New Playtest Pack V1.2

[MongooseMatt]

Hi guys,

A new playtest pack for P&P has just been uploaded - feel free to make comment!

I am hoping this will be the last general round of playtesting, as we have taken into account a lot of your comments and queries. We are now working on the other sections of the book, including some unique, never before published background, and some other bits and pieces that have been asked for

 

[H]

link?!

 

[MongooseMatt]

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1455&qsSeries=11

 

[Foxmeister]

Woot! Woot!

Regards,

Dave

 

[silashand]

Still disappointed the Vorlon dread isn't ancient level :-(. That was the one thing I had hoped would change. Meh.

Cheers, Gary

 

[Burger]

Still disappointed Deep Space chapter hasn't dispapeared into the bog of eternal stench... it might make an interesting one-off game for two players, but it's totally unsuitable for a tournament.

 

[H]

10" whitestars, let the complaints commence.

CBD on Narn better than the 4+, still means Narn not using a special action are still very prone to Crits (as are several other races/ships though)
should make the "sniper" G'Quan a more used choice!

 

[Foxmeister]

From a cursory glance...

Like:

New WS
New Narn CBD

Don't Like

"New" G'Quan - since this hasn't changed, it appears that the PTB consider this fixed (HINT: it isn't! It is still pants and not worth taking under any circumstances)

Queries:

WS Gunship - should the range of the Neutron laser be 12" as per the WS Enforcer?

Regards,

Dave

 

[Burger]

Vree extraction beam is still broken, it needs to be PL based.
A Xarr or Ximm can totally de-crew a Blue Star in 1 turn, or a WS in 2 turns.

Oh... and so can a Tzymm... oops.

 

[Greg Smith]

Oh... and so can a Tzymm... oops.

It is a Special Action and fighters can't do SAs.

But otherwise I concur.

 

[AdrianH]

Energy mines are specifically listed as giving +1 to break stealth in the Minbari section of Fleet Command. What does this mean for energy mines against anyone else's stealth? Or is it redundant in the Minbari section, since energy mines have already been ruled to give the bonus anyway?

Shadows seem to lose out compared to version 1.1. Beams in anti-fighter mode are no longer precise, which doesn't matter against fighters but does mean a drive-by shooting (double speed to get next to an enemy, fire as anti-fighter because he's out of forward arc) is less effective. The Stalker gains another point of stealth but loses its beam upgrade, and still can't scout, so unless the Shadows are fighting someone with a lot of interceptors, they're better off taking a pair of Scouts; in many cases, one Scout is a better choice.

 

[Burger]

The Minbari Web Of Death is a nerf to the Ashinta... it can no longer transfer AF dice to a ship within 8", if there is any other ship within 4"!

Using the Web Of Death needs to be made optional, rather than happening automatically when 2 ships are within 4" of each other.
.

 

[silashand]

On cursory review, I'm not sure this version is much of an improvement in many areas. I know Matt listened primarily to playtest results, and some things didn't seem to get much if any of that, but still. I thought a lot of the previous comments were quite valid (and most of the ones so far in this thread).

And FWIW, based solely on a group in our area's one playtest game, the Abbai mines thing looks to be a nightmare to keep track of once more than a couple ships start dropping them all over the table. Though I went out and bought custom tokens for them, one question remains: is the strength of the mine hidden or not before it is detonated? Obviously you could figure it out if you tracked them, but I don't know that it would be desirable. JMO though.

Oh well, back to lurking I guess.

Cheers, Gary

 

[mollari_uk]

I agree about the stalker, it's simply not a battle level ship.

It's a scout without the scout trait, more shields and only a comparable weapon. Also the risk of getting the stalker pinned is too great as it's the same values as the scout. It's definetly not worth 2 scouts or 2 aren't worth a Young Ship.

For one, why can't the stalker be somewhere in between for damage? The scout is 25 the Young Ship is 75. Why is the Stalker still 25?

With a lack of choice in ships the Shadows need really good all round choices. The Scout is great, as are the Young and Ancient ships, and now so is the fighter. The Stalker is still a non-choice for me.

 

[Greg Smith]

On cursory review, I'm not sure this version is much of an improvement in many areas.

It is very much an improvement of what was there already. It doesn't have the radical changes that many were hoping for - for example certain fleet commnad special abilities remain that are disliked by some players.

And FWIW, based solely on a group in our area's one playtest game, the Abbai mines thing looks to be a nightmare to keep track of once more than a couple ships start dropping them all over the table.

Hopefully Mongoose will publish mine counters of some kind - maybe as a pdf. They need to have the AD marked on them and a centre point.

BTW nothing in ACTA is supposed to be secret, so there is no reason why mines should be.

 

[AdrianH]

So much for my complaints; now the stuff I like.

The new White Star is a definite improvement. The folks who wanted the short range laser to force it into close combat get their way. Meanwhile, it is no longer weakened when fighting its worst enemy - it has to use both pulsars and laser against a Shadow Scout anyway if it wants to do more than knock down the shield, and now its laser isn't penalised for doing so.

The upgraded Shadow Omega looks interesting. Broadsides of twin-linked mini-beams, and Shadow style shields which mean the black skin is more than just a fancy paint job.

I agree with Foxmeister about the Narn - the new CBD is an improvement, although I'd like to see a bit more firepower on the G'Quan. Maybe upgrade its laser to 6D, putting it on a par with the Omega?

I'd already been building up a collection of canon B5 ships, not originally intended for use in games but just as models of ships from the show. The Army of Light fleet means I get to use that collection - it's not just a fleet list, it's a shopping list.

 

[silashand]

It is very much an improvement of what was there already. It doesn't have the radical changes that many were hoping for - for example certain fleet command special abilities remain that are disliked by some players.

To each their own I guess then. Suffice to say I'm not overly fond of most of them. No biggee I guess though. At least ACtA gets something.

Hopefully Mongoose will publish mine counters of some kind - maybe as a pdf. They need to have the AD marked on them and a centre point.

BTW nothing in ACTA is supposed to be secret, so there is no reason why mines should be.

I bought custom tokens from Litko Aerosystems with the number in the center (serves both purposes). Not sure I'll ever really use them since we seem to have stopped playing of late, but oh well.

Cheers, Gary

 

[Greg Smith]

Things that I think really need testing - the Centauri Hunting pack (all over again), the Vree, and the new White Star is spades.

Just some requests for playtests -
Try two identical games, one with the origanal WS, one with the new one, so we can see how different it is.

I'd like to see the WS played against the Centauri, the pak, and something with short ranged secondaries (Abbai, Narn, Early EA, Dilgar).

Reasonable and balanced fleets: dont play a 15 ship swarm fleet against 5 WS, because that will prove nothing.

On the other hand, showing that something new is broken by using a particular fleet is a good thing. (eg we know Vree abduction will be good against the ISA, but if you can build a Vree fleet that can abduct the crew of an entire Gaim fleet, you will have proved it is broken).

Play Vree against ISA with abduction, play them without abduction. To see how much of a whitewash it is. Do the same against a fleet where crew matters less.

If you want to try and eliminate radical results from your playtests, use Burger's beam system and reroll 6,5 and 6,6 crits.

And of course, try and break the station rules by building monstrosities.

 

[No. 1 Bear]

Like the whitestar, space stations are still OTT though.

 

[Burger]

Armour module on a waystation is pointless... no hardpoints left, you just made a floating brick!

A battle station with 20 ion cannons will make a ridiculous amount of damage points, and stupidly good weapons!! How come fusion cannons cost 4x as much?