Babylon 5 A Call To Arms 2nd Edition Brakiri Syndicracy Fleet Review

The priority system used by A Call to Arms for fleet selection is intended to make each ship of a given priority level be of equivalent strength. In practice this is not the case and some ships will be obviously more capable than others. This leads to be being able to rank ships against each other within a list, and against similar ships in other lists. Here is the ranking system I am using. Note I am only comparing ships in the Brakiri fleet against each other, please consider my rankings in that context. I am also only considering ships from the official mongoose publications from second edition, those being the Fleets book and Powers and Principalities.

Tier Rankings

S Tier: Reserved for ships that either significantly undercosted or have a combination of rules that perform well above ships in similar roles. These ships are often called “auto includes” as any list stands to be made better with their inclusion. 

A Tier: These units are some of the best the fleet has to offer. They excel in their specific roles and commonly help form the core of most lists. While not auto include, they are great in almost any list  they are taken in and will be seen frequently.

B Tier: These ships have a mix of strengths and weaknesses that make them very playable but balanced. These ships work great with specific roles in mind; however, their weaknesses mean they do not help every list. In a perfect world, all ships would fit into this category.

C Tier: C tier ships may still shine in niche lists and roles; however, they will feel underpowered when compared to similar units in the fleet. Decidedly suboptimal, you could make them work but frequently will see other things that are just better. 

D Tier: Ships that need some considerable love and attention. You will struggle to find any role for this ship that another ship couldn’t do better. Very often you will see these ships labeled as “unplayable”.

The Brakiri fleet is one that is competitive in many areas with those of the other races but has a few inherent weaknesses. They lack much in the way of long range firepower and do not have any truly fast ships in their fleet list. They are incredibly hard hitting though with their Graviton Beams once they are in range surpassing most other fleets comfortably with the ability to alpha strike. This comes at the cost of being able to sustain the damage output as their most effective weapons have to recharge after each firing.

S-Tier

Haltana  - The Haltana is an amazing skirmish level ship that will more than pull its weight in games of any priority level. Introduced in the 2009 Powers and Principalities it is a variant of the Halik. In place of the potent anti-fighter weapons the Haltana comes with an arsenal of Gravitic Shifters. These nifty pieces of kit allow you to alter the facing of any ship they hit and in addition, again thanks to powers and principalities, for each one past the first you use do damage to the enemy ship. On their own they provide very good tactical utility but they really shine in larger numbers where their shifters can combine to deal some impressive damage to an enemy. When this is combined with their incredible toughness and acceptable speed and agility you have one of the best ships for its tier in the game.
Be cautious when you use this ship as it can be quite oppressive.

A-Tier

Avioki - Aviokis are the iconic Brakiri ship with their incredibly distinctive silhouette. They also happen to be a very solid Battle level choice. The main features of the ship are a very healthy damage pool allowing them to soak up an impressive amount of damage, and the main armament, the Graviton Beam. This weapon is unique to the Brakiri combining a broad firing arc, a high number of attack dice for a ship of its tier and as a tradeoff being slow loading. This makes the Avioki hit quite hard with its beam, outgunning ships of equal tiers handily, and being very close in firepower to War level ships. This only applies every other turn. when the main weapon can't fire due to being slow loading. Best of all, its an amazing looking ship.

 

Brikorta - The Brakiri ships do not, as a rule, carry their own fighters. Instead they rely on dedicated ships to bring them. Brakiri ships also do not tend to have Interceptors. The Brikorta can solve both these problems at a very cheap cost. This Skirmish choice brings 4 flights of fighters which can be either Falkosi or Pikatos on a relatively tough ship whose armament is... not useless. The fighters can be used to either contest space superiority, or support capital ships as pseudo interceptors Brakiri weapons tend towards being quite powerful with the standard weapon, the Graviton Pulsar, being Armour Piercing single damage shots at a useful 12" range. This ship will serve you very well either as a primary carrier in smaller, Patrol and Skirmish, level games, and also as a support to Larger carriers like the Brokados in Larger ones. which brings us nicely to...

Brokados - The best carrier the Brakiri have access to. This is a tough ship boasting a high damage threshold and a reasonable armament. Where it shines though is its Traits as they enhance the fleet it is in as a whole. Command +1 brings up the Brakiri's initiative to +1, and the Fleet carrier ability allows you to start with more fighters deployed, improves all fighters that are deployed by this ship and any others, and potentially if they are close enough to the Brokados when they are destroyed, recover destroyed flights for use later. Useful in almost any size game the Brokados will serve you well.

Falkosi - The main fighter for the Brakiri, the Falkosi is the one you will want to take in most situations. It is incredibly fast, being one of the fastest fighters in the game. It has a useful armament but doesn't do well attacking enemy ships since it has a very low hull value, but the dogfight of +1, or +2 if you took a Brokados or other fleet carrier, means it can engage most fighters with a reasonable chance of victory. It can also support your capital ships and act as an Interceptor given its weapons are not weak. A very solid fighter

Haltona - Alongside the Brokados this is the Raid level ship you will be most likely to face. It has a reasonable hit point pool, good secondary armament and, like the Avioki, the Graviton Beam hits harder and is more flexible than you might think. The beam has all the strengths and weaknesses of the one on the Avioki but the ship itself is far more agile. It represents better value in terms of firepower than the avioki with you being able to take 2 for the price of 1 Avioki, but this is at the price of weaker armour. A very good ship.

B-Tier

Halik, - This is the ship the Haltona and Haltana are variants of, and is one of the better escorts in the game. With anti-fighter 8 you can keep it close to your other capital ships and swat away enemy fighter flights with ease. The ship is as tough as you would expect but as a trade off for being an excellent fighter killer, it lacks a punchy main armament which leaves it comparatively under gunned. the weapons it does have are twin-linked though which is nice, but that still leaves it weaker than other ships of its tier. As a Raid level escort as well it has quite a high opportunity cost since it costs the same as a Brokados or Haltona. In those matches where you desperately need an Escort this is excellent, as the anti-fighter 8 can go up to 16 if you use the Intensify Defensive fire! order.

Ikorta - Tier for Tier, this is the best Assault ship in A Call to Arms. A skirmish ship with excellent defences and decent all round firepower, this ship would be decidedly average if not for the fact it is both an atmospheric craft, and carries 12, yes 12 (Twelve) troops. In any mission requiring troops this is going to be your go to choice. If you need to board an enemy ship, this is your go to choice.

Kabrokta - Like the Ikorta this is an assault ship with a higher than average number of troops. Unlike the Ikorta this is also an effective frontline warship. It is faster than the Avioki and is actually arguably better armed. The tradeoff though is that the main weapon is a Bore sighted laser which makes it much harder to use effectively and the ship is not as tough with the damage threshold being 12 lower than the Avioki. In missions requiring you to bring large numbers of troops to a fight, through enemy defences (and other ships) this will do a good job but in a pure ship to ship engagement the Avioki has the superior alpha strike.

Shakara - Ships with scout are very useful in a number of ways. They allow you to re-roll your initiative for deployment and first turn if you have more ships with scout, you can bring in ships from hyperspace without them being unable to fire, and you can get sensor locks on enemy ships to either lower their stealth or give your own ships twin-linked weapons. The Shakara can do all of this, and should be taken because of this. In other respects though, this ship is awful. Slow, not maneuverable, poorly armed. the ships only redeeming features (other than scout) are that it is a stealth ship and thus hard to target, and it has an abbai comms disruptor. The later means, should it hit, the target will have a much harder time using orders, and will be more susceptible to getting turned by any ships with Gravitic Shifters. You will take this ship only because you want a ship with Scout, and thats ok

Tashkat - The Tashkat is superior to the Avioki in almost every single way. Its faster, better protected, Tougher and better armed. It also boasts a pair of Gravitic shifters. The main armament is a more powerful version of the Graviton Beam that has a longer range. The main advantage of the ship is that it is as fast and agile as the Halik. This on a War level ship makes it stand out on its own. As far as negatives go, the ship is expensive, being a War level ship, and while it is better armed than an Avioki, it is more poorly armed than many of its competitors at War level. definitely worth taking if playing a War level game, but its not a ship you will play that often due to its high cost.

C-Tier

Batrado - This is what you get when you strip out everything that makes the Avioki good. The Batrado is poorly armed, slow, sluggish and has comparatively weak armour. The thing that makes it a C-Tier is its high damage threshold. In high priority games the amount of damage being thrown around can be staggering. The Batrado can absorb a massive amount of punishment before being destroyed where a 'better' ship such as a Haltona would have been destroyed. You can use the Batrado to 'trap' your enemies. If you place it closer to them than any of your other ships you can ensure that the Batrado is the first thing they will shoot at, and then they will have to decide to continue shooting the already damaged Batrado, or alternatively shoot something else that is actually worth shooting and have potentially wasted their previous shots.

Kaliva - This is the final ship based on the Avioki. Instead of the Graviton beam the ship has a Gravitic Lance. This is the longest ranged weapon you will find in the Brakiri fleet. Boasting Super AP and triple damage the Lance can deal a serious amount of damage at long range. This comes with a few caveats though. The Lance is essentially the only long range weapon the Brakiri have that doesn't ignore interceptors, so if they are present on the ship being fired upon the interceptors will be at full effectiveness and seriously blunt the damage inflicted. The long range also means if you use them as snipers you are wasting your secondary weapons, and if you use them more aggressively you are going to waste their range. In larger games they will be fairly useful, but if given a choice between an Avioki and Kaliva I would normally choose the Avioki.

Pikatos - The other fighter that the Brakiri have access to. When compared to the Falkosi the Pikatos is much slower, is a terrible dog fighter at -1 to dogfight, and is easier to take out with normal weapons fire. To make up for this, the Pikatos is much, much better as a strike fighter, since it can attack enemy ships from outside of anti-fighter range with mini beams. In some other fleets this would be an amazing strike fighter, but the Falkosi is the better choice for the Brakiri.

 

Takata - A Variant of the Tashkat, this ship looks a lot better than it actually is. It trades the powerful beam and pair of Gravitic shifters for a full array of 4 double damage energy mines that have 4 AD apiece. Energy mines are a weapon that some might regard as being overpowered. they are the only area of effect weapon and their effectiveness lies in the twin facts they can hit multiple ships, and your opponent knows this. Otherwise they are fairly weak weapons on an individual basis. The ones on the Takata are no exception. they are only really effective against fighters and ships with a low hull value. There will be some matches where this ship will be a must take, but many more when practically any other ship would be better. Brakiri are not without ways to combat fighters after all. Finally, Its a war level ship, and the only ship in the fleet with the energy mines which means by the time a game is large enough for you to want to take one, the ships you want it to engage will not be your primary concern.

D-Tier

Breaching Pods - Breaching pods are, interesting. They are slow, lose dogfights automatically, are fairly easy to kill, but on the other hand, boarding actions, when they occur, can be devastating. Ordinarily, when you launch a boarding action the criteria are fairly hard to meet. Breaching pods skip every step you would otherwise have to take and you just have to contact an enemy ship with them. On the downside, If you take them they are either cost you a patrol point, and in most fleets almost anything else will be a better choice, or else you have to use carriers to carry them and they replace fighters. they also take up troops from your own ships when deployed in this way. Avoid.

Brivoki - perhaps the ugliest ship you have ever seen. The Brivioki is large, unwieldy, well protected and reasonably well armed. The main weapons are long ranged and hard hitting for Brakiri, but the secondary weapons are weak and impractical. If it can shoot something they will know they've been shot but its unwieldy and easy to outmaneuver. As the Brakiri's only Armageddon ship it has that going for it, but you can take any 2 War level ships for the same price, and a pair of Tashkats would be able to kill this with ease, and would do better against practically any other ship you would care to put them against.

Cidikar - The Earth Alliance have the Poseidon, the Brakiri have the Cidikar. They both fill a similar role, bringing lots of fighters to a battle. The Cidikar brings 20 flights of them, backed up by a Heavy combat laser and some graviton pulsars. The problem is the Brakiri have an excellent carrier already in the form of the Brokados, and you can get 4 of them for the same cost as a single Cidikar. The 4 Brokados' will carry more fighters, be tougher overall, better armed and have more utility. What the cidikar offers then is the individual tougher hull. it can take more punishment than a pair of Brokados' and still be (barely) functional, and it has Command +2 which is the highest in the fleet. If I was to take one the command would be the only reason I would take it. there are much better choices than this.

Corumai - Alongside the Tashkat this is the other War level dedicated combat ship. Second only to the Brivioki in overall power the ship has the most powerful secondary weapons of any ship in the Brakiri fleet. It also brings its own interceptors and can take a satisfyingly large amount of damage. Unfortunately it is only hull 5 meaning even with the Interceptors it is weaker against a lot of weapons than the Avioki, a ship half its cost. It has to compete with the Tashkat as well which is a ship that is both faster and more maneuverable and is also tougher against some weapons that the Corumai. It has command +1 in its favour, but you should be sourcing that from a Brokados anyway.

Riva - One of the most heavily armed fighters in the game. The ship has a really good armament going for it. That is all it has. The Riva is Slow, easy to kill with fighters, has a terrible dodge rating, and you have to pay a patrol point to take them. They cannot be brought to battle in a carrier. If they could they would be a strong strike fighter you have to deliver close to the enemy force. This is somewhere you generally don't want carriers to be. As it stands though, Rivas will only ever see the board in patrol level games and then you will have to weigh taking them against the Falkosi.

This concludes my look at the Brakiri. 
Do you agree with my tier rankings? what would you change. let me know

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Miniature STL's by Tyrel Lohr and Badqueen creations
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