2000 pts Chaos fleet

[EEG]

it's come down to this so far:

Cruisers
======
Murder
Murder
Murder
Carnage
Devastation
Devastation

Heavy Cruisers
===========
Hades
Acheron

Battleship
=======
Desolator


Ld. 9 warmaster w/ Mark of Nurgle
& Chaos space marine crews for the Devastations.

the 3rd Murder might end up as a 2nd Carnage or even a 3rd Devastation.

[ThePov]

Interesting, but "I find you lack of escorts... disturbing."


Sorry, I just have to say that whever I see what I call a "Star Destroyer" Fleet: All chaos cruisers (which look an awful lot like Destroyers). You can get away with it better with a Chaos fleet than anyone else, but you are still running a massive risk running no escorts. I might drop a Murder for a squadron of escorts, if only to back up the Desolator.

[EEG]

i made this list with 2 things in mind:
1. overall cost, in terms of real money
2. plastic cruisers allow for some conversions (never really was a fan of metal models)

& yes, the chaos ships look a lot like star destroyers! :cool:

i avoided escorts because frankly i did not like how the chaos ones looked. some folks had told me it was fine to use imperial escorts as stand-ins, so if it comes down to it, i just might consider it.

there was also the idea of "dumbing down" the Desolator into a Repulsive grand cruiser since the Desolator seems a bit under-gunned. that too would free up some points.

[horizon]

Heya,

The Desolator maybe doesn't have a lot of weapons but it is a fast battleship. It can keep up with your fleet and has excellent 60cm lance support.

No escorts is pretty popular in fleets of min/maxers (powergamers). But personally I think they're great. They are just nifty in usage!

Your fleet:

Cruisers
======
Murder
Murder
Murder
Carnage
Devastation
Devastation

Heavy Cruisers
===========
Hades
Acheron

Battleship
=======
Desolator


When looking at that fleet you have the prow-on element and the broadside element at 60cm

prow on: 3x Murder, 1x Hades
broadside: Carnage, 2x Devastation, 1x Archeron, 1x Desolator

A good fleet all in all. Maybe a bit underwhelming in the ordnance department but enough range to shut down enemy carriers.
A suggestion would be to drop the Carnage (in this fleet!) and take some Infidels.

In essence a Chaos fleet has two main approaches as far as I know. Deviating allowed:

Fleet A core:
2x Murder, 1x Hades
2x Devastion, 1x Styx

Fleet B core:
2x Carnage
2x Devastation
2x Archeron
1x Desolator

[EEG]

that's certainly a good point about the Desolator's speed and i have seen escorts make a big mess.

at this point this list still has some flexibility since i currently only have the models for 2 Murders and 2 Devastations. meanwhile i guess i could try proxying some gun drones as escorts in a few experimental battles (they are on flying bases after all! :D) what's a good number of escorts to field?

the plan would be to send the Murders & Hades more or less straight at the enemy, shooting their lances on the way in and then broadsiding stuff when they got close enough. meanwhile the rest of the fleet would circle around at a distance and try to keep the opponent in their side arc to provide supporting fire. as for the Desolator, it could either function as support with its broadside lances, therefore missing the chance to use the torpedoes, or charge in like the Murders&Hades.

but then, wouldn't a Repulsive do just as well in that role? and with the warmaster and his Mark of Nurgle on board, it bumps the Repulsive's HP up to 11, making it almost like a battleship.


thanks for the help thus far guys!

[horizon]

The Desolator should use its lances (+ weapon batteries) in the same circle as the Devastations. The torps shouldn't be wasted at long range anyway. If it happens it is a great short range shock assault! Or launch them as boarding torps earlier on (= 45* turn each ordnance phase).

6 escorts'll do I guess. For me.

Oh, all tactical things aside here is my Renegade list which is absolutely non-min-maxed...

Desolator
Styx
Carnage x2
Slaughter
6 Infidels
3 Iconoclast

[EEG]

OK, at this point that 3rd Murder is going to end up as a 3rd Devastation.



Styx
Carnage x2
Slaughter
6 Infidels
3 Iconoclast

looking at this, i suddenly had an off-the-wall idea: replace the Desolator with 3 Idolators screening a Slaughter (exactly 300 points!). then this squadron goes off on a different flank and tries to be as annoying as it can (might even go for boarding actions). yes, the Desolator is sturdier and just as strong, but this squadron would have the ability to outmaneuver ships a lot more easily than the rest of the fleet.

do you guys think this has any merit or should i just stick with the battleship?

[ThePov]

OK, at this point that 3rd Murder is going to end up as a 3rd Devastation.



looking at this, i suddenly had an off-the-wall idea: replace the Desolator with 3 Idolators screening a Slaughter (exactly 300 points!). then this squadron goes off on a different flank and tries to be as annoying as it can (might even go for boarding actions). yes, the Desolator is sturdier and just as strong, but this squadron would have the ability to outmaneuver ships a lot more easily than the rest of the fleet.

do you guys think this has any merit or should i just stick with the battleship?
Well, I can't speak to that exact combination, but I've used a similar squadron of a Strike Cruiser and three Falchions to great affect with much the same tactics. If you can swing a Mark of Khorne on the Slaughter, it would become that much more potenet, because it goes from "Oh, better be careful of the fast flankers" too "HAVE TO KILL THE FLANKERS BEFORE THEY BOARD MY BATTLESHIP."

[EEG]

i've managed to try the 3 Idolators + 1 Slaughter combo a few times with mixed results. the escorts tended to get wiped out very early on but i guess that meant it prevented something else from being shot at. the Slaughter turned out to be better than i had anticipated.

[ThePov]

Yeah, Slaughters are like that. Small and cheap enough to be low on target priority, fast enough to slip up the flank, and dangerous enough to wreak absolute HAVOC on the enmy if unchecked.