New Traits for Vorlons & Shadows...

[lastbesthope]

True. I see your point. I was just thinking in reference to Heavy Cruisers getting fighters and Mongoose changing the free rule. As I see it it is better to assume nothing and cover all bases.

No worries dude, like I said I'm a semi pro rules lawyer :lol:

LBH

 

[B5freak]

Shadowfax,

Your suggested changes for the Vorlons are pretty much in line with my own thoughts. The LC and HC definitely need Hull 6. I would go with either Accurate or Twin-Linked rather than the +3AD. I gave them a Fore 180-degree arc in my own playtesting, but I'd be interested to see how they do with just the basic Fore arc.

LBH didn't like my 180 idea, probably because it let the Vorlons kick some White Star butt in my playtest. :lol:

 

[Shadowfax]

I like the idea of the 180-degree fore arc. Any cannon to support it? I know that Vorlons due to poor speed and manuverability are vulnerable to their flanks and rear unlike any other race. Fighters are the bane of them.

 

[B5freak]

Well, if you watch the show, that beam sure seems to sweep across a lot wider arc than the basic 90 degrees, and a 180-degree arc still leaves their aft and and part of their flank open.

Hull 6, Accurate or Twin-Linked on the weapons, and a 180-degree fire arc and you've got a pretty winnable fleet.

Not sure what to do with the fighters. I've played with the idea of upping the Hull to 6, giving them a 4+ dodge, and making them 1 per Wing, but I've no clue what the impact of that would be. It would certainly follow the canon as expressed in the AoG literature, though I'm waiting to get my hands on the new Mongoose suppliment for their RPG.

 

[lastbesthope]

LBH didn't like my 180 idea, probably because it let the Vorlons kick some White Star butt in my playtest. :lol:

I never said I didn't like it, I merely stated that it was a non preferred option as it would require an addition to the existing ruleset as currently there is no 180 degree arc in the rules.

I've been playing WS since the original stats with no halving of crew damage, anything over that is an improvement :lol:

LBH

 

[Shadowfax]

At this time I’m not entirely convinced that the accurate trait alone is a fix to Vorlon weapons. I attempted to use this in a Vorlon vs. Centauri 4 point war. Five Vorlon destroyers (raid) unloaded on a single Maximus-class Frigate (skirmish) and were unable to destroy or even cripple it. Four Vorlon Destroyers (Raid) and one Heavy Cruiser (war) unloaded all rounds on a single Tertius-class Battlecruiser Primus Variant (Battle) only causing 28 points of damage. By the end of turn two I had lost half my fleet and the Centauri had not lost a single ship. My strategy was sound and rolls average. I was still decimated with all ships given the accurate trait and the Heavy Cruiser a hull 6. In addition, I had also used the AJP rule of a crew quality check had to be passed prior to the jump point doing damage. I found this did help to tame down the jump point bomb, only doing damage 25% of the time.

My conclusion thus far from this battle and many others is that most other races have 2 – 10 times the attack dice that a Vorlon or Shadow ship does with greater range, multiple arcs, and special traits up to the equivalent of an Old One’s ship. In addition, the adaptive armor with the damage levels currently set forth and hull strength leaves them extremely vulnerable. I am questioning if any play testing of these races ever took place prior to the printing of SFoS.

I ask that all players that play against or play Vorlons attempt these new rules and give me feedback on balance. I know that many of you are going to say this is way to powerful. All I ask is that you play test these rules multiple times and give me feedback.


#1 All Vorlon ships excluding fighters are given a hull 6

#2 Vorlons have the CAF Special Action

#3 All Vorlon ships are given double the attack dice

#4 All Vorlon ships excluding fighters are given a forward 180-degree fire arc

#5 All Vorlon ships are given an increased range of 6 inches with the exception of the Light Cruiser that will get a range increase of 9 inches.

#6 The Vorlon Heavy Cruiser is given 6 flights of free fighters that must accompany it at the start of fielding. No launch tubes or bays.

The bottom line is the only thing special here is the forward 180-degree arc. In every other way they are not getting anything that other fleets do not already have. And yes there is a hull 6 skirmish ship out there, look at the Centauri Maximus. The bottum line is that Shadows and Vorlons are the worst races and are sub par to most all others. My hopes are that if enough play testing is done with these rules and once a general concensus is formed after some tweaking an appeal can be made to Mongoose on how to fix Vorlons and Shadows.