Welcome back to The Ship Files!
In Parts 1 and 2, we wrestled with the Empire’s angry triangles — the Arquitens through to the SSD — and established what ARC’s design limits actually are. If you haven’t read those yet, start there; the intro to Part 1 sets the scene for the whole series.
This time, we turn our scanners toward the Rebellion: ships that look like they were welded together in a back-alley shipyard, painted by committee, and somehow still manage to win wars. Potatoes, shrimps, and one regrettable loaf of bread (that being the GR-75 Transport).
Assault Frigate Mk II
Let’s get this out of the way first: it’s ugly. The ugliest model in the entire game. It doesn’t look like a Star Wars ship — the proportions are off, the engines are wrong, and it’s got zero connection to either Mon Cal aesthetics or the old Legends Assault Frigate Mk I. It doesn't help that the art was made based on an old computer game from an era before graphics were invented.
Controversial take: On the table, it’s… fine. Not great, not terrible — just solidly mid, but with a stronger-than-average defense. Firepower is acceptable but never impressive, both for batteries and flak (the AF2A is acceptable, but 1 blue from a Medium is not). It’s tanky thanks to decent hull and shields plus the brace/redirect/evade token spread and an all-important defensive retrofit (which, let’s be honest, means ECM).
Speed 3 and a friendly nav chart let it kite reasonably well. The Mk A is the better gunship — more dice and better flak — while the Mk B is the better carrier in a faction that lacks dedicated carriers that are also good. The B is also a bit cheaper, so 90+% of the time, it's the model you'll see.
The A-model’s ARC price drop to 77 helps, but both variants still share the exact same upgrade bar, which feels like early-wave laziness. And if you don't specifically need the extra flak (and I suppose a blue out the front/back), the A is just most points for less squadron command. Meaning you'll typically see it with rogue squadrons. I'd probably only take the A with Agate if I wanted to do Salvos.
The AFII persists in lists mainly because it’s the only reliable Rebel medium that can tank and shoot at range without falling apart. As a carrier, it’s decent enough, sporting a Flight Controllers slot, squadron 3, and an offensive retrofit. That's not BAD, but it's not GREAT either. But what better carriers do the Rebels have? None indeed. So the AF2B is the default carrier option.
What if: Trade the evade for a salvo. The hull looks like it would return fire rather than jink away. But this is far, far outside scope for ARC, and would dramatically alter the ship's profile, so not happening.
Verdict: AFII-B is fine at 72; the AFII-A could maybe drop to 75 (if you're concerned about Agate, increase Agate correspondingly).
CR90 Corvette
Fast, iconic, and still the queen of Rebel small ships. With Turbolaser Reroute Circuits, it remains one of the best value damage platforms in the game — even after the exhaust-token nerf. It’s fragile, yes, but usually fast enough to live long enough to earn its points.
The A-variant is everywhere; the B-variant… not so much. The B can shine under Mon Mothma or in the hands of a very precise pilot, but its double-evade defense collapses at medium range, and it can’t equip TRC or D-Caps. It’s cheap, sure, but cheap isn’t always good.
What if: Give the B-model an Offensive Retrofit instead of Defensive. DCaps become an option and everything changes. Probably never happening, but it would be neat.
Verdict: CR90A is fine at 44, though I’d love to see it at 43 and push TRC to 8 points to (maybe) diversify builds. The B-model should drop to 37–38 — that’s Consular territory and where it belongs.
GR-75 Medium Transport
Costs almost nothing, delivers enormous utility, and — critically — dies like a champion. The Rebel flotilla remains one of the most efficient support tools in the game: token generation, squad commands, activation padding, and inexplicably excellent maneuverability.
The Combat Retrofit exists, technically, but even after cost cuts, it rarely leaves the shelf. Guns are irrelevant when your job is to feed tokens and not explode.
What if: Ban Ackbar from affecting flotillas (please), and then give the Combat Retrofit a blue side arc just for flavor.
Verdict: Combat Retrofit at 24 is acceptable (23 would also be fine). The base Transport, though, is too cheap. Bump it to 20 and it’d still see universal play.
Hammerhead Corvette
A sad little ship with big dreams. The Hammerhead has its niche moments — a Raddus drop via Profundity, a Ruthless flak platform, or just a cheap third a combat ship — but it’s never a list centerpiece.
It also doesn't swarm effectively (though this is more how the game scores than any fault of the ship itself): every loss bleeds points, and you rarely win big, even if you do win.
What if: Full rework. Give it a Brace instead of that pointless Contain, or maybe an extra engineering point so it can actually repair. But that’s deep surgery, not ARC tweaks.
Verdict: Overcosted. Torpedo down to 35; Scout no higher than 39.
MC30 Frigate
Classic small-ship design at its most baffling. The Scout and Torpedo versions are identical except for swapping all red die for blues — early FFG minimalism at work. And honestly, with that firepower, it probably deserved a medium base.
Still, it remains one of the most effective Rebel brawlers. Both variants see play, carried almost entirely by their titles. Admonition used to reign; post-1.5, Foresight has the edge, but either is mandatory. I dislike ships that need titles to function, but here we are.
What if: Total redesign — mixed dice pools, different upgrade bars, maybe even a medium base. But that’s a Special Modifications problem, not an ARC one.
Verdict: Leave it. The rabbit hole is deep, and the ship is kind of fine where it is.
MC75 Cruiser
The MC75 is what happens when you cross an Assault Frigate with a Home One and teach it to brawl. It’s a fine ship — tough, mean, and capable of terrifying close-range volleys.
Its biggest crime is the token spread: two Contains. Stop trying to make Contain a thing! The front-arc focus and odd red-side/blue-front battery layout make it feel confused, but both variants are otherwise solid, especially after the price drops.
The combination of higher cost, no range out the front, and a poor defensive suite prevents the Armored variant from being a viable carrier option or gunship alternative to the AF2. Thus, you will often find it in a Raddus list (where gunnery range and defense at range are less important), but not too often elsewhere.
What if: Replace one Contain with a Salvo and call it a day.
Verdict: 99 and 95 would be fair with Salvo; without it, shave a few more points (but you can't take off too many or it'll crowd out other Rebel ships).
Next Time
Next up: the rest of the Rebel roster — MC80s, Nebulons, Peltas, Providences, and the mighty (and slightly absurd) Starhawk.
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