Wave 5 is here and what a fantastic wave it is. Not only did we get the usual new ships & new squads but this wave brings with it Corellian Conflict a new campaign mode for Armada that breathes new life to Star Wars Armada in an epic way.

In Todays What Makes It Tick I will be picking up Star Wars Armada about two waves since my last article and while I could bore you with the reasons why I haven’t been playing, the reality is that with the last couple of waves the game has been reborn and I’m excited about it again. Today I will be talking about some of the more controversial and interesting cards to come out in recent waves. Enjoy!

Bomber Command Center
Coming out of the Imperial Assault Carriers and Rebel Transports expansion packs Bomber Command Center has become the new hotness in competitive meta proving itself at the Star Wars Armada World Champion in 2016 in which both the 1st and 2nd place lists made heavy use of the card. If there is any card you must be prepared to deal with in the Meta in 2017 it’s definitely this one.

There are so many advantages and ways to leverage this card but the best, most common and perhaps most effective way is to simply spam the shit out of it. While it counts as a “Fleet Support Upgrade Card” limiting it to the Assault Carriers and Rebel Transports, truth is, even if it wasn’t it would still likely be the meta to put them on those ships anyway. These are some cheap, disposable ships that can actually be pretty hard to blow up and as such in most matches they are largely ignored ensuring that Bomber Command Centers remain in play and you are able to leverage them throughout the match.

The ability to re-roll black bomber squad dice is nothing short of overwhelmingly powerful thanks to the dices ability to roll hit/crit results. When running two or three of these ships, not only do you gain an activation advantage thanks to having more ships on the table then your opponent but the effect stacks allowing you to reroll your bomber squad attacks multiple times. Not to mention having disposable fleet blockers. The advantages here vs. the point cost to put them on the table can only be described as dirt cheap.

We saw this effect in the world championship final bout this year and there is no question in how deadly this combination is. Flying 8 Y-Wings (80 points!) protected by Intel and some escorts with 3 bomber command centers and what you end up with is a fleet of squads that can practically guarantee 8 hits & 8 Crits every single bloody round. Sure there is the logistics of making sure everything is exactly where it should be during the course of a match. While the pro’s make that look easy, believe me that it’s not that simple, but suffice to say in the right hands this Bomber Command Center supported by a fleet of Bomber based squads is a deadly combination no capital ship can withstand.

Consider the base for the list.

3 Rebel Transports (GR-75 Medium)+ Bomber Command Centers = 78 Points
8 Y-Wings + 2 HWK – 290 = 104 Points

Your base list is effectively 182 with 218 points left to fill out the list.

That base combo is already deadly in its own right, but imagine now throwing in Commander Sato or as the world champion did General Dodonna. It really is brutality unleashed, the potential for damage from this very cheap base is staggering. You would be hard pressed to combine 182 points into something that could unleash that many dice with so many re-rolls and because the dice are scattered over 8 separate rolls, capital ship defense are rendered useless against them.

I would personally advise not spamming Transports, really, one command center is plenty.  The black die is pretty dependable, if you happen to roll a blank once, you aren’t likely to do it twice in a row.  Having a single command center, maybe two should be more than sufficient.  The pro’s might not agree with me, but I work under the assumption that we aren’t all pros, I’m certainly not.  For me, its better to get more effects, ships and squads on the board then it is to put all my eggs in one basket.

Now we could talk about how fantastic this combination is but the truth is that whether you are going to use it, or face it, you need to know how it unravels. How do you deal with such a list and combination of effects? Well that was a question many tried to answer and failed during the World Championship, but I do believe there are a couple of things that could ultimately challenge a list with this base.

One thing I can say upfront is that you can’t ignore the Y-Wings or really any bomber spam. That just simply won’t work, not unless you plan to stay out of the fight entirely. But unlike the classic Rhymer Ball, you can outmaneuver the slow moving Y-Wings and more importantly leverage the fact that the Transports themselves, while sturdy for their size and point cost can be rendered defenseless with a couple of new upgrades we got in recent waves as well as some old rarely used upgrades. Blowing them up early is the key as without the squadron support and re-rolls, Y-Wings are considerably less effective and can be rendered useless through some clever maneuvering. That however is easier said then that as typically the squads are placed up front so anything that wants to shoot at the transports is going to have to deal with the fighter/bombers leading the battle.

For the Rebels a good place to start is the MC30 (Torpedo Frigate) with  H9 Turbolasers. This all but assures that when firing at an Assault Carrier or Rebel Transport that you are going to be able to squash that Scatter and mop up those 3 points of hull in one swift round. Two would be even better. Strategies will naturally vary but you aren’t going to one to come up the front and you probably want to make your opponent split his attention. You definitely don’t want to do what the 2nd place holder did during the championship and go up the front in some vein hope that you can survive the bombings. You won’t, there isn’t a ship in the entire game no matter how you equip it that can withstand 8 bombers shooting at it especially when they can re-roll those black dice multiple times.

The same is true for the Imperials, though it’s worth pointing out that as deadly as this combination is in a rebel list, with a Rhymer ball and bomber based list, a similar list for the Imperials can be as deadly if not deadlier thanks to the range advantage not to mention that Imperial ships are cheaper. So of course while you could counter with Gladiators in a similar fashion as the MC30’s, one way to counter a bomber list like this would be to have your own.

The main strategy at the base of it is to get rid of those support ships with Bomber Command and the best way to do it is to ensure you have at least one accuracy to get rid of its main protection which is the scatter.  This probably explains are worlds champions reasoning behind using 3 Transports with bomber command, he knows that little 18 point transport is the key to his list so he tripled down to make sure he always has those re-rolls.

Suffice to say though this is all very theoretical, as the world champion proved during the competition this year, it is much easier said than done. It’s a very strong meta list and flown well it can put out considerable damage.

Many would argue that Bomber Command Centers are overpowered but keep in mind that they are 8 points which is on the high end in terms of upgrades and they currently must be placed on very soft ships that can quickly and easily be dispatched. Since the strategy is so heavily based on these support ships, you have a very obvious weak point to target.

One other thing to keep in mind is that a heavy anti-squadron based list that can quickly overwhelm the Intel and escorts is also a good option.  Especially in the form of A-Wings and now with E-Wings.  Good anti-squadron is always a good choice in a list as has always been the case for facing heavy bomber lists, but Y-Wings in particular are quite tough and can often win squad based fights so it’s important that your anti-squad suppression is well thought out and preferably using the “Counter” keyword. Don’t presume Y-Wings in particular are easy to kill, they do pretty ok in dog fights in large numbers and have the hull points to outlast in big fights, in particular with an opponent who will be highly motivated to get them back on their bombing run making use of heavy anti-fighter fire from their capital ships.

Rapid Launch Bays

Another widely discussed card that just entered the frey in Wave 5, discussed not so much for its potential effects on the meta, but more in regards to what the card actually does. Arguably the most poorly worded card in Armada to date, it’s difficult to decipher how it actually works, but today we are going to try.

So let’s look at the wording here.

The first part I think is quite clear. You effectively set ships aside so that you can deploy them during the match. This in its own right creates a lot of opportunity for exploiting interesting tactics, namely bringing slow moving ships into the fight. There are many slow squads in the game that often have trouble getting into position and this card addresses that issue by not only getting them to the battlefield but keeping them protected (un-targetable) while in the safety of their carrier ship.

The tricky wording in the second section of the card is where all the discussion comes from.

There are three points of contention here.

First is the “you would activate with this command”. The second is the word “Instead” and finally the last part “It cannot move this activation”.

There are really two ways you can read this. The first is that since the card says “For each squadron you would activate with this command you may instead.. do x and y”. This suggests that this is a special action, not governed by the rules of activation. Meaning that the squadron comes into play “not activated”. Allowing you to simply put it into play and set it up for future activation’s.

The card follows up with “It cannot move this activation” which is perhaps the most confusing element of the card. What activation is it talking about? The ship activation or the squad activation. If it’s the squad activation this suggests the exact opposite, that the ship is activated, but it simply cannot move, hence it can attack according to standard activation rules.  Keep in mind that standard rules always apply when their is no specific exception given on a card. If it’s a ship activation on the other hande, it suggest that its not activated but since its not, you should with another squad command point you be able activate the ship and attack, but still can’t move.

The general two questions here are, is it activated and if so while we know it can’t move, can it shoot? That’s the big debate. Activated or not and can it shoot or not.

The answer is at best inconclusive and it has been so far ruled in a number of different ways, though none of them official by FFG. While an explanation is sure to come at some point, for our house games and in particular if you are running a tournament we still need to answer this question.

My general sense of the card is that in the last part where it mentions “It cannot move this activation” is a reference to the ship activation, not squad activation. The logic here is that the spending of your squad command points during the activation can be split up, some of the points going to activating squads normally and others using Rapid Launch Bay.

I think it’s best to see it in action with an example.

Lets say you have an Assault Frigate with 3 squad points and a squad token that has 2 B-Wings stashed away using Rapid Launch Bays.

You activate the ship and reveal a squad command. Now its time to spend the points. You spend the first two points to put out your B-Wings in distance 1 of the carrier. They are not activated, this is all you can do with those two points, however you of course have 2 points remaining (one from the command and one from the squad command token). You now activate your B-Wings using your remaining two points, now since it’s still the same ship activation you can’t move them, but you can attack, so if you had ships in range you can attack with the B-Wings.

I believe this is the intent of the card, now of course this is not official and some including myself would argue that in the last part of the wording of the card it could be referring to squad activation which would suggest that you could use a single squad point to put out a B-Wing, activate it and attack (but not move). However I would argue that if this was true, this card would be stupidity over powered at only 6 points. You could in this case have 4 B-Wings stashed away, put them all out and attack with all 4 of them in a single action, with Extended Hanger Bays and a squad token you could do this with 5 B-Wings. Throw in command centers and you’re talking about a card that would completely redefine how the game is played. Even in the first scenario this is a very powerful effect but in the second scenario it’s just way out of hand. While you might be able to argue the translation, it would be hard to justify the power of this card in the scope of the game and its ultimately because of the question of balance, I believe the card will likely be ruled as our first example not our second.

Currently in most tournaments, including local regionals the first scenario is being used, it’s what I would recommend you use until the official FAQ is released.

Rebel Pelta Class Command Ship

Ok so let’s talk a bit about the new ship, specifically the Pelta Class Command Ship which is definitely the one I’m personally most eager to try. Finally we have joining the world of Armada a proper pure support ship that can affect the battle field on a global level. Now we have had quasi support ships in the past like a Redemption, Projection Experts fitted Nebulon-B or the more recent Rebel Transport with Bomber Command Centers, but the Pelta is different. It has no range qualification for its Fleet Command slot as  these global effect driven cards simply require the spending of a token.  In that little slot a lot of magic can happen opening an entirely new world of options for list building. This however is just one small part of the Pelta.

The first thing you might miss, but is important to note is the 4 engineering on a small ship. This is important because this ship will largely want to stay out of big fights and given its slow speed and maneuverability, being able to take a licking and keep on ticking is important when those flankers show up. 4 engineering means 2 shields each round without any special tokens or support and given its 3 on the front, 2 on the side and 1 on the back configuration and the fact it has 3 defense tokens (Brace, Re-direct and Evade), this is a sturdy ship with good recovery for its class. No one is going to come around and just melt it like they would easily do with a Nebulon-B fitted the same way.

More importantly it has a Support Team slot which means it can make use of Projection Experts when it’s not being shot at, sharing the wealth and further qualifying it as a proper support ship.

The fact that is boasts an Offensive Retrofit might have you scratching your head but thanks to gear like Phylong Q7 Tractor Beams, Rapid Launch Bays and Engine Techs you have serious versatility in choosing this ships role and capabilities.

Now the cost on this ship can get crazy quickly and you probobly don’t want to try to combine too many effects on it.  Its best chose to serve a very specific role, though more than any other ship in the game, its role can very dramatically depending what upgrades you put on it.  I think its for this reason more than any other that I’m already in love with the ship.

This is largely an untested ship though and so its honeymoon period may be short but it’s not hard to see the benefits of cards like Shields to the Maximum, All fighters follow me and Entrapment Formation. With no range requirements you have what amounts to the first truly global effect on the battlefield able to reach everyone always. You can effectively build entire lists around these core concepts and that in its own right I believe will be well worth the investment but the truth is that unless a ship can fight or add something to a fight on its own its usually not worth putting into most lists.

Thankfully for that purpose we have the Assault version of the ship, a far more shooty version that one can draw comparisons to the Gladiator.  In the assault version you gain an ordinance slot that can be leverage to throw in some additional fire power while still offering the core support features of the Pelta.  For the aggressive minded player this is a fantastic alternative to the more focused command version.

Some Musings

I truly believe that much of what has come out in Wave 5 is geared more towards the new campaign mode in mind than 400 vs. 400 point pitched matches and I believe the Pelta is one of those elements. Consider that Shields to the Maximum for example affects all “friendly” ships. That includes your allies when doing an all-out offensive during the campaign. So suddenly the impact of that command ship is even on a grander scale!

Its more than just the ship though.  In the campaign mode you are always thinking about the war, not just the individual battles.  You are also always thinking about the survival of your different ships and squads and as such you are likely going to be looking at upgrades and list selections very differently.  Equipment like Rapid Launch Bays can protect squadrons and offer you a choice as to when and even if you really want to risk them in a particular battle.    The choices and reasoning behind making them are going to change in the campaign and I believe a lot of what we got in wave 5 supports that.

My point is that I can’t say for certain that things like Rapid Launch Bays for example will be a thing in the competitive meta in 2017, but you can definitely expect to see them in the campaign as its clear the uses there are more defined.

That’s it for today’s article, hope you found something useful in it.  Fly Safe!

In my last article I kicked things off by looking at the Nebulon B and sort of doing a thorough assessment of a single ship. Now part of the reason I did this is because, in as a whole I feel in order to become a good Armada player you really need to look deeply under the hood of every ship, every upgrade, every mechanic etc. in the game. Hopefully that article presented a sufficiently thorough investigation into one ship that might trigger readers to look at others with the same vigor.

My next article in the series I attribute to the relentless ass whooping’s I have received since I started player Armada. Despite all the frustration, confusion and failed attempts at becoming a good Armada player what I have found is that from failure comes the greatest gains. In today’s article we are going to look at some of those lessons. Some of it will be very specific, some very theoretical but for me its all-golden lessons learned through the very gratifying art of utter failure.

Don’t forget to assess your opponents list

This really is one of the most common reasons why I have lost games. I get to the table, excited, full of energy, I just want to get those ships on the table and start the epic strategy I have contrived after days of staring and thinking about my own list. In the end however no matter how you analyze your own list, the reality is that you are not going to win because of your list, you are going to lose because of your opponents.

Knowing what your opponents list strategy is, what his individual ships can do, what combo’s and synergy he has and how that affects your list is absolutely vital to know long before you start setting down ships. You have to take the time to look, asses, think and adapt to your opponents list. This tip alone as seemingly obvious as it is, is actually almost never done. Even in tournaments it’s rare for my opponent to even ask me what I have, let alone actually come around the table and take a moment to look. Doing this improves your chances of winning dramatically, don’t ever forget!

Accept the Meta, Embrace The Imbalance

Meta’s always form, whether it’s the general competitive tournament meta, your local game shop or group meta or just casual games between you and your one friend. You have to adapt to the formation of metas and simply accept that in most cases meta’s are formed out of imbalanced elements of the game or more typically perceived imbalances. Players are going to try to find the best, most effective ways to win matches and the foundation of that is always going to be based on select elements of the game due to their efficiency and impact. In a sense this creates exclusion of many components of the game, while creating a sort of automatic selection of others. Not always a terribly fun approach to a game, but ignoring it is really is shooting yourself in the foot. Besides, meta’s change over time and it’s in this constant adjustment where the best players thrive, to be one, so must you.

It’s more than just understanding the meta though, its actively building lists and preparing yourself to respond to it. It’s really easy to throw your hands up in the air and proclaim something OP, but the purity and joy of overcoming a challenge by cleverly built lists and executed strategies is a feeling like no other. Challenge yourself to unravel the puzzles the meta presents and find solutions to overcoming it. Not only will you become a superior player but you are going to distinguish yourself because very few people get too far beyond filing complaints on the forums where their tears are collected by better players. If you must bitch, do so among the company of better players who if you are lucky will pat you on the back, offer advice and inspire you to try again.

Squads are vital, Don’t Ignore them

While I think there will always be effective ways to build all sorts of interesting and unique lists that exclude fighter squadrons, I believe they are really a core element of the Armada mechanic at this point. The game is really centered around the assumption that you will have fighters and the way fighter squadrons affect the game is in essence a sort of secondary battle which when resolved will allow the victor to push through to the heart of the main battle quickly turning the tide. In every match of Star Wars Armada I have ever played, in the end, when I asses the game I always come to the same conclusion. Fighter squadrons Impact and contribution is as vital as any capital ship. I have never played a game where squadrons didn’t play a key role in the victory of a game or the minimizing of a loss. Ignore them at your own peril but if you take any wisdom from this article, know that squadrons are like an insurance policy. You might not always need them, but not having them when you do is usually quite devastating.

It’s a game of maneuvering, not dice

Oh this is so hard to admit and so difficult to accept, especially for an unlucky bastard like me. It never fails that you pick up a handful of dice, watching the look on your opponent as he awaits his inevitable fate only to find heart ache on the table. The dice gods are cruel and we curse them for their insolence.

Yes, dice do matter but if you end a match and blame the dice for your loss you will never, ever, be a good Armada player. Oh it’s hard, I know, believe me, if anyone has a complaint to file with the dice gods it’s me. In the end however no matter how you analyze, no matter how much you calculate and how much time you spend in church praying, its maneuvering not dice that will lead you to victory.

This is first and foremost a game of maneuvering and it’s a rare match indeed that you can’t trace back to tactical maneuvering errors. Sure builds are important, global strategies are important and certainly if you are just rolling blanks things aren’t going to go well. Maneuvering however is the great equalizer, it’s how you deny your opponent opportunities and create them for yourself. There is no better method to improve your game than learning to control the plastic on the table. Getting those ships into their arches, managing ranges, precision timing and the ability to think a turn or two ahead are all priceless skills.

More than that though as you learn to maneuver and become efficient at being exactly where you want to be, it opens doorways to new builds, to understanding advantages of less common ships and equipment and above all else it allows you the luxury of creating more efficiency within your lists as you won’t have to compensate for your own errors.

No question in my mind that if you learn to do nothing else but maneuvering like a pro you WILL win games.

Don’t give up

I’m not referring to Armada in general but specifically matches that have gone badly or turned on you. I have found that in Armada it’s not over until the fat lady sings and while sometimes you can have atrocious setbacks, every new round offers an opportunity for your opponent to make a mistake and you to make a comeback.

I have seen opponents rise from the grave and I have watched my self fall from seemingly impossible heights. If you stick it out, re-asses and continue to look for opportunities you stand a solid chance of finding them and making a comeback and this isn’t just some motivational or inspirational suggestion, it’s an object fact in Star Wars Armada for mechanical reasons.

It’s difficult to explain, I will do my best here. The thing about Armada is that setbacks usually take place for one of two reasons, your opponent executes a well laid plan and it worked, or you made a mistake and gave him an opportunity that he ceased. The thing about Armada is that everything always has a drawback, regardless of how the success was given birth. There is no action you can take that won’t ultimately present consequences for taking it and at its core this is why Armada is so mechanically well balanced.

Whatever advantage a ship has in one round, will be undone because he took that action in the next and this is the part you have to see on the board to understand how you will take advantage of it and turn things around. Every ship in particular has an optimal position that they are trying to get themselves in but ultimately that position will become a liability in future rounds when it has passed. Sure that Demolisher can shoot, move and shoot which can have deadly results for you, but he has to move and that position he is in when the smoke clears, is your new advantage, cease it.

Point here is that everyone eventually has to expose their weakness but it can be hard to see through the tears of a previous disaster, you have to wipe them away and look for the opportunities that result, they are probably staring you right in the face.

Strategy and Planning around the dice

Ok so I already said the game is not about the dice so this may sound contradictory but you do in fact have to have some sort of plan on how to handle dice because they are part of the game. You have to understand the threats and opportunities on the table and those are often represented by the potential of the dice. Here is how I see them.

First and foremost the black and blue dice you have to see as guaranteed hits, meaning when you are planning your strategy just presume whatever amounts of dice are being rolled, that is how many hits you can expect out of blue and black. This is a very statistically inaccurate way to look at it, but if you walk into a match with this belief and you make decisions based on that assumption you are going to be a lot tougher to beat.

Never roll red die at medium or short range, if you do, you’re doing it wrong. Ok again, hardly a realistic assessment, or even realistically possible to do but it’s how you want to see the use of your ships that are focused on red dice. Your job is to play keep away, you want to roll red dice without getting blue or black dice thrown at you from your targets. Clearly an impossible task but again if you approach the game with this attitude you will be a lot tougher to beat.

Always work on the assumption that your opponent will roll better than you. This is my favorite piece of advice because it mentally prepares you for what the game typically feels like even though statistically it’s probably not true. Aggression can and often will be rewarded, but reliance on out rolling your opponent NEVER pays in anyway shape or form. The game is about strategy, not gambling on your ability to roll dice well and don’t trick yourself into calling it “risk”. It’s not risk if you’re praying for good results for yourself and bad results for your opponent. Again, it’s a game about maneuvering so your job is to deny your opponent opportunities first and create them for yourself second. If you create opportunities for yourself while setting up your opponent for his you aren’t creating a strategy, you are worshiping at the altar of luck. Trust me, it’s worse than scientology, it’s a path that leads nowhere.

Finally don’t build lists driven by statistical dice assumptions or explosive possibilities. For example a Salvation with Slaved Turrets and a concentrate fire lets you roll 5 dice. That’s fantastic, but if the only reason you added that ship to your list is because you might get 5 double hit results for a staggering 10 damage be prepared to be disappointed. Don’t build strategies based on rolling dice because dice will disappoint you. Build strategies on consistency, reliability or as part of a larger tactical plan. For example the Salvation might be perfect if combined to be part of a larger strategy in which the reliance is less so on the dice but on the tactical maneuverability and advantage of the Nebulon-B. Rolling 5 dice and getting 10 hits, great!!— if you get them, but if you don’t, your strategy shouldn’t suddenly fall apart as a result.

The Golden Rule

Ok this is a bit cliché but don’t forget that it’s a game and you are there to have fun. Competitive or casual it makes no difference, if you don’t like the list your running or the strategy you have built you aren’t going to win no matter how well thought out it is if all your trying to do is just get it done so that it’s over. The best players are always the most enthusiastic ones; those that love the game and want to be there win or lose. All and all victory is sweet, but it can leave you bitter if you didn’t enjoy earning it!

I have to admit that I don’t always take my own advice but I’m never surprised to find myself losing a match, then going back and making the stark realization that if I had, I probably would have done a lot better. Still I really believe in the advice presented here, I honestly think that if you follow it you will win more often and enjoy the game a lot more.

Have a great weekend, Nerd out!