NR player trying the IR

[the_trots]

Hello,
 
I am not new to this mod however I have limited myself by only playing as the NR, mainly Art of War but sometimes From the Ground Up as well.  I have tried to play as other factions in the past but I could not get into the games.  It made me too sad to destroy the ships I saw in film and read about in books that saved, protected and harbored my favorite heroes.  It’s okay, you can laugh at me.
 
Anyways, the NR was getting a little stale.  I felt I had fleet consists and tactics figured out for nearly any situation, so I started a new Art of War game as **gasp** the IR.
 
My first reaction was sadness.  I was loosing ships left and right, and my favorite Rebellion/NR ships were going down in smoke too.  I had grown accustomed to the strong shields and hulls of NR ships brought about by their philosophy of life being precious.
 
Then, I saw the light.  My VSD1 wiped out a whole NR fighter squadron with it’s missles.  Then the same VSD1 shredded a Nebulon, and an Assault Frigate after that, and next to it an ISD2’s octuple turrets were doing very naughty things to a MC80.  Power like this is fun, and fun is the reason I play this game.
 
Playing as the NR, your ships are tough, but often it feels like you are shooting boogers instead of laser blasts.  The IR is the opposite of this, and it can be shocking.  It is a hard adjustment to make to see VSD’s and ISD’s go down under punishment that a Mon Cal would brush off.  Seeing the massed green laser blasts from nearly every IR ship makes it worth it.
 
Looking back, I think I have crippled myself.  I have spent so much money on ISD2’s, when VSD’s with support will often get the job done.  I wish it was a little more robust, but the VSD1 is my favorite IR ship.  Small enough to support it’s larger ISD brother but powerful enough to form a battle line and take on a huge range of opponents.  The biggest ship in game I have seen that can defend itself against fighters.  I am curious to see my VSD1 face off with the Bothan Assault Cruiser.
 
ISD2 feels like a bigger (and more expensive VSD).  It cannot take a beating like it’s Mon Cal rivals; it prefers to give the beatings.  The octuple turrets are a man’s weapon.  Once the shields go down, the entire ship will go down soon.  Such is Imperial life.
 
The Carrack is the best value in the game I have seen yet.  Stunning armament for the price and 1 population point.  If the Carrack was a NR ship it would have 3 population points.  It’s Ion biased cannons are very useful for taking down heavy NR shields, but the same Ion basis makes it struggle blasting away at a bare NR hull.  I have at least five in any fleet I construct.  A no brainer to attach one to each ISD/VSD, and have a couple roaming around to attack anything else.
 
I view the Strike Cruiser as a bigger, more expensive Carrack with a turbolaser basis and fighters.  A good escort for ISD/VSD’s, but are the turbolasers and fighters worth the extra money, and more importantly, population cost?  I view IR fighters as paper mache, as they should be, and not terribly useful.  That being said, a group of them packs a punch, as long as their shields are up.  No saving this ship under heavy fire.  Perhaps I will like the Strike Cruiser more over time, but right now I would rather build Carracks and use the saved money and population points for more VSD’s.
 
I know the Vindicator doesn’t get much love here, but I understand this ship.  I would not build this ship as part of a main fleet, but it is a great garrison unit for isolated planets.  I am great full it can be built at light frigate shipyards.  This ship is the reason I have not lost my isolated planets.  Doesn’t have a lot of firepower but the first IR ship I would say can take a beating for what it is.
 
The Lancer is effective at bringing down fighters, but I prefer (and miss) my Corellian Corvettes.  I can park those anywhere I want while the Lancer has some trouble maneuvering for it’s size.
 
I agree with Thrawn’s view on SSD’s.  At era 3 I went wild and bought every Executor and Sovereign I could.  Now I am out of money, and I don’t have enough population points to make decent fleets elsewhere.  I like the Executors more than the Sovereigns.  Superweapon aside, far more tough giving and receiving punishment.
 
As I am in Era 3 I am eagerly awaiting the Tector ISD’s.
 
I think the Preator is OP.  The same population as two ISD’s, but one Preator will shred two ISD’s.  The range advantage is the killer offense, crippling opponents before they can return fire.  Thankfully the IR is not defined by this ship.  I am choosing to limit construction of this ship.
 
I have also noticed gameplay differences.  Art of War as the NR, my main opponent has always been the PA.  The PA wipes out the Hand and the IR both early, then it is a long grind of taking out the PA’s endless supply of Preators.  Playing as the IR, the PA appears to be wiped out and the Hand is an opponent for the first time.
 
Please excuse my rambling.  Feel free to offer any advice on my beginner IR observations.  Thank you.
 

[kucsidave]

...
Please excuse my rambling.  Feel free to offer any advice on my beginner IR observations.  Thank you.

It's okay, and welcome within the Empire.
I agree with most of your observations, but would like to suggest a few things to you about the IR.
First off, is that you have to micro your fighter much more than you did with the NR, and make sure that no fighter squadron is alone, since they are much weaker than they were in the NR. You have the Hunt ability, but never use it until you killed off the mayority of the enemy fighters, or you will loose many fighters, and this can be a mayor loss.
The Praetor really is overpowered, and will be slightly nerfed in 2.2 to balance it out. Tectors are good, but you will have to make sure that you bring carriers with it at all time, since they have no fighter escort.
In Era 4 and 5 make sure to build the Venators, as they are a good Carrier AND second line attack ship in one hull
The VSDs are really good, I much prefer them over VSD IIs as well.
A small advice: you shouldn't buy much Aclamators, if any because they are not that effective. You are much better having Strike Cruisers.
Good luck with the Remnant

[Ordo]

Glad so see another VSD I enthusiast. Make sure to try out Dreadnaughts, they might be slow and old, but they pack quite a punch and surprisingly fast rate of fire for a ship that size + its only 2 pop ship.

[Helix345]

Make sure to try out Dreadnoughts, they might be slow and old, but they pack quite a punch and surprisingly fast rate of fire for a ship that size + its only 2 pop ship.

I agree completely.

Also, instead of using lancers, I prefer to make a few carriers and then mass all of my fighters into a ball of death to overwhelm any enemy squadrons.

[the_trots]

It's okay, and welcome within the Empire.
I agree with most of your observations, but would like to suggest a few things to you about the IR.
First off, is that you have to micro your fighter much more than you did with the NR, and make sure that no fighter squadron is alone, since they are much weaker than they were in the NR. You have the Hunt ability, but never use it until you killed off the mayority of the enemy fighters, or you will loose many fighters, and this can be a mayor loss.
The Praetor really is overpowered, and will be slightly nerfed in 2.2 to balance it out. Tectors are good, but you will have to make sure that you bring carriers with it at all time, since they have no fighter escort.
In Era 4 and 5 make sure to build the Venators, as they are a good Carrier AND second line attack ship in one hull
The VSDs are really good, I much prefer them over VSD IIs as well.
A small advice: you shouldn't buy much Aclamators, if any because they are not that effective. You are much better having Strike Cruisers.
Good luck with the Remnant

I am now in Era 4, and oh my things have changed.  I was wrong about the PA, they have wiped out the NR in the north and appeared to have killed most of the NR hero's.  I am now being assaulted by fleets of up to 6 Praetors and they are tearing through ISD2's like wet tissue.  Tectors are the only ship I have that can last long enough against a Praetor to do anything, and I am still taking heavy losses.  Era 5 will be grim without these Tectors.

I lost Pellaeon to a huge Hand assault earlier (wow his voice is great, just how I imagined he would sound) but the Hand has been quiet since then.  Mostly wiped out by the PA.

Is the Acclamator more effective in combat than the Venator?  The Venator hits hard but blows up quickly.

Glad so see another VSD I enthusiast. Make sure to try out Dreadnaughts, they might be slow and old, but they pack quite a punch and surprisingly fast rate of fire for a ship that size + its only 2 pop ship.

I agree completely.

Also, instead of using lancers, I prefer to make a few carriers and then mass all of my fighters into a ball of death to overwhelm any enemy squadrons.

As a NR player I am familiar with the Dreadnaught as it is the only heavy frigate you have until Era 5.  I have used the ones you are supplied with but I have not built any.  I would say the Dreadnaught is better than the Strike Cruiser, but the Strike Cruiser is very fun to use, I would say more in line with Imperial thinking as well.

I have an on and off again relationship with carriers.  Yes they are useful but I sometimes I enjoy the non micro-management that Corvettes provide.

[Helix345]

acclamtors are essentially useless in combat, build dreadnaughts, strike cruisers, or anything else really. To defend against praetors make sure you build hyper velocity guns on your border worlds and build some ssds to expand.