Welcome to the Fantasy League!
Signup deadline: Sunday, 27th February. Sing up HERE.
This is the place where we explore the what-ifs and could-have-beens of Armada. The place where we play with new versions of old ships and squadrons - and introduce completely new ones such as the Separatist Lucrehulk and Sith Infiltrator, the Republic Stealth Ship and Naboo N-1.
It's also where you'll find existing upgrades - with a twist - alongside entirely new cards. Even the objectives have been tweaked to make more of them useful to a variety of fleet archetypes (without shifting the advantage too strongly towards the 2nd player). Last, but not least, we're even experimenting with a few rules changes...
Important external links
Fantasy League RRG: Download the pdf here (latest version is 1.02)
Custom fleet builder (Warlords clone): https://vassalwarlords.twilightpeaks.net/
VASSAL: Module download (latest version is 4.7.0fl)
TTS: Currently only implemented in the Development version which you can get here. You also need the custom database for the Fantasy League.
Card collection: All cards are available as a pdf here.
Where?
It's primarily a digital event on VASSAL and TTS (with support from @Valadian) but if you want you can easily print all the cards you need from KDYards and play on the tabletop!
Why?
Why not?
The changes are big enough that everything will feel fresh and uncertain, but not so big as to make it another game entirely. It's also an unique opportunity: AFAIK no one has ever attempted to host a world-spanning custom event for Armada.
Virtual plastic spaceships will go pew pew, mistakes will be made, dice will happen. It's going to be fun - don't miss out!
Phases and What to Make of Them
The Fantasy League isn't just ONE event. Every few months, a new Phase is initiated. Each phase adds new stuff to the game. In fact, phases are pretty much like new waves.
In Phase 1, only Empire/Rebel factions are playable, and the selection of ships, squadrons, and upgrades is limited.
In Phase 2, Republic/Separatist are added, and the first large base ships appear.
In Phase 3 there will be rogues & villains for all four factions - and more.
Phase 4+ is still on the drawing board.
Each Phase is a separate league event; scores are reset to zero. So even if you didn't win Phase 1 there is no reason why you couldn't be the Phase 2 champion!
What's new?
Let me give you some examples of what to expect:
Rules: The rules are largely the same, with a few big changes and a bunch of minor ones. If you want to know more about the various rules changes, check out the Rules Reference Guide, the YouTube videos below, or chat with me on Discord (links below).
Here is an example of a big change (highlighted in red): You can spend readied (green) defense tokens targeted by accuracy icons. But if you do, you have to discard that token.
Objectives: We're using the objectives that you're used to. But they have been tweaked with the aim of making more of them playable with the right fleet. Second player is pretty strong ATM so the tweaks aren't necessarily buffs; some objectives got nerfed.
Fleet Ambush is a good example: It's almost the same, but there is a restriction of deploying squadrons and the first player has to pass his first activation round 1. There is also a bit about deploying overlapping obstacles; that's because the rules now forbid this for all ships, not just Huge ships.
Ships: The ships in the first phase are tweaked versions of existing ships. Later new ships - both variations of existing ones and completely news ships - will be added.
This Vic is no joke: It can turn reasonably well, has goodish flak, a black die in the front, a salvo token, and an amazing upgrade bar. For a mere 79 points. Still a speed 2 ship that can easily turn into a point piñata.
Squadrons: Existing squadrons get tweaks and points changes, and new uniques are added. We'll eventually see new squadron types, including some multi-faction squads. Hondo and Gauntlets for all four factions. V-wings, N-1s, Eta2s, and LATT/i gunships for the republic. U-wings. More TIE variants. Dooku, Maul, and Ventress. It's quite the list.
This is Thane. He's dangerous and cheap. And he has colorful dice and a squadron evade. S-foils is a new keyword for B-wings and X-wings that let them get +1 speed if they remove a die.
Upgrades: We got some old upgrades that have been modded and a few entirely new cards. The cost of some cards has changed.
Ion Missiles are new, same with the Audacious Arquitens title. Lando is the same old, but with an additional effect.
More info
YouTube video of me talking about the Fantasy League format:
Another YouTube video, this one gives an overview of Phase 1 content:
Event format
The Fantasy League is a... league event 😅
Rounds: There is only 1 "round" which lasts for the duration of the phase. Each player can play and register any number of games during this round, but you don't sore points equally for all of them (see below).
Opponents: Players are expected to arrange their own games; there are no TO-controlled pairings.
That said, you're encouraged to play a variety of opponents, not just your IRL buddy over and over. A few games against the same guy is OK (not going to set a hard cap) especially if you use different lists, but if you play vs 1 or 2 people only you're doing something wrong.
Lists: You can use the same list for every game, iterations of the same list, or wildly different lists. It's up to you.
Scoring: Scoring works a little differently. We use the standard MoV/TP table.
The following restrictions apply:
- You have to play a minimum of 4 games.
- If you play 6 games, only your best 4 games will count towards your score.
- Example: You go 9-2, 8-3, 4-7, 2-9, 10-1, 6-5. The 4-7 and 2-9 are ignored for scoring purposes, so your score is 10+9+8+6=33.
- For each game beyond 6 you play, you score 1 additional tournament point, regardless of your score. If you play more than 6 games, only the 6 first games count towards scoring. So you can't play 20 games and cherry pick the best 4.
- Continuing the above example, if you played 10 games, you have 33+4=37 TPs.
Schedule
Signup deadline: Sunday, 27th February.
- The event starts Monday, 28th February.
- The event ends Sunday, 24th April.
Phase 2 will begin shortly after phase 1 ends. It adds CW factions and large ships to the game. Phase 3 will start this summer. Details to follow.
Signups
Sign up directly in the Tabletop.to event: https://tabletop.to/vassal-fantasy-league-2022
Fleet submissions
You do not submit your lists beforehand. Instead, lists are handed in during the After Action Report step (see below).
Report results
Results of your games are reported directly in the event: https://tabletop.to/vassal-fantasy-league-2022/submit
One player needs to report, opponent has to confirm the result!
List submission/After action report
List submission: After playing, you need to submit your list using Google forms: https://forms.gle/oVZqN6jAvoA7WRFv5
AAR: You only have to include your list; the rest of the questions are optional but do please make the effort as the feedback will directly impact future Fantasy League phases.
VASSAL info
To play in the Fantasy League, run this module version and you'll see the new cards. When you want a standard game, just run the standard version.
You can use Shrimpbot to generate setup vlogs. Get the text export of your fleet, paste it into a text editor and remove any custom cards (new upgrades and squadrons).
Use !vassal to generate a vlog, load the vlog as normal, then add the custom pieces by dragging them from the Pieces menu. It's not 100% but still saves time and effort.
TTS info
First you have to load the module (currently only the Development version has support for custom databases). Then you need to additively load the Fantasy League database.
If you've correctly used additive load on the Fantasy League database the fleet spawner will spawn all custom cards without issue!
The only thing that isn't fully implemented is scoring: the crippled rule isn't in effect and non-VP token scoring isn't implemented. So you'll have to manually calculate scores.
Discord channel
Here is the Discord channel for VASSAL OP: https://discord.gg/NKxp5DEkPC
And a channel on the TTS Discord: https://discord.gg/T2TWx7qNkb
Use discord to chat and ask questions, but keep it at least vaguely related to the event 😅
Tournament software
We're using Tabletop.to to track players, scores, and matchups. You can find the event here: https://tabletop.to/vassal-fantasy-league-2022
Grand Championship 2022
Each phase of the Fantasy League counts as a separate event towards the GC2022.
- Points:
- Entry: 1
- Completion: 1 (minimum 4 games)
- Top 4: 1
- Runner-up: 1
- Winner: 2
- Special: 1 each
- After Action Report Specialist: You've submitted an AAR after every game.
- Much To Test There Is: Played at least 10 games.
Is the list builder only rebel and imps?
ReplyDeleteFor now. Phase 1 only has 2 factions. Phase 2 adds CW factions - and more ships for Imps/Rebs.
Delete