Saturday, August 30, 2025

The Upgrade Files: Case 13 – Titles (Rebels)

Rebel titles are a mixed bunch. Profundity literally lets you do Rogue One, Admonition and Foresight became shorthand for “MC30 that won’t die,” Home One gave early Ackbar very accurate broadsides, and Jaina's Light was everywhere.

But not all was well in rebel title land. For every Fresight, we got an Endeavor, and where Empire got Harrow and Corvus, Rebels received Vanguard and Liberator. And how many of the Rebel titles got nerfed with 1.5? Quite a few.

TL;DR Rebel titles are a mixed bunch. 

Let’s jump in.


Assault Frigate

The humble potato desperately needs more titles. Two feels stingy — especially when one is binder-tier.

Gallant Haven

Once upon a time, this was oppressive. Pre-nerf Gallant Haven turned every Rebel squadron ball into an unkillable brick. The change was necessary, and now it’s balanced. Still powerful in the right list, but no longer game-warping. Eight points is a lot, but you’re paying for an aura that can swing games. 

Verdict: Keep as is. 

Paragon

The potato’s offensive option, and sadly, a dud. Five points for “+1 die if you’ve already attacked that target” is too much. And as extra punishment, you have to track Salvo interactions too. 

Verdict: At 3 points it becomes interesting — not a powerhouse, but something you might at least consider. Right now? Not worth it.


CR90 Corvette

The classic Rebel spam ship. Ironically, its titles are either too niche or too awkward.

Dodonna’s Pride

Always niche, still niche, but now at least interesting at 4 points. Sato makes it hilarious (blue crits everywhere), but otherwise it’s a CR90B-only toy. If I were bold, I’d rewrite this to function like an Assault Proton Torpedo for blue dice. That would be very cool. 

Verdict: As is, fine but narrow.

Jaina’s Light

Used to be absurd at 2 points. At 5, maybe too harsh? We want people to take CR90 titles, not price them out. 

Verdict: Compared to Pride at 4 and Tantive at 3, Jaina feels slightly over. But still usable — and still good.

Liberator

A joke. The idea of putting a Fleet Command on a CR90 is cute, but in practice? No. If you want AFFM!, just take a Pelta. 

Verdict: Even at 0 points, this probably wouldn’t see play. It’s a sad card — interesting on paper, irrelevant in practice.

Tantive IV

Always a decent little support piece, but totally overshadowed for years by Comms Net. 

Verdict: At 3 points, it’s fine, but it would be more compelling at 2. Still, with Jaina at 5, this feels like it’s in a better spot.


GR-75 Medium Transports

Flotilla titles are always high value, and the Rebel ones are some of the best.

Bright Hope

Probably one of the best title-to-cost ratios in the entire game. Two points for making your flotilla dramatically harder to kill? Insane. 

Verdict: It should be 3 at least. It’s almost always stapled to the first GR-75 you bring.

Quantum Storm

Cute, flexible, and actually pretty potent. Lets a slicer platform reposition or do silly things with double-ramming. At 1 point it was a steal; at 2 it’s still very playable. Needs rewording to clean up the ramming interaction, but otherwise, a gem.

Verdict: Make it 2 points.


Hammerhead

Hammerheads are in a rough spot — overpriced across the board. That colors all their titles.

Garel’s Honor


Fun with Dodonna, fun as a suicide boat, but 4 points on a fragile hull feels like bloat. If HHs were cheaper, it would be fine. Right no,w it just pushes the cost problem further.

Verdict: Adjust the platform cost and/or reduce this card's cost slightly.

Task Force Antilles

The “tanky HH” option. Stack it with Leia, Shields to Maximum, Redemption, and you still don’t have anything close to tanky. 

Verdict: Should be 2 points, not 3, but the real issue is the chassis. Fix both issued and maybe.

Task Force Organa

The only reason HH spam is remotely playable. But how often do you see HH spam? Almost never. The title itself is fine; the platform and the meta are the issue. 

Verdict: Fix the platform cost.


All MC-Type Ships

Mon Calamari Exodus Fleet

Another “defensive aura” title, but this one is weak sauce. Requires a repair command, has a weird 1–4 restriction instead of 1–5, and doesn’t scale well with how Rebels actually play. You’re not running enough MC hulls to make it matter. 

Verdict: Drop it to 4 points and it’s still fringe (and do we really want more defense tech?).


MC30 Frigate

MC30s live or die by their titles. Without them, they’re too fragile for their price.

Admonition

The classic. The title that made MC30s viable. At 10 points it’s expensive, and it’s less of an auto-include now that evades are good at close range. Still great, but Foresight is often picked first. 

Verdict: I’d be fine bringing this back to 8.

Foresight

A defensive monster. Worth every bit of 10 points. You rarely see an MC30 without it. Balanced by cost, but undeniably powerful.

Verdict: Keep as is.


MC75 Cruiser

The MC75 deserved a strong, flexible title. Instead, it got two defensive/niche ones.

Aspiration

Works with Raddus and Projection Experts, and it’s affordable at 3 points. The problem is that it’s boring and defensive.

Verdict: Leave as is.

Profundity

Expensive, extremely niche… and I love it. It does exactly what it should: let you reenact Rogue One. Thematic perfection. Not competitive in every list, but when it fits, it fits.

Verdict: Leave as is.


MC80 Home One

Defiance

The workhorse title. Still relevant even in the pass token era.

Verdict: Five points feels a little steep, 4 would be fairer, but it’s solid.

Home One

I hate this card. Fleet-wide auto-accs at distance 1–5 are not fun or balanced. If H1 were a stronger chassis, this would be broken. 

Verdict: Needs a redesign: make it a Fleet Command slot, exhaust to let another ship set a die to an ACC. Something interactive.

Independence

Was already ultra-niche in Wave 1, now it’s complete binder fodder. Eight points to move B-wings faster... but they can't shoot? GTFOOH. One of the least useful cards in the Rebel arsenal.

Verdict: Total rework required or into the trash compactor it goes.


MC80 Liberty

The problem here is the Liberty itself — it's an overall weird design, but strong and weak at the same time. A large base ship with gunnery teams that can potentially go speed 4. Double braces... but shit shields and no defensive tech. High cost, worse than ever compared to other Rebel large ships. Making titles for this mess is not easy!

Endeavor

Four points for a Contain looks fine on paper. In practice, you’re not taking a Liberty just for that. 

Verdict: Needs a redesign: let the player pick an extra defense token (Contain, Evade, or Salvo). That would at least make it interesting, although most of the time Evade would be the better option, I guess.

Liberty

Another dud. If you’re commanding squads with a Liberty, you’re already playing it wrong. 

Verdict: Needs a redesign. Maybe +1 squad when resolving a dial, so up to 5 squads total? Or squadron commands at distance 1–5? Something to actually make it a viable carrier.

Mon Karren

While I can see why the title was nerfed, there was like one person who could make this problematic, and it's not like he won worlds or anything with it, so of all the nerfs in Armada, this one was the least called for IMO.

Anyway. This and the Engine Techs were kind of the only reason to take a Liberty. Now, much less so. Indeed, why ARE you taking a Liberty these days? Why not just play CIS instead?

Verdict: At 6 points, it’s balanced if the chassis is cheaper. Right now, it’s just not worth it.


Nebulon-B

Another overpriced old chassis that titles can’t save. If you remember the old days, Nebs were basically Yavaris. Then, once Sato arrived, masochists liked to run him with Salvation. And that's it.

Redemption

Another fleet-wide defensive buff, which isn’t what we want for the game, but the title is usable enough.

Verdict: At 5 points, fair enough — if the ship itself were cheaper. 

Salvation

Always OK, especially with Sato. Can be nasty if it lands, but Nebs are Nebs, so good luck with those arcs. Those arcs... if I could rework them I'd be a very happy admiral indeed, but I think that's WAY out of scope, so never mind.

Verdict: For all its power, I would say you pay a LOT for such a narrow arc. I'm fine with 7, but I would not be opposed 6 or even 5.

Vanguard

Supposed to patch the Neb’s weaknesses, but fails. Why would I drop a brace or evade for a redirect? And outside Sato/OE, what kind of Weapons Team do I want on a Neb? Ruthless Strategists? Nah, you can take an Escort Neb and this title just for that.

Verdict: Just add the redirect instead. The design is flawed.

Yavaris

The most infamous Rebel nerf. Needed a fix, but got over-nerfed. The loss of Fighter Coordination Team synergy is especially painful. You already gave up Aux Shields for FCT; killing the Yavaris bonus on top of that was a double nerf. 

Verdict: Make Yavaris work with Flight Commander/FCT again.


Pelta

Phoenix Home

Honestly, Pelta design is weird. The generics never should have had Fleet Command. Phoenix Home should have granted the Fleet Command slot, while the variants got more normal upgrade lines, such as a double officer for the Command and a Weapons Team for the Assault.

Verdict: Fine as is if we accept the chassis is what it is.


Starhawk

The Starhawk, as a ship, was already a mistake (a slow tank that's usually harder to kill than an SSD), and the titles exacerbate the issue by being essentially mandatory, granting extra defense tokens (and a secondary effect). But wait, there is more! Two of the three titles are Starhawk I only! Wtf!??? This is bad game design in more ways than I can count.

Amity

Evade on a Large tank is nice (Needa says hello), but the secondary effect effectively forces Hardened Bulkheads, turning this into an 11-point card that eats your Offensive slot. No idea why this is SH I only.

Verdict: Fine, not amazing.

Concord



Extra Salvo is strong, but the secondary effect essentially requires Magnites; now it’s a 22-point package. With Bail banned and Agate not working at speed 0, you realize the screw the magnites and let's not go to speed 0, making this a questionable combo. No idea why this is SH I only.

Verdict: Expensive way to get extra Salvo on your Starhawk Mark I.

Unity

Extra redirect plus a rather useful secondary effect. Pricey at 15 (with Expert Shields Techs, I mean), but actually worth it, especially with Agate. Doesn't work well with LTT anymore bc Starhawks don't have bombard (well, you do get the flak rerolls, but not the anti-ship or salvo rerolls, so whatever). Kind of makes me not want to do this title anymore.

    Verdict: My default choice. Boring but fine.

    Final Verdict – Rebel Titles

    Rebel titles are some of the most potent in Armada, but they’re also some of the most inconsistent, and there are too many cards that don’t justify their slot or points. The big offenders need redesigns. The classics remain excellent. The MC75 and MC80s really deserve more options to balance out their current capabilities.

    Next Up: CIS/GAR Titles

    No comments:

    Post a Comment