Lion of the Galaxy. Centauri Republic fleet review for A Call to Arms 2E

    The Centauri Republic are one of the oldest and most powerful of the younger racs in the babylon 5 universe with a large and well developed empire. While often considered villains of the series they were tragic victims of the shadows manipulations.

    In A Call to Arms they have arguably the most powerful fleet and some of the best ships tier for tier in the game. The primary characteristics are incredibly high speed and agaility, matched only by the Interstellar alliance and a few select ships in other factions, ferocious, but reasonably short ranged forward firepower, and fairly fragile ships. They do have some tougher more well rounded ships i their list but you will notice that Centauri ships tend towards being All or Nothing designs. Another thing to notice is that they have very little in the way of organic fighter capacity so they rely on dedicated carriers to bring the majority of their fighters, and their most common fighters are for space superiority rather than striking enemy ships

    Added to their very strong ships they also have one of the best Faction rules in the form of Hunting Packs. This allows squadrons of Centauri ships of raid level or lower to increase their weapons range at the expense of being able to target only a single ship per squadron. This limitation isn't a significant one since the ships that will use the rule will generally have their weapons concentrated in a single arc and will be singling out a single ship only.

The EAS Arctic encounters a Centauri patrol during the Earth Alliance civil war

    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”.

The cream of the crop

S-Tier

Amar-class Fast Carrier - One feature of the Centauri fleet is that they don't have a large number of fighters. There are several platforms that carry them but they are not common, and they don't carry many of them. Fighter provision is important to a fleet and is one of the main weaknesses of the Centauri. Enter the Amar. This is a variant of the Darkner that trades its battle laser for 4 fighter flights. For a skirmish level ship is capacity is on par with the light carriers of other races such as the Brakiri and Vree. What it doesn't give up is its speed and much of its firepower as it retains its matter cannon. The speed allows it to keep pace with Vorchans, although it is a bit slower, and the matter cannon is 15 inch in range meaning this is a very good ship to add to a hunting pack and gain the benefits of extra range for its squadron mates. While the ship does have a respectable damage pool for a skirmish level ship, its hull is only a 4+ so it will take damage very very easily.

Kutai-class Gunboat - This Patrol level ship is far better than any patrol ship should reasonably be. It is tough with Hull 5 and a 5+ dodge backing up some scary firepower. It does have to get uncomfortably close to leverage this though with half its potential firepower possessing only a 6 Inch range, but outside of 6 inches it has 'only' 4 Double damage shots to fall back on. Where it falls behind is that it is comparatively slow with a speed of a mere 10 inches. It can't keep up with your faster ships unless you all ahead full. It is very good as an initiative sink and can go toe to toe with almost any ship of a similar priority level. As far as patrol ships go, this is the gold standard and is surpassed only by the ISA Blue Star and possibly the Earth Alliance Hermes

Don't ask questions, Just take them

Vorchan-class Warship - The Vorchan is the best ship in the game. Cheap, incredibly fast, agile and packing a truly horrifying 12 double damage shots into a single arc at 12 inches range. They can get where they are needed very quickly and when massed into squadrons they can easily overwhelm even the largest enemy ships in the enemy fleet in short order. On the negative side, they are fragile and will quickly melt under enemy fire if caught out, and their concentration of firepower does leave them vulnerable to being flanked if the enemy can pull it off. Long range enemy fire will quickly cripple or destroy these ships, lacking as they do any defensive features like interceptors. 12 inch range also puts them inside the weapons range of a lot of enemy ships so you could find yourself hitting a single target and then being easily destroyed by return fire from other ships. Fortunately for the Vorchan, the Hunting Pack rule exists and this allows the Vorchans to launch their attacks from 18 inches away provided they are in a squadron with a ship with extended weapons range that can keep up with them like the Amar, Demos or Darkner. All this in a skirmish level ship. In low priority games these ships are nigh unstoppable, in higher priority games (battle and up) they are more vulnerable due to their fragility but can still be a deadly threat. If you are playing Centauri, take these ships. Don't argue, just do it.

A-Tier

Demos-class Warship - A Variant of the Vorchan this ship shares many of the characteristics of that ship, its fast, agile and has a low damage threshold. Where it varies is its armament. It trades the devastating short ranged firepower for long range slow loading missiles and Interceptors. One important point is that in Powers and Principalities its ion cannon went from 10 shots to 6. It doesn't hit nearly as hard as the base Vorchan but can attack from a safer range with its missiles. This ship is excellent in a squadron with Vorchans to allow them to take advantage of the Hunting Pack rule. You could also pair it up with some Elutarians as well, it pairs well with the 30 inch range of that ships missiles. do bear in mind that the missiles are single damage and you will be missing out on the rest of the ships firepower so in the pure long range role, the Elutarian is the probably better choice

Haven-class Patrol Boat - The Diminutive Haven doesn't have much to recommend it on first glance. It is incredibly fragile and has short ranged firepower. What it does have is speed and the bonus that it is a 2 for 1 patrol point. It can keep up with Vorchans with no effort and has excellent turn characteristics being both agile and having a 2/90 turn rating. In a hunting pack you can place the ship where you want it, when you want it. It is the perfect little Centauri ship to abuse 'Maneuver to shield them' If there is any danger of an enemy ship shooting anything important to pieces, and in the context of the haven that means 'any other ship' Maneuver this little blighter into the line of fire and (try to) sacrifice it. In campaigns one of the things you can get is an escorting Haven. Use it, abuse it. In games of Raid priority or higher they will have to be in a squadron with something, Skirmish or lower you can use them to perform the sacrificial role, as well as handy initiative sinks. Also, in keeping with the Centauri art of war, their guns might be hilariously short ranged, but they pack a punch.

A Sulust and Haven escort some Lias-class merchant ships

Maximus-class Frigate - The best escort ship in the game, Hull 6, Interceptors and Anti fighter mean it is quite hard to get rid of. The main strength is the Guardian Array. This nice rule allows Centauri ships with escort to lend interceptors to friendly ships (including fighters if you so choose). Intensify Defensive fire on this ship to double interceptors to 4 and Anti-fighter to 8 and hand them out to nearby ships like candy. The ship isnt fast though, it can keep up with a Primus. Not being fast in the context of the Centauri just means it can muster a measly 8 inch movement. It can't keep up with faster ships obviously so if you are taking lots of fast ships (like Vorchans) you may want to give this ship a miss. If you are taking slower ships this is pretty much an auto take.

Sulust-class Escort Destroyer - This is a very well rounded ship and is one of the few Centauri ships that has both Interceptors and Anti fighter so it can take care of itself. The main strength of the ship is that it has a very long ranged Battle laser at 24 Inch range and a respectable ion cannon battery in addition. It is reasonably tough and has a respectable speed. The battle laser is a very strong weapon. It is only a single damage beam, but unlike a lot of the beam weapons it is not bore sighted and is precise into the bargain. this gives you immense freedom in how you orient your ships and while the damage isn't spectacular, if you mass beams which you certainly can as Centauri, the critical hits will quickly start to rack up. In a pinch you can use the long ranged battle laser in a hunting pack, but there are better platforms for that. This may be my bias, but I think this is the best of the Centauri Raid level ships. Just watch out for being outflanked, the ship is fairly quick but has only a single turn

B-Tier

The Centauri have an intimidating battle line

Altarian-class Destroyer - A lot of the more lethal Centauri ships are fast fragile and can only use a single firing arc. The Altarian is a complete departure from that. boasting Hull 6 and all round firepower .The ship can engage multiple targets all around it although the bulk of the firepower is concentrated forwards. Its slow (for Centauri) meaning it can't engage in slashing attacks like the Vorchan Hunting packs. In a Brawl though its a very good choice.

Balvarin-class Carrier - The Centauris only dedicated Fleet carrier. It carries more weapons than a fleet carrier ought to, 8 fighter flights and in addition to fleet carrier it also has command +1 taking the Centauri Initiative to +4. Its not as tough as the carriers of other races, but it does have Interceptors. The main weakness of the ship is that it is slow, very slow, compared to the rest of the fleet. It will be left behind unless you slow down the rest of your fleet, and that is just not taking advantage of the speed advantage you will normally have. I would rather take a pair of Amars over this, but its not a bad choice to take. Centauri don't have many fighters generally and being able to bring a lot of them, and recycle them will be a major advantage against some of the more fighter heavy factions

Corvan-class Scout - As the only scout ship in the Centauri fleet if you want a scout ship, this is what you have to take. its not well armed, or particularly tough, but it is a scout ship. Most Centauri ships are packed with Ion cannons which are twin linked, but then they also have their primary armament which is usually NOT twin linked. Matter cannons, plasma accelerators, Ballistic torpedoes and so forth hit very hard and scouting a target will ensure that every weapon (excepting beams) will be able to re-roll their attacks. Corvans aren't essential against many opponents, but in larger games one or two will be very useful additions, and as a scout ship with stealth, a useful initiative sink as well.

Darkner-class Fast Attack Frigate - The Darkner is a very solid ship whose main weakness is that its not a Vorchan. The ship has weak armour but a healthy damage threshold but it is no sense of the word, tough. The main strength of the ship is its battle laser. In a hunting pack you can easily leverage the 20 inch range to keep other ships out of harms way as they pummel the enemy, but it is slower than A vorchan and slightly less agile. Its a very solid ship but in a hunting pack a Demos may be a better option. 

The Centauri have 3 primary Raid level hulls, The Centurion, Altarian and Sulust

Elutarian-class Bombardment Destroyer - One of the Altarian variants the Elutarian has the longest ranged weapon in the Centauri fleet in the form of its Ballistic Torpedoes. It gets this in exchange for losing the matter cannon of the Altarian. You can use the missiles to soften up the enemy at range, and then to support the hunting pack once it has struck. Hunting packs are potent but not an I win, so any ship that survives the onslaught of Vorchans can then be finished off from long range by the Elutarian. It also has the same all round weapons of the Altarian meaning the ship is far from a one trick pony. It loses the ability to deal damage consistently since the Torpedoes are slow loading, but i think this is the best of the Altarian variants

Centauri ships ambush the Narn Regime during the War of Retribution

Primus-class Battlecruiser - The Primus is what one might describe as average. average does not mean bad though. It has hull 6, a good damage pool and respectable but not outstanding weapons. You will certainly get more bang for your buck if you pick other ships. What recommends this ship is that it is something that a lot of other Centauri ships are not, survivable. The battle laser lends it some punch and while not fast, it is by no means slow either. It carries fighter and one feature of the ship is that it can equip mass drivers at the expense of some forward firepower for those scenarios where you absolutely have to turn a Narn home world into a cratered wasteland. The ship doesn't have interceptors itself but you just take a Maximus to support it instead.

Secundus-class Battlecruiser - The Secundus is the Assault variant of the Primus. You lose the Fighter flights having to take Breaching pods instead, you gain 7 troops to take the total to 12 and you trade the Battle Laser for a Heavy Ion cannon. Its slightly shorter ranged and the shots can be stopped by interceptors, but the ship arguably has more firepower. Like the Primus you can equip it with Mass drivers. Both this and the Primus are solid choices and there isn't much to separate them in terms of overall power, either will serve you well

Sentri Medium Fighter - The Sentri is a very respectable fighter that can perform a variety of roles in a Centauri fleet. Firstly the +2 to the dogfight puts it on par with a lot of the better fighters other races such as earth alliance have, although it falls behind those fielded by the Minbari, ISA and Vree. This allows you to at the very least contest fighter superiority. Secondly Centauri ships generally lack Interceptors. This can be mitigated somewhat by use of a Maximus but when that's not possible they can support friendly ships and act in the interceptor role. Finally, while they aren't strike fighters able to shoot from outside Anti-fighter range, they do have 3AD apiece and can certainly bully ships without Anti-fighter. against well protected ships expect heavy casualties. a very solid, but not exceptional choice.

C-Tier

Even the 'poorer' Centauri ships are terrifying

Centurion-class Attack Cruiser - Very similar to the Altarian in its weapons layout, the Centurion can engage numerous targets in multiple arcs. It is better armed, faster and more agile than the Altarian so will do more damage. It does have a major downside though in that it has hull 5 rather than the Altarians 6. The extra damage the ship can take does make up for it slightly but the lower hull makes it a far less attractive target for the guardian array of the Maximus. there is a very big difference between Hull 5 and 6 in terms of how many hits you will take. Its not fast enough to keep up with Vorchans either so its in an odd spot. Its not a bad choice by any means, its just a little out of place

Dargan-class Strike Cruiser - The Dargan is in a peculiar place, It is one of the fastest Battle level ships in the game, it has stealth, and it hits fairly hard. On the downside though, it has weak hull, can't take much damage and as a battle level ship it can't join a hunting pack. It can keep pace with them comfortably but in order to leverage its speed and firepower it has to get closer to the enemy than a Hunting pack does. As an added bonus you get Rutarian fighters. I struggle to get the most out of it. It has potential but like so many fast attack ships in the Centauri fleet. The Vorchan exists.

Liati-class Advanced Cruiser - This is a very very silly Battle level ship. It is designed to hunt and kill whitestars. It is Stupidly fast, stupidly agile, has a stupid armament that can indeed one shot a white star and slaughter fighters thanks to accurate. On the downside, while the ship is fast, agile, has a 4+ dodge and very very powerful weapons, it is incredibly fragile. anything that ignores dodge will tear this ship to pieces in record time. In certain situations this ship will be nigh unstoppable, but in others its a spicy pinata. a very niche pick.

Morgrath-class Frigate - The ship has one of the few Double damage beams in the Centauri fleet giving the ship a very distinctive feature. Beams can spike in damage making it an interesting choice, but the ship is not very tough even with Interceptors, nor is it fast. In short, the main disadvantage of this ship is that the Vorchan exists. Take the Vorchan.

One of the most intimidating Centauri ships, you do not want to meet one on a dark night

Octurian-class Battleship - One of the most powerful ships in the Centauri fleet with terrifying firepower as one might expect from a War level ship, the Octurion also brings command +2 to the table pushing the Centauri to a very silly +5 Initiative. There is one major reason why I've not ranked this ship higher, and that is its speed. It can move a paltry 6 inches a turn, and while this is on par with a lot of similar ships in other fleets, when it comes to the Centauri, it may as well be standing still. You can anchor a battle line with it, and in War level games a pair of them will be a force to be reckoned with, but the Primus is a better pick in my opinion, being as it is, speed 8, and you can take 2 of them.

Razik Light Fighter - Where the Sentri is a muti purpose fighter, the Razik is a dedicated space superiority one. The dogfight is a very impressive +3, so on a par with the best fighters out there, but the weapons are weak and a single shot meaning it can't act as Interceptors and its ability to threaten even the lightest armoured ships is very limited. Against the likes of Minbari who predominantly use beams and ignore interceptors this would be a better choice than the Sentri, but in most situations the Sentri provides much more utility

Premier Centauri space superiority fighters, the Razik

Rutarian Strike Fighter - This is the best fighter the Centauri have access to, and in my mind one of the best fighters in the game. It has stealth, a decent dogfight score, high hull and can act in the strike fighter role with 4 inch range weapons. Unfortunately for the Centauri, and fortunately for everyone else, the fighter comes as standard on 2 ships, the Dargan and Adira, and you have to pay a patrol point to swap Sentris and Raziks for it. Its an excellent choice of fighter, but unfortunately one you will rarely want to take.

D-Tier

Adira-class Royal Battleship - The sole Armageddon level ship in the Centauri fleet comes with a fearsome armament, a full complement of Rutarian fighters and best of all Gravitic Energy Grid 3 which will take the edge off a lot of enemy shooting. Unfortunately its ugly, slow and so over costed there is no situation, ever, I would take one.

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.

Magnus-class Destroyer - A variant of the Altarian this ship trades that ships matter cannons for a very weak 2AD Battle Laser. It does share the all round fire arcs of the Altarian, but losing Matter cannons or Ballistic Torpedoes for a very weak laser is not worth it. You would be better served taking a Sulust which has better range and twice the AD if you want Battle Lasers. Avoid

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
Miniatures painted by me
Photography by me.