Take the Leap?

I've been lurking for about a week reading through the posts on the forum to get a feel for the game. It sounds like most people are satisfied with the game (except the one post where people were debating the point system). The Universe itself is interesting, though I've only seen a few of the B5 shows (I've actually reserved the first season at my local library so I can see what the fluff is about).

I'm used to the following Space Combat games:

Mayday (GDW) (Never duplicated "past, present, future" movement.
Knight Hawks (TSR) (very simple)
High Guard (GDW)
Battlefleet Gothic (GW)
Leviathan (Fasa)
Full Thrust (GZG) (Currently My Favorite)

Will I enjoy ACTA after being exposed to some of the games above? I know most are familiar with BFG, but what about Full Thrust?

Thanks, and sorry for the cheesy post. After seeing how much the fleet boxes were I almost freaked. I just want to be pretty sure before I start layout out a buch of cash, even though the ships would probably work with any game.

Cheers.

CCotD'
 
If you got on with BFG, ACtA should appeal at the same basic level. It's not a complex system but it does the job. If you prefer more detail in games you might be disappointed.
 
If you're not sure about ACTA, you can buy the revised rules - the box comes with counters to represent several of all the ships, so you don't have to lay out lots of cash for models before deciding if you really want to.
 
There is also a starter book which contains the bare bones of the rules, which is $10/£5.

A Call to Arms uses a simpler movement system than Full Thrust. There is no vector movement or writen orders. The movement is very similar to BFG in that it is approximates momentum, while special orders allow ships to increase speed or do more turns.

The advantage ACTA has is the tactics. Movement alternates a ship at a time, so there is no guessing what the enemy is doing (like in FT) or moving a whole fleet at a time (like BFG).

Shooting is similar in some aspects to BFG - rolling dice trying to equal the target's hull score but weapon traits make it more interesting. Damage is pretty simple (nothing fancy like Interceptor/Leviathon) - knocking off damage and crew points with 1 in 6 hits being a critical.

The things I love about ACTA is it makes fleet combat easy (controlling multiple ships is easier than any other space combat game I have ever played), it is tactical and there is a very different feel between different ships of different races.

Try it. You'll love it.
 
You should like it. Me and my group used to be play BFG but became put off by the you move everything and then me, then you shoot everything, and if I have anything left I'll shoot.

We started playing ACTA and for a while it was good. But the more we played the less and less we liked its PL system. We missed the point system that BFG had taught us. Sure something might be in the same class as another ship, but if its slightly better it'll just cost a few more points.

We actually picked up a couple copies of the B5 Wars rules compendiums on ebay and have been almost exclusively playing that as of late. We still keep an eye here, but we're not likely where ACTA is going.

Just my group and my personal opinions.




Also, unless you only played Chaos or Imperial for BFG the prices shouldn't seem that bad really.
 
The first season of B5 isn't the best season, like all first seasons there was alot of work in progress as the whole series developed.
B5 really finds its feet from Season 2 onwards. :D
 
It's also worth taking a look at the "In The Beginning" film as well. There's plenty of ship combat in that one. Trouble is, if you haven't seen at least the first three seasons there are a lot of spoilers in it.
 
If you play BFG, then the cost of the B5 ACTA shouldn´t really freak ya, at least when Mongoose sell you a fleet box, you get a fleet!
 
You will not find a ship construction system like Full Thrust (great game :D ) but you will get a quick, solid system that will let you fight big space battles in a reasonable time, and have fun doing it!

It does not have the level of detail of B5 Wars, but on the other hand one person can easily control multiple ships and fighter squadrons without going mad or taking up half the night to complete a couple of turns.

In short - a good game that is certainly worth trying out :D

DW
 
Thanks everyone. One big thing I'm looking for is quick games. Sounds like a good fleet action is just a couple of hours, which is what I like.

And for the comment on the cost of fleets, I use my Full Thrust fleets for BFG. Their SVAKK and PHALON ranges make great NID ships. Figure they might work well for the Vorlons and Shadows too.

But I was looking at the designs of the Earth Fleets and they look really cool. Could probably use those with Full Thrust too.

I read some posts about pre-painted ships? What's that all about. I could not find anything in the Mongoose announcements. Any links so I can read up would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again everyone. Looks like I'll be adding this to my October order via the WarStore. :D

CCotD'
 
Cerebral Cortex of the Da said:
I read some posts about pre-painted ships? What's that all about. I could not find anything in the Mongoose announcements. Any links so I can read up would be greatly appreciated.

CCotD'

That's just speculation at the moment, we're extrapolating from the fact that prepainted vehicle and soldier minis will be coming out for SST: EVo and BAttledield Evo soon, so the theory is that we might get them for ACTA too.

LBH
 
lastbesthope said:
That's just speculation at the moment, we're extrapolating from the fact that prepainted vehicle and soldier minis will be coming out for SST: EVo and BAttledield Evo soon, so the theory is that we might get them for ACTA too.

LBH

Ah, thank you for the clarification.

I hope the SST and Battlefield prepaints are not the crappy cheapo that Wizards has gone with for the Star Wars line. Brrrr.... *shivers at the thought of a poorly done mini's.*

CCotD'
 
Cerebral Cortex of the Da said:
I hope the SST and Battlefield prepaints are not the crappy cheapo that Wizards has gone with for the Star Wars line. Brrrr.... *shivers at the thought of a poorly done mini's.*

You can´t compare those two - WotC is doing collectible games, which are meant to appeal to a different kind of customer than ACTA (or any other tabletop/wargaming system). You wouldn´t find bendable, ugly painted rubber figures with mongoose, that´s for sure! besides, the first pictures of the comin prepainted miniatures look promising...
 
blackphoenix said:
We actually picked up a couple copies of the B5 Wars rules compendiums on ebay and have been almost exclusively playing that as of late. We still keep an eye here, but we're not likely where ACTA is going.

I find ACTA fits nicely into the gap between AoGs old B5Wars and Fleet Action. B5wars got very bogged down when you fielded more than 3-5 ships and Fleet Action you tended to have masses of them.

Its very similar to BFG but with a lot more simple detail, like seperate weapons rather then firepower. The different races play very different styles and there is great oppertunity for tactics to play a major role in the game.
 
And for the comment on the cost of fleets, I use my Full Thrust fleets for BFG. Their SVAKK and PHALON ranges make great NID ships. Figure they might work well for the Vorlons and Shadows too.

But I was looking at the designs of the Earth Fleets and they look really cool. Could probably use those with Full Thrust too.

You most certainly could but remember the ACTA models are quite a bit bigger: the Omega Destroyer is about 1/3 - 1/4 longer than either a Phalon Superdreadnaught or a Chaos Heavy Cruiser. Of course that does not make any difference on the gaming table.

DW
 
Traveller-61 said:
You most certainly could but remember the ACTA models are quite a bit bigger: the Omega Destroyer is about 1/3 - 1/4 longer than either a Phalon Superdreadnaught or a Chaos Heavy Cruiser. Of course that does not make any difference on the gaming table.

DW

Thanks for the piece of info. Edit: If I like the game, I do plan on picking a fleet and picking up the ships for that fleet, but just to play, without breaking the bank, I will probably use the Full Thrust temporarily. Since I have 3 Built In Gamers (BIGS) will probably end up with a minumum of 4 fleets, but since each of us like to have 2 different sides to play, that could be 8 fleets unless we share ;). (LOL, I crack myself up, kids share?!?!.....)

CCotD'
 
Let me tell you, it´s definitely not uncommon to have 2 or more fleets for ACTA (yes, the game is THAT good! :wink: ). There are some people out there who have ALL the fleets of the game, so there´s really nothing wrong with having 4, 5... (myself, I have 3 gaming fleets, with plans for the fourth, and ships from two more fleets just to use them in scebarios - civilian ships not even included...)
 
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