Newbie, deciding to play LoNAW

[Hedgehog]

Hey all,

Newbie to the forum, newbie to the game. So my LGS is actually spawning a decent ACTA community and I picked up the 2nd Ed. Revised Box Set plus SFOS. Looks like we're having a campaign soon as well. Like the post said, I'm playing the LoNAW.

Playing a few games versus Minbari, Shadows, Narn, and EA (3rd Era) I've found the Brakiri far and away the mainstays of my fleet.

Sturdy, I like the AP weaponry, but the damage output is somewhat lacking. Kalivas I've found to be awesome for thier range. The Brokados I'm playing aggressively - my philosophy is that its a beam-equipped warship which just happens to have fighters, though the Hull 5 hurts on occasion; helps that with the Kalivas my enemies focus on them. The Haltonas/Haliks look good but I haven't tried them out yet - anyone have opnions on them?

As for the other League fleets, I've played Vree as support with moderate succeess using Xill as anti-fighter escorts and/or a long-range battery with the Xaaks. The Abbai and Drazi I haven't used yet, the Drazi look fun to play with as a support force to my Brakiri, but I'm leery with the Abbai with thier -2 Initiative. As for Raiders, haven't thought about them much.

So I'm asking anyone what tactics/tips they use with thier League fleet (or seemingly in my case, Brakiri-heavy fleet)? To reiterate, what are your opinions on Haltonas/Haliks? What good comes out of the Abbai fleet lists? The Drazi make a perfect flanking force, yes or no? What are good strategies to penetrate an EA fleet full of fighters? (last game I had was versus an EA "carrier task force" with an Avenger, two Novas, a Hyperion, and two Olympuses; I was forced to jump to hyperspace so I wouldn't lose more of my ships - I'm playing as if I'm in a campaign - to his mass fighter swarm but was able to down more VP of ships than he did to me).

 

[Chernobyl]

actually, for a skirmish ship the brokados' medium laser isn't too bad. Not being boresighted gives so many more options :lol:

Chern

 

[H]

actually, for a skirmish ship the brokados' medium laser isn't too bad. Not being boresighted gives so many more options :lol:

Chern

How I wish the brokados was a Skirmish ship. It's battleship chern ;-)
I assume you are actually thinking of the Brikorta light carrier.

The Halik and Haltona are "interesting" against some fleets I have had raging sucess, but against others they have become burning balls of metal long before they fire. They need to be embeded in a formation where juicier targets get shot at, so they can get amongst the enemy with their many AP dice. The Haltona in my opinion doesn't offer enough totake it ahead of the halik. The Kaliva is arguably the best ship for the brakiri, but the ikorta is solid too. Just watch your enemies face if he all stops near one, and you send loads of angry brakiri troops to board him
As for the other fleets, you might want to consider the Abbai quite seriously. While they aren't brilliant against a Beamy fleet, they do have a lot of dice to hurl at close range, good damage scores, and decetnt interceptors. A bimith amongst your enemy is an interesting scenario. The Abbai offer solid close in firepower, to compliment the more specialised ships of the brakiri. The Drazi offer you speed and beams, with tough hulls, a good strafing run by a couple of drazi squadrons is something most people will remember. and finally as mentioned, the vree offer exceptional maneuvreability, a great scout, and the long ranged torps are nice.
A well balanced League fleet should be built around all 4 races. taking the cream of each fleet to merge into a deadly fighting force.

 

[Burger]

actually, for a skirmish ship the brokados' medium laser isn't too bad. Not being boresighted gives so many more options :lol:

How I wish the brokados was a Skirmish ship. It's battleship chern ;-)
I assume you are actually thinking of the Brikorta light carrier.

It's a typo in SFOS, the Batrado is Skirmish in the fleet list but Raid in its actual stats. Its corrected in the official SFOS FAQ, and also in Armageddon.

 

[H]

psst, thats the batrado ;-)

the brokados is the Brakiri carrier, Battle level, some guns, command bonus, odd looking model though

 

[Burger]

psst, thats the batrado ;-)

Err, thats what I said
Honest guv, didn't edit it to avoid embarassment or anything

 

[Wulf Corbett]

the brokados is the Brakiri carrier, Battle level, some guns, command bonus, odd lookign n=model thoguh

Always reminds me of the crashed ship in ALIEN...

Wulf

 

[Balance]

the brokados is the Brakiri carrier, Battle level, some guns, command bonus, odd lookign n=model thoguh

Always reminds me of the crashed ship in ALIEN...

I agree, that was my first thought upon seeing it.

 

[JayRaider]

I like the Brikorta, comes with 2 Falkosi flights! You'll definitely need them against fighter heavy fleets. With Falkosi 16 speed movement there useful and an AP wpn if u decide to ship attack.
The Vree Vaarl is an excellent scout, essential against Minbari. The Xaak is a decent battle choice.
The Drazi are very difficult to use, and a cunning mobile enemy won't give them much opportunity to boresight. The Solarhawk is a powerful Raid alternative with some serious hitting power!
The Kaliva is great at long range , 35", but it will be your enemies number one target for his big guns.
The Halik is useful if it can get into range and amongst the enemy. Great for lowering interceptors etc.
You should strongly consider the Raider Battlewagon, 4 flights, good weaponry and hull 6 make this a worthwhile selection.
I don't have any experience of the Abbai, due to their -2 init.
Great thing about the League, lots of choices!

 

[Wulf Corbett]

I like the Brikorta, comes with 2 Falkosi flights! You'll definitely need them against fighter heavy fleets. With Falkosi 16 speed movement there useful and an AP wpn if u decide to ship attack.

Incidentally, if I remember correctly (I play mostly playtest fleets these days,so I have a problem keeping track of changes...), the Brokados is a Fleet Carrier - so Speed 16 Falkosi with a +1 Dogfight are EVEN BETTER!

The Drazi are very difficult to use, and a cunning mobile enemy won't give them much opportunity to boresight. The Solarhawk is a powerful Raid alternative with some serious hitting power!

But seriously thin skin... I'd recommend Warbirds with a Scout to redirect their fire.

I don't have any experience of the Abbai, due to their -2 init.

A massive number of dice to throw at the enemy, but short ranged in the main, and slow ships. Tough though, and a number of Precise Beams. Do not disregard the Shyarie either, those Comms Disruptors do no damage at all, and I had dismissed it until lately, but after my Abbai managed to crit a Sharlin with a 'No Weapons Fire' crit, the Shyarie has prevented any repairs quite effectively! A great use for a seemingly useless ship!
Wulf

 

[Hedgehog]

Thanks for the tips, guys. Though to be honest, it leads to more questions than answers!

Wulf, yeah it's a Fleet carrier but only carries four of them; I'm a little unsure if the Fleet carrier and command +1 outweighs having 4 skirmish skirmish ships that can dump out a total of 8 flights per turn.

 

[H]

Wulf, yeah it's a Fleet carrier but only carries four of them; I'm a little unsure if the Fleet carrier and command +1 outweighs having 4 skirmish skirmish ships that can dump out a total of 8 flights per turn.

the Brokados is a good support vessel in a large fleet, but in a smaller fleet, you re much better taking the Brikorta, or even independant fighter flights, but in a Large scale battle, the command, and ability to recover fighters is very handy

 

[Burger]

Thanks for the tips, guys. Though to be honest, it leads to more questions than answers!

It would be a very boring game, if that weren't the case
Ask all the questions you like, we just love to boost our post count. But use the search function first, to save our keyboards a little!!

 

[Chernobyl]

Ah! I was thinking Brikorta

 

[Hedgehog]

Here's me again with my questions: From recent games, anyone have an idea on the usefulness of the Tashkat's Gravtic Shifters? I mean, they look interesting on paper but the Tashkat seem to scream "FIRE MAGNET!" and you'd need to get into knife-fighting range with them to take advantage; even then it boils down to beating someone on thier command roles.

And Burger, definately a fun game. Addictive really.

 

[Balance]

Keep in mind that the League of Non Aligned Worlds can, as of SFoS, be at a disadvantage due to the low initiative. You may want to try to focus on one particular fleet...

 

[Ripple]

The Vree/Brakiri have a +0 so mix them freely.

The Drazi have a +1/+2 but are hard pressed to get good use.

The Abbai is the only drawback race at -2.

On the Abbai, I do not believe they have a single ship that is not better represented by other league races. The comm disruptor is very cool but only two ships carry it and both are patrol hulls. While good they are no where near as useful as another Vaarl. The Bimith is just too slow and short ranged to do the job. Milani is a great little ship but with the armegeddon upgrade the brikorta got, its a poor second cousin. Nothing here to justify the loss in initiative.

The Drazi do indeed make lovely flanking force. Strikehawk/Warbirds are both excellent, and I tend to use a pair of them squadroned. With the fighter change the Sky Serpent is not scary if gets in range (not too likely given its speed but hey...). Also consider the Jumphawk in smaller games for the command bonus and low priority jump drive. While I have had some success with the Stormfalcon and its variant I am not sure they can compete with the Kaliva/Xaak.

Raiders, the battlewagon is a beast for its level. Hull6/interceptors is huge at raid and the beam is solid. With the four flighs you can start to neutralize the EA fighter advantage.

Halik/Haltona, maybe I just have bad luck with this style of ship. Nova/Bimith/Halik all strive for the same role and none of them really seems to get the job done. If it were not for the fighters on the Nova I couldn't recommend one of them. But that may just be me, I rarely get more than 4 or 5 point of damage out of them a turn per arc and this game doesn't reward peppering the enemy. The Haltona on the other hand has been a wonderfull ship for me. Yes the beam is slow loading but as a flank, a pair of these is devestating to a hull 5 ship. They also have enough dice to threaten patrol/skirmish hulls with a lucky crit, or drive the fighters back. Squadroning has really made them worthwhile, especially if they get a re-direct off the ever present Vree scouts.

Brokadoes I love, both the model and the basic ship. Beam should be F arc though just like the brikorta. I do not understand why this is the only B arc in the fleet. As a battle level choice its firepower is distinctly raid level and its defenses are only okay. But command is expensive I guess. The +1 to dogfight is very important to the league fighters. Only the falkosi gets the survival roll but heck I'll take it.

Ripple

 

[Chernobyl]

yeah, if you're going to have any Abbai, I wouldn't count on ever winning the initiative...

Chern

 

[Silvereye]

Here's me again with my questions: From recent games, anyone have an idea on the usefulness of the Tashkat's Gravtic Shifters?

Well, the range of Gravatic Shifters considered. They can get a ship out of a fire arc, especially Boresights. The can point a CAF! somewhere else so you suffer from a more minor arc. The can persuade an enemy that an asteroid field is a good place to fly towards.

 

[Wulf Corbett]

The can persuade an enemy that an asteroid field is a good place to fly towards.

Combining Gravitic Shifters with Comms Disruptors would be interesting... Fly though those Asteroids, and no All Stop! allowed!

Wulf