A third post coming at you!
The U.S.S. Enterprise D
was the flagship of the Federation before Counsellor Troi rammed it into
a planet. I don't know why they thought it would be a good idea for her
to pilot the ship, but the Federation has a track record of letting
randos do whatever they want on their ships.
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| I couldn't find a pic that didn't have a beard in it! |
So
a few things to talk about here. The Enterprise D (I'm going refer to
it as the Enterprise from now on) has a reverse 1. No other ship in the
game has a reverse 1. Other than that, you'll notice that there are no
white or green turns, and no come about. The Enterprise is very
difficult to maneuver.
Before we get started talking about the nitty
gritty, let me preface this all by saying that I have played some X-Wing
and have read extensively through the blogs on that game. I'm pretty
knowledgeable on the mechanics, especially on the Rebel side. At this
point, I think it's fair to compare the Enterprise to the Millennium
Falcon. They're two of the only ships in the systems with a 360 degree
arc.
In X-Wing, the Falcon has either 6 Hull points or 8,
with either 4 or 5 shields depending upon which pilot you take. The
Enterprise has 5 Hull points and 4 Shields. So it's considerably more
vulnerable than the Falcon. The Falcon has an expansive maneuver dial in
comparison to the Enterprise.
The 360 arc on the Falcon is unrestricted. The Enterprise shoots only to Range 2, and at -1 attack die.
Overall,
if one were to compare the two ships in the same system, the Falcon is a
much better ship. Of course, it's also priced significantly higher than
the Enterprise, but that's a matter for the differences between the
system. Basically, what I'm trying to highlight is a few basic
differences between ships across the system. If you're used to piloting
the Falcon, you're going to have a much tougher time with the
Enterprise, even though it's the most comparable ship.
Beginners will want to take a crack at the
Enterprise, and they'd be right to want to do so. It's an iconic ship,
and the shooting arc makes it very forgivable. That being said, I don't
think the Enterprise scales that well with experience. It's a great
Beginner ship, but as players gain more experience with maneuvering the
other ships, especially the Klingons, they are going to start leaving
the Enterprise at home. Where I think the Enterprise will ultimately
shine, is in the hands of an expert player (although I don't know how
many there are at this point!). If you've got a really good handle on
the maneuverability of all of the ships, and have a good idea of your
opponent's plan, you could keep the Enterprise out of everyone's firing
arc and just take potshots with your 360 arc.
I've run the Enterprise as follows:
Enterprise
Captain Picard
Sulu and Spock
I'm
not going to get into why I chose Sulu and Spock just yet. I intend on
writing them up in their own posts. For now, I just want to highlight
that This build is costly, but efficient. The Enterprise needs to make
every shot count against cloaked ships. Spock ensures that you can
activate Sulu and Scan every round, and still be very
efficient in your shooting.
So, if you're a beginner looking to get the most out
of the Federation, give the above build a try. It's expensive, but I
think you'll find it a great way to get into the game, while using some
of the most iconic characters from the series.
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