We are going to have to agree to disagree on the escort thing.
Heh heh.
I will clarify my previous stance on escorts though. In fleets with good cruiser choices escorts really aren't nessessary and could actually weaken your fleet. In fleets without good cruiser choices then you really have no other options but escorts so they are good there. Certain fleets have to take them or have strange list building requirements so also it wouldn't be out of line to take them there either. There are certain escorts which I consider good but mostly its because of some special unusual feature that most escort do not have.
'kay.
Chaos, Necrons, In, and Admech I normally run with out any escorts. If I do its just for looks or to purposely weaken my list to play against less skilled players. I do like the look of a fleet with a battleship, cruisers and some escorts and sometimes I decide to sacrifice a little power for purely asthetic reasons.
My usual Chaos (Renegade) fleet runs 9 escorts, six Infidels and three Iconoclasts, the last ones have gained a deadly reputation in the battle when they crippled an Emperor Battleship in one salvo (Emperor was full health, with 3 shields down).
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With the Necrons, I have no fleet for them yet, however I think the Shroud is poor ship and would use escorts instead.
My AdMech fleet also runs 9 escorts (Hunters & Gladii).
Nids and Eldar don't have good cruiser options and are really forced down the escort route. Their escorts are also pretty high quality or inexpensive. Holofields also give the escorts a huge boost as did biomorphs and extra large squadrons which made them a special case as far as escorts go.
While Corsair are escort king, the fleet does make good use of the incidental Eclipse and or Aurora, while the Void Stalker is a beast that always flies.
Almost all ork ships are pretty bad. I am not sure the new clan rules make them any better. I can bring more bad ships. The lack of turrets and the 4+ armor makes them just too fragile for the cost. Maybe it could work but the general fleet building mechanic is really restrictive so I am staying away from that list. In the original list their main cruisers are bad and their escorts are as well so it almost doesn't matter which you bring.
From experience the all out terror list is pretty strong (Deadshane won Adepticon with Orks) and the clanz list is pretty good with its big squadrons, which means better leadership, which means a frig load of torpedoes.... urgh...
Tau escorts are usable. Because of the strange fleet building restrictions( 1 hero= 1 explorer) you have to take escorts at 1500 to fill out the points. Orcas would be good if you didn't have to squadron their motherships to make a squadron of six ships. Defenders can't turn well but are better than that crappy light cruiser and you have to take something. If I could take a hero instead of tau escorts I would in a heartbeat but the list restricts me. Xenos escorts, if you are running allies with your tau, are a very good escort. One of the few I consider as good as a capital ship. Once again though, they can get two shields which makes them a special snowflake.
Funny, I usually run my escort squadrons in numbers of three, never six, sometimes five. I go for more targets for the enemy the choose between.
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Dark eldar have to take escorts, their cruisers are fairly bad so escorts are the best they can do and even then they are a weak fleet except for one or two tricks they rely too heavily on.
Again, an Adepticon winner. Buy, yes, a one-trick pony fleet.
CWE escorts are just so bad compared to normal eldar escorts it just seems like robbery.
Disagree. These are fast and good ordnance killah's.
Space Marines are the one fleet that a reasonable arguement can be made for escorts. Their crusier option, the strike cruiser, is fragile at six hits and doesn't really put out a lot of fire power for its cost. They are better now with the 2010 FAQ in that they can get an extra shield or upgrade to a larger bombardment cannon. Four hunters or one strike cruiser is a really good comparison and although I still think the capital ships have an edge its so minimal as to almost not matter. Having said all that, I don't think the SM is a top tier fleet by any means. The only fleet I can think of in which escorts are equal to their capital ship choices is second rate at best.
' kay.
It is a shame you don't live closer to adepticon to show me the escort magic. I really would like to see it. The escort guy around here is the best I've seen using them but he has never beaten me. He starts out strong but eventually he gets ground down. His escorts just don't have the legs to carry on in any extended engagement and I think thats a fatal flaw. I'd love to be proved wrong about it. Maybe someone else will bring an escort heavy fleet (thats not nids or eldar) to adepticon.
Yeah, pity it is. I wish I could play against you people, alas, it is a big ocean between.