After two solid games — a 10-1 and a 7-4 — I was sitting on 17 points and sharing the top bracket with Louis-André St-Laurent, a name that instantly commands respect in any online (and IRL) Armada event.
Could Krushya “Liberty” Agate keep the streak alive? Or was this the end of my short but glorious ascent toward Chocolate Heaven?
Spoiler: I survived, but barely.
The Fleets
Bjørn Blom Sørgjerd (Green Knight) – Krushya “Liberty” Agate (400)
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MC80 Star Cruiser (Liberty): Kyrsta Agate, Intel Officer, Caitken & Shollan, Engine Techs, Ion Cannon Batteries, XI7s, XX-9s
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Assault Frigate Mk II B (Gallant Haven): Ahsoka Tano, Flight Controllers, ECM
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GR-75 (Bright Hope): Toryn Farr
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GR-75: Hondo Ohnaka, Comms Net
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Squadrons (98): Fenn Rau, Jan Ors, Shara Bey, Tycho Celchu, 2× A-Wings
Louis-André St-Laurent – “Chocolate Sato” (391)
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Assault Frigate Mk II B (flag): Commander Sato, Skilled First Officer, Reinforced Blast Doors, Enhanced Armament
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Assault Frigate Mk II B: Ezra Bridger, Gunnery Team, RBD, Enhanced Armament
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Nebulon-B Support Refit (Salvation): Spinal Armament
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GR-75: Ahsoka Tano, Munitions Resupply
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GR-75: Hondo Ohnaka, Comms Net
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Squadrons (69): Han Solo, Shara Bey, Tycho Celchu, Green Squadron
Pre-Battle Assessment
Sato + Enhanced Armament AFs = a lot of dice AND dice fixing.
Those broadsides throw serious weight once the commander starts swapping in black hit/crits (spoiler alert: that actually happened, like a LOT). The “Satovation” Neb was the designated sniper, ready to turn single lucky rolls into triple-damage events.
Two AFs form the main gun line, Salvation hangs back, and the GR-75s keep tokens flowing.
But to make it work, LA needs a proper kill box and must feed in squadrons to trigger Sato’s ability — not easy, but absolutely doable for a player of his calibre.
My plan?
Keep mobile, trade Gallant Haven if needed, and pounce if he overextends. Basically, a repeat of my Round 2 approach: hold formation, let the squadrons earn their pay, and maybe—just maybe—pick off an AF or Salvation.
Setup
LA had the bid (391 to my 400).
Why this large bid? Because he forgot to add a GT to his flagship is why...
Anyway. Somewhat surprisingly, he chose to be Second player.
That threw me off; I expected another round with my Intel Sweep.
Of his objectives, Infested Fields looked the least painful. He’d get +15 points and control over rocks + space slugs, but I figured that wouldn’t matter much (spoiler alert: it didn't, so I was right on that count).
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| Setup/R1 |
We deployed for a circling match:
Liberty on the outer lane, lining up on Salvation, Gallant Haven cutting inside with Bright Hope nearby. My idea was to box his Neb or leading AF. His idea, apparently, was to punish my poor navigation. Guess which plan worked.
Game On
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| Round 2 |
From Turn 2, the tone was set: my maneuvering was atrocious.
Gallant Haven sped up too early and parked in front of Liberty — the naval equivalent of tripping over your own shoelaces. Meanwhile, Liberty was flown far too cautiously, creeping along and never quite finding the angle. Total 2nd player mentality there.
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| Round 3 |
Result: no kill box, no coordinated fire, just scattered potshots and self-rams.
What I should have done: shove the AF forward to command six squadrons, jam his line, and fork targets with Liberty.
What I did: protect Liberty like it was glass, then watched the AF get shredded for my trouble.
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| Round 4 |
LA, on the other hand, played it cool. He maintained formation, used Sato flawlessly, and rolled absurdly good dice — double after double after double. Sure, the math was on his side with Sato + CFs, but still… statistically illegal levels of spice.
Note to self: talk to whoever coded the Vassal dice roller (me). Clearly biased (at least I should make the dice favor ME).
My dice? Let’s call them “average with attitude.” The ships rarely had ideal shots, so that part I can't complain too much about, but my squadrons’ rolls were hot garbage. We're talking more blanks than hits on black dice (and the rare black hit being evaded successfully), no hits on 4 blues + Toryn, that sort of thing.
But the truth is, the dice didn’t decide this one — piloting did. LA flew a tight, efficient game. I flew like a man who’d forgotten he was the first player (or rather, forgotten everything about Amrada).
The End
Eventually, the AF paid the price, dying to a wall of red dice and a couple of unfortunate self-rams.
Both flotillas went down soon after — they were supposed to be blockers, but with the rest of the fleet out of position, they were set up for sacrifice without any payoff.
I did get some return fire in:
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Salvation exploded spectacularly (Ion Cannon Batteries actually did something!),
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Both Han Solo and Green Squadron were downed by my fighters.
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| End of game |
He collected three Infested Fields tokens; I grabbed two. As it should be.
When the dust settled: 189–133, a 6-5 win for LA.
After-Action Thoughts
Honestly, this was a fair result. LA flew better and deserved the win.
I handed him positioning control on a silver platter by playing far too cautiously. The Liberty lived comfortably — proof that Kyrsta Agate is still a beast — but the rest of the fleet paid the price.
A few lessons from this humbling experience:
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Don’t fly first-player fleets like second-player fleets.
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Don’t park your AF in front of your flagship.
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When you've had a pretty long break from the game, read the damn cards beforehand, don't rely on your memory!
Despite the sloppy movement, my squadron play was solid (for once, I didn’t overlap a single friendly!), and Ion Cannon Batteries finally earned their keep.
If you’re wondering why LA didn’t score higher — well, he didn’t kill Liberty. You can’t start trying to crack an Agate MC80 on Turn 5 and expect results. If he wanted a big win, he needed to be more aggressive.
Maybe he should have taken First player, maybe not. Hard to say. But his cool-headed play and relentless dice discipline made this a very enjoyable, if humbling, game.
So ends my streak. Still alive, still learning, and still reaching for that sweet, sweet Chocolate Heaven.
Good luck to LA in the final round!
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