Using the Brakiri Antoph light cruiser in your games of A Call to Arms

    The Antoph-class light cruiser is my favorite looking Brakiri ship. It has a simple no nonsense silhouette with the trademark large rear fins that mark it out as definitively Brakiri. The ship isn't an official one as far as ACTA goes, but it does appear in The wave by Richard Bax (available from the Babylon 5 Wars Vault) a 1st edition unofficial expansion, and as a Babylon 5 Wars control sheet complete with line drawings and a little bit of the ships history.

    There are 2 STL's available for the ship, the first is on Thingiverse by Pzkpfw_Steve and is totally free, the second, much better, version by Tyrel Lohr is available on Cults3d for a small fee.

    The ship has an interesting history attached to it. Designed and constructed by the Ak-Habil Conglomerate from earth year 2175. The initial versions of the ship were equipped with a Graviton Bolts and Graviton Cannons and propulsion was by means of standard reaction drives.
From 2220 onward the class was redesigned to incorporate the Gravitic drive system that all Brakiri ships are equipped with, and received a Graviton Beam as an upgrade to it's primary armament.

Line Drawings taken from the B5Wars control sheet

    By the time of the Dilgar war, The Antoph was available in significant numbers, and did bear the brunt of Brakiri losses. The design would never recover from this and fell out of favour to be replaced by the newer and more capable Avioki, also designed and constructed by Ak-Habil from 2202 onwards. So, the Antoph can in many ways be considered the precursor to the Avioki. It should be noted that the Antoph is designed primarily as a warship, while the Avioki is not. The Antoph, by the time of the setting of ACTA in the third age (although you can play earlier periods if you like) has also been superseded by the Haltona, another Ak-Habil design which is superior in most respects.

    In the game, the ship appears in The Wave, an expansion by Richard Bax that deals with the Brakiri fleet at the time of the Dilgar war. For those of you familiar with the Brakiri fleet you will notice there are some big gaps in the lineup in the wave to reflect the earlier period, and the Antoph fits into the Raid priority slot where you would normally expect to find the Haltona. I've translated the stats of the ship from 1st edition to second edition which was fairly simple. Then I've updated the stats to reflect what it would be like from 2249 onwards when the Graviton Bolters used by the Brakiri were upgraded to Pulsars, and finally a third version that I think is more in line with the power level a Raid ship should have in the second edition. My final version compares quite favorably with the Haltona, but in my opinion, the Haltona is the superior ship.

Antoph (Dilgar War)

    This is a Direct translation from the 1st edition rules. the only change I had to make was to change the Gravitic Bolt, which is the anti-fighter weapon, to Anti-fighter 1. The ship has a mixed battery of weapons, is reasonably tough but lacks much in the way of defensive features, this is a common feature for Ak-Habil ships, they put their resilience into the ships hull rather than add gravitic shielding and the like. The ship has decent but not spectacular forward firepower, a reasonable speed, very good agility, and comparitively poor side and rear armamanets, which will reward you for getting behind it.

Antoph (Refit)

    This refitted version is almost unchanged in effectiveness. the difference is the move from the Graviton Bolters to the Pulsars. The new armament reflects the advancements of the Im-Rehsa Technologies corporation following the Dilgar war, and is the common secondary, or in some cases primary, armament of all ships on the Brakiri roster.

Antoph (Final Upgrade)

    My final version is what I would consider to be roughly equivalent to the Haltona. You lose a little speed but gain a slight advantage in damage, and at the same time you have roughly equivalent armament. This Antoph has a slight advantage with the forward armament thanks to the Grav Cannons being precise, but this is offset by the poorer side and rear armament.

If you are thinking of using any version of a ship in your game that isn't official, or even something you make up yourself. Make sure to get your opponents permission first. Fan designs can often tend towards the overpowered, and thats especially true in a game with granularity as limited as A Call to Arms.

What do you think? Do you like the Antoph? Would you use one in a game? Did I get the Balancing right or wrong? What would you change? Please let me know in the comments, and I will see you next time.