Nova cannons and Torpedos

[Spiritbw]

Let's talk about the Imperium's two favorite forward facing weapons shall we? Both I have found can be used to great effect in rapidly reducing the health of enemy ships. The trick is knowing when and where to use them I find.

Nova Cannons obviously can do massive amount of damage per salvo. Six points if it hits dead on can pretty much insure the death of most ships of the line in any fleet. I find these are best put to use in the early part of the game in the opening and can be used to soften up the enemy before the closing of the ships. This is especially useful against fleets like the Necrons or Tyranids who close range firepower can deal a great deal of damage and armour can shrug off just as much. Since the nova cannon has a minimum range once the lines of battle are engaged it's pretty much out of action unless ships try to break off.

Torpedos are sometimes underestimated I find. While they can be fairly weak on thier own, the larger the salvo the more chances there are of making a hit. No minimum range though means they can be 'shotguned' into an enemy once the lines are close. The best tactic I have found is to send large squadrons of cobra escorts about in a flanking attack and to fire a massed salvo of torpedos along the line of the enemies ships. Since any that miss the first ship go on and may hit the next ship in line it is possible to get multiple ships with one salvo. Problems include the fact that they can be slow and if they miss, may hit your own ships if there are any in the line of flight. The other problem is that since you must roll to reload they have a good chance of running out of shots.

Personally the best use probably is a combination of the two. Nova cannons from your cruisers can hold the attention of the enemy and begin hitting the heavier ships while the escorts move into position either to eventually hary any damaged ships or to unleash salvos across thier lines. Still in the end it is up to each commander and captian to fight how he thinks is best.

[epcFelix]

I think i prefer Nova Canon because of its Raw power and long range capabilitys, the one time that i have played so far, Torpedos really let me down.

[Spiritbw]

Well, when using torpedos it pays to think a few rounds ahead. Easier than it sounds.

You know the ships have to move, you also know that barring special orders they have to move a minimum distance. They can turn but only so far so if you time it right even if they make the attempt you are going to know roughly where they will be. Your torpedos are also going to move and always in a straight line. Hence why firing along the line of his ships becomes important.

I actually use to dislike the nova cannon because while if it hit, it did alot of damage but usually scattered so only did one point. It wasn't till I faced a player that thought as you did Felix that I got some respect for them.

On the other hand a few turns later he understood the power of having torpedos as I wound up hitting his squadron of three dauntless cruisers and reducing them to crippled or burning hulks.

[epcFelix]

Ouch, As you said before Torpedos work well as a shotgun up close and personal, but what if you against orks would you still prefer torpedos.

[Spiritbw]

Depended on what they fielded I think. By and large thier cruisers, Roks and Hulks are slow and hard to turn and make good targets. Ork weaponry is sort of all over the board but when it hits...well the big gunz can give you a beating. The massed swarms also make for good targets save the brute ramships. Orks probably depend more on thier escort class ships than any other force.

While torpedos can be shotgunned that is by no means the only way to use them. It takes some experimenting but eventually you get the knack of firing where your enemy is going to be. Not sure how to best explain without having a picture or diagram to show you just what I mean.

[epcFelix]

I get what you mean, but since i am just starting it will take me a while to get the "Knack" of firing them and hitting.

[Talset]

Im personaly partial to torps myself. I like the idea of close range and letting them have it point blank. but thats my view.

[Wargamer]

Torpedoes are brutal weapons, but often worthless in my fleet, as my main opponent is Eldar (curse those Holofields!).

Man... I really need to find someone who's slow, ponderous, and vulnerable to 200ft of plasma-explosive... any Tau players around here?

[Spiritbw]

So far, no Tau though I am curious to see how they would fare. You'd have a run in under heavy firepower then the balance would shift as it went from forward facing to broadsides.

Tau torpedos are even deadlier than Imperial ones seeing as they have active droid minds that will turn a torpedo in flight towards it's target. I'm guessing tau tactics would be to unleash a few salvos then break before getting in close and attempt to come around so they are facing thier enemies again.

[Yurrath (aka Rezzy)]

Spiritbw said:

So far, no Tau though I am curious to see how they would fare. You'd have a run in under heavy firepower then the balance would shift as it went from forward facing to broadsides.

Tau torpedos are even deadlier than Imperial ones seeing as they have active droid minds that will turn a torpedo in flight towards it's target. I'm guessing tau tactics would be to unleash a few salvos then break before getting in close and attempt to come around so they are facing thier enemies again.

That sounds pretty tricky... are Tau ships slow? From the comparisons I've heard it doesn't sound like they could put up much of a fight...

[Wargamer]

Tau ships are slower than Imperials, usually have weaker armour, and poorer Broadsides.

However, their frontal guns are impressively powerful, and their torpedoes can travel further, and turn (providing their fuel doesn't run out...).

[schlund]

The most advantageous thing from torpedoes (In an Imperial Fleet) is to keep the enemies only able to attack your frontal armour by launching torpedoes down your flanks

[inquisitorverwoerd]

Just a quick question, do you use the Guess range rules for Nova Cannons or the newer scatter rules?

I completely agree with you Spirtibw, a combined arms approach works best I find. We have a guy who plays Imperials at our club, with way too many Nova Cannons, needless to say after the opening approaches are made he suffers at short range.

Inquisitor Verwoerd

[Yurrath (aka Rezzy)]

inquisitorverwoerd said:

Just a quick question, do you use the Guess range rules for Nova Cannons or the newer scatter rules?

I completely agree with you Spirtibw, a combined arms approach works best I find. We have a guy who plays Imperials at our club, with way too many Nova Cannons, needless to say after the opening approaches are made he suffers at short range.

Inquisitor Verwoerd

I have always used the guess-range rules, but I haven't played for a while.
I would imagine a few fighter carriers would do that fleet a word of good, in the absence of larger escorts?

[bloodedrose]

I preffer to use amassed waves of ordnance but i have only 3 ships capable of launching torpedoes. as it is i find the nova cannon exeptional at killing clusters of escorts and crippling cruisers.