Armada: The cost of victory

Ackbar trolls my wallet.

The purpose of this article will be to evaluate some of the Wave 2 metagame in respect to cost for competitive lists.  What I did was to break apart the Wave 2 competitive metagame by archetypes and then break down a few lists with what I can find from Store/Regional Winners lists on the forum.  This is no way suggests that these are the only lists out there, but these should give us a good idea how much some of these more competitive lists cost.  All pieces are broken down by the least expensive option at MSRP.

Disclaimer:
I am having trouble finding Regional-winning or multiple Store Championship winning Fireball and Rhymerball lists.  If anyone have a link to them, please let me know!  Or better yet, break it apart yourself and let me know on the price!  I am posting variants that I have fought against that are brutal and effective.

For Regional data, I used schmitty's thread here:
https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/218949-revised-regionals-data

Archetypes Examined:
Rhymerball (2 variants)
DeMSU (2 variants)
Rebel Gunline (1 variant)
Rebel Carriers (2 variants)
Rebel Swarm (1 variant)

Imperial Samples:
4

Rebel Samples:
4

Rebel Archetype Cost Analysis

Rebel Gunline
http://lkhero.blogspot.com/2016/03/bfg-armada-mp-beta-starts-thursday.html

List analysis:
MC80 - 1x Home One Exp
MKII - 1x MKII Exp
CR90 - 1x CR90 Exp
Missions, tokens, playing tools - 1x Core Set
Intel Officer - 2x Neb
Engine Techs - (in Neb)
2x ECM - (in CR90 and MKII)
2x XI7 - (in Neb)
Leading Shots - (in CR90)
Gunney Team - (in MKII)
TRC - 1x MC30c Exp
4x YTs - 4x R&V Exp

Buy list without overlaps:
1x Core Set - $99.95
1x Home One Exp - $39.95
1x MKII Exp - $39.95
1x CR90 Exp - $19.95
2x Neb Exp - $19.95
1x MC30c Exp - $29.95
4x R&V Exp - $19.95

Total MSRP:
$349.50

***Bonus round!***
Took a look at a 3x MKII Ackbar build with 4x YTs and it came out to $379.40)
http://nanotanks.pythonanywhere.com/fleet/str/400u63s8u36u3u6u41s8u3u6u41s8u3u6u41q30n4o3o7o11

Rebel Swarm
https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/222920-the-road-to-nationals-thoughts-from-the-final-match

Buy list:
1x Core Set - $99.95
3x MC30c Exp - $29.95
2x CR90 Exp - $19.95
8x R&V Exp - $19.95

Total MSRP:
$389.30

Rebel Carriers #1
http://warhammertruthiness.blogspot.com/2016/06/martinsburg-wv-regionals.html

Buy list:
1x Core Set - $99.95
1x Home One Exp - $39.95
1x MKII Exp - $39.95
1x Neb Exp - $19.95
1x CR90 Exp - $19.95
1x MC30c Exp - $29.95
1x R&V Exp - $19.95
2x Rebel Squadron Exp - $19.95

Total MSRP:
$309.55

Rebel Carriers #2
http://xwingtactics.blogspot.com/2016/05/biggs-in-pittsburgh.html

Buy list:
1x Core Set - $99.95
1x Home One Exp - $39.95
1x Neb Exp - $19.95
1x MC30c Exp - $29.95
1x Raider - $19.95
2x CR90 Exp - $19.95
2x Rebel Squadron Exp - $19.95
2x R&V Exp - $19.95

Total MSRP:
$329.45

Rebel Total MSRP Average: $344.45


Imperial Archetype Cost Analysis

DeMSU #1
https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/203083-is-clontroper5s-build-invincible/?p=2061041

Buy list:
1x Core Set - $99.95
2x MC30c Exp - $29.95
3x Gladiator Exp - $29.95
3x Neb Exp - $19.95
4x Raider Exp - $19.95

Total MSRP:
$389.35

DeMSU #2
https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/215949-adepticon-armada-tournament-report/?p=2144569

Buy list:
1x Core Set - $99.95
3x Gladiator Exp - $29.95
3x MC30c Exp - $29.95
2x Raider Exp - $19.95

Total MSRP:
$319.55

Fireball
http://nanotanks.pythonanywhere.com/fleet/str/400u17s12u50u56u3u6u41u37s13u73s13u73q9n1q25n1q10n1q20n4o3o7o9

Buy list:
1x Core Set - $99.95
1x ISD Exp - $49.95
1x Neb Exp - $19.95
2x Raider - $19.95
1x Imperial Squadrons Exp - $19.95
4x S&V Exp - $19.95

Total MSRP:
$309.50

Rhymerball
http://nanotanks.pythonanywhere.com/fleet/str/400u17s12u50u56u3u6u41u37s13u73s13u73q9n1q25n1q10n1q6n8o3o7o9

Buy list:
1x Core Set - $99.95
1x ISD Exp - $49.95
1x Neb Exp - $19.95
2x Raider - $19.95
1x S&V Exp - $19.95
4x Imperial Squadrons Exp - $19.95

Total MSRP:
$309.50

Imperial Total MSRP Average: $331.96

All sample lists averaged: $338.21

If you have a competitive list that you'd like to share, please break it down if possible and list it out like I did.  Be curious, because I sure am!  Since Wave 4 is out not out, it's still too early to start breaking it down because we don't know what will be tournament-successful.

You can see what I'm doing with this data here on the forums.

Armada: Wave 4 archetypes

I still think the Home One is the better ship.

One of the most exciting things about Waves 3/4 is that when it does finally drop, it's going to flip the meta on its head for the foreseeable future.  The smaller transports will provide an enormous amount of activation advantage and the bigger ships will cause havoc because of their firepower and control elements.  When someone enters a tournament now, they have to prepare for a huge menagerie of different lists and archetypes that will all be very powerful in its own right.

I know there's a thread on the FFG forums right now with people doing a Wave 3/4 event on Vassal but unfortunately, I missed that boat entirely.  Therefore, I decided I'm not even going to take a look and make my own analysis to see if I can forecast some of the stuff we're expected to see.  For the actual archetypes, I'm going to base a lot of the information on the competitive lists I've seen in Wave 2, see what kind of competitive lists I would go if I was to go either Rebels and Imperials, and then rate them in various categories.

Let's quickly examine some of the archetypes we're most likely going to see:

Rebel Bigfish - Multiple MC80s of all variants.  Can be with Madine if playing with the new Liberty-
class ships, or multiple Home One-class ships with Ackbar.  Looks for a high bid to go first to inflict maximum damage.  Points-wise, it's fairly light on squadrons and will most likely depend on killing ships fast or die trying.  Strong vs. other big-ship lists that are generally less upgraded, weak against squadron-heavy lists or MSU fleets that outbid you.

Imperial ISDs - Multiple ISDs of all variants.  Thanks to Motti or Tagge and a few support boats, these guys can go a little longer, activate a little bit better, and jam some cheap TIEs down your squadrons while the big boys lay into your fleet.  A pretty straight forward and killy archetype that is very polarizing in playstyle.  Strong vs. other big-ship lists that have lower bids, weak against squadrons or MSU with higher bids.

Imperial Control - ISD + Interdictor.  Look for a lot of these lists to drop across the table pretty early in the meta.  The ISD-II most likely will do the damage while the Interdictor protects, transfers and scrambles damage off the ISD so it can continue pounding the road.  I foresee Motti and Tagge being big players here because they are attrition-based admirals.  Strong vs. movement-heavy lists like DeMSU and Rebel MSU, but weak against squadron-heavy lists that are not affected by ship-based control.

DeMSU - Demolisher and multiple Raiders/Escorts.  High activation count, lots of ship drops and a high bid means that you're looking to move last into position and shoot first.  This is a typical list of Wave 2 and might see it being weakened by control elements in Wave 3/4.  The Demolisher is the biggest threat on the table, able to triple tap into prime locations to destroy virtually any target.  Look for Screed for damage and Motti for survival.  Strong vs. lower bid capital ships, weak against movement control and being outbid by bigger ships.

Rebel Carriers - MC80/MKII, Yavaris, BCC Escorts and lots of squadrons.  Likes to take Reeikan or Garm as the admiral for the most part, but sometimes you'll see Dodonna.  Has a good amount of drops, typically runs very low bid to be more of a reactionary force, but packs a wallop with all the bomber damage.  Strong against any list with minimal squadron coverage, weak against DeMSU and alpha-strike squadrons.

Rebel MSU - Many MC30s and TRC90s, with or without heavy squadrons.  Will most likely see Rieekan or Mon Mothma as the commander.  It's basically the Rebel version of the DeMSU but the main punching element is in the form of the MC30c in either variant dropping immense damage the same way a Demolisher does.  Strong vs. lower bid capital ships, weak against movement control and being outbid by bigger ships.  Has more trouble vs. squadrons than the DeMSU unless they have many squadrons themselves.

Fireball - ISD + Rhymer, Dengar and Firesprays.  A very common list in Wave 2 where you take Rhymer and a bunch of Firesprays and lay down the hurt with the Rogue keyword and medium-range bombers.  Puts out even more firepower than an ISD at times.  Strong against any list with minimal squadron coverage, weak against DeMSU and alpha-strike squadrons.  Often times, if Rhymer is dead, show's over.

Now that the archetypes are out of the way, I think we will still see some balanced lists that are designed to be all-comers and still be tournament-worthy.  These lists will have one MC80 or ISD, a medium ship most likely and maybe a smaller one or some escorts followed by a healthy number of squadrons.  They're not looking to play a specific archetype, but just want a equal chance against the majority of the lists they're planning to face.  Sure, these lists will either see 60/40 or 40/60 shot against everything you see above, but it's still better than running into a hard counter and being sad.

Armada: Wave 4 Rebel Bombers

Set S-Foils to hype position!

Check out some of the this new Rebel hotness for Wave 3/4.  What you see here is one of the more interesting builds that I've done before, but hardly ever play.  I drafted something like this up towards the end of Wave 2 with Rieekan, but I had Independence and B-Wings in the list that I didn't really take seriously.  While I think B-Wings might be OK in a list like this, I still don't like the fact that they only really reach 2.  I like the versatility that X-Wings offer with their 4 blue on attack and red bomber dice, especially now that Wave 3/4 is out and we have Bomber Command Center.

Let me take you through this list right here:

Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 400/400
Commander: General Rieekan

Assault Objective: Most Wanted
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

[ flagship ] MC80 Command Cruiser (106 points)
-  General Rieekan  ( 30  points)
-  Defiance  ( 5  points)
-  Toryn Farr or Raymus Antilles ( 7  points)
-  Fighter Coordination Team  ( 3  points)
-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points)
-  X17 Turbolasers  ( 6  points)
-  Leading Shots  ( 4  points)
= 168 total ship cost

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57 points)
-  Yavaris  ( 5  points)
-  Medical Team  ( 1  points)
= 63 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)
-  Bright Hope  ( 2  points)
-  Bomber Command Center  ( 8  points)
= 28 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)
-  Comms Net  ( 2  points)
= 20 total ship cost

1 Nym ( 21 points)
1 Luke Skywalker ( 20 points)
1 Wedge Antilles ( 19 points)
1 Jan Ors ( 19 points)
1 "Dutch" Vander ( 16 points)
2 X-Wing Squadrons ( 26 points)

I chose Rieekan to lead the fleet because he's one of those guys just don't give a shit.  If your ship dies, it's cool because its effects and what not will stay for the end of the turn, and I'll be able to fire shots into your face anyway because his card says so.  As you can see right away, I'm not a big fan of this because I like to play with tempo and this guy kinda takes it away.  Either way, he's just so good in a list like this because your job is to play reactionary and place your squadrons in a way that will always threaten the enemy regardless of what he does.

So now let's talk really quickly about deployment.  I have a odd number of squadrons in this setup but there is already a gigantic advantage in terms of deployment options vs. not.  You basically place crappy little ships after your opponent places first, and then drop the squadrons in front of the biggest threat on the table and glee happily because you know the pain is about to happen.  The strategy behind this list is to essentially build up tokens in the beginning phases of the game with the help of Comms Net and your careful approach towards the enemy fleet, and then explode into his face with multiple squadrons with bomber.

The squadrons you have in this list are very flexible.  The X-Wings give you plenty of blue anti-squadron dice that is more accurate thanks to Torynn Farr, and you have Dutch/Wedge which can put a serious hurt into everyone, especially when you're tanky enough to stay in the fight.  If you get one-shotted somehow, don't worry because Rieekan will keep your ass alive so you can swing back for massive amounts of damage.  Yavaris and squadron spam can really help in increasing the amount of damage your key pieces can do, while BCC (Bomber Command Center) keeps your accuracy high for bombing runs.  You see where this list is going?  Massive amounts of accurate fire coming from everywhere.  Even the MC80 is no slouch because of the Defiance title and XI7s.  Another trick here to watch out for is the interaction that Toryn Farr has with Nym.  If she is nearby, not only can you fish the blue crit, but you can fish the blacks with BCC.  Freaking brutal.

Overall, this is the kind of list that gives me nightmares when I show up with minimal fighter support.  I'm out-dropped, out-deployed, out-squadroned, and those bombers do more damage to me than one round of shooting out of an ISD-II.  No, really, I'm not joking.  Having the MC80 activate on you with bombers that have re-rolls before he drops lead on you is definitely no joke.

Edit: I'm currently re-thinking Toryn Farr for Raymus Antilles.  Seems like better interaction with the Defiance overall while still giving me good squadron utility.

Armada: Bigger fish to try

Back and ready to rock!

While everyone I'm sure is extremely excited for the MC80 Liberty-class ships to come out stomping on people's faces, there are downsides with the ship.  I don't really like the dial (lol yes, X-Wing reference) because I think the straights can cause a little bit of issue if you don't spam Navs or have Madine to course correct.  Honestly, when you really think about the damage potential the ship offers compared to the MC80 Home One-class ships, it's almost as if the ship was designed for Madine.

This got me thinking a bit:  Now that we have cheap transport activators, I think it might be time to revisit an old list that I was trying around for funnsies in Wave 2.  For all intent and purposes, this list should be able to deliver a lot of firepower while realistically, the only thing that I really miss out is another drop compared to what I was bringing during the Spring season.

Check this out:

Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 380/400
Commander: Admiral Ackbar

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Fire Lanes
Navigation Objective: Intel Sweep

[ flagship ] MC80 Command Cruiser (106 points)
-  Admiral Ackbar  ( 38  points)
-  Home One  ( 7  points)
-  Intel Officer  ( 7  points)
-  Engine Techs  ( 8  points)
-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points)
-  X17 Turbolasers  ( 6  points)
-  Leading Shots  ( 4  points)
= 183 total ship cost

MC80 Command Cruiser (106 points)
-  Defiance  ( 5  points)
-  Intel Officer  ( 7  points)
-  Engine Techs  ( 8  points)
-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points)
-  X17 Turbolasers  ( 6  points)
-  Leading Shots  ( 4  points)
= 143 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)
-  Bright Hope  ( 2  points)
-  Comms Net  ( 2  points)
= 22 total ship cost

2 YT-2400s ( 32 points)

So what you see here is a ridiculous 380 bid list with double Ackbar MC80 BBs.  This basically means that I'm throwing off the gloves and going balls deep in terms of damage and letting the list speak for itself.  Unlike the Motti double ISD-II + Gozanti lists, I actually think I'd rather take my MC80s to the party simply because of their Engine Techs.  ET is a huge benefactor in a list that relies on setting up great shots and as long as you spam Navs on all of your big ships, you should be able to pour out tons of damage from all sides.  The only real reason why a list like this didn't get much traction in last wave is because it lacked the activations needed for it to become a reality.  You literally had to give up a lot more than it was worth for you to take this kind of list, but all that changed with the arrival of the transports.

Re-rolling dem blues!

Another list that I've been working on is actually based off my tournament winning Ackbar list from the Spring season.  I've essentially reached a perfected version of my Ackbar list at the end of the season and the 3-0 record is testament to the experimentation I've had with the list itself.  However, I've been excited to try some new cards and basically re-evaluate the way I look at squadrons.  I know there are loads of new tools coming into the pipeline for bomber-heavy players, and that's the first thing that I want to stop cold in its tracks while preserving the bigfish style of play with my AckbarBB.

The list I'm currently working on is this:

Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 383/400
Commander: Admiral Ackbar

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Fire Lanes
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

[ flagship ] MC80 Command Cruiser (106 points)
-  Admiral Ackbar  ( 38  points)
-  Home One  ( 7  points)
-  Intel Officer  ( 7  points)
-  Engine Techs  ( 8  points)
-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points)
-  X17 Turbolasers  ( 6  points)
-  Leading Shots  ( 4  points)
= 183 total ship cost

Assault Frigate Mark II B (72 points)
-  Toryn Farr  ( 7  points)
-  Gunnery Team  ( 7  points)
-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points)
-  X17 Turbolasers  ( 6  points)
= 99 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)
-  Bright Hope  ( 2  points)
-  Jamming Field  ( 2  points)
= 22 total ship cost

1 Jan Ors ( 19 points)
1 Tycho Celchu ( 16 points)
4 A-Wing Squadrons ( 44 points)

The big take-aways from this list is that I completely changed my squadron setup from 4x YT-2400s to Jan, Tycho and 4x A-Wings.  What this will offer me is a better alpha, more protection thanks for extra brace tokens, and a fantastic interaction with Toryn Farr because of her ability to allow me to re-roll blue dice on ships and squadrons.  The Jamming Field on the Bright Hope also helps, but being able to dive in there and alpha strike with more acurate firepower, and retaliate with equal accuracy is very, very good.  I don't know, I'm more excited to try this variant of a fighter-heavy list than the bomber lists out there.  I just don't have a lot of faith in myself using bomber lists because 1. I don't like the playstyle and 2. Bombers eat up my Battleship point and that's no bueno.

Well, what do you guys think?  Go big or go home, or try out Toryn Farr and her fighters?

Armada: Forward Firepower

Another big fish roaming the stars.

Now that we took a look a Imperials, let's talk about some possibilities with Rebels.  For one, I'm thinking about trying this crazy list with two fat fish led by the newest Rebel commander, General Madine.  Now, this guy has a really cool ability that I really like, and I might be playing him more often as a direct contender to my beloved Ackbar.

Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 386/400
Commander: General Madine

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Fire Lanes
Navigation Objective: Intel Sweep

[ flagship ] MC80 Assault Cruiser (114 points)
-  General Madine  ( 30  points)
-  Defiance  ( 5  points)
-  Intel Officer  ( 7  points)
-  Engine Techs  ( 8  points)
-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points)
-  XI7 Turbolasers  ( 6  points)
-  Leading Shots  ( 4  points)
= 181 total ship cost

MC80 Battle Cruiser (103 points)
-  Mon Karren  ( 8  points)
-  Intel Officer  ( 7  points)
-  Gunnery Team  ( 7  points)
-  Medical Team  ( 1  points)
-  XI7 Turbolasers  ( 6  points)
-  XX-9 Turbolasers  ( 5  points)
-  Leading Shots  ( 4  points)
= 141 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)
-  Comms Net  ( 2  points)
= 20 total ship cost

4 A-Wing Squadrons ( 44 points)

Simply amazing.

This is the list that I'm currently thinking about and it's pretty much designed to do one thing and one thing only:  Utterly destroy the enemy fleet while moving around like a madman.  I don't know about you folks, but I have no idea how a former Imperial Commander like Madine figured out how to manuever capital ships around as if they were frigates.  Obviously this also means that spamming out nav tokens in the beginning of the game while keeping your trigger finger happy on the nav commands throughout the entire game will be the way forward.  Thankfully, having the cheap GR-75 activator with Comms Net helps that out a little bit, also for when the opponent decides to throw down Tractor Beams somewhere.  Think about it for a second:  The ability to move 90 degree turns with the MC80 Defiance and be able to activate Engine Techs.  Or turn the MC80 Mon Karren around with multiple double-clicks because you have both the nav command and token ready to go.  Absurd.

Overall, there was a couple of things here that I think can still need improvement.  I could technically drop the A-Wings down to Dash + YT-2400 because they won't have any command support.  This would give me 4 points to buy Bright Hope on the GR-75 to reduce some incoming damage and give me a slightly better bid.  Of course, this would give me a pretty handicapped ship to drop ratio, but when you're playing with big capital ships like these who rely on the initiative bid, that doesn't matter so much.  Your strategy and fleet composition will determine the outcome of the battle way more than any activational advantage.

All the crits!

On the topic of the MC80 Battle; this ship was designed to be a pure battleship and nothing more.  It's basically a ISD-II that wants to get up in your face and drop as much damage as possible.  This is why I geared this particular version up with the Mon Karren title, XI7s and XX-9s for maximum damage.  Mon Karren is one of the best titles I've seen when it comes to pushing damage, even more so then Avenger I think.  You're basically telling your opponent that he can only activate one of his defense tokens and nothing more.  If the target only has one Brace token for example, IO has extreme synergy with it because you pretty much know 100% that the Brace is going to disappear without any interference.  The only trouble it might have is if you're fighting against another MC80 Liberty-class for example because of the redundant Brace options, but that's one of those things that makes the Liberty solid in the first place.  The best part about the title is that it pretty much denies the use of Contain, and that it allows things like the XX-9 to really do some work when combined with the XI7s.  Not only are you pushing damage through, but you're also causing critical damage if you proc the crit.  I think if you want to go hard with the damage, it's better to go all in because you sure don't have any defensive countermeasures to worry about.  Your job is to literally dive into the enemy and shoot it to death because you have the initiative and the upgrades to do it.

Stay tuned guys, while this is definitely one of those lists I'm dying to try out, I actually have my eyes set on another.  It's pretty unique, and I've definitely talked about it before briefly.

Armada: Imperial Control

Slow down, you're going too fast!

I've been taking a look at how I might run the Interdictor in the last couple of days and I think I might have something that I want to try.  For me, the Interdictor is purely a support piece, and his main goal in a list is to disrupt the overall flow of the game for the opponent.  Because of this, he will need carry pieces in the fleet composition to take advantage of this disruption.  At the end of the day, it's important to understand that you still need a list that is capable of outputting damage on top of the disruption.  For me, this means that I will want to take the ISD-II as my mainstay damage-dealer while keeping the overall disruption theme intact.

Here's the list:

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 385/400
Commander: Admiral Motti

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Dangerous Territory

[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
-  Admiral Motti  ( 24  points)
-  Avenger  ( 5  points)
-  Intel Officer  ( 7  points)
-  Gunnery Team  ( 7  points)
-  Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams  ( 6  points)
-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points)
-  XI7 Turbolasers  ( 6  points)
-  Leading Shots  ( 4  points)
= 186 total ship cost

Interdictor-class Suppression Refit (90 points)
-  Interdictor  ( 3  points)
-  Captain Needa  ( 2  points)
-  Medical Team  ( 1  points)
-  Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams  ( 6  points)
-  MS-1 Ion Cannons  ( 2  points)
-  Targeting Scrambler  ( 5  points)
-  G-8 Experimental Projector  ( 8  points)
= 117 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruiser (23 points)
-  Suppressor  ( 4  points)
-  Admiral Titus  ( 2  points)
-  Slicer Tools  ( 7  points)
= 36 total ship cost

1 "Howlrunner" ( 16 points)
2 TIE Interceptor Squadrons ( 22 points)
1 TIE Fighter Squadron ( 8 points)

Amazing title.

OK, what you see here actually have a lot of moving components that work off of each other to be effective.  Let me try to explain this the best I can by breaking apart individual pieces and then putting them back together so hopefully the big picture melds at the end.  First, I'll talk about why I chose to go with Motti instead of the Konstantine.  The answer for me right now is that I think enough control for now (meta-dependent) for the individual upgrades I have in the list.  I already have Interdictor to help me refresh various components and I have multiple Tractor Beams.  Titus is present for the early slow, Suppressor and Slicer Tools to disrupt further once we close.  In short, this list is already loaded with a lot of control elements so I don't think I need the extra control over amount of longevity that Motti supplies to the rest of the fleet.  There is a reason why Motti is chosen so much by Imperial Admirals everywhere, and that's because he makes the ISD-II 27% healthier in terms of how much damage he can take.  As long as the ISD can keep throwing lead downtown, he is still the #1 target on the battlefield.  Not to mention he makes the Interdictor a little healthier as well, and we all know that without ECMs he's going to need all the help that he can get.

Scrambling your shots.

Let's take a closer look at this 117-point cost Interdictor and I'll tell you why I chose to go with this version.  Interdictor is a must-have title if you plan on taking this type of ship because it allows you to essentially refresh a control card as soon as a ship activates.  A ship, any ship, which is key here because of the timing window.  This allows you to recycle Targeting Scrambler twice or punk someone with G-8s multiple times in a round.  It's just a very strong card.  The second thing you'll notice here is Captain Needa.  Since the Interdictor needs as much protection as you can, I don't think there's a better choice in this slot in trying to reduce the overall damage coming in.  Replacing one of those double Contains with an Evade is extremely good at keeping the Interdictor alive and having it disrupt the rest of the board.  Tractor Beams will be a reoccurring theme here on the big ships because being able to slow your opponents without having to take Konstantine as the commander is key.  You're paying points for the slow, although at different windows, but those points are better spent in prolonging your ships longevity.  Lastly, I decided on MS-1 Ion Cannons because a blue crit means you get to exhaust the defender's upgrade card.  If the Interdictor hits first, or hits another target that the ISD-II haven't shot at, this means that when it's time to blast way with the big dog, there's a possibility that enemy ECM will be exhausted.  Perfect, because without ECMs to mitigate accuracies, there's always going to be a possible window for massive and unexpected damage.

Stop right there.

The reasons why I chose to go with Targeting Scrambler and G-8 Experimental Projectors are dead simple:  I think Targeting Scrambler is one of the best upgrades for this ship and I would even take it over everything else if I have other big damage-dealers in the fleet.  The ability to essentially turn all those double-hit reds into blanks is godsend, and the ability to do it multiple times thanks to the Interdictor title is amazing.  For me, it's kinda like a reverse Leading Shots; but even more painful for the opponent.  For example, if I roll big with my MC80 Assault and drop massive damage on you thanks to Leading Shots, you retaliate by forcing a re-roll on all those double-hits I just scored and I basically lost a dice from Leading Shots (since I have to burn a blue).  The only downside for this is that it affects targets shooting at the defender at close-range.  Great, because this means that it's robbing the Demolisher of most of its strength possibly and reducing the overall impact in certain key firefights.  Very good.  So good, that it's sometimes difficult to choose between the G-8 if you can only choose one.  The G-8 is good because you can take someone from speed 1 to 0 on the maneuver so you can stifle them from moving entirely.  This is actually one of the only reasons why I'd give Konstantine that extra side-ways look, and that's because further suppression can result in a ship standing still.  Regardless, being able to pin and slow ships on their activation, while being able to be refreshed via Interdictor is great.  This opens up a ton of strategy in which you can force traffic jams on guppies, stopping fast-flankers from getting the drop on you, and reducing the overall threat of DeMSU.

I'm not going to speak a lot about the Imperial-II because it's pretty much what you expected from me.  Big, lots of upgrades, getting the most damage out when you can, and being able to bully ships into submission with IO/XI7s and Tractor Beams.  Another thing to note is that having the Suppressor title present allows me to combo in Avenger to essentially disable a key defense token.  Having the 2-point Titus riding shotgun on the Gozanti is a great cheap way to slow down that Demolisher at the start of the game, and Slicer Tools are there to disrupt any fishes trying to swim away by replacing them with useless commands.

Well, there you have it folks.  The list is pretty mean in theory and as long as you take it nice and slow with the Interdictor while applying equal pressure with the Avenger, I think things will work out just fine.

Armada: Wave 3/4 Impressions

Double Brace face-roll.

Yes, I am back from the land of non-stop video gaming and getting back into Armada.  The Spring tournament season has been very kind to me and now I'm back fiending for more capital ship combat.  While I couldn't make it out to the SoCal Regionals, I did have some friends that went and I heard it was a pretty good showing with 21 total players.  Not the most boastful of numbers, but still good none the less.

OK, so the crux of this article will be to talk about some of the new stuff we'll be getting in Waves 3/4.  I'm actually just going to mentally treat this as Wave 3 because 2 "ships" per Wave is pretty damn sad.  I'd rather put them all together and lube my mind with the idea that we realistically got 4 products this year, and hopefully by the end of August they'll be soundly in my hand and ready for battlefield tests.  While some folks have been playing with some of the new transports on Vassal, I haven't gotten myself out there yet and played any games.  Why?  Probably because overall, I don't think I need battlefield testing for the flotillas.

Here's why:  To me, the flotillas are cheap little activators that help push the age-old concept of getting more activations on the table.  More drops, more activations, a good solid bid and your chances to win will increase because of the interaction between being last the move and first to fire.  This obviously means that you'll have a greater capacity to telegraph your opponent's movement so you can fine-tune your movement an capitalize on his mistakes.  This is the only solid purpose of flotillas IMO, and that's to push the bare minimal amount of points into a list to give you extra activations.  Nevermind the crap you see on the forums about slicer beams or other crazy ass shit; this defeats the entire purpose of having cheap activations in the first place.  If you want to have a little tiny ship, however obscured get blown away because he's carrying 40 odd points of specialization, then I think that's a huge loss.  Those extra points are much better spent on feeding other ships for upgrades, taking more squadrons, or just getting a better bid.  Think about it realistically for a second; for a couple of more points, you can buy yourself a Raider or TRC90.

When it comes to upgrades for the flotillas, the upgrades you should be looking should be the dirt cheap ones.  These ships are designed to be support vessels and cheap activators, so don't overbloat them.  Upgrades like Bomber Command (8) and Slicer Tools (7) means that your list will only want these if you have a specific purpose in mind, and that your fleet is designed to put out a heavy, heavy bomber compliment or have Tractors up the ying-yang on your other ships.  The upgrades I'm supporting are the 2-4 pointers; with Comms Net (2) being a great way to spread some token love early on, Jamming Field (2) being the poor man's Gallant Haven, and Repair Crews (4) might be worth it on bigger ships so they don't need to queue Engineering.  The most important thing to remember for the flotillas is to keep them cheap.  I do, however, like a lot of the upgrade cards that came with them like Agent Kallus (die Rhymer) and most of the titles are excellent for their price.

Now that that's said, let's talk about the Wave 4 big boys:  The Interdictor and the MC80 Liberty.  I will keep this a little more brief because I'll probably end up talking about these guys in greater detail down the line.  For now, I like what this does to the meta.  If we're going to start talking about the Interdictor, I think that it definitely shakes up a meta a little bit because of the amount of control it can have over the battlefield with specific upgrades.  Mind you, the very idea that this thing exists in the meta is enough to decrease the amount of Demolishers on the field, but it's also very important to note that the Inderdictor is not a very sturdy ship.  Sure, it has awesome control effects if you take the Suppression variant, but you're also not going to do a lot of damage so the damage capacity to power ratio will be lower with this ship in the mix.  I'll tell you one thing's for sure, the retrofit that I'm most excited about is Targeting Scrambler with the Interdictor title.  I really think that the amount of damage you can negate from messing up your opponent's firepower is game-changing.  It's pretty much a reverse Leading Shots, and it can basically screw your opponent's plans up entirely if you turn a killing blow into a complete whiff.  Overall, interesting ship, with big bold plans to change the meta, but I wouldn't bring it in too many battles:  I'll explain in just a sec.

When you take a look at the Liberty, you basically see a mix of the Victory-II and the ISD-II.  It's somewhere in the middle in terms of damage, and its shield capacity is frontal-focused.  The most interesting thing I found about the Liberty-class ships is that it has double Brace for defense tokens and double Turbolasers.  Now, before anyone gets a hard-on for double TL slots, I will say that this is borderline luxury upgrade territory.  Most of the time, you do not need to have more than XI7s, but if you really want to pile the damage in, XI7s and XX-9s are probably the way to go.  The Weapons Team also allows you to take the vaulted Gunnery Team to melt down multiple targets in front of you, and this will be possible as long as you spam nothing but navs because your movement isn't the greatest in the world.  You're actually less maneuverable than a MC80 Home One variant starship with Engine Techs, but that's probably why they gave Rebels Madine as a commander choice.

OK, with that said, I'm a little on the fence about these two big ships.  I think in terms of changing the meta, the Interdictor will pose a greater change to the meta specifically in terms of the Demolisher.  The MC80 Liberty-class ships are good, but their full frontal and 2 shields worry me as well.  My biggest worry about the two ships and the main reason why I wouldn't bring it into too many battles is this:  Neither capital ship have a Defensive Retrofit slot for ECMs.  In terms of the Interdictor, accuracies rolled naturally from long-range are going to be very sad days for that ship.  The same thing can be said to a lesser degree for the MC80 Liberty, except that it has the speed to get in close without paying for Engine Techs, and with Engine Techs it's literally going to cross the board and shoot you to death in one turn.  However, it is definitely susceptible to the likes of Intel/XI7s as well because of the missing ECM.  For example, if you IO a Brace and accuracy the other, chances are he will burn the Brace if the damage is meaningful enough.  In the chance that you roll double accuracies, you basically just throw your hands up in the air.  This means that unless the Liberty has to get into combat quick, or it's going to be a bad day.  Either way, I think the Liberty has a little bit more legs simply because it has double Brace.  This is huge.

Well, that's all I have for now for my first article back in a while.  This is a high-level overview of my impressions with Wave 3 and 4 and over the next couple of days, I'll be breaking it down even further.  See you guys soon!