Flanking Forces

[Ruckdog]

Just put a new blog post up discussing flanking forces:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/blog/2015/01/27/dystopian-wars-tactics-thoughts-on-flanking-forces/

What do you all think? Anyone have experience with using flanking forces?

[Last Rites]

Very well written, mate. Think I have used the flanking rule about three times thus far, and can confirm the mixed results. That said it is usually the same flanking force used, corvettes and frigates. Thoughts being that a quick boarding party moving at 17" straight ahead could make up for possible arrival in T3. However the battlefield (battlesea??) is ever evolving, so they would either show up facing a far superior force or a lack of enemies altogether. Hard to "plan" for in advance.

Thank you for stating that this force is limited to meds and below. Was toying with the idea of an Independence showing up to act as a fast survivable boarding unit. The idea to use Gunships here though is brilliant! Will have to test this.

Have you tried any of the Advance Deployment rules? Been tossing the idea of rolling in early with bombers to provide an imminent threat.

Thanks again for the write up! Wonderful strategy talk.

[CDR-G]

I lost a game in large part to a 3rd turn flanking force roll. It makes it hard to recover from an unlucky first round. So I agree use it wisely and generally only in larger point games. The player with tactical advantage has a better calculation, it is still a risk. I have used it several times, it has never been a a significant advantage for me for the reasons Last Rites mentioned.
Now Advanced Deployment, that is a different story. Being able to place 40% in the second eight inches is an easy choice. It might not always apply, but more often or not it simply gives you more flexibility in deployment. Most conservative situation you place them at the inner limit of the zone. It allows for more likely being able to make use of terrain. Putting a 17" corvette squadron placed forward could help shape the battlefield. Russians love it.

[Ruckdog]

That sort of confirms what I was thinking; Flanking is a neat idea, but it probably has limited utility. The advance forces, though....that seems like it has some real use. I'll have to do some more thinking on it and make a separate blog post on the topic .

[Landlubber]

Ruckdog, thanks for bringing up this topic. Far too often I find myself in a gaming "rut", so to speak, of always using the same models and the same basic tactics. I completely forgot some of the flexibility that 2.0 affords a player that takes the time to read the book!

I've only used flanking forces once or twice, and it was so long ago that I can't remember the outcome. But here are a couple thoughts on the topic:

1. I think in the 1.1 rules, you couldn't use robots in any of your Strategic Forces. I don't see that restriction in the 2.0 rules; all I see is that there can be no massive- or large-class ships/fliers. My John Henrys got nerfed a little bit in the 2.0 fleet manual, but they're still a force to be reckoned with. Wouldn't mind seeing them come in later on my enemy's flank.

2. With the explosion of models available for the major factions, and with the plethora of minor factions we now have to choose from, it might be fairly easy to build a special "strike package" to deal specific damage to your opponent using the flanking force--something to take advantage of a known weakness.

3. To further my thoughts above, the flanking force might be a good place to concentrate ships/fliers that are heavy rocket or torpedo platforms. From the FSA perspective, I'm thinking about my PYB-2 rocket planes. Keeping them off the board a few turns keeps them alive longer (they're a bit fragile), and it gives time for my surface ships to soften up targets--meaning degraded AA when facing an incoming rocket barrage.

Just thoughts. I might be way off base. But now that you've brought it up, I'm going to start thinking about how to employ the tactic!

[Ruckdog]

The small fliers would indeed make a decent choice for a flanking force....I hadn't thought of that! The idea merits some consideration, as they have a lot of the same issues that small naval models are forced to deal with; namely, they pack a heavy, but short ranged punch, and are not overly robust.

The idea of using an allied force of some kind to fill this role is also brilliant, as it does open up the possibilities a bit more. Having a pair of Aussie submarine tenders move in from the flank could be rather entertaining, I think .

[CDR-G]

I like the small or medium rocket launchers. I just tried three PYBs against a RoF force that had Frelons. They really worked against obscured Frelons. Non-capital mediums with air hunter, they stay obscured and still hit on 4-6.

[Ruckdog]

That does sound very effective! The small flyers, in general, seem like they could be a fairly effective flanking force, thanks to their low cost and speed. They essentially combine many of the strengths of a frigate with the bonus of being able to come on obscured.