ISA Tactical Manual from S&P

[Nightmares about Minbari]

OK, guys, here I am for you to laugh at. But nobody can say that I don't turn up to face the music.

Couple of points in my defence:

Firstly the article was originally written back last summer as part of the original basic series, so wasn't intended to include SFOS or Armageddon. Then it was re-written to bring it up to date, and unfortunately I missed a couple of changes along the way, things like precise being dropped on the whitestar, and the dodge being changed. Thought I'd got all those, but I'm only human.

Secondly my understanding, which is also Matts opinion so I've been told, is that WSF can open jump points, otherwise they wouldn't have jump drives.

As for the tactical differences some people have then we're into opinions. I don't claim to be a master tactician, I just try and point out what seams obvious to me, and what works among the wargamers I play alongside.

So, let the slaughter commence

 

[tneva82]

Secondly my understanding, which is also Matts opinion so I've been told, is that WSF can open jump points, otherwise they wouldn't have jump drives.

Who says they have jump drives? The trait can represent just as well systems they have on board that allows them to shake off effect of emerging from jump point...

They can't use SA needed to open jump point, ergo they can't use it to jump point bomb. If they were intended to allow that there would be note on datasheet giving them access to said SA.

 

[Nightmares about Minbari]

Sorry, was working off common sense, that if they had the trait they were capable of using it as standard.

To me it would make more sense that if it was intended to work differently from the normal jump engines, then it would need the explanatory note.

However all these things are down to interpretation, and we've obviously interpreted it differently.

I have to assume that as the editor didn't remove the comment, then Mongoose thought it worked the way I did.
Of course, I could be wrong.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter which way you play it as long as everyone knows which way your playing it. It is only a game after all.

 

[katadder]

i believe this was rulesmastered by matt himself.

the problem is that while they have AJP the rules for fighters tell you what SAs they can do, and IJP isnt one of those actions so they cannot JP bomb. what it does allow you to do is open a JP with a ship and send the fighters out to attack which is really quite nasty, especially if fighting narn for example. can avoid the e-mines and get straight into kiling ships.

 

[Burger]

3) On P.12 he suggests a multi allied race split of your ally point. From my reading of SFOS you can only buy allies from one fleet, not multiple fleets.

I could be wrong on the third one though.

You are right, your allies must all come from 1 race. Moreover, it can only be 1 point spent on allies, not 1 point's worth of ships... example of 2 War point fleet would be:

Allowed:
Point 1: 3x White Star
Point 2: 2x Kaliva

Not allowed:
Point 1: Kaliva, 2x White Star
Point 2: Kaliva, 2x White Star

Although your allies ships are 2x Kaliva which equals 1 War point in total, you can't split your allies among multiple point expenditures like this.

 

[Locutus9956]

great way to noble your opponents before a tourney.

I have found the Torotha to be surprisingly useful....

Actually I HAVE found the Torotha to be surprisingly useful. I used to have a pretty good success rate with 3 Tigaras and 4 Torothas. That said I havent tried this one sicne Armageddon came out and stealth changed....

 

[Burger]

The stealth change really hurt both Tigara and Torotha, the close-range Minbari ships. So I think you'll find it much harder now.

I took a Torotha in the ID tournament (2x Tigara and 1x Torotha for 5pt Skirmish)... it killed a Vaarl with its JP bomb (yay!) but didn't get to fire a single shot before being obliterated by one White Star in one shot. No lucky crits, just killed outright by average dice rolls.

 

[tneva82]

To me it would make more sense that if it was intended to work differently from the normal jump engines, then it would need the explanatory note.

There's no need for note that "they can't initiate jump point" because by default of being FIGHTERS they can't do that to begin with.

Check list of special actions fighters can perform. See initiate jump point there? That's what I thought...

 

[thePirv]

Check list of special actions fighters can perform. See initiate jump point there? That's what I thought...

There's no need to be so bloody cheeky. N.A.M. came on to defend himself in an already hostile thread and while he may be wrong on some points, his errors have already been pointed out. You don't need to throw it in his face and get on like that.

 

[Nightmares about Minbari]

Firstly, my thanks to Pirv, nice to know someone appreciates me turning up to face the music.

On the WSF jump point issue:
The article was written on the basis that they could open their own jump points. If they cannot, then that part of the article can be ignored. There is no reason to argue about this is there?

On allies:
I guess our group have a more casual attitude to such things than some others. If your not taking more than a single points worth of ships from allies, it doesn't matter how you do it.

On Spelling minbari names:
Sorry, can't take that too seriously, we're talking about fictional names that are translated from an alien language. I prefer to think that I'm working from the lesser known warrior caste translation rather than the more common religious caste translation.

Anyway, I hope some of you actually liked the article.

 

[Sulfurdown]

On Spelling minbari names:
Sorry, can't take that too seriously, we're talking about fictional names that are translated from an alien language. I prefer to think that I'm working from the lesser known warrior caste translation rather than the more common religious caste translation.

HAHA!! Beautiful... I never would have expected the "alternate translation" card to be played!

Well done, N.a.M., well done!

 

[mthomason]

To defend Alan on this one, he has already mentioned this article was written a while back and some corrections and changes have occured since.

Both Ian and myself spend time going through articles and correcting the any "obvious" errors we see. Sometimes others slip through the net, especially if there's corrections or clarifications made to game rules *after* the editing takes place and the article gets queued. Sometimes something just gets missed, especially in relatively long articles that are full of rules references. Nobody is perfect

So yes, occasionally errors do slip through - as long as people take these errors the right way and politely point them out on the forums, everyone's happy... However, for what its worth, you also have my apology for missing this in my own part down the chain.

 

[emperorpenguin]

OK, guys, here I am for you to laugh at. But nobody can say that I don't turn up to face the music.

Couple of points in my defence:

Firstly the article was originally written back last summer as part of the original basic series, so wasn't intended to include SFOS or Armageddon. Then it was re-written to bring it up to date, and unfortunately I missed a couple of changes along the way, things like precise being dropped on the whitestar, and the dodge being changed. Thought I'd got all those, but I'm only human.

I don't claim to be a master tactician, I just try and point out what seams obvious to me, and what works among the wargamers I play alongside.

So, let the slaughter commence

I was confused at first because I figured the inclusion of precise etc was easily explained by the article being pre-Armageddon, but WS fighters being included threw me off!

No worries Alan, you've taken your stick and faced up to it.

As for not being a master tactician. I have no idea about the ISA myself but I said at the time of your Centauri tactica that it was spot on!

 

[katadder]

i do however agree with the taking of tiracas, great init sinks, great damage for patrol level and not bad firepower either. its ok taking vree scouts but its not really got any firepower.

 

[Ripple]

No firepower? Maybe not of its own...but it significantly magnifies the firepower of everything else you take. Tiraca does have great damage, but its still hull 4 and has to get in range of secondary weapons of any real warship to use it's guns. Rather have a hermes for guns as it can stay out of range and comes with a T-bolt. Of course that depends on how many Patrol slots you've got to fill, only one Vree...four? Mix of Vree and Hermes...12?...how the hell did that happen...but 3 Vree and rest...well, now there is that blue star toy for bombing capable scenarios...

Vree due to mixing well with Whitestars (highly maneuverable avoiding arc mentality, great magnification on companions that need to get everything they can out of a die)...in Skirmish and lower...well you will only ever have one FAP to spend so still Vree...maybe with the new ISA skirmish ship you'd want the Tiracas.

Ripple