Armada: Comparing the MC80 variants

What a beautiful ship we have here.

Over the last couple of days, I've been thinking about the two MC80 variants in greater detail.  While a lot of people might look at the two and immediately think that the Assault Cruiser is better, I would tell them to stop and think about it a little more.  On paper, most people see the 4 red dice at long range and think that's what matters.  More so, they look at the ability to take two defensive retrofits and they start to drool.  They look a the MC80 and think:  This is a wonderful ship if you plan on taking squadrons because of the 4 squadron and the ability to take Expanded Hangars or Boosted Coms.  Hohoho my friend, this is where you're wrong.

When I look at the MC80 Command variant, I see a ship that's 8 points cheaper and throws out 1 less red dice on the side.  However, this does not mean that you're shooting with less firepower, it means that you're shooting with 3 reds and 3 blues, which with Ackbar actually means you're shooting 5 reds and 3 blues.  Blue dice is pretty much king, because they never miss and the results are always good.  This is one of the reasons why the ISD-II is so damn scary, and that's because it throws out 4 and 4.  What you lose in the command variant is the ability to double-stack defensive upgrades.  Let me ask you this though:  If the meta will carry XI7s on their ships, is it really nessacary to have the Advanced Projectors?  I would personally just save the points and take the ECM and call it a day.  That's an immediate 14 points savings right there, not to mention the command cruiser also comes with a black and blue dice for AA instead of the assault's 2 blues.

Comparing the two superfish.

But wait, don't you lose 1 red dice to your side arc for the blue, and thus you're short-strawing yourself on range?  Yes, with 1 measly red dice that has a 25% to roll blanks anyway.  It's not Home One benefits you anyway, so you might as well accept the fact that you WILL be fighting in Medium range for the vast majority of the time you're playing, and you WILL be happier that you're throwing out more blue dice because they're better than reds.  The only difference is that you're saying a lot of points to do more things, like buying a single Dash Rendar that can fly around and make a complete mess of Rhymerballs or B-Wings that think your ships are free food.  This is a points game remember?  You got to be able to min-max as much as you can.  If you absolutely don't need an upgrade, don't bother with it.

Check it out:

ACKBAR CONTROL TYPE2 
Author: HERO
Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 397/400
Commander: Admiral Ackbar

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Fire Lanes
Navigation Objective: Dangerous Territory

[ flagship ] MC80 Command Cruiser (106 points)
-  Admiral Ackbar  ( 38  points)
-  Home One  ( 7  points)
-  Intel Officer  ( 7  points)
-  Nav Team  ( 4  points)
-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points)
-  XI7 Turbolasers  ( 6  points)

Assault Frigate Mark II B (72 points)
-  Intel Officer  ( 7  points)
-  Gunnery Team  ( 7  points)
-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points)
-  XI7 Turbolasers  ( 6  points)

Assault Frigate Mark II B (72 points)
-  Intel Officer  ( 7  points)
-  Gunnery Team  ( 7  points)
-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points)
-  XI7 Turbolasers  ( 6  points)

1 Dash Rendar ( 24 points)

Yeah, losing the Engine Techs will be a serious blow, but you're essentially just trading ships so you can cut points and adding in the extra Dash protection.  Remember what I said about Dash:  He's 24 points of speed-4, 6 hull, double Brace, 4 attack dice on squadrons and a black dice Bomber attack on ships.  He also has Rogue so he will always be able to move and attack, so he's kind of a the perfect protection buy for a list like this.  Your primary weakness will be enemy bombers, so having someone who can tie them up with good range and a good amount of health will go a long way, especially when they have to face the command cruiser's better AA.

Dash is so hot right now.

If you really miss the Engine Techs, you can always drop Dash completely for Luke, or just go balls out control and add Nym to the party.  Nym can be insane in a list with no enemy fighters, but he's pretty much dead if your opponent brings any sort of dedicated fighter support.  I guess he can still fly close to your ships and just tie up enemy bombers.  It doesn't matter though, Nym is a complete beast in a control list because he can absolutely mess up someone's day.

Just some extra food for thought.