[FT] Fleet Survey Results

Hi, guys.

Well, I got a better response than I expected from the fleet surveys. Thanks,
all.

I did an informal count of the fleets used, by response. This isn't exact, as
I didn't weigh "big" fleets versus "small" fleets, and some people have a
strange mix of ships. So, roughly speaking, here are the totals out of 20
responses:

NAC: 10 FSE: 10 ESU: 8 NSL: 13 Kra'vak: 9 Sa'vasku: 6 Phalon: 3 OU: 3 IF: 3
Other: 9

It's a pretty even distribution across the main fleets, which isn't too
surprising considering how long the models have been out.

What's more interesting is the comments on how well the fleets play. It seems
that the favourite is ESU, due to its ability to take damage and dish it out
with a reasonable speed. NSL has its proponents too, but most give ESU the
edge. NAC seems to be the main jack-of-all-trades fleet. It seems to be
a good
well-rounded fleet, not particularly stunning but not too weak.

The trickiest fleet appears to be the FSE. Some say it isn't very competitive.
However, I had a couple of people say that it could very well be the most
powerful human fleet in the game in cinematic games. Salvo missiles are tricky
weapons, but with experience they can be very nasty.

A few pointed out that they thought the NSL was superior in vector games. The
slow speed of the NSL ships is less of an issue when a single thrust point can
spin the ship into a firing arc.

The aliens are, not surprisingly, still a question mark. Actually, I was a
LITTLE surprised. I remember when I first joined the list there was that whole
"Kra'vak as overpowered" issue due to their point values. This seems to have
calmed down somewhat. They are still powerful, but a bit fragile ina
knock-down-drag-out, apparently.

Okay, have I made a decision on fleets? Well, I have a NAC fleet and an FSE
fleet. I also have a fleet of Valiant ships painted up. I have a few of these,
but I don't have a lot of ship variants. I can always use the Valiant ships to
represent pretty much any fleet I want. For that matter, pretty much any fleet
can be used for any other fleet. For pick up games I could easily use my FSE
ships to represent ESU ships. GZG fans seem to be less anal about this kind of
thing than the sycophants of other games...

I think my next fleet will probably be a Phalon fleet. I would like an alien
fleet, and though the Kra'vak look good, I have a certain perverse (ahem)
fondness for the Phalons. After that, it's probably NSL or Kra'vak. By then,
however, the next Fleet Book will probably be out (I am not the world's
fastest painter) and I may change my mind.

Thanks all!