Purpose/Role of Falchions?

[FistusMaximus]

hey y'all,
i'm new here to the forums, but have been playing BFG for a lil' while...

however, in my time of playing BFG, one thing i never really saw was the purpose/effectiveness of falchion class escorts, but while scrolling through the hundreds of past threads here (yes, i really do that, its a pretty titanic work  ), i noticed that people on several occasions were calling it a quite good and effective escort...

so my question goes to you, since i think i missed the point of what these escorts are good for:
enlighten me, what is the purpose of the falchion class escort? and why is it good? (or, if you disagree with the people calling it good, why is it bad?)

[Mallich]

I've never used them, nor have I ever gone up against them. Take my post with a pinch of salt.

Remember that a torpedo salve of any strength - even strength 1 - will detonate a torpedo salvo of any strength - even strength 9. It can also destroy a squadron of fighters, and so a few falchions can strip a ship's combat air patrol before you hit it with the large torpedo salvos from your cruisers. Also remember that turrets can fire at torpedoes or bombers/fighters/assault boats. Strength 1 salvos can, in theory, do damage against a ship if that ship has to focus fire against bombers/assault boats. In theory.

[Bessemer]

Mallich's comments are pretty accurate from the times I've used them. Best used to strip CAP/clear enemy salvoes then counter with your own Ordnance.

 
In role, It essentially combines the roles of the Sword and Cobra, and it's detractors will say it can't do the job of either as good but IIRC the Falcion only appears in the Armageddon list, being the the only other IN escort apart from the Firestorm (rsv's aside), making the argument kind of pointless. I assume your using this list, or just taking them out for a spin

In short, it's a hard ship to use properly, but can really pay off if used right.

[AndrewChristlieb]

Its a gimped Sword with a torpedo, oh and its fugly . Unless your playing an Armageddon list you wont have to worry about it and if you are playing Armageddon you have access to Hunters and Gladii from the space marine list which are both superior to the alternatives here. The bigest problem with it tho is that it has no purpose, or maybe that its too multi-purpose. In the one list its in the designers removed its alternatives then dropped in even better alternatives :/. 

[horizon]

I like the escorts:
as an anti-ordnance escort it is better then the Cobra (less waste of torps, better armour), as a gunnery escort it has better weapons then an Iconoclast and better armour.

Its best role is indeed:
sit between the lines, use torpedo against enemy torpedo waves or to remove fighters on enemy ships who are on CAP. That's the torpedo use.
Gunnery wise str 3 lfr is good at close quarters.

[radu lykan]

havent used them yet but when playing against them those 1 strength torpedo waves can really make a mess of your own larger waves.
i kindve like its looks as well, hopefully one day they will appear in my fleet

[FistusMaximus]

well, thanks all for the tips, i always thought "well, if i want a gunship, the sword is better; and if i want a torpedo boat, the cobra is better because it has more torpedoes...", but the counter-torpedo thing does make sense, actually. a lot.

one thing that must be said: in my gaming community, we generall ignore the fleetlists, it may sound weird, but we like it more relaxed, and we don't play tournament-style, we just play for the fun of it, and we usually have pretty equal lists, even without using the fleetlists.

thats why i DO have the choice between sword - falchion - cobra, and so never really saw a sense in the falchion.

but with the counter-torpedo thig in mind, yeah, they are not that bad after all....  and it makes sense for me to have at least some, since i have a small armageddon ships contingent, and the falchion would fit in there fluff-wise.


but i got another one... regarding the anti-fighter thing mentioned by some...  i know that if a torp marker hits another torp marker, both are removed regardless of strength, but what about fighter waves?
so, lets say a single torp hits a four fighters strong wave, are all fighters removed or just one? just one would make more sense, but i am not sure what the rules say about that....

[horizon]

1 torpedo salvo removes 1 fighter marker (thus vs a wave of 4 fighters 3 of them remain.

Fleet lists are not only for tournament but also for a tidbit balance and background setting.

[radu lykan]

as horizon says, 1 fighter is removed by each torpedo salvo so vs the 4 fighters 4 single torpedo salvos from your falchions wipe them out with no wastage

reagarding fleet lists, my imperial fleet is actually half of a sector fleet built by myself and my brother in law, we allow a lot of variants and dont generally stick to the lists either, just the ship to ship ratios and points values, all the ships we have are all the ships that battlefleet eschataris has access to

[Khar]

As others said:

Falchion is basically a Sword, but with anti-ordnance torpedo. And that's how it should be, IMO, used. Don't fire this torpedo into ships unless extremely desperate, just remove oher ordnance with it when opportunity arises. Apart from that, it's a sword with -1 firepower, but even with reduced output their kick is quite strong when massed. Enough to strip shields from something bigger, at least.

Sword is easier to use, but it doesn't make Falchion bad.

[FistusMaximus]

1 torpedo salvo removes 1 fighter marker (thus vs a wave of 4 fighters 3 of them remain.

Fleet lists are not only for tournament but also for a tidbit balance and background setting.

okay, thanks 

and for the fleetlist thing:
we have no problems with balance, as we are as i said no tournament gamers who would seek to combine the best ships together, we just use what we find cool ,and then go ^^ (yes, i do use retribution and apocalypse b'ships  )

and fot the background setting: no issues there either, as i only include ships in my fleet that i can explain how they got there in the story.
(i am writing an entire book about the fleet, its a crusade fleet of the space marines of my own chapter, an imperial navy contingent of battlefleet ultima and a small one of battlefleet armageddon)

[AndrewChristlieb]

Dont forget you can combine your torps into one salvo and even a three strong group can do some damage.

[FistusMaximus]

Dont forget you can combine your torps into one salvo and even a three strong group can do some damage.

i know that, but personally, i think that a str 3 torp salvo is not really worth it sticking together and weakening the shields... 
this is what initially got me thinking that falchions are not that great, since cobras get a combined salvo of 6, this makes for (at least some) actual offense capabilities...  a three torp salvo is just not worth it IMO...

using three single torps as anti-ordnance sounds more like a good plan there 

[Khar]

Dont forget you can combine your torps into one salvo and even a three strong group can do some damage.

I wouldn't advise it in most cases, though. Even with 4 strong squadron, it's still average salvo. Falchion torpedos should be used as anti-ship weapon only if something really needs to be damaged this turn and not a moment later

However, with 4 or more falchions in a squadron, firing torpedos towards enemy ships IS a valid use. Just not always the best one.

[BaronIveagh]

Personal opinion, there's no such thing as a bad str 6 salvo. 

Falchions are one of those things that are good if you have no idea what you might be up against (like Oberon), and want tactical flexibility.  If I take them at all, I take them in the largest possible squadron sizes and keep them close to capitol ships.