Curious about the game

S

Sean-Khan

Mongoose
Hello everyone, I'm new to here, and I don't have the game yet. I'm curious about the game, though, and thinking whether I should get into it, and if I do, what should I get. I've been trying to look for newbie threads & reviews around, but am still full of questions.

I just got a sales mail from LGS and saw they've got CtA 1st edition ( http://www.peliarkku.fi/catalog/infoimg/B5CTA.jpg ) for sale, as well as supplements 1 & 2. Is revised edition much improved over 1st edition? What would you say I actually need? I'm planning to get some minis, so is there a reason for boxed set for me? The store didn't inform if that's boxed or rulebook, but I guess it's just the book. There seems also to be some kind of simplified & cheaper starter rulebook around, could I do with it? I like my games fast & furious and not too complicated, but from what I've heard, CtA isn't too complicated anyway.

My previous experience from miniatures games is from Wizards of the Coast -prepainted plastic miniature games. I would have preferred B5 ships plastic, and prepainted even more - if they were, I would have gone for them ages ago! What would you say how difficult B5 ships are to paint? Is there any assembling?

As minis seem to be quite costly, I'd prefer not spending a fortune for books too; What minis I'm planning on getting is EA boxed set (old one if I can get my hands on one, seems to have more iconic ships) and several single (iconic) ships from other factions. I'm also curious about if there's rules for different crews/commanders/variations for ships, if I want variety for fleets without large variety of ships.

So, about books, what would you think are the must thing(s) for me?

Thanks in advance for enlightening me! :)
 
Definitely don't bother with 1st edition (revised set, SFOS, Armageddon). For a start it is much more expensice to get into than 2nd ed. All you need for 2nd ed is the rule book, fleet book, dice, tape measure, pen and paper.

You can play with counters until you find a fleet you like - great for "try before you buy". Some of the minis can be a bit of a pain to assemble but generally they are OK and getting better. The fleet boxes are great value for money and give a good competitive fleet although you are right, the old box set does have more iconic ships, you won't be able to use them all in the same fleet any more.
 
The general consensus on the forum seems to be that Second Edition is a definite improvement overall, though there are areas of contention. As for the box sets, they limit your choices, but you get better value than if you bought the same ships individually.
Some models require varying amounts of assembly, some don't. Re-drilling the mounting hole seems to be pretty common, and most models have at least some flash. The painting challenge depends largely on how much effort you're willing to put into it. If you want cannon color schemes, some races (notably the Narn) are more difficult than others. Beyond that...well I'm a bit a novice at model painting, so I'll defer to my betters.
Personally, I'd recommend getting the Sky Full of Stars counter sheets to start, instead of minis. Yeah, they're not nearly as cool, but you get multiples of almost every ship in the game for less than $20. Gives you a chance to see what you like without seriously impacting your savings.
Hope this helps!
 
Thanks for comments, Burger & Stryve!

So, 2nd ed, fleet book & SFoS would give me everything to play with... Does the fleet book have stats for every ship that would otherwise come with the minis?

I'm still thinking about minis, as I'd enjoy them as decorative pieces and could find use for them as RPG props too.

If I can find enough spare money & fair enough deal, I could also think of paying for someone skilled with metal minis to asseble & paint the minis for me, or try myself with one or few pieces. Even if sfos isn't expensive, it's still extra money if I want the minis - Fleet book and sfos are 2/3 of the cost of a fleet pack after all.
 
dont need SFOS, just the counter sheets.
all you need as burger said is 2nd ed fleetbook and rulebook. these are both red to make them stand out from 1st ed.
 
Sean-Khan said:
So, 2nd ed, fleet book & SFoS would give me everything to play with... Does the fleet book have stats for every ship that would otherwise come with the minis?
Click to expand...

That's the Rule Book, the Fleet Book (both 2e) and the Sky Full of Stars <i>counter set</i> which is available seperately, and you should be able to find it on eBay for less than $20.

And, yes, the Fleet Book comes with rules for all the currently available ships beside the Tantalus, IIRC.

-Ken
 
LBH's simple guide to buying 2nd edition ACTA:

1) Don't buy it if it's in a box (Only 1st edition and it's revisions came in a box)

2) Don't buy it uhnless it has a red cover. (all the 1E stuff had black covers)

3) If it's just a pack of counters then it's fine for either edition, though the SFOS counter pack is the fullest counter set available.

I think that covers all eventualities.

LBH
 
I bought everything to try it out online at Wargaming Online. You save alot of cash that way and you can just print out the relavant stuff at the time.

You can even get the sky full of stars counters online, then just print them out and play that way.

Have Fun!
 
Empty your bank account, max your credit cards, sell your other gaming stuff, your TV, your XBOX, your children/siblings, your significant other(s), your parents and all your friends and use the proceeds to buy as many ACTA models as you can...
 
LOL, thanks again for tips!

I actually got a new idea - I could scratchbuild some models, some of the ships seem to be simple enough for that. I've been scratchbuilding star wars ships, so it's nothing new to me, but I'm not going to do anything that complicated. This way I don't have to deal with metal that much :) If anyone wishes to see, I can send pics of what I get done. After that, I'll buy more complicated pieces as metal miniatures.

This makes me wonder, what size are the ships? I'd guess larger/longer ships (Omega, G'Quan, Sharlee) are some 3" long, Vorchans maybe 1,5", am I correct? From what I've seen from photos, I guess that the scale is relative. If I have to guess fighter base's size, I'd say it's 1".

Yet another matter - as I wish to use mostly iconic ships, I'd like to have variety within same ship type; Is there rules for varying commanders, crews & armaments?
 
We always love to see pics :)

Yeah your ship size estimates are about right. A lot of ships (including most of the iconic ones) have variants - different versions of the same hull. Especially Hyperion, that has about 12 different versions. Omega has a variant too, G'Quan has a couple, Sharlin has 3. You can buy commanders too, but they are expensive - I think the variants are really what you're after. They're all included in the fleet book.
 
Great! I was interesed in all variety options, including commanders. But, I guess I'll see that soon myself, as I did the leap towards the game and ordered 2nd ed rules & fleet book as I found them for very reasonable price.

I also started my scratchbuilding project, set of 3 first ships is advancing fast. I'll post pics with WIP's when I get them ready!

One more question - I believe it's the base from where distances are measured? If that's true, I'd like to know the capital ship base size; Is 1,5 inches correct?

Thanks again for help :)
 
Measurement is from the stem on ships.
Mongoose's large flight bases are 2 inches in diameter, but there's never been an official standard AFAIK.
 
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