Frenchies, Frenchies Everywere......

[Stephan]

After last night's game I was inspired to crack open my non-Prussian spartan bag and reacquaint myself with my CoA and French fleets.  Wow, I've got a lot of stuff crammed into that little bag.  I now need to finish painting my few CoA things that aren't finished yet and then start on my French, who are almost entirely unpainted.

What are everyone's thoughts on the French?  As I recall, I put them aside out of frustration as much as anything else.  I love the skimmer theme, but I remember being underwhelmed by the Magenta Mk 1 and the Marseille.  Looking at the V2.0 stats for these ships however, I think they've got some real potential now that the main turrets and broadsides are both (S). 

What are your thoughts?  Anyone have much experience with or against the French at this point?

[Quickdraw]

I've been knocking around the idea of a French fleet also.
I really like the skimmer theme as well and as far as I can tell there isn't a single primary weapon (besides a bombard) in the entire list. Not to mention the heat lance hasn't been kind to me the few times I've seen it used.

[Stephan]

About the heat lance.  It looks like they've completely changed the mechanics for it.  Instead of the old mechanic that changed the number AD depending on the target's DR, you now get a set number of AD with some nice MARs.  I'm thinking I prefer that mechanic.

[Quickdraw]

I was reading those effects the other day and I agree with you. The MARs and Munitions type make for a pretty nasty attack with potentially debilitating stackable effects. If anything it makes it an even more unique weapon system.

[captainrockman]

Landlubber's French make great use of the heat lances. He knows how to play them well.

[Landlubber]

Landlubber's French make great use of the heat lances. He knows how to play them well.

Thank you! Although I have been having some better luck with my dice rolls of late, so that might be part of it as well.

I've been pretty happy playing the French thus far. Two things stand out to me about the French faction: survivability, and options.

Survivability: most, if not all, of the French large- and massive-class vessels have both retardant armor AND the ability to equip a cloud generator. I have seen that combination save my Magenta skimmer battleship from a critical hit on more than one occasion. While their cruisers can't carry the cloud generator, two of them also have retardant armor.

Options: I think it's safe to say that the French have more options per ship/size class (for naval vessels) than any other faction. They have two Dreadnoughts, one of which is a skimmer. They have 4 battleships, two of which are skimmers. They have 5 different cruisers, if you count the battlecruiser, and one of the five is a skimmer. They actually have 6 medium-class vessels, counting the Epaulard submarines. So aesthetically and tactically, you have a lot of room for fleet customization.

QuickDraw, you're right: the only Primary weapon in the naval fleet is the Bombard cannon on the Saint Malo battleship. Which means those heat lances and turrets can be crippling in RB1.

[Quickdraw]

On the note of options, they have a cruiser that can attach to a large or massive I think. Which I personally am a huge fan of simply for the fact of fluff. I think that's a really cool option.
Slightly unrelated question:
Does the Magenta have a model that represents it as a slimmer?
I think I've only ever seen it on the surface.

[Landlubber]

On the note of options, they have a cruiser that can attach to a large or massive I think. Which I personally am a huge fan of simply for the fact of fluff. I think that's a really cool option.
Slightly unrelated question:
Does the Magenta have a model that represents it as a slimmer?
I think I've only ever seen it on the surface.

That's the Ecuyer-class cruiser...or as Mark calls them, the "eclaires". I have a squadron of them but have not yet tried using them on the board.

The Magenta MkI is the skimmer variant; there is a model for it, and you can see it here:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/forum/index.php?topic=817.msg4210#msg4210

I don't think you can get them from the Spartan store anymore. Ruckdog, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the skimmer Magenta was the first model available for the RoF, and was I think the first surface skimmer in the game. It did not come in the naval box set; the surface variant was in that box. The skimmer version was originally called a "prototype ship" I think.

Interestingly, the surface variant--which is now the MkII, according to the latest stats for the RoF--actually has pieces to replace the forward main gun with the heat lance. The skimmer variant does not have this option. The stats say that either version can use a heat lance, so I guess you would just have to pretend the forward main gun was a heat lance on the skimmer. And if you don't have the actual skimmer model, but you want to field the MkI, you have to use the surface variant and pretend it is a skimmer.

EDIT: you CAN get them on the Spartan store, but as part of a boxed set: the Skimmer Flotilla. So please disregard my misinformation above.

http://shop.spartangames.co.uk/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=DWRF42

[Ruckdog]

You are correct on the skimmer Magenta...that was the first French model shown. The RoF was originally going to be just a supporting faction, but the "flying battleship"model proved so popular that Spartan decided to spin the faction off into its own fully-fledged core nation. The ship was originally going to be a fully-fledged flying model that could set down in the water, but this was later simplified to the skimmer approach. The Magenta does seem to have been discontinued as a separate model, but it is still available as part of the skimmer box set:

http://shop.spartangames.co.uk/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=DWRF42

It is also easy enough to find at other retailers. For example:

http://www.miniaturemarket.com/spgdwrf02-1.html

Back to the original topic, I really enjoy my French. I had a great time (and great success) with them under the earlier rules, though I haven't played them since the re-statting.

[Landlubber]

Yeah, I remember that now. They were showing renders of what became the skimmer Magenta right around the same time that game Leviathans was starting to make itself known, and some people (I think) thought one was copying the other. Is Leviathans even still around??

And now, Quickdraw has taken the plunge with the French...he sent me pictures earlier today. He says he's only going to have a small fleet, but...we'll see. 

[Quickdraw]

Whoa whoa whoa Greg! Way to call me out 
I don't like all of the French ships so I'm truly going to keep it small haha.
Checking out the battle cruiser. Those three heat lances are neat. Could put all those on one target or split them up on a cruiser squadron and try to get some stackable critical effects on each ship.