Hey, I'm not sure if this is the good category for this, but regardless:
How do you guys utilize hyenas? Whatever I came up with I'm always dissatisfied with the result. Can you help me, by giving tips, and/or some lists I can look at?
Star Wars: Armada
I’ve always taken them with a Munificent Comms Frigate with Boosted Comms. It can help if Rune is on board to command 4 without having a token available, but now I have my Providence I put Rune there for IF! The choice of Boosted Comms is because the Squadrons can easily outpace the Munificent. If I have Hyenas I always take a fighter group, and these are usually activated first on about turn 2 to tie up any enemy fighters. I then send the Hyenas at the main enemy ship so that with a Sqn dial from the Munificent, there are always 2 red dice hitting the enemy ships. I think that when my Recusants arrive (this week!), I might still be tempted to take a Comms Frigate if using Hyenas, as I like my ships to do one thing well, rather than be multi-role. Hope this helps.
I've been thinking on IH + Muni + BCC hardcell, but these ships simply cost too much, and I usually only have around 100 pts squads, or very light on upgrades.
I personally like leaning into the Hyenas' high damage ceiling compared to other bombers, which means a Transport Hardcell for Bomber Command Center.
I did the math in a previous thread:
Hyena w/ AI: 1.5 avg damage, 14.1% chance of no damage
Hyena w/ BCC & AI: 1.957 avg, 5.3% chance of no damage
DBS-404 (Kamikaze Komputer) w/ AI: 2.25 avg, 5.3% chance of no damage
DBS-404 (Kamikaze Komputer) w/ BCC & AI: 2.817(!?!) avg, 2.0% chance of no damage
I have not had the chance to fly CIS yet, but if I did, my bomber contingent would probably look like this: Hardcell Transport (47)
• Flight Commander (3)
• Tikkes (2)
• Fighter Coordination Team (3)
• Bomber Command Center (8)
= 63 Points
Squadrons:
• DBS-404 (17)
• 2 x Hyena Droid Bomber Squadron (22)
= 39 Points
This totals to 102 points and is entirely independent of the rest of the fleet. The Hardcell gets a pseudo-Boosted Comms effect with Flight Commander, Tikkes' bonus token & forced dial means you can command all 3 bombers each turn if necessary, Fighter Coordination Team isn't entirely necessary but gives the Hyenas more range or extra repositioning (or can help squads the Harcell happens to land near), and Bomber Command Center significantly improves the Hyenas' damage output. An aside: that bomber setup averages 6.74 damage JUST from the Hyenas!
Have only really tried a couple of 200-point battles with Hyenas. But the obvious problem is committing them to early and have the enemy fighters tie them up and blow them apart. Absolutely need a swarm of Vultures to clear the way!
In my one 400-point battle against Hyenas we saw just what lack of Intel can cause - one YT-1300 tied up three Hyenas for several turns.
RLBs might actually be a good idea. A Providence wants to get in close anyway. Throw a bunch of Vultures at the enemy screen, then boot out the Hyenas behind it.
Yup, my problem is always, "How many Vultures? How many Hyenas? And how do I make Vultures kill stuff fast enough? What if the opponent somehow alpha me? Should I put Tris in instead? But that's less fighters, and less firepower?" So maybe Flight Controllers IH with vultures? I was thinking 4 tri, 4 vultures, 4 hyenas with IH, but not too sure...
@sasska How about 4 x Tri, 4 x Hyena, 3 x Vulture with General Grievous? If my math is correct 134 on the nose. Use IH with Flight Controllers (possibly with TI-99) for the Tri fighters, then have General G and his Vultures trailing behind to fly in next turn With a Sqn command. Keep a Comms Frigate to command the Hyenas.
@Herr Style That sounds good! I am a bit afraid to use Providence Dreadnought over the Carrier version because of the Def Retro...
Just for the lulz:
Providence Carrier (105)
• T-Series Tactical Droid (4)
• Thermal Shields (5)
• Shields to Maximum! (6)
• Rapid Launch Bays (6)
• Ordnance Pods (3)
• Point Defense Ion Cannons (4)
• Invisible-hand (9)
= 142 Points
Hardcell Transport (47)
• Auxiliary Shields Team (3)
• Bomber Command Center (8)
= 58 Points
Munificent Star Frigate (73)
• General Grievous (20)
• Hondo Ohnaka (2)
• Medical Team (1)
• Thermal Shields (5)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 108 Points
Squadrons:
• DFS-311 (18)
• 3 x Vulture Droid Fighter Squadron (24)
• 3 x Hyena Droid Bomber Squadron (33)
• DBS-404 (17)
= 92 Points
Total Points: 400
Set a squadron command on turn 3 and grab a token. Turn token into dial on turn 2 or 4.
On first squadron dial launch Vultures (IH) and go nuts with 4-die swarm attacks. Next turn launch Hyenas (RLBs) on your poor target.