French Destroyer Albatros *DONE*

I'd be game for an online playtest if anyone is interested. 200 pt fleets that I think would flex this ship reasonably well (emphasizes the AA and anti-BB SAs):

Richelieu French Battleship 54
Dunkerque French Battleship 36
Albatros French Destroyer 7
Albatros French Destroyer 7
Albatros French Destroyer 7
Milan French Destroyer 8
Milan French Destroyer 8
Milan French Destroyer 8
Mogador French Destroyer 10
Bévéziers French Submarine 11
Bévéziers French Submarine 11
D.551 French Fighter 8
MB.152 French Fighter 5
MB.152 French Fighter 5
MB.152 French Fighter 5
MB.152 French Fighter 5
MB.152 French Fighter 5
Total 200


Impero Italian Battleship 52
Vittorio Veneto Italian Battleship 49
Ascari Italian Destroyer 6
Ascari Italian Destroyer 6
Camicia Nere Italian Destroyer 7
Camicia Nere Italian Destroyer 7
Espero Italian Destroyer 6
Espero Italian Destroyer 6
Elite C.202 Folgore Italian Fighter 6
Elite C.202 Folgore Italian Fighter 6
Z.1007 Alcione Italian Patrol Bomber 8
Z.1007 Alcione Italian Patrol Bomber 8
SM.79 Sparviero Italian Patrol Bomber 11
SM.79 Sparviero Italian Patrol Bomber 11
SM.79 Sparviero Italian Patrol Bomber 11
Total 200

I'd be willing to use either fleet and handle maps. I just need an opponent.

Sounds good. Playtest thread here: forumini.boards.net/thread/1771/brigs-france-italy-albatros-playtest

Thanks for doing that guys!

Playtest game is still ongoing. So far, sectors containing an Albatros have been attacked twice. In both cases, the DD was able to use Desperate AA against a SM.79 (5 Armor), scoring 4 hits (a miss) and 5 hits (an abort) - pretty much dead average results for 7 AA dice. One Albatros has been lost to air attack on turn 1, but the Milan in its same sector survived and has continued to produce smoke in a low-initiative screen.

Brigman still has to make an air attack this turn, but we should get to see Valiant Stand out of this unit soon.

Overall opinion so far: Riding shotgun alongside a smoker and with reasonably good air cover, this ship excels as part of a low-initiative, smoking French fleet, particularly if the opponent invests heavily on air attack. I don't think it would ever fully replace the Milan (you got to have smokers), but it is good enough that I'd probably take it at 8 points with little hesitation. Its terrific (may a little TOO terrific) at 7 points in this particular kind of build.

More to follow. Just wanted to give an update.

Last Albatros went down last turn after making a 3-die torpedo attack on an Italian BB (no hits). A Mogador then hit an Ascari twice(!) with two torpedo dice.  Go figure. We're playing on just for fun, but that's it for the Albatros in this game.

It absolutely a useful unit. I still think its closer to 8 points than 7, and doesn't threaten the usefulness of several other French DDs in that point range.

Excellent. As for cost, it is probably on the 7-8 "bubble." In general, I tend to round those down since our overly conservative first two (especially second) deck.

I guess I would lean more toward 7 because 1) it doesn't have any of the "big three" SAs for DDs (CE, Smoke, Sub Hunter), and it has a weak native torpedo attack which is the other main offensive value of a DD in the game. That said, I don't think it would be a "dog" at 8 points either.