Babylon 5 A Call To Arms 2nd Edition Narn Regime Fleet Review

The Narn Regime are the unfortunate punching bags of the Babylon 5 Universe and were the first to fall victim to the machinations of the shadows during the shadow war. Their fleet is a combination of lots of different design philosophies based mainly on necessity rather than anything else. 
Narn ships are on the whole the toughest to kill in the game and they have a staggering amount of firepower backing up their primary weapons. They are the race that makes best use of energy mines as well with some really great ships armed with them.
There are negatives of course. Their primary armaments are lacking compared to other fleets, and their secondary weapons while numerous are short ranged. The Narn strategy is to outlast their opponents rather than deal an immediate killing blow.
Good looking, survivable and possessing a large and varied roster of ships, Narn are a fun, if under powered, fleet.

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 Narn 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 under-costed 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 under-powered when compared to similar units in the fleet. Decidedly sub optimal, 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”.

S-Tier

G'Vrahn - This fast cruiser is the best ship the Narn have access to and i would argue, the best War level ship in the game. It suffered a little from the changes made in powers and principalities but still emerged to be a very effective warship. The main characteristics are that it is fast for a ship of its size and it is also agile meaning it can easily bring its main armament to bear against any foe. The primary beams being split between a forward arc and a bore sighted weapon means that there will be times you cannot bring everything to bear, and its also a bit more vulnerable to critical hits that affect AD since you will lose one from both the heavy laser and the mag cannon. This is backed up by some forward firing Ion torpedoes and a slow loading energy mine against enemies to the front it packs a massive punch. The secondary weapons aren't terribly impressive though, it is outgunned at very close range by a G'Quan, but the value of the ship is in the beams and the agility.

Sho'Kov Torpedo cutter. Any Narn fleet should have some of these very impressive ships. They are fast, agile, and since they are a 2 for 1 patrol choice, incredibly cheap and durable. Their armament isn't terribly impressive but it is long ranged. En masse they can overwhelm an enemy but individually they lose to almost anything they might be facing by dint of their weak armament.
Their value lies in their availability, expendable nature and relative toughness. There are a few ships available to other races that are also 2 for 1 choices, but they have far fewer hit points in general.
Use these ships as Initiative sinks, long range speculative fire to cause chip damage with the precise Ion torpedoes and to shield your larger more important ships using 'maneuver to shield them' Just be aware that each ship gives up a patrol ships worth of victory points so there are more points on the board for your opponent to win than would be the case if they were a little better and cost a patrol point each.

Thentus - This is, I think, the best skirmish level ship that the Narn have access to. It is in many ways a miniature G'Vrahn. or is the G'Vrahn a scaled up Thentus? It is fairly tough for a Skirmish level ship, a trait that is consistent with Narn ships, and has reasonable but not exceptional speed and agility. The main characteristic though is the dual beams it has. These allow it to ignore Interceptors almost entirely where they are present and there is always the chance of a damage spike with beams. the lack of any serious secondary weapons is the only major weakness of the ship. If you are playing a skirmish level game this is probably going to be your default choice of ship

T'Loth - The T'Loth-class Assault Cruiser is an absolutely amazing ship. If the Early Earth Nova Dreadnought did not exist then this would easily be my top pick for best Raid level ship in the game. In keeping with Narn design philosophy the ship is very very tough with an absolutely staggering 74/15 damage. This makes it tougher than a lot of Battle level ships. Combine this with its decent speed of 8 and its a tough ship you can easily get to where you want it. Its agility is somewhat countered by the fact it is lumbering, and the weapons on the ship are.. mediocre, but that is not what sets the ship apart. the combination of speed, toughness and 12 troops makes this the premier bully ship in the game. get the T'Loth close to the enemy and you can guarantee they wont slow down for anything, and when they do the T'Loth jumps on them with all their troops and overpowers them. If they try to shoot the ship down, then its a massive amount of damage to chew through. this ship is just staggeringly good and very hard to kill.

A-Tier

Dag'Kar - The Dag'Kar is a very specialist ship and one worth considering in almost any match up you might be faced with. This is a specialist long range support ship bringing a slow loading energy mine launcher and some ion torpedoes mounted on a very slow and flimsy hull. The inclusion of this ship can dictate a lot of enemy movement thanks to the energy mine launcher but expect the ship to be a priority target for the enemy.

G'Karith - The G'Karith is a very specialist ship and is excellent at its intended purpose but falls a bit flat against other targets. The main feature of the ship is the Pulsar mine. This is a shorter ranged rapid firing but much weaker version of the energy mine mounted on a lot of Narn ships. it lacks the hitting power to threaten larger ships but it is excellent against fighter flights and anything that relies on the dodge trait to survive. The ships armament is only effective against lower hull values and shots will bounce off any larger ships. Target smaller supporting ships and fighters and this ship is absolutely amazing. Since the Narn lack any ships with the escort trait, consider the Pulsar mine to be their solution. its both more limited and more useful at the same time

G'Tal - This command ship is a fantastic addition to the fleet. Compared to the G'Quan (see below) the ship trades the energy mine and fighters for some additional damage points and command +2. The later of which is the reason you will take the ship and it pushes the Narn Initiative to a very nice +4. Otherwise its a very similar ship to the G'Quan and can be used in much the same way.

Var'Nic - I was very tempted to put this ship in the S-Tier. It boasts an incredibly effective armament, superior speed and agility and excellent survive ability. the combination of torpedoes and Medium Laser cannon make it effective at any range. The thing that stops it being a much better ship is the concentration of the weapons forwards. This limits its usefulness once the action gets closer. Its still an excellent Raid level ship

B-Tier

Frazi - The Standard Narn fighter is a very specialised designed to engage capital ships. Its reasonably tough, has a very effective anti ship loadout but suffers somewhat in dogfights. You will want to use energy mines to clear out enemy fighters and then engage the capital ships with the Frazis where they can overwhelm any defences. You can also use them to support your own ships. Narn capital ships lack interceptors on the whole, so using the Frazi's defensively initially can boost your survive-ability somewhat.

Gorith - The other Narn fighter trades a few weapon shots for a slightly better dogfight score. otherwise they are very similar. Since Narn lack a fleet carrier +1 is the best dogfight score you will get in the fleet. It may be useful but your fighters aren't really good against enemy fighters unless you have the numbers, and you don't. Whether you pick these of the Frazi is down to personal taste.

G'Quan - I have previously done a deep dive on the G'Quan. In summary though, the G'Quan offers a very tough capital ship with a credible main armament. The energy mine is a legitimate threat to a lot of enemy ships and it has an amazing secondary armament. It is slow and hard to maneuver though and its only real defensive ability is the depth of its damage pool. Its not a terrible ship, my feelings on the G'Quan have mellowed somewhat and I would rate it as 'not as terrible as originally thought' In a Narn fleet its a solid choice.

G'Lan - Compared to the G'Quan this ship trades its energy mine and long range Heavy laser cannon for superior closer ranged weapons. It gains the Mag cannon which has a better fire arc than the laser cannon. I prefer the G'Quan to this ship on account of the flexibility of the armament, but its still a solid alternative

Ka'Tan - The Ka'Tan is the smallest ship the Narn have that can carry an energy mine. Its not a very strong mine and is single shot but energy mines are incredibly useful against fighters and ships that rely on stealth, dodge and interceptors for their protection. The long range laser is also quite useful in some situations. The ship is let down by being somewhat flimsy for a Narn ship with a low damage capacity, and it can struggle to bring its main weapon to bear against smaller ships as it has 1 turn. the energy mine is what makes this ship a good pick.

Sho'Kar - The Sho'Kar is the only scout ship available to the Narn regime. They have lots of ships that benefit from being able to re-roll their attacks and the ship has a fairly impressive main beam weapon for a skirmish ship. Its a little shorter ranged than you might like though. Overall the ship is relatively fragile and while it has stealth its not very good at a 3+. on the plus side you can use scout even if you are on a special order or otherwise hiding.

Rongoth - This is one of my favourite looking Narn ships. It has a respectable damage pool and a very impressive forward armament boasting 4 twin-linked shots if you can get to close range. it can easily overwhelm interceptors and dodge traits through volume of fire so can either hunt smaller ships or contribute to dealing with heavier ones. unfortunately the ship has only 1 turn limiting the usefulness. Its an excellent ship to pair with the Rothan as their weapons complement each other.

Rothan - The Rothan has quite a potent forward armament in the form of heavy plasma cannons. I would always consider pairing this with a ship to overwhelm interceptors such as the Rongoth since it trades volume of fire for weapons punch. losing a few hits from a Rongoth is no big deal, but for a Rothan it is. Both are solid choices

C-Tier

Bin'Tak - The Bin'Tak is not a bad ship. It boasts an impressive and varied forward armament, is survivable. The problem is that the G'Vrahn exists and is in almost every situation a better choice. The Bin'Tak has the edge on toughness and command +1 but otherwise the G'Vrahn is just plain better. If you are using in service dates this would be considered a B-Tier, otherwise... Take the G;Vrahn

Ka'Bin'Tak - Its a ridiculous ship. it is ridiculously tough. It has ridiculous guns. It's ridiculously expensive. It can be fun if you know what you are getting yourself in to, but otherwise I would avoid it.

G'Sten - The G'Sten is a variant of the G'Karith and in my opinion an inferior version. It gains an extra fighter and loses the Pulsar mine. In return it has slightly better forward weapons. An energy mines main weakness is they cant cause critical hits so the G'Sten is bringing a lot more firepower (thanks to twin-linked) to put into a single target. The issue is that its not enough. The Rongoth does the same job, but for a skirmish point. Its not a terrible ship since it is quite agile and brings fighters, but I would take the G'Karith or a pair of Rongoths over a G'Sten.

T'Rann - A vairant of the T'Loth this ship is the Narn regimes only ship with carrier. It carries 8 fighters and has the same toughness as the T'Loth, but loses the main weapons and the troops. Most Narn ships carry one or two flights of fighters so a fleet will naturally have an organic fighter component so a ship just bringing fighters is a bit redundant. If the ship had Fleet carrier and thus provided a buff to other fighters as well it would be worth considering, but its just not terribly effective.

Ka'Toc - The Ka'Toc is an unusual ship. It looks like its going to be very similar to the Thentus with a few minor differences, but these quickly turn into major problems for the ship. It has a potent forward armament and a slight range advantage on the Thentus, but it is also faster and brings a flight of fighters along for the ride. On the negative side it is not as tough as the Thentus with a lower damage threshold and the most important factor is that it can make only a single turn. it is very close to being a competitor for the Thentus. The fighters might swing it for you in certain situations, but I would generally take the Thentus over the Ka'Toc.

T'Rakk - The T'Rakk is surprisingly quick and agile. It carries a flight of fighters and is as tough to kill as a lot of Raid level ships. The trade off for this is that it is very, very, weakly armed. Many patrol ships will outgun the T'Rakk handily. Its not an awful ship as you know exactly what you are getting. a tough agile ship with poor firepower. there are better choices to take though.

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.

Sho'Kos patrol cutter The ship has many of the strengths of the Sho'Kov and can be used in many of the same ways. The real difference is that the Sho'Kos has a very short ranged and very weak forward weapons battery and a short ranged burst beam instead of an Ion torpedo. Just do yourself a massive favour and take the Sho'Kov, its better all round.

G'Qunonth - This is a War level variant of the G'Quan and has the same defensive profile. Offensively the ship gets a boost to its weapons with Ion torpedoes, more secondary weapons shots and the Energy mine being slow loading. If you absolutely must take a war level ship and don't have a Bin'Tak or a G'Vrahn, then this is a valid choice. Otherwise take 2 G'Quans or any combination of other ships. This isn't a very good ship at all.

Do you agree with my tier rankings? what would you change. let me know

If you like what I do, please consider supporting me on Patreon or buy me a nice cup of Coffee.

thanks for reading, and I will see you next time.

Miniature STL's by Tyrel Lohr
Metal Miniature (G'Vrahn) by mongoose games
Miniatures painted by me
Photography by me.