S&P47 ACTA Review

[Sulfurdown]

So I let myelf get drawn into the laser discussion again (guess I´m a bit bored here)...

hehe, debates can be great fun!

Lasers are obviously energy weapons, which the Centauri do not employ in a cutting fashion - which in turn would be represented by the beam rule in ACTA. So, any laser-based weapon without beam would satisfy both the series as well as this mysterious technical drawing, whichever the source of that may be (despite me asking, tneva82 didn´t answer that).

This raises an interesting point - theoretically Mini-Beam would fit the non-cutting laser weapon. Something like a DD mB? (though it adds the whole "AF" issues unless that's changed in 2e.)

 

[Greg Smith]

Minibeams no longer provide anti-fighter capability, given that ships have their own anti-fighter capability.

 

[MustEatBrains]

Sulfurdown is right; a Minibeam laser could be a nice compromise for both sides (like I said, I mainly came back to the circular arguments out of sheer boredom today, but hey, looks like we are getting somewhere after all! :roll: )

 

[Lord David the Denied]

As Katadder already pointed out, the Centauri don't lose lasers altogether, but they're no longer the centre-piece primary armament of the Centauri fleet. As far as I can tell, there are still some accuracy issues with the Centauri, but they're a lot better than they were.

 

[MustEatBrains]

Which sounds good - I was thinking about getting me a Centauri fleet next; since I wanted to include mainly Vorchans and Primus´, I wasn´t sure about how well they would play.

 

[Triggy]

Which sounds good - I was thinking about getting me a Centauri fleet next; since I wanted to include mainly Vorchans and Primus´, I wasn´t sure about how well they would play.

Those and the Centurion are three of the best ships in the game in 2nd ed!

 

[MustEatBrains]

Which sounds good - I was thinking about getting me a Centauri fleet next; since I wanted to include mainly Vorchans and Primus´, I wasn´t sure about how well they would play.

Those and the Centurion are three of the best ships in the game in 2nd ed!

Which in turn makes the fleet box a pretty good bargain, doesn´t it?

 

[emperorpenguin]

So I let myelf get drawn into the laser discussion again (guess I´m a bit bored here)...

Lasers are obviously energy weapons, which the Centauri do not employ in a cutting fashion - which in turn would be represented by the beam rule in ACTA. So, any laser-based weapon without beam would satisfy both the series as well as this mysterious technical drawing, whichever the source of that may be (despite me asking, tneva82 didn´t answer that).

Depending on the time the technical drawing was created, it might not be more than an early design concept, which was later dropped in favour of new content (like the uniquenesses of Centauri weaponry).

I'll try and play Devil's Advocate here


This isn't THE drawing but it clearly shows what Robert Glass was referring to

the projections circled in red are the "lasers"

The quote by Franklin (And All My Dreams Torn Asunder) says "the Centauri use their weapons almost like projectiles, exploding rather than slicing or disrupting their targets"
and Garibaldi (same episode) "Centauri weapons are designed to be used in an explosive, not slicing, mode"

It doesn't specifically say lasers or beams but it is fairly contiguous with the lack of beams used by the Centauri in the show.

Robert Glass also said that all laser weapons are long barrels (except the shorter Omega barrels) yet we saw a Hyperion (Clarkstown) fire a laser from a ball turret. He also said that it was silly to believe a race so advanced wouldn't have lasers but contradicted himself by admitting the Vree and Drazi don't.
As for the EA and Narn getting lasers from the Centauri. We only have the same source (AOG) to go on there. It is ludicrous to imagine humans incapable of building lasers when we can already do so! Plus we see such weapons in the infamous Omega prototype scene in "In The Beginning"

The very first B5 space combat game (in the Earthforce Sourcebook) designed by Full Thrust's Jon Tuffley said that the Centauri don't use laser weapons.

So for 2nd ed the obvious choice was compromise. The lasers are still there but the pulse type weapon of the show is dominant instead.

 

[emperorpenguin]

As Katadder already pointed out, the Centauri don't lose lasers altogether, but they're no longer the centre-piece primary armament of the Centauri fleet. As far as I can tell, there are still some accuracy issues with the Centauri, but they're a lot better than they were.

they are now the most model-accurate WYSIWYG fleet

only ships with hangars carry fighters, only visible weapons etc

 

[MustEatBrains]

I can live with that compromise - I think it´s redundant to get into this whole discussion too deep (ok, I did further up, so sue me :wink: ), since - as we found out - even the canonical material is not quite sure about that whole point. Besides, extensive techno-babble is more the terrain of Star Trek fans, rigth? :wink:

 

[Romu]

would you guys give it a rest about lasers ?

I don't see why all the drama, the fleet is gonna be good even without all the beams, and we still kept some so i really don't see where is the problem.

THE VORCHAN IS BACK ! that's all that matter :twisted:

 

[[Omicron]Urobach]

would you guys give it a rest about lasers ?

I don't see why all the drama, the fleet is gonna be good even without all the beams, and we still kept some so i really don't see where is the problem.

THE VORCHAN IS BACK ! that's all that matter :twisted:

OH YES..That is an Argument.
I like the vorchan so much since the episodes on Season 5 where they rip off league ships. that was so awesome..... 8)
i hope it is that iconic ship what centauri players wanted,now.....

 

[Lord David the Denied]

they are now the most model-accurate WYSIWYG fleet

only ships with hangars carry fighters, only visible weapons etc

So, maybe you can tell me, why the Vorchan has ion cannons and a plasma accelerator? Which weapon is in the turret, and where are the other visible weapons to justify the other weapon on the statline?

I only just finished watching B5 through again (God bless the Universe box set) and I didn't see a Vorchan fire anything but the dorsal turret, those ball-shaped torpedoes (in only one scene) and a few orange pulses that appear to come from the tip of the nose (also only in one scene). So why two weapons on the statline?

 

[tneva82]

and we still kept some so i really don't see where is the problem.

Problem is some folks desperatly wanting to destroy canonical elements out of the game just for fun of it.

For christs sake where's the problem in centauri having some lasers? It's not like they are going to be mainstay of fleet...So not mainstay, still canonical...Where in the name of Great Maker is problem?

Guess some people just want Mongoose to remove all elements of Babylon 5 and rename everything to generic names with no bearing to show...

 

[katadder]

they are now the most model-accurate WYSIWYG fleet

only ships with hangars carry fighters, only visible weapons etc

So, maybe you can tell me, why the Vorchan has ion cannons and a plasma accelerator? Which weapon is in the turret, and where are the other visible weapons to justify the other weapon on the statline?

I only just finished watching B5 through again (God bless the Universe box set) and I didn't see a Vorchan fire anything but the doral turret, those ball-shaped torpedoes (in only one scene) and a few orange pulses that appear to come from the tip of the nose (also only in one scene). So why two weapons on the statline?

if i had to guess i would say the 2 turrets are the plasma and the wing mounted protrusions are the ion cannons.

 

[Lord David the Denied]

We never see any weapons fire come from those protusions, though. I'm also dubious about the ventral turret, I don't recall seeing it on any Vorchan seen on screen...

 

[katadder]

well alot of ships (abbai/narn) dont even have any visible turrets/guns but have far more secondaries than anyone else.

 

[Da Boss]

Also I think its a reason for the torp armed Demos.

The new Centauri fleet is great - lots of cool stuff - the stupidly beamy ships are gone, the Vorchan /Demos is really cool - not quite a Maximus but hey that would be sick

Its at the point where you really have to think about which ship to use - lots of choice depending on how you want to play and thats great - should mean lots of different Centauri fleets being fielded..............there are 4 totally different battle level ships - all playable!!!

hopefully all will feel the same about their fleets - even the Brakari - there is enough of the big green ships!

have fun!

 

[Da Boss]

well alot of ships (abbai/narn) dont even have any visible turrets/guns but have far more secondaries than anyone else.

Also the ships are huge - I used to think it was wierd how White Stars had fighters until Greg gave me some idea of quite how big they are! You couold probably (if you wanted to) argue loads of ships can carry fighters / have hidden guns given the sheer size of the ships.

have fun

 

[MustEatBrains]

I only just finished watching B5 through again (God bless the Universe box set) and I didn't see a Vorchan fire anything but the doral turret, those ball-shaped torpedoes (in only one scene) and a few orange pulses that appear to come from the tip of the nose (also only in one scene). So why two weapons on the statline?

I´d say those "orange pulses" were the Plasma Accelerator shots. We later see Centauri firing those round "torpedos" in season 5, which spawned the Demos as a variant.

Not sure about the turret thing, but secondary weaponry makes at least game-wise sense