So far, I've played 5 games of 2e as my Narn fleet. Overall, they have been fun, the only thing that I'm *really* not keen on is the new beam mechanic (Still!).
The first game that I played was against an Early EA fleet (2 x Sagitarius, 2 x Olympus Gunboat, 1 x Command Hyperion, 2 x Artemis Heavy Frigate, 1 x Nova) while my fleet comprised of 4 x Sho'Kov, 1 x Sho'Kar and a G'Vrahn.
Basically, the EA fleet deployed across the length of the table, to try to minimise the effect of the Advanced E-Mines on my G'Vrahn. The two Olympus on the EA's left, the Artemis on their right flank, and the Sags behind the Hyperion and Nova in the centre. I deployed my Narn opposite the Artemis, and won first turn initiative. The G'Vrahn's firepower was used on the Sags, almost destroying both of them. The EA's return fire was ineffective, as they were mostly out of range.
Second turn, the G'Vrahn finished off both Sags, then fired on a Olympus, almost destroying that as well. The Nova was still out of range, so couldn't bring it's weapons to bear. The Hyperion fired on the G'Vrahn, and slightly scratched the paintwork. The combined firepower of the Artemis destroyed two Sho'Kovs, while the Torpedo boats in return finished off the crippled Olympus.
Third (and final) turn, the G'Vrahn brought it's bore sighted weaponry to bear upon the unfortunate Nova, and both of it's main beams fired upon the ship, causing a total of over 60 damage, the lasers and Mag gun could have destroyed the unfortunate EA ship twice over, and it exploded dramatically. The EA's return fire was limited, as the surviving Sho'Kov's flew at full speed past the EA fleet and were out of weapons range. The Sho'Kar had it's paint slightly scratched by the Artemis' fire.
At this point, my opponent conceded, as his fleet was out of position and was running out of firepower fast, while the G'Vrahn was virtually undamaged, and I still had 3 Initiative sinks to ensure I managed to get boresights.
The second game was against the Centauri, and I decided to field a more balanced fleet... 4 x Sho'Kos, 1 x Dag'Kar, 1 x Var'Nic, 2 x Ka'Toc and 1 x G'Karith. The Centauri fielded a Liati, 4 x Demos and 4 x Kutai.
The Centauri deployed across the length of the table again, the Liati on one flank, the Demos in the centre and the Kutai's on the other flank. I deployed mostly opposite the Liati, with my Var'Nic and Ka'Toc's opposite the Demos'.
First turn: The Centauri fleet moved forward... that Liati is FAST, it managed to get behind my Sho'Kos' and G'Karith in it's first move. The Demos moved forwards in squadron, targeting the Var'Nic and K'Tocs while the Kutai's sped forwards on the other flank. In the fire phase, the Demos destroyed the Var'Nic in one volley, the Liati took an E-Mine hit without worrying then blew a Sho'Kos to pieces while the other ships traded fire inconclusively.
Second round, the Liati advanced upon the Sho'Kar and Dag'Kar that were lurking towards the back of the Narn fleet, while the Demos brought their weapons to bear upon the G'Karith and the Kutai's headed towards the Sho'Kos. The Liati took a weapons crit from a flight of Frazis, and needed 4+ to fire, then the Demos destroyed the G'Karith, while the Kutai's picked off another Sho'Kos. The Liati then destroyed the Sho'Kar and damaged the Dag'Kar.
Third round, the Centauri more or less mopped up my fleet (not that there was much left by then!). However, the Dag'Kar did manage to destroy a Demos before it exploded!
The other three games that I gave played have all been against the Dilgar, and have all been crushing defeats for them, with the Narn suffering minimal casualties. If anyone's interested, I'll post summaries of the games later. Mostly, I've rolled above average hits for beam dice in every game (except against the Centauri) and have managed to get 12+hits from 4 beam dice regularly.
This is a concern for me, still, as it seems that one lucky beam shot early in the game can swing it out of your hands, especially if you don't have ships with beam in your own fleet. Everything else seems about 2e seems to flow nicely, and I like a lot of the changes to the fleet lists (although the Dilgar seem a bit weak at Patrol, Skirmish and Raid level, to be honest...) and the adaptations to the special orders. The Centauri are just plain NASTY (especially the Demos...) and I'll have to try to find a way to counter their extreme agility and speed (probably take lots of ships with strong all round firepower and lots of turns... Thentus' probably!)
The first game that I played was against an Early EA fleet (2 x Sagitarius, 2 x Olympus Gunboat, 1 x Command Hyperion, 2 x Artemis Heavy Frigate, 1 x Nova) while my fleet comprised of 4 x Sho'Kov, 1 x Sho'Kar and a G'Vrahn.
Basically, the EA fleet deployed across the length of the table, to try to minimise the effect of the Advanced E-Mines on my G'Vrahn. The two Olympus on the EA's left, the Artemis on their right flank, and the Sags behind the Hyperion and Nova in the centre. I deployed my Narn opposite the Artemis, and won first turn initiative. The G'Vrahn's firepower was used on the Sags, almost destroying both of them. The EA's return fire was ineffective, as they were mostly out of range.
Second turn, the G'Vrahn finished off both Sags, then fired on a Olympus, almost destroying that as well. The Nova was still out of range, so couldn't bring it's weapons to bear. The Hyperion fired on the G'Vrahn, and slightly scratched the paintwork. The combined firepower of the Artemis destroyed two Sho'Kovs, while the Torpedo boats in return finished off the crippled Olympus.
Third (and final) turn, the G'Vrahn brought it's bore sighted weaponry to bear upon the unfortunate Nova, and both of it's main beams fired upon the ship, causing a total of over 60 damage, the lasers and Mag gun could have destroyed the unfortunate EA ship twice over, and it exploded dramatically. The EA's return fire was limited, as the surviving Sho'Kov's flew at full speed past the EA fleet and were out of weapons range. The Sho'Kar had it's paint slightly scratched by the Artemis' fire.
At this point, my opponent conceded, as his fleet was out of position and was running out of firepower fast, while the G'Vrahn was virtually undamaged, and I still had 3 Initiative sinks to ensure I managed to get boresights.
The second game was against the Centauri, and I decided to field a more balanced fleet... 4 x Sho'Kos, 1 x Dag'Kar, 1 x Var'Nic, 2 x Ka'Toc and 1 x G'Karith. The Centauri fielded a Liati, 4 x Demos and 4 x Kutai.
The Centauri deployed across the length of the table again, the Liati on one flank, the Demos in the centre and the Kutai's on the other flank. I deployed mostly opposite the Liati, with my Var'Nic and Ka'Toc's opposite the Demos'.
First turn: The Centauri fleet moved forward... that Liati is FAST, it managed to get behind my Sho'Kos' and G'Karith in it's first move. The Demos moved forwards in squadron, targeting the Var'Nic and K'Tocs while the Kutai's sped forwards on the other flank. In the fire phase, the Demos destroyed the Var'Nic in one volley, the Liati took an E-Mine hit without worrying then blew a Sho'Kos to pieces while the other ships traded fire inconclusively.
Second round, the Liati advanced upon the Sho'Kar and Dag'Kar that were lurking towards the back of the Narn fleet, while the Demos brought their weapons to bear upon the G'Karith and the Kutai's headed towards the Sho'Kos. The Liati took a weapons crit from a flight of Frazis, and needed 4+ to fire, then the Demos destroyed the G'Karith, while the Kutai's picked off another Sho'Kos. The Liati then destroyed the Sho'Kar and damaged the Dag'Kar.
Third round, the Centauri more or less mopped up my fleet (not that there was much left by then!). However, the Dag'Kar did manage to destroy a Demos before it exploded!
The other three games that I gave played have all been against the Dilgar, and have all been crushing defeats for them, with the Narn suffering minimal casualties. If anyone's interested, I'll post summaries of the games later. Mostly, I've rolled above average hits for beam dice in every game (except against the Centauri) and have managed to get 12+hits from 4 beam dice regularly.
This is a concern for me, still, as it seems that one lucky beam shot early in the game can swing it out of your hands, especially if you don't have ships with beam in your own fleet. Everything else seems about 2e seems to flow nicely, and I like a lot of the changes to the fleet lists (although the Dilgar seem a bit weak at Patrol, Skirmish and Raid level, to be honest...) and the adaptations to the special orders. The Centauri are just plain NASTY (especially the Demos...) and I'll have to try to find a way to counter their extreme agility and speed (probably take lots of ships with strong all round firepower and lots of turns... Thentus' probably!)
(IMHO)