Minbari: While the Minbari are my main fleet of choice, I do not know exactly where to improve them... Currently speaking, the best ships in the fleet are their Battle and War level ships (the Tinashi and Sharlin hulls). Given that the game as a whole favors small ships, this puts them at a disadvantage. While giving the fleet a Patrol level ship would improve their chances in small games (ie. the 5 point skirmish), I would think that something else could be done to give them a slight tweak; more damage and crew, perhaps interceptors, perhaps the Battle, War and Armageddon get a better hull, perhaps more firepower (like 1 more AD to a couple of arcs)? Maybe the real improvement is to roll back one or two of the ways to break stealth so that it isn't so easy to reduce the ship before everyone starts to fire? I don't think that they need much to compete with the top tier fleets, but I also don't think the change is significant enough to warrant a worry. So, perhaps no change at all is best for them...
Narn: This is another fleet that I am in total disagreement with the current wisdom of this forum. I find this to be one of the best fleets in the game. It has energy mines to reduce stealth, wipe out small ships and utterly destroy fighter swarms. Additionally, it has wonderful long range weapons that are the envy of nearly everyone else. When one looks at the weaknesses of the fleet; fighters, few defenses, all Battle level ships, one can easily focus too heavily on these few failings and ignore the strengths. I would counter that the Narn have better Anti-fighter tools than "Anti-Fighter" as they have the range to deal with the threat long before anyone can fire (also, they have this strength from nearly every selection from Skirmish on up to Armageddon). They have long range threats that are better than even the dreaded Sagittarius (aka. the Dag'Kar). They have fantastic beam weapons (albeit mostly boresights), although they also have access to one of the best 2-for-1 Patrol boats in the game: Sho'Kov. If you build your fleet from the box set, then you are setting yourself up for failure. On the other hand, you can build it around other, very capable threats: Sho'Kov, Ka'Toc, Dag'Kar, G'Karith, Var'Nic, and nearly any War or Armageddon level ships.
Centauri: I think that everyone understands the problem with the Demos.
ISA: This is a great fleet that relies on 2 types of ships; the Blue and White star vessels. Beyond that, there isn't much to say about the fleet. Because it has access to LoNAW, Earth, Narn and Minbari fleets, the threat of enemy fighters is quickly negated. IMO, this is one of the best out there; but not so good that they need changing.
Abbai: What has been said has already been said in numerous threads.
Brakiri: This is a great fleet with awesome options. It has great, long range weapons, solid beams, very cool fighters, healthy selections of carriers. I have very little to complain about them; nothing needs improvement.
Drazi: This is one of the weakest fleets in the game (IMO). The over-reliance on boresights and mostly medium range guns are the death-nail in this coffin. It needs more forward arcs, the battle and war level ships need starboard and port guns, and/or the smaller craft need to be more agile than they currently are (perhaps 1 turn at 90 degrees instead of the 2/45 with agile).
Gaim: Well, an all queen fleet from the book is too good. Also, although no one at my LGS has tried out the new fleet list, I would guess that it is fine today.
Pak'Ma'Ra: This is also, IMO, one of the weaker fleets in the game. I believe that this is mainly due to the low initiative compiled with the poor fighter support and the few options available.
Vree: Again, I seem to be at odds with most of the general consensus out there. I believe that this fleet is strong; perhaps the strongest of the League fleets today. Yet this is still a fragile fleet that gets torn apart by stronger fleets like the Centauri or Narn. If you fill your fleet with the Xarr ships, it will behave like a brutal swarm, which has it's own problems, but this is far from the worst compared to a swarm of Sho'Kov ships.
Raiders: Wow! When people complained about the Abbai, they obviously didn't look at the Raiders quite enough. Their fighters are only slightly stronger than the Abbai (assuming you pay extra for the upgrade), and the capital ships themselves are like toned-down versions of everyone else (in terms of hull, damage, crew and weapons). To their credit, they do have access to other League fleet ships, but if you want to do this, then why not just play the League?
Vorlons: This is an unusual fleet. Some of my local opponents feel that this is TOO good of a fleet and too hard to kill. Admittedly, if you rely on forward guns, then the Vorlons will out-shoot you (my Minbari have a really tough time when fighting them). That said, they have the same problem as the Drazi in that if you get past that front gun, you are half way to wining the game (sorry to all the ships that rely on hanging back and killing from far away). I do think that this fleet is really only missing a Raid level ship to make it complete. However, because of the current problem with swarm fleets being stronger, the Vorlons are distinctly disadvantaged as their stronger ship comes in the War level.
Shadows: I would not categorize this as having the same problem as the Vorlons; Not at all. This fleet list has very weak fighters for their cost (something NEEDS to be done to improve this). Also, there is no Skirmish level ship (VERY bad for small games). Next, the Battle level ship is not worth taking (why not take 2 Raid level ships and be done with it). IMO, I would give the Phasing Pulse Cannon to the Battle level ship as well and perhaps improve the shields to boot. Finally, and this is more of a fluff issue for me, where is the scream? That scream, the black hull and spidery appearance is what MADE those ships scary. There should be SOMETHING made available to make them more intimidating.
Drahk: While I have been shown how good this fleet can be (thank you Robert from my LGS, you proved me wrong), I do agree with much of the comments on this thread; it will be very tough to figure out how to improve the fleet if you mess with the PL system and the inherent advantages of swarm fleets.
Psi-Corp: I really think that this fleet needs very little. It has access to the best of all 3 Earth eras and can bring (arguably) the best fighters in the game. If there was anything to improve, it would be the Shadow Omegas (needs more guns and longer range on that beam) and Nemesis (just a tiny bit more guns would suffice). Beyond that, leave them alone.
Whew... Back to studying for my upcoming test...
