EDFDarkAngel1
Mongoose
So, as one of my threads state, I am running a campaign. We have 2 EA Crusade, 1 ISA, 1 Centauri, 1 Psi Corps, and 1 Narn. Our first day, the Narn and second EA player were absent.
The ISA, Centauri, and Psi Corps have extremely powerful low-end ships in the form of, in respective order, White/Blue Stars, Haven/Kutai/Maximus/Rutarians, and MotherShip/Shadowcloaks. I have found that, as the attacker, I have a reasonably good chance at winning. Defending, however, is a downside to EA. Outside of dice, bad tactics, and really good luck from my opponents, there seems to be a disadvantage.
I will give Recon Run an example. I won only because I got lucky, and the Psi Corps player chose not to use Interceptors for half the game. He was using all Shadowcloaks to my 2 Chronos and Aurora Starfuries.
As all of the players reviewed my fleet roster, the potential candidates in the EA Crusade, and the scenario itself... it became clear that EA can only win if they can successfully engage the enemy with fighters, or outside of 12".
All of the current players have ships faster than EA, especially at Skirmish level. Most of them have elite crews (ISA, Psi Corps), so all they need to do is get within range and roll a 1 or 2 (3, if only Military Grade). The defender (EA), which has 2 more FA, has to stay out of that range and try and kill these ships. At the skirmish level, that means Chronos. Since the Shadowcloak can move just as fast as the Chronos, but it is far more maneuverable (2/90 degree turns as opposed to 2/45 degree turns).
In short, we discovered that EA has a significant disadvantage in fighting this scenario. We were discussing that the distance required should more like 6" and the CQ should be higher, or that it would be a requirement that the scouting ships also need to successfully leave the map in order to get the information out to safety.
The are other circumstances, such as the Patrol level of Blockade, in which more ships have to leave the opponent's edge than get destroyed. In a Patrol level fight, that leaves EA with 2 patrol points and, in our case, ISA with 5. The ISA picked the Liandra and the rest with White Star Fighters. I had a choice of 2 Hermes, 1 Chronos, 4 flights of Firebolts, or 8 flights of Auroras. Since speed was the issue, I opted for Auroras. I was hoping their dodge and Hull 5 could save them.
Unfortunately, the White Star Fighter is better than the Aurora in every single aspect. Two flights of fighters were able to get away, due to excellent gunnery skills on the Auroras, but I lost the fight because I only got half a Patrol VP, and he got 1.5 Patrol VP for killing all my fighters. I am not sure what else I could have done. My tactics was to deploy my fighters all across the edge of the board spaced out evenly and I flew straight ahead without turning.
There are other examples of other scenarios... but my players recommending making some homebrew changes to the campaign. My fear was that I am only doing it because it doesn't work well for me.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Dark Angel
The ISA, Centauri, and Psi Corps have extremely powerful low-end ships in the form of, in respective order, White/Blue Stars, Haven/Kutai/Maximus/Rutarians, and MotherShip/Shadowcloaks. I have found that, as the attacker, I have a reasonably good chance at winning. Defending, however, is a downside to EA. Outside of dice, bad tactics, and really good luck from my opponents, there seems to be a disadvantage.
I will give Recon Run an example. I won only because I got lucky, and the Psi Corps player chose not to use Interceptors for half the game. He was using all Shadowcloaks to my 2 Chronos and Aurora Starfuries.
As all of the players reviewed my fleet roster, the potential candidates in the EA Crusade, and the scenario itself... it became clear that EA can only win if they can successfully engage the enemy with fighters, or outside of 12".
All of the current players have ships faster than EA, especially at Skirmish level. Most of them have elite crews (ISA, Psi Corps), so all they need to do is get within range and roll a 1 or 2 (3, if only Military Grade). The defender (EA), which has 2 more FA, has to stay out of that range and try and kill these ships. At the skirmish level, that means Chronos. Since the Shadowcloak can move just as fast as the Chronos, but it is far more maneuverable (2/90 degree turns as opposed to 2/45 degree turns).
In short, we discovered that EA has a significant disadvantage in fighting this scenario. We were discussing that the distance required should more like 6" and the CQ should be higher, or that it would be a requirement that the scouting ships also need to successfully leave the map in order to get the information out to safety.
The are other circumstances, such as the Patrol level of Blockade, in which more ships have to leave the opponent's edge than get destroyed. In a Patrol level fight, that leaves EA with 2 patrol points and, in our case, ISA with 5. The ISA picked the Liandra and the rest with White Star Fighters. I had a choice of 2 Hermes, 1 Chronos, 4 flights of Firebolts, or 8 flights of Auroras. Since speed was the issue, I opted for Auroras. I was hoping their dodge and Hull 5 could save them.
Unfortunately, the White Star Fighter is better than the Aurora in every single aspect. Two flights of fighters were able to get away, due to excellent gunnery skills on the Auroras, but I lost the fight because I only got half a Patrol VP, and he got 1.5 Patrol VP for killing all my fighters. I am not sure what else I could have done. My tactics was to deploy my fighters all across the edge of the board spaced out evenly and I flew straight ahead without turning.
There are other examples of other scenarios... but my players recommending making some homebrew changes to the campaign. My fear was that I am only doing it because it doesn't work well for me.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Dark Angel
