Using Abbai effectively?

[LordClinto]

I know there is an article in S&P 36 or 35 dealing with league fleets but it seems like it is a little out of date (same with the Vorlon & Shadows article!).

I know the winner of the last big tourny was Abbai with something like 2 Bimiths, 3 Milanis and 6 Bisaria. Seems like a pretty solid list as far as I can tell, stat wise at least.

Seems like they are an armored wedge type fleet, APTE, with flanking, Comm disrupting Bisarias?

Any tips or suggestions for fleet composition or tactics?

 

[katadder]

actually think he had smoething like 5 milanis and 10 patrol ships, mainly tiracas with i think a couple of comms disruptor variants.

 

[Triggy]

Yeah, my fleet was 10 Milani (that rarely launched their fighters due to the tourney giving away VPs if they were killed), 8 Tiracas and 2 Bisarias. I've written a little about them in a couple of other threads if you want to do a search for Abbai. Basically the whole fleet position themselves just out of firing range on a given turn, if possible using terrain and initiative sinks to keep several enemy ships completely out of the line of fire and out of the game. Then the Tiracas and variants surge forwards APE with the Milanis in a squadron close behind, keeping some gaps between the ships but speed is more important than worrying about ships blowing up. The next turn is where all hell breaks loose as all the ships attempt to get multiple arcs to bear and do what comes naturally

 

[Alexb83]

It's a very difficult fleet to try and deal with - that many ships and that many fighters is a nightmare.

I played against Triggy's fleet at MoW using a Morshin and Tigara/Torothas, and got completely swarmed. The Abbai ships are just tough enough that mostly AP weaponry (what I had) simply wont do it. IMO to deal with it, you'd either have to load up on hull 5/6 ships with heavy close in armament, or go for heavier vessels which are both heavy on SAP beams and quick enough to jet through the mass of abbai and turn quickly on the other side. Unfortunately Minbari don't really have anything cheap enough fitting either of those descriptions! (Veshetans might do the job, but only having 2 ships is a real limiter).
Ashinatas might do it, with the TL minibeams.

 

[LordClinto]

Yeah, my fleet was 10 Milani (that rarely launched their fighters due to the tourney giving away VPs if they were killed), 8 Tiracas and 2 Bisarias.

So in tourny's you get vp for killing flights of fighters launched from "carriers"; but do you get points for unlaunched flights in a ship you destroy?

 

[Tank]

Not currently!

 

[Triggy]

Yeah, my fleet was 10 Milani (that rarely launched their fighters due to the tourney giving away VPs if they were killed), 8 Tiracas and 2 Bisarias.

So in tourny's you get vp for killing flights of fighters launched from "carriers"; but do you get points for unlaunched flights in a ship you destroy?

Nope, hence in one battle against Narn, once the enemy fighters were destroyed and my Kothas had done their job of deterring the enemy from coming too close, they started to dock with their motherships thus not giving away any victory points. This is one of the rules I really feel ought to be changed so the VPs are "paid for" in the mothership's death, not the fighters'.

 

[lastbesthope]

I know there is an article in S&P 36 or 35 dealing with league fleets but it seems like it is a little out of date (same with the Vorlon & Shadows article!).

IIRC, the Vorlon/Shadow article stated it was based on the basic box set, which may explain some of it.

LBH