UCM Ship Overview Part 3 . . . The Big Boys!

Time for the bigguns!

Here we are. . . finally. .. The big ships. There are 5 of them so this will be shorter but . . . oh baby! We have Battleships and Battlecruiser. . . oh my.

Well lets get right to it shall we?

Battlecruiser!

Atlantis-class Battlecruiser (The Beater):

The Atlantis is an interesting ship. Launch 3 means it is as good as a Seattle but with 3 times the firepower. I wish it had Linked to fo with its Heavy Mass Drivers but we can't have it all now can we? Think of this as what the Moscow truly wanted to be. With a Weapons Free Command you can kill maybe 3 Frigates a turn (2 from guns, 1 from bombers) or so with little issue. That is also a downside. . . you have to go Weapon's Free on a ship that does not want its spike to last long.

I like the Atlantis a lot but I am not sure how it will fit into tournament play. . . Try it out for those who have it. Let me know!

Avalon-class Battlecruiser (The Bruiser):

The Avalon is a CRAZY Ship. It has so much potential but can also be a double edged sword. It has Bloom on its Viper Super Heavy Laser and that means when you shoot it you take a spike so watch that. The damage potential is insane though and so worth it. It is rare for a reason (Blame the German beta group!)

My current idea with this ship is a Lima-class Frigate, a Berlin-class Cruiser (out about 5-6" in front of the Avalon) and the Avalon in the back. Use the Lima to spike a target, Berlin attacks pushing a spike and then Avalon attacks for the finishing blow. Not sure how this works with the Firing rules so someone with a book let me know if I am crazy!

Beijing-class Battleship:

If there ever was a ship that SCREAMED Weapon's Free it is this one. Now the Scourge Dragon is not much better but we will get into that. The Beijing is a brute! You combine the powers of a Berlin with the Rio, add an extra Heavy Mass Driver and now we have something scary! 

I expect to see these flanked by several Jakarta because this thing will attract bombers like flies! In fact, part of the Launch Asset cap is my fault. . . I used 20 bombers to destroy one of these in a single turn. . . 

New York-class Battleship (A true carrier):

The New York is one of the best carriers in the game. It lacks overall offensive power though like the Shaltari Platinum. You do have 2 Torpedo's which are fantastic as crippling and maybe destroying a bigger target but your real power lies in that Launch 5! Now 5 may not see like much but that is 10 dice hitting on a 3+ and critting on a 5+ from your Bombers. You can also use this as a protectorate of sorts and send out 5 Fighters thus increasing your Point Defense for ships in the bubble. 

I firmly expect to see this ship often.

Tokyo-class Battleship (Dual Battleships?!):

As I stated, Dual Battleships! This is the cheapest battleship out there and guess what, in 1500 points you can have 500 points of ships. So think on it, a Tokyo and another Tokyo, or a Tokyo and a New York, maybe a Tokyo and Beijing!

This is the Berlin and Madrid mixed together and it has Linked Bombardment guns. This will really put a damper on an opponent's assault plan. 10 dice will definitely cause much gnashing of teeth.

As for the use of this ship, I think once people see what this can do we may just see these more often but in the beginning I don't think so.

Thoughts:

For the faction with the most battleships, it has the most variety. Only the UCM, Scourge and Shaltari have Battleship Carriers and none have a Bombardment Carrier. It will be interesting on what people will do. As for Battlecruisers. . . that Avalon. . . oh how you will make people mad.

As always folks, thank you for reading, I look forward to your comments and ideas. Remember to sign up for emails of when I post next or just follow me. Have a good day and get those Boots on the Ground!

All images of ships with points are owned by Hawk Wargames (C) 2016