what is the Centauris best assets now

  • Thread starter Thread starter noobdelux
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You guys notice something? This thread about the Centauri being nerfed appears, then within about 24 hours, a thread about the Narn being nerfed comes up too. Are more people playing War of Retribution games, or are people just failing to adapt to the (much-needed) change in 2nd ed?

I love the new Centauri fleet. There's nothing in there I'm dissatisfied with. Some of you will recall that I was among those howling for the Centauri to change before 2nd ed, decrying the excesses of the beam team and the worthless Vorchan/Demos. I now have ten Vorchans in my fleet and field at least four in every game. They're the work-horse unit they were always meant to be. There really aren't any turkey choices in the Centauri fleet now. Sure, you need to think a bit more about movement and weapon ranges instead of just crawling up the board laying about with death rays, but that isn't a bad thing.

The Lion of the Galaxy can still raw, it just has a new voice.
 
i think you all got me wrong! im jusl looking /wanting to learn how to use em : ) and iv got slot more tips now : ) want more though : )
 
What can I say to this young, up-and-coming commander? Drive in hard and fast, batter them with your ion cannons and circle away or drive past and come around again. Try Vorchan packs on both flanks, angling inwards to catch the enemy centre between them, or stay on the flanks to roll the enemy fleet up from both ends. Drive a Primus and/or a Centurion or the like up the middle to prevent the enemy splitting his fleet and turning to engage the Vorchans.

Always take a Balvarin if you have the points, you'll need those eight Sentris and the fleet carrier bonus makes them a sticky proposition for anyone to dogfight. Use them aggressively against low AF fleets, and defensively against high AF/fighter-heavy fleets. Against EA consider Raziks instead for the extra edge in dogfights.

Against fleets with a lot of interceptible weapons like the Vree, use a Maximus to escort capital ships. Beware of being spoofed into dropping all its interceptors on the capital ship, though, and then being blasted itself. Really think about the fire being levelled at the capital unit and decide if it will need both dice to fend off. If not, keep one back for the Maximus. If I was the Vree or similar, I'd be aiming a few scary weapons at your Primus, then hitting the defenceless Maximus with something you hadn't noticed. Once the Maximus is dead the Primus is naked anyway.

The Morgrath is a nasty surprise, being the only double damage beam you have below battle level and a late in-service date. Jumping them in from hyperspace can be a dirty little trick, getting them in close to use their beams, hopefully in the enemy's flank or rear. They also come with an interceptor of their own for a bit of staying power.

I can't think of much else to tell you. If you have specific questions I'd be happy to answer them. Take our people back to the stars!
 
Also can I add - try the Liati - its a an extremely nasty ship (don't like the model but hey another one is on its way courtesy of a German craftsman / Centauri God)- its got great guns and is as fast and manuevable as a White Star! Its also got dodge which is lovely against beam heavy fleets. Lastly it comes with 2 rutarians - great all round fighters. It is vulnerable against massed Gaim emines due to its low damage score..............

re the Maximus - its sometimes worth Closing Blast Doors when on guard duty for other ships like the Liati/ Primus / Octurion - Maximus and Liati go today very nicely if you can keep up - dodge and interceptors!

Balvarian is a must I find (very useful in many ways - Command, fleet carrier, more DD guns :) )- i tend to go with half Raziks and half Sentris as defualt esp against unknown enemies.

:)
 
Get to 10"-12" and use your agility to stay there. Narn are dependant on boresight beams and 8" secondary weapons, so if you can evade the one and stay out of range of the other you can muller them without being touched in return. Use Vorchan packs to go after his bigger ships - anything with lumbering is fodder for your agile units. For your larger ships, just drive in and let him have it with your ion cannons, and keep a Maximus close by to intercept his secondaries when he closes to knife range. Use iniative sinks to deny him boresights. Concentrare fire on one or two targets at a time, those Narn ships have more damage than you, so use your double damage primary armament en masse to pound them into oblivion.
 
Must admit I don't tend to tailor fleets for enemies as much as others perhaps

my standard 5 pt raid is:

Liati
Balvarian (4 Raxik, 4 Sentri)
Demos
Demos
MAXMUS
Corvan

you could swap out the Corvan for A Kutai and 2 Havens to reduce the chances of his Bore sight. The Liati seems fragile but unless he has masses of emines should be OK. If you are really worried go with a Sullust and 2 more Demos - 2x 2 ship squadrons of Demos has horrible hitting power. I have found that getting through the enemy helps as although the Narn have all round weapons it is only 8" and you can usually turn better than them.

any help? :)
 
I don't see why you use the Liati so much. It's a specialist ship, not a general fleet asset, and I can't see it being much use against a lot of enemies. I think I'd rather have a Primus or Dargan.
 
its always served me well against most fleets I have played - Dilgar, EA, (Although not last time - When Tank gave my fleet a pounding) Minbari Vree Narn, ISA, Centauri.

The Gaim also slaughtered me but next time will try and do better :)

Its only real weakness is low damage and crew and it has 4+ Dodge to make up for it. Combine it with interceptors and its potentially very survivable. Its guns are very good and the turet is extremely useful.

I find the Primus a bit slow and lumbering for me and ther Dargan is a lovely looking ship but just haven't used it much - I have two of them. I would far rather have dodge than stealth against certain fleets like the Minbari / ISA who have Lesaths to make it go away.

on a flip note - why do you like the Primus so much apart from being the canon ship ? :)
 
noobdelux said:
suggestions against them whiny darn narns?
Click to expand...

Present them with two bad choices. Have your fast units attack from a flank so the narns have to turn to face them, but have your big units coming from the other direction at the same time.(APTE is your friend here) This works really well if your opponant has taken alot of big ships, and you out number him. As he will have to choose between groups of attackers. Just remember to co-ordinate your attacks, you don't want to rush in too fast with the demos and let him deal to them, and have time to turn to face the big guns. Self inflicted defeat in detail.

On a table with a lot of steller debrie hang back with the fast ships until you get an idea were he is moving to. Then use their speed to get them to were they can mug part of his fleet at a time. If you can, use the terrain to cover your back from long range beam/e-mine shots. Terrain is great :D

And it probably goes without saying, but don't bunch your skirmish ships close together. E-mines can really hurt lighter ships now.
 
Da Boss said:
on a flip note - why do you like the Primus so much apart from being the canon ship ? :)
Click to expand...

Well, for one thing it is a canon, iconic ship. It looks damn cool if nothing else. 12AD of ion cannons up front will scare anyone, and it has ion cannons in every arc. It can act like a Nova, drive in and lay about it to all sides, except it's putting down double damage shots instead of single damage. The 6AD precise beam is very nice, too, you can really hurt some ships with that. I realise the Liati has a double damage, precise beam, but fewer dice, and generally fewer dice on its other guns too. It has less than half the damage of a Primus, and while it does have dodge, only a few failed dodge rolls and that Liati is space dust, while the Primus soldiers on. The Primus is also the same speed as the Maximus, making it very easy to escort and shield from fighter attacks - a big vulnerability for the Centauri - and to benefit from some interceptors. The Liati is almost twice as fast as the Maximus, so to benefit from the escort's presence it has to really slow down. Not good when its main asset is speed and agility.

On top of that, the Primus still has that reputation as a scary ship. It looks solid, it packs a lot of dice, it brings some fighters to the table and it's hard to kill. At speed 8 it's faster than some battle units and can make 12" on APtE, giving it a 24" lunge range for its ion cannon battery. Not half bad for what it is. The Liati really is a Vorchan writ large and specialised to deal with the ISA, and while it's great for anyone with a lot of dodges, it's going to suffer against hard-hitting fleets or anything with accurate weapons of its own.

Incidentally, are you using the (hideous) official model or some stand-in?
 
Must admit one of the things I like about 2nd Ed Centauri and I think many fleets is that we can acutally debate which is best as there is in fact a choice :)

re Primus - yep its looks great - few Centauri ships dont though :wink: (I don't like the Liati or Centurion model)

its got good guns but I have found it is just a bit slow / lumbering for me :) on the Ion cannons - the Liati can get 18 AD of DD guns onto a target in the front arc - half of them SAP.
4 dice DD beam vs 6 dice beam - 4 dice is usually enough to get you the hits and the crits hurt so much more with DD :)

Maximus - depending on the opposition APTE with it keeps it nicley with the Liati to start with and then its not normally a problem after that.

Not saying your wrong - maybe we should have some games with each others favs :D

I chopped up the model a bit - its not worse :)
 
There are certainly points of view to consider with the new Centauri. The biggest problem I see with the Liati is its damage track. Only 28 hits compared to the Primus' 52, or the Vorchan's 19. Dodge helps with that, but the fact is, the Liati has hits like a ship two levels lower. It's also hull 5 compared to the hull 6 Primus. Hull 6 is worth a lot, especially against enemies that are relying on traitless weapons (like Narn secondaries) or twin-linked weapons (like EA).

The Liati can focus more firepower on a target in front, but the Primus can put down a lot of dice on several targets at once. Without any AP or SAP dice it can struggle to hit hull 6 targets, but punching below its weight, the Primus is a real killer. Just watch it take apart raid and skirmish ships.
 
I see what you are saying and I may try the Primus out a bit more - but also I suggest trying the Liati its worth seeing how it works. Hull 6 is good but it don't help with beams and dodge does :) Its like a giant White star but with all round firepower and anti fighter -the two Rutatians also help

I also (with "stupid" dice rolls and a Maximus) recently managed to survive the fire of 2 full penticons with a Liati................
 
I certainly plan to include a Liati in my fleet, as soon as a certain German gentleman produces a decent model for it. I do view it as a specialist unit, though, to be included when the mission calls for it, rather than as a general fleet asset. Of course, as you point out, you can argue the other way, and the ship does have strengths. Every ship in the Centauri fleet is viable and useful now.
 
Centauri_Admiral said:
Personally I like the idea of throwing 6 Demos down someones throat, on all power to engines, so they move 21 inches, whilst having a scout locking on to your chosen enemy so your LBM's get a re-roll! :D

Hmmmm, 36 dice hitting on 4's in the worst case, with re-rolls and the precise trait. And to back that up, if you are in range, and with a 21" move I should expect you would be, an additional 60 dice of double damage twin-linked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'LL BUY THAT FOR A DOLLAR!

:twisted:
Click to expand...
I'm just glad nobody else has noticed that the Demos is a good ship otherwise they'll all be doing it :P
 
as soon as my fleet is painted (please note LBH) i'll be useing Demos's.

@ Triggy, I was after a Sharlin hence im offering you the other Vorlon shp as well as the old Transport
 
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