ACTA:B5

[rtippin]

Hello:
I know ACTA:B5 has gone the way of the Dodo and that questions like this have been brought up before, but does anyone have a good source of materials (books, miniatures, counters, etc) for this game? I really enjoy the B5 universe. I have the old B5 Wars game (but no miniatures) and have never really gotten anyone else into it. I looked at a friends rules for ACTA:B5 and played ACTA:SF (which I really enjoyed), so I really want to try and put together some fleet games for my group.

If anyone knows of a good source or perhaps has some of it sitting around that you don't want, please let me know. I am looking at AoG store as an alternative for minis, but, if possible, I'd love to put together fleets from the ACTA scale and production line. I am mostly interested in the primary sides/races (as most people are, I am sure), and specifically Earth Alliance and Minbari.

[tneva82]

Hello:
I know ACTA:B5 has gone the way of the Dodo and that questions like this have been brought up before, but does anyone have a good source of materials (books, miniatures, counters, etc) for this game? I really enjoy the B5 universe. I have the old B5 Wars game (but no miniatures) and have never really gotten anyone else into it. I looked at a friends rules for ACTA:B5 and played ACTA:SF (which I really enjoyed), so I really want to try and put together some fleet games for my group.

If anyone knows of a good source or perhaps has some of it sitting around that you don't want, please let me know. I am looking at AoG store as an alternative for minis, but, if possible, I'd love to put together fleets from the ACTA scale and production line. I am mostly interested in the primary sides/races (as most people are, I am sure), and specifically Earth Alliance and Minbari.

Didn't AoG make originally 2 scales, fleet scale(the small ones) and original one which is what ACTA used? (well apart from fighters. Thankfully they went to fleet scale ones there)

[AdrianH]

Yes, AoG made two scales, and Mongoose took over some of both of them. Capital ships were usually the same as the B5 Wars ones, fighters were usually the same as the Fleet Action ones - six small models on a hex base. If you do get models from AoG, you may want to get a mixture, B5 Wars models for large ships such as the Omega and Fleet Action models for smaller ships such as the Olympus. (Mongoose's earlier model of the Olympus was the B5 Wars one, then they switched to producing pairs of a smaller model similar to the Fleet Action one. The smaller one is about the right size compared to a B5 Wars Omega.)

[billclo]

If you haven't tried here, there are some B5 ships that come up for sale:

http://www.star-ranger.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=7

[Greg Smith]

There are quite a few B5 ships on Shapeways too.

[AdrianH]

As a last resort, Noble Knight are still offering the "Sky Full of Stars" counter set:
http://www.nobleknight.com/ProductDetai ... enreID_E_0

Obviously it's not as good as proper models, but it gives you something to play with until you get models, as well as a way to try your luck with fleets for which you have no intention of buying models.

[rtippin]

Thanks for all of the feedback and info.

Since there has been some talk about the different scales (B5Wars and Fleet Action), if one were working in a budget and yet wanted to get good size fleets built quickly, would using all "Fleet Action" scale be ok (system-wise and aesthetically)? Maybe that is personal preference, but I not only want to build good fleets for the major races, but also want them to look good. Just trying to balance finances, large number of miniatures and visual appeal.

Thanks again.

[Greg Smith]

Oh yes. If everyone is using FA scale, it looks fine and has no effect on the system at all.

Also they are easier to make, paint and transport.

[AdrianH]

System-wise, there's really no difference - I shouldn't think anyone will care whether you use B5 Wars, Fleet Action or a combination of the two. Aesthetically, Fleet Action are smaller and cheaper, but obviously less detailed than B5 Wars. I still say get B5 Wars models of some of the larger ships such as the Omega, and Fleet Action models of the smaller ships which you'll want in quantity. (The "real" Omega is supposed to be 1714m long, the Olympus is 444m, so the B5 Wars Olympus will look much too big sitting next to a B5 Wars Omega, whereas a Fleet Action Olympus will look more reasonable.)

[Bellicose]

Has anyone done any conversions for B5 ships to ACTA Noble Armada. Unofficially, that is. Centauri in particular. I have a bunch of minis for that fleet and was thinking of adding that fleet to the NA universe. Space is big you know.

[Da Boss]

I started doing it here but its not finished I am afriad

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?z4zpyju8h0m2lo8

[LimeyDragon]

I think i have some old stuff around.. I'll look..

I know a bunch of locals who may part with there fleets so they can get other MGp stuff.. I can them if you want.

[Bellicose]

LimeyDragon, I would love to see your work. Da Boss, you have an amazing webpage for the Centauri.

[Bellicose]

looking at your webpage it seems like you moved closer to ACTA in the Nobe Armada universe. You got rid of the crew scores. You added anti-fighter as a point defence trait. You changed some of the terms to the new system, such as twin linked to guided. I would say that the damage scores look a little low. A Vorchan has a score of 19/5, a frigate in Noble Armada tend to run 18/6, but the Vorchan is a considerably larger ship. Also, there are no shields, ramming score, or grapple guns. Not meant to criticize though, I really do enjoy your page. Like I said, I have some Centauri models and wanted to put them up against Hawkwood or Decados.

[tneva82]

looking at your webpage it seems like you moved closer to ACTA in the Nobe Armada universe. You got rid of the crew scores. You added anti-fighter as a point defence trait. You changed some of the terms to the new system, such as twin linked to guided. I would say that the damage scores look a little low. A Vorchan has a score of 19/5, a frigate in Noble Armada tend to run 18/6, but the Vorchan is a considerably larger ship. Also, there are no shields, ramming score, or grapple guns. Not meant to criticize though, I really do enjoy your page. Like I said, I have some Centauri models and wanted to put them up against Hawkwood or Decados.

Well vorchan size doesn't really matter unless you plan for mixing the fleets at which point it might look bit silly. But if it's for B5 vs B5 then it's more important to consider what effect it would have on game. If damage scores go up notably then imagine damage scores of the REALLY big ships have. And generally point costs would go up and criticals would play more effect and games would generally be longer in time as ships take longer to die.

I would worry about internal balance and logic so that B5 ships make sense to each other and less about do they make sense to NA ships.

Vorchans are supposed to be lightweight ships of centauri ships and they weren't most durable ships in original B5 rules either(mighty fast though). Keep the effect like that and so what if it looks odd compared to NA ships it's not designed to fight against anyway

[Da Boss]

looking at your webpage it seems like you moved closer to ACTA in the Nobe Armada universe. You got rid of the crew scores. You added anti-fighter as a point defence trait. You changed some of the terms to the new system, such as twin linked to guided. I would say that the damage scores look a little low. A Vorchan has a score of 19/5, a frigate in Noble Armada tend to run 18/6, but the Vorchan is a considerably larger ship. Also, there are no shields, ramming score, or grapple guns. Not meant to criticize though, I really do enjoy your page. Like I said, I have some Centauri models and wanted to put them up against Hawkwood or Decados.

Well I figure don't change what is not broke........
Most B5 ships don't have shields - they do have good armour but no shields - they have lots of guns and don;t have any grapple guns. They should have a rammng score however - did not get round to figuring that out. The idea was to keep what is B5 and just make it usable in Noble Armada - giving B5 vessels unique advantages and disadvantages compared to their NA opponents.

Then you can easily play a dimensional incursion love to hear what happens with them against the Houses of NA.........

[rtippin]

Santa was good to me and gave me a few ships for Christmas. They were FA scale. I am still looking around as my best hope would be to have everything at ACTA scale, but since that might not happen I am looking primarily at FA and B5Wars scales.

I appreciate everyone's feedback and if anyone and, of course, if people still have miniatures available, please let me know and PM me.