Welcome back to Special Modifications!
Han Solo once said he’d made a few “special modifications” to the Falcon. Some good, some bad, all of them interesting. That’s the spirit behind this new series: exploring nonstandard Armada. Not just fleet lists or tournament meta, but the underlying strings that hold the game together. What if the designers had pulled them differently? What might have worked better? What happens when you tinker with the system in ways it was never quite built for?
All Wings Report In
Armada’s squadron game has always been… complicated. It isn’t just ships shooting at each other — it’s a full subgame layered on top of ship-to-ship combat, with interactions between squadrons, ships, upgrades, and keywords all tangled together.
Some players dislike the entire subsystem and would rather play with ships only, while the rest of us enjoy the combined-arms feel that squadrons provide. But that's not today's topic, so let's move on.
Perhaps because of this layered complexity, the initial design (and costing) of generic squadrons didn’t quite land where it needed to. It's not unique to squadrons of course — the cost of the Victory-II or Grand Moff Tarkin anyone?
But back to the snubfighters. From the very beginning, Rebel players in particular had to stack layer upon layer of support pieces to make their squadrons work…
Think about it: Bomber Command Center, Jan Ors, Biggs Darklighter, Norra Wexley, the humble speed-2 YT-1300 acting as a sacrificial escort, and external supports like Jamming Fields, Gallant Haven, and Yavaris. Each piece fills a hole, each props up a weakness. We even got Hera (X-wing) and Fenn Rau (relatively) recently!
Together they formed a precarious house of cards — and that house of cards is what let Rebel squadron play function at all. And then, when everything came together with Rieekan acting as the glue, it became a dominant fleet archetype that persisted for a long time.
Compare that to A-wings, which needed basically zero support. They were fast, self-sufficient, and useful out of the box. And yet — their cost relative to aces, plus their lack of synergy with the Rebel support suite, often left generics by the wayside.
On the Imperial side, the “solution” looked very different. Instead of spreading the load across a dozen support effects, the Empire got one big fix: Admiral Sloane. She transformed their anti-squadron generics into token-stripping monsters while retaining the speed and striking range that Imperial squadrons were already good at.
Where the Rebels had to glue together half their card pool to get squadrons running, the Empire just stapled Sloane to a fleet and called it a day.
And in her own way, Sloane made for some rather oppressive experiences when you leveraged her with multiple flotillas, unlimited relay, and a sky full of scatter aces...
These experiences tell us something important: many of the base generics were poorly designed or poorly costed.
Fast-forward to the Clone Wars factions, and you can see the contrast. More thought clearly went into the design of GAR and CIS generics, and for the most part, it worked. A fun comparison: the Rebel Y-wing vs the GAR Y-wing. Nearly identical on paper — but the GAR version is considered good, while the Rebel version only ever shines as Gold Squadron. Then again, GAR might be the least-played faction overall, so maybe “good” doesn’t mean quite as much as it should. And those pesky Hyenas are a real menace because they are by far the cheapest — and fastest — generic double-dice bombers. Makes you think: what if ALL rebel Y-wings were like Gold or the TIE Bomber could chuck two reds?
Before we dive in, a quick disclaimer: we’ll be looking at these squadrons in relative isolation. Of course we’re aware that upgrades, commanders, and squadron synergies exist — but we’ve already covered how much of that was bolted on over time to patch holes or rein in excess. For this exercise, we need to strip it back. If the X-wing had been better (and cheaper) from the start, maybe the need for Biggs and Jan Ors would have been reduced — or maybe they would have needed a cost increase or rework. The point is to think about the squadrons themselves, while still keeping overall faction identity in mind.
And to be clear: synergy itself isn’t a bad thing. Armada thrives on clever interactions, layered buffs, and listbuilding puzzles. The problem is when synergy becomes primarily about propping up weaknesses or serving as a stopgap for underpowered units. That’s where Rebel squadron design went astray.
We also need to acknowledge the role of squadron keywords. They’re one of the biggest differentiators between various generics. Some are relatively weak — Grit, for example, is useful but not exactly game-breaking, and could probably stand to be stronger (maybe stacking, or ignoring Heavy squadrons entirely). Dodge can save your hide in niche cases, but since it doesn’t work against flak, it leaves generics like the Delta-7 eternally overpriced. On the other end of the spectrum, Rogue is hugely impactful — it opened up an entirely new way to play squadrons, though it also created the odd timing puzzle of “rogues act last one round, then regular squadrons first the next round,” which has very little counterplay. And of course, Intel used to be borderline broken (or at least it didn't offer enough counterplay) in its original form, while its 1.5 rework just hands out Grit — which is perhaps too weak. Finally, some keywords are worth less because they are on the "wrong" platform. Belbullabs and Screen anyone? Now imagine Hyenas having Screen instead. See my point?
We won’t go into detail on every keyword here — that’s probably a post of its own — but keep in mind that they’re part of the reason some generics shine while others never quite justify their points.
And we need to mention one other structural issue: single-die bombers. Right out of the gate, they felt underpowered. Their anti-squadron firepower is bad, and against ships their damage output is only moderate. Compare that to the punch of a two-dice bomber, and the gap is massive. That doesn’t mean the answer is to just make everything a two-dice bomber — that would be going overboard. But it’s worth considering, case by case. For example: what would be the pros and cons of making every Y-wing as good as the aforementioned Gold Squadron? We’ll come back to that when relevant.
And then there’s the bulk freighter in the hangar: the relatively small cost gap between generics and aces with defense tokens. That small difference in points value was a big reason we eventually saw the “ace cap” of four per fleet. (That’s a topic for another post, but it’s critical context here.) Ideally, both aces and generics should be costed appropriately, but that’s just not where Armada ended up. If a generic A-wing is 11 points, there’s no way Tycho Celchu at 16 is correctly priced.
So in this installment of Special Modifications, we’re going to do a faction-by-faction study of the generic squadrons: what they cost, what they bring to the table, and how they should have been designed to compete with their ace counterparts.
Oh, and don't forget: this is a Special Modifications feature, so we're deep diving into the game's systems for the fun of it, not because we're actually redesigning anything.
Rebels: Tricks to Make Mediocrity Work
The Rebel Alliance’s squadron identity has always been a little awkward. On paper, they were meant to be slower but tougher than the Empire, with more generalist squadrons that could fill multiple roles. They also had a clear bomber tilt: three of their four core generics are bombers (X-wings, Y-wings, B-wings). Add to this their famous rogues — especially unique rogues — and you’d think Rebels were spoiled for choice.
In practice, their generics struggled.
From day one, Rebel squadron play leaned heavily on support pieces. Cards like Bomber Command Center, Jan Ors, Biggs Darklighter, Norra Wexley, and, later, Hera Syndulla. The humble speed-2 YT-1300 with Escort just to eat Empire alpha strikes. Add external supports like Jamming Fields, Gallant Haven, or Yavaris, and the picture becomes clear: Rebel squadrons were never good enough on their own. They needed layers upon layers of aura buffs and synergies to become competitive. And, of course, Rieekan only works on unique squadrons...
This is why Rebel identity eventually became synonymous with synergy. Not because it was the original intent, but because it was necessary. Rebels became the faction that took mediocre baselines and made them dangerous by combining Jan with Biggs, or Toryn with BCC, or Yavaris with B-wings.
Looking at the generics themselves:
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X-wings should have been the workhorse — escort + bomber — but they were always a little too expensive for what they did, and underwhelming without help.
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Y-wings were cheap and tanky, but their inefficiency showed quickly. Only Gold Squadron really made them shine.
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B-wings hit like a truck, but were so painfully slow that you basically needed Yavaris and FCT to make them work. Eventually, B-wings really mean just Ten Numb.
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A-wings were the exception — fast, self-sufficient, and genuinely useful. Yet even here, the small cost gap between generics and aces (Tycho, Shara) left players asking: why not just pay a few more points for something strictly better?
So yes, Rebels had options. But they had to work twice as hard to make them pay off. Their squadron identity became “the synergy faction” largely because their generics were too weak to stand on their own.
Empire: One Card to Rule Them All
The Empire’s identity was sharper from the start: faster, more specialized squadrons, but also frailer than the Rebels’. TIEs swarmed, struck, and died. Most Imperial squadrons did one thing well — shoot ships, intercept squadrons, or soak hits — and that was it. Bombers were rarer, and rogues existed but never matched Rebel equivalents.
What really defined the Empire was how fragile their generics were compared to their aces. A TIE Fighter or Interceptor was cheap and fast, but also disposable. Aces, on the other hand, were only a handful of points more expensive but infinitely more reliable. Sound familiar?
The Empire’s “fix” came not through stacking supports, but through one card: Admiral Sloane. She turned the Empire’s plentiful anti-squadron dice into token-stripping weapons, giving their generics a new lease on life. Suddenly, TIE Fighters weren’t just disposable speed bumps — they were part of a fleet-wide denial engine that could cripple enemy defenses while still keeping up with the action. Where Rebels had to glue together half their upgrade deck to make squads viable, the Empire could just staple Sloane to a fleet and watch it hum.
Looking at the generics themselves:
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TIE Fighters were iconic, dirt cheap, and fragile. Perfect spam, but easily outclassed once aces entered the picture.
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TIE Bombers were semi-efficient ship-killers but needed escorts to avoid instant death, and their single attack die makes them hard to leverage in one activation.
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TIE Interceptors had speed and teeth, but paper-thin hulls made them unreliable.
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TIE Advanced became the “escort tax” — overpriced for what they brought, useful only for protecting bombers and aces.
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Later designs like the TIE Defender were almost too good, while Phantoms were clever but rarely impactful.
In short: Empire generics were sharper tools, but also brittle and overshadowed. Without Sloane, they struggled. With Sloane, they suddenly had an identity: oppressive domination.
Galactic Republic: Lessons Learned (Mostly)
The Republic’s generics were clearly designed with hindsight. On paper, they look a lot like the Rebel lineup: Torrent escorts instead of X-wings, Y-wings still the bomber backbone, ARCs as the heavy option, and Jedi aces in place of A-wings. But the balance was much tighter.
Where Rebels needed synergies to make their squads work, GAR generics were at least functional on their own. They weren’t flawless, but they were playable without an entire web of aura buffs. The tradeoff was that GAR fleets were built around tight ship–squad synergy — their ships and squadrons needed to work hand-in-hand more than any other faction.
Looking at the generics:
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V-19 Torrents were cheap escorts, filling the X-wing role at a lower cost. Individually unimpressive, but in groups they formed a decent screen.
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Y-wings were, well, Y-wings — but unlike Rebels, GAR’s version was tuned well enough to be worth fielding.
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ARC-170s were heavy, tanky hybrids — slow, yes, but flexible enough to justify their cost.
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Delta-7 Jedi Starfighters… and here’s where the cracks show. On paper, they’re impressive: speed, accuracy, and Jedi keywords. But at 17 points for 4 hull, they’re laughably fragile for the price. If you wanted to pay ace-level cost for a disposable body, this was the way to do it.
Overall, GAR showed what Rebel design could have looked like if more thought had gone into generics from the start. Not perfect, and occasionally way off (looking at you, Delta-7 generics), but a marked improvement.
Confederacy of Independent Systems: Swarms Done Right (Mostly)
CIS squadrons were in many ways the Empire 2.0. They shared the same fast, specialized, fragile profile — but their generics were simply better tuned. The AI keyword added a twist: CIS squadrons were predictable, but also efficient and effective when commanded properly.
If the Empire’s identity was speed and specialization, CIS added quantity. Their swarms were the truest “disposable horde” in Armada, and they worked.
Looking at the generics:
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Vulture Droids were the cheapest of the cheap, but actually good at being disposable. Spam them and watch them trade up.
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Hyena Bombers gave CIS a reliable bomber backbone, tuned better than Imperial or Rebel equivalents.
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Droid Tri-Fighters were fast, lethal, and fragile — basically what TIE Interceptors always wanted to be.
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Belbullabs though… what even is this? Zero synergy with the rest of the fleet, a weak Relay that barely matters, and Screen — a keyword that sounds good but in practice just means “ignore me until last.” And to cap it off, they’re overpriced for the package. No wonder you almost never see them.
The result was a faction whose generics mostly worked — CIS generics didn’t need endless support or a one-card commander fix. But when they whiffed (cough Belbullab cough), they really whiffed.
Next Up: In the next part, we'll explore some possible solutions and visualize them all.
