X-wing: Trondheim HST, Swiss (5 rounds)

No regrets. Except that thing with Luke and the tractor beam... and the dumb 3-ahead with Wedge in the final round of the same game.

First match of the Swiss was against Tobias Hjalmarsson. He was running a Rebel 4-ship list, not unlike one I had considered, but eventually rejected bc A) I find Arvel to be too matchup dependent and B) haven't flown B-wings enough. It's nevertheless a strong list. Four ships, lots to eat through.

I got to be 2nd player, but I don't think it helped that much. Got a good opening, and put two torpedoes into Braylen, taking him to 1 hull. Wedge got hit hard in return, but survived. Next round Wedge ran and regenerated, while Luke PS-killed Braylen. Arvel tried to block Wedge, but he got outsmarted. I lost my U-wing and so did he. Leaving me with Wedge+Luke and him with Luke+Arvel. When game was called he was down to just Arvel and me just Luke, so win me, but not a great MoV. 1-0

Tobias' NM list (200)

Luke Skywalker — T-65 X-Wing 62

R2 Astromech 4

Servomotor S-Foils 0

Ship Total: 66

Half Points: 33 Threshold: 3

 

Braylen Stramm — A/SF-01 B-Wing 47

Ship Total: 47

Half Points: 24 Threshold: 4

 

Arvel Crynyd — RZ-1 A-Wing 34

Crack Shot 1

Intimidation 3

Ship Total: 38

Half Points: 19 Threshold: 2

 

Cassian Andor — UT-60D U-Wing 47

Leia Organa 2

Pivot Wing 0

Ship Total: 49

Half Points: 25 Threshold: 4

Second game was vs Doc, a local player. Fenn Rau AND AS Guri is a potentially fatal combo. Dalan I don't see much, but he's pretty good. I got Wedge into a nice flanking position, with Luke hanging as bait, with Cassian supporting him. Fenn tried to get into r1... and just failed. That's BAD NEWS for Fenn. Then my dice sucked bad, and somehow Fenn didn't just not die, but took ZERO damage. Bummer.

But from there my movement and blocking was ok, and so were my green dice. Dalan got mauled and so did Guri. Luke was hurt bad, but lived. Fenn had a couple of r1 shots, but due to bumping never got any mods, so wasn't too bad. I popped Dalan. Then Guri and Luke popped each other. 

Wedge and Cassian regrouped and Fenn was forced to come to them... and boom. Game, with a good MoV for me. 2-0.

Doc's NM list (195)

Fenn Rau — Fang Fighter 68

Ship Total: 68

Half Points: 34 Threshold: 2

 

Guri — StarViper-class Attack Platform 63

Advanced Sensors 10

Ship Total: 73

Half Points: 37 Threshold: 3

 

Dalan Oberos — StarViper-class Attack Platform 54

Ship Total: 54

Half Points: 27 Threshold: 3

3rd game was vs Elias Holmgren. He had a mirror list to mine, 2x double modded torps included, but with a slightly better bid. Hmmm... I really did not want to joust with this guy. So I set up noncommittally, looking for an opening. And there, right at the start an opportunity presented itself - his U-wing sped up along the back edge, while the X-wings took their sweet time. 

I pressed the pedal to the metal so to speak and made a mad rush towards his U-wing, which popped to twin double mod trops without too much return fire. Then right after my Cassian made a surprise hard turn and got in a key block on his Wedge, while mine flipped around with Leia (his Leia was already gone, and important advantage at this point). After that it was mostly cleanup. It was not an easy game, but my plan worked quite well and it was a decent win for me. 3-1.

Elias' NM list (193)

Luke Skywalker — T-65 X-Wing 62

Proton Torpedoes 12

R2 Astromech 4

Servomotor S-Foils 0

Ship Total: 78

Half Points: 39 Threshold: 3

 

Partisan Renegade — UT-60D U-Wing 43

Leia Organa 2

Lando Calrissian 2

Pivot Wing 0

Ship Total: 47

Half Points: 24 Threshold: 4

 

Wedge Antilles — T-65 X-Wing 52

Proton Torpedoes 12

R2 Astromech 4

Servomotor S-Foils 0

Ship Total: 68

Half Points: 34 Threshold: 3

4th game was vs my old buddy Rolf from Østersund, Sweden. We have played Armada many times, but never X-wing (since I just started). I had played Maul + droids several times on Vassal, so I had a fair idea what the list could do. I discounted the tractor on Maul as a waste of points - the forgot all about it (I came to regret it).

My plan was to use Wedge to remove 2 droids, then focus on cleaning up the rest and bringing Maul to half, using Cassian to cause movement trouble for Maul. This might have worked out, had not tractor happened. I put Luke at r1 of Maul... between two stones that would make Mauls next round movement super-predictable. I was sooo pleased. Then I got pushed onto a rock. So... fucking... dumb :-D

At the end he had 1 droid left + maul, I had Cassain (half) and Wedge left. Win to Rolf, 9 MoV. I might have pulled out a win if Wedge had done a better maneuver on the last round, giving my a decent change of putting 2 damage on the remaining droids. Loss. 3-1.

Rolf's NM list (199)
Feethan Ottraw Autopilot — Belbullab-22 Starfighter 37
Kraken 10
Ship Total: 47
Half Points: 24 Threshold: 3
 
DFS-311 — Vulture-class Droid Fighter 24
Energy-Shell Charges 4
Ship Total: 28
Half Points: 14 Threshold: 2
 
Trade Federation Drone — Vulture-class Droid Fighter 20
Energy-Shell Charges 4
Ship Total: 24
Half Points: 12 Threshold: 2
 
Trade Federation Drone — Vulture-class Droid Fighter 20
Energy-Shell Charges 4
Grappling Struts 3
Ship Total: 27
Half Points: 14 Threshold: 2
 
Darth Maul — Sith Infiltrator 65
Hate 3
Tractor Beam 2
General Grievous 3
Ship Total: 73
Half Points: 37 Threshold: 5

Vs Johan Hofverberg, another Swede. From Gøteborg IIRC. Tough one. Really tough. Resistance aces. Well, Bastian is at I2, and he's used as a sweeper, so not possible to pop early. I've played almost this list quite a bit: Poe and the 2 As, but I never could find their 4th buddy. And it turned out that might well be Bastian.

He was at 198 and I'm at 199, so I got to be 1st again. This game it would have been MUCH BETTER for me to be 2nd player, and I regretted that Instinctive Aim. But nothing to be done about it. There was LOT of maneuvering before the first shots got fired. When they did, I managed to get some damage onto Talli, but she lived. I got some in return, but not so bad.

Then we maneuvered some more, I popped Talli, he focused down Cassian HARD!!! He tried to chase down Wedge, Lulo died... Poe and Bastian tried really hard to kill Wedge, but he kept moving and used R2 to max effect. Then time was called and Luke popped Bastian, who blanked out... and can't have Heroic... leaving only Poe. It would have been a win anyway, but not as big. Have to say that this was probably the most hard fought match of the Swiss. Losing to Johan would not have troubled my sleep. But win. 4-1

Johan's NM list (198)
Poe Dameron — T-70 X-Wing 68
Heroic 1
R4 Astromech 2
Integrated S-Foils 0
Black One 2
Tractor Beam 2
Ship Total: 75
Half Points: 38 Threshold: 4
 
Lieutenant Bastian — T-70 X-Wing 48
Integrated S-Foils 0
Ship Total: 48
Half Points: 24 Threshold: 4
 
L’ulo L’ampar — RZ-2 A-Wing 38
Heroic 1
Ship Total: 39
Half Points: 20 Threshold: 2
 
Tallissan Lintra — RZ-2 A-Wing 35
Heroic 1
Ship Total: 36
Half Points: 18 Threshold: 2

That was it for day 1. My mind was tired, but it was a LOT of fun. Felt good to have made the cut. I did so too at Nordics, but then I dropped to play Armada... not so this time!

I also got to know my next matchup and his list.

Just going to leave it here, then finish the rest in my next post:

Eirik's NM List (199)
Koshka Frost — Firespray-class Patrol Craft 71
Trick Shot 2
Qi’ra 2
Rigged Cargo Chute 4
Ship Total: 79
Half Points: 40 Threshold: 5

Guri — StarViper-class Attack Platform 63
Outmaneuver 6
Advanced Sensors 10
Afterburners 6
Ship Total: 85
Half Points: 43 Threshold: 3

Captain Seevor — Mining Guild TIE Fighter 30
Juke 5
Ship Total: 35
Half Points: 18 Threshold: 2

X-wing: Trondheim Hyperspace Trials 2019

Me on the right, Arild (winner) on left.

This weekend I went to my third big X-wing 2.0 tournament (the first was a Regionals just days after 2.0 hit, the second was Nordics 2018 in October). For once there was no travel involved, as it took place in Trondheim.

For the record I was 4th in Swiss and 2nd in tournament.

There was 30-something players. Some local, some from other parts of Norway (Oslo and Bergen), but also from Sweden, including some really good players who had traveled a long way.

Technically it was a Hyperspace Trial. Unofficially also the Norwegian Championship (under the old structure the Nordic countries share a nationals - not sure what nationals are called now).

Trondheim Hyperspace Trials (199)

Wedge Antilles — T-65 X-Wing 52

Proton Torpedoes 12

R2 Astromech 4

Servomotor S-Foils 0

Ship Total: 68

Half Points: 34 Threshold: 3

 

Luke Skywalker — T-65 X-Wing 62

Instinctive Aim 2

Proton Torpedoes 12

R2 Astromech 4

Servomotor S-Foils 0

Ship Total: 80

Half Points: 40 Threshold: 3

 

Cassian Andor — UT-60D U-Wing 47

Leia Organa 2

Tactical Officer 2

Pivot Wing 0

Ship Total: 51

Half Points: 26 Threshold: 4

I've been playing a bit of different things on Vassal since the new year started, including a good deal of Resistance and more recently Separatists. But I don't have any IRL Resistance ships, and my droids had not yet arrived, so I went with Rebels again. I really like Rebels, esp X-wings, and I think they are in a good place ATM.

So after som testing I went back to my staple Wedge + Luke. I saw a LOT of Wedges (but met only 1), but not a lot of Lukes this time around. Wedge is super-good, but he tends to draw a LOT of fire and die quick. But if you also have Luke, Luke can more effectively "tank" than Wedge, especially at long range. So I feel they pair very well. 

Both with torpedoes. Yes, protons are 12 points, which is expensive. Actually, I think they are overcosted a good bit now. 9 was about right. Except not on Luke and Wedge. A double mod Wedge (Cassian coordinate) with protons at r3 is just murder. And Luke can double-mod himself. I know he's "only" I5 and my bid is low, but not every lists is hi-bid 5+6 aces. Quite the contrary. Lots of stuff for Luke to torp.

Torps are also nice bc you can fly with wings closed more, and not worry about the -1 red. This can be really important sometimes, especially in the opening engagement, where you might want to coordinate-boost/barrel with Cassian to effectively make Luke or Wedge have supernatural reflexes for 2 points. Several of my opponents overlooked this option and paid for it.

Finally torps means you have 4 reds at all ranges. R1 you just shoot normal guns. R2-3 its torpedoes. And you get to deny the range 3 bonus a LOT.

Basically: Tops are now overpriced, don't take them on anyone except Wedge or Luke (well, Redline too, but he's not Rebel). Also, just 1 torps feels... a little weak. Two can kill most things.

I put R2 on both. I've come to love this 4-point card. It give you so many options. No shot? Get a shield back, live longer. Endgame? Deny half points by regen. But also because it makes opponent less sure what you will do. If he sees R2, he cannot know if a wounded ship will try to get a money shot - or evade arcs and regen. Add Cassian/Coordinate + Leia for even more mind games.

Luke got Instinctive Aim. I'm probably the only one who ever uses this card. But the reasoning is my bid is so low anyway, so going from 197 to 199 doesn't matter. Well, not much anyway. Actually I was going to put crack on Wedge, but this got left out for some reason.

The point is that shooting a torp for 1 Force without lock rerolls isn't super good. But you do this when Luke has focus. Or maybe he took a Focus-boost to get into r3 of something. His foils are closed, but he still gets 4 reds and denies the r3 bonus, and he has the focus - and 1 force remaining too. That's not half bad against an unprepared opponent.

I got some use out of it. Not a lot, but it did some work, and I think it was an OK addition. I also managed to forget it on a few occasions where it might have been useful. When it came to the final, I would have had the bid on Arild 197 to 198 if I hadn't taken Instinctive Aim. 

Arild claims that helped him, like a LOT... that it let his Soontir survive a good while and do good damage but I'm not entirely convinced. That Soontir has HYPERAGGRO and flew right into my 3 ships ALONE, because I was 1st player. Which eventually let me trap and kill him. If HE had been 1st player, his Fel would have run, then come late to the party, and never been shot at while finishing my wounded ships. 

But OK, having the bid would probably not have HURT. I'm just thinking my opponent undervalues his own skills and fails to see how the game would have proceeded very differently if he was 1st player and not me. This was the case the last time I played vs that exact list. Then I had the bid, he was 1st, caused me to bump a lot, and made me generally feel like a fool, winning 200-30. I think Arild may have forgotten that :-)

If you look at my posts from Nordics, you can see my list looks a lot like it did back then. But that was extended, and Norra isn't allowed to bring her ARC in Hyperspace. I've tried Norra in the Y-wing, but it's just not my cup of tea. I want her in the ARC with Intimidation and Zeb. With that out of question I picked up the U-wing.

The ships isn't that impressive. Pretty standard 3/2, decent 5/3, but with a Medium base (fat target) and with a maneuver dial from hell. The red stop + Leia is the reason it's worth even considering. That and the 2 crew slots + red coordinate, which lets you take both Leia AND Tac officer.

With Leia at 2 points you almost HAVE to bring her. I do think it's easy to fall into a tactical trap where you plan to overly rely on her, like setting up all ships for a red maneuver on the same round, which can be good, but also very predictable. But just having her there, for 2 points, to make the U-wing stand still AND get an action? Or make only 1 X-wing flip around with a red and get an action? Just having a Leia with charges active... or becoming active THE NEXT ROUND... it requires extra planning for opponent. Mind games lol.

She's so useful for those 2 points. I actually did consider her back when I first started playing, but she was just too expensive. Now she feels really good. She'll probably go up a bit in price, and no one will use her anymore, which will be a great shame. She's just good, but not mandatory or overpowered.

The only other upgrade on the U-wing is Tac Officer. That's not an auto-include IMO. It's only included if you plan to fly the ship in support early on, where it will need to coordinate repeatedly. And my U-wing does, so tac officer it is.

I've opted to run Cassian instead of the cheaper Blue or Partisan Renegade. I do this because I like his 3 skill. That means he gets to shoot at generics and can I-kill them, or even get returns shots on the I3 ones. I3 is still pretty good for blocking, esp for a ship that can stop and spin. But most of all because Cassian's ability is AMAZING. Range 3 is HUGE (and bc of coordinate needs you will almost always be in range to begin with). 

During engegement he can shed a stress from a focus-boost, for example. Later on he can also get rid of a stress for an X-wing flipping around. Especially in an endgame with Luke this is just too good to pass over. Leia is only every 3 rounds, but Cass can quickly pass a lock to Luke, who can then effectively take a red maneuver every round, and still have double mods.

Since he triggers start of activation and is I3, he can remove a stress, then coordinate boost/barrel to resposition. I've mentioned this combo already, but it's worth mentioning again because of the excellent timing. You opponent has already set his dials, maybe accounting for Cassian, maybe not.

The list aims to pack the maximum firepower into two X-wings, and make sure they survive long enough to maim and kill the bulk of the enemy fleet during the opening engagement. It uses torpedoes to control the opening engagement. By the time the dust has settled, Wedge might be gone, but so is most of your fleet, and what remains can't handle Cassian + Luke (or Wedge if Luke bought the farm).

But it's not THAT simple. It's a list that can deploy on the back edge in almost any position, then quickly reposition to another part of the table. Where Cassain deploys means NOTHING to the U-wing. It can spin. Or stay in place for 2 rounds in a row (with Leia). I also mentioned the coordinate respositioning, esp with foils closed. SUPERNATURAL REFLEXES on either X-wing, for 2 points lol. And the threat of an active Leia is always there. And even when she's not Cassian can remove stress, making the X-wings much more agile.

In addition, it uses torpedoes to stop enemies hanging back in "middle" range. If I can shoot at long, that's SUPER GOOD for me. If you rush in closer, that's also great, because I still get max firepower either from torps or guns at r1, and next round I can flip white behind you and you can't easily block that.

For all this the list isn't perfect. It has only 3 ships for 1. And that means its vulnerable to dice. The final proved this. I made some aggro choices, a calculated risk if you will, and then dice happened. Both my X-wing were badly hurt by the time Fel went out, and despite some really good play on my part during the end of that final, it was simply not possible to come back.

Also, without Cassian/Leia, the list struggles in the endgame against certain opponents. The X-wing just ins't THAT GOOD a dogfighter. But then again, who doesn't struggle in the endgame vs Fel or Fenn or Guri when they are 1st player?

List is solid. But what about the player?

I went 4-1 in the Swiss, losing by 9 to a very exiting Separatist list. I had the honor of meeting it again in the semi-final, where Luke got his revenge over Maul... he tractored me onto a rock in the first game... it was very embarrassing since I was like "you ever get to use that tractor beam" before the match... and it proved to be match-winning... lol

My Armada-bro Rolf on the left, me on the right. He got me in Swiss, then I burned down his squad in the semi. We are both members of Handsome Devils squadron.

I still feel like I'm only dabbling in X-wing. I really do. But I guess I do understand something of both listbuilding and actual play. So Nordics may not have been entirely a fluke (but it helped a lot that 2.0 was brand new, I think). I keep comparing my X-wing skill to my Armada skills... and then I feel like a complete and utter noob still.

Anyway, matchups to come in a separate post. This has dragged on long enough.

Armada 2.0 musings

Given the slow release schedule of Armada (if you can even call it a schedule ;-) I've had plenty of time to ponder the what-ifs of Armada 2.0... the most important being: Will it ever happen? And if it does, what would it be like?

Never really did figure it out, but I had a lot of fun looking at the rules and the pieces that make up the game. I LOVE game design, and nothing better than tweaking systems to suit my tastes, so it's rewarding in and of itself.

Last fall X-wing 2.0 launched. I bought into it, seeing as how the Armada scene was pretty glacial locally. And it turns out its great fun! I mean, the dice are fickle as fuck: The green defense dice are even more fickle than the fickle red attack dice, and when combined.... you do the math. This combo can ruin the best of games. Defense tokens are a FAR SUPERIOR game mechanic!

Anyway. Not here to talk about X-wing, as much as how X-wing 2.0 made me think about a 2nd ed Armada again. Only this time I didn't really spend much time thinking about how it MIGHT be implemented, but how I would have done it.

And so my incredibly silly and pretentious Armada 1.5 project was born. It basically takes Armada 1.0, then tries to change it to be BETTER, but still the SAME. Much like X-wing tried to do when it went from one edition to the next.

It started out with a few small tweaks, but one small change here begs 10 changes elsewhere, and suddenly its just a hot mess. So I went back to start, rewrote/updated the Rules Reference, and THEN started making changes to ships, squadrons and other cards. That worked a LOT better, and suddenly I had a pretty good game on my hands. Better than the original. Or at least I think it is :-D

I won't bore you with all the details, but let's look at some examples:

I present: The much-maligned VSD!

First and foremost it gets an extra yaw at the 1st joint at speed 2. It's still slow, which is "in character" for the VSD, but not it doesn't scream out for Jerjerrod. Jerry is still good with the VSD, but he's not infinitely better than the other commanders.

It remains Medium sized, but is beefed up with 1 more hull and 1 more front shield. And a contain token. Still no defensive retro, but again, that's "in character" for the VSD. It will still be vulnerable to angry Bees and massed fire from multiple sources (easy, since it's big and slow), but with good play and the correct upgrades it can be made pretty tanky.

For firepower it gains a 2nd black die out the side. Many ships have gained some extra battery dice, but there has also been a rules change regarding double arcing, so it balances out. The VSD now has an extra black flak dice. And yeah, it's not alone: More ships than before have 2 anti-squad battery.

Looking at upgrades it's gained a 2nd offensive retro slot. So squad 4 + boosted comms is indeed possible if you're willing to pay for it. And maybe even more important: The 2nd officer slot, which all the big ships get. Now this opens up a TON of options.

All this and still 73 points? Well, other ships have gained things too, and the VSD-I was really bottom of the bucket to begin with. So 73 is about right. But at the end of the day: Take it with a pinch of salt. I haven't extensively playtested everything!

Over to the VSD-II. Same ship, only with blues instead of blacks. For 12 points more it's the most expensive "good" version from the original game. Sooo not worth the points, not even with DCaps and Heavy Ions. But THIS version is pretty good.

It has the same core updates as the VSD-II, except for the following: It gets a blue battery die, and another blue AS die! Twin officers, but a defensive retro instead of the 2nd offensive. So it's a slightly worse carrier, but A MUCH better gunship. And the organic def retro frees it from reliance on Miss Tua.

The 12 point diff is probably still too big, but I'm not diving into the minutiae of points balancing at this point.

Over to the VSDs more modern big brother: Everyone's favorite angry space triangle, the Imperial Star Destroyer. As an old SW RPG nerd, the black dice never sat well with me. In my head (and West End source books) it was just a faster, badder VSD-II. And so here it is, GK's ISD-I!

It's basically the ISD-II, with one more blue out the sides, one extra hull and front shield, and extra officer and offensive slots. It's a better carrier than the VSD-I and a better gunship than the VSD-II, but the cost is much higher too (maybe it should be even higher).

So that means the ISD-II is also lore-tweaked, giving it a Cymoon-like layout to the guns (with some differences, esp in the sides). It also sports a red-blue AS armament as befits a ship with almost exclusively heavy guns. Twin turbos combine with ions for a Liberty-like punch, at the cost of then 2nd offensive slot the ISD-I gets. Double officer of course!

Just to showcase the double officer thing: Pryce and Strat Adviser. They have no size restrictions, but eat BOTH officer slots. Still powerful, but do you want to give up 2 other premium officers for this?

When you look at Pryce, please note there is a rule in effect preventing a true last-first. If you go last on your Pryce turn, at least one other ship (yours or opponent's) must activate before you can go again.

This dude is still kind of cheap in points. But the opportunity cost is... significant. But hey, you can stick him on your VSD-I and get two activations, so maybe that's the best use for him?

I'll probably do more of these down the line. Maybe even post the Rules Reference. Just don't take it too seriously. It's just for fun :-)

Worlds Fleet Analysis

Cannot Get Your Ship Out has a nice article, including a link to a massive datasheet.

Go check it out:

http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2019/04/worlds-2019-data-and-analysis.html

Go join SW: Armada Explained (SWAE) channel on YouTube!

Shoutout for my buddy Karneck, who has a nice SW: Armada channel on YouTube.

Among other things he's been streaming from Worlds, interviewning top players, as well as providing tutorials and Armada tips. He knows what he's talking about AND he's not too long-winded!

Now he needs to add another 150 followers, or YouTube's new mobile streaming rules will shut him down. So go follow this dude:

https://www.youtube.com/user/STIM007

X-wing baby, X-wing

As you know I'm playing a little X-wing 2.0 on the side. You can read about my first X-wing experiences on the blog, including my Nordics 2018 participation.

What's pretty cool is that this was my list back then, and it's still decently good even now, several waves into the game. 

Nordics 2018 R3 (206)
Wedge Antilles — T-65 X-Wing 52
Proton Torpedoes 12
R3 Astromech 3
Servomotor S-Foils 0
Ship Total: 67
Half Points: 34 Threshold: 3
 
Luke Skywalker — T-65 X-Wing 62
Instinctive Aim 2
Proton Torpedoes 12
Servomotor S-Foils 0
Ship Total: 76
Half Points: 38 Threshold: 3
 
Norra Wexley — ARC-170 Starfighter 55
Intimidation 3
“Zeb” Orrelios 1
Veteran Tail Gunner 4
Ship Total: 63
Half Points: 32 Threshold: 5

Sure, it's actually 6 points over after the 1st points tweak, but it can easily be reworked by pulling out the least important upgrades: Vet Tail Gunner and R3 on Wedge. Those are nice-to-have, but taking them out doesn't alter the Alpha focus, nor take away Lukes ability to fire torps without lock (in a pinch) or Norra's bumpylicious attitude.

Nordics 2018 Updated (199)

Wedge Antilles — T-65 X-Wing 52

Proton Torpedoes 12

Servomotor S-Foils 0

Ship Total: 64

Half Points: 32 Threshold: 3

 

Luke Skywalker — T-65 X-Wing 62

Instinctive Aim 2

Proton Torpedoes 12

Servomotor S-Foils 0

Ship Total: 76

Half Points: 38 Threshold: 3

 

Norra Wexley — ARC-170 Starfighter 55

Intimidation 3

“Zeb” Orrelios 1

Ship Total: 59

Half Points: 30 Threshold: 5

There are, however, probably a better build that ditches Norra and take a U-wing instead. Added bonuses: It's Hyperspace legal, it can easily double mod Wedge, and it has too-cheap-Leia. This specific version has no bid, but R2 units on both X-wings. Sooner or later you aren't getting shots, and being able to regen is potentially huge.

Nordics 2018 H-legal Spring 2019 (199)

Wedge Antilles — T-65 X-Wing 52

Proton Torpedoes 12

R2 Astromech 4

Servomotor S-Foils 0

Ship Total: 68

Half Points: 34 Threshold: 3

 

Luke Skywalker — T-65 X-Wing 62

Proton Torpedoes 12

R2 Astromech 4

Servomotor S-Foils 0

Ship Total: 78

Half Points: 39 Threshold: 3

 

Cassian Andor — UT-60D U-Wing 47

Intimidation 3

Tactical Officer 2

Leia Organa 2

Pivot Wing 0

Ship Total: 54

Half Points: 27 Threshold: 4

A couple of things I really like about X-wing 2.0:

1. The variety of ships and build that are viable. Sure, at any given time there are some builds that are objectively or subjective better than some of the others, but the variation over archetypes and SEVEN factions is still enormous compared to Armada. Add to this FFG's ability and willingness to change points (and upgrade  slots) twice a yearish (not to mention much more frequent waves!) and you have a game that won't go stale for a long time yet.

2. You don't HAVE to fill you ships to the rafters with upgrades! You see even aces flow WITHOUT A SINGLE UPGRADE, or maybe just one or two key upgrades. This tells me the basic design is very good - and that stuff is more or less correctly costed. I really appreciate having to make tough calls: beef up Luke and Wedge or maybe do Thane instead of Luke? Upgrade U-wing to Cassian and keep the Protons - or make room for an entire A-wing? This si what makes fleet squadbuilding exiting!

Final note: No, this isn't the onyl squad I play! I try to play as much different stuff as I can, but I lean towards Rebels, Resistance - and more recently, Republic. But I also do some Imp and Scum. FO is the only faction I haven't really played so far.

Generating Vassal setup files from fleet builder export

Something really nice happened while Armada was dead: @Ardaedhel made a clever script that parses builder text output into a Vassal setup file!

After playing a lot of Vassal X-wing I've grown used to being able to spawn list directly from a squad builder. Coming back to Armada it felt sooo slow building lists manually. Even the "quick-spawn" system felt slow (I remember back before that even, man was that tedious).

Ard's solution is just as good - and also doesn't require a lot of fiddling with the Armada module. Best of both worlds really!

So you open up you fav Armada builder, which ofr me is either Kingston's or Warlords, and then do a text export like this (make sure to get the headers, as the script needs it to ID the builder used) and copy the text:

Piett Command Prototype Ravager + Arq + 2xGoz + 2 TIE v2 
Author: Green Knight

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 400/400  

Commander: Admiral Piett

Assault Objective: Most Wanted
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Solar Corona

[ flagship ] Star Dreadnought Command Prototype (220 points)
-  Admiral Piett  ( 22  points)
-  Ravager  ( 4  points)
-  Agent Kallus  ( 3  points)
-  Damage Control Officer  ( 5  points)
-  Emperor Palpatine  ( 3  points)
-  Gunnery Team  ( 7  points)
-  Quad Laser Turrets  ( 5  points)
-  Quad Battery Turrets  ( 5  points)
-  Leading Shots  ( 4  points)
= 278 total ship cost

Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (54 points)
-  Skilled First Officer  ( 1  points)
= 55 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
-  Darth Vader  ( 1  points)
-  Comms Net  ( 2  points)
= 26 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
-  Comms Net  ( 2  points)
= 25 total ship cost

2 TIE Fighter Squadrons ( 16 points)
= 16 total squadron cost

After copying the text, open the Armada Discord and send a PM to @shrimpbot using !vassal (and paste the list here and press enter).

This will generate a setup .vlog 

Go into Vassal and load continuation, then step forward until your fleet appears.

Fucking brilliant!

Armada 1.0? Or 1.5? Or 2.0?

This is what Armada 2.0 will look like

There has been quite a bit of talk about "Armada 2.0" on both the FFG forums and discord for a while now. It's not so strange given the (un)dead status of Armada and the recent success(?) of X-wing 2.0.

I don't really believe we are getting Armada 2.0, although I would certainly welcome it, as I'm one of those people who thing that there are parts of Armada that really could use a bit of a rework. 

But IF there was an Armada 2.0, then I think a lot of this would be part of the equation: 

• No 2.0 coming I think. Not now I mean, but maybe in the future?
• If you look at X-wing it's the same game really. The core rules have been streamlined and improved, but the game remains the same.
• That would have to be true for Armada 2.0 - unless they want to make an entirely new game.
• There would be an app. Variable points and upgrade slots. Variable upgrade pricing.
• Every ship, squadron and upgrade would be reworked. Some a little, some more. They would try to remain true to the old version, but not at every cost.
• Stuff like Demo and Yavaris would get long hard looks. And if allowed in their old form heavily costed.
• Aura buffs would either be weaker or removed, as they have the most potential for abuse.
• A lot of thought would go into making all fleet types viable. Small, medium and large ships. Low squad, middle or heavy. Few upgrades or many.
• Emphasis on careful maneuvering and squad play.
• More factions could be added.

This is just copy-paste from a forum post I made April 1st. Since then additional Clone Wars factions HAVE BEEN announced! But no new edition, so I'm more confident than ever that isn't happening.

So how about an Armada 1.5? Keep what we have, because it's pretty good, but accept that not everything is 100% Opinions differ of course. There will be at least one opinion for each Armada player, maybe more.

But these are the "soft" changes I'd most like to see in Armada 1.5:

• I'd have points costs become flexible. Same with upgrade slots.
• That would add a ton of flexibility, and really keep the meta fresh no matter then number of new waves per year. Drop the VSD X points, drop the Dominator title Y points, prosper. Give the Assault Pelta a Weapons Team. Make generics cheaper - or aces cost more. ENDLESS possibilities.
• FFG could make a builder app, sure, but it's not needed. PDF lists like X-wing has would work fine.
• Errata some of the Objectives. Of the 24 objectives we have, not all of them are good enough to be competitive, but it's possible to do something about that, without just bringing in new ones.
• Imagine Fleet Ambush, where squads cannot deploy into the zone, and where the 1st player must pass his first turn in round 1? Just one example.
• Half points for everything, ships AND squads. X-wing 2.0 did this, the SSD is doing it, and it's a REALLY good idea. In Armada 1/2 points is triggered by hull alone, ignoring shields, just like the SSD.
• So you got Maarek down to 1 hp and he ran away? Not you at least get 1/2 points, not 0 points. That Motti ISD got away? Well, it could not repair enough, so its 1/2 points. Great! 
• Add this rule: "The last ship to activate in a round cannot be the first ship to activate the following round."
• This limits stuff like Pryce (and Bail), without completely reworking the activation game.

There are other things as well, some cards so dumb they deserve to be errataed (Mauler) but I guess points fixes will do the trick.

So these 4 points, couple with some real now content (SSD, new campaign, new factions... could make Armada great again. Without the above changes... it will still be good, Armada is a good game, but it won't be as great.

So FFG, just call me when you're ready to talk.

Armada news for 2019+2020

So Armada isn't quite dead after all. It's got a pulse, if extremely faint and slow... I don't think we can blame the doctor for thinking it was a dead horse, good for nothing but beating. 

With that out of the way, this is what we know is coming:

2019 Q3, The Executor FINALLY arrives: Barring further delays, it should arrive just over the summer. 

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/3/26/an-unfortunate-delay/

Someone claimed that FFG hinted about early Q3, but I'm not convinced. Also, we Europeans have a history of getting stuff slightly later. This could be important, because if it arrives later in Q3, it won't be on time for Euros. Whether or not that's a good or bad thing is up to you.

I have to admit I've been running this bad boy on Vassal a few (5) times. Both the Command and the Assault Prototype. I'm not sure it's up there competitively, there are some seriously limitations to sinking most of your points into ONE ship the opponent can score half points off, but it's sure fun to fly!

2019 Q3, Rebellion in the Rim: Another campaign set, same as the Corellian one, but with different format. This too is slated for Q3, and again I wonder if it will make it in time to Euros (I suspect not). If it does, I expect this to shake up the meta more than the Executor does.

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/3/28/rebellion-in-the-rim/

As for competitive stuff, we know we get 12 new objectives, 4 of each color. Hope they are good and not just jank. From what we've seen thus far, there are references to a lot of weirdness like grav rifts, purgills (space whales) and exogoths (space snakes). But I'm guessing it will help the game, like the CC objectives.

New uniques for the R&V squadrons, including these two guys:

And, unlike, CC, we get upgrades too! We don't have a lot of detail yet, but we see that Iden Versio is straight up a Raider enhancer.

We've also seen Sabine Wren, but until we know what that mine does, color me skeptical.

But we can also see what appears to be a Vic title in the photo spread. And I've heard some rumors about Neb-B enhancing cards as well, so it looks like FFG is trying to boost the weaker ships a bit. Only time will tell if its successful, or of its just more points and opportunity costs sunk into bad chassis.

2019 Q4?, New ships: FFG has confirmed two substantial ships, one each for Rebs and Imps this year. That's a very good thing. It's been a while. No details yet I'm afraid.

2020 Q?, CLONE WARS ARMADA: That's right, we finally get 2 more factions, Republic and Separatist. This is great for the game. Not only the prequel movies, but the whole Clone Wars series (which is just now getting season 7). Tons of ships, squads and exiting characters.

All of this makes me cautiously optimistic for Armada. Maybe we can get a number of releases that keeps the game relatively exiting over time?

The Executor Arrives (on Vassal)

I got bored waiting for the SSD, so I played around some with the module, and here it is, fully armed and operational, THE EXECUTOR!

THE GOOD: In terms of cards, i.e. ship and upgrade cards, everything has been spoiled on Reddit (and for a while on YouTube by Crabbok). The actual arcs we have from the article, so I think we have 100% coverage in terms of key components.

THE BAD: It's a "beta" build. I just took the old build I handed over to Team JJ, then merged in all of the good functionality I could find from their branch and then didn't really test much. So I may have missed something. The build is unofficial, so expect this branch to die once the official build is out.

THE UGLY: We don't know EXACTLY what the new rules are. We have quite a few from the article - the pass rule, the three attacks, the new arcs, etc. But there may be more. I've made some educated guesses - like how to deploy (you can stick out of the zone as long as your  touches the back - same as X-wing) - but we don't KNOW 100% yet.

But don't let minor quibbles stop you: try it, have some fun!

Unofficial 3.10.1b version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14UGcei9ADuEtbJ4t_CxcWomAMFhmN9rT/view?usp=sharing

The Executor II, with all the upgrades I could cram in! l-o-l

The base is equal to 2 ISDs, with an additional "space" between the bases. So it sticks out waaay beyond the normal dep zone!

The IRL model is MUCH bigger (you can see it above) than the once I've chosen. All the ships that stick out beyond their bases get shrunk on Vassal. Function before looks!

Moving from the rear base, the SSD covers a staggeringly large area with its guns. This is just after moving in r1...exactly HOW do you flank this thing!?