The EA

[CodeofArms]

Hello,
I'm pretty new to the ActA game and this is my first post. However i'm a little lost on these boards and searchings proving fruitless so could anyone point me to a the links to anything earth alliance fleet choice and tactics related? All eras welcome. I have several cocky players who 'introduced' me to the game with a nice helping of humility to dish out some payback to!

 

[Shadow Queen]

welcome to the game, fluffy05 has a painting blog some place.

 

[Silvereye]

Other one to do is just ask what people would recomend taking as EA against your opponent let us know the race (and possibly the ships they like using) and we will see what we can do.

 

[H]

you, you cannot just take a generic fleet, as the enemy may require different tactics. a points, scenario and enemy is useful, then we will give opinions and advice based upon our knowledge of each fleet, and our own battles.

EDIT** however, if you are in a campaign, then we could help you build your main fleet list**

 

[Epaminondas]

Well, with the more limited fleet list of Armageddon; just stating which era of play he is using could help point out some of the better ships.

In general, you can't use generic fleets against everyone; but with the new list ripping 2/3s of the ships out of any given list, there are obvious preferred picks. Novas in early and 3rd for example...

Crusade does play completely differently then the other two lists however... strong encourge a new person to start with 3rd age and go from there

==

In general, the Dawn of the 3rd age, and crusade lists depend heavily on bore sights; taking more ships then your enemy means you can boresight what you want, rather what your enemy wants.

Hermes, Hyperion AC are two decent patrol/skirmish level "initiative sinks;" their job is to move first so your boresighters can get good shots off. And they bring at least a decent level of firepower to the table to.

==

Pick a Era, find a good list and stick with it, changing one ship at most. Learn how to play with that list well, then start really changing things up.

===

One list I like:

5 point raid 3rd age
Omega
Nova
Nova
Hyperion
Oracle

Omega and Hyperion are your long range snipers with boresights, novas are great close in ships. Oracle's job is to reduce stealth, and provide rerolls on misses for the boresight ships.

Typically move the novas first, then the oracle, lastly the boresighters.

Good number of fighters- 13. You can go 50-50 starfury thunderbolt against most opponents, giving you a fighter screen to kill his fighters and a bomber strike force capable of popping patrol and skirmish level ships.

Concentration of force is the key to victory; for both capital ships and fighters.

It is better to waste a boresight shot by overkilling an enemy ship then splitting fire and bare denting multiple ships.

It is better to put ALL your thunderbolts on one target, on one arc, then to put one on every enemy ship. Antifighter weapons are generally either turret or one arc; by concentrating in one arc, you limit the return fire. Similarly, an isolate enemy ship outside the range of the rest of the enemy's antifighter weapons is a preferred target.

Always bring complete fleet lists and take a second to review the enemy's statistics before game. Don't commit your fighters to against an antifighter ship. Keep them on weak targets... preferably ones that have no weapons in one arc... use your afterburners to get into that arc if you have to.

 

[katadder]

what level is the oracle? cos the omega is a battle choice so that would prob put you over 5 raid points.

 

[Greg Smith]

There is an article on the tactics of each race in Signs & Portents. EA is in Wargamer 32 http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1256&qsSeries=13

 

[Slightly Norse John]

To make that list work, the hyperion has to be the AC variant;

Battle- level Omega,
Raid- level Nova,
Raid- level Nova,
Skirmish- level Oracle,
and that only leaves a skirmish point, so at 5-Raid it has to be the AC.
At 3-Battle, probably the most common individual fleet size for the Dunfermline multiplayer games, you could go with that as a standard heavy cruiser and get an extra Olympus or two Hermes.

 

[Epaminondas]

opps.

I was thinking of my three point battle, which adds another oracle.

 

[Davesaint]

I tried out an interesting Early EA fleet last night.

Battle - 6 Raid CTA Vs. Minbari
SFOS Fleet Breakdown

I took
2 Hyperion
2 Rail Hyperion
Oracle
Sag
3 Hermes
3 Missle Tethys

Vs
Tinashi
Teshlan
2 Tigara
Leshath

While the Tethys cant use the special missles, it does have 4 AD at Range 20
It was a fun battle which saw the Boneheads get thrashed pretty mightily. However the Minbari player made a couple of pretty bad tatical mistakes and the Oracle never failed to reduce stealth on the Minbari.

Dave

 

[CodeofArms]

Usually the games are Annihilations 5 Pts Battle level. Using 3rd Age Earth Alliance. I've avoided crusade

The fleets i face most often are;
Dilgar, Minbari and Centauri

Also, at the moment im trying to crack how to effectively use the Nova. I usually have them jump in early in the game behind the opponents fleet and have them tear towards all-arc firing positions but any tips/advice or links to EA battle reports is more than welcome.

 

[Davesaint]

Usually the games are Annihilations 5 Pts Battle level. Using 3rd Age Earth Alliance. I've avoided crusade

The fleets i face most often are;
Dilgar, Minbari and Centauri

Also, at the moment im trying to crack how to effectively use the Nova. I usually have them jump in early in the game behind the opponents fleet and have them tear towards all-arc firing positions but any tips/advice or links to EA battle reports is more than welcome.

I'm not sure yet, but 3rd age EA might actually be the weakest of the lot. your best hulls are IMHO:
Hermes
Olympus
Hyperion(Raid)
Avenger
Omega

The oracle is not a bad scout, but it is only stealth 3

I would concentrate on these hulls. The Nova in my opinion is overrated.


Dave

 

[Silvereye]

OK, loose tactics and fleet selection. I'm not too sure on the Dilgar as I have never faced one.

EA tends to be a team effort fleet. The majority of the EA's ships are more effective at engaging multiple targets, rather then concentrating on one opponent at a time. The unfortunate thing is, your up against the best two Battle level 1 on 1 ship killers in the game. Primus and Tinashi.

Minbari are probably your biggest challenge, as one of Earth's major points is rendered pretty impotent. Interceptors are practically useless in this engagement. You want to pick high hull, high damage ships, preferebly with lots of AD to throw out of any arc and AP/Super AP weapons. Omega and Nova are two essentials. I would also add a few Artemis (for their railguns) and Oracles (Scout, turret missile and pretty good boresight for its PL) as initiative sinks and more Omegas and Novas. I would try and avoid taking Hyperion against Minabri as they are just too fragile in this instance. When playing Minbari treat all your ships as disposable assets - so bring multiples and try and encourage the minbari player to kill the ones you want them to kill. You should also out number the Minabri with fighters (unless they like Morshins) in which case take around 75/25 ish 'fury/T-bolt. The fighters have their uses, and don't be afraid to use the 'furies as disposable assets either. Just keep an eye out for minbari Flyers as these are rather good anti-ship fighters due to the Stealth 5+. Close as fast as you can as quickly as you can, and engage the ememy in as many arcs as you can. If you can split AD between two targets do so (2 stealth rolls is better then 1).

Centauri are a lot easier opponent as they do not have loads of precise lasers and Stealth. They do however have a fantasticly versatile fleet with a lot of excellent ships. At battle level I'd expect to see a couple of Primus (or variants) possible a Balvarix and a bushel of the excellent centauri Raid level escort ships (Sulust). The Centauri are slightly more limited in the middle/end game than EA as they mount lasers only on the front many EA ships can cross a line and engage with rear boresight lasers. However you will need to go through those foreward arcs to close in, and your interceptors will work against the Centauri Matter Cannon and Twin Arrays. You can be a lot more versatile with your fleet selection because of this. Omega is always a solid choice, but Hyperion also should feature (use them to flank the enemy and cross the fleet at the line of engagement). Nova's are solid brawlers and don't forget about the AP, Beam option of the LPA's as they ignore interceptors. An oracle or two should help with target locks for boresights and initiative sink. An Avenger carrier could be handy as it brings command funtions and Fleet Carrier into play as well as a load more fighters. A lot of the Centarui ships have very weak arcs, and very few anti-fighter weapons that you can exploit with Thunderbolts. Also Hermes might proove useful, bringing missiles and further initiative sinks. Again, take the fight to them make them work to engage youwith the foreward beams, as they will likely out shoot you at long range.

 

[CodeofArms]

The Nova in my opinion is overrated.

Yeah i've had that sneaking suspicion for some time now. One lot of pop guns in each arc just never seems to cut it out on the field; despite a mid-card priority level. Can anyone say from experience if turning the LPA's into beams is a worthwhile ability?

In a somewhat classic debate am i better of taking the railgun Artemis over the Olympus? At hull 4 i've found that they usually end up being floating, crewless hulks before they pop.

 

[Silvereye]

Artemis/Olympus, it really depends on the opponent you are facing. They both have their selling points, advantages and disadvantages. Personally I prefer the Artemis, theough people can get a very nasty surprise out of an Olympus gunship variant.

Nova is generally a good ship, and really very good if you can get it into a good position. All Power to Engines! usually happens for the first couple of turns. It really needs to be firing out of two or more arcs before you realise how useful it is. Although saying that I do think it is over-rated by a lot of people on the forum. Adding the AP, Beam option tothe LPA's certainly improved it a lot in my book. I find them better against ships with intact interceptors, or Hull 6. Against hull 4 or 5 and depleated interceptors you are probably marginally better off with the Twin-Linked. Certainly being able to switch between Twin-Linked and AP, Beam in any arc when you fancy is a potent ability at times.

 

[Leroy Landers]

What ships are good against the Dilgar? I was thinking of making 5 pt raid fleets with Crusade era stuff like Chronos and Marathon, would they be a good choice? Just so you know the ppl I play with don't use service dates.

 

[Ripple]

Big advantage for the Nova beam option is when you have a scout redirecting on the hull. AP Beam and Twin Link...you can have your cake and eat it too.

Ripple

 

[Obsidian]

Although saying that I do think it is over-rated by a lot of people on the forum.

A great deal of the mystique on the Nova comes from the initial release of the game. Hull 6 with 4 fighter flights that started deployed. It also had a fistfull of dice for you to roll and the odds were very good that you would wind up with a bunch of criticals. By comparison, the "legendary" beam weapons of the time were next to worthless (Sharlin with 2 AD!?!)

That said, the current incarnations aren't bad it just depends on your situation. If you need a good mainline bruiser in the lower level games then they are a WAY better choice than the standard Hyperion. For whatever reason, Hyperions always seem to die in spectacular fashion the moment any decent amout of fire is put on them. They're fragile support ships and when used as such are impressive. Otherwise they just get mauled....

Anyway, there is just something fun about grabbing a big handfull of dice and rolling them. I was playing an Abbai Vs. Centauri game once and the oppossing player made the mistake of putting a ship in each Firing Arc of my Bimith. 56 AD later and the Bimith was the only ship left in the area...

 

[CodeofArms]

Anyway, there is just something fun about grabbing a big handfull of dice and rolling them. I was playing an Abbai Vs. Centauri game once and the oppossing player made the mistake of putting a ship in each Firing Arc of my Bimith. 56 AD later and the Bimith was the only ship left in the area...

*Assume Keanu Reeves Facial Expression* Whoa....

 

[prelude_to_war]

I tried out an interesting Early EA fleet last night....It was a fun battle which saw the Boneheads get thrashed pretty mightily. However the Minbari player made a couple of pretty bad tatical mistakes and the Oracle never failed to reduce stealth on the Minbari.

Did you guys use the Armageddon stealth rules? If so, what did you think?

As for Olympus vs. Artemis, I always go Olympus. Despite being hull 4, I find the missiles invaluable. The other weapons make it a much more versatile hull compared to the Artemis. Lastly, they look cool :wink: