Abbi??

[Kosh127]

The Abbi joke or rough??? Ok you ready them and the fluff seems cool. the ships look nice and the refit table are funny. however, does any play them? Do you win with them. I am talking about a "pure" fleet list. I talk to the distrubitor and they have sold almost nothing. That would tell me that no body buys them as such noone uses them. The ships seems cool but with a range of 8 its very very sad. I would like to know who uses them for real and not a joke as a "pure fleet." I am looking forward to your comments. Thanks!!

 

[Slightly Norse John]

I don't play them, as such, but I do go up against them a fair bit, and there is nothing funny about being on the recieving end of several sets of Milani's combat lasers. That ship is a genuine hidden gem.
The fluff for the Milani is dead wrong; it's more like a small Nova, a warship with added fighters, than an armed carrier.
Speaking of which the Bimith is more heavily gunned than the Nova, better protected, and, interestingly, faster and more agile- on a par with the Hyperion. The name of this ship is wrong, as well. Call it a Berserker, and you get closer to both it's true abilities and a viable method of using it.
The Abbai have two and a half main disadvantages- first their lack of gun range. It's harder to outmanoeuvre a Bimith than it looks, but that's a minor mitigation only. Second, their initiative. Moving first is less of a problem than not shooting first. Third, their sheer lack of variety means there are not many ways an Abbai fleet can do things differently; they get predictable, that predictability becomes exploitable.

 

[Morgoth]

I have played pure Abbai fleets several times and enjoyed them everythime I have used. I really like the Milani and Marata ships, they are excellent skirmish ships, decent survability, good weapons and fighters to boot!! The Tiraca is also a decent patrol ship and although te Bimith has to get in close once it does it is excellent at dishing out the damage!! The Lakara combat laser is excllent too. I do use occasionally the shyarie but prefer squadrons of tiraca. I haven't played them in campaigns but I when I roll for assiatnce rendered I will alwyas bick a milana and they have always shined, getting plenty of refits themsleves - i.e comms disruptors, more interceptors, double damage beam, these ships end up as mini flagships believe me!! The abbai rock!! Squadron them up so that firing last isn't so much of a disadvantage.

 

[Wulf Corbett]

Comms Disruptors are another hidden Gem... Get a 'No Weapons Fire' crit on a big opponent, then Comms Disrupt him. If he doesn't have a CQ of 5 or 6, he CANNOT repair a crit (it needs a 9 total from 1d6+ CQ, and Comms Disruptors give a -2...).

Wulf

 

[Locutus9956]

The Abbai fleet is more than capable in the right hands, but in all honesty I suspect they will never sell that many as most people getting into the game want to play one of the 'main' races seen in the show

 

[H]

I myself have never played them, but I have played alongside them as Allies, and against them as well, they are a bit of a pain really, they are a solid fleet, a bit limited, but you can only keep them at range for so long, and I have found that even if you win, in a campaign, they mess you up so badly you might as well' have lost. the Bimith and lakara are excelent at what they do, fly up close, and blow the crap out of you. lots of attack dice, Coms disruptors to mess up your actions, and can take a good amount of punishment. It can get demoralising seeing how much you need to taje them down, as they soak up so much secondary fire, then just hammer you back. I have lost to them in a very close battle as drakh, the mothership being my undoing as they closed on it, and it couldn't get away, i have narowly won as Narn, but one more turn and I would have been wiped out. they are not a fleet for those who want tactical options, but if you want slow and steady, abbai can be your fleet!

 

[meglos]

i have played against an all abbai fleet only once and that was with my shadows abit one sided you may think but by eck those ladies can throw out some damage. people may laught 8" range but its crazy how all of a sudden bang your in 8" and they are hammering away at you from all angles bimiths and lakaras what a tag team. i respect them thats why my league fleet has 3 lakaras in it now

 

[Locutus9956]

Yep, if you play as them All power to Engines is your friend. They may look relatively slow but the fact that nearly all their weapons are twin linked and theyve got them in just about every direction you can floor it pretty much straight away without worrying about silly little details like 'turning'

Add to this a quite simply INSANE amount of survivability (especially on their larger ships) and you have a very decent fleet. Except for the fighters that is. The Kortha is without any shadow of a doub the worst piece of junk ever launched from a hanger bay. An Abbai pilot in a space suite carrying a PPG would have a better chance of actually doing anything. Still they dont actually have a negative dogfight rating so they can still win in numbers I suppose..... though they are in fact slower than most fighters they might actaully want to intercept anyway :lol:

 

[Wulf Corbett]

The Kortha is without any shadow of a doub the worst piece of junk ever launched from a hanger bay. An Abbai pilot in a space suite carrying a PPG would have a better chance of actually doing anything. Still they dont actually have a negative dogfight rating so they can still win in numbers I suppose..... though they are in fact slower than most fighters they might actaully want to intercept anyway :lol:

Also remember they WILL stop any incoming attacking fighter if they are on Support - whether they win or lose the attacker cannot attack the ship, and even if the Kotha loses, the attacker WILL be in Anti-Fighter range after the Dogfight...

Wulf

 

[meglos]

thats a very good point [and the only use for them really]with out the doubt the worst fighter in the game

 

[Wulf Corbett]

thats a very good point [and the only use for them really]with out the doubt the worst fighter in the game

Well, you do get a load of them in a Wing, and in a combined League fleet (not the subject of the OP, I know) with a Brokados Fleet Carrier, they all have Dogfight +1...

Wulf

 

[JayRaider]

I've always considered them a very worthy fleet, a refreshing change! 8)

 

[Triggy]

Third, their sheer lack of variety means there are not many ways an Abbai fleet can do things differently; they get predictable, that predictability becomes exploitable.

I actually disagree with this. Sure, if you're simply going to plough into the enemy and shoot then this is the case but there's so much more to be gotten out of the Abbai than a short-ranged brawler fleet. They are (if used correctly) a fleet of finesse, second only to the ISA fleet. This is because you are constantly trying to manoeuvre to get that second or third arc in to line of sight to shoot and constantly trying to stay out of line of sight of the main enemy weapons to avoid a laser cannon in the face. All of this and you actually have the speed and manoeuvrability to pull it off!

I think I'll have to get myself an Abbai fleet...

 

[katadder]

already building mine for tourneys next year i like the abbai and these are the guys i usually use as allies to my ISA.

 

[Davesaint]

Third, their sheer lack of variety means there are not many ways an Abbai fleet can do things differently; they get predictable, that predictability becomes exploitable.

I actually disagree with this. Sure, if you're simply going to plough into the enemy and shoot then this is the case but there's so much more to be gotten out of the Abbai than a short-ranged brawler fleet. They are (if used correctly) a fleet of finesse, second only to the ISA fleet. This is because you are constantly trying to manoeuvre to get that second or third arc in to line of sight to shoot and constantly trying to stay out of line of sight of the main enemy weapons to avoid a laser cannon in the face. All of this and you actually have the speed and manoeuvrability to pull it off!

I think I'll have to get myself an Abbai fleet...

Huh? Most of the ships are speed 8 or less with only the patrol level hulls being speed 9. They suffer horribly to races that are Beam heavy as their interceptors are worthless. I have been playing ACTA 3+ Days per week roughly 6 games per week for about 1 year. We have a dedicated league player. In that time I have only seen the Bimith make it to range 8 less than 5 times. The Centauri, EA, Minbari, and the ISA's beams rip them apart. In my opinion, the Bimith is one of the last ships I would consider taking as an abbai player. I would rather have 2 Milani's than one Bimith. If the Bimith had a Combat Laser, it would be different. If the Bimith was Range 10 with 4 kothas, I would likely consider it as it would be more "Nova" like. But it doesn't

Dave

 

[Ripple]

bah

Too sick to do this right.

Ripple

 

[Triggy]

Third, their sheer lack of variety means there are not many ways an Abbai fleet can do things differently; they get predictable, that predictability becomes exploitable.

I actually disagree with this. Sure, if you're simply going to plough into the enemy and shoot then this is the case but there's so much more to be gotten out of the Abbai than a short-ranged brawler fleet. They are (if used correctly) a fleet of finesse, second only to the ISA fleet. This is because you are constantly trying to manoeuvre to get that second or third arc in to line of sight to shoot and constantly trying to stay out of line of sight of the main enemy weapons to avoid a laser cannon in the face. All of this and you actually have the speed and manoeuvrability to pull it off!

I think I'll have to get myself an Abbai fleet...

Huh? Most of the ships are speed 8 or less with only the patrol level hulls being speed 9. They suffer horribly to races that are Beam heavy as their interceptors are worthless. I have been playing ACTA 3+ Days per week roughly 6 games per week for about 1 year. We have a dedicated league player. In that time I have only seen the Bimith make it to range 8 less than 5 times. The Centauri, EA, Minbari, and the ISA's beams rip them apart. In my opinion, the Bimith is one of the last ships I would consider taking as an abbai player. I would rather have 2 Milani's than one Bimith. If the Bimith had a Combat Laser, it would be different. If the Bimith was Range 10 with 4 kothas, I would likely consider it as it would be more "Nova" like. But it doesn't

Dave

Granted, in big games they tend to suffer but in Raid level games they excel with a horde or Milanis and Tiracas posting too many targets to be taken down by the time they get in range (the whole fleet can be within 8" range by turn 2, even if they start 29" away from the enemy, with the Tiracas having a 35" effective turn 2 range). Add to this few races take a large number of ships with a range of more than 25" (let alone 30") in typical Raid level games. This gives the Abbai that edge in smaller games that is sorely lacking in larger engagements.

 

[katadder]

5 milanis and 10 tiracas - 5 point raid, 15 ships.

25AD of precise beams, lots of twin linked goodness.
20 kothas which in those numbers can take alot fo other peoples fighters down.

 

[Triggy]

I've had thoughts along similar lines

Just painting them all is going to be a bit of a pain, particularly to tell them all apart :shock:

 

[Ripple]

Have you tried it out yet?

I flew a similar list and found that I could not afford to wait to launch all the Kotha, so figure 15 launched, and that even with them launch they could not keep up with the fleet and were not even an issue until turn four.

Second issue was my opponent, wise fellow that he is, decided to destroy my Milanis with the range twenty-five beams before beginning to swat Tiraca. Admitedly I did not make extensive use of squadroning, and the new squadron rules may make it even more effective, but still found that I was short two Milani's before my first fire on turn three.

Let us know how it goes if you can. Would love to see some battle reports on Abbai in action. So far our local experience is that good captains eat them for lunch but that may just be our local bias. We are also very reluctant to use large numbers of the same model, mainly due to not wanting to own ten of anything.

ripple