Re: [FT] Fleet Survey #2: Best Fleets

Splitting up the questions:

> what official fleets do you think are the "best"? And why?

Assuming "best" means "most effective", then I'd have to say "it
depends..."

Assuming you play Cinematic not Vector:
NSL have IMHO a slight but definite advantage over other human fleets.
They
have a definite disadvantage vs KraVak.
ESU is the most flexible, yet suffers a bit from the "Jack of all
trades, master
of none" syndrome. I win about 3/4 of the time with them.
NAC is the second most flexible, far nastier in their forward arc than
elsewhere,
but good all rounders. Particularly good vs ESU.
FSE with their fast speed is good vs KraVak, but missile tactics are
difficult
to use. In the hands of a master, they work very well.
Kra'Vak in cinematic have difficulties vs SaVasku, also FSE due to the
FSE's
all-round firing arcs and fast speed. It's very difficult to get either
in your
forward arc. They get better with practice, but still are difficult to
use.
I'm still getting beaten 3/4 of the time with them, but my average is
slowly
getting better.
SaVasku require completely different tactics from anyone else: you've
gotta
know when to zip in, know when to zip out, and never get involved in a
head-to-head
fight except where you have local superiority. Putting the Gypsy Curse
on an
enemy cruiser is a good tactic ( ie you hit them with 4 Leeches, then
ignore
and avoid them till they evaporate ). It even works with larger ships,
providing
they're a bit damaged (like a core system taken out). 
Phalons with their area-effect weapons have good but spotty anti-fighter
and
anti-missile defences, and have the ability to really hurt a fleet
that's too
concentrated. They also can be really nasty at short range, if they've
tuned
their weapons right. In fact, a Phalon Fleet is more like a combination
of Human
fleets, and 2 Phalon Fleets even with the same ship classes can have
radically
different "feel"s depending on the tuning of their weapons. Some people
locally
seem to feel the Phalons are the best, but I have my doubts. 

> Are there any official fleets, from either fleet book, that
>really seem to be better than the others? 

In general no, but there are special cases: NSL vs KraVak, Phalons vs
Kra'Vak,
SaVasku vs KraVak for example.

> Are there some that you just like from an aesthetic sense? 

The FSE no doubt, though their corvettes are a bit ugly. The larger
Phalons
look good, but the smaller ones don't. The samller KraVak look good, the
bigger
ones don't. And the ugliest of the lot are the 2 ESU Super-heavies, the
rest
look really nice.