Special Modifications, Part 7: The Ace Cap

Welcome back to Special Modifications!

Han Solo once said he’d made a few “special modifications” to the Falcon. Some good, some bad, all of them interesting. That’s the spirit behind this series: exploring non-standard Armada. Not just fleet lists or tournament meta, but the underlying strings that hold the game together. What if the designers had pulled them differently? What might have worked better? What happens when you tinker with the system in ways it was never quite built for?

⚠️ Important note: don’t confuse this series with the Squadron Files. We recently covered squadrons there as well — but the scope is different. Special Modifications is design-theory territory: tweaking fundamentals, exploring alternatives, and asking “what if.”

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“Back in My Day…”

The Ace Cap isn’t an official term, but everyone knows what it means: the rule that limits you to four squadrons with defense tokens in a 400-point fleet. It arrived with Armada 1.5; before that, you could field as many aces as you could afford.

And oh, what glorious chaos that was.

Maarek (21)
Jendon (20)
Dengar (20)
Ciena (17)
Howl (16)
Mauler (15)
Valen (13)
Saber (12)
— 134 points of perfection.

That was my old Sloane ball. Eight aces, seven scatters, two double braces, and a grin on my face. Intel worked, squadrons danced, and it all came together perfectly.

Okay, half a joke — but only half. Those wild lists felt fun, flexible, and full of personality. Now every faction runs the same safe handful of four to six top-tier aces. The cap fixed some problems but flattened the variety.

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The Problem with Aces

You can also see why the cap happened. Aces were, and still are, priced too moderately for what they bring. Why fly generics when the aces hit harder, live longer, and bring tricks? Scatter aces especially — laughably potent for their cost.

So here’s the real question: could we remove the Ace Cap and still make generics viable?

I think we could.

The Clone Wars factions already show it’s possible. CIS in particular has fantastic generics — Vultures, Tri-fighters, Hyenas — that people actually take. When generics are cheap and effective, players will bring them. That said, CIS also doesn’t have anything close to Maarek + Jendon + Dad Vader + Mauler nonsense. If GAR had three Deltakin-tier aces, we’d be right back where we started.

So to get rid of the cap, we need to hit several design marks:

• Generics must be cost-effective, not merely cheap.

• Command load must matter — lots of generics means lots of squadron activations, physical space, and coordination.

• Upgrades should reward non-uniques — imagine if Howlrunner only buffed generic TIEs. Suddenly my old Sloane list would need a rethink.

• Aces must be fairly priced — no more 16-point Tychos if a generic A-wing costs 11.

• Aces must not be so overloaded with value that they’re automatic picks (looking at you, Deltakin).

The goal isn’t to ban aces or punish them. Ideally, players could field all aces, all generics, or a mix, and have each option be roughly equal in strength. A tall order, yes — but worth chasing.

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Testing the Idea — A-Wings as a Case Study

Let’s use the humble Rebel A-wing as a test case.

Our Special Modifications generic A-wing costs 10 points (–1 from standard) and swaps one blue die for a black in its anti-squad pool. Same fast, independent interceptor, just a touch meaner.

Now bring in Shara Bey. She gets the same dice tweak — but no price cut.

Is she still worth it?

Let’s compare:

• Durability. Shara’s 4 hull with brace + scatter can outlast eight hull of generics in some fights and evaporate faster in others. Against flak or light chip damage, scatter wins; against dedicated anti-ace fire, the generics survive longer.

• Control. Two generics mean two deployments, more area coverage, and twice the command cost. Shara is one unit, easier to manage but less flexible.

• Firepower. Two generics roll twice as many dice, though Shara’s Counter 3 + special can out-trade them in anti-squad duels. Against ships, the generics win hands down.

So overall? Shara is roughly as potent as two generics. Maybe a hair less. That would put her around 19 points, up from 17. A two-point swing isn’t huge but changes incentives. Suddenly, the choice between one Shara or two A-wings isn’t a no-brainer.

Tycho Celchu follows the same logic. He keeps his mobility trick, gains the black die, and lands around 18 points. 

Together, Shara + Tycho + two generics = 57 points instead of 55 — a small nudge toward parity.

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Expanding the Roster

Now that we’ve rebalanced the core duo, let’s add some new names to the hangar.

Green Squadron and Arvel Crynyd

Arvel has always been that madman who rammed the Executor at Endor — clearly inspired by Green Squadron and their suicidal bravery.

In this system, Green Squadron gets the same treatment as the generics: one blue replaced by a black die and a price drop to 11. It’s quick, aggressive, and suddenly a legitimate speed-5 bomber in a world without PDICs everywhere. Whether that’s “worth it” depends on context — but in this tuned-down environment, maybe it finally is.

Arvel Crynyd, then, becomes the elite reflection of Green. He’s 17 points — a scatter/brace ace with a slightly less flashy ability than Shara or Tycho, but a very clear identity: a speed-5 bomber with a death-wish. His ability synergizes beautifully with Dodonna, naturally, but even outside that niche, he’s thematic and useful.

In this balance pass, he’s not meant to outshine the other A-wing aces — just to give Rebel players a different flavor of fast bomber that feels right on the table.

Shepherd Squadron and Gemmer Sojan

Next up, Gemmer Sojan — the ace version of a concept I call Shepherd Squadron.

Shepherd Squadron is simple: a generic A-wing with Grit added. That’s it. A minor change that has huge implications. At speed 5, being able to break engagement with only a single enemy means you can reposition, chase, or protect your ships much more flexibly. At 11 points, it’s an elegant solution to static squadron fights — fast, fragile, but annoyingly mobile.

Gemmer inherits that idea and runs with it. His ability is a nerfed version of Ciena Ree’s — when near friendly ships he’s effectively obstructed, making him a nightmare to kill. Combine that with scatter, brace, and Grit, and you’ve got a four-hull ace who’s every bit as slippery as Tycho but in a different way.
He’s priced at 18 points, and while he’s not the hammer that Shara is, he’s a beautiful defensive piece.

Together, Shara (19) + Tycho (18) + Gemmer (18) + Arvel (17) form a cohesive quartet: 72 points of high-speed, high-resilience interceptors. Or, for roughly the same cost, you could bring seven generics — or five generics, plus Green and Shepherd for 72.

And suddenly, that’s a real choice again.

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Would You Go Generic?

That’s the ultimate question.

With these changes, you could still lean into the ace wing — four beautifully efficient A-wings that hold space, win dogfights, and make your opponent swear at Counter 2. Or you could field eight generics, spreading out, trading cheaper, and forcing your opponent to fight a war of attrition.

Neither is automatically correct, and that’s the goal.

The aces remain easier to command and individually more reliable; the generics offer deployments, board presence, and raw numbers. If we could then sprinkle in a few upgrades that specifically reward non-uniques — say, a variant of Toryn Farr or Adar Tallon that only buffs generics — the scales might even tilt further in their favor.

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Would It Break the Game?

Some worry that removing the cap would flood the table with squadrons. In practice, not much changes. Right now you can field twelve A-wings for 132 points; this system gives you thirteen for 130. Hardly catastrophic.

Generics in bulk actually play faster: no tokens, no conditional triggers, no constant cross-checking of who’s in range of whom. Just move, shoot, and die gloriously.

The broader takeaway remains: trim generics by a point or so, nudge aces upward a bit, and the math starts to work again. You could still build an elite wing if you wanted, but it wouldn’t automatically be the best option.

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So… Can It Be Done?

Maybe.

Balancing a cap-less system isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible. It demands disciplined pricing, meaningful trade-offs, and a willingness to separate “fun broken” from “actually broken.”

Even if we never get there officially, exploring how it could work is exactly what Special Modifications is all about.

And honestly? After years of flying the same four aces, wouldn’t it be nice to see a full squadron bay again?

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Up Next

Not entirely sure yet. Perhaps we'll stay in the fighter hangar and look at how to (and how NOT to) design new squadrons. Or maybe we'll finish looking at CIS/GAR generics. Or maybe we'll segway into something else. We'll see. But stay tuned, whatever it is!

The Ship Files, Part 2: Empire — “More Hangry Space Doritos”

Welcome back to The Ship Files!

In Part 1, we tackled the first half of the Imperial roster — the Arquitens, Gladiator, Gozanti, and the mighty ISD — and laid out what ARC can't (or won't) change. Points, yes. Cardboard, no. Ship cards? Also a no, for unknown reasons.

This time, we’re picking up the rest of the fleet — from Interdictors and Onagers to everyone’s favorite flying dumpster, the Victory. As before, we’ll stick to ARC-realistic tweaks, throw in a few “what if” ideas for fun, and keep the triangles angry.

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Interdictor-class Cruiser

The Interdictor is a fascinating concept — a tanky support ship that bends space and ruins your opponent’s deployment plans. The model looks great. The fantasy is strong. The reality… not so much.

The problem is that the ship was designed around a gimmick, and then built to only do that gimmick. It has 5 engineering and a Support Team slot (hello, Projection Experts), an Ion slot, and an Offensive Retrofit — all pushing you toward a slow, chunky, utility role. Its Command 2 should have been a blessing, but with only two token slots, it ends up a curse.

And don’t get me started on the double Contains. The MC75 learned the same painful lesson: “more Contain” does not equal "better" or "more fun."

The Suppression Refit is the better of the two — two grav slots and plenty of blues. The Combat Refit costs more for fewer grav slots and red dice you can’t support. It’s like paying extra for a smaller cup of coffee.

ARC’s points cut (down from 93 to 85) helped, but didn’t solve anything fundamental. The ship still doesn’t know what it wants to be.

What if: Give the Combat Refit a Turbolaser slot. Suddenly, you have a reason to bring it — maybe as a long-range bruiser or area-denial specialist. Salvo would also make it tougher, but that just pushes it further into “immovable wall” territory, and nobody needs more of those.

Verdict: Leave as is. ARC has already done what’s possible without deeper redesigns.

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Onager-class Star Destroyer

Ah yes, the Onager — the ship that broke more friendships than any other.

To be clear, I don’t hate the Onager. I hate Ignition (Long) — especially when stapled to a large base that can go speed 4. It was created to punish fortressing, and it did that job very well… while also creating a whole new problem: a ship that shoots you before the game even starts.

It warped the meta for years, forcing fleets to tech specifically for it or die trying. AMG’s eventual fix was elegant in only the most literal sense: they just cranked the points. No mechanical changes, no ignition tweaks — just “add points and call it a day.” Lazy, but effective enough.

What if: Make the red beam Ignition (Medium) instead of Long, and limit Engine Techs through tags or upgrade restrictions. That would keep the Onager scary but reduce the “sniping you from hyperspace” nonsense.

Verdict: AMG went too far with the price hikes. The Testbed at 112 and the Star Destroyer at 116 would be a much better balance, but I suppose we'll just have to live with the current price point.

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Quasar-class Carrier

 

Some people claim there are two Quasar variants. I remain unconvinced.

Jokes aside, the Quasar is a purebred carrier — it exists to push squadrons and do absolutely nothing else. The Quasar II adds some firepower and better upgrade flexibility, but do you really want to spend those points for Ruthless Strategists + Flight Controllers? Probably not.

What if: Realistically, nothing.

Verdict: The 7-point gap between the two variants is too steep. Close it to 5 points, and suddenly the II becomes a choice (maybe) rather than a trap.

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Raider-class Corvette  

The Raider is one of the most stylish ships in the game — and also one of the most fragile. It looks like it’s flying fast, just sitting on the table, and then it explodes before its first shot lands.

The Raider I wants to knife-fight, but black-dice brawlers are suffering in the current meta. It gets in close, throws dice, and dies. The Raider II can play the skirmisher game with D-Caps and Ions, but that combo gets expensive fast, and you’re still on a tissue-paper hull.

What if: Nothing major. The ship does what it does, and when it works, it’s beautiful. It just needs a small nudge to make that work more often.

Verdict: Raider I to 42 points, Raider II to 44–45. Enough to make them feel like reasonable fillers again without risking Raider spam.

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Victory-class Star Destroyer

Hello, flying triangular trash compactor.

The Victory’s biggest flaw isn’t its speed; it’s the combination of low speed, poor yaw, and forward-only firepower/weak flak.

Ideally, you’d fix it by improving yaw — one extra yaw at the first joint at speed 2 would make all the difference — but since that’s off the table, we’re left with points. The question is how far down you can go before spam becomes a problem.

For context: the Recusant is 85, the Star Frigate 73, the AF2B 72, the AF2A 81. The math just doesn’t add up. Even with ARC’s adjustments, the VSD still feels overpriced for what it delivers.

Ironically, the Victory II is in a slightly better spot now, thanks to the price drop — decent long-range punch with D-Caps and the Harrow title to fake mobility.

What if: Give it that extra yaw at speed 2. It wouldn’t make it good, but it would make it playable.

Verdict: Victory I at 70, Victory II at 78. Still not great, but at least less embarrassing. The chassis remains a relic — a museum piece you have to over-equip just to keep alive.

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Venator-class Star Destroyer

Funny how the Empire arguably got the best Venator in the game.

It’s a weird ship — a relic of Clone Wars design that sneaked into the Imperial arsenal complete with Salvo and even a Bombard tag. It looks strange next to the rest of the Imperial lineup, but it actually fills a neat niche: cheaper than a Kuat, tougher than an ISD-I, and very comfortable in a brawl.

What if: Nothing. It’s fine. Maybe too fine.

Verdict: Leave it alone. Even if the ISD-I drops as suggested in Part 1, the Venator still holds its ground as a distinctive, well-priced large ship, and the Kuat is 12 points more expensive.

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Star Dreadnought-class (aka “Bargain SSD”)

We’ll stick to the two 400-point-legal variants here: the Command Prototype and the Assault Prototype. The massive Executor versions are fun to look at, but not really part of normal play.

To FFG’s credit, they did a decent job balancing these beasts. In the right hands, they’re competitive. Not dominant, but viable. That alone is an achievement.

My biggest gripe isn’t the firepower or the cost — it’s the yaw problem. The SSD only really works with Jerjerrod; without him, it turns like a dead moon. That’s sloppy design. A ship this iconic shouldn’t be balanced around one commander. Yes, I know about Piett, but that's not an argument I'm willing to accept.

What if: In a dream world, the SSD would have built-in yaw modifiers or a few more commander options. Realistically, it’s stuck as the “Jerjerrod special.”

Verdict: The Command Prototype could easily drop 20 points to 200. The Assault Prototype, maybe 10 points to 240. They’d still be niche, but a little less punishing to bring.

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Final Thoughts on Cost and Context

I started this series saying small ships needed the most help — and they do — but it’s the big ships that get the biggest rebates. That’s not hypocrisy, it’s math. A 10-point cut on an SSD means something very different from a 3-point cut on a Raider. These ships don’t compete for the same slot in list-building; they compete within their own weight class.

Medium ships remain the trickiest category — squeezed between efficient smalls and versatile larges. You can’t fix that just with points. But you can at least make sure every ship feels like it belongs on the table.

Next Up: Rebel ships, parts 1 and 2.

The Ship Files, Part 1: Empire — “Angry Space Triangles”

Welcome back to The Files!

We’ve done Objectives, we’ve done Upgrades, we’ve even done Squadrons. Which means it’s finally time for the main event: ships — the glorious, angry space triangles that make Armada what it is.

Why save them for last? Because ships are kind of a big deal. They’re what we actually push around the table, they’re the canvas for every fleet, and they tie together everything else we’ve already discussed. But also… because touching ships is scary. They’re the hardest pieces in the game to tweak. Talking about ships without first understanding the objectives, upgrades, and squadron context would’ve been putting the cart before the horse (or the TIE before the Star Destroyer, if you prefer). Now that we’ve covered all that groundwork, we can finally look at the big toys with some perspective.

For those joining late, the full collection of previous posts lives here:
👉 The A-Files Archive

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Scope and Sanity Checks

Before we start dissecting hulls, we need to talk about what’s possible. This series examines ships through the lens of ARC-legal organized play, rather than the "what if" perspective of Special Modifications. That means:

• No ship card or cardboard: The ARC ruleset hasn’t touched a single ship dial, arc, or defense token spread since the project began.

• No new upgrade bars or dice pools: The four “new” ARC ships (Quarren, Venator, Munificent, Arquitens) all use existing cardboard. That’s clever for logistics, but it absolutely throttles design space. They do have unique upgrade bars, though. But we're not making any new ships, so it's kind of irrelevant.

• Points only: ARC has adjusted a few costs — the Pelta Assault and Interdictor Combat — but even those stopped short of tinkering with the actual cards.

So: no giving the Victory extra yaw, no swapping the ISD’s Redirect for a Salvo, no sudden upgrade slot reassignments to make the Gladiator feel fresh. None of that is happening.

That said, points are not nothing. A few points can make or break an entire archetype. And for the sake of entertainment, I’ll also include short “What If” sections — tiny thought experiments about what could help a ship shine if changes beyond points were ever on the table. These are pure speculation, but hey, dreaming is free.

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Meta Reality Check

Before pricing triangles, let’s set some assumptions about the world they live in.

Small Ships: The Struggle

In today’s meta, small ships are in a rough spot. The TRC90 still punches, but mostly because of the upgrade, not the hull. Strip TRC away and suddenly 44 points feels expensive. Add TRC back and you’re at 51 — now it feels great. The ship itself is just fine; it’s the upgrade doing the heavy lifting.

It’s the same story across factions. When was the last time you saw a random Hardcell Battle Refit on the table? Even after a discount, the LTT nerf sent it back into obscurity. The platform is fine; the context isn’t.

Defensive Layers Matter

Ships live or die by layered defenses —  defensive retrofits, Projection Experts, titles, or token shenanigans — and the bigger and slower they are, the more critical it becomes. Just look at the two Munificent variants: one gets Thermals, one doesn’t. Guess which one’s better. The new ARC variants (Muni Command, Venator Imperator) all have defensive slots for a reason.

Black Dice Brawlers: Endangered Species

Close-range ships have suffered the most from 1.5 changes: pass tokens, Salvo prevalence, and general meta caution. Unless you’re a Demolisher-class doing the move-then-shoot trick or a tanky bruiser like a Kuat, brawling is pain.

Tags and Identity

Tags are currently flavor text for most older ships. Only the Imp Venator and Reb Providence have proper ones. If ARC ever wants tags to matter, every ship will need them — and the mechanics behind them will need to mean something. But that’s a crusade for another day.

So when I suggest point tweaks, keep three things in mind: small ships are fragile, defense slots are gold, and range equals safety.

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The Imperial Navy, A to I

The Empire’s roster is vast, with more hulls than any other faction and some of the oldest designs in the game. To keep things digestible, I’m splitting it alphabetically.

This first part covers everything from Arquitens through Imperial-class Star Destroyer.

Next time we’ll tackle the rest — Interdictor through Victory (+ SSD as a bonus).

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Arquitens-class Light Cruiser / Command Cruiser

The Arquitens is one of those designs that looks amazing on paper: a cheap broadside ship with three red dice per flank and a generous token suite fit for Vader. On the table, it’s… decent. Flexible, cost-efficient, and surprisingly tanky for its size.

But then there’s that nav chart. Ugh. You can practically hear the designer whisper “this is for Jerjerrod” as you stare at those limited yaw values. The ship isn’t unsteerable, but it takes constant nav commands just to feel okay — and predictable ships are dead ships.

Its flak is nothing special, which makes spamming multiple Arqs risky unless you’ve got a proper anti-squad plan elsewhere. That, plus the navigation issue, keeps it just shy of greatness. The price cuts helped, but only so far; push lower and it becomes too spamable.

What if: Imagine the Arquitens with an extra yaw pip at speed 2 and 3 — suddenly it’s interesting again. Or a title granting Fleet Support, Radiant VII-style, to turn it into a cheap command node. Both would open up neat possibilities without breaking anything.

Verdict: Kind of fine as is. I wouldn’t complain if each variant dropped by a single point, but the bigger problem is baked into the dial, not the cost.

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Gladiator-class Star Destroyer

Ah, the Gladiator. The ship that launched a thousand black dice — and also a thousand balance debates.

Let’s be honest: everything about this chassis feels slightly off. It’s a chunky brawler that somehow ended up on a small base. You can see why (GSD → VSD → ISD progression; MC30 is small, so parity, etc.), but that doesn’t make it right. A medium base would’ve fit its role far better — but that’s obviously outside ARC scope.

Then there’s the dice spread. The GSD-II “upgrade” costs six points more and somehow makes the ship worse unless you’re doing a Kallus + Demo flak meme. That’s a rough look.

And yes, Demolisher itself remains absurdly good — even after every nerf imaginable — but that’s the title carrying the chassis, not the hull proving its worth. The base Gladiator is fragile, short-ranged, and often dead before it gets to brawl.

What if: In a perfect world we’d redesign both variants completely — one pure brawler, one skirmisher — and maybe even promote the ship to a medium base. In our world, we sigh and move on.

Verdict: The GSD-II could easily drop to 60 points instead of 62, just to make the choice less painful. But honestly, the entire ship revolves around Demolisher. Without that title, nobody’s showing up to the fight.

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Gozanti-class Assault Carrier / Cruiser

Flotillas: love them or hate them, they’re the necessary glue of modern Armada. The Gozanti still fills its niche beautifully — cheap activation padding, token relays, disposable carriers — and the two-flotilla cap plus tabling rules keep them honest.

It is odd that GAR and CIS never got direct equivalents, and equally odd that Rebs/Imps have no non-flotilla support hulls, but that’s a problem for another committee.

What if: Nothing dramatic. We could argue forever about whether scatter-based flotillas should’ve existed, but the ship itself is fine.

Verdict: 23 points for the Transport is spot-on. The Assault at 26 feels fair for its red battery and improved flak, but you could drop it to 25 without shaking the galaxy. Tiny change, tiny impact.

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Imperial-class Star Destroyer (I, II, Cymoon, Kuat)

   

Behold, the gold standard. The ISD chassis is everything a large ship should be: fast (ish), surprisingly maneuverable, disgustingly tanky, and capable of turning anything smaller into cosmic dust.

It does feel a little dated next to Clone Wars designs — no Salvo, no fancy tags, no built-in gimmicks — but it’s still the beating heart of the Imperial Navy.

ISD-I: The “carrier” variant in a world that punishes carriers without defensive retros. Lots of black dice but no Ordnance slot. It can take PDIC (we don't like that caround around these parts), or waste its officer slot on Minister Tua just to get a defensive option. It’s a points piñata screaming, “shoot me.” That said, it's not a horrible ship. If the price was right, it could be made to work. 

ISD-II: Perfection. Elegant, deadly, balanced. Still my favorite ship in the game. The cost is high but fair; the design timeless.

Cymoon: The weird cousin. Without a Fleet Command or double Turbolasers, why bring it? And if you are bringing Fleet Commands, why not go Chimaera for flexibility? Double Turbolaser builds are fun but extremely expensive and rely on Tua to survive. The double-black flak is cute but limited.

Kuat: Knows exactly what it wants to be — a tanky knife-fighter — and is priced appropriately. This is what the ISD-I probably should have looked like.

What if: Swap a Redirect for a Salvo on the base chassis. Not going to happen, but it would help modernize the design a touch.

Verdict: ISD-II and Kuat are fine. ISD-I should come down to 104 tops — it’s under-defended, under-ranged, and over-costed. It's still 50 points more than a Quasar-I (which can do the carrier duties just as well AND have room for actual squadrons). Cymoon down to 108 would make sense; it’s powerful up front but brittle everywhere else.

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Next Time: The Rest of the Fleet

That wraps up the A-to-I segment of the Imperial roster. Next time we’ll cover the rest: Interdictors, Onagers, Victories, and yes, the infamous Super Star Destroyer. Spoiler: some of them are better than you remember — and some are still bricks no amount of Jerjerrod can fix.

But before signing off, let’s talk about tags.

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The Tag Problem

When I started drafting this post, I thought it would be fun to assign “tags” to each ship — you know, those new keywords that were introduced with the Clone Wars factions: Bombard, Comms,Transport, and so on. It seemed like a neat way to give older ships some identity and link them to future upgrade design.

That lasted about fifteen minutes.

Because right now, there’s exactly one upgrade in the game that cares about tags — Linked Turbolaser Towers — and that’s it. Everything else is either Clone or Droid, which hardly applies to Empire or Rebels. So what began as a grand taxonomy project quickly became an exercise in futility.

Still… it’s a shame. Tags could have been an elegant way to refresh older ships without touching the cardboard. ARC definitely should take a long, hard look at tags and how to integrate them properly into the game, and how to retroactively add them to older ships.

So I’ll toss this one to you, dear readers:
👉 What tags would you give these ships?
👉 Are tags even a good idea, or are they unnecessary clutter?
👉 Should ARC lean into the system, or quietly let it fade?

Drop your thoughts in the comments — I’m genuinely curious what the community thinks.

Until next time: keep your arcs wide, your nav dials close, and your triangles angry.

Battle for Endor: Chocolate League, Round 3 — Lessons in Slug Handling

 

After two solid games — a 10-1 and a 7-4 — I was sitting on 17 points and sharing the top bracket with Louis-André St-Laurent, a name that instantly commands respect in any online (and IRL) Armada event.

Could Krushya “Liberty” Agate keep the streak alive? Or was this the end of my short but glorious ascent toward Chocolate Heaven?

Spoiler: I survived, but barely.

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The Fleets

Bjørn Blom Sørgjerd (Green Knight) – Krushya “Liberty” Agate (400)

• MC80 Star Cruiser (Liberty): Kyrsta Agate, Intel Officer, Caitken & Shollan, Engine Techs, Ion Cannon Batteries, XI7s, XX-9s

• Assault Frigate Mk II B (Gallant Haven): Ahsoka Tano, Flight Controllers, ECM

• GR-75 (Bright Hope): Toryn Farr

• GR-75: Hondo Ohnaka, Comms Net

• Squadrons (98): Fenn Rau, Jan Ors, Shara Bey, Tycho Celchu, 2× A-Wings

Louis-André St-Laurent – “Chocolate Sato” (391)

• Assault Frigate Mk II B (flag): Commander Sato, Skilled First Officer, Reinforced Blast Doors, Enhanced Armament

• Assault Frigate Mk II B: Ezra Bridger, Gunnery Team, RBD, Enhanced Armament

• Nebulon-B Support Refit (Salvation): Spinal Armament

• GR-75: Ahsoka Tano, Munitions Resupply

• GR-75: Hondo Ohnaka, Comms Net

• Squadrons (69): Han Solo, Shara Bey, Tycho Celchu, Green Squadron

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Pre-Battle Assessment

Sato + Enhanced Armament AFs = a lot of dice AND dice fixing.

Those broadsides throw serious weight once the commander starts swapping in black hit/crits (spoiler alert: that actually happened, like a LOT). The “Satovation” Neb was the designated sniper, ready to turn single lucky rolls into triple-damage events.

Two AFs form the main gun line, Salvation hangs back, and the GR-75s keep tokens flowing.

But to make it work, LA needs a proper kill box and must feed in squadrons to trigger Sato’s ability — not easy, but absolutely doable for a player of his calibre.

My plan?

Keep mobile, trade Gallant Haven if needed, and pounce if he overextends. Basically, a repeat of my Round 2 approach: hold formation, let the squadrons earn their pay, and maybe—just maybe—pick off an AF or Salvation.

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Setup

LA had the bid (391 to my 400). 

Why this large bid? Because he forgot to add a GT to his flagship is why...

Anyway. Somewhat surprisingly, he chose to be Second player.

That threw me off; I expected another round with my Intel Sweep.

Of his objectives, Infested Fields looked the least painful. He’d get +15 points and control over rocks + space slugs, but I figured that wouldn’t matter much (spoiler alert: it didn't, so I was right on that count).

Setup/R1

We deployed for a circling match:

Liberty on the outer lane, lining up on Salvation, Gallant Haven cutting inside with Bright Hope nearby. My idea was to box his Neb or leading AF. His idea, apparently, was to punish my poor navigation. Guess which plan worked.

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Game On

Round 2

From Turn 2, the tone was set: my maneuvering was atrocious. 

Gallant Haven sped up too early and parked in front of Liberty — the naval equivalent of tripping over your own shoelaces. Meanwhile, Liberty was flown far too cautiously, creeping along and never quite finding the angle. Total 2nd player mentality there.

Round 3

Result: no kill box, no coordinated fire, just scattered potshots and self-rams.

What I should have done: shove the AF forward to command six squadrons, jam his line, and fork targets with Liberty.

What I did: protect Liberty like it was glass, then watched the AF get shredded for my trouble.

Round 4

LA, on the other hand, played it cool. He maintained formation, used Sato flawlessly, and rolled absurdly good dice — double after double after double. Sure, the math was on his side with Sato + CFs, but still… statistically illegal levels of spice.

Note to self: talk to whoever coded the Vassal dice roller (me). Clearly biased (at least I should make the dice favor ME).

My dice? Let’s call them “average with attitude.” The ships rarely had ideal shots, so that part I can't complain too much about, but my squadrons’ rolls were hot garbage. We're talking more blanks than hits on black dice (and the rare black hit being evaded successfully), no hits on 4 blues + Toryn, that sort of thing.

But the truth is, the dice didn’t decide this one — piloting did. LA flew a tight, efficient game. I flew like a man who’d forgotten he was the first player (or rather, forgotten everything about Amrada).

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The End

Eventually, the AF paid the price, dying to a wall of red dice and a couple of unfortunate self-rams.

Both flotillas went down soon after — they were supposed to be blockers, but with the rest of the fleet out of position, they were set up for sacrifice without any payoff.

I did get some return fire in:

• Salvation exploded spectacularly (Ion Cannon Batteries actually did something!),

• Both Han Solo and Green Squadron were downed by my fighters.

End of game

He collected three Infested Fields tokens; I grabbed two. As it should be.

When the dust settled: 189–133, a 6-5 win for LA.

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After-Action Thoughts

Honestly, this was a fair result. LA flew better and deserved the win.

I handed him positioning control on a silver platter by playing far too cautiously. The Liberty lived comfortably — proof that Kyrsta Agate is still a beast — but the rest of the fleet paid the price.

A few lessons from this humbling experience:

• Don’t fly first-player fleets like second-player fleets.

• Don’t park your AF in front of your flagship.

• When you've had a pretty long break from the game, read the damn cards beforehand, don't rely on your memory!

Despite the sloppy movement, my squadron play was solid (for once, I didn’t overlap a single friendly!), and Ion Cannon Batteries finally earned their keep.

If you’re wondering why LA didn’t score higher — well, he didn’t kill Liberty. You can’t start trying to crack an Agate MC80 on Turn 5 and expect results. If he wanted a big win, he needed to be more aggressive. 

Maybe he should have taken First player, maybe not. Hard to say. But his cool-headed play and relentless dice discipline made this a very enjoyable, if humbling, game.

So ends my streak. Still alive, still learning, and still reaching for that sweet, sweet Chocolate Heaven.

Good luck to LA in the final round!

Battle for Endor: Chocolate League, Round 2 — Droid Soup

 

After opening the Chocolate League with a roaring 10-1, I suddenly found myself at the top of the bracket, staring down the big bois.

Could Krushya “Liberty” Agate keep the streak going? Or would my Rebels get chewed apart by buzz droids and corporate bureaucracy?

Let’s find out.

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The Fleets

Bjørn Blom Sørgjerd (Green Knight) – Krushya “Liberty” Agate (400)

• MC80 Star Cruiser (Liberty): Kyrsta Agate, Intel Officer, Caitken & Shollan, Engine Techs, Ion Cannon Batteries, XI7s, XX-9s

• Assault Frigate Mk II B (Gallant Haven): Ahsoka Tano, Flight Controllers, ECM

• GR-75 (Bright Hope): Toryn Farr

• GR-75: Hondo Ohnaka, Comms Net

• Squadrons (98): Fenn Rau, Jan Ors, Shara Bey, Tycho Celchu, 2× A-Wings

Zac Cerwinske (Zacmanc) – “Two Ships is Plenty, Right?” (398)

• Providence-class Carrier (Invincible): Tikkes, Thermal Shields, EWS, Expanded Hangar Bay, External Racks, Leading Shots, DBY-827s

• Munificent Command Frigate (flag): General Grievous, San Hill, Flight Controllers, Boosted Comms, Thermal Shields, Linked Turbolaser Towers, Bomber Command Center

• Squadrons (133): 7 Vultures + 7 Hyena Bombers

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Pre-Battle Thoughts

This was not an easy matchup.

The Providence (Invincible) with Thermals + EWS isn’t truly unkillable—but it’s the kind of ship that eats entire fleets’ attention for breakfast. It would take my entire fleet two or three rounds to kill it, while Hyenas and Vultures pick the rest of my fleet apart. Not a great option.

The Munificent was the carrier and flagship, hiding behind Invincible and flinging commands through Boosted Comms.

Between San Hill and Flight Controllers, Zac could push twelve of fourteen droids per round if he wanted. Yikes.

The bombers throw double reds with Bomber Command Center rerolls.

The fighters bring AI + Swarm. With Flight Controllers that's 3 blue + 1 black or 2 blue + 2 black, with a reroll... TIE Defenders wish they could do this. Love it.

So, the plan:

• Play defensively,

• Survive the alpha,

• Grind down the droids, starting with the fragile Vultures,

• Keep the Hyenas tied up,

• Don’t get baited into chasing ships I can’t realistically kill.

• Trade the Potato for squadrons and objective points.

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Deployment and Opening Moves

Zac had the bid and went first (no surprise), choosing my Intel Sweep—the least bad of three evils, I suppose, but IMO it's quite an underrated objective.

Once again, my Assault Frigate took objective duty, though in this game, maybe Hondo would be the better choice. But I felt he would be too vulnerable to Hyena attack, so I went with the Potato.

Liberty lurked in the back, covering my flank.

Start r2

By Round 2, I faced a decision: keep slow-rolling Liberty into the Separatist guns or pull away.

I chose to disengage, and though it complicated positioning, it may have saved the ship. If Liberty had pressed forward, it would have faced double-arcs from both enemy ships and a full Hyena wave—certain death. Then it would be my flagship dead at the end of the game, not Gallant Haven, and that would have given a lot more points to Zac. I honestly can't tell if it was a huge misplay or a good choice. 

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The Swarm Descends

The squadron battle erupted in Round 3.

Zac led with a vicious strike—two Vulture activations, both perfect, deleting Tycho before he could do anything worthwhile.

He wisely avoided Shara, not wanting to feed her counter dice, and turned instead on Fenn Rau, but between Jan Ors and Gallant Haven, the stoic Mandalorian shrugged it off.

It was a brutal start, but once my flak, Flight Controllers, Toryn Farr, and counter synergy spun up, the tide began to turn.

Fenn and Jan held the line, while my A-wings darted around and tied down the remaining Hyenas.

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The Potato that Wouldn’t Die

While the squadrons fought, my Gallant Haven gathered Intel Sweep tokens, commanding squadrons and flakking all the while.

Zac’s bombers finally broke through after Fenn was overlapped by Gallant Haven herself—creating a small but costly gap in my fighter screen.

That allowed a handful of Hyenas to dive in and bomb. But he could only put 3 of 7 Hyenas on target for various reasons, range, engagement, etc., so the ship weathered the storm.

Then came the moment of terror: Invincible opened fire at close range.

All the doubles. Then he rerolled a double evade discard into another pair of doubles. The dice were on absolute fire.

But ECM kept me alive on one hull. Even with a Structural Damage.

Potato in trouble

Somehow, Gallant Haven hung around, surviving another impressive volley from the Munificent by discarding its last defense tokens. I died the turn after, but not before collecting all three Intel tokens, in addition to pushing squad commands and shooting droids out of the sky. Definite MVP.

There was even a comic moment when Bright Hope had no choice but to block the Providence, eating a front arc but—thanks to no accuracy—surviving with a shrug. Classic flotilla nonsense.

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Endgame

By Turn 6, every single Vulture and Hyena was scrap metal.

End state

My losses: Gallant Haven, Tycho, and one A-wing.

I never fired a meaningful shot at his ships, but that wasn’t the mission this time.

Final tally:

• 133 pts for destroyed squadrons

• + 75 pts for Intel Sweep

• Lost Gallant Haven + Tycho + A-wing (93 pts)

Result: 7-4 Win

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Post-Battle Reflections

This one felt earned.

I played cautiously—maybe too cautiously at times—but the fleet did exactly what it was designed to: weather the alpha, counter-punch, and keep the rest of the fleet intact.

A few notes:

• The squadron group finally shone. Fenn Rau + Jan Ors + Gallant Haven is a tough trio to crack, and speed 5 A-wings with FC and Counter feels really nice, especially with Toryn nearby.

• Losing Tycho early hurt, but the rest of the A-wings made up for it.

• The Liberty never fired in anger (other than a round of flak and ineffectually commanding SHare a couple of times), and in hindsight my round 2 course change feels like a misplay, yet I cannot shake the feeling that if it had NOT disengaged, Liberty, not Gallent Haven, would have died, and the score would be very different at the end of the game.

Props to Zac for fielding such a creative, thematic CIS list. The Grievous + San Hill combo is spicy, and the new ARC Munificent is a fantastic carrier option with the BCC.

Two rounds to go, and Liberty remains flying.

Onward!