Newbie Looking For Info On Vorlon & ISA Fleets?

[Proiteus]

Hi I'm new to the game and all I've played is a small tutorial using the cardboard ships: earth alliance v Narn nothing big.

I'm now considering getting two fleets before the miniature range vanishes completely off the web and out of all the races in the original series my favorites were the Vorlons and the ISA. So right now i'm hunting down those fleet box sets on the web and will be getting the rulebooks shortly.

But I would like to know more about the Vorlon and ISA fleets such as what are they like to play? And what are their special traits and ablities?

I'm be very grateful for some insight before I hopefully find and order the fleets.

 

[Burger]

Welcome to the game and the forums

Both the fleets you have chosen are considered to be somewhat expert fleets, for the experienced player. They both require tactics and planning to use effectively.

The main ship of the ISA is of course the White Star. This relies on manouverability and speed to get the opponent where you want him. You can often get behind or to the side of the enemy, which reduces the amount of fire he can throw at you. You will find that manouvering and strategy is very important. If you go charging headlong down the table, you will lose. ISA is also versatile through use of Allies. You will find it very handy to have a selection such as Narn Dag'Kar, EA Avenger, Vree Vaarls, Drazi Strikehawks, and depending on your cheesiness Gaim.

Vorlons are similar in that if you go charging headlong, you will die. Your advantages are manouverability and strong beams. Also if you're good at using fighters, you'll find the Vorlon Fighter to be excellent - although again it is somewhat of an "expert" fighter to use.

 

[mrambassador1]

Welcome to the game, Vorlon and ISA can be difficult fleets to use, they work brilliantly if used properly, but are very unforgiving of mistakes. On the other hand I find the most enjoyable games are the ones that involve your favourite fleets from the show, so go right ahead and use them. If you're interested in a good starter fleet Earth, Narn or Centauri are good all rounders and do fairly well against most opponents in most situations.

I might also suggest you try to track down a copy of the counter sheets, Mongoose will hopefully be printing more soon, but until then the older counter set work just fine, having most of the ships from most of the races. The counters give you more ships that you can poke a stick at, you can use just about any ship from any race and are good for new players to experiment with.

 

[Proiteus]

Okay then, good thing I've brought a Crusade Era Earth Alliance Box Set. (I hope that plays well?)

But out of the two from experience which is better ISA or Vorlons?

 

[Marco Raimeous]

vorlon vs. ISA?

They each have there strengths as stated.

Vorlons have huge beam cannons, great ranges, Adaptive Armour (halves damage taken), repair out the wazoo, and great staying power.

However vorlons only have one arc to fire and usually only the one weapon, so strategy is needed to cover your bases. Also vorlons are weaker in lower priority matches which doesn't mean they don't win, it just means you need mad strategies and to know the weaknesses of your opponent.

ISA are fast, maneuverable, have Adaptive armour, crazy dodges, and repair capabilities. Unlike the vorlons, ISA is great at any priority because of their wide spread of ships.

ISA however, unlike the vorlon, have crew which cannot be repaired so this is there biggest weakness as killing ships usually means decrewing them, also there ships do not have alot of hull which is usually not a terrible thing when coupled with Adaptive Armour, and dodge but can hurt when doing up against big damage beams (like vorlon/shadows).

I personally like the vorlons better just because I have played them from the start and have a good handle on how to overcome most obsticles.

Descision is yours, or you could go with both

 

[mrambassador1]

This isn't really the sort of game where there are clear "this is better than that" decisions. It is a game with many subltle strategies and as such, the worthiness of any particular fleet or ship depends largely on the situation and its opponent.

For a simple answer I would get ISA as there is more variety to their fleet than the Vorlons and you're not so committed to certain strategies as a result. EA Crusade is a good choice and I'm sure you'll enjoy them. You may want a few extra ships not in the box sets as the box sets are meant more as the core of a fleet rather than a complete one, the box sets often leave out some good ships (or don't give enough of them).

 

[Taran]

ISA is hard to hit, but God forbid they Get hit. Watching an ISA fleet on the table in the hands of a skilled user is like watching a Fred Astair dancing in slow-mo. Watch out fighters. They are death to WSs.
Vorlons aremore like WW1 era tanks. They don't much or quickly, turn on a dime and god forbid you get hit By them. Don't let anyone get behind you. You'll never get a bead on them again.