"Good fleet mixes?" Topic

I've just recently gotten into spaceship gaming (using Colonial Battlefleet rules). I'm looking to flesh out my fleets. Does anyone have a suggestion as to what comprises a fun, playable fleet? What's a good battleship/cruiser/destroyer ratio (aside from the limits in the rules)? Thanks!

I use 'historical' type numbers, check out the mix in a task force and apply the ratios of ships accordingly……….also 'allows' anomalies like 2 capital ships like the Repulse and Prince of Wales in '41…….or Bismarck and heavy cruiser escort (Prinz Eugen?)…….for example these 2 heavies were initially escorted by 3 destroyers and a 'flotilla' of minesweepers……….

It depends on what your gaming model is.

Star Trek – mainly capital ships. – Pre-WWII
Star wars – few Capitol ships with swarms of fighters. – WWII.
Battlestar Galatica – One big old ship with swarms of fighters – late WWII

I like a good mix with a few capitol ships, cruisers, destroyers and swarms of fighters.

I also have the two battlestars (Human/Cylon) in plastic models for a Ogre type game. I have run one action with a normal fleet vs. a Cylon battlestar and it was quite a lot of fun.

Thanks! I have a handful of BSG ships (two base stars, two battlestars and a bunch of fighters for each), and was looking to flesh out each side a bit with some cruisers/destroyers, but maybe I'll hold off a bit and play with what I have. I also have a bit more variety with Robotech ships (each side with one battleship, one cruiser, two destroyers and swarms of fighters), so I'll see which mode works better.

I bought lots more Destroyers and Cruisers (Lt, Med & Hvy). They are the work horses of the fleets and often get overlooked. Capital ships on the high seas have escorts so should the Space Navy. We did a Campain game using the old box game Imperium. Lots and lots of the smaller ships dominate that game. So to playout the battles with miniatures (Full Thrust rules) we all realized we needed more small ships.

It all depends on the rules, play style, budget, etc. But when I buy fleets, I like to have a good cross-section of ships to fit any situation so I usually get at least 1 of each capital ship and carrier, at least 2 of each cruiser, and 3-4 of each escort.

Core CB has fleet composition rules on p16, ensuring one doesn't field too many capital ships at the expense of escorts.

Fighter/Bomber numbers depend on the size of carriers employed.

Not sure about Man vs. Machine though….

On the other hand, while I only have the beta version, my impression was complex enough to keep numbers fairly small.

Including the rules you were planning to use probably should have been in the topic.

Doug

Thanks for the info everyone. One of the things I was having some trouble with is that the Colonial Battlefleet rules for fleet composition are so flexible, as long as you don't want a table full of destroyers & light cruisers with no capital ships. MvM doesn't offer any changes to the fleet composition rules that I saw. I'm not sure if Stars Reach changes things.

What's a good battleship/cruiser/destroyer ratio (aside from the limits in the rules)?

~3 destroyers per larger ship, and 3 cruisers per BB or CV. So a single 'fleet' with one BB/CV would have 3 cruisers and a dozen destroyers.

Pretty typical of USN late WW2 organization.