Babylon 5 A Call To Arms 2nd Edition Dilgar Imperium Fleet Review
In A Call To Arms their fleet is extremely aggressive, their ships placing an emphasis on speed and firepower over durability. They are one of the better fleets in the game thanks to a combination of faction rules and very focussed designs. In addition to this they have some of the better fighters in the game that can also be brought in numbers. Finally, of all the factions in the game, the Dilgar have the best Planetary assault tools of any of the factions having both massive numbers of mass drivers, and the ships to deploy large numbers of troops.
In addition to this foccussed design, the Dilgar also enjoy a high Initiative and some special rules that boost their damage and make their fighters more effective
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
Garasoch-class Heavy Carrier. The best in class raid level carrier, the Garasoch brings 10 flights of fighters to the table and combines this with Fleet Carrier to provide some outstanding fighter support to the the Dilgar forces. It gets better, The Garasoch is very tough with very large damage pools, although it does lack organic interceptors. Additionally, the Garasoch is quite well armed bringing some seriously intimidating firepower for a dedicated carrier. There are some (minor) downsides. Its lumbering meaning it can be harder to maneuver than the majority of the Dilgar fleet, and with Carrier 3 it will take 2 turns to launch the fighters that don't start on the board if you dont manage to Scramble! Scramble! |
| A Garasoch with some Jashakars escorting it. These are ships you will probably always take |
Jashakar Vi-class scout ship - The scout version of the Jashakar is one of the few Patrol level scout ships in the game. That is something that instantly makes it a standout choice to include in a fleet. It is also in a fleet that can make extensive use of the scout ability. In addition to helping against ships with Stealth the Dilgar fleet has no beams, and almost no weapons with the Twin-linked trait which means that you will get a significant boost to your damage output by being able to twin-link your weapons.
As a combat ship it does lose firepower when compared to the stock Jashakar and it has very weak armour along with zero defensive abilities but you shouldn't be taking it for its combat ability. You will be using it as an initiative sink and to get as many twin linked heavy bolter shots from the rest of your ships as you possibly can.
Thorun Torpedofighter Wing - One of the best fighters in the game, the Thorun Torpedofighter has three main strengths. Firstly, it is very fast able to outpace most of the fighters it will face. Secondly the Torpedoes haver excellent stand off range at a whopping 6 inches, which is massive for a fighter and finally, while the dogfight ability is quite terrible at +0 they have the 'fighter support' rule meaning they can support dogfights within 2" if they are the ones who initiated it. This means it is incredibly easy to overwhelm enemy fighter flights. Fighter support is also their main weakness since you will be heavily relying on it to win your dogfights and it is an offensive rule. If you lose the initiative and your opponent gets the jump on your fighters they will be the one dictating the terms of each dogfight and most fighters will have a higher dogfight value.
A-Tier
Jashakar Tae-class torpedo ship. This is a variant of the Jashakar, and like that ship is very well armed for its size. It comfortably outguns most ships it will come up against and has the addition of a small missile battery. This gives it the ability to strike from range where its weak hull wont be as much of a liability.
Use it as an initiative sink in the same way as you would any patrol level ship. Its main disadvantage is that it is going to be competing for the same patrol slots as the Jashakar-Vi
Use it as an initiative sink in the same way as you would any patrol level ship. Its main disadvantage is that it is going to be competing for the same patrol slots as the Jashakar-Vi
Ochlavita Ki-class command destroyer. The Ochlavita is a very middle of the road Skirmish level ship but the Ochlavita Ki is anything but. The reason for this is that it has command +1 on a skirmish level choice. Add this to the faction initiative of +2 and you are going to be beating most fleets on onitiative rolls the majority of the time. It also loses very little over the stock Ochlavita, and is slightly tougher as well
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| Chronologically one of the earliest Dilgar ships, the Omelos is also one of the best, with its escorting Ochlavitas |
Omelos-class light cruiser. This is a very competent ship and is my personal top pick for an offensive Raid choice in a Dilgar list. It has average resilience, is quick at move 10, and in addition to having 2 turns is also Agile. It is also very well armed having weapons in each arc, but mostly concentrated forwards for a total of 8 double damage missile shots and 6 Double damage heavy bolter shots giving it a very good alpha strike. One thing to note is that as the missiles are split into a pair of strength 4 weapons, you will need to get 2 succesful scout rolls to be able to re-roll them all, and you will lose 2 missile shots if you take any criticals that reduce your AD. you should also bear in mind that it has heavy bolters which have a 15 inch range this gives it a very good chance of being able to stand off against an enemy for an extra turn while still getting shots in and this is the main reason that I prefer this over the Targrath.
Targrath-class strike cruiser. The Targrath is a much more focussed ship than the Omelos and has a number of advantages and disadvantages. It is faster, slightly tougher, has a jump engine and carries more fighters. It also has more forward offensive firepower with 8 bolter shots. The disdvantages are that it isn't agile, and while it does have more firepower, its weapons, outside of the missiles, are shorter range, and it lacks the all roud fire the Omelos can bring to the board. Nevertheless, if you have the initiative and can shoot first, this thing packs a whallop
Tikrit-class heavy cruiser. Now we are talking! This is what the Dilgar are all about. The Tikrit has a frankly absurd amount of firepower for a battle level ship, most of it concentrated forwards. Its also fast, and while it has only a single turn, it is not lumbering making it surprisingly agile. on the downside, it is very fragile haing a low Hull value and low damage thresholds. It will absolutely shred its way through almost anything though.
B-Tier
Jashakar-class frigate. This is a very strong patrol choice with excellent firepower and speed. if not for the other Jashakar variants this would be S-Tier as in addition to providing some very cheap offensive punch its also an amazing initiative sink. Its not particularly tough with Hull 4 but it does have quite high damage and crew values. |
| How Dilgar can the Dilgar get? the answer is 'Tikrit' |
Kahtrik So-class cruiser - This is a very unusual cruiser for the Dilgar. It is not fast, it is not agile. It is not particularly well armed. What it does have is resilience. It is Hull 6 with a staggering 50 Damage and 56 Crew on a raid choice. the ship can just take those hits and keep on coming.
Ochlavita-class destroyer. This is a very middle of the road ship. The Ochlavita Ki is a better choice all round, but you won't cripple yourself by taking this instead. It has slightly more firepower and an extra pip of anti-fighter for what its woth
Thorun Dartfighter wing. Faster than the Torpedo fighter the Dartfighter trades missiles for Dogfight +1, which, when combined with the fleet carrier bonus from the Garasoch and the 'Fighter Support' rule give it a serious advantage in a dogfight. The question is though, does an extra pip of dogfight, in a Dilgar fleet, justify the loss of the torpedo shot.
Wahant-class heavy assault ship - When you want to remodel continents, this is the ship you bring. Identical in toughness to the Kahtrik So the Wahant is an anti-planet ship with a staggering 20 Mass Driver shots. It also has lost of missiles and lots of bolters. The Wahant is frankly ridiculously well armed, on all sides. What keeps it from being a much better contender is the move of 4. It is slow, very very slow.
C-Tier
Kahtrik-class assault ship - This is the same base hull as the Kahtrik So which makes it very tough, but this is more focussed towards planetary assaults trading the missiles for virus bombs. The Rohric is a better choice for getting large numbers of troops on to the ground fast but this ship will better survive enemy fire. It does have a very similar weakness in that the number of missions where you can use it as intended is quite small.
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| The Premier Dilgar assault ships, a Wahant and Rohric |
Mishakur-class dreadnought - Probably the best of the Dilgar Dreadnoughts the ship brings a lot to the table. It is the toughest by a large margin, although toughest in the context of the Dilgar just means its not as tough as similar level ships for anyone else. The ship brings massive forward firepower on a hull that can move fast at 8 inches a turn, and on top of that has Command +2 and some organic fighters.
Rohric-class assault ship - This is actually a very respectable assault ship. it has plenty of troops, is atmospheric, well protected with Hull 6 and decent damage thresholds and as a skirmish ship is not terribly armed. It might not be a Brakiri Ikorta, but it gets the job done. The main failure of this ship is the fact there are very few missions where you can actaully use it as intended, and while you can threaten to use it to board enemy ships, this is much harder than you might think in practice.
D-Tier
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| The Dilgar Engage an Earth Alliance fleet |
Mankhat -class dreadnought.This ship has amazing missiles, they are triple damage and can easily spoil any ships day. It also has good all round Heavy Bolter firepower. where this ship fails is the fact that it is a War level choice and its not much tougher than a Battle level ship.
Mankhat Py-class bombardment dreadnought. Like the Mankhat, except worse. The ships missiles are downgraded and in return it gets to bring a mass driver. Its really not worth it. Avoid
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