Ok so playing a 3v3 online (diplomacy), and the other team spams vasari carriers w/ bombers and flak frigiates.
As far as I can tell, the only way to counter that strat is to make more bombers than him, which if he's rushing you generally means your not prepaired enough to do it. As I understand it, you can't counter the bombers w/ fighters because of the flaks, and it's pointless to counter the flaks because they're not really doing the damage. Early game, I find it very difficult to kill an enemy's cap ship with anything less than bombers, as they'll generally keep them close to the edge of the well and just jump out when needed. Long range frig's generally can't keep up w/ cap ships kiting, and generally there's nothing else to counter early game.
As an added note, if your being rushed w/ bombers they also make short work of any repair bays/phase jump inhibits you might make too.
So, how do you counter it? I'm not trying to complain or anything, I'm just looking for ideas. Thanks for your time .
The best bet is using massed LF. They're the only early-game unit capable of killing flak quickly, and SC don't get damage bonses against them. Also, having a carrier cap would be extremely helpful. Build Fighters and micromanage them away from the flak, but towards the bombers (Which are presumably attacking your carrier cap).
I admit I haven't played much multiplayer, but I have noticed that fighters are a good counter to bombers. If I remember right LF are good against Flack Frigates so they might be a worthwhile counter. As of yet I don't deploy flacks myself, but they do seem more effective in diplomacy.
My favorite strategy is to build bombers initially until the other races start deploying fighters in numbers. Then I switch to fighters and rely on ship to ship combat.
Hope this helps.
The problem with simply using fighters is that the flaks will rip them to shreds if they're in sufficient numbers. You will need lots of light frigates to pressure the enemy flaks, and if you have enough you can even go after the capital ships. Flaks are very ineffective against most unit types, particularly light frigates, so swarm him with these.
I find that you need to open with a carrier capital ship of your own if you're on a map where your enemy starts in close proximity to you, and it's always a good idea to make your second capital ship a carrier if you didn't pick one as your first. Halcyon in particular is great because of its telekinetic push ability. Use your capital ship defensively, stay away from his flak and force his bombers to come to you. This will let you deploy your fighters without having to worry about the flaks.
Light Frigates. They're cheap and rip through flak and carriers easy. If you see your opponent going carriers and flak, answer with carriers, flak and light frigates. Your light frigates can tear down carriers health rapidly, and he'll be losing very expensive units to ones that aren't as such. Fighters will help thin out the bombers numbers initially, even if they all die to flak, that helps keep your light frigates alive to do their job. Bombers dont do crazy amounts of damage to light frigates, but they can still kill a bunch if your not careful. Just keep pumping them out and killing as many flak and carriers as you can until he starts pumping out LRFs to kill them off. If you can take down a significant number of flaks and carriers, you should be ok. It also might be a good idea to get in a pre-emptive strike. Flak and Carriers is a very cost heavy way to go, but can pay off big if significant numbers can be reached. If you can land a hard blow early, he'll abandon the idea and go lrf, which are easier to manage in large numbers.
Great advice all, I'll be sure to give them a try.
Thanks .
massed lf early on still not quite effective; destroying a carrier DOES NOT destroying its bomber instantly
Carriers are very expensive. Losing one is a massive liability in the early game. Moreover, once the carrier is dead it will stop replacing bombers. Provided you have some flaks or fighters of your own, cleaning them up isn't hard afterwards.
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