new player questions about ISA

[Juzza]

I'm looking at getting into the game after watching a few guys play it at my club and I really like space ships and all. I've played a a couple of games just as a introduction and both games were really fun.

Anyhow I'm thinking about getting the ISA fleet. Are they competitive vs Vree or centauri or EA? As they will probably be my main opponents.

And what can i expect from an ISA fleet? I've had a look, they look fast and all but made of paper. What kinda list would be a good starter list from the box set for say a raid level game?

any help would be great

 

[thehod]

I have had experience with ISA and I have dealt with Vree, EA, and Centauri on multiple occasions with them.

For a 5 raid game which is pretty standard I would use 2 Whitestars, 1 Whitestar Gunship, 4 bluestars. The Bkuestars can squadron together along with the white stars and the gunship as another squadron. In my games, squadroned whitestars are very very deadly and if you want you can also use the bluestars as init sinks. Have Both WS with scout so you can not only reroll initiative but also scout for stealth or redirect for molecular pulsars.

EA has slow ships and nasty boresight weapons and a nastier broadside, 1ed they were better against ISA due to anti-fighter weapons but now since they took those away, they will toss plenty of stuff at you. Interceptors mean your molecular pulsars will rarely get through. The EA also deals in plenty of fighters so your whitestars will most likely be using their beams to cut open EA ships you have to probably spend a turn running around them and at all costs, dont go headlong into an earth fleet. (I suggest close blast doors and fire beams). Send your whitestar fighters to kill his fighters and then keep at an escort duty to avoid being shot by anti-fighter

Centauri are close to the manuverability with VOrchans, Kutais and Liatis. Public enemy #1 is the Liati. Kill that first and then go against the lesser stuff. Since Centauri rely alot on foward weapons this usually leaves for little else on the sides so try to flank a centauri fleet. Use your whitestar fighters to hunt smaller centauri ships lacking in anti-fighter or keep them in close escort with your ships.

Vree will give you the most trouble but their hulls are pretty fragile. There is no real way to out manuver Vree with their turret weapons and super manuverability rules. Go head to head and unleash your weapons on the ships. fighters are better off as close escort for your ships as the anti-fighter ratings on so you can intercept their non-beam weapons.

 

[Ripple]

ISA are not made of paper. You have to figure in the dodge and adaptive armor as well as the the raw damage numbers. You as large or larger than most ships if not facing E-mines or Accurate weapons.

Also don't over look the non-whitestar elements of the fleet. All are solid choices.

To add to thehod's advice...

his fleet list is solid, but consider using the nial carrying WS as you need fighter defense vs the opponents you list. The Vree skirmish carrier is one of the worst ships you'll face due to the four great fighters. The WS biggest weakness is not its damage track, but it's weakness to fighters if you don't make sure you have enough fighter support of your own.

Also don't squadron up your bluestars. You need the sinks to maximize your maneuver. The ship is design not to withstand fire, but avoid it, make use of that by keeping your number of sinks up (another good reason to take, say a Tara'Lin good sink.)

Ripple

 

[Banichi]

Hopefully the ISA will have more luck against the local vree than my poor old Earth Alliance.

 

[Greg Smith]

Vree can be one of the worst races for Whitestars to face. Whitestars work best when they keep out of the main weapon arcs of the bigger ships. With Vree you can't do that. Maneuverability is also the Whitestar's friend. The Vree are very maneuverable too.

 

[Lord David the Denied]

White Stars can, at least, dodge all the Vree weapons, and adaptive armour undoes most of the benefits of the Vree's DD obsession. Of course, the Vree have great low-level ships and awesome fighters, so you're in trouble there. You'll probably be out-numbered and have less fighters than they do. Your best bet is to just drive in and hit them as hard as you can as fast as you can.

 

[lastbesthope]

Indeed, using WS against almost anything, gang up on the enemy, put as many WS on one enemy ship at a time as you can till it's dead or it's too inconvenient to loop back around for another pass.

LBH

 

[Ripple]

Just generally good advice. This is a game about killing, as damage rarely actually removes any abilities on its own. You need crits, and they can be all over the place to hamper an enemy. One thing I'm not actually fond of in this game bu it does help move it along.

Always put enough dice on something to kill it, if you think your putting too much put a second possible target in arc when you can, but never skimp.

Ripple

 

[Taran]

To quote my favourite MtG flavortext:

"Overkill?! This isn't a game of Kick the Ouphe!"


Overkill is ALWAYS, without variation, better than underkill. Always.
If you think you're overdoing it, you're probably right on due to unpredictable dice rolls...

 

[Juzza]

thanks for the advice

The ISA looks to be a fun race to play. I was trying to decided between the ISA or the vorlons. As they the only box sets i can get right this minute but the ISA is better at raid level which is the most common games we will play,

I'll hopefully give the vree a run for there money,

 

[locarno24]

They are a good fun fleet to play; they are a moderately forgiving fleet to start with (whilst a manouvrable fleet a white star is damn tough for what its stats would suggest) but it takes a bit of skill to get really good - which makes it all the more satisfying when you do.

To make matters better, the white star's main gun got seriously improved in the new edition - yes, vree will be able to shoot back, but their ships tend to be fragile, and a couple of neutron laser bursts can ginsu the hull rather neatly.

Vorlons are (I think) even more enjoyable to play, but only at battle or war priority where you get realistic access to the cruiser-class vessels for truly ridiculous killyness. Effective as they are, playing a game with light escorts and shuttles againts an enemy fleet feels...off...somehow. This may be improved in the near future with the emergance of the Vorlon Frigate.