Using the Black Wolf

[Landlubber]

As the title says...anyone here used it, or played against it?  I picked up the model about a month ago, but haven't had a chance to use it yet.  It has a couple fairly devious capabilities:  it has an echo generator, which allows you to create a false version of the sub when it is submerged, so that your opponent doesn't know which is the real vessel; and it has a MAR that causes any target the sub fires at to move 2" away from the sub if the sub's firing exceeds the target's DR. 

Going to try to get it on the board whenever I play next.

[Ruckdog]

I like the idea of the echo generator, as it seems like it would be a fun way to simulate the cat-and-mouse nature of WWII ASW.

[Landlubber]

So apparently the two "echoes" move independently, and only the player knows which is the real sub.  The player doesn't have to reveal which is the true sub unless a) the sub surfaces to fire, or b) the sub echo template is fired on by the opponent AND the number of hits equals or exceeds the sub's DR (6, I think).  At that point the player must reveal whether or not that echo is the real sub.

But it has the Panic Dive MAR--same concept as Swift Ascent--and once it submerges, it can activate the echo generator again.  Pretty sneaky.

[Ruckdog]

Yep! The Black Wolf is pretty much the only diving model in the game right now that works anything like real-world subs do. I want one for that very reason!

[Last Rites]

Right oft the bat i'm gonna say it...the echo isn't that "special". Moving on, I finally got a sub!!! I play FSA so was always interested in the BW. More so the model than the stats, and the appeal of adding at least one submerged unit to my fleet. The design is new for me as there are no paddle wheels! Cray...maybe inside there are a couple. I digress, its a fun little whale meets walrus looking model.

Once I was sold, literally my receipt was in my email, I had to think of how to use this thing. At 100pts  for a large its kind of a steal. Then you look at its stats and say, well FOR a large your not doing much in the damage dept. Then it dawned on me...Hunt down and destroy smalls!! I've taken her out for a spin 3 times now, and can def say that is the best place for the BW. The 6 torpedo dice at RB4 are great for putting in a lil early shock to the enemy, before slipping back under the waves. It's this first shock that kind of sets the precedent in your opponents mind. All down hill after that right?!

After our first outing where I got rocked with 4 Raging Fires and ultimately destroyed, it made more sense for the BW to be used late in a round then right away in the next. A large with a DR of only 4 is just plain silly. I would have hoped for a 5 or 6 here. Using this tactic totally steals away use for the Echo however. In the subsequent games I found ships running away from the BW, but at the same time i felt like this was where the Echo would make sense. Essentially use it to corral the smalls right into the mouth of the fixed chan torps. Yet in practice this isn't so fun. I would/continue to leave the BW on the surface level and use the hard pounding fore guns to push the smalls around as if it wanted their lunch money. Once the Hard Pounding guns get within range its nine pins for the smalls or an episode of The Three Stooges  Echo or not this still had the same purpose. Be a distraction!

Just watch out for boarders...I can see this being a serious issue. At 3 AP Captain Nikonov defected with a skeleton crew. Yes yes its got all kinds of MAR to help, but if they come in numbers its over. Haven't had this happen yet so cant attest to it. Just spit ballin'. Sure would have been nice to have a decent compliment of elite Marines to fly up to the half damaged Tenkei securing the win as the final move in the game the other day, thats for sure! Losing by 50pts sucks...lets go sis 

[Landlubber]

Interesting.  I still have not used the Wolf...usually forget that I even have it.  Probably because it's buried under a bunch of unpainted resin (namely, my RoF and Chinese fleets).  Reading your write-up, however, makes me want to get it on the table soon.

So it excels as a killer of small ships, eh?  Will keep that in mind.

[Last Rites]

You should dig her outta the box. It is def a ship worth putting into a list every once in a while. If you do let me know how you use it, maybe there is a tactic for it that i'm missing.