Think we'll see the Symbiot and Vau?

[kaltorak18]

Think we'll see either of these fleets?

I am repelled and in love with the Symbiot. They have all the hive, parasitic nastiness of the Borg with a dash of Cthulhu. I really would love to see the Symbiot organic ships and weapons amassed against the Human forces. Even tho they aren't as advanced, I bet it'd be a fun and disgusting fight.

As for the Vau, they intrigue me of course. I doubt they'd be allowed in tournament play, since they're supposed to be so technologically advanced, but it'd be fun to have a few of their ships to do a coop game against. Or at the very least, stats for the ships so we can put in a proxy.

How did the Vorlon play in the old ACTA? I'd imagine they'd be about as technologically advanced as the Vau. At least, that's what I gather from the lore.

 

[Da Boss]

Both Vorlons and Shadows work as playable races in B5 ACTA - no reason why simialr races can't do the same in the Fading Suns version.

Both races were very good against certian races and suffred against others.

For instance - Shadows usually work well against Minbari but conversely Vorlons can be hammered by Centauri / Dilgar due to sheer amount of firepower they can throw out against hull 5.

 

[starbreaker]

Vau are already confirmed, distributors have them on pre-order. Symbiots would be the most likely "10th fleet" but I haven't seen them named yet.

 

[Greg Smith]

Haven't 10 fleets been named already?

Vau will be in the forthcoming supplement. I have not seen anything about the Symbiots for NA-ACTA yet. Their ships did have a lot of strange and cool abilities in the original NA.

 

[starbreaker]

Hawkwood
Decados
Hazat
Al Malik
Li Halan
Kurgan
Vuldrok
Church
Vau

Those are all the ones I've seen, including preorder listings. League seems like it ought to be in there too, especially since they show up in a photo in the main book. OTOH, both Symbiot and League are likely to need a lot of special rules, the first because of odd biotech and the latter because they don't fit into generic scenarios as well - they're not primarily a warfleet, more merchants with guns and different strategic objectives.

If I had to hazard a guess, the fleet book will bring us Symbiots as the 10th fleet and rules for League allies/scenario targets rather than as a stand alone force, but that's just a guess.

 

[kaltorak18]

Oh! I didn't see the Vau listed there in the distributor stuff.

Well, that's really exciting! Thanks for pointing that out. I didn't play the old ACTA or NA so it's great hearing how some of the fleets felt in those versions.

So the Vorlons and Shadows were balanced out ok, cool, so they'll probably do the same with the Vau. Anyone know what their ships look like? Anything on the Redbrick site or elsewhere? I'd love to see something very alien compared to the rest of the fleets.

Ah, the Symbiots were in the original NA. Excellent! Anyone know where to find the old rules for that? I'd love to check out what kind of powers they gave them, maybe it'll give some sort of inkling as to what they'd end up with if they get ported to this version.

 

[Greg Smith]

I got my copy from Noble Knight Games.

The Vau have a big glowy ball of energy at the fromt of their ships IIRC.

The League are the fleet missing from Starbreaker's list. They do indeed play differently.

 

[starbreaker]

Ah, the Symbiots were in the original NA. Excellent! Anyone know where to find the old rules for that? I'd love to check out what kind of powers they gave them, maybe it'll give some sort of inkling as to what they'd end up with if they get ported to this version.

You want the second edition (or revised? something like that) Holistic rulebook for that, the xenos weren't in the 1st ed. Never did upgrade back in the old days so I can't say what they were like.

 

[godsgopher]

I honestly can't see Mongoose not doing they Symbiots! Not only are they a very unique fleet theme wise, but with the Vau on the table it does not make sense to not have the second major alien threat in Fading Sun's making an appearance. In addition I fully expect Mongooses customer base to demand it. And unlike the "British Game Company who Must not be Named" they listen to there customers.

 

[starbreaker]

I honestly can't see Mongoose not doing they Symbiots! Not only are they a very unique fleet theme wise, but with the Vau on the table it does not make sense to not have the second major alien threat in Fading Sun's making an appearance. In addition I fully expect Mongooses customer base to demand it. And unlike the "British Game Company who Must not be Named" they listen to there customers.

There's nothing wrong with them saving something for next year, you know. Ten fleets in the first annum is plenty busy already - a record, even, out of all the many, many starship games I've played.

 

[Clanger]

Well there are 2 Fleets still to do. The Glorious Imperial Fleet and the Symbiots. Then that should see all the factions represented.

 

[starbreaker]

Well there are 2 Fleets still to do. The Glorious Imperial Fleet and the Symbiots. Then that should see all the factions represented.

Not to mention the rules for Void Kraken and ghost ships and other "Dark Between the Stars" weirdness. That's good for a fair chunk of a supplement book by itself.

 

[godsgopher]

Lets not forget the more "Generic" Pirates, minor alien races, Minor Noble Houses! New alien races (Come on don't forget that many Gates are still closed, there is absolutely no reason Mongoose can not advanced the Fading Suns overall Story!)

Yes I'm all for space monsters! Void Krakens, Demons, The Never King and his Never was's or Is's.... no wait, I think that's Dr. Who, anyway plenty of other things that can be added in.

 

[markrusell]

Shadows generally work well contrary to Minbari but conversely Vorlons can be hit by Centauri / Dilgar due to sheer allowance of firepower

 

[AdrianH]

For instance - Shadows usually work well against Minbari but conversely Vorlons can be hammered by Centauri / Dilgar due to sheer amount of firepower they can throw out against hull 5.

Shadows generally work well contrary to Minbari but conversely Vorlons can be hit by Centauri / Dilgar due to sheer allowance of firepower

Spot the echo (and take a look at other posts by "markrusell" elsewhere in the forums).

 

[EnsignJDonavan]

Yeah in Noble Armada Expanded Edition the Symbiots would morph their weapons between rock slingers and lightning guns. The lightning guns were double burns and the rock slingers were weak, in terms of a call to arms.
In early 1999 Holistic Designs had advertisements for an Al-Malik vs Symbiot Noble Armada Box set. It was never released but that does mean they had at least the basic molds for the Symbiots.
I would think Mongoose would start the Guild Fleets before starting the Symbiots though. Shoot they have released so much, Ive personally waited 8 or so years for someone to start releasing ships for Noble Armada, I can wait a while more for Symbiots.

 

[krs_sven]

Most of the factions that don't have fleets yet will need to appear at some point. The League are not simply 'merchants with guns' - they also have dedicated warships and escorts designed to protect their freighters. The League have the highest tech base in Fading Suns, for example they invented (or re-invented) the Heavy Meson Cannon and deployed it on their ships during one of the Barbarian wars. I would expect the League to be able to at least hold their own against a Noble or Church fleet.

Symbiots would be very nice as the Known Worlds have been fighting them for quite a while. Vau would also be interesting as they would presumably be a very different fleet to play/face due to their advanced tech.

For the Imperial Fleet, it would depend on whether NA is considered to be set in the Emperor Wars. If so, an Imperial faction wouldn't be as necessary as the League or Symbiots.

What they really need to represent the universe:

Royal Houses (5)
Barbarians (2)
League (hopefully as a mixture of guild ships as part of the list)
Imperial (if applicable - though we'd like to see them if only for the Lekaf Scouts and Archangel
Heavy Fighters, the rest could be v. similar to Hawkwood)
Church
Symbiots
Vau
Others (e.g. minor house ships, pirates, rebels etc.)

I'd love to be able to build a rag-tag defence force for a Lost World and duke it out with invading KW/Barbarian fleets.

 

[Nerroth]

The Vau and Church are set to show up in Fleets of the Fading Suns, alongside the Kurga and Vuldrok lists; though I hope it won't be too long before things start to build up again ACtA:NA-wise.

If Mongoose intend to follow a similar template in a third book (to add room for 3 or 4 new fleets, along with additions for the pre-existing ones), I wouldn't be surprised if the Symbiots, League and Imperials were grouped together in wave 3; but whether guesses like that actually pan out is ,of course, another matter.

And I agree that some of the individual Lost Worlds (or independent enclaves in barbarian space, such as the surviving Vijayanagar realm on the otherwise Vuldrok-held world of Hargard) would be great to see at some point, too.

 

[asodohatch]

Always hated the view that the league are just merchants with guns. The thing you have to remember about Fading Suns is that power is controlled by three relatively equal factions, the Church, the Nobles and the League, each with their own areas of dominance. The Church have the largest military fleet around, probably equal to any 2 of the major noble houses. Their problem is that most of it is crewed by cretins and badly maintained. The Noble Houses each have a good sized fleet, fairly well maintained and fairly well crewed. Their problem is that the 5 major houses dislike each other and will never work together. The League have the largest space fleet around, although the majority of it is made up of "civilian" ships. Their military fleet is of a similar size to any of the noble house fleets, and generally better armed, crewed and maintained. Also alot of their "civilian ships are surprisingly well armed. You have to remember that in order to assure their existance the Merchant League fought bothe the church and the Nobles to a standstill.
Also, even if the game is set during the Emperor Wars, the Imperial fleet shoud be there. It existed as the Regancy Fleet largely constructed at Tethys. Its main role was to man the Stigmata Garrison, from where its Decados commander led it to attack the Al'Malik on Criticorum, almost taking the planet. To not put this fleet into the game would leave a big hole.

 

[locarno24]

What they really need to represent the universe:

Barbarians (2)

...Ahem. I would like to register my concern that you would dismiss the most glorious worlds of the Kurga Caliphate as mere 'barbarians'.

The thing you have to remember about Fading Suns is that power is controlled by three relatively equal factions, the Church, the Nobles and the League, each with their own areas of dominance.

[Dr Yueh] A political tripod - a most unstable of structures.[/Dr Yueh]

Anyway. Yeah, Merchant League warships would be good, but that's also the place to put 'generic' cargo carriers - something you'd need in order to add 'convoy escort' type missions to the possible selection.

The imperial fleet should be there, but as noted, isn't necessarily something to throw in immediately. Mongoose needs something for future product lines, after all.