WAVE 7TH HEAVEN FINALLY HITS ARMADA WARLORDS!

Because Angry Space Triangles!

Nevetz has given me ftp and dbase access to Warlords, so that I might aid his good work with this builder.

I freely admit to using 4 other builders (Fab's, Kingston, Battlescribe and Android Fleet Builder app), so I'm not a "Warlords or bust" kind of guy... they each have their pros and cons, but I feel Warlords has a good save and share functionality, the best of all the builders. It's easy to use... and it is also a widely known and widely used builder, so it deserves to keep going.

I have started by adding missing images and dbase entries for wave 7: everything from wave 7 should now be usable. Plz report ASAP if you see anything missing/buggy.

For the future all new content will be added ASAP!

I have also listed some known bugs and/or feature requests for Warlords. These require some changes to php files and/or changes to dbase structure. I will look at it, and discuss with Nevetz if anything can be done. But this will take some more time, so please be patient (but now is a GOOD TIME to report bugs/feature requests). 

Fixes:

• added missing cards from wave 7

Bugs that could use some fixing:

• dual upgrades: on edit/clone it happens that the 2nd upgrade disappears (example: Boosted Comms/Exp Hangar)
• upgrades that grant another slot: on edit/clone it happens that say ECM gets deleted if TUA is the one granting the Defensive slot
• Chimaera is even worse: as soon as you save, the Fleet Command disappears, both from text export and public view (it is oc also gone on edit/clone).

Feature request:

• make the editor stop randomly shuffling the order of ship/squads on edit/clone; not a big, but very annoying.
• made dual-slot upgrades eat both slots

http://armadawarlords.hivelabs.solutions/

I'll Have You Know (Vader All-Ship Fleet), part 2: the road to the Vassal World Cup final

Another match, another Sloane, another win!

As it turned out, Tokra beat Aresius in their quarter final. Tokra was first player and picked Ares' Precision Strike. He started by removing some of Ares' activation padding, helped by an accidental self-ram, a facedown card flipped up (with Precious Strike) to a Structural Damage. The first Rebel flotilla died really fast, and then it went downhill from there.

Like I wrote in my previous post: I really didn't think I had the ability to win vs Tokra. First of all I think his ISD+4 build, using the same squads as my Nordics build, is superior to the ones I've been facing thus far. Vs my fleet, the Gozanti can just stay out of harm's way, while the ISD waits for the squadrons to soften me up. Also, the only squad I can realistically kill is Saber. Yes, in theory I can cause problems for other squads as well, but only kill them if the opponent makes placement mistakes or I get really, really lucky.

Tokra

Vassal World Cup 2018

Points: 391 / 400

[ flagship ] Imperial Star Destroyer Cymoon 1 Refit (112 points)

-  Admiral Sloane  ( 24  points)

-  Avenger  ( 5  points)

-  Damage Control Officer  ( 5  points)

-  Flight Controllers  ( 6  points)

-  Expanded Hangar Bay  ( 5  points)

= 157 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)

-  Comms Net  ( 2  points)

= 25 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)

-  Comms Net  ( 2  points)

= 25 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)

-  Jamming Field  ( 2  points)

= 25 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)

-  Jamming Field  ( 2  points)

= 25 total ship cost

1 Maarek Steele ( 21 points)

1 Dengar ( 20 points)

1 Colonel Jendon ( 20 points)

1 ""Howlrunner"" ( 16 points)

1 Ciena Ree ( 17 points)

1 Valen Rudor ( 13 points)

1 Saber Squadron ( 12 points)

1 ""Mauler"" Mithel ( 15 points)

= 134 total squadron cost

Despite a good bid, my bid was much bigger, so I selected 1st player. Anything else would be paramount to suicide.

From Tokra's objectives I chose Fire Lanes. The other options were Most Wanted, which would only cause my ISD to be focused down even faster. And Superior Positions, which is pretty much an auto-win in this matchup. With Fire Lanes I have a fighting chance - and more importantly, I know where his ships will need to be.

Fire lanes might seem strange in a fleet without Strategic, but it's actually quite good. There are very few fleets that can use strategic AGAINST this Sloane build. If they try, they lose their strategic/relay squads in the process. And relay Gozanti are really excellent for racking up Fire Lanes tokens.

In this match Tokra opted for max separation of tokens. One in the middle, and the other two as far to each side as possible. I countered by dragging them inwards and forward.

We then deployed. I divided my fleet in 3: ISD + Repair Gozanti in the middle, two Gozanti to the left, and one Gozanti + Demo to the right, where I was fairly certain Tokra would drop his ISD.

Dividing the fleet is usually not a good thing. But here I had to threaten the Fire Lanes tokens, or I'd auto-lose on points. It also has the benefit that the squadrons cannot engage my entire fleet - they must either go for the ISD in the center, or go to either flank, but cannot threaten both flanks.

In the event Tokra did NOT deploy his ISD to the side, but centrally, facing my Devastator. The red ring in the pic is where it was placed, while the blue arrow points to where it MIGHT HAVE BEEN.

In hindsight Tokra felt like this was a bad placement. And I can kind of agree. Facing Devastator with any ship, even and ISD is a bad idea. Especially if that ship has no ECM.

On the other hand it kept the ISD close to the squadron's firepower, where they together could deal with the ISD. He also did not have to have his ISD engaged by Demo early without any squadron cover, then having a by then token-less Devastator crash into Sloane's flagship late game. Plus his ISD could start by controlling two fire lanes tokens, which can be a very important leg up.

So it was not, I think, a bad placement. It was a very understandable placement, and one that could have worked.

What followed was a mistake on his part: he decided to go after my 2 Gozanti down to the left. it would have been a good tactic, to remove my activation padding, IF THE AVENGER HAD BEEN OVER IN THE CORNER. But with Avenger facing Devastator, there was not enough time. But the time he had killed 1 flotilla (his dice didn't help - not a single acc was rolled before Sloane died!) my Demo had one of his flotillas double-arced. By the time he took out the 2nd flotilla it no longer mattered: Devastator got the coveted last-first, end of r3/top of r4, and Sloane's Avenger was no more.

End state, start of r5

The image shows end state. We called it here, because there was no way a win could be achieved for Sloane: my ISD was nearly fresh and could not be killed. The only thing I could lose was 1 flotilla if Maarek-Jendon went for it. I could also kill 1-2 of Tokra's flotillas, plus claim maybe 5 more Fire Lanes tokens. Tokra's remaining Gozanti are marked in yellow, and the squads are obviously his. 

After the game we talked some, and yes, the original plan he had was keep his ISD far away initially, take away some of my padding, and then engage Devastator. But in the end he didn't, and that was the start of several decisions and turn of events that snowballed into a loss.

I am of course very happy that I did win, but I am left with the feeling that most days this would be a win for Tokra and his Sloane fleet. He's a very good player with a very good fleet. But sometimes stuff happens and you lose.

In the other semi final JJ beat Roquax. So like last year the final will be between the two of us. I'm not exactly thrilled :D Or I am, but JJ is a very good player! Last year it was his balanced Jerjerrod fleet vs my balanced Vader fleet (what! did I play Vader before wave 7 too!? omg I must be MAD!) and he whipped me good. He had initiative, and with his already great skill AND Jerry's agility, he ran loops around me. The end score wasn't so bad, but I very nearly only killed BLACK SQUADRON. Only at the very last moment I killed his ISD, but it was perhaps more a lucky crit than anything else :-)

This year JJ is playing Raddus. And Raddus is a VERY GOOD commander. If you don't think so, you're going to get a lot of nasty surprises in wave 7! In a sense he's a little like Jerjerrod: he gives an advantage in the maneuvering game. Not by giving extra yaw, but by letting you drop in a ton of firepower where you need it, when you need it.

To prove my point I'm going to show you 2 screenshots from the JJ vs Roquax match:

Here the Profundity comes out of Raddus-space, and the Hammerhead pops right into a close-range double arc on the side of the Yavaris. This was made possible by a lowly flotilla seeming coasting by at safe range. While the profundity cannot activate first - the Hammerhead totally can. Yikes!

Here is the result. HH with Ordnance Experts and Externa Racks, double arc and ram. No more Yavaris, and the game is effectively lost. To add insult to injury, the MC75 now has Gallant Haven boxed in and in a perfect double arc from the MC75!

Very good play by JJ there - and I've seen him do other tricks with Profundity in other games. In this case Roquax seemed a bit unprepared for Raddus. Raddus cannot hyper in ships overlapping squadrons, and Roquax failed to screen with his ships (and his flotillas for that matter). But that is perhaps easy to say after the fact!

At any rate, this is the fleet waiting for me in the finals:

JJs Juggernaut 

386 points

 MC75 Ordnance Cruiser

- Ordnance Experts

- Electronic Countermeasures

- External Racks

- Assault Concussion Missiles

- Profundity

Total = (128 points)

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette

 - Ordnance Experts

 - External Racks 

Total = (43 points)

MC30c Torpedo Frigate

 - Admiral Raddus

 - Ordnance Experts

 - Assault Concussion Missiles

 - H9 Turbolasers

 - Admonition 

Total = (116)

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)

Shara Bey A-wing Squadron (17)

Tycho Celchu A-wing Squadron (16)

VCX-100 Freighter (15)

VCX-100 Freighter (15)

Squadron Total = (63 points)

I have the bid, which is good, but JJ has already taken down a fleet similar to my own (thecactusman17, the original champion of Devastator builds) as 2nd player earlier in the tournament, so it won't be easy.

If you want to watch, the final is tomorrow Thursday 1st of march, 2000 GMT. On Vassal of course.

Regionals Dataset v2.0

Big data

Baltanok and Truthiness over at the FFG forums are collaborating on a new and improved Regionals dataset for wave 7. They have restructured the input fields, but the output is similar to the old one, so it should be possible to compare results between datasets.

You can find the data here: Regionals Dataset v2.0

If you're at a regionals event you can help with the data collection. Gather any and all lists and forward them to Baltanok and/or Truthiness!

Vassal Armada v3.9.0

The new Dev team, headed by JJs Juggernaut, is proud to present their first major release: v 3.9.0

MAJOR FEATURES:

• Raid tokens can be assigned directly to each ship using the ' key in conjunction with already established hotkeys (they are but on the rear of each ship due top space limitations)
• CTRL + ' toggles concentrate fire raid token
• ALT + ' toggles navigate raid token
• SHIFT + ' toggles repair raid token
• SHIFT + CTRL + ' toggles squadron raid token
• Chaff tokens can now be assigned directly to each ship using the CTRL + SHIFT + shield side (ie. CTRL + SHIFT + W toggles chaff on the front). They are placed under the associated shield dial and are automatically removed at the update of the turn counter. You can also use the same hotkey to remove them.
• Updated MC-75 graphics!!
• Updated the wave 7 cards to better match other cards
• The graphics pack now included updated cards for those which have been Errata'd
• All non-exhaust, non-discard upgrades have a new hotkey to trigger a report. (SHIFT + R). This function has also been extended to all Ace squadrons (the squad itself, no it's card).
• All squadrons can use SHIFT + T to send a generic report that it's "keyword" has been used. It would be far too hard to setup reports for each keyword in the game (not to mention use a bunch more hotkeys), but this should allow for at least some sort of notification.
• IMPORTANT: The refresh defense tokens button has been removed. It is now tied directly into the turn counter. Whenever you change the turn counter you will refresh defense tokens, and cycle command stacks!!

CHANGELOG:

• Added Report functionality to most passive non-exhaust, non-discard upgrades
• Added Report functionality to most active non-exhaust, non-discard upgrades
• Added Report functionality to Ace squads
• Added Exhaust functionality to Sovereign
• Added Report for armed and unarmed station hull changes
• Fixed TIE Panthoms....
• Fixed Dodanna...
• Fixed Quickspawn for the Grav Well and Grav Shift tokens
• Added Report functionalty for squadron keywords
• Cleaned up spawn locations
• Added updated graphics for MC75
• Added updated graphics for wave 7 cards
• Added fixed Range Ruler
• Added rotate feature to range ruler
• Added Range bands to Objective tokens
• Added Command stack 2 spawn from Relentless
• Added Errata'd version of cards
• Fixed Quad Turbolaser "Cannons"
• Fixed Armed Station and Unarmed Station Hull values
• Fixed Range bands on Armed station not being removed from remove tools button
• Fixed Armed Station range bands comming up when the movement tool is deployed
• Fixed Leading Shots not being flippable or triggering reports
• Changed shading on ambush zone
• Added Option to draw multiple cards from the damage deck at once
• Fixed Armed Station Range Band
• Added Raid Reference
• Updated "help" dropdown
• Damage Decks now Shuffle turn 1
• Migrated refresh button into turn counter
• Removed Restriction on Ctrl+ArrowKey rotation from turn 0 only
• Name plates moved slightly down on all ships to allow better visibility of chaff
• Added hull zone specific Chaff spawning to all ships
• Added Shipside locations for Raid tokens and associated spawning for all ships
• Added Reports for both Chaff and Raid token shipside spawning
• Fixed Quickspawn for TIE Phantoms
• Fixed Quickspawn for General Dodonna
• Updated Hotkey References

Get the new version here: http://www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Module:Star_Wars:_Armada

Corellian Conflict Manager

Someone redid the entire CC map in digital format

Thraug over at the FFG forums has made/maintains a spreadsheet that's useful for tracking the progress of a CC campaign. You can read about it here and get the 3.5 version here.

This first sheet tracks team and members, assaults, campaign points and more. This is very handy.

The second sheet handles bases, outposts and presences. As stuff is built and lost you update this, and the sheet spews out refit, resources and specials. Also very handy

There are also sheets for each player, where they can track their fleets (including veteran/scarred status) and expenses. This is not so very interesting IMO. Most player will just want to use their regular builder - this feels rather clunky. Also, version 3.5 lacks wave 6+7 content, so pretty pointless ATM. But Thraug is working on an update.

Custom Armada: alternate rules, cards and models

XG-1 Star Wing, coming to Armada REAL soon!

Kuat Drive Yards

Kuat Drive Yards lets you create your own cards. Ships, including the ship cards and the ship (cardboard) tokens can be created and printed. Same for squadrons, upgrades, objectives and more.

Judging by the steady stream of new content, I'm probably not the only one who likes to dream up new cards - and "what if" versions of existing cards. It's easy to use, so it doesn't take a lot of effort to learn it and spew out new content. 

You can also look at what other users have made - the site has some filtering options - and get inspired. Just be warned: there is some gold there, but a LOT of rubbish, including stuff with no relation to Star Wars or Armada.

Arvel Crynyd - right before he slams into the bridge of the Executor

So what can this custom stuff be used for? Typically to have a good time with your mates :-D For example you could make a pack of extra unique squadrons and titles for use with the Corellian Conflict. Because you're tired of the same old squadrons being taken over and over - and becasue you want to do 600 point fleets.

Or you could redo some existing upgrades, because they are either too good/bad or because you find them to be not very thematic. Here is one such example:

Perfect for the Nebulon-B

Finally it could be because you want to use some custom miniatures. Stuff from the Clone Wars, for example. Or the XG-1 Star Wing. Or the Braha'tok-class gunship, also known as the Dornean gunship. Or the Assault Frigate mk 1. Or the Dreadnaught class cruiser. 

Which brings us to...

Mel's Miniatures

Assault Frigate Mk 1 vs Mk 2

To get ACTUAL custom miniatures in Armada, I would recommend Mel Miniatures. He has a wide range of stuff, from the Clone Wars era and into the TFA era. He does capital ships in all sizes (Executor included), as well as squadrons. There are even some small-scale fighters and smaller ships (like corvettes) for people who want to accentuate the size difference more.

ISD-I conversion kit

To bring these beautiful models into your games, you can either use them as stand ins for existing stuff: the AF mk 1 can replace a mk 2, for example. Or you can add completely new ships and squadrons to the game by using custom cards, such as those created with kdyards.com

Pair of Republic Venators, painter unknown

Diablo Azul's Shipyard

Finally a special shout out to Armada Shipyards. It's a site with lots of custom content, meant for use with Mel's minis (and others). It's a site that's been around for years, since the early days of Armada. Some of the stuff on there is pretty dated, but it's such great quality nontheless. It's also very fun to see the old imagined versions of ships we now have in Armada.

A medium-base ship, with command 4!

Vassal Corellian Conflict: Campaign blog, part 5 (round 2)

Imperial flags reign across the galaxy

Round 1 has been completed and all the bookkeeping done. Rebels have gained a presence on Raider's Point, earning them a 2nd spynet token. If it's an outpost Rebel resources are at 157 for round 2, or 182 if it's a base. Assuming no bases are lost oc!

The Empire has built 2 bases, bringing us up to six bases total, just 1 shy of our maximum! Even with Forvand being such a crappy place in terms of resources, we're still at 231. That's a massive 77 resources per player. Again assuming no lost bases.

This is the first round special assaults can be declared, so I'm guessing we'll see at least 1. Note that we're using (house rule) the Show of Force scenario for BOTH factions. Also, no bases/outposts can be built after special assault.

Imperial Fleets r2

Broba

Sloane lost too many unique squads last round. So as to be able to grow the fleet, Broba has opted NOT to refit the scarred Raider, wasting some refit pts in the process (they don't carry over). He's picked up a generic Phantom, bringing his squads to 8, an even number. Two squads have become vets; Whisper and Mauler. He's also added some key upgrades to his ships. The Quasar in particular should be much more efficient as a carrier now.

CC Sloane 

Author: Brobafett

Faction: Galactic Empire 

Points: 442/442

Credits: 11  

Commander: Admiral Sloane

[ flagship ] Imperial Star Destroyer Kuat Refit (112 points)

-  Admiral Sloane  ( 24  points) 

-  Avenger  ( 5  points) 

-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points) 

-  Leading Shots  ( 4  points) 

-  Assault Proton Torpedoes  ( 5  points) 

= 157 total ship cost

Quasar Fire I-class Cruiser-Carrier (54 points)

-  Squall  ( 3  points) 

-  Flight Controllers  ( 6  points) 

-  Expanded Hangar Bay  ( 5  points) 

-  Boosted Comms  ( 4  points) 

= 72 total ship cost

Raider-I Class Corvette (44 points) SCARRED

-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points) 

-  External Racks  ( 3  points) 

= 51 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)

-  Comms Net  ( 2  points) 

= 25 total ship cost

1 Whisper ( 20 points) WHISPER

1 Colonel Jendon ( 20 points) 

1 Maarek Steele ( 21 points) 

1 Soontir Fel ( 18 points) 

1 "Mauler" Mithel ( 15 points) VETERAN

1 Black Squadron ( 9 points) 

1 Dengar ( 20 points) 

1 TIE Phantom Squadron ( 14 points) 

Ghost

Ghost had only light losses. He's added some gunnery upgrades to the flagship and APTs to the glads, plus a 4th squint. He also build a 15 pt base. No vets - his 1 ship kill was a ram :-(

Vassal CC 2 Thrawn Final Fleet - 440 points 

Author: ForceGhostofNobodyInParticular

Faction: Galactic Empire 

Points: 440/440

Credits: 0  

Commander: Grand Admiral Thrawn

[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)

-  Grand Admiral Thrawn  ( 32  points) 

-  Gunnery Team  ( 7  points) 

-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points) 

-  X17 Turbolasers  ( 6  points) 

-  Leading Shots  ( 4  points) 

= 176 total ship cost

Gladiator I-Class Star Destroyer (56 points)

-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points) 

-  Assault Proton Torpedoes  ( 5  points) 

= 65 total ship cost

Gladiator I-Class Star Destroyer (56 points)

-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points) 

-  Assault Proton Torpedoes  ( 5  points) 

= 65 total ship cost

Gladiator I-Class Star Destroyer (56 points)

-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points) 

-  Assault Proton Torpedoes  ( 5  points) 

= 65 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)

-  Comms Net  ( 2  points) 

= 25 total ship cost

4 TIE Interceptor Squadrons ( 44 points) 

Greenie

The loss of 2 Raiders cost me 46 refit. Since I was also building a base I skipped refitting the scarred Lambda, leaving me with 39 resources to buy stuff with. Enough to get Tua + ECM (I wanted to try EWS, but with MC30s and H1 running around...) for the Cymoon, bling for Demo, DCaps and OE. 

I'm a little light on the squads, but you can't have everything! Assuming I get to grow some for round 3 I'm definitely taking more squads. There is also room for more stuff on the flagship, so I'll have to balance those two needs.

Name: VCC New Vader r2

Faction: Imperial

Commander: Darth Vader

Total Points: 439

Credits: 0

ISD Cymoon 1 Refit (112) VETERAN

• Darth Vader (36)

• Minister Tua (2)

• Gunnery Team (7)

• XI7 Turbolasers (6)

• Electronic Countermeasures (7)

= 170 Points

Gladiator II (62) VETERAN

• Ordnance Experts (4)

• Engine Techs (8)

• Assault Proton Torpedoes (5)

• Demolisher (10)

= 89 Points

Raider II (48)

• Disposable Capacitors (3)

• Heavy Ion Emplacements (9)

= 60 Points

Raider I (44)

• Ordnance Experts (4)

• External Racks (3)

= 51 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)

• Comms Net (2)

= 25 Points

Squadrons:

• Lambda Shuttle (15) SCARRED

• Captain Jonus (16) VETERAN

• Valen Rudor (13) VETERAN

= 44 Points

Rebel Fleets r2

Tokra

Ackbar picks up another CR90, which isn't surprising. He picks up Strat Adviser. Entirely reasonable, as 4 activations is a bit light. But this probably forces Sloane to do the same next round. Oh well. He's short on points, maybe having built a base at Raider's Point, so a TRC moved from MC30 to CR90. This fleets makes me want to take Early Warning System...except stupid Jaina...and Home One :-D

CC Ackbar R2

[ flagship ] MC80 Command Cruiser (106 points)
-  Admiral Ackbar  ( 38  points)
-  Home One  ( 7  points)
-  Strategic Adviser  ( 4  points)

MC30c Scout Frigate (69 points) (Veteran)

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)
-  Jainas Light  ( 2  points)
-  Turbolaser Reroute Circuits  ( 7  points)

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)
-  Turbolaser Reroute Circuits  ( 7  points)

Corran Horn
Jan Ors
4 YT-2400s
Shara Bey (Veteran)

Dr Alex

Mothma refits all her scarred ships, then adds titles to 2 MC30s. At this point this fleet looks a little weak. Dr Alex should probably be a little careful this round. But not sure that's in character for him :-)

CC Mon Mothma R2

[ flagship ] MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63 points)
-  Mon Mothma  ( 30  points)
-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points)


MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63 points)
-  Admonition  ( 8  points)
-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points)

MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63 points)
-  Foresight  ( 8  points)
-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points)

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)
-  Turbolaser Reroute Circuits  ( 7  points)

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)
-  Turbolaser Reroute Circuits  ( 7  points)

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)
-  Expanded Hangar Bay  ( 5  points)

VCX-100 Freighter
VCX-100 Freighter (Scarred)
2 Z-95 Headhunter Squadrons (Scarred)

Darth Veggie

Veggie didn't take much damage in r1, and didn't build any bases, so his fleet has grown quite a bit. He's gone the WAB route, so with them backing up his beefy squads (Ketsu added too) he has a credible means to defend against Sloane. DCO on the MC75 could save a TON of APT crits! Good call there Veggie!

CC Sato R2

[ flagship ] MC75 Ordnance Cruiser (100 points)
-  Commander Sato  ( 32  points)
-  Damage Control Officer  ( 5  points)
-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points)
-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points)
- Aspiration ( 3 points)
-  Wide-Area Barrage  ( 2  points)
-  External Racks  ( 3  points)

Nebulon-B Support Refit (51 points)
-  Salvation  ( 7  points)

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette (36 points)
-  Task Force Organa  ( 1  points)
-  Wide-Area Barrage  ( 2  points)

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette (36 points)
-  Task Force Organa  ( 1  points)
-  Wide-Area Barrage  ( 2  points)

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)

Han Solo (Veteran)
Tycho Celchu (Veteran)
2 YT-2400s
3 VCX-100 Freighters
Ketsu Onyo

The Road to Regionals: Östersund (Sweden)

 Star Destroyer over Jedha Östersund

The only Regional this year within a reasonable driving distance for me is in Östersund, Sweden. It's 3 1/2 - 4 hours away by car. A bit far, but if we car pool it's OK. Maybe we'll sleep over one night, engage in some social activities (read: dink beer the night before, be hungover at the tourney).

I still have a month to get ready - the tourney was supposed to be in February, but stuff... so it got moved to 24 March. That's quite OK with me - gives me more time to plot and playtest wave 7! 

Oh, and I'm NOT using my Store Champ bye. I'm not driving that far to sit around watching other people play! Got to say I find the whole concept of byes... totally stupid. Sure, I can get paired with a really strong player round 1, but I'd rather that happen than sit om my ass. Do as you please with your byes, but I've never used one, and I never will.

Anyway. 

What to play, what to play...

I have narrowed the field down a bit, but not that much... I haven't even settled on a faction!

EMPIRE

I could take my Nordics Sloane list of course. It's a strong list, even in wave 7, and I know it very well. I have some wave 7 ideas that could make it even stronger. On the other hand I'm bored with this list, and wave 7 has some stuff that can help counter it. Having Raddus suddenly dump a big ship in the face of my carefully placed ISD? Not fun. Or just some nasty dual ISD stomping me too fast to compensate? Also no fun. But mostly... I think I need to move on. I already won what I could with ISD+4, so no I feel the need to evolve.

Or maybe my Vassal World Cup Vader list can be used? It's certainly effective, but it's not fully wave 7, just quasi wave 6/7. I could probably tweak it some and make it even more effective. On the other hand it might water down the concept. Plus it's a very unforgiving list to play, so unless I want to balance on the edge all the time it's not ideal for this sort of IRL tourney. Vassal, sure, IRL not so much. I see some data from Regionals coming in where dual ISDs are apparently plenty and doing quite well for themselves. 

I have a couple of other Imperial ideas as well. If I have time I will playtest the more promising ones... unless I defect and go over to the other side...

REBEL

But the more I think about it, the more I lean towards Rebels. Haven't really done much Rebel since wave 2 or so. A little bit here, a little bit there, but all my main builds have been Imperial. I've been wanting to get back to the Light Side, and wave 7 seems as good a time as any.

With Rebels there are 3 commanders that are appealing to me: Sato, Raddus, and Ackbar.

Dodonna also isn't entirely off the table, but he's... just a bit bland is all. So probably just leave him out of the equation, rather than try to build aroudn something I don't really wanna play.

All of those admirals can be made to work with the MC75. That seems perfect - another shiny wave 7 toy!

I'm thinking Ackbar gets the Armored Cruiser, but Raddus and Sato would need to ride the Ordnance Cruiser.

A classic Acbkar conga line, but led by a Aspiration titled MC75 Armored Cruiser could be very potent. Maybe Caitken & Shollan on an Assault Frigate? Or on the MC75 itself. Need to test this out. I has potential, I think.

Raddus would be using a MC75, possibly bidding for 1st and packing Profundity, or going for 2nd player with Aspiration. Both choices have their set of strengths and weaknesses. Going 2nd has more room for other combat ships, but how fun isn't Profundity?

And Sato... can I finally get him to work? MC75 Armored Cruiser, rocking Wide-Area Barrage maybe. But what other ships and squadrons? Hammerheads? Very vague ATM.

You want a piece of me? Come and get it...

Ok, that's how far I've come. Anyone have any tips or suggestions: just hit the comment section!

Objectively the Best

 Fleet Ambush. Arguably THE worst objective. Why would you EVER do this!?

Objectives are an important part of Armada - both for the 1st and 2nd players. It's something you have to build your fleets around, or suffer the consequences. Some objectives are perfect fits for some  very specific fleets, but generally speaking there are a few really good objectives, some OK ones (that may be very good some some fleets), and a good number of REALLY CRAPPY ONES!

Party Potato over at the FFG forums gave me permission to repost his post detailing the spread of objectives used in the Armada Warlords builder, from 2015 to the present. 

"Its probably about time I jumped back into writing articles about list building habits.  I've just got the latest infusion of data from Armada Warlords fleet builder and I'm ready to see what all of you have been building on your free time.  Boy have you guys been busy.  I have over 130,000 lists since the end of 2015 to look at." 

Party Potato has divided lists into Imperial and Rebel (Rebel is the bottom one, without the title). 

Imperial fleets

Rebel fleets

Armada Warlords is probably THE most popular builder, so there is a large dataset used here. Keep in mind that the builder doesn't say which fleets do well or not, but if we assume that at least a good number of players actually KNOW what objectives work and not, some very general conclusions can be drawn. For example, Jamming Barrier isn't exactly popular with either faction...

I would, however, warn against leaning too heavily on these data. Most Wanted, for example, is horribly UNDERREPRESENTED if we compare it to the data gathered from wave 2-5 regionals by Shmitty and later waves by Baltanok. Look at the w5 data, under Objectives, and you'll see that around 40% of all fleets (and around 50% of those that did well) had Most Wanted as their red objective, which is significantly more than shown by the Warlords data. Likewise Advanced Gunnery is much LESS prevalent at regionals than the Warlords data.

After looking at the data, anyone hoping to build a good fleet should take Most Wanted, Contested Outpost and Solar Corona, as these 3 objectives give moderate tactical gain, low risk of fallout for 2nd player, and 2 of 3 give bonus points :-)

On a more serious note, these are the objectives that are objectively any good, as shown by the Warlords data AND the regionals data:

ASSAULT: Most Wanted is hands down THE best red objective. Tactical advantage vs an exposed ship AND bonus points, combined with almost no 2nd player risk.

You should only ever consider another red objective if you have a real plan for it.

Caveat: in wave 7 Raddus screws up Most Wanted so badly you might give some extra consideration to your choice of Assault objective.

DEFENSE: The least clear cut category. Contested Outpost is safe, will probably give you a head start in points, and force the enemy to come to you and fight on your terms.

Ion Cannon is much of the same. It gives more tactical advantage, but no points.

Capture the VIP is the inverse: no advantage, but extra points.

Hyperspace Assault continues to enjoy some popularity.

Finally Fire Lanes can (usually with Strategic) be used in much the same way as Contested Outpost, but with more points on the table.

NAVIGATION: Solar Corona is the go-to objective. It scores you no points, but the setup advantage can be significant, and the acc-eating aspect is appealing too.

Sup Positions replaces SC in a more squad heavy build.

Dangerous Territory and Salvage Run both have some merit.

Sensor Net is somewhat popular with "farming fleets", used with Fire Lanes and Strategic

You can read more about objectives, and associated fleet building and strategies at Steel Command (scroll down to section 2) and Cannot Get Your Ship Out.

Vassal Corellian Conflict: Campaign blog, part 4 (end of round 1)

A rare picture of a living Bothan spy...

Round 1 has been concluded in just a few days. Not bad for online play!

In addition to my narrow win over Forvand (Rebel assault, Independent Station), the Rebels won at Crash's Drift (Imp assault, Nebula Outskirts) and we won again at Polanis (Reb assault, Opening Salvo).

I don't have full battle reports for those; it would be too much for me to keep track of. But the brief version is:

Ackbar used a Spynet to shift his MC80 to safety from Sloane's squadrons, then it was a slow game with few ship-shots exchanged, and some squad-killing on both sides. Sloane's aces vs. a whole lot of Rebel rogues. I was a close game, but in round 6 Ackbar got a bit lucky and took out a Raider, putting him slightly ahead in MoV. Win Rebels, but relatively bloodless on both sides.

Thrawn beat up Sato with minimal losses, just 1 GSD and 3 squints. Rebel losses were also fairly light, but the MC75 came within 1 hull of blowing up before it could hyper, so it could have been a real mess. While I want my team to win, I am somewhat pleased the battle didn't become a slaughterhouse. We want to have fun, all of us, and being beaten bloody r1 isn't a great start.

We Imps have 45 refit and about 55 resources each, so there is room to fix most things, expand some, AND build a couple of bases. That's a good, but not overwhelmingly good, start for Team Imps.

The Rebels too have a good start. Generally light losses, the opportunity to build 1 base/outpost, refit and expand, AND get 2 assaults next round as well.

All in all the most balanced start of a CC I've been witness to.

How Star Wars The Last Jedi Should Have Ended

We actually have a PLAN...

I'm somewhat divided over The Last Jedi. Parts of it was very good, mostly those having to do with the Force-wielders. Much of the rest was pretty meh... and stuff like Force-mving broom kid and Leia doing a Superman tribute made me cringe. I don't think even Jar-Jar made me cringe.

Be that as it may: this YouTube clip is too funny not to share :D

Star Wars: Armada - Toronto Regional - Round 3 | Feb 10, 2018

Dalla Lana vs Norm Weir

This video battle report was shared on the FFG forums, and I want to share it as an example of how great it's when ppl EDIT their AAR. This one is edited, has commentary, and information overlay.

Not sure I'm awed by the actual play, but whatever. It's a cool batrep!

Vassal Corellian Conflict: Campaign blog, part 3 (Battle of Forvand)

Not so independent anymore...

Round 1 is on! Follow the progress in the Campaign Manager sheet (fleets not filled out du to lack of wave 6+7).

Last night me and Dr Alex kicked off the campaign with a battle over Forvand. Or actually this is a space station, so no planets were involved. The Rebels were hoping to gain control over the station, but Lord Vader's spies (not bothans, but real, reusable spies) had warned the Empire and the Fleet was ready for the rebels.

Alex was the assaulter, so that automatically made him 1st player. Forvand only has two objective choices: the Independent Station or the Nebula. Alex went with the station, not wanting me to get -1 command dials on every ship and +1 on his. I don't think the Nebula would have hurt him much - he was 90% navigating anyway.

For some reason I make small ships very dodgy!

Faction: Rebel Alliance

Points: 400/400

Commander: Mon Mothma

[ flagship ] MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63 points)

-  Mon Mothma  ( 30  points) 

-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points) 

= 97 total ship cost

MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63 points)

-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points) 

= 67 total ship cost

MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63 points)

-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points) 

= 67 total ship cost

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)

-  Turbolaser Reroute Circuits  ( 7  points) 

= 51 total ship cost

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)

-  Turbolaser Reroute Circuits  ( 7  points) 

= 51 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)

-  Expanded Hangar Bay  ( 5  points) 

= 23 total ship cost

2 VCX-100 Freighters ( 30 points)
2 Z-95 Headhunter Squadrons ( 14 points)

Vs

Faction: Imperial

Commander: Darth Vader

ISD Cymoon 1 Refit (112)

• Darth Vader (36)

• Gunnery Team (7)

= 155 Points

Gladiator II (62)

• Demolisher (10)

= 72 Points

Raider II (48)

• Heavy Ion Emplacements (9)

= 57 Points

Raider I (44)

• External Racks (3)

= 47 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)

• Comms Net (2)

= 25 Points

Squadrons:

• Lambda Shuttle (15)

• Captain Jonus (16)

• Valen Rudor (13)

= 44 Points

Total Points: 400

So both fleets are at 400, and capped at 1 upgrade per ship, plus the admiral, as per the CC rules.

Alex has the (big) advantage of 1st player and 1 more activation than me. Something that's very brutal with multiple MC30, backed by TRC spam. The CR90 are already at peak performance with just 1 upgrade, whereas the MC30 would like APT but can do fine without. MM makes everyone stay alive. It's a pretty meta fleet actually, one you could take to a tourney and do fairly well with (maybe with a tweak or 3). 

My own fleet is pretty rubbish by comparison. Raiders are not great 2nd player ships, and my Raider 2 has no DCaps. What I have is Demo and Gunnery Teams, and hope that Vader's rerolls will do go. In all I'm not very optimistic. It's a horrible matchup. I decide to go slow, stay within gunnery range of the station, and flee into hyper once my losses reach the refit limit (45 points).

Yes kids, that's a big chance in mentality from regular play. This is just the 1st of many battles. Sure, I want to hurt the enemy, but I don't want to limit my ability to grow my fleet into the next round. And all CC battles are win or lose. There is no MoV. So if I can't win, and get the ability to build a base, I might as well flee.

Setup

We set up, then jockey for position. My raiders are pretty exposed, but they will keep the enemy occupied in the ISDs front arc - I hope. Demo goes wide, both to fend off (and maybe kill) the CR90, but also to avoid pesky MC30 in ISD side arc. Even wo APT and H9 I REALLY don't want a MC30 double side-arcing my ISD.

Start of round 3, nasty double arc on the raider

And so it begins. Raider takes a perfect double arc - and lives with 1 hull. 

MC30 as it ram-kills my Raider-I

Here Alex makes a mistake, I think. He rammed the wounded raider dead, parking in front of both my other raider and ISD. That will eventually mean a dead MC30.

My Raider-2 in a bad place

My Raider 2 is in a bad place (after also failing to trigger Heavy Ions), BUT my Demo is now forking the CR90 on top. The MC30 has to go first, giving my Demo the chance to kill the fleeing corvette (success).

Bunching up in ISD w/Gunnery Team front arc!

Round 5. Alex is a bit timid with his MC30s, effectively giving up any chance of taking down the ISD. I become fairly confident of the win, for the first time of the game. I risk dropping the ISD to speed 0, to avoid 2 rounds of double arcs from the MC30

Start of round 6

The gamble pays of. I must eat a side volley wo any defense tokens, but its totally worth it. The flagship scoots, I kill the CR90 with help of Jonus, then bag some squads.

End round 6

Overall a good game. My own losses were limited to 2 raiders, that will cost 24+22=46 points to refit. I have 45 refit, so that's just 1 resource more needed, out of about 55 for me. I can just leave the Labda scarred. If I decide to buy a base I'm at 39 points for expansions, 54 if not. That's not bad at all.

I was also able to get veterancy for both the ISD and Demo. VERY nice. And also for both Valen AND Jonus (I totally farmed that VCX in round 6 to get this).

Alex lost some more, but nothing crippling. 2 x corvette at 22+22, and a 63/2=32 refit MC30. And 2 Z95 (4 each) and the VCX (8). That's 92 total. Which is a lot so early. BUT he can just keep 1 CR90 scarred, use it for activation spam (and/or lifeboat), and the same with the generic squads. Then he needs only 22+32=54 to refit 1 CR90 and 1 MC30.

His only kills were ram-kills, so no veterancy for him.

So a good win for Empire, despite bad odds (it turned out this was Alex FIRST run with MC30s, like ever, so he didn't feel that way!). But nothing the Rebels can't come back from. Which is important - we want to play many games, not kill the crap out of each other until one side has no fun at all.

Vassal log is broken into 2 due to a disconnect:

Part 1
Part 2

A Sky Full of Flotillas

Pretty sexy... too bad I ain't worth the upgraded points :-(

Flotillas have been with us since wave 3, which means just after the Summer of 2016. I've no idea if the read was with us back then. I was. Flotilla (not alone tho, but some key upgrades in w3 too) transformed the game rather quickly, making SQUADRON, non-rogue squadrons, eminently viable again. Fleets could no take a couple fo combat ships, 3 flotillas, and a bunch of squads, and do REALLY well. And it was HUGE improvement for the game.

No, however, thins are not so great anymore. Flotillas, and w5 Relay, mostly when used in combination, are out of control. Rather than go on about it at length, I instead direct you to the Cannot Get Your Ship Out blog, which recently posted a very interesting article about the subject. I cannot praise this article enough.

Our first catch of the day!

Btw I'm quoted in that article as hating relay and flotillas. That's not entirely accurate. I LOVE what flotillas have done for the game, but now they are out of control. I also immensely enjoy squadron play, and before flotillas squadrons were rubbish. 

But the combination of high gain/low risk nature of flotillas AND the unlimited nature of relay (unlimited range, unlimited uses) is broken as fuck. Sure there are some counters, but you gotta work REALLY hard to compensate. 

That in itself is ok, I guess, but what isn't ok is it means there are only a few OTHER archetype that can compete in the top with flotilla + relay spam. There is a disconnect between risk/gain, and it's hurting the game ATM.

FFG --> get the NERF BAT!

I'll Have You Know (Vader All-Ship Fleet)

Pun intended

You get it? The title of the blog... "I Have You Now", famous Darth Vader quote... is remarkably similar to "I'll Have You Know". My mastery of the English language is absolute, my wit without limit. If that didn't impress you, nothing will.

Today I want to take a look at an all-ship list, with some elements of wave 7 in it. This is my list in the Vassal World Cup 2018. At the time when we handed in our lists not all the wave 7 cards had been spoiled, so couldn't be used. So no Early Warning. No Strategic Advisor. Etc.

All ship you say? Isn't that INSANE in the current meta!? Well of course it is. There are just so many really powerful squad builds out there, including (but not limited to) Yavaris 2+3/4 and ISD+4/5. The former burns you down in moments with three double bomber taps, the latter is a death of a thousand cuts through relay (Maarek fucking Jendon).

After having played too much Sloane, and knowing my ISD+4 Sloane Aces would have the ability to reach the finals, I tossed that out the window and sat down to contemplate the power of the Dark Side:

Enter the Vader Devastator Cymoon, the Demolisher Cruise Missile, activation spam through flotilla abuse, and the op-ness of the last/first using ships with a high damage spike. The entire lists revolves around delaying activation of the ISD, then going last/first starting round 2 or 3, depending on board state. 

It's not complex per se, but you're balancing on a knife's edge. You must NOT give the opponent the opportunity to do more damage to the ISD than strictly necessary. And when you do pounce you must do so with great ferocity - and preferably hot red dice.

VWC 2018 - Darth Vader, in association with Devastator Productions, Demolisher Studios and Four Mighty Gozanti, proudly presents: "I HAVE YOU NOW"  

Author: Green Knight

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 383/400  

Commander: Darth Vader

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

[ flagship ] Imperial Star Destroyer Cymoon 1 Refit (112 points)
-  Darth Vader  ( 36  points)
-  Devastator  ( 10  points)
-  Intel Officer  ( 7  points)
-  Gunnery Team  ( 7  points)
-  Spinal Armament  ( 9  points)
-  X17 Turbolasers  ( 6  points)
-  Intensify Firepower  ( 6  points)
= 193 total ship cost

Gladiator I-Class Star Destroyer (56 points)
-  Demolisher  ( 10  points)
-  Intel Officer  ( 7  points)
-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points)
-  Engine Techs  ( 8  points)
-  Assault Proton Torpedoes  ( 5  points)
= 90 total ship cost

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

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

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
-  Repair Crews  ( 4  points)
= 27 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
= 23 total ship cost

Card view link

Fleet created with Armada Warlords

My POD matchups included 1 Rebel MSU (very hadsome win), 1 Yavaris Bee-wing swarm (tabling), and 1 Sloane list (very close to tabling). All 3 succumbed to the overwhelming power of re-rollable red dice and XI7, plus the usual Demolisher shenanigans.

MSU can't get a good angle of approach on the ISD, then pop easy from XI7

In the 1st elimination round I, with some lucky red dice, took down another Sloane list (rikash), losing the ISD in the process, but tabling my opponent. In the quarter final (karneck) yet another Sloane list and another tabling (again some pretty nice dice). 

Who needs Vader when you get this natural roll? 1-shot VSD from 1st elimination game

I expect very stiff opposition in the semi-final. Either ISD+4 Sloane aces (Tokra) or ET BC w/flotilla spam and some squadrons (Aresius). Aresius already has 6 activations, and Tokra the ability to eliminate one of mine to restore parity, meaning last/first won't work. I don't actually have a good solution against either list. I'll do my best, and maybe get lucky, but this is most likely the end of the line. And if by some miracle I get to the finals like last year, I'll most likely have to fight Roquax' horrible Yavarus 2+4 or JJs Juggernaut's Raddus Profundity bomb.

BUT, no matter how things end, I'm immensely pleased. I've kind of proven that an all-ship list can deal with most (not all) squad-heavy lists. That pleases me a lot.

What doesn't please me at all is flotillas: they power this list in a most abusive fashion, and while there is a certain elegance to the list, it's also super-abusive. Which is typical for almost all lists at the moment. Spam flotillas, use relay, prosper. IMO while it doesn't completely invalidate other list types, it makes list building options for competitive play VERY limited. And the risk/gain factor of both flotillas in general, and relay in particular, is not currently wholesome.

NERF FLOTILLAS. NERF RELAY.