A Call to Arms Noob with questions: Centauri

[wyrdmaster]

Greetings to one and all on this forum. I have been a lurker on this site for some time now, in addition to the main website.

Although new to A Call to Arms, I am not new to miniature gaming (five years of Warhammer 40,000), and so I know that the best way to get a feel for a new game is to find a group of players and give it a go. However, I live in Canada and I'm not sure where I can find a group of ACTA players here.

I was previously interested in the pak'ma'ra, then Brakiri, then the League as a whole. Recently, my interest has switched to the Lion of the Galaxy. I like the back story of the Centauri, although I'm not fond of their conduct in the show itself and wish to make them my first fleet. To this end, I was thinking of going to buy the fleet box set then build up my fleet around it.

Some things I would like to know though:
Is the Maximus an effective anti-fighter craft?
Is the Balvarian adequate in the carrier role (without being compared to the carriers of the Gaim or the Earth Alliance)?
Has anyone had success using either the Razik and/or the Rutarian?

 

[angelus2000]

Yes to all three questions.

1. While the main value of the Maximus lies in its Guardian Arrays(ledning interceptors to other ships), it's other duty as an ecort is well served. It possess an average amount of AF dice, but its Hull 6 lends it tosurvivability. More importantly, it's an all likelihood you'll have a maximus for every 2-3 other ships in your fleet(excepting fast attack stuff like vorchans/demos from that equation), so that just that many more AF dice to go around.

2. Balvarin is in the top ranks of the carrier stats, on par with both the Avenger and Morshin. Good guns, decent hull, Fleet carrier trait. Centauri can play the fighter game quite well, its just not one of the main focuses of their fleet, and the Balvarin goes a long way towards that goal.

3. Raziks are very iffy, some players like them do to its hyperfocus on dogfighting which it does better than Sentris. On the other hand, what little anti-ship firepower a Sentri can bring is completey lost, and assuming you win space superiority with raziks, you might find them with little else to do. Rutarians are extremely good fighters, on par with Nials and Tbolts. It stealth ensures some survivability, its fast, its has a good dofight score, it has more than adequate anti-ship firepower. its only real downside is having to pay FAP's in order to equip most ships in the centauri arsenal. Combine Rutarians with Balvarins, and you have a fighter/carrier combo even EA is hard pressed to match.

 

[wyrdmaster]

Something I forgot to mention in my last post. I live in British Columbia, Lower Mainland/Vancouver region. If any Canucks on this forum know where I can find a place to play ACTA in B.C., then please PM me. I would be most grateful.

Another question pertaining to the Maximus frigate:
Can they defend against a determined fighter assault? Like two flights of Gaim crewed missiles?

Also:
Is the Sulust pretty much useless unless escorting either a Primus or Octurion?

 

[angelus2000]

Any escort can be overwhelmed by enough fighters, although that does vary Escort by escort. A Maximus should be able to kill 2-3 fighters a turn(assuming hull 4 fighters). In a way, an escort is more a fighter decoy or additional level of defense for larger ships, as oft times the escort must be neutralized before attemtping to attack with fighters elsewhere.

Sullusts still serve the purpose they did in 1e, beefing up Primus/Centurion squadrons. It should be noted the Sullust Beam, which is longer ranged than almost ay other Cent Beam. Equates to an extra round of firing basically.

 

[Banichi]

The type of fighter I use in my centauri fleet depends on who I'm fighting. If I'm against EA I use raziks. Against starfuries you need all the dogfighting ability you can get, and because the EA have heaps of anti fighter dice you are not likely to do much attacking of ships. Against the narns I'd use sentris. Narn ships (mostly) don't have much AF dice, so attacking them might be worthwhile. And their best dogfighter is +1, so centris should be able to handle them no problem. Also centris can act as intercepters, (it's pretty risky for the poor old flight) where-as raziks can't, because of their weak weapons. This can be useful against fleets like the vree, or pak'm'ra, who don't have any beams.

I havn't tried rutarians yet, the fact you have to pay for them puts me off.

 

[wyrdmaster]

Thanks for the fighter info.

Banichi (I love those books. Go C.J.). You and Rutarians is like myself and EMP grenades for my Tau-three points per model for an effective sticky bomb-pah!

About the carrier:
The Balvarin is not a war level ship (I Think) so how many could I take if I was playing a 5 point War-level Carrier Clash scenario, like in S&P 50, for a war point? (This assumes that the Balvarin is a command ship. If it isn't, then darn)

Question about the Octurion:
I like the model and I want it as flagship for my fleet, but how effective is the thing in combat. Is it like the blue whale (big, but with no teeth), or like a great white (big and nasty and fully capable of shredding opponents to pieces)

 

[stryve]

The Balvarin is Raid pl, so you can take 4 for a single War point.

 

[Harry Lonsdale]

If you're using the Maximus, don't forget about the Intensify Defensive Fire special action to double your AF and Interceptor dice.

 

[H]

Thanks for the fighter info.

Banichi (I love those books. Go C.J.). You and Rutarians is like myself and EMP grenades for my Tau-three points per model for an effective sticky bomb-pah!

About the carrier:
The Balvarin is not a war level ship (I Think) so how many could I take if I was playing a 5 point War-level Carrier Clash scenario, like in S&P 50, for a war point? (This assumes that the Balvarin is a command ship. If it isn't, then darn)

Question about the Octurion:
I like the model and I want it as flagship for my fleet, but how effective is the thing in combat. Is it like the blue whale (big, but with no teeth), or like a great white (big and nasty and fully capable of shredding opponents to pieces)

Ok, so i'm not a fanhead, I'm a narn, but I think the Octurion is a fine warship, it's more than capeable of holding it's own against most other warships, and can certainly dish out the damage once it gets all it's weapons in range.

 

[Banichi]

I havn't played any 2e game big enough to sqeeze in an octurian yet, so I can't coment on how they perform in 2e. Hopefully good, if the primus in my last game is anything to go by. I loved it in 1e, it was like a big slow great white, with a hammer. Woe on any ship that got caught in its front arc at short range. In 2e it has lost its intercepters, so a maximus probably would help. It is also a lovely, big, intimadating model, although not as big as an adira, but at least it doesn't cause the table to collapse. The command bonus is also very handy.

Banichi (I love those books. Go C.J.).

Damn right! Those books are an awesome read.

 

[wyrdmaster]

Thanks to everyone who posted on this thread. I now have a direction in which to take my fleet. First though, I gotta find some players out here and get in some games :?

Wyrdmaster.

 

[Silvereye]

Something to also think about, is not to overlook the Matter Cannon ships. While they are interceptable you can CAF with them, and benefit from the Scout redirection.

The Octurian is a fleet shredder. Whilst it does not have the straight up ship killing punch of a Sharlin, its weaponry is more versatile. This allows it to easily engage and hammer more than one target into submission each turn.

 

[Lorcan Nagle]

The Balvarin is Raid pl, so you can take 4 for a single War point.

Of course, you have to remember that in Carrier Clash you can't take any ships of a higher PL than your designated carier, so if you take a Balvarian as your carrier you're limited to raid and below.

 

[wyrdmaster]

Right. And I initially thought that such a thing would be a big, big problem, but I looked over the issue of S&P that featured ACTA scenarios and re-read Carrier Clash. It says that the ship must have two or more flights aboard it and not necessarily be a carrier. That means technically I can call an Octurion a carrier as it carriers four flights of Sentris. It also means that with it as a carrier, I can still field Balvarins and Centurions as they are lower in priority than the Octurion (if I read that particular arcticle correctly)

Wyrdmaster

 

[David Anla Shok']

[Some things I would like to know though:
Is the Maximus an effective anti-fighter craft?
Is the Balvarian adequate in the carrier role (without being compared to the carriers of the Gaim or the Earth Alliance)?
Has anyone had success using either the Razik and/or the Rutarian?[/quote]

The Balvarin is a really decent carrier though there are better. The Maximus is very effective if used properly. The Rutarian is the best fighter the Centauri have. It's a fun fleet though not as long ranged as it used to be. Still, it is dead hard if you play to its strengths.

 

[David Anla Shok']

2. Balvarin is in the top ranks of the carrier stats, on par with both the Avenger and Morshin.

Oh? Wanna do a matchup with my Morshin and Nials?

 

[angelus2000]

Heh, I said the carrier was nearly as good, once PL diffence is taken into acount. I didn't say anything about the fighters.

 

[dag'karlove]

HA HA Run from The Nials Little Girl HA HA HA.

 

[wyrdmaster]

2. Balvarin is in the top ranks of the carrier stats, on par with both the Avenger and Morshin.

Oh? Wanna do a matchup with my Morshin and Nials?

Wow. David, Anla Shok' How cool.

The Balvarin and Morshin. Isn't that like Vorlons and Dilgar? The Centauri might have been dumb enough to ask the Shadows for help in re-asserting their dominance, but go against the Minbari? That honour is reserved for the EA :wink:

Wyrdmaster

 

[Gunnvaldr]

Techniqually EA won