Finally had time to wrap up my fourth and final game of the Chocolate League!
My opponent, Matt Stoebner (Danger_Panda), literally got up at six in the morning to squeeze in a game before heading to the airport. That’s dedication. Or madness. Possibly both.
The Fleets
Matthew Stoebner – “By the Light of Lothal’s Moons – a Rebel’s Reunion” (400)
-
CR90A (Jaina’s Light): Commander Sato [ARC], Ahsoka Tano
-
Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette: Sabine Wren, Disposable Capacitors, APT
-
Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette: Ezra Bridger, Disposable Capacitors, APT
-
Nebulon-B Support Refit (Salvation): Toryn Farr, Auxiliary Shields Team
-
GR-75 (Bright Hope): Adar Tallon, Munitions Resupply, Boosted Comms
-
Squadrons (126): Hera, Kanan, Dutch, Gold, Mart Mattin, 2× A-Wings, Z-95
Bjørn Blom Sørgjerd (Green Knight) – Krushya “Liberty” Agate (400)
-
MC80 Star Cruiser (Liberty): Agate, Intel Officer, Caitken & Shollan, Engine Techs, Ion Cannon Batteries, XI7s, XX-9s
-
Assault Frigate Mk II B (Gallant Haven): Ahsoka Tano, Flight Controllers, ECM
-
GR-75 (Bright Hope): Toryn Farr
-
GR-75: Hondo Ohnaka, Comms Net
-
Squadrons (98): Fenn Rau, Jan Ors, Shara Bey, Tycho Celchu, 2× A-Wings
Pre-Battle Thoughts
If this had been old Sato, I’d have shrugged it off. But nuSato brings steady, reliable damage across multiple small ships — and Matt’s list had plenty of them. Four combat hulls and a mixed Rogue cast meant constant chip damage wherever I turned. The saving grace? No massed bombers, just a couple, so my ships could at least survive long enough to complain about it.
The Battle
We were both at 400 points, so we rolled — I won, took first player, and picked Fighter Ambush to mitigate his deployment advantage.
Going first with Liberty or Gallant Haven can be huge, but I was out-activated 5-to-4, which stung a bit.
 |
| Setup |
From the moment of deployment, things already felt awkward. I didn’t leverage my deployment advantage at all, and Matt’s Sabine mine forced me to slow Gallant Haven for a turn.
 |
| Start of turn 3 |
That delay later left my fleet spread thin — Liberty charging ahead, AF lagging, squadrons stretched like taffy.
 |
| Start of turn 4 |
Turn 4 brought fireworks.
Liberty had jumped forward in turn 3, dodging everyone, and now deleted a Hammerhead before it could activate, then stripped the redirect off Matt’s flagship CR90 with Intel Officer and left it on two hull after a "ass-swing" ram.
I was taking damage and losing fighters, but things looked promising.
Gallant Haven also opened up nicely, landing hull damage on another Hammerhead. Spirits were high.
Then… reality.
Three things went wrong:
-
Liberty over-committed. I’d had my big hero moment, but now I was out of position and staring at empty space. Classic me. One day I’ll learn to fly Liberties properly.
-
The squadron ball fell apart. Out of Gallant Haven and Toryn range, the A-wings fought piecemeal. Miraculously, some even survived and killed some of Matt's squads, but it wasn’t pretty.
-
Dice went cold. I ended the game with his flagship on 1 hull, one Hammerhead on 1 hull, and the Nebulon at 2 hull. Couldn’t finish any of them. Four dice at medium from the AF vs the surviving HH — zero damage. Fenn Rau into the exposed butt of the CR90. Nothing. AF into the side of the CR90. Nothing. Sometimes the Force just says “no.”
 |
| End state |
Gallant Haven eventually died. It was always going to, but the annoying part was that it took nothing down with it. Rut realistically, the crippled Hammerhead, and maybe the near-dead CR90, should have joined it.
Result
7–4 to Matt.
He got 2 tokens, all my squads, and the potato. I killed 1 HH and 4 of his squads, no tokens.
Well-earned on his part — maybe not quite the margin the game state suggested, but absolutely deserved.
Post-Battle Reflections
I did a few things right, a few things… spectacularly not.
Matt flew a tight, cohesive plan, while I split my fleet and paid for it. My dice were mid-range, but the real problem was me.
A few takeaways:
-
NuSato is legit. Not overpowered, but interesting, consistent, and flexible. Sometimes the damage bump is subtle, but it adds up fast.
-
Fleet cohesion matters. Don’t split the squad cover from the ships they’re meant to protect. I do this like half the time, so clearly I'm a very slow learner!
-
Liberty discipline. Once that ship commits, you’d better have a plan for the next few turns or you'll be staring at empty space. I do this every single time, or close to it. Maybe the Liberty isn't really the ship for me.
-
The Potato remains absurdly tanky — until you forget to run away. It would have, if I hadn't forgotten to use my Eng token turn 5, lived until turn 6 — and finally killed SOMETHING lol. But that was more of a fluke, really, as it was Matt's turn to have some wonky dice that not even Sato could fix.
ARC Impact
NuSato feels like one of ARC’s best reworks. He slots neatly into different fleet types — from small screens, Rogue mixes like this, to full bomber setups — without being oppressive. If this match was any indication, the card has real legs.
Summary & Conclusion
The Chocolate League was great fun overall — a perfect reminder that Armada shines brightest when it’s not all about squeezing every last efficiency out of 400 points.
Take my own fleet: the Liberty title isn’t bad, it’s just overshadowed by Mon Karren. But pairing it with Gallant Haven and Fenn Rau led to some truly entertaining games. Even my budget Ion Cannon + XX-9 + XI7 combo wasn’t terrible — cheap, thematic, occasionally brilliant.
Maybe that’s what we need more of locally: games with intentional handicaps. Ban a few top-tier upgrades and see what chaos people invent. Either that, or keep playing campaigns and sector battles, which is a different kind of fun from 400 Standard games.
Final Thoughts on Online Play
It was great being back online — seven games between TTS and VASSAL — but it also reminded me why I don’t do it constantly.
Games just take too long. Two hours, two-and-a-half, sometimes three plus. Everything’s digital, so it should be faster, yet somehow it isn’t. Players (myself included) spend forever on trivial moves they’d snap-decide on in person.
And then there are the time zones. Finding a match that fits both schedules can be like solving a HoloNet encryption key. Not impossible, just… tedious.
Still — totally worth it for this tournament. Thanks to all my opponents, the organizers, and everyone following along through this Chocolate adventure.
Next stop: the Euros in Poland in two weeks.
Stay tuned — and may your my red dice always double.
No comments:
Post a Comment