I've been playing ACTA since I first purchased it at GenCon the year it was released. In St. Louis, MO (USA) over different periods of time I have assembled large groups of players who at times would play weekly for a couple of years then we would cease playing for a while only to pick it back up again. There was even a time when I was active on this forum and play tested SFoS for Matt and we exchanged a lot of feedback back and forth. I would guess I have played easily over 500 battles of ACTA from ver1, SFoS and ver2. Having played every race many times I think I can honestly say I love the game and the diversity and tactics it offers players.
I find it interesting that even after ver 1, SFoS, ver 2, and soon P&P some things always remain constant about ACTA and especially this forum.
Here are 10 constants:
1) ACTA is fun tactical tabletop space combat game and arguably one of the best. I've played them all since Star Fleet Battles was released when I was a teenager many years ago but ACTA is the one I always keep coming back to mostly because I loved the series and the game play is simple and fun.
2) ACTA will never be completely tactically balanced for each fleet nor 100% true to the series. Its only an imperfect game, but overall a good one.
3) The diverse racial fleets in ACTA have unique strengths and weaknesses, which make them tough against some fleets and inferior to others, as it should be.
4) Players have always argued over balance issues with select ships or fleets since ver1 and naively believe the next revision will magically remedy this, though it never does, it just swings the pendulum to different ships or fleets once people have had time to adjust to the changes.
5) Balance arguments have been passionately argued on this forum since its inception and unfortunately many times due to a lack of creativity or tactical aptitude by some. In most cases a little ingenuity overcomes most balance arguments.
6) Too much initiative sinking or too much overloading of the same good ship on the battle field can ruin the play experience for all involved. Players for some reason have a hard time exercising common sense and refuse to understand this simple concept. Any game can be exploited if you try hard enough, but isn't the point to challenge yourself and all involved enjoy the gaming experience?
7) Every revision of ACTA to some degree has been play tested by some in this community, many players have moved on and new players added and everyone has an opinion that they think is correct. Often on this forum, he who posts most or fusses most gets listened to. I guess this parallels real life. The old adage "squeaky wheel gets the grease" comes to mind.
8) Systems such as stealth, beams, long range precise weapons on patrol and skirmish ships, fighters, etc have always been hotly debated by many on the forums and as in all things there is always diverse views on which group is right and which is wrong. Oftentimes it feels like the approach has been to change it again and eventually we will get it right. Case in point, stealth is just fine and doesn't need to be nerfed or altered anymore. Some don't like the randomness factor it creates, oh well, its stealth its suppose to be random. Fighters have largely been neutered if you field a balance fleet with some escorts. Virtually all things have a counter so if your having problems dealing with something I suggest you mix it up, try something new, be creative, you might just learn a more effective way to overcoming that system or ability that has been causing you fits.
9) Certain ships, such as the White Star, or races keep getting altered with every revision and the community always says, "that's what it needs" only once the changes are final, the arguments begin anew. Here is a tip, the White Star is not broken, its not too powerful, and it does not need boresight weapons. That ought to stir up the hornets again. I've found that if you use some decent tactics against it, it can be corralled and dealt with. It should be a good ship, its the White Star for goodness sake! It's not any more a threat than than the Minbari Teshlan, which is arguably as good or better a ship.
10) Broken ships will come and go with every revision. In rev 1 the Centauri Maximus was the rage of the board of how broken it was; in SFoS the Centauri Prefect was the rage; in ver 2 the Centauri Demos is probably the largest rage among the community. All these ships and others also had some issues, but if an opponent didn't overload a battle and took just a couple of any given ship to a scenario then they can be dealt with. A lot of anything will break most games, this is just common sense IMHO.
It's time for me to sign off now. My sabbatical can begin anew. I typically read this forum daily and have for many years now, however, I grew weary a long time ago. Now I mostly just sit back and listen.
Happy gaming,
Chewy
------------
Semper Fi
"Improvise, Adapt, Overcome"
I find it interesting that even after ver 1, SFoS, ver 2, and soon P&P some things always remain constant about ACTA and especially this forum.
Here are 10 constants:
1) ACTA is fun tactical tabletop space combat game and arguably one of the best. I've played them all since Star Fleet Battles was released when I was a teenager many years ago but ACTA is the one I always keep coming back to mostly because I loved the series and the game play is simple and fun.
2) ACTA will never be completely tactically balanced for each fleet nor 100% true to the series. Its only an imperfect game, but overall a good one.
3) The diverse racial fleets in ACTA have unique strengths and weaknesses, which make them tough against some fleets and inferior to others, as it should be.
4) Players have always argued over balance issues with select ships or fleets since ver1 and naively believe the next revision will magically remedy this, though it never does, it just swings the pendulum to different ships or fleets once people have had time to adjust to the changes.
5) Balance arguments have been passionately argued on this forum since its inception and unfortunately many times due to a lack of creativity or tactical aptitude by some. In most cases a little ingenuity overcomes most balance arguments.
6) Too much initiative sinking or too much overloading of the same good ship on the battle field can ruin the play experience for all involved. Players for some reason have a hard time exercising common sense and refuse to understand this simple concept. Any game can be exploited if you try hard enough, but isn't the point to challenge yourself and all involved enjoy the gaming experience?
7) Every revision of ACTA to some degree has been play tested by some in this community, many players have moved on and new players added and everyone has an opinion that they think is correct. Often on this forum, he who posts most or fusses most gets listened to. I guess this parallels real life. The old adage "squeaky wheel gets the grease" comes to mind.
8) Systems such as stealth, beams, long range precise weapons on patrol and skirmish ships, fighters, etc have always been hotly debated by many on the forums and as in all things there is always diverse views on which group is right and which is wrong. Oftentimes it feels like the approach has been to change it again and eventually we will get it right. Case in point, stealth is just fine and doesn't need to be nerfed or altered anymore. Some don't like the randomness factor it creates, oh well, its stealth its suppose to be random. Fighters have largely been neutered if you field a balance fleet with some escorts. Virtually all things have a counter so if your having problems dealing with something I suggest you mix it up, try something new, be creative, you might just learn a more effective way to overcoming that system or ability that has been causing you fits.
9) Certain ships, such as the White Star, or races keep getting altered with every revision and the community always says, "that's what it needs" only once the changes are final, the arguments begin anew. Here is a tip, the White Star is not broken, its not too powerful, and it does not need boresight weapons. That ought to stir up the hornets again. I've found that if you use some decent tactics against it, it can be corralled and dealt with. It should be a good ship, its the White Star for goodness sake! It's not any more a threat than than the Minbari Teshlan, which is arguably as good or better a ship.
10) Broken ships will come and go with every revision. In rev 1 the Centauri Maximus was the rage of the board of how broken it was; in SFoS the Centauri Prefect was the rage; in ver 2 the Centauri Demos is probably the largest rage among the community. All these ships and others also had some issues, but if an opponent didn't overload a battle and took just a couple of any given ship to a scenario then they can be dealt with. A lot of anything will break most games, this is just common sense IMHO.
It's time for me to sign off now. My sabbatical can begin anew. I typically read this forum daily and have for many years now, however, I grew weary a long time ago. Now I mostly just sit back and listen.
Happy gaming,
Chewy
------------
Semper Fi
"Improvise, Adapt, Overcome"
