Cricket

AIA dropship and the delivery vehicle for every AIA boarding action.

Role in the match

The Cricket is the Antarean Empire (AIA)'s dropship for space fights. Unlike infantry guns, you do not purchase it in the loadout screen — Angels Fall First offers vehicles as your score climbs, then lets you customise them with the same Combat / Support / Command budgets you already use for kit.

Crew seats matter as much as the hull. Listed crew for this chassis: Pilot, 2 gunners, boarding party. Fill the seats that actually fire or drive first; empty gunner positions are free damage left on the table.

Dropship doctrine

Dropships are the boarding and redeploy tool. A living dropship parked on a capital or behind an objective changes the match; a dead one on approach is wasted spawn economy — escort them.

Tactics

• Approach along the target's blind arcs - usually under the keel or astern of the gun coverage.

How to get value from the Cricket

Score early with infantry objectives so the offer arrives while the match is still decidable. Once you are in the seat, play the class fantasy above — light transports flank, tanks break open ground, fighters screen, dropships deliver boarding teams. Dying heroically in the wrong envelope just feeds the enemy score and delays your next offer.

Bring a Multitool passenger or wingman whenever the chassis is expensive to replace. Field repairs turn one vehicle life into two or three objective cycles, which is often the real difference on Territories maps.

Loadouts and upgrades

Vehicle modules still compete for the three budget tracks. Do not empty Combat on a vanity weapon if Support repairs would keep you alive longer. Use the loadout calculator to sanity-check ranks, then read the budget system guide and the space combat guide for full theatre doctrine.

Faction counterpart

Across the line, the closest mirror is the Dragoon (ULA). Learn one and the other will feel familiar — the differences are usually armour, gun arcs and how forgiving the chassis is when you misposition.

Other space vehicles

When this offer is not available yet, or the map asks for a different job, consider:

• Rapier (Interceptor) — Featherweight space superiority fighter.
• Iret (Interceptor) — AIA interceptor.
• Sword (Fighter) — Mid-weight ULA fighter.
• Firefly (Fighter) — AIA medium fighter with dual cannons.
• Katana (Assault Fighter) — Heaviest ULA fighter.

Checklist before you spawn into it

• Know whether the current map even fields this class.
• Call for gunners/passengers on voice or text before you leave spawn.
• Pre-plan an exit: repair pad, hangar, or infantry fallback.
• Keep an anti-vehicle infantry loadout ready if you get forced out.