So I think I'll be going to an Arena event this Sunday. It's going to be a tricky one, I think. But I had an idea for a build that might just be crazy enough to work (or will go down in spectacular flames).

Torpedo Boat Extravaganza!

U.S.S Enterprise (22)
Kathryn Janeway (5)
Photon Torpedoes (3)
Ship SP: 30

U.S.S. Reliant (20)
James T. Kirk (6)
Photon Torpedoes (3)
Ship SP: 29

U.S.S. Defiant (24)
Jean-Luc Picard (6)
Quantum Torpedoes (6)
Antimatter Mines (5)
Ship SP: 41

Total Build SP: 100

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Obviously, everything will depend on winning the planet. Then, when we return to our ships, set myself up for torpedo assaults on their biggest ship or two. I can pick the distance to targets, so any cloaking ships won't get a chance to go into hiding to prevent target locks. Obviously, if the initial volleys don't land pretty hard, I'll probably be screwed.

I might try to pick up an Equinox this week, swap it in for the Enterprise (which would free up a couple points to upgrade the older torpedoes). But maybe not.

Anyway, anyone else gearing up for Arena, or already played it? What are your ideas?

I ended up winning my Arena event his weekend using a more or less faction pure fleet. Granted, the environment wasn't the most competitive but I won the planet in every match.

.S.S Enterprise (22)
Kathryn Janeway (5)
Spock (5)
Ship SP: 32

U.S.S. Voyager (30)
Jean-Luc Picard (6)
Ship SP: 36

D7 Class (16)
Martok (6)
Ship SP: 22

Total Build SP: 90

I had the Independent flagship (Kilngon) on Enterprise

Oh, since you mention Voyager, that could be potent as well.

USS Voyager (30)
Jean-Luc Picard (6)
Transphasic Torpedoes (10)
Ship SP: 46

U.S.S. Equinox (20)
Kathryn Janeway (5)
Photon Torpedoes (3)
Ship SP: 28

IRW Gal Gath'Thong (18)
Romulan Commander (5)
Plasma Torpedoes (3)
Ship SP: 26

Total Build SP: 100

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I might like this one more simply because it's three ships I haven't had a chance to play with at all.

After playing, you really want to be able to win the planet. If you can eliminate a ship in the first 3 turns it is less important, but being able to place all the elements is a huge advantage. Even though you cannot fly them off the map anymore, being able to isolate one ship is great.

Yeah, I should stick to the 8 to 9 skill captains I guess.

Also I forgot about fighters, which I think will be huge for this scenario. Back to the drawing board.

Fighters are a huge double edged sword. They can be a nice hedge against losing the captains battle as they will still have a skill of 6 if you lose, but they don't get to participate at all. That is 20 points of no captain to participate in the captain battle at all. I don't really see anyone getting more than 2 9 skill captain on a force with fighters. So basically bringing fighters means you will sacrifice the captains battle. If that is the case I think you would be better off with a sideboard.

It's definitely not easy. I came up with this, but I'm not super thrilled about it:

Not in the face! Not in the face!

Resource: Federation Attack Fighters (20)

Defiant Class (22)
Jean-Luc Picard (6)
Ship SP: 28

U.S.S Enterprise (22)
Kathryn Janeway (5)
Ship SP: 27

Miranda Class (18)
James T. Kirk (6)
Ship SP: 24

Total Build SP: 99

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You would definitely have to go full evasive at the beginning to avoid losing anyone in the opening rounds, and there's a lot of pressure on the fighters to do the heavy lifting post-planet battle.

Interesting. I think this could work. I can see cloaked ships being annoying though.

You could also swap the Defiant for a K'Tinga with Martok (8), who can grant your fighters free actions, and the K'Tinga has a little more bite than the Defiant (though if you have the LE Martok you could use him, since there's a point left over, and have all 9s for captains!). You'd have to lose Janeway from the Enterprise, which is a bummer, but you might be able to use Martok and the fighters to get more supplies down to the planet. With the point left over you could even throw a Klag on just for the hell of it.

Man, I'm torn. I'd have to pick up a Kronos One this week, but I've been meaning to do that anyway.

You will only get three round of supplies down to the planet maximum as there is no captain to target in Rd1, only one to target in Rd2 and two to target in Rd3, so you wont need a ton of actions to beam resources. Now, if you decided to engage the opposition prior to the captains battle then the free actions become incredibly important.

I might switch out the miranda class for a generic D7 piloted by either 8 or 9 skill martok. That gives you an extra 3 or 4 points to get a bit more punch onto entrprise or defiant.

Maybe this:

Resource: Federation Attack Fighters (20)

U.S.S Enterprise (22)
Jean-Luc Picard (6)
Dmitri Valtane (3) or maybe Sulu (3) or Engage (3) isn't a bad choice, either
Ship SP: 31

D7-Class (16)
Martok (5)
Ship SP: 21

Defiant Class (22)
James T. Kirk (6)
Ship SP: 28

Total Build SP: 100

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I won two Arena events, going 2-1 in both, winning on points.

First build:

Scan Flagship 10
Enterprise 22
Kirk 6
Spock 5
Sulu 3
46
Reliant 20
Khan 8
74
Groth 18
Koloth 4
97
(Had something else I can't remember.)

Made to win Captain's Battle. The Borg Sphere team went 2-1 also, and lost the tournament because I won every Captain's Battle.

Second build:

Target Lock Flagship 10
Voyager 30
Picard 6
Spock 5
Starter O'Brien 2
Transphasic Torpedoes 10
63
Defiant 24
Kirk 6
Sulu 3
Something else I can't recall.

Built to blow up ships before Captain Battle.

Would it pay to underbuild by a few points? I imagine the same captains will pop up on a lot of fleets, which will make winning initiative crucial.

Well, went and played today with this and had a blast. It really is quite a fun scenario. Only one other person showed up, so we played a pretty laid back round and didn't bother with a timer.

He ran something like this:
Voyager with Chakotay
Ablative Armor
Torpedoes

Equinox with Terrel
Spock
Torpedoes
Lojur

I think he had some other stuff, but I've listed the more relevant bits. He hadn't really read up much on the scenario and his build pretty much reflects that. I suggested he try and kill me as fast as possible in the first few rounds, pre-planet battle, but he moved way too slowly and conservatively. I was able to get a ton of resources to the planet. He managed to take a couple shields off my Enterprise (due entirely to me forgetting that my captain had vanished and thus that Enterprise's initiative order would change as a result, so it had to move earlier than I'd thought and ended up bumping a ship that wasn't supposed to be there), but that was it. So I made short work of his two meager captains on the planet.

Back in space, I set my ships up to pounce on Voyager and put Equinox some distance off. I immediately realized that he'd be able to warp 6 his way right past my fleet and started my come about maneuvers right away. I was able to get my the bulk of my fleet firing on Voyager pretty quickly, sending Kirk in the Defiant to keep the Equinox busy in the meantime. I started to sweat a little when he activated his ablative armor, but it just prolonged the inevitable. Voyager managed to take out Enterprise and the D7 before falling to the fighters, while Defiant slowly but steadily wore down the Equinox. He conceded after Voyager fell.

So yeah, fun scenario. I think it could have gone very differently if he'd been really aggressive at the beginning. Voyager is a dangerous ship, and even without a captain it's a great one to get out of traps like it can end up in here.

Even though she fell fairly quickly, I kind of fell in love with the Enterprise. I may try and load her up sometime to really put her through the paces.