AAR after my second game of ACTA:SF

[scoutdad]

I think Scoutdad mentioned earlier that on initial playtest, the Klingons were the easiest fleet to master but with repetition, the Feds closed the learning curve gap and those two fleets are balanced well against each other. I certainly have found the Feds a slower learning curve but fully competitive once I got used to them.

True. The Klingons are easy to pick up, but the Federation has more crunch power. The Klignons are more of a brute force empire while the Federation require finesse.
And as Matt says, don't be afraid to get up close and personal. Roll enough AD and some will score. And if you get enough 6's - the reinforced shields will not matter.

 

[scoutdad]

4 hours for 4v4, oh my. Is this indicative of the ruleset with the effect of shields etc? I'd expect a 4v4 in B5 to have taken an hour or so.
or is it merely peple getting to grips withthe game?
+1 on initiative isn't that big a deal on a 2D6 roll, certsinly doesn't come accross as unbalancing or anything.

No, we play larger games much faster in our group. We're pretty much down to a consistent 2 hours for a 1000 point battle and some of us are a lot faster.
And we've done 20 versus 20 in 4 hours.

As surmised, it comes down to unfamiliarity with the rules and ships.
Noble Armada has 5 or 6 weapons in 4 arcs with little or no overlap.
ACTASF averages 6 t o8 weapons (and some DNs have 13 or 14 weapons systems) all with multiple AD and overlapping fire arcs.
Until you gain some experience withthe ships you're flying it can take a whileto insure that you've fired every weapon system at the most opportune target.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Another word for the Federation - once you get up close and personal (within 9" - 7.5" is the sweet point, as you get short range photons as well) don't burn yourself trying to get into Klingon side arcs. Your ships are fully capable of burning through the front shields in a turn or two and, that done, you will find Klingons are exceedingly fragile compared to the monsters you are flying through space!

Also, a lot of people advocate drone-heavy Feds. Again, I have never really considered that a factor. A Kirov is always nice against Klingons (3 dice shields and 4 drones) but I would not consider it a must-have by any means. As a Fed player, treat drones as opportunity weapons, use them to ADD incoming waves and, when you do get a Kirov on the table, enjoy overwhelming a Klingon ship or two. However, don't base your Federation tactics around drones, or you will come a cropper.

Drones are not the Federation's strength. Photons are not really either, though a decent-sized fleet should probably be looking for at least one knock out blow from them during a battle.

As a Fed Admiral, your strengths are phasers-1, a gorgeous amount of shields (boosting shields is your friend - it is certainly something your Klingon opponents are jealous of, I can tell you), and a good, solid hull.

 

[archon96]

Agreed drones are not the feds best system, i only advocate having a few because if they do get in youre aft its a means to keep pounding on their shields until you turn about. I love close range overloaded torps, i only wish my gorns had an overload option but id make a range of 2. Gotta pay for that kind of love.

 

[AdmiralGrafSpee]

As a Fed admiral I love my DW's and FB's. They have a good turn mode and really pack a punch with their overloaded photons. People often aren't expecting ships smaller than cruisers to come charging in with the overloads - but its well worth it with 3 photons - if just one of those penetrates (and there is a 42% chance one or more will) you then have a really good chance of scoring some nasty criticals.

-Tim

 

[gord314]

As a Fed Admiral, your strengths are phasers-1, a gorgeous amount of shields (boosting shields is your friend - it is certainly something your Klingon opponents are jealous of, I can tell you), and a good, solid hull.

I don't really see Klingons being jealous of Federation shield boosting. The D5 and the D5W are very good ships, and if a Klingon player wants 2 die shield boosts, he can get them without much in the way of sacrifice in other areas.

 

[MongooseMatt]

As a Fed admiral I love my DW's and FB's.

I would go further than that and advocate the humble Burke-class. Solves any Agile-envy you may have with Klingons, and a photon launched from a frigate is just as powerful as one launched from a battlecruiser, with the added bonus that the frigate is more likely to be in the right place to overload it!

 

[archon96]

yes my son had me order extra battle frigates to go with the frigate force he is assembling, their a bunch of annoying gnats that ding ya with overloaded tords at the worst possible moments.

 

[McKinstry]

As a Fed admiral I love my DW's and FB's. They have a good turn mode and really pack a punch with their overloaded photons. People often aren't expecting ships smaller than cruisers to come charging in with the overloads - but its well worth it with 3 photons - if just one of those penetrates (and there is a 42% chance one or more will) you then have a really good chance of scoring some nasty criticals.

-Tim

I've just had 'charging' problems with the 6" move when overloading really limiting the ability of the little guys to survive in that prior turn while loitering in front of the sharks in the 8-12" band. That is where initiative and initiative sinks really matter.

 

[Totenkopf]

Another word for the Federation - once you get up close and personal (within 9" - 7.5" is the sweet point, as you get short range photons as well) don't burn yourself trying to get into Klingon side arcs. Your ships are fully capable of burning through the front shields in a turn or two and, that done, you will find Klingons are exceedingly fragile compared to the monsters you are flying through space!

Also, a lot of people advocate drone-heavy Feds. Again, I have never really considered that a factor. A Kirov is always nice against Klingons (3 dice shields and 4 drones) but I would not consider it a must-have by any means. As a Fed player, treat drones as opportunity weapons, use them to ADD incoming waves and, when you do get a Kirov on the table, enjoy overwhelming a Klingon ship or two. However, don't base your Federation tactics around drones, or you will come a cropper.

Drones are not the Federation's strength. Photons are not really either, though a decent-sized fleet should probably be looking for at least one knock out blow from them during a battle.

As a Fed Admiral, your strengths are phasers-1, a gorgeous amount of shields (boosting shields is your friend - it is certainly something your Klingon opponents are jealous of, I can tell you), and a good, solid hull.

First you help the Gorns...now you're helping the Feds, whose side are you on anyways?

 

[WickedLance]

I've seen success with APTE behind a Klingon ship and getting a Rear or side Boresight. A Constitution will get 6 phaser-1's. A Wolverine can get a side shot of 8ad. A Kirov can get 8AD broadside or 6AD rear.

 

[SneakyPete]

20 on 20, holy crud. How many ships are dead by the end of the second round, at least 4 or 5 I imagine?

 

[Da Boss]

Should be a few as at that level you get to use squadrons and they make a big difference

 

[scoutdad]

20 on 20, holy crud. How many ships are dead by the end of the second round, at least 4 or 5 I imagine?

First turn was manuevering...
From turn 2 onwards, it was easily 3 to 5 dead each round as a sqaudron of three ships firing in sequence can really ruin your day.
But then again, they get to do it right back to you! :wink: