How to kill people with tiny ships
Swarming is THE strat for most small maps. It also makes a strong start for most medium sized maps. The basic gist is “You spam fighters”. The objective is to try and overwhelm their defense forces early (around the 4 minute mark) and then kill off their modules/collectors (depending if you have bombers out or not). There are a number of varieties swarming, which are described a bit below.
Micro is pretty important when swarming. You must dock damaged squadrons to stay on top, and keeping them alive long enough to do so can be tricky. For most engagements you can get away with bandboxing, but if you’re fighting near an enemy’s buildships you should use focus fire to kill their squadrons before they can dock. There is more micro one can do, supposedly, but I hate micro.
NEW**1/0 swarm with early ref:
1/0 colls + 1 Ref.
Fighter mods on MS/CC
Queue up 7/7 ints (9/9 for vay) immediately.
Drop ints for bombers if the enemy is not building their own swarm.
This build is a little mysterious to me. Apparently it involves queueing 1 coll / 1 Mobile Ref. and advancing the MS & CC early while building ints. 7 colls is a very light economy… it can barely even support 2 build lanes. In terms of numbers, it will be on par with a 1/1 start. I think the idea is to try and exploit shorter reinforcment times to overwhelm your opponent quickly. You would have to guard every int you build with your life though, because you will NOT have any RU to spare. If the other guy manages to plat, you might get in to trouble.
1/1 Swarm:
1/1 Colls + 1 or 2 probes.
Fighter mods on MS/CC
Queue up 7/7 ints (9/9 for vay) immediately.
Drop ints for bombers if the enemy is not building their own swarm.
You probably won’t have the RU to build a research module on 8 colls, so expand your economy if you manage to take the upper hand in the fighter battle.
To do this, you’re going to need to strike early when you have a good numerical advantage. You should use focus-fire instead of bandboxing, since you’ll need to take out their forces before they can dock with a nearby ms/cc and repair. Keeping them from building up forces is your main objective, since otherwise they will be able to out-tech you. Pull the fighter battle towards your ships if you can, though most experienced players will be wary of this.
2/1 Swarm:
2/1 Colls + 1 probe
Fighter mods on MS/CC
Queue up 7/7 ints (9/9 for vay) immediately.
Drop ints for bombers if the enemy is not building their own swarm.
This is only slightly slower than 2/1, and tends to be the preferred strat for swarming. The extra collector allows you to have a 3rd build lane active, even if it must be paused frequently. You should still play fairly aggressively, since you still have to win by numbers.
2/2 Swarm:
2/2 Colls + 1 probe
Fighter mods on MS/CC
Queue up 7/7 ints (9/9 for vay) immediately.
Drop ints for bombers if the enemy is not building their own swarm.
Somewhat slower than 2/1 swarming, though it provides a little more RU. If you decide to go 2/2 then you should probably think about playing the first round on defense, so build a plat mod or two and build 3-4 plats at your base and expansion. This will help fight off the enemy’s superior swarm. If you’re feeling bold, you might throw your plats at their expansion to try and wear down their swarm. If they dock or retreat their fighters hit collectors. If they withdraw their collectors them you’ve probably just won.
3/3 Swarm:
3/3 Colls + 1 probe or scout
Fighter mods on MS/CC when 2/2 colls remain.
Queue up 7/7 ints (9/9 for vay) immediately.
Resmod on MS as soon as fighter mods are done.
Research level 1 speed.
Drop ints for bombers if the enemy is not building their own swarm.
Drop ints for scouts (2 for hiig, 4 for vay) and research EMP if the enemy is getting a slight edge in numbers.
Go for torps/missiles asap for fast collector killing.
This is the most flexible swarm, as it allows you enough RU for a full third build lane. It is also the slowest build that can really be called a swarm. Your objective is to win by superior technology. Be prepared to build plats for defense purposes. If it looks like you won’t be able to win the swarm battle, immediately switch to heavier ships. If you’ve already engaged concentrate on holding off their forces. If you can get heavier ships out first, the slight swarm advantage your enemey had will mean less. There have been many 1v1 matches where I’ve lost the fighter battle but still won due to superior frigate/DD numbers.
NEW**3/3 swarm with plats:
3/3 colls + 1 probe/scout
Figher mods on MS/CC
Queue up 7/7 ints (9/9 for vay) immediately.
Resmod on MS as soon as fighter mods are done.
Pause resmod for platmod on CC if the enemy is going less than 3/3 colls.
This is designed as a counter to higher speed swarms, especially on small maps like shield. It plays like a normal 3/3, but has the following difference.
If it looks like the enemy is going to attack early, immediately pause your RM and build a plat mod on your carrier. As soon as it’s up, resume your RM and build 3-6 plats, but don’t move them. Try to make sure your CC is alighned so that the plats drop with a clear field of fire towards the enemy. Then switch back to fighters. Whenever possible, you should try to draw the enemy’s fighters in to your plats. I’ve seen a number of matches (both as an observer and participant) where this quickly turned the tide in favour of the platter.
This should allow you to either retake the skies (if you can force your opponent to engage) or hold off your opponent long enough for your superior resourcing to pay off. Retire the plat mod if you don’t think you’ll need it anymore, it’s worth a few RU.
If you do manage to retake the skies, don’t bother attacking collectors. By this point, it’s more efficient for you to attack mods. Killing an RM will cripple your opponent’s bid to build frigates, and if you to manage to destroy it and any frig mods before many torps or ions are out, you have effectively won the game. You should go for ions ASAP, because the enemy may get the jump on frigate building. Ions will allow you to turn the tide back in your favour very quickly.
Other notes:
You can still swarm if you’re going for a larger number of collectors, but you should not consider attacking with your swarm unless conditions look very inviting. Wait for your heavier ships to come online and try to beat your opponent with better tech or expanded production.
Not building a swarm is the fastest way to lose 1v1. Your enemy just needs to go bombers then you die. Gun plats alone may hold off bombers, but then your opponent just goes DDs or lasers and then you still die.