Duaneski Messages: 1021, Joined: Nov 27, 2015, Offline

Khralean tactics

KvT
I'm leading here because in my opinion this is the most fun matchup to play in the game!

Basics:
-----look at the map and decide what units you think will work. Hint: buried underlings are EXCELLENT against Titans. they're even better with maps that have a lot of mountains or forest. Consider places where you could set an ambush with buried underlings.

........consider: will your Titan opponent try to turtle up and play defensively, trying to get walkers out? Or will he use speeders and mechas for an offensive push? .......

speeders and mechas will shred your swarmers. If they come with this approach you will want underlings garudas or pinzers to start.

Eclipse is a HARD counter to Garuda and swarmer - of course. If your opponent puts an eclipse on the board, move your flyers elsewhere short term. Long term this may signal the need for avoiding air units.... There are many ways to efficiently remove eclipse, so don't worry too much about them. Just be mindful of your unit placement.

Don't be afraid of plasma. Pinzers can stand toe to toe with them easily. With help from underlings and garudas the Khral are very happy to fight a heavy war!

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As Khral you have a huge mobility advantage on Titans. Look for where you can exploit this by not allowing mechas to advance into cover. Look at where you can safely place swarmers to shoot without retaliation.

If your swarmer can be attacked, you will NOT get good value on it. They die too easily! If you arent 100% sure you can protect your swarmer - with other troops OR terrain, don't even build them. I have had success building only one or two in matches as complimentary pieces. Consider this route until you learn how to use them effectively.

In KvT you can almost NEVER have too many underlings. Start building them EARLY. if they have nothing better to do, bury them. If you're getting pressured early don't be afraid to unbury them even without an attack if you have to. if your opp goes defensive you can force VERY bad positioning with buried underlings - allowing your main army to move in safer above ground. The key to good early swarmer play is often having enough underlings to protect your swarmers too. I just can't overstate how important it is to have a lot of underlings!

Question:
What units in the game directly counter walkers? Think about it. I'll give you my answer in a bit.

- I don't know what rank you are, reader, but the number one piece of advice I got as a new uniwarrior was simple: build more infantry. Let yourself make more moves, put out more attacks, and HAVE MORE OPTIONS! I can't stress enough how great it is to have pieces to move. And in KvT you KNOW your underlings can always do something. This goes for marines and in certain matchups for mechas as well. -

Moving on:

Value wise the flyers are risky investments if you don't know what your opponent will build. Two eclipses can just really stifle an Air Force. Depending on the map you're gonna have to make a call on what your army composition is, I really prefer the combined arms approach against Titans - another reason I love this matchup.

If your army is something like:
8 underlings, 6 swarmer, 2 garudas, 2 Pinzer and a Wyrm I think you've got a good composition for most Titan setups. If they have more plasmas I would drop 2 swarmers and add another Pinzer, basically. But on most maps this is what I would go for.

So did you think about it? What's your answer? Mine is: two units regardless of the map and positioning, 3 units if the map and positioning accommodate.

The two counters are:
- swarmer
- Underling
- (Walker too actually. Of course. )
The other 3 are the sea units. Destroyers hydronauts and leviathans. All very good value against a Walker.

Swarmers and underlings as a counter to walkers:
- "Threat range" is the COMBINED: Movement distance PLUS attack range of a given unit. So a walker can move zero hexes and has a range of 5 for a threat range of 5. Swarmers can move 3 hexes and attack range 2, also threatening 5. "But wait! Helicopters and garudas and XYZ all threaten 5 too!" That's correct, reader! Their lack of a ranged attack however, means they aren't gonna get through that beefy layer of plasma to chomp on the delicious innards of the walker. .. No we need something that can move AND shoot over the plasmas ... Enter the swarmer.
Set up the swarmers at a spot 6 hexes away from your enemies walker position. You can not advance past there. But neither can your opponent! SOMETIMES you can get a 2 shot kill from swarmer to walker, I believe. It's inconsistent but the threat makes a potential free 250 profit for the Khral player. Just keep in mind that you've gotta threaten the same hex with AT LEAST two swarmers for this to be effective. Keep an eye out for where your opponent might move his walker. Expect a stalemate at this point.

And underlings. Of course. Bury them. Stick them under your opponents clustered forces. And then all you have to do is wait for the moment to strike.

I am NOT going to lie. Timing is tricky. And I can't tell you when to attack. Usually the answer is: 'when you can do enough damage with your first attack that the counter attack will leave you at least slightly ahead'.... You'll have to eyeball it. Your ability to do this will be a part of what determines your success.

Okay, so lastly: wyrms. These things will win you games. But like all artillery pieces you had BETTER have a plan to protect them before you build them. Speeders and eclipse are both GREAT at wrecking wyrms. And walkers really enjoy blasting them too. So just make sure that they fit your needs and that you can keep them safe. That's all I have to say on them.

And FFS don't build an infector in this matchup. UNLESS you've got some SERIOUS healing Needs. like if you can bring a Pinzer back from 2 health to 8 health that same turn, then 300 credits is probably worth it there (ESPECIALLY if it'll live to provide heals later!) .. But yeah do not build one anticipating that use. Wait until it's an obvious choice with no clear downside so to say.

Unit by unit breakdown:

Underlings: 9.5/10 in this matchup. There are exceedingly few maps you wouldn't want to focus on building underlings. (Those rare old maps where it's 200-300 creds per base and you only get 1-2 bases... you may be better off just pumping out a pinzer every turn). Underlings must make up the backbone of a KvT army. They get buried to provide big damage hits from +3 gangup bonuses, they set up ambushes, AND they will form your above ground front line. In this matchup you have to be mindful of assimilators, but that's essentially their lone weakness. They're good against GL and GH when buried. They're just great value. Just build them. The answer is moar underlings for just about any KvT question

Infector: 2/10. Every now and again you'll get good value here. But like I said above, wait until you've got wounded troops surviving and retreating before thinking about making one of these. When you go to build one ask yourself: is what this is going to bring me this and next turn going to be better than 3 underlings or a swarmer? In spots, they are invaluable. But if you're reading this, you maybe are a little newer to the game and my advice would be, save your credits for troops that can fight for you for now

Swarmer: 6.5/10. They're kind of like a flying artillery piece. You need to protect them like artillery because of their paper thin armor. Unfortunately, they only plink 2-3 off a speeder, and 3-5 off a mecha depending on terrain. What they're really good at: spot removal of trouble pieces like assimilators or wounded speeders trying to run. They're existence is 100% essential as they hold walkers in check, but a lot of top tier players have moved to 'no walker' strategy in tvk anyway. They're a solid unit, but their inability to really hurt GH makes them wanting often in KvT.

Garuda: 6.5/10. They trade efficiently against every GH unit in the game, and against every air unit too. For 350 credits you can get a -2/-2 frequently against a plasma at cost 500. It's also got the coveted 2 repair rate. It's really great unit design, honestly. Its big weakness: they really get beat up by mechas. Expect to take 3-4 damage from a mecha in terrain. And you'll see that hit followed by a couple speeders too. So to get money out of these I find building them sparingly and choosing the right targets for them is key. Look for a plasma or speeder who doesn't have eclipse or mecha support. If that target isn't there, then protect your investment until it is. Garuda can be good at holding down spots of the map early, but not as good as the...

Pinzer: 9/10. They do a lot in this matchup. Their mobility gives them a lot of flexibility against plasma. It's easier to set up a 2 pinzer attacking one plasma than vice versa. The repair rate of 2 is huge, so even though a -2/-4 is common, being able to hit with a Garuda or wyrm after and then heal up the next turn, veeeerrry good stuff. That repair rate also makes them good for holding down positions against speeders. Of course, they utterly decimate eclipse as well. They're an essential tool in KvT and the only real question is "when do you build it?" Well, look at the map. Can your opponent threaten multiple bases with speeders? If yes, hold off a while. You've got to secure each of your bases with underlings / pinzers / Garuda /(maybe swarmers)... if you put a pinzer on one base and leave two others vulnerable then you are setting yourself up to lose. Often you'll need to build underlings for 1-3 turns on an open style map first, before being able to commit to a single pinzer. On other maps with one bottleneck and a straightforward path to a cluster of bases, you can pinzer turns 1-3 very reasonably. If youre gonna pinzer, not far behind is your ...

Wyrm: 8/10. Another tick of GH would really make these guys sing. But with underlings popping up, garudas, and pinzers, you should not be hurting for GH damage. Again, as with all artillery, you need to protect these guys. If you're having problems with your wyrms routinely being hit by mechas, eclipse, or speeders, then you need to really reevaluate how you're using them and when you're building them.

Lastly: a note on turtling Titans versus non turtling:

Turtling:
Looks like this:


If your opponent builds walkers then your KvT experience will be MUCH different than if they don't. For what it's worth, I think it's more fun for the K player if they do build walkers, but as a T player I very very rarely build walkers these days. The unit breakdown above should give you information on how to use your units regardless. But keep in mind that you need to PLAN and WAIT if they're turtling. Get everything in place, and you should know a turn or two ahead of time when you will attack.

If they are not turtling meanwhile, then it's a lot more fluid and your army should be much more balanced, I would say even leaning on the heavy side if the map allows (more pinzers and wyrms, less Garuda and swarmer). You're looking for opportunities to get kills here, and to take bases. be fluid and don't over commit to anything (except protecting your bases).

That's all I've got for this, for now. Next up, KvS... where infectors go from 2/10 to 8.5/10

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Dec 06, 2016 16:44