I’m going to add a bit to the general level of speculation
and jetwash about Dropfleet Commander tactics by taking a closer look at one of
the Scourge Cruiser options – The Ifrit, and explain why I think this is a must
have for Scourge Fleet Commanders, at all points levels.
The Ifrit is one of the “recommended builds” in a Scourge
starter fleet box, so most players probably have one. I’m also fairly sure it
is one of the first to be “dropped” when the fleet expands past Skirmish level, because on pure numbers
other ships do it better – the Raiju in particular seems to do everything the
Ifrit can, and much more. I think this is a mistake. Allow me to explain.
The Ifrit is something of an odd fish in the Scourge fleet.
It falls squarely into the “Medium” cruiser bracket, a bit slower but more
resilient that the Yokai and Strix Light Cruisers (which may be worthy of
another post) and below the Raiju and ShenLong Heavy Cruisers which are the
backbone of most Scourge Cruiser Battlegroups, with good reason as they both
are serious bruisers with the added advantage of Stealth Tech. At 110 points it
is not expensive, and has the bonus that it can be bought in singles, unlike
the theoretically cheaper light Cruisers.
Looking at the basic stat line the Ifrit looks a little “meh”,
quite fast and resilient as far as it goes, but under-armed. This is the first
Scourge ship to mount a Furnace Cannon, but that takes up so much room there is
only a single Oculus Beam, albeit with a good wide firing arc. The Close Action
weapon suite is respectable, and the point defence is good, even if the armour
is a little weak. Comparing the raw numbers to the other Scourge Cruisers at
this point level the Ifrit seems something of a lightweight.
Scan
|
sig
|
thrust
|
hull
|
armour
|
pd
|
6”
|
8”
|
10
|
10
|
4+
|
6
|
|
lock
|
att
|
dam
|
arc
|
Oculus Beams
|
3+
|
1
|
2
|
F
|
Scald
|
Furnace Cannons
|
4+
|
4
|
1
|
F(N)
|
Alt-1, Scald, Burnthrough(8)
|
Furnace Cannons
|
2+
|
1
|
1
|
F(N)
|
Alt-1, Scald, Burnthrough(4), Flash
|
Plasma Storm
|
3+
|
D6+2
|
1
|
F/S
|
Scald, Close Action
|
It is the Furnace Cannon that makes the Ifrit so useful, at
least in its “Flash” mode. This is the Scourge “Burnthrough” weapon and unlike
those of the other races it has two firing modes. The first is what at first
looks like the main contender, a four attack dice and max 8 damage option. That
makes it in theory the heaviest damage potential of any weapon mounted on a
cruiser, enough to cripple a Battlecruiser. In reality however you are unlikely
to make all eight of those hits count, and even if you do the limited chance of
critical hits (which ignore armour) mean quite a lot of that damage will de
deflected – particularly against hard targets like the PHR. In comparison the
second mode looks less attractive, with only one attack and only four max
damage, however on closer examination I think this is usually the better option.
In this second mode it hits on 2+ and causes armour avoiding critical hits on
4+. Not enough to cripple a cruiser, but more than enough to cripple or kill a
frigate sized target - like a Strike Carrier. Additionally, the Ifrit has sufficient
thrust to time a run on turn 2 that can potentially catch Strike Carriers
before they hit the safety of atmosphere, or even turn one if the Strike
Carrier is rushing to get in drop range of a ground objective. Dropfleet is all
about the Ground Objectives, so denying your opponent a Strike Carrier is worth
a try, and few other ships can combine the speed and sufficient damage output
to kill or cripple them in one attack.
And it is not just Strike Carriers that are vulnerable. Less
immediately “game winning” but equally valuable targets are the point defence
or sensor Frigates of the other factions. The UCM Lima and Jakarta Class
Frigates are so damned useful they will soon be universal, but they are both
easy kills for a well handled Ifrit.
Even against larger targets such as Troopships or Fleet
Carriers the Ifrit has the power to cause significant damage, and the relatively
high thrust rating allows some inventive tactics – such as driving through
enemy formations to avoid the bulk of return fire and taking shots with
your Oculus Beam or even rear shots with your Close Action Plasma Storm. Having
only two main weapons systems makes you less reliant on “Weapons Free” orders to
optimise damage output – a blessing as you need to manoeuvre to keep the narrow
arc of the Furnace Cannon on target
All well and good in the skirmish game, but what about the
higher points games? Here the Ifrit’s second string kicks in – as a designator
for larger attackers. Pairing the Ifrit with a heavy hitter such as a Shenlong
(or bigger) will allow you lead with the Ifrit and “Flash” targets(again in the
second firing mode) to make them more
visible to the heavy hitters.
So that’s my thoughts on the Ifrit, one of the slightly
unloved Scourge Cruisers. The game is constantly evolving and in a direction
away from sheer firepower into much more specialist Battlegroup builds. As
tactics evolve I can see an even greater role for this useful ship with a lot
of potential.
