The FAQ is Nigh!

The rumored pre-Worlds FAQ hit today. The day AFTER I wrote about it. That's Dark Side visions for you ladz!

Link to article.

The big

Flotillas: We finally got a fix for flotilla spam. There is now a hard cap of max 2 flotillas AND you get TABLED if the only "ships" you have left are flotillas. Those fixes are just great!

This is in the TOURNAMENT REGS, NOT THE FAQ. So it doesn't necessarily affect casual games, or CC games.

And about time I'd say - for too long have 3+ flotillas been . Personally I'd done my share of flotilla abuse, with a Sloane Gozanti spam and my Vader Vassal World Cup list. But I'm sick and tired of it, and have already moved on. 

Relay: Relay now only works within command range of the ship. So distance 1-3 normally, or 1-5 with Boosted Comms. This is a game changer for many lists that relayed on flotilla spam and relay to squad the enemy to death with little risk. So indirectly also a flotilla nerf.

Roquax' 2+4 GHY takes a beating from this (also bc both Yavaris & GH get's nerfed too), and so does my old Sloane Nationals list. For Sloane I'd probably have to adjust by either taking a Quasar or doing Pryce on a tricked ISD. Which are good changes, as it makes it more a battle, rather than a technicality.

The medium

Avenger: Exhaust to use, so doesn't work on a double arc (or with GT). This one I didn't see coming, but OK, it's a decent change I guess.

Gallant Haven: Still works as before, but can't reduce damage to less than 1. This is a welcome fix.

Yavaris: No longer works with FC+FCT. If you add the relay nerf, Yavaris is probably where it should be now.

The small

Aspiration: You can MOVE (not recover) shields, either with Repair or Proj Experts, as long as you do't go over the normal max.

Biggs: Can't move more damage onto Rieekan zombies. Good change IMO.

Blockade Run: Now has a definite timing, which is nice.

Chimaera: Works like I told you guys. Discard a Fleet Command to swap in a new Fleet Command. It is the REMOVED FROM PLAY. The same command can even be brought back again later. For scoring only the command that was ON THE SHIP when it was destroyed counts.

Luke: Luke's special ability doesn't work with Norra's special ability. I think we've been playing like that for ages, but I guess clearing it up was needed.

Ordnance Pods: Shoots at ALL targets in arc-range. But we knew that already.

Raddus: If you deploy the Raddus ship (start of round), then Raddus' flagship gets blown up by an Ion Cannon (end of Command Pahse), the Raddus ship still cannot activate first. It's in line with other effects that last the round, even if the card leaves the table.

Set aside clarifications: Some stuff is cleared up, like Bail/Pryce can't set a round if they are set aside.

Strategic Adviser: To use ship has to A) be on the table (not set aside) and B) not have activated that round. 

Thrawn: Suddenly you CAN tokenize a Thrawn dial. Completely unexpected, but a nice boost. At the same time we get a clarification that stuff like Grint CANNOT trigger from a Thrawn dial, not even on the flagship

Wave 8 Is Coming & Hear the FAQ Roar

Wave 8 news

This is it boys: the Executor IS HERE.

Oh, sorry. Wrong tense. The Executor WILL BE HERE. I hope.

Now, after that little joke, back to topic :-D

You've all heard the rumors: There will be a wave 8 for Armada (and hopefully more after that). It's just taking a while. But we're not salty! The Armada community is ever patient, and we NEVER cry "Armada is dead!". Not without good reason anyway.

You've also heard the FFG statement "something big is coming", which came up in conjunction with wave 7 and was hotly debated. Guys, whatever you think, that "big" wasn't Thrawn, even if his ego is a bit large. It also wasn't just a reference to wave 7's big ships and big ship upgrades. The "something big" is even larger than that: it's positively EPIC, and it's the Executor. This interpretation was recently underlined in this forum post.

Also known as Armada SKU SWM20, a product that was playtested way back (confirmed by several now-dead Bothans), but never released. It's talked about in this thread and many others, but FFG has been really secretive, so we don't have any details. Just forum speculation (also try searching the forum for SWM20).

It'll be a new base size, that's a given. You can't fit in on a Large base. Let's call it a Huge (or maybe Epic?) base. Will probably have some special rules, but I've no idea what. For example: I wonder if Large only upgrades will go on a Huge/Epic ship? In a blog post Crabbok talks a little about how such large ships might fit on the table - I agree with this; it's possible if the designers want it to be.

I don't see the problem. Do you?

From Mel's Miniatures

It will also contain a host of exiting new upgrades (all expansions do), probably slanted towards Empire officers (duh!). And of course Admiral Piett, the commander. That's a given.

Anyway, feel free to disagree with me, but as usual I'm right and the rest of you are wrong ;-)

Except sometimes I'm not... I'm just very opinionated. So take my musings with a big pinch of salt please. I've always been in the camp that thinks the SSD could be viable in Armada, given the sliding scale. And games are built on hope, right? 

FAQ news

A new FAQ is also right around the corner according to some sources. I think it was some Armada players who talked to the brother of the daughter of the cousin of the aunt of someone who knows a janitor working at FFG. TOTALLY RELIABLE!

This new FAQ will drop BEFORE Worlds. Probably a couple of weeks before, enough so that half the players won't have time to adjust/playtest properly. Good one FFG, good one ;-)

But I can't afford to go anyway, so the timing doesn't matter. I'm a bit salty (about not being able to go), but I just can prioritize Worlds this time. Maybe next year?

On a more serious note: yes, a FAQ is coming. And it will have some impact on flotillas. But I don't know what. Playtesting has been done on various options (again a lot of Bothans died to bring you this), but I've no idea what the final version FFG puts out will be.

For me personally it doesn't matter too much. And I'm not thinking about Worlds here. I'm just talking the meta in general. I've had my fun using and abusing flotillas. By now I've had my fill, and moved on, before any FAQ. And while I would welcome some nerfs and tweaks, I'm a good enough player I can handle any flotilla-abuse I face.

What a nerf could do, however, is make more builds competitively viable. That's a good thing.