Need help with alt fleet builds

[Blind_Baku]

So I think I have handle on the basics of BFG and have successfully played out some vassel by email with my brother but now find myself with a few buddies who are interested but completely new to table top wargaming.

I've not done the full research on any other fleet than my own (DE) that would make me feel comfortable building a viable list and cannot find small stock army list anywhere that are small enough for a "Lets get our feet wet in the kiddy pool" session.

I know my one buddy loves the romanticism of Naval ships of the line, etc, so I would like to build him an Imp list (as I think thats the right fit for him) and my other buddy would probably be best served with nids or Tau. Can some experience players of those list draft a few low point value (<700pts) lists that are competative? I plan to try but again I'm new to BFG and completely unfamiliar with other fleets so it may be better for someone who knows the strengths and weaknesses of a given force to make something more competative and fun.

[The_Giant_Mantis]

I'm an ork player and not a great veteran to begin with, so take my advice for what it's worth, but since I'm not sure how many of us still hang out here I figure my input might be worth something.

Though it might seem aesthetically wrong, I think in terms of playstyle the Chaos fleet actually has more of a 'broadsides and boarding' feel than the Imperials, whereas Imperial ships are kind of designed to field a mixture of gunnery and ordinance, especially torpedoes (which they excel at) and/or heavy artillery in the form of Nova cannons.

Still, my 'small' Imperial list would go something like this. Bear in mind this is based on the 2010 FAQ, which I think improves the balance of the Imperial Navy considerably.

Fleet-Admiral (50 points)
You'll probably want to stick him on the Dictator most of the time to help with reloading ordinance, but if another ship has a bad leadership roll he can always step in to compensate.

1x Dictator (220 points)

1x Tyrant (195 points)
Upgraded Batteries

1x Lunar (180 points)

3x Sword (105 points)

Total: 700 points

That gives a decent mix of torpedoes, attack craft and both short and medium range guns. You could experiment with using a squadron of Cobras instead of the swords for more torpedoes, but the consensus I've heard is that swords have a little more staying power. The only thing that's really lacking is truly long range weapons, but I think you'd be hard pressed to fit them into such a small fleet without unbalancing it.

Tau and Nids I have very little experience of and so probably can't help much, bit it strikes me that with Nids you'll probably want to focus on boarding and/or attack craft, as those seem to be the big strengths of the fleet.

[Blind_Baku]

Thanks! I've got a few lists but they are really "Here's 2 types of ships... spammed hard!" so this really helps