Does anyone use the EA Explorer?

[LordClinto]

Anyone?

I'm asking because after playing three 5 point Raid games on Sat, it seems like that was one of the most effective or maybe consistent ships my opponent had!

I Got to play 3, 5 point Raids against Brian on Sat.

1st was Minbari vs Crusade EA, no contest.
2nd was Raiders vs same EA fleet with one or two tweeks, raiders all the way! (Crippled the Marathon on first turn due to crits!)
3rd was remach Raiders vs Crusade EA, not as lop-sided as game 2 but raiders all the way!

My friend used an Explorer in all three games, and let me tell you the highlight of all three games was in game 1. All of my Minbari ships were in the aft of his weaponless, fairly well damaged Explorer. He opened a Jump Point to try and escape and after a full turn of firing with all of my ships, his completely de-crewed, nearly crippled ship escaped into Hyperspace to become the start of a beautiful space-hulk! (I don't know if his ship would have escaped into hyperspace according to the rules but it seemed flavorfull!)

He said he liked the Explorer because of it's fighter compliment & damage soaking.

Any suggestions for a good replacement or comparable ship in that Era?

 

[Balance]

It seems like an interesting gamble for campaign games, at least. It's never going to be a real 'flagship' but can soak up a lot of damage.

Note that losing one, at least in a campaign, would definitely be justification for your opponent to laugh at you... There's only supposed to be like six of these circa 2261?

 

[Shadow Queen]

5 one got blown to bits by the red healms

 

[Burger]

his completely de-crewed, nearly crippled ship escaped into Hyperspace to become the start of a beautiful space-hulk! (I don't know if his ship would have escaped into hyperspace according to the rules but it seemed flavorfull!)

Nope, when a ship loses all its crew, the JP would close and the ship would be adrift. Funny though to let it go into hyperspace all alone, maybe someone set the autopilot before being blown up!

 

[Abraxas]

his completely de-crewed, nearly crippled ship escaped into Hyperspace to become the start of a beautiful space-hulk! (I don't know if his ship would have escaped into hyperspace according to the rules but it seemed flavorfull!)

Nope, when a ship loses all its crew, the JP would close and the ship would be adrift. Funny though to let it go into hyperspace all alone, maybe someone set the autopilot before being blown up!

Or it just drifted into an open jumpoint.

Once the JP is open it doesn't require the crew, especially if your trajectory will take you in already. However, with no crew the ship can't navigate in hyperspace and will most likely be lost...

I'm seeing images of the EAS Cortez...

EDIT: (gotta stay on topic) As for the Explorer as an actual warship? I would be curious as to if ANYone has used it. And used it to an effective level. it has fighters (no carrier ability) and hvy. pulse cannon. What you do is put it at the forefront of your fleet and charge at the enemy carrier. The particle beams and fighter compliment can take care of it's fighters and may (effectively) supress the enemy carrieres.

Just a suggestion.

 

[Shadow Queen]

hyperspace eddies......

How did they know they were called eddie??

 

[CmdrKiley]

I had a similar situation where a de-crewed Explorer drifted into it's own Jump Point. Narns called it a kill rather than a tactical withdrawal as the ship was considered lost in hyperspace.

 

[LordClinto]

I had a similar situation where a de-crewed Explorer drifted into it's own Jump Point. Narns called it a kill rather than a tactical withdrawal as the ship was considered lost in hyperspace.

That pretty much what happened.

 

[LordClinto]

EDIT: (gotta stay on topic) As for the Explorer as an actual warship? I would be curious as to if ANYone has used it. And used it to an effective level. it has fighters (no carrier ability) and hvy. pulse cannon. What you do is put it at the forefront of your fleet and charge at the enemy carrier. The particle beams and fighter compliment can take care of it's fighters and may (effectively) supress the enemy carrieres.

Just a suggestion.

Thats what he tried to do with my strike carriers in game 2 & 3, anytime he got close enough to use the heavy pulse cannons either his weapons went offline or I was able to get out of his arc.


Does anybody have any suggestions as to a good replacement / equivalent for a crusade fleet?

 

[Slightly Norse John]

Yes; the Explorer. It is actually available in Crusade era fleets, and probably makes more sense there than anywhere else. At best, it should be flying the blue ensign- Fleet Auxilliary rather than actual warship- and at worst should be left out of a military fleet list entirely. Personally, I think it should not be available for other than set piece scenarios.
In the late period, it's closer to centre stage than at any other time, search and exploration being a basic theme, and probably, fluff- wise, should be seen on the table more often then than in any other period.

Look on the bright side; it's actually better than the Balvarin.
In a large fleet it's pointless, in a small fleet it can't deploy it's weapons, in a medium fleet that command bonus can actually pay for itself.

 

[Locutus9956]

All that said 5 of them in a 5 pt raid could be interesting just for the sheer amount of damage that fleet could actually sustain before dying. I dont think it would have the firepower even with all those fighters, to actually do much back but it could be fun to try

 

[combatdroid113]

i would use them purely for fluff though - a special scenario

 

[thePirv]

I've taken Explorers a few times when playing as EA, and i swear by them. They're a great ship, the +1 command is such a great help, and the Damage soak ability helps quite a bit. The fighter compliment is also handy, and the main weapons aren't totally useless either.