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Hello-

After reading Russ's incredible review of the new ed of B5 I immediately ran out and got my neighbor to buy the basic game and SKFOS. Aint I a devil?

After lookingat the rules I can confidently say I am gonna love this game. Though I have a love for the ugly beauty of the ESA ships I must forego them as a flett choice... My neighbor likes thema nd it is HIS game.... So, I will be playing the ISA fleet instead.

So, I am trying to figure how in the world to play the white star fleet? They are fairly tough ships but can only absorb so much even with self healing and adpative armor. They have decent weapons but not a whole bunch of them. Range is decent but a lack of port and starboard weapons makes this kinda moot.

The best I can come up with so far is to concentrate all fire power on one ship at a time. Focus on ships that can be taken out quickly (light and medium light vessels) while avoiding the worst of the big ships fire power. Perhaps using fighters to harass the big ships and protect my vessels from enemy fighters.

Let me know what you think and if I am misisng something. I defer to  your game experience.

 

ender502

In the new edition White Stars are AWESOME. Although small, and seemingly low on damage and crew points, the ships are surprisingly durable and very difficult to deal with. I can say this because I?ve now faced an ISA force several times in battle.

They have several things going for them:

1) There crew quality is +1, this is BIG.
2) They are VERY maneuverable with their 90 degree turns. And they are fast. It is tricky for fleets with mostly front firing weapons to keep them in their arc.
3) The combination of Adaptive armor and a 3+ dodge save is HUGE. It takes a LOT of fire power to bring one of these ships down. And lucky criticals don?t help much either since the White Stars can repair damage very easily with their increased crew quality and the +1 for self repair.
4) Because they self repair, you really only need to worry about crew, and even then with a flight computer you ships are fully functional until the last Ranger is dead. This means keep maneuvering your ships so your opponent can?t focus fire on one in particular.

The ISA is a good fleet, and I think you?ll have much success. Their weakness is lack of variety. If you get board of White Stars, you?ll have to go the ally route.

Good luck! Live for the one, die for the one.

Excellent. Thanks for that. Variety may be  a problem. But as I am at the learning stage I think the white stars will do just fine. At least I will get the nials along with them!

ender502

 

 

Don't count out the Nials. Stealth and Dodge and a killer dogfight bonus makes them ded hard. I can swarm smaller cap ships with them, and fighter-to-fighter they're ridiculously good. Of course, I usually blow up the ship I'm hunting and then lose them all, but that's war.

After four or five actions with the ISA, I have to say that I'm damn glad I took them. Here's what I've learned so far:

The unparalleled maneuverability of the White Stars, along with those weapons (particularly the Improved Neutron Laser- triple damage beam weapon on a Raid level ship!!!!) and adaptive armour allows them to go toe-to-toe with anything.

Raking passes are a great alternative to lining up all your ships and concentrating fire (not that there's anything wrong with that strategy!).

Keeping out of the way of boresight monster guns is the key- keep moving!!!!

Try to get rid of some of your smaller opponents first- once his faster ships are dead, you can run rings around anything else and attack from his weakest arc. And when the weight of incoming fire drops, you're golden.

Use your allies bonus to supplement your small ship selection: I haven't used allies yet but the ISA is very weak in Patrol/Skirmish actions (although a single White Star can rip up its weight in patrol ships with some ease with some lucky dodge and beam attack rolls). Vree scout saucers have stealth, as do all Minbari ships. I also learned (the hard way) about the EA's Chronos Attack Frigate- hull six on a dinky little ship SUCKS!!!! With undodgeable weapons to the broadsides at a savage 18' range, these little "space bunkers" will give your opponent fits. Like they did me.

Too bad you can't load them with nukes......I guess that sort of gets the crew's spirits down a bit.

Personally I like clumping my WS and attacking en-masse...this can be a little problematic against Narn emines, but otherwise you have the maneuverability to keep in formation even as you're dodging borsights and coming in behind them...And don't underestimate the potential for putting Sherridan on a WS...multiple SA can be killer...

As for taking allies I've been toying with the idea of picking up some Vree scouts...low PL, maneuverability/speed that almost matches WS and scout traits...

Just played a game on Friday that showed off the Vree to their best. At this point, having been disappointed by the Drazi and the Brakiri, I've decided that the best allies for the ISA are the Vree and the Minbari. Check out some of the Minbari scout ships before you settle on the Vree.

Could you tell me what disappointed you in the Drazi and Brakiri?

Also, have you not yet looked at the Abbai or are they not really compatible with the ISA?

Posted By The Big Anla-Shok on 01/16/2006 10:54 AM
Check out some of the Minbari scout ships before you settle on the Vree.

Hmmm, let's check...

Bonehead (er, Minbari ) Leshath

Pros: Stealth 5, fair weapons in all arcs, AJP, Nial, higher Dmg and Crew

Cons: Raid level, not quite as maneuverable as WS (well that and their boneheads )

 

Vree Vaarl

Pros: Patrol!, Stealth 5, lots of firepower, 3 init sinks, great maneuverability (even before SM)

Cons: Hull 3, Firepower in 1 arc per turn (and it's a frakin saucer )

 

Vree Vaarka

Pros: Skirmish, Stealth 5, good firepower, 2 init sinks, great maneuverability (again before SM)

Cons: 1 less troop then other two options,  Firepower in 1 arc per turn, 1 less ship then Vaarl (another dinner plate )

 

Personally I'm thinking 3 Varl are worth giving up a White Star, especially if you have a Victory on the table...The Leshath isn't bad, but the biggest selling point would be the Nial in my opinion which isn't enough to give it precidence over multiple vree ships...Especially since the 3 Vaarl actually take more hits then 1 Lesh (although it's easier to hit them)...

Becareful,

Remember when fighting ships that the Neutron Laser basically tears right through anything with a Hull of 4. Not to mention that all of the WS weapons are Precise and that gives you a 2 in 6 chance of scoring criticals that are triple damage hits. I've taking out some much larger ships with little or no problems. Even if your out numbered two or three to one having a small number of weapons with lots of special effects is nice. One thing though watch out for fighters. They can sting a bit. Although to a good front arc shot I've had to soak up fighter hits, there's always a trade off.

Becareful,

Remember when fighting ships that the Neutron Laser basically tears right through anything with a Hull of 4. Not to mention that all of the WS weapons are Precise and that gives you a 2 in 6 chance of scoring criticals that are triple damage hits. I've taking out some much larger ships with little or no problems. Even if your out numbered two or three to one having a small number of weapons with lots of special effects is nice. One thing though watch out for fighters. They can sting a bit. Although to a good front arc shot I've had to soak up fighter hits, there's always a trade off.