The Ship Files, Part 6: Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS)

Welcome back to The Ship Files!

This is the sixth — and final — faction deep dive. After Empire, Rebels, and the Republic, we end with the Separatists. And I’ll admit it up front: I have less to complain about here.

Part of that is personal taste. I love the Clone Wars factions in general, but if I had to pick a favorite, it’d probably be the Clankers. Their ships look fantastic, they play differently, and many of them feel like they were designed with a clearer identity than some of the older Rebel and Imperial hulls.

It also helps that, even though Armada was cancelled before the Clone Wars factions were fully fleshed out, CIS arguably landed in a better place than GAR. There are gaps, sure — but fewer outright design casualties.

Alright. Let’s get into it.

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CC-ROC-class Cruiser (CIS Flotilla)

Having a flotilla option at all is a big win for CIS (sorry, GAR). Unfortunately, this one still feels a bit underwhelming compared to its Imperial cousin.

Even after the drop to 24 points, the CC-ROC just doesn’t quite match the Empire’s Gozanti at 23, and it’s almost entirely down to the upgrade bar. Yes, you can do clever things:

• Flight Controllers for squad play

• Ordnance Experts in a TF fleet

• Ion crit shenanigans with Kraken

• Naked with Mar Tuuk for a surprising number of dice

But none of those make it essential. It’s an option, not a cornerstone.

What if: Nothing, really. This ship fits the faction just fine. It doesn’t dominate, it doesn’t vanish, and it doesn’t warp list building.

Verdict: It’s fine. Now give GAR a flotilla.

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Hardcell-class Transport / Battle Refit

On paper, this should be an amazing ship.

Small base. Evade–Redirect–Brace. Five hull. A Defensive Retrofit. That’s already better than a Gladiator defensively. Add solid battery armament — especially on the Battle Refit — and you’d expect greatness.

So why does it feel… awkward?

A lot of it comes down to geometry and pressure. The ship is extremely forward-focused, but the front arc isn’t huge, so you’re constantly maneuvering to stay relevant — and the Hardcell isn’t actually that maneuverable. Side arcs are weak. Rear arc is nothing. You must move forward, do your thing, then disengage — because you cannot re-engage like a Recusant, and you cannot fight while retreating.

Then there are the side shields. One shield per side puts immense pressure on your defense tokens. The Transport can mitigate this with Auxiliary Shields Team, but the Battle Refit has to rely on its Defensive Retrofit — and that’s a problem. ECM isn’t great on a Command 1 ship that tries to remain inexpensive; it can’t take Thermals, and most other defensive upgrades are either too costly or ineffective on a small hull.

Command 1 itself is a double-edged sword. It’s responsive, yes — but once the ship gets more than lightly upgraded, that lack of command storage becomes a real drawback.

The Battle Refit was also clearly designed around Linked Turbolaser Towers. Losing LTT without meaningful compensation hit it hard. TRC is an option, but now you’re stacking even more pressure onto already stressed defense tokens.

The Transport comes out looking better. Double Officer, Support Team, Fleet Support, better squad value — it has a clearer identity than the post-nerf Battle Refit.

What if: The LTT change was a sledgehammer, and ships designed around it paid the price. Also: the game desperately needs affordable Defensive Retrofit options for small ships.

Verdict: Transport is fine. I wouldn’t object to 46, but it’s not necessary. The Battle Refit still feels expensive post-LTT — but how much more can it drop before spam becomes an issue? Especially now that the Munificent Comms sits at 65?

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Munificent-class Star Frigate / Comms Frigate / Command Frigate (ARC)

 

Hello there, you magnificent slab of plastic.

The Munificent is one of the best-designed CIS ships both aesthetically and mechanically. Red dice everywhere. Red flak. Bombard, so LTT still works. Slow, yes — but if you’re willing to pay, you can make it move. The Star Frigate can take Thermals, the Comms can function as a carrier, and the ARC Command Frigate adds another interesting axis entirely.

The Comms Frigate is the weak link defensively — even at 65, it’s squishy — but it’s cheap enough now to justify the risk. 65 + LTT is 82 points; that’s not nothing, but it’s playable.

The ARC Command Frigate is not overpowered. Yes, you can make it a strong carrier — even fit Bomber Command Center — but you pay dearly for it. No Support Team slot, no PDIC, speed 2, and a massive upgrade tax just to make it do its job.

Example:

Munificent-class Command Frigate [ARC] (74)
• Flight Controllers (6)
• Expanded Hangar Bay (5)
• Thermal Shields (5)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
• Bomber Command Center (8)
• Sa Nalaor (5)
= 110 points

That’s an eye-watering 110 points (plus an officer) for a semi-hardened medium base crawling along at speed 2.

What if: Defensive Retrofits weren’t so mandatory for slow medium and large ships. But that’s a structural issue, not a ship-specific one.

Verdict: Comms at 65 is cheap but fragile — fine. Star and Command Frigates are also fine.

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Pinnace-class Patrol Craft

Covered in detail in my Legacy Wave 1 article, so I’ll keep this short.

It’s a great addition to the game and to CIS specifically. Flexible, useful, interesting. That said, its existence further erodes the value of the Hardcell — especially the Battle Refit — because if I want a small combat ship, I’d usually rather take a Pinnace with D-Caps.

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Providence-class Carrier / Dreadnought

The Providence is a ship that took time to unlock.

Early on, it was often dismissed as clunky or overpriced. That changed — and the price drops helped. The Carrier came down a little, the Dreadnought a lot, and suddenly both versions made sense.

Both are excellent carriers (the Dreadnought arguably the better one), and both are credible gunships. The Dreadnought’s upgrade bar is especially strong. The Carrier remains extremely popular because it’s one of the tankiest ships in the game, thanks to Defensive Retrofit (Venator-I cries silently in the corner) and access to Intensify Firepower!

What if: The Dreadnought didn’t have to take Invincible, and the Carrier didn’t want to. But again, that’s more about underlying rules than ship balance.

Verdict: Both variants are viable and in a good place. The Carrier is still the default pick.

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Quarren Prototype Gunship (ARC)

This is an ARC design lifted straight from the MC30 Torpedo Frigate — and it shows.

It’s unique, so you only get one. Like the MC30, it really wants a defensive title… which it doesn’t have. As a result, it often ends up as a throwaway Boarding Troopers platform. D-Caps work nicely with the Ion slot, but that competes with PDIC, and without an Ordnance slot, the close-range punch is noticeably worse than the MC30 it’s based on.

The temptation is to overload it with upgrades. That’s a trap.

What if: Nothing, but once again ARC’s self-imposed “reuse existing cardboard” rule severely limited design space.

Verdict: A nice addition to CIS fleets.

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Recusant-class Destroyer (aka Patriot Fist)

I love this ship.

It’s insanely powerful and hilariously fragile if misplayed. It has the wildest arcs in the game and can turn better at high speed than any other large hull. It also has one title — Patriot Fist — that is leagues better than the others for its cost.

Let’s be honest: Patriot Fist is not a 6-point title. It’s a 10-point title. The drawback is rarely relevant, and when it is, you can simply choose not to use it. That’s not a real drawback.

The Support Destroyer suffers by comparison. It wanted LTT more than almost any other ship — red flak, red dice — and didn’t get Bombard. Post-nerf, it lost its identity and didn’t get a price cut to compensate. Fewer reds, no Ordnance, and weak rerolls make it feel sad next to the Light Destroyer.

What if: Patriot Fist were priced correctly.

Verdict: The Support Destroyer is currently overshadowed. It was always slightly too expensive; post-LTT nerf it’s worse. Still good — just not competitive with its sibling.

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Closing Thoughts

CIS is, overall, in a good place.

The faction has strong visual identity, clear roles, and fewer outright design failures than some others. Where it struggles, it’s often due to broader systemic issues — Defensive Retrofit dependence, sledgehammer errata, or self-imposed design constraints — rather than individual ships being badly conceived.

That wraps up Part 6, and with it, the faction breakdowns of The Ship Files.

Next: we zoom out. Overview and a final zoom-in on my most wanted changes.

Almost there.

The Ship Files, Part 5: Galactic Republic (GAR)

Welcome back to The Ship Files!

We’re almost at the end now. Parts 1 and 2 covered the Empire, Parts 3 and 4 the Rebels, and today we move on to the Galactic Republic. After this, only the Separatists remain — and then we’ll zoom out and look at the big picture.

I’ll start with a small confession: I love the Clone Wars factions. Both of them. Maybe with a slight bias toward the Clankers, but Jedi and clones absolutely have their charm. That said, neither CW faction ever really got the chance to be fully fleshed out before Armada was cancelled. They’re functional, interesting, and in places very clever — but also clearly incomplete.

In terms of experience, I’ve played quite a few competitive games with CIS, fewer with GAR, and probably more games against CIS than GAR. Campaign play is a different story; I’ve logged a ton of games with both factions on smaller maps. That context matters, because it shapes some of my biases — for example, I think the Munificent looks fantastic, and having played it extensively on 3×3 maps, I’m much more forgiving of speed-2 ships that can actually turn as opposed to those that can't. Which, as we’ll see, is a recurring theme.

Alright. Let’s get into it.

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Acclamator-class Assault Ship

The Acclamator looks great. It should be the GAR workhorse: a reasonably priced medium base that forms the backbone of the fleet. In practice, it sits in an awkward middle ground that plagues many medium ships.

It’s not especially tanky, and it can be deleted surprisingly quickly. Yet to function properly, it wants many of the same upgrades a large ship does, which makes the total package expensive. As a result, most Acclamators are run lean, often stripped down to a single purpose.

Stat-wise, this ship is very clearly derived from the Victory. If you compare the firing arcs in VASSAL, the resemblance is uncanny. Similar dice pools, similar forward focus, better flak, but also very similar turning problems. Yes, it goes speed 3 — and that’s huge — but the yaw feels like a legacy tax inherited directly from the Victory. The weight of old design decisions pressing down on new ships.

The Acclamator-I almost never sees play as a carrier anymore; it’s primarily a Boarding Troopers delivery system. And in that role, it’s genuinely excellent. Its value comes from that one explosive moment, after which it can soak fire or disengage.

The Acclamator-II can be made tankier, but turning it into a credible damage platform requires heavy investment — on a ship that struggles to stay on target beyond the first engagement. Forward-centric firepower without turn performance is far harder to leverage than what an AFII or Munificent brings.

What if: Give it I-I yaw at speed 2. That alone would make the ship dramatically more interesting.

Verdict: Neither variant is really “fine” in a holistic sense, but I also can’t justify price cuts. Although at 64, the Acclamator-I feels awkward when the Munificent Comms sits at 65.

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Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (GAR, ARC version)

We’re only talking about the ARC version here. The Legacy versions were covered earlier.

Chassis-wise, this is the same Light Cruiser as the Imperial version, and all my issues with the nav chart still apply. Admiral Coburn helps turn. Ki-Adi-Mundi provides enough firepower to make it worthwhile. But overall, I’m still not a fan.

Now, here’s where things get weird.

The GAR Light Cruiser is not unique, which makes sense thematically. Unfortunately, ARC then gave it perhaps the strangest upgrade bar in the game: two Officer slots and two Weapons Team slots. In practice, this strongly incentivizes running exactly one Arquitens. Zak + Clone Gunners alone almost justify the ship — but that means multiple Arqs step on each other’s toes.

There’s no Turbolaser slot because the dice output would be absurd. The ship has double Evade instead of Redirects (hello, Luminara), which also means any attempt to “fix” it by adding said turbolaser risks stapling TRC onto it — something ARC clearly wanted to avoid. The end result is a ship boxed in by its own design constraints.

Legacy has since released two far more flexible versions, which only highlights how narrow this one feels.

What if: ARC didn’t voluntarily paint themselves into a corner by over-restricting design space? This isn’t the last time this problem shows up.

Verdict: Very niche. At 52 points, it doesn’t look outrageous on paper, but compared to the flak and Salvo offered by the Legacy variants (48/54), it feels expensive. ARC wanted to give GAR a generic long-range option and ended up with a ship that’s technically usable, but deeply constrained.

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Consular-class Cruiser

The Consular is what happens when you cross a CR90 with a Hammerhead, keep the downsides of both, and then add some new problems.

Both variants have individual strengths — but also glaring flaws. The biggest shared issue is the lack of double Evades, which became painfully obvious once the GARquitens entered the picture.

The Charger was clearly designed around Linked Turbolaser Towers, and nothing else. Black flak (to restrict reach), mostly red dice. Once LTT was changed, the ship lost its identity. Yes, it’s cheaper now. Yes, you can try TRC or Dual Turbos. No, it’s not the same.

The one place it still shows up reliably? Anakin lists. Being cheap and getting dice mods from your commander goes a long way. Outside that bubble, the Charger struggles.

The Armed Cruiser is similar. Short-range focus, no dice mods unless Anakin is involved, and excellent flak — but that’s not a reason to take the ship. The Defensive Retrofit slot is largely wasted; there just aren’t many good options for a hull like this.

What if: No Contain. Double Evade. Or maybe the Charger not being built around a single card that was later changed with a sledgehammer. Lots of “what ifs” here.

Verdict: I honestly don’t know. Making them cheaper mostly benefits Anakin, who already loves them. Maybe the answer is to accept that they’re niche and move on.

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Pelta-class Transport / Medical Frigate

Everyone’s favorite GAR support ship — and for good reason.

The Pelta proves that mediocre firepower and low speed can be acceptable, even good, if the cost and upgrade bar are right. Speed 2 is offset by solid Engineering, a great defense token suite, and excellent support options.

Both variants are distinct and viable. The question is mostly one of efficiency.

The Transport is extremely good for what it does. The Medical Frigate has slightly better battery reach and +1 squadron, but once the ship is actually in the fight, black dice are often better than blue. Flak is significantly worse on the Medical, which matters for a ship that wants to be near squads.

In practice, you’re often paying nine points (with Expanded Hangars) to go from 1 to 3 squadrons — and then stacking Fleet Support, Support Team, and maybe a title on top. At that point, the Medical starts to feel a bit overpriced compared to the Transport.

What if: Don’t. Touch. My. Peltas.

Verdict: Reduce the gap between the variants by 1 (maybe 2) points. Otherwise, Peltas are perfect.

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Venator-class Star Destroyer

The GAR’s only large ship, now with three variants: Venator-I, Venator-II, and the ARC Imperator Refit.

Conceptually, it’s to the Acclamator what the ISD is to the Victory — bigger, tougher, better. But the comparison breaks down quickly. The Venator lacks the ISD’s brutal forward arc and struggles badly at range, never throwing more than four red dice at long range with a double arc. For a 100+ point ship, that’s almost comical.

This is not a generalist. It’s a specialist. And yes, it can take Tranquility.

The Venator-I looks appealing at first: cheaper, Fleet Command access, SPHA-T. Unfortunately, it lacks a Defensive Retrofit slot, which kills its ability to brawl — the very thing it looks like it wants to do. It’s also not a Bombard, so LTT says “no”.

The Venator-II fixes most of that. Thermals, strong squad support, or SPHA-T flexibility — it’s simply the better ship.

The Imperator Refit turns the Ven-I into a Kuat-style brawler. Effective, yes. Creative? Not at all. Ordnance Experts, Thermals, ordnance upgrades, Tranquility, done. Compare that to some of the playtest variants (double Weapons Team!) and imagine the possibilities. Overpowered? I don’t think so — but ARC clearly didn’t want to go there.

What if: Never design a ship around a single card. SPHA-T is the textbook example of why.

Verdict: Ven-I could come down a bit. If the Munificent Comms can drop 5, this can drop 3-5 points. Ven-II and Imperator are fine where they are.

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Victory-class Star Destroyer (GAR)

I don’t like the Victory.

This one I hate less than the Imperial Vic-I — it has Salvo, at least — but it still suffers from the same fundamental issues. No LTT. No Ion slot. Designed to brawl with Ordnance Experts and SPHA-T… on a hull that’s slow, awkward, and expensive once fully kitted.

You can make it work. You can also take a Venator and be happier.

What if: The Victory didn’t suck to begin with.

Verdict: Leave it alone. I have no desire to see this ship spammed.

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Closing Thoughts

Looking at GAR ships in isolation, a few themes stand out:

1. Maneuverability is a problem. Speed is usually fine; yaw often isn’t.

2. Firepower, especially at range, is underwhelming, particularly on larger platforms.

None of this is unworkable, but it demands careful planning and acceptance of constraints. GAR fleets tend to win by synergy, not raw numbers.

GAR also lacks a flotilla option, but that discussion is outside of scope in this post.

Next up: Separatists, the sixth and final part of The Ship Files. After that, we’ll zoom out, take stock of everything, and then zoom back in for my personal “most wanted” changes.

Almost there.

The Ship Files, Part 4: Rebels — “M(a)C Starhawk”

Welcome back to The Ship Files!

This is the second half of the Rebel roster, continuing directly from Part 3: Potatoes and Shrimps. If you haven’t read that one — or the two Imperial entries before it — I’d strongly recommend starting there, especially with the intro to Part 1, where I lay out what this whole exercise is actually about.

One quick bit of housekeeping before we dive in: since the last entry in this series, Legacy Wave 1 has dropped. That release added a handful of new titles for existing ships, including two ships covered in this article. I’m not going to do a deep dive on those titles here — check out my Legacy wave 1 review for more — but where relevant, I’ll mention how they affect the ships in question.

Alright. Deep breath. Let’s talk about Rebel capital ships.

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MC80 “Home One”

The original MC80 has… not aged gracefully.

It’s slow, so 90% of the time it wants Engine Techs. It lacks a Weapons Team slot, which means you’re strongly incentivized to take Leading Shots — and that immediately locks you out of PDIC. LS + ET usually pushes you toward Quad Battery Turrets just to get some reliable blue dice in there. And of course you want ECM, because of course you do.

That’s a lot of upgrades just to make the ship feel “okay”.

Firepower is middling for a large base at this price point. You can make it hit hard — especially under Ackbar — but red dice without strong modification support are fickle, and you end up paying a premium for consistency. The end result is a ship that’s better than an AFII in most respects… but costs significantly more, and still doesn’t really excel at anything.

The Assault Cruiser variant is much more interesting. Double Defensive Retrofit is rare and potentially very powerful, and the longer-range emphasis fits the Rebel game plan nicely. Unfortunately, it starts at 110 points before upgrades, which is a steep buy-in.

What if: The Command Cruiser should have had a Fleet Command slot from day one. Thankfully, Legacy Wave 1 gave us Nautilian, which at least patches that hole. Both variants also feel like ships that should have had Salvo, but we all know that conversation is going nowhere.

Verdict: The price drops helped, but I still don’t see many Home Ones on the table. I’m not sure whether they need another cut or just more time at their current price, but right now, they still feel like too much effort for too little payoff.

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MC80 “Liberty”

This is my favorite Rebel ship in this article, hands down.

A large-base ship that can hit speed 4 (with Engine Techs), delete anything smaller than itself in one activation, seriously maul anything its own size, and then leave? That’s fantastic —  unless you're on the receiving end. When the Liberty works, it really works.

But — and it’s a big but — it has some glaring dependencies. It almost always wants Engine Techs. It really wants Agate or Raddus. Madine can also work, making the whole “hit and run” plan somewhat more flexible, but it loses the toughness Agate brings. Those dependencies inflate the real cost of the ship far beyond its printed price.

What if: A Recusant-style defense suite — no double brace, but Evade and Salvo — would at least make the ship feel more dynamic. It wouldn’t solve the Engine Techs tax, though, and fixing the boring dice pools and upgrade bars would require a total redesign anyway.

Verdict: Slightly overpriced. I’d be happy with 93 for the Star Cruiser and 98 for the Battle Cruiser. If you do that, though, Agate (and maybe Raddus, but not Madine) probably need to go up as well, since they benefit disproportionately.

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Modified Pelta-class

Ever played GAR? Ever run Peltas? Yeah. Me too. Love them.

So where are the Rebel Peltas?

On paper, they’re arguably better than the GAR versions — more front firepower, similar cost, Fleet Command access on a small hull. And yet… they’re rare sights, even after ARC dropped the Assault Pelta all the way to 52 points.

That’s because firepower alone doesn’t make a ship good. Speed, defense, upgrade bars, and opportunity cost all matter — and the Rebel Peltas struggle there.

The Assault Pelta is fine now. Cheap enough to justify bringing, capable of running Intensify Firepower!, and with the right support (Leia, CF tokens), it can punch above its weight. It’s limited, but at least it has a role.

The Command Pelta, on the other hand, is not fine at 60. As a carrier, it’s bad. The AFII-B outclasses it so completely that cost and Fleet Command access can’t compensate. Once upon a time, old Yavaris + Command Pelta + un-nerfed Rieekan was a real archetype. That entire ecosystem is gone, and the ship was never redesigned to survive without it.

What if: Personally, I don’t love Fleet Commands on small ships at all — they feel like they should belong on larger command platforms, with better internal balance between them. But that’s a much bigger discussion.

Verdict: Assault Pelta is fine. Command Pelta should drop to 56 — but if that happens, the Nebulon-B (below) also needs help.

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Nebulon-B Frigate

I have a complicated relationship with this ship.

I’ve been playing Armada since May 2015. I’ve flown Nebs badly into Victory front arcs. I’ve both abused and suffered under un-nerfed Yavaris. I love how weird it looks and plays — strange arcs, strange defenses, strange everything.

But that weirdness is also why it’s so hard to just slot one into a list. Nebulons tend to appear either as title carriers (Salvation now, Yavaris once upon a time) or as part of a full-on Neb spam list. There’s very little middle ground.

Both variants also suffer from extremely dated design: bland dice pools, near-identical upgrade bars, and exaggeratedly weak side arcs. It works, but it feels ancient.

What if: The Escort having an Offensive Retrofit would do wonders. The Support as a Fleet Support / combat hybrid would be genuinely interesting. But neither is happening without a redesign.

Verdict: Both variants are overpriced. The Support should come down a couple of points, and the Escort’s +6 premium is far too steep for +1 flak and +1 squadron. 49 / 53 feels reasonable; 48 / 52 might even be fine.

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Providence-class (Rebel)

This ship is a fascinating mess.

Yes, it uses the same model and arcs as the CIS Providence — but everything else is different. Speed 2 instead of 3. Less yaw. An Evade instead of a Contain. Lower squadron value. No Defensive Retrofit slot. No Invincible-style title.

At 95 points, it looks like a bargain compared to the CIS version at 103.

It is not.

Without a Defensive Retrofit, Agate is basically stapled to this ship. You also need Engine Techs because speed 2. If you want it to be a carrier, you need Expanded Hangars. And suddenly you’re pouring points into just making the chassis functional.

Here’s a fairly typical carrier build:

Providence Carrier (95)
• Kyrsta Agate (25)
• Ray Antilles (7)
• Walex Blissex (5)
• Flight Controllers (6)
• Boosted Comms (4)
• Caitken and Shollan (6)
• Expanded Hangar Bay (5)
• Engine Techs (8)
• Fighter Coordination Team (3)
= 164 points

That’s a lot of investment for something that’s merely “okay+”.

Legacy Wave 1’s Rebel One title helps with survivability and gives you alternatives to Agate, which is good — but it’s also more points, and the fundamental problem remains.

What if: Honestly? Too many to count. This ship is what happens when design constraints start to suffocate a system.

Verdict: Drop it to 90 points. At least then it’s easier to afford everything it needs to do its job. But again, this suggests Agate needs to come up if we want to increase variety.

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Starhawk-class Battleship

What a waste of plastic.

Rebels finally get something that can stand toe-to-toe with an ISD… and it’s speed 2, has no Defensive Retrofit, and practically screams AGATE + COME AT ME BRO.

You can make it work. It’s legal. It’s effective. But it relies on fortressing, objective play, and your opponent being forced to engage you. That’s a deeply passive, reactive way to play Armada — and frankly, a boring one.

The design intent is clear: enormous hull and shields balanced by poor mobility and limited upgrade access. The problem is that Agate bypasses a big chunk of that intended weakness, while the lack of speed means the ship can’t play proactively.

And don’t get me started on the titles — two-thirds of them only working on one variant is just bad design.

What if: I genuinely think FFG tried to balance this ship. It’s just that the end result isn’t particularly fun. Fixing it properly would require fundamental changes that are well outside ARC’s scope.

Verdict: Leave the ship alone, but Agate probably needs to be more expensive. I say that a lot, don't I?

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Final Thoughts

Well… that was a lot of negativity.

The common thread in this second batch of Rebel ships is age — and design constraints caused by older designs. Many of them are victims of early-wave design: conservative upgrade bars, awkward dice pools, and defensive assumptions that don’t hold up in the modern game. ARC has done what it can with points, but some hulls are simply carrying too much historical baggage.

That said, you need to take what I write with a grain of salt; you should know by now this is my style of evaluating something. In reality, I'm quite fond of the Neb, for example, but I don't think it's a particularly good design — or correctly priced. And I do actually dust off my Starhawk from time to time, but never for anything below 600 points.

Next up: Republic (one post), and finally Separatists (one post). Then we’ll see how all of this looks when viewed side-by-side.

Until then — fly casual, but not too casual.

The Ship Files, Part 3: Rebels — “Shrimps and Potatoes”

Welcome back to The Ship Files!

In Parts 1 and 2, we wrestled with the Empire’s angry triangles — the Arquitens through to the SSD — and established what ARC’s design limits actually are. If you haven’t read those yet, start there; the intro to Part 1 sets the scene for the whole series.

This time, we turn our scanners toward the Rebellion: ships that look like they were welded together in a back-alley shipyard, painted by committee, and somehow still manage to win wars. Potatoes, shrimps, and one regrettable loaf of bread (that being the GR-75 Transport).

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Assault Frigate Mk II

 

Let’s get this out of the way first: it’s ugly. The ugliest model in the entire game. It doesn’t look like a Star Wars ship — the proportions are off, the engines are wrong, and it’s got zero connection to either Mon Cal aesthetics or the old Legends Assault Frigate Mk I. It doesn't help that the art was made based on an old computer game from an era before graphics were invented.

Controversial take: On the table, it’s… fine. Not great, not terrible — just solidly mid, but with a stronger-than-average defense. Firepower is acceptable but never impressive, both for batteries and flak (the AF2A is acceptable, but 1 blue from a Medium is not). It’s tanky thanks to decent hull and shields plus the brace/redirect/evade token spread and an all-important defensive retrofit (which, let’s be honest, means ECM).

Speed 3 and a friendly nav chart let it kite reasonably well. The Mk A is the better gunship — more dice and better flak — while the Mk B is the better carrier in a faction that lacks dedicated carriers that are also good. The B is also a bit cheaper, so 90+% of the time, it's the model you'll see. 

The A-model’s ARC price drop to 77 helps, but both variants still share the exact same upgrade bar, which feels like early-wave laziness. And if you don't specifically need the extra flak (and I suppose a blue out the front/back), the A is just most points for less squadron command. Meaning you'll typically see it with rogue squadrons. I'd probably only take the A with Agate if I wanted to do Salvos.

The AFII persists in lists mainly because it’s the only reliable Rebel medium that can tank and shoot at range without falling apart. As a carrier, it’s decent enough, sporting a Flight Controllers slot, squadron 3, and an offensive retrofit. That's not BAD, but it's not GREAT either. But what better carriers do the Rebels have? None indeed. So the AF2B is the default carrier option.

What if: Trade the evade for a salvo. The hull looks like it would return fire rather than jink away. But this is far, far outside scope for ARC, and would dramatically alter the ship's profile, so not happening.

Verdict: AFII-B is fine at 72; the AFII-A could maybe drop to 75 (if you're concerned about Agate, increase Agate correspondingly). 

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CR90 Corvette

Fast, iconic, and still the queen of Rebel small ships. With Turbolaser Reroute Circuits, it remains one of the best value damage platforms in the game — even after the exhaust-token nerf. It’s fragile, yes, but usually fast enough to live long enough to earn its points.

The A-variant is everywhere; the B-variant… not so much. The B can shine under Mon Mothma or in the hands of a very precise pilot, but its double-evade defense collapses at medium range, and it can’t equip TRC or D-Caps. It’s cheap, sure, but cheap isn’t always good.

What if: Give the B-model an Offensive Retrofit instead of Defensive. DCaps become an option and everything changes. Probably never happening, but it would be neat.

Verdict: CR90A is fine at 44, though I’d love to see it at 43 and push TRC to 8 points to (maybe) diversify builds. The B-model should drop to 37–38 — that’s Consular territory and where it belongs.

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GR-75 Medium Transport

Costs almost nothing, delivers enormous utility, and — critically — dies like a champion. The Rebel flotilla remains one of the most efficient support tools in the game: token generation, squad commands, activation padding, and inexplicably excellent maneuverability.

The Combat Retrofit exists, technically, but even after cost cuts, it rarely leaves the shelf. Guns are irrelevant when your job is to feed tokens and not explode.

What if: Ban Ackbar from affecting flotillas (please), and then give the Combat Retrofit a blue side arc just for flavor.

Verdict: Combat Retrofit at 24 is acceptable (23 would also be fine). The base Transport, though, is too cheap. Bump it to 20 and it’d still see universal play.

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Hammerhead Corvette

A sad little ship with big dreams. The Hammerhead has its niche moments — a Raddus drop via Profundity, a Ruthless flak platform, or just a cheap third a combat ship — but it’s never a list centerpiece. 

It also doesn't swarm effectively (though this is more how the game scores than any fault of the ship itself): every loss bleeds points, and you rarely win big, even if you do win.

What if: Full rework. Give it a Brace instead of that pointless Contain, or maybe an extra engineering point so it can actually repair. But that’s deep surgery, not ARC tweaks.

Verdict: Overcosted. Torpedo down to 35; Scout no higher than 39.

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MC30 Frigate

 

Classic small-ship design at its most baffling. The Scout and Torpedo versions are identical except for swapping all red die for blues — early FFG minimalism at work. And honestly, with that firepower, it probably deserved a medium base.

Still, it remains one of the most effective Rebel brawlers. Both variants see play, carried almost entirely by their titles. Admonition used to reign; post-1.5, Foresight has the edge, but either is mandatory. I dislike ships that need titles to function, but here we are.

What if: Total redesign — mixed dice pools, different upgrade bars, maybe even a medium base. But that’s a Special Modifications problem, not an ARC one.

Verdict: Leave it. The rabbit hole is deep, and the ship is kind of fine where it is.

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MC75 Cruiser

 

The MC75 is what happens when you cross an Assault Frigate with a Home One and teach it to brawl. It’s a fine ship — tough, mean, and capable of terrifying close-range volleys.

Its biggest crime is the token spread: two Contains. Stop trying to make Contain a thing! The front-arc focus and odd red-side/blue-front battery layout make it feel confused, but both variants are otherwise solid, especially after the price drops.

The combination of higher cost, no range out the front, and a poor defensive suite prevents the Armored variant from being a viable carrier option or gunship alternative to the AF2. Thus, you will often find it in a Raddus list (where gunnery range and defense at range are less important), but not too often elsewhere.

What if: Replace one Contain with a Salvo and call it a day.

Verdict: 99 and 95 would be fair with Salvo; without it, shave a few more points (but you can't take off too many or it'll crowd out other Rebel ships).

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Next Time

Next up: the rest of the Rebel roster — MC80s, Nebulons, Peltas, Providences, and the mighty (and slightly absurd) Starhawk.