps to assist the Particle Cannon in penetrating the enemy ships shields.
Phasers: Excellent phaser suites. On the CA for example, it sports eight Phaser 1's and four Phaser 3's. That's on par with a Federation CA Phaser suite with an additional pair of Phaser 3's.
Durability: Again, on par with the toughness of a Federation CA at 16 hull boxes. The Federation CA gets to overall nod as it sports eight labs as opposed to the Selt's four labs. But it is on the higher end of toughness compared to other CA's like the Klingon D7 which has 11 hull and 3 lab.
Warp: The Selt CA, as an example, has 32 warp which allows it to HET at S28 as opposed to S26. This could have some implications in a game and even catch an opponent off guard who is unaware of this ability.
Power: Excellent power with a CA clocking in at a total of 40 power (32 warp, 4 impulse and 4 APR). Needed because those Particle Cannon capacitors get hungry (as do the Shield Crackers to a lesser extent).
Transporters and Marines: An area that the Selt's have a major advantage. Lots of both. The CA has six transporters and twenty boarding parties. That's double what a Federation CA has available (3 transporters and 10 BP's). And even more than the Klingon D7 (5 transporters and 14 BP's).
Shuttles: Again, like the marines, the Selts excel in the number of shuttles they carry. Six in the case of the CA. This somewhat makes up for the Selts lack of seeking weapons.
Tactics: One approach is to stay between R9-15 from the enemy and snipe some shields with the Particle Cannons. With some better than average rolls, particularly if the opportunity presents itself for a second shot, one or two of the shields on the enemy ship could be softened up which may influence his movement. It's a 50% shot at R9-15 which is decent and can yield 3 points of damage with each hit. If this can be accomplished for 2-3 turns, even with average rolls, their shields are going to start looking a bit ragged. If the opponent is Big Plasma this may work to your favor by staying away/running out their plasma while inflicting damage they aren't able to return. This also gives you time to deal with drones from those opponents.
Once the enemies shields are worn down enough you can head in for the Alpha Strike using a combined shot. Between the Shield Crackers, Particle Cannons and phasers you can hopefully penetrate the shields and inflict some serious damage while weathering their return fire. Then surge over the marines in either hit-n-run raids to inflict more damage (or set up future damage i.e. take out hull/lab boxes which are likely to be unguarded thus setting up better hits at a later time. Or, try for a capture. Normally a ship-versus-ship duel isn't the best scenario to try for a capture, but the Selt has enough BP's and transporters to make it a worthwhile try. Particularly if you can get a couple of turns worth of marines over.
- Capacitor has no holding cost.
- Firing delay between shots is reduced to 8-impulses.
- Combined shot: The PC can be fired as a combined shot i.e. one OL and one standard shot combined. The cost is a full capacitor of 5 points. Maximum range of 8. May be fired at R0. Requires a 32 impulse cool down period before being able to fire again.
Heavy weapons: The Particle Cannon, as modified above, is now a viable weapon. It has the flexibility, and uniqueness of being one of the few heavy weapons that can fire twice per turn. It has the ability to snipe at medium-to-long range with a 50% chance of hitting out to R15 for 3 points of damage with a standard shot. This is particularly efficient if that shot is the second shot of the turn as it would only cost 1 point to inflict 3 points of damage making it a useful tactic to attempt to soften enemy shields.
It's flexible to be able to fire an overloaded shot either on the first or second shot of the turn. Damage is comparable to a Disruptor for the most part and costs 1 point less than an overloaded Disruptor. The offset is that the range brackets and 'to-hits' aren't quite as good.
The Combined shot allows it to have a slight increase on an Alpha Strike without making it 'to good'. Capable of inflicting either 9 or 12 points of damage, it again is comparable (or just slightly better) with an overloaded Disruptor (for 1 additional point of power) albeit without the to-hit chance of the Disruptor. Also comparable with the Vudar Ion Cannon.
The goal is to keep each Particle Cannon capacitor at a full 5 points if possible. However, the ability to operate with less can be of profound tactical significance. Three points would get you two standard shots or a single overloaded shot.
The Shield Cracker is an interesting addition to the ship. While not capable of damaging a ship, it can weaken the shields. This helps to assist the Particle Cannon in penetrating the enemy ships shields.
Phasers: Excellent phaser suites. On the CA for example, it sports eight Phaser 1's and four Phaser 3's. That's on par with a Federation CA Phaser suite with an additional pair of Phaser 3's.
Durability: Again, on par with the toughness of a Federation CA at 16 hull boxes. The Federation CA gets to overall nod as it sports eight labs as opposed to the Selt's four labs. But it is on the higher end of toughness compared to other CA's like the Klingon D7 which has 11 hull and 3 lab.
Warp: The Selt CA, as an example, has 32 warp which allows it to HET at S28 as opposed to S26. This could have some implications in a game and even catch an opponent off guard who is unaware of this ability.
Power: Excellent power with a CA clocking in at a total of 40 power (32 warp, 4 impulse and 4 APR). Needed because those Particle Cannon capacitors get hungry (as do the Shield Crackers to a lesser extent).
Transporters and Marines: An area that the Selt's have a major advantage. Lots of both. The CA has six transporters and twenty boarding parties. That's double what a Federation CA has available (3 transporters and 10 BP's). And even more than the Klingon D7 (5 transporters and 14 BP's).
Shuttles: Again, like the marines, the Selts excel in the number of shuttles they carry. Six in the case of the CA. This somewhat makes up for the Selts lack of seeking weapons.
Tactics: One approach is to stay between R9-15 from the enemy and snipe some shields with the Particle Cannons. With some better than average rolls, particularly if the opportunity presents itself for a second shot, one or two of the shields on the enemy ship could be softened up which may influence his movement. It's a 50% shot at R9-15 which is decent and can yield 3 points of damage with each hit. If this can be accomplished for 2-3 turns, even with average rolls, their shields are going to start looking a bit ragged. If the opponent is Big Plasma this may work to your favor by staying away/running out their plasma while inflicting damage they aren't able to return. This also gives you time to deal with drones from those opponents.
Once the enemies shields are worn down enough you can head in for the Alpha Strike using a combined shot. Between the Shield Crackers, Particle Cannons and phasers you can hopefully penetrate the shields and inflict some serious damage while weathering their return fire. Then surge over the marines in either hit-n-run raids to inflict more damage (or set up future damage i.e. take out hull/lab boxes which are likely to be unguarded thus setting up better hits at a later time. Or, try for a capture. Normally a ship-versus-ship duel isn't the best scenario to try for a capture, but the Selt has enough BP's and transporters to make it a worthwhile try. Particularly if you can get a couple of turns worth of marines over.