Are Narns or Centauri a good fleet for a beginner?

[Iron Panda]

I've picked up the box set recently, read up on the rules and was quite impressed. The game mechanics are simple, easy to learn and upon playing few games, really liked it. After giving some thought, I've settled on building up a small Centauri and Narn fleet. (Their ships look awesome and blows others away by far!)

As for my playstyle, I tend to favor primarily manueverable and fast ships with a few lumbering but heavily armed cruisers as long range support. (Not quite sure if Narns fit this bill, though)

So, my questions are:

what are good first purchases for a new player besides the box sets for each faction?

Considering the tactics above, is it a good idea to purchase a few ships to fit the bill and if so, which one?


And finally, as a new player, anyone have any advice in using a Narn or Centauri fleet?


Thanks in advance!

 

[Greg Smith]

Centauri are good all round ships. Good at range, generally maneuverable and usually well defended with high hulls and/or interceptors.

Narn (and EA) ships tend to have boresight beams which can only target ships that have already moved. Because of this any fleet with boresight ships should consist of several small ships that you can move first so that the ememy will be forced to move ships that you want to target.

 

[JayRaider]

Hi, Welcome to the game!
The Centauri are a great fleet for new players.

You should strongly consider the Centauri fleet box for purchasing, its great value for money. If you were buying the ships contained in the box seperately it costs considerably more.

The fleet box cotains 2 Primus Battle Cruisers (Battle Priority Level), giving you long range weapons! Your big guns!
2 Centurion Attack Cruisers, (Raid) good speed,manueverbility and weapons. (For dealing with mid-range enemy ships, escorts,destroyers etc).
6 Vorchan Warships. Very fast,agile and great at flanking the enemy.(Skirmish Priority Level).
6 Flights of Sentri fighters. Good fighter to fighter interceptors.

While there is no set priority levels for games, the standard would be 5 Point Raid.
A Centauri 5pt Raid Fleet from the above would be, 1 Primus, 1 Centurion and 4 Vorchan.
Bought seperately they would cost 45$ (just a guesstimate).

You can get the Fleetbox for $80 on Ebay (including shipping).

Well, i'm to tired to give an appirisal of the Narn ! (1.50am).
Hope this helps! :lol:

 

[Nerroth]

I'm surprised none of the Centauri players has greeted him by saying 'Ah, my dear good friend!'

Or even 'Come see the great Centauri Republic. Open 9 to 5, Earth time.'


Gary

 

[Abraxas]

Hello, my "pretty shark" (how's that Nerroth).

I'm new (don't let the high post count fool you... I ask a lot of questions) and I find that Centauri are a great beginners fleet.

Wide selection, good ships, easy to use...

Earth is a good starter fleet too... but Humans are boring. It's FAR better to be part of the Republic. We have lasers :twisted: (which we may lose, but that is for 2e to worry about).

 

[thehod]

Centauri have a nice wide range of ships to select and varied in playing styles.

Wanna have a nice standoff ranged fleet? Primus and Centurions all the way with Darkners as backup

Like some speed with your fleet? Liatis. Vorchans, Dargans are very nice additions to your fleet.

I prefer a balanced fleet of Primus, Vorchan, Corvan, Prefect, and Dargans

my 5 point raid is as follows: Primus, 2 Corvans, 2 Vorchan/2 Vorchat/ 1 Vorchar, 1 prefect.


a Narn Fleet is all about being tough as nails with many ships having a high damage threshhold and even higher crew. It will take a little practice to get to use Boresights but the lethality of beam weapons with the Narn Bat squad make them very deadly.

The usual Narn Bat squad I see is 1 G'Quan, 6 Ka'Tans. Hard to hit, fighters to take on ships that fly by and Emines that can ruin any fighter's day.

 

[CZuschlag]

Narn aren't easy and take some work. Espeically if you want to try to get value out of a Raid slot (I'm convinced it's there in the T'Loth ... somewhere. I haven't gotten it yet). I consider them an intermediate fleet.

If all you're looking for is basic competency, I'd submit --

Degrees of Difficulty:

-- Easy: Early EA, Dilgar, Centauri, Brakiri.
-- Intermediate: ISA, Other EA, Narn, Vorlons, Mixed League.
-- Hard: Abbai, Drazi, Drakh, Shadows.
-- Very Hard: Vree.
-- I don't think they're competitive: Raiders.

Several of the "Easy" fleets also continue to reward higher expertise, however; I've found the Dilgar to do so. So it's not like you should dump an easier-to-fly race for one of the more tricky ones simply because you've gotten better and if you know what you're going the Harder races are better than the Easy ones. I assume that the Brakiri and Early EA would the same. Centauri tactics right now are stagnant, simply because the power of the Beam Team hasn't really required any tactical re-evaluations yet.

Minbari are anywhere from Easy to Very Hard -- playing well can be done at Easy, but consistently winning against Stealth-busting races (Drakh, Shadows) is Very Hard.

Disclosure: I fly Dilgar and Drakh.

 

[H]

Narn aren't easy and take some work. Espeically if you want to try to get value out of a Raid slot (I'm convinced it's there in the T'Loth ... somewhere. I haven't gotten it yet). I consider them an intermediate fleet.

If all you're looking for is basic competency, I'd submit --

Degrees of Difficulty:

-- Easy: Early EA, Dilgar, Centauri, Brakiri.
-- Intermediate: ISA, Other EA, Narn, Vorlons, Mixed League.
-- Hard: Abbai, Drazi, Drakh, Shadows.
-- Very Hard: Vree.
-- I don't think they're competitive: Raiders.

Several of the "Easy" fleets also continue to reward higher expertise, however; I've found the Dilgar to do so. So it's not like you should dump an easier-to-fly race for one of the more tricky ones simply because you've gotten better and if you know what you're going the Harder races are better than the Easy ones. I assume that the Brakiri and Early EA would the same. Centauri tactics right now are stagnant, simply because the power of the Beam Team hasn't really required any tactical re-evaluations yet.

Minbari are anywhere from Easy to Very Hard -- playing well can be done at Easy, but consistently winning against Stealth-busting races (Drakh, Shadows) is Very Hard.

Disclosure: I fly Dilgar and Drakh.

Interesting assesment
I would agree the brakiri are easy to play, but harder to win with, but I think something like this is a big help to new players.

Anyway, back to post point.
Narn V Centauri, Classic battles, well worth it, both are excelent fleets in their own right. The Centauri are the better of the two fleets overall, but the narn excel at Skirmish level, and also have one of the best warshisp out their in the Bin'Tak, they also have the coolest looking ship, the G'Quan. However if you like fast and maneuvreable, you may wish to re-consider Narn, althogh with careful selection, you can get their or their abouts. You would need a fleet comprising of Thentus, Ka'tocs (not as maneuvreable, but faster) Var'Nics, Cutters, and maybe even the new skirmish ship, oh god I forgot it's name, what kind of Narn am i?!oh yeah, the T'Rakk ;-) and if you go to high levels, the new G'Vrahn (no model yet) has very good speed and maneuvreability for a large narn ship.

The Centauri can do speed and maneuvreability pretty well, they have such a large selection of ships available. I'm not overly qualified to speak of Centauri, but they can be quite deadly, without being complex.
Of course if you want true speed and manuvreability, with a long range bombardment ship, maybe consider ISA, with a supporting allied ship.

 

[Da Boss]

Welcome to the great and powerful Centauri Republic
- lets have no more talk of Narns or other League raes though: :evil:

As more learned friends have stated the Centauri are great and have a wide selection of ships to suit all tastes - it gives us a chance to experiment!

My fleet (5 pt raid) consists of three Maximus (the stalwart defender of your colonies) - great little ship - powerful guns, good speed an interceptor and hull 6 - lovely
Primus - nice powerful beams, some other guns, hull 6 and interceptors.
Elutarian - Hull 6(again!) and long range missiles and a Vorchan Scout in case nasty Minbari turn up.

Can actually say never used the Prefect - got told it was too cheesy - so haven't used..........

 

[Johnny D]

I have and play both fleets I agree with a lot of the above statements about difficulty.
As a rule the Centauri are much easier to play with. The prevalence of big beam weaponry combined with decent amounts of twin linked secondary guns and if you select your ships right high hulls/interceptors make them quite a straight forward and comparatively easy fleet to play with. They can employ similar tactics against most enemies, ie to sit back and beam targets until they are close enough to be able to finish off up close. They dish out a lot of damage, have broad fire arcs and can have ships that are relatively tough to damage. They therefore make for a great starter fleet. Of course if you choose a lighter more manoeuvrable Centauri fleet you’ll have more of a challenge in keeping you’re fragile vorchans and the like in range to be effective, but not in range of too many of the enemies guns.
Narn are a little bit trickier, but I at least found more rewarding for it. They are in some ways much more of a brawler fleet (at least if you are picking a selection from all priority levels) as most of their Raid+ ships are at their best in the middle of an enemy formation as they have good all round guns and high damage. This high damage makes them a slightly more forgiving fleet. They also have excellent skirmish ships to fill most other roles G’kariths fleet support & anti fighter, Sho’kar’s provide scouts with decent enough punch, and Kar’tocs/tans provide scary beam firepower (scary enough that some people field fleets out of them or mainly them) Thentus and T’rak provide you with decent enough agility/speed by Narn standards.
So lots of skirmish and a G’Quan & maybe a Rongoth or a T’Loth gives you slow hulks and a more manoeuvrable force. Although the Centari will be far more agile and the Primus is better suited for long range support and so they'd probably fit closer to your stated playing style.

 

[emperorpenguin]

As for my playstyle, I tend to favor primarily manueverable and fast ships with a few lumbering but heavily armed cruisers as long range support. (Not quite sure if Narns fit this bill, though)

Well first of all they are both great choices for fleets but I am biased towards the Centauri.

Certainly they fit the bill better as primarily fast and agile with lumbering support from the Primus and Octurion

what are good first purchases for a new player besides the box sets for each faction?

Well after the Fleet set and reinforcement set for the Centauri you will want at least 1 Corvan, an Altarian, 1 Octurion and a Sulust. Those 4 ships are excellent additions to your fleet.

And finally, as a new player, anyone have any advice in using a Narn or Centauri fleet?

For Centauri: make use of your wide arcs to concentrate beam fire. Eliminate a ship at a time to better allow you to encircle an enemy. Keep the fragile ships circling and distract opponents with the hull 6 bruisers

 

[Abraxas]

Welcome to the great and powerful Centauri Republic
- lets have no more talk of Narns or other League raes though: :evil:

As more learned friends have stated the Centauri are great and have a wide selection of ships to suit all tastes - it gives us a chance to experiment!

My fleet (5 pt raid) consists of three Maximus (the stalwart defender of your colonies) - great little ship - powerful guns, good speed an interceptor and hull 6 - lovely
Primus - nice powerful beams, some other guns, hull 6 and interceptors.
Elutarian - Hull 6(again!) and long range missiles and a Vorchan Scout in case nasty Minbari turn up.

Can actually say never used the Prefect - got told it was too cheesy - so haven't used..........

You inspired me to change my fleet.

Primus
Altarian
2 Covrans
3 Maximii

I wanted the Altarian in the middle soaking up hits (Hull 6 can do that) while the Maximii flank larger, slower ships. The Primus takes out all SKIRMISH ships first with the battle laser from hell. All the while my 2 Covrans lurk up each table side, giving EM support.

Haven't used it, but I will.

I also have never used the Prefect. There is too much controversey and I hate being cheezy.

 

[Iron Panda]

Awesome!

Thanks for the replies. I finally figured out what ships to field but one thing, what is a "Narn Bat Squad?"

 

[Abraxas]

Awesome!

Thanks for the replies. I finally figured out what ships to field but one thing, what is a "Narn Bat Squad?"

Ka'Tans. Lot's of Ka'Tans... :twisted:

 

[Da Boss]

Thats very flattering - which of course any true Centauri loves!

anyway see how it goes

I had two wins and a loss at the tournament I went to - it was good against League and EA but died horribly against Vorlons (although 6 , 6 Crit in 2nd turn on the Primus did not help).

Remember to Chant "Maximus!" when rolling the dice ! Until of course your oopoent tells you to shut up - - even if mine were tollerant!

Good Luck!

 

[emperorpenguin]

Remember to Chant "Maximus!" when rolling the dice ! Until of course your oopoent tells you to shut up - - even if mine were tollerant!

Good Luck!

You should chant "Illaros!", the Centauri goddess of luck, very appropriate after all

 

[Da Boss]

Cool I'll try that!

 

[Abraxas]

Remember to Chant "Maximus!" when rolling the dice ! Until of course your oopoent tells you to shut up - - even if mine were tollerant!

Good Luck!

You should chant "Illaros!", the Centauri goddess of luck, very appropriate after all

Ok... even I'm not that big of a B5 nerd ( :wink: )... but where was THAT mentioned?

 

[Iron Panda]

You should chant "Illaros!", the Centauri goddess of luck, very appropriate after all

Remember to Chant "Maximus!" when rolling the dice ! Until of course your oopoent tells you to shut up - - even if mine were tollerant!

Dude! With all these talk, I'm a bit weirded out by the Centauri. :wink:

Still, it's all good. Nothing like enthusiasm to get into character

I've checked the rulebook and came up with a 5 pt. raid fleet.

1 Primus

4 Maximus

2 Vorchan

Primus stays back and just blasts away while the Maximus, squadroned in twos, closes in for the kill. Meanwhile, the Vorchans will hit the flanks.

An alternate list:

1 Primus

2 Sullusts

6 Corvans

Primus hangs back blasting away at incoming ships while the Sullusts provide additional support. They will inexorably close in while the Corvans lurk about and when the time comes, hit the opponent's flanks.

Also, is a Raid fleet the default fleet list or should I get more ships? (Dargans and Altarians really look cool!)

Really curious about the Narn bat squad, though.

 

[Iron Panda]

Alright, just made up the Narn's 5 point Raid fleet. Perfect villains for my future Centauri admiral. :wink:


1 Varnic

2 Ka'tocs

2 Shokars

2 Gkariths

Alternate:

1 Varnic

6 Katocs

or

4 Katocs

2 Gkarith's

The alternate seems to be a fun but nasty list, but seems to sacrifice a bit of flexibilty. Not quite sure if its a wise idea, though.

Thanks!