), I'm going to show you the formations that I have seen in the games of DEFCON:
1. 6-fleet formations
2. 4-fleet battlegroups
3. 3-fleet squadrons
4. The Grand Armada (putting entire Carriers and Battleships and including subs in one fleet)
5. The Great Armada (the same with the Grand Armada but without subs)
6. The line-of-battle (known as the line formation)
7. Mogwai's sloop-of-line
8. Synthethic's LOC (line of Carriers)
9. The (MOR) Formation
10. Carrier Buddy (inspired by mvpe's idea of 2 Carriers)
NOTE: I can't show any pictures because by pressing "P", DEFCON actually crashes. I don't know why so I can't show pictures in this post.
1. 6-fleet Formation
The six fleet formations is used by the newcomers of DEFCON. There are variations like the 2 Battleships with 2 Carriers and 2 subs. There are more common types like only formations that include Carriers and Battleships only. And there are only less variations like the the pure 6 Battleship formation or the pure 6 Carrier formation.
ADVANTAGES:
- It's more rigid and can be easy to handle.
- Pure 6 fleet Battleships make great phalanxes to break through a defensive formation.
- Quick and easy to deploy naval units in DEFCON's 5 and 4.
- It's a good training ground for the new commanders of DEFCON.
- It is easier to command many units with a click of a button.
DISADVANTAGES:
- It's a noobish tactic. Experts can manipulate it and destroy the Carriers easily with Battleships.
- When the battleships are gone, the Carriers jump in acting as Battleships and gets easily destroyed.
- It's not flexible. Positions cannot be changed and will prove fatal against a flexible fleet.
2. 4-fleet Battlegroups
This formation is basically like the 6 fleet formation but more flexible in a way and more in territory. It works with also being surrounded by enemies and still can be easy to maneuver. Skynet is an expert in 4-fleet formations.
ADVANTAGES:
- It's better than the 6 fleet formation. Plus it can cover more ground that way.
- Submarines can now be separate to not only be protected, but also to perform its duties as the MRBM ship.
DISADVANTAGES:
- It's no better than the 6 fleet formation.
- If one battleship is lost, then it goes to a 3 fleet squadron and weaken the position.
3. 3-fleet Squadrons
When (MOR) came back from retrirement, his main fleet composed of 6 Battleships, 3 of them were in a 3-fleet squadron.
ADVANTAGES:
- It's now a pure Battleship group and a pure Carrier group.
- More space and more territory for this formation.
DISADVANTAGES:
- One battleship lost from one 3 fleet squadron and then sooner or later, the entire formation collapses.
- It's not good at handling flank attacks, mainly on the right.
- No one has mastered using a 3 fleet squadron except (MOR).
NOW WE'RE GOING TO THE 1 SHIP GROUPS. SOME OF THEM ARE EXECUTED BY PLAYERS. OTHERS ARE COMMON TACTICS.
4. The Grand Armada and 5. The Great Armada
Now first of all, I'm going to take these two formations together because they have the same kind of advantages and disadvantages.
ADVANTAGES:
- Single ship formation makes it easier to make custom formations.
- It has maximum flexibility and can split up to squadrons or to battlegroups.
- (For the Grand Armada) Submarines will serve as great harrasers to enemy fleets and trust me, I hated that!
- Carriers can now retreat when under attack whereas the 6 fleet formation, Carriers have to go with the Battleships to battle if it is with the Battleships.
DISADVANTAGES:
- Like Senator said, it is messy.
- It is more work than ever.
- (For the Grand Armada) Submarines will be picked off by Carriers, will be nuked by bombers, and if very close to a unit, splash damage can kill it.
- (For the Great Armada) If your entire surface naval power and your aerial naval power is gone (meaning that your entire Carriers and Battleships are destroyed), then that means that the submarines will have to go on their own, being in danger of every unit if it is discovered, and especially if it is in Active Sonar.
6. The Line-of-Battle
The Line-of-Battle, or the line formation, is a classic tactics using only 1 ship per fleet. Usually the line formation includes all Battleships in a line in front of all the Carriers behind the Battleships in a line formation as well.
ADVANTAGES:
- Very well organized.
- It can make launching bombers more easy.
- When fighter spamming, it is even more easier since it can attack with coordination.
- It covers large, open spaces that makes engaging tiny fleets more easy.
- It's very flexible and can adapt to any situation.
DISADVANTAGES:
- It can be easily outflanked if not careful.
- This tactic will NOT do good in tight spaces like the Atlantic gap between Africa and South America, Indonesian waters, and the Arctic Ocean.
- If a Submarine in Active Sonar attacks a Battleship and it's not DEFCON 1, then that means that the Carriers must expose themselves to destroy the Submarine.
- Players will instantly lose tactical formation if under attack in close range.
7. Mogwai's Sloop-of-Line
Mogwai, our elite DEFCON player and also our best naval player, have developed a rather clean formation that stays clean whenever engaging or retreating or advancing without mercy. His formation is the same with the line formation, but there is a difference. Instead of the Carrier behind the Battleship theme like the line formation, Mogwai lines both the Battleships and the Carriers in one line. The formation is actually one line and it goes in a repetitive pattern of Battleship-Carrier-Battleship-Carrier and so on in one line. This pattern continues until he runs out of space.
ADVANTAGES:
- It holds all of the advantages like the standard line formation.
- The disadvantage from the standard line formation (quote below):
DISADVANTAGE:
If a Submarine in Active Sonar attacks a Battleship and it's not DEFCON 1, then that means that the Carriers must expose themselves to destroy the Submarine.
...does not apply since a player who does Mogwai's strategy can instantly move the Carrier to destroy the submarin since it is already exposed.
- It is a good conservation of the number of Battleships and Carriers since it now can actually take up more space and can intimidate an opponent if the enemy player were to see this.
- This formation is easier to actually handle when engaging and when retreating or advancing. Tactical advantage is not lost when perfectly engaging with the formation still intact.
- Flanking attacks may not work since the furthest of the formation can regroup and counterattack.
DISADVANTAGE:
- It, again like the standard line formation, does not do good in closed spaces like the Arctic Ocean, the Indonesian waters, and the Atlantic gap.
- This formation is actually very fragile. If it's punched through by an enemy which has Senator's style of attack, tactical advantage is instantly lost and now the fleet has to scatter to avoid further losses.
- Carriers are already exposed and so it can get destroyed by sucessful waves of fighters.
- This formation actually presents less force than the standard line formation.
8. Synthethic's LOC
This formation is basically a line of Carriers, but it's not for attacking other naval fleets. It is actually to attack the cities or military installations with unified bomber attacks. Basically it is this, a commander chooses a target. Then they line the Carriers lining up to that target. Then the furthest Carrier launches the one bomber. Once that bomber is directly above the nearest Carrier in part of the formation, then another bomber from the Carrier below the bomber takes off to the same target as the bomber above the Carrier. This repeats until all of the Carriers part of the formation has launched a set of bombers in good unison to attack a target.
ADVANTAGES:
- The bomber attacks are more precise now.
DISADVANTAGES:
- You can only do it when the enemy isn't attacking your Carriers.
- A single hit from a silo, fighter, or battleship can end your bombing run quickly due to splash damage.
I'M GOING TO MAKE MORE BUT FOR NOW I'M JUST GOING TO LEAVE IT HERE. I'M GOING IN DEPTH ABOUT EACH FORMATIONS AND WHAT I'VE SEEN.
GUYS!!! I NEED IMAGES FOR EACH FORMATION. CAN YOU HELP ME?
