We decided to try out the new 'A' ships with a 2 Armageddon Pt game. The only requirement was 1 Arm level ship per side. Here is what we had:
ISA
Indefatigable -Victory class Destroyer.
Intrepid - White Star Carrier
WS 22 -White Star 2
2 White Stars
EA
Antagonist -Nemesis Class (Flash Missiles)
Cannae - Marathon Class
Archer - Apollo Class (Flash missiles FWD, AF aft)
Phobos -Chronos
Diemos -Chronos
Set -Up
Board was set with 1 Medium planetoid on left side near ISA. ISA arranged with Victory on Right flank, WSC in center and White Stars on the left. EA Had Apollo on left, Nem center, and Marathon and Chronos' on the right.
Turn 1
EA wins init. White Stars/WSC sweep behind planet to prepare for slingshot. Chronos and Marathon move to intercept as Nem and Apollo focus on the Victory bearing down the center. Cruisers exchanged LR fire to light damage and 1 -2spd crit to both big ships.
Turn 2
ISA wins int. White Stars/WSC complete their slingshot and swoop in on the EA's flank. Marathon boresites the WS2, flanked by the Chronos' A giant tangle of fighters forms as the EA ships try to close the tech gap with the WS fighters in a Dogfight. The Marathon receives the undivided attention of the Victory. The result was 57 pts of damage and an explosion that took out fighters on both sides and crippled a White Star. The Nemesis pounded on the Victory, but could only get another -2 spd crit.
Turn 3
EA wins init. Free of EA fighters the WS Fighters swoop in on the Apollo's flanks. The White Stars and Carrier move in behind to support. The Chronos' and Nemesis line up on the Victory. Long story short; the WS fighters took down the interceptors, and the White Star carrier crippled the ship in an explosive volley. The Nemesis demonstrated that poor rolls can always trump big guns, as it softly patted on the Victory with it's boresite weapon. The Victory responded by deleting a Chronos, and inflicting two more crits on the Nemesis.
Turn 4
EA makes a break for it, with ISA in hot pursuit. The Nemesis kills another white star, gets its engines running at the end of the turn, and we decide to call it.
Butcher's bill:
EA: Marathon, Apollo, Chronos + 4 T-Bolts 2 Star Furys
ISA: 2 White Stars, 5 White Star fighters, 2 Nials, 3 Star Fury, 1 TBolt
Thoughts: As many here predicted the Crit chart is merciless on the Armageddon PL ships. The Nemesis could not maintain a constant rate of fire or move normally for all the crits it received. All the precise weapons the ISA had ensured a steady crit supply on the ship, and was the reason for the final retreat. I think the redundancy idea is a good house rule to add.
The Victory is definately a formidable ship. The lightning cannon needs a greater range (40") to really make it a viable option to ever actually fire.
WS fighters are powerful, but I would definately avoid buying them seperately. Too fragile to operate at the skirmish level.
Nemesis lacks sufficient firepower for it's PL. The Self-repair is nice, but useless as the crew numbers continue to plummet. It needs about 20 more crew. (We ended the game with it at 55/18 damage and 22/16 crew.)
ISA
Indefatigable -Victory class Destroyer.
Intrepid - White Star Carrier
WS 22 -White Star 2
2 White Stars
EA
Antagonist -Nemesis Class (Flash Missiles)
Cannae - Marathon Class
Archer - Apollo Class (Flash missiles FWD, AF aft)
Phobos -Chronos
Diemos -Chronos
Set -Up
Board was set with 1 Medium planetoid on left side near ISA. ISA arranged with Victory on Right flank, WSC in center and White Stars on the left. EA Had Apollo on left, Nem center, and Marathon and Chronos' on the right.
Turn 1
EA wins init. White Stars/WSC sweep behind planet to prepare for slingshot. Chronos and Marathon move to intercept as Nem and Apollo focus on the Victory bearing down the center. Cruisers exchanged LR fire to light damage and 1 -2spd crit to both big ships.
Turn 2
ISA wins int. White Stars/WSC complete their slingshot and swoop in on the EA's flank. Marathon boresites the WS2, flanked by the Chronos' A giant tangle of fighters forms as the EA ships try to close the tech gap with the WS fighters in a Dogfight. The Marathon receives the undivided attention of the Victory. The result was 57 pts of damage and an explosion that took out fighters on both sides and crippled a White Star. The Nemesis pounded on the Victory, but could only get another -2 spd crit.
Turn 3
EA wins init. Free of EA fighters the WS Fighters swoop in on the Apollo's flanks. The White Stars and Carrier move in behind to support. The Chronos' and Nemesis line up on the Victory. Long story short; the WS fighters took down the interceptors, and the White Star carrier crippled the ship in an explosive volley. The Nemesis demonstrated that poor rolls can always trump big guns, as it softly patted on the Victory with it's boresite weapon. The Victory responded by deleting a Chronos, and inflicting two more crits on the Nemesis.
Turn 4
EA makes a break for it, with ISA in hot pursuit. The Nemesis kills another white star, gets its engines running at the end of the turn, and we decide to call it.
Butcher's bill:
EA: Marathon, Apollo, Chronos + 4 T-Bolts 2 Star Furys
ISA: 2 White Stars, 5 White Star fighters, 2 Nials, 3 Star Fury, 1 TBolt
Thoughts: As many here predicted the Crit chart is merciless on the Armageddon PL ships. The Nemesis could not maintain a constant rate of fire or move normally for all the crits it received. All the precise weapons the ISA had ensured a steady crit supply on the ship, and was the reason for the final retreat. I think the redundancy idea is a good house rule to add.
The Victory is definately a formidable ship. The lightning cannon needs a greater range (40") to really make it a viable option to ever actually fire.
WS fighters are powerful, but I would definately avoid buying them seperately. Too fragile to operate at the skirmish level.
Nemesis lacks sufficient firepower for it's PL. The Self-repair is nice, but useless as the crew numbers continue to plummet. It needs about 20 more crew. (We ended the game with it at 55/18 damage and 22/16 crew.)
