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0rph3u5
10-01-2015, 02:14 AM
Hi,

I just want to drop off the links to the collected the previews of Armada Wave 2:

ISD:
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/9/2/rule-through-fear/

https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/69/fd/69fd1ace-0dd0-4b07-8d0c-f74bcd80f137/imperial-i-class-star-destroyer.pnghttps://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/a0/ed/a0ed42b9-54af-412f-a357-9cab25f5fcef/imperial-ii-class-star-destroyer.png

This is the one everyone, I guess, has been waiting for. The first Imperial ship to appear in Star Wars (chronologically) and the one that is the most iconic. It was kinda sad that the VSD was released first but considering what we got with the ISD I can hardly blame FFG for that.

Fist, the similarities of the cards:
- Both varianst hold 11 Hull Points (1 more than the current max HP of 10 on Motti VSD).
- They come with 4/3/3/2 (Front/Port/Starboard/Rear) Shields.
- The Rear Batteries are the same with 1 red and 2 blue dice.
- 3 Command will make you plan three turns ahead (without one of the Titles).
- 4 Squadron will make it a good carrier (esspecially since you can upgrade it up to 5)
- 4 Engineering (not upgradeable to 5 though) will allow it to stay on the field very long IF you proactively manage your Repair Commands.
- It comes with one Brace, two Redirect and a Contain Defesive Tokens.
- It has the choice of the speed 0 - 3. But it's Yaw values are firmly capped at 1, which will require you to make use of the Navigate Command to do hard turns.
- Each variant has access to a Commander, a Offensive Retrofit, a Ion Cannon, a Turbolaser and a Weapons Team upgrade.

The Contain Token is new. It allows you to cancel (well, "prevent from resolving") a standard critical hit (which is being dealt a face-up damage card, and those can really hurt in Armada). Since most ships can only resolve one critical effect per attack that it a good defense to have in an one-on-one engagement.

Now let's run the differences between the two variants:
- As usually the differences start with the Batteries: ISD I has 3 red, 2 blue and 3 black in its front battery, the ISD II has a more unified loadout of 4 red and 4 blue. For those not in-the-know black dice deal more damage and only work a Close Range, but blue dice cannot miss (they have no black sides, so a blue battery will always inflict an effect on the Defender, unless it is a Squadron) and can be used at Medium-Close Range. This makes the ISD II main-battery much better a range
- The Port/Starboard Batteries make a similar but less fancy change between the Variants: 2 black and red for the ISD I, 2 blue and red each for the ISD II.
- The Anti-Squadron (AAA) Battery for the ISD I is 1 blue and 1 black, while ISD II has two blues.
- The ISD I comes with an additional Offensive Retrofit, while the ISD II comes with a Defensive Retrofit.
- You will pay a base cost of 110 for the ISD I and 120 for the ISD II (which will be 27,5 and 30 percent of your fleet points allowance resepctively.*)

* If you didn't know, FFG is upgrading the standard fleet points limit from 300 to 400 once Wave 2 comes to retailers.

In Summary in the ISD (both variants) is keeping with the Imperial play-style of big ships for which who will have to plan most of the game in advance - both with Command 3 and with the focus on the Front Battery has main source of your damage or scoring. But unlike the VSD the ISD has access to speed 3 which will allow you to get into engagement range faster, making an ISD a good ship to activate last.

There are still the rest of cards, but I will get to that later. Spoiler: the Tractor Beam seems like good control tool.

EDIT: and here we go:

So are the ISDs flagship material? - Yes, it was the Hull Points and the Engineering Value to keep it in the game for the long run.

Admirals:
- Ozzel (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/b9/60/b960d186-1669-496a-8034-2ebd733e9aa0/swm15-admiral-ozzel.png): Ozzel does very little for the ISDs themselves but he is cheap, actually the cheapest of the Imperial Admirals currently in the game. But in a list with some Raiders or Gladiators he might be a worthwhile investment,
- Motti (https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/media/ffg_content/star-wars-armada/news/wave1/admiral-motti.png): Cheap and great effect for the ISDs as they are getting up to 14 Hull Points. The drawback of course is that a ship with more hull points will also hold more face-up cards as the game progresses - and as mentioned before face-up damage cards in Armada can really hurt your ships' performance. I would rank him the second best Admiral-choice for the ISDs.
- Screed (https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/media/ffg_content/star-wars-armada/news/wave1/admiral-screed.png): Screed's effect is best with a ship with black dice, so supporting Gladiators or Raiders, even an ISD I, is where you will get the best out of him. His effect is esspeically good when used on the ISD I if you get your Front Battery lined up: you have a blue die to spend and can modify a black die to the coverted Hit and Crit-face. In a build that however uses the red&blue dice combinations like ISD II and VSD II you might be paying more than you need.
- Darth Vader (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/45/c1/45c1ee8e-395a-4fd1-ac92-ae2b18505d80/darth-vader-commander.png) - The Dark Lord's boost to your fleet is similar to Screed's but intead of throwing away attack dice (which might hurt your damage total) for another result on another die, you sacrifice a use of a Defense Token (remeber you can spend Defense Tokens twice per turn) and get to re-roll all the dice you want in an attack. There is a nasty combo in there with the Devastator-title (more on that later) which uses Vader's ability to full effect. The drawnback of this is however that you cut down your own defense while doing it, which might leave you hanging later in the game. The fact that his ability is no specific to any build, and allows those rare "free" re-roll, I rank 3rd best Admiral for an ISD based fleet.
- Tarkin (https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/media/ffg_content/star-wars-armada/news/preview5-fleet-building/grand-moff-tarkin.png) - The most expensive choice of the Imperial Admirals but also the most verasatile. Tarkin gain most from the ISDs' durability as he can keep those tokens coming for a the whole game if he has to. As his buff is both immidate and fleet-wide, you will be able to correct for the otherwise 3 turn-wait for the command. Tarkin is IMO the best commander you can have in an ISD-anchored fleet.

Titles:
Avenger (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/96/0a/960abc7c-9fd2-4842-85a9-c5cf6747262e/avenger.png) - As I said before, the ISDs might be superb ship to activate last, hoping for the enemy to have already closed with you and the using your speed to get out any close-combat situation with the likes of the Gladiator or the MC30c. The Avenger-title takes this up another level by denying your enemy use of already spend Defensive Tokens. It is not the cheapest title, nor the stand-out (both categories go to the Relentless) but it's a good addition. Probably more to the ISD I than the ISD II, since with the additional blue dice mean that you can lock away a Defensive Token with the plentiful Accuracy-results.
Devstator (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/dc/d1/dcd18bbf-0a15-441c-8c35-216403c63e96/devastator.png) - The most expensive title an ISD and like the Avenger-title non-specific. It has the best synergy with the Darth Vader-admiral card, together with Vader you can make this card's effect trigger over and over. Again, like Vader you are boosting your attack at the cost of defense. Drawback here is that effect is limited to the Front Battery.
Relentless (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/7d/29/7d2910e1-ec88-42fb-ac80-cc634e0f845e/relentless.png) - The cheapest and the stand-out. Having only to plan two turns ahead with your command dials is a great buff for a ship that eats much of your fleet points.

Sample combos:
1. Motti's Relentless:
ISD II (flagship)
+ Admiral Motti
+ Phylon-Q7 Tractor Beams
(150)
Basically a cheap flagship without any bells and whistles. Capable of taking hits and engageing the enemy at Medium Range. The Tractor Beams belong to the stand-out cards of this expansion has it allows to inhibit the maneuvers of the faster enemy ships, like CR90s, the MC30c or the Gladiator, keeping them from circling around and getting the ISD in the weak spot.

2. Tarkin's (sorta) Flexible Tactics:
ISD II (flagship)
+ Grand Moff Tarkin
+ Support Officer
+ Phylon-Q7 Tractor Beams
(169)
You can throw in the Relentless-title for good measure but the Support Officer's allows you to throw out your command dials if things don't go as planned. Tarkin helps to keep you supplied with Tokens as you require them. Again, the Tractor Beam to incapacitate fast ships.

3. Screed's Crit Factory:
ISD I (flagship):
+ Admiral Screed
+ Overload Pulse
+ XX-9 Turbolasters
+ Gunnery Team
+ Phylon-Q7 Tractor Beams
(162)
This build focussed more on the ship's front arc, again trying to trap a ship with the Tractor Beam and then hammering it with Front Battery twice. Using Screed to gurantee that you get a Crit on either attack.

4. Carrier ISD I:
ISD I
+ Admiral Chiraneau
+ Expanded hanger Bay (x2)
+ Flight Controllers
(136)
Squadron Value 5 with additional blue dice for their battery armament should give a Corrupter-VSD a run for it's role as squadron command ship.
EDIT: Following the recent FAQ update this build is not longer legal as ships cannot equip the same upgrade multiple times

Card-mentions from the FFG previews:
- Heavy Turbolaser Turrets (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/6c/0e/6c0ebf0e-7bca-47bb-9899-5b6a7bd86c77/heavy-turbolaser-turrets.png) - I don't know if this card will actually trump the cheaper XX-9s on Imperial Ships, esspecially since there is the Precision Strike-objective. But for the Rebels it might a good bet.
- Captain Needa (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/87/a8/87a857ec-576f-4311-a3ef-ca9be662ba47/captain-needa.png) - It is cheap but only applicable in your first turn. For the ISD it might not be a good fit but a VSD might get a kick from this.

-Raider moved to next post-

-MC80 moved to it's own post-

-MC30 moved to it's own post-

The new "squadron" pack:
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/9/30/a-few-surprises/

-coming soon-

I hope to expand this into a tactics review later (I originally did and then got lost in ether when my tablet went into sleep mode. I already do these for my local wargaming community though I tend to follow FFG's trend to analyse only the new cards, now I want to got deeper with exploiring combos with existing cards.)

0rph3u5
10-01-2015, 03:14 AM
Raider:
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/9/18/fast-and-aggressive/

https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/fc/5b/fc5bec99-744c-49dd-84aa-4232afb0c35f/raider-i-class-corvette.png https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/00/c1/00c1d529-2fb9-4653-8f6f-bdd716e398c1/raider-ii-class-corvette.png

The Imperials 2nd entry into the Small ship-category (the Gladiator is techically a small ship), it is hard to not to compare the Raider to the CR90 (and I am a huge fan of the CR90 B, even though I don't play Rebels outside demo-games). The Raider is sort of the Imperial "filler-ship" but also their most maneuverable ship to date.

Similarities first:
- Both come with 4 Hull and 2/2/2/2 shields (equal shields on all hull zones are a first)
- Again same Rear Batteries with a single blue die. This time even the Side Batteries are the same: 1 blue and 1 back. The greatest number of dice is, as per usual for Imperial ships, concentrated in the Foward Battery.
- 1 Command will allow for swift reactions but also doesn't allow for token banking similar to the big ships.
- 1 Squadron, so you won't be commanding your squadron from this ship either. Although with an Offensive Retrofit you can bumb it to 2 if you so desire.
- With 2 Engineering you can be sure that all damage done to your hull sticks, as you don't have access to a Support Team.
- As Defensive Tokens goes, this is the first Imperial ship to come with two Evade Tokens and no Redirects. Additionally you have a Brace Token.
- Access to Speeds 0 - 4 with some good Yaw-values (2 at Speed 1, 2/2 at 2, 0/1/1 at 3 and 0/1/1/1 at 4) will make sure that you can get this ship were it is needed.
- Upgrade slots inlcude a Commander, a Weapons Team and an Offensive Retrofit plus one additional slot that depends on the Variant.

Differences second:
- The reshuffling of the Battery Dice is limited to the front Battery and on a surface level un-spectacular: 2 of the black and blue dice for the Raider I and 3 blue and single black for the Raider II.
- The AAA Battery also changes from 2 black on the Raider I to 1 blue and black each on the Raider II.
- The varaint specific-upgrade slot on the Raider I is a single Ordnance-slot, while the Raider II gets access to a single Ion Cannon-slot.
- The Raider I will be 44 and the Raider II 48 fleet points per ship; 11 and 12 percent of your max points respecitively.

The base ship, prior to upgrades, keeps with the Imperial design of strong front batteries, but aguments that with speed and reaction time which the other Imperial ships don't posess. I can really see this not just as filler in absence of Squadrons but as a cheap multipurpose ship that can fill roles where needed.

Review of cards and combos will come later. I want to finish off the base ships of Wave 2 first.

EDIT:

Flagship material? No, too fragile.

Admirals:
- Ozzel (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/b9/60/b960d186-1669-496a-8034-2ebd733e9aa0/swm15-admiral-ozzel.png): The rapid speed changes are what can make the utility of these ships click. Best Choice for a Raider-centric fleet IMO.
- Motti (https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/media/ffg_content/star-wars-armada/news/wave1/admiral-motti.png): An additional Hull Point, yes please. 2nd best choice IMO.
- Screed (https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/media/ffg_content/star-wars-armada/news/wave1/admiral-screed.png): You only buff a single ship with Screed, and his buff is best used on a ship with more dice.
- Darth Vader (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/45/c1/45c1ee8e-395a-4fd1-ac92-ae2b18505d80/darth-vader-commander.png): Like Screed you can only buff a single ship with Vader that buff may only have situation use on a ship that is a jumper.
- Tarkin (https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/media/ffg_content/star-wars-armada/news/preview5-fleet-building/grand-moff-tarkin.png): With 1 Command you can't really bank tokens on a Raider which is a staple of Tarkin-builds. It might help but there are better options.

Titles:
Impetuous (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/e9/0a/e90ab2ea-b816-47d5-b7a5-de0f141c3918/swm15-impetuous.png) - An additional AAA-attack is already a cool option but combined with the ability of the Raider to re-position to bring it's black and blue AAA dice to bear.
Instigator (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/6a/2a/6a2aef06-5d5b-4e07-b16c-da20dc700439/swm15-instigator.png) - Not as flashy has an additonal attack, but combo'ed with Quad-Laser Turrets (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/10/cf/10cf0779-0de6-4e8c-9219-d4b878752711/quad-laser-turrets.png) this might be an answer to fighter heavy builds, esspecially a combo of Rhymer and an Corrupter-VSD.

Sample builds:
1a. "6 Gun Raider A"
Raider I
+ Gunnery Team
+ Expanded Launchers
(64)
Skipping the AA-duty this build uses it's options to give a cheap six attack dice-option you can get close to enemy ships and fire away.

1b. "6 Gun Raider B"
Raider I
+ Ordnance Experts (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/20/96/209600f9-f44f-4434-b2d6-2ff62dddedc0/ordnance-experts.png)
+ Expanded Launchers
(61)
Again skipping the AA-duty but trading the double tap from the Front Battery for re-rolls.

2. "Instigator Montferrat"
Raider II
+ Instigator
+ Admiral Montferrat (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/35/99/3599ac8c-aa57-499a-ac43-b35befe07b7c/swm15-admiral-montferrat.png)
+ Quad-Laser Turrets (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/10/cf/10cf0779-0de6-4e8c-9219-d4b878752711/quad-laser-turrets.png)
(62)
Keep it at a high speed and fly it through enemy fighters.

3. "Ion Raider"
Raider II
+ Sensor Team
+ SW-7 Ion Batteries (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/69/c1/69c19b49-ac22-4f7e-b637-49c011bab7ea/swm15-sw-7-ion-batteries.png)
(58)
A round-about way to get your damage from the blue dice but a valid one.

4. "Overload Pulse Deliver System"
Raider II
+ Overload Pulse
(56)
If you know the CR90B you know this build. A cheap attempt to get as many Overload Pulses in a list as possible.

0rph3u5
10-01-2015, 03:42 AM
MC80:
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/9/9/rebel-command/

https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/ab/b5/abb55d6f-a371-41a2-ba53-c80410e8cd7b/mc80-assault-cruiser.png https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/d2/02/d20253d4-414c-4268-bb0c-345ddca41dc3/mc80-command-cruiser.png

In the inital release, the Rebel had been waiting until Wave 1 for a ship that could rival the VSD in size. With Wave 2 they won't be waiting their Large Ship because just like the Imperials will get their ISD one of the Mon Calamari-Cruisers will come to Armada.

As for the similarities between the variations:
- Both come with 8 Hull points, same as a VSD but they are are better shielded with 4/4/4/3 before upgrades.
- While having a different loadout, you can see in both variants emphasis on the Side Batteries, the new hallmark of Rebel ships going foward as its seems.
- 3 Command is not a first for the Rebels but not as common as with the Imperials (40% of their ships instead of 50%).
- Both ships come with 4 Engineering and the option to buff it 5 via a Support Team, and even 6 if you bring a Nebulon B with the Redemption-title. Tarkin VSD might have set a standard for ships that can repair back to full functionality in a Wave 1 envoirment but I guess the Rebels are catching up there.
- As for its (non-upgraded) Defense: 1 Brace, 2 Redirect and 1 Contain Token. This makes it the only Rebel ship without an Evade Token, which is pretty interesting considering it has only Medium-Long and Long Range Batteries, where the Evade Token usually does it's magic.
- As Speed and Maneuvers go, this is a bummer for the otherwise so agile Rebels: Speeds 0-2 with Yaw values of 1 at S1, 0/1 at S2. This ship will have trouble not getting locked down by Impieral Stardestroyers.
- Upgrades: Both variations can equip a Commander, a Support Team, a Defensive Retrofit, a Ion Cannon and a Turbolaser-card in addition to their variant specific upgrade.

Differences:
- The Assault Cruiser comes with a Front Battery of 2 red and 1 blue; the Command cruiser with 2 blue and 1 red. The Rear Battery of each variant has the same loadout.
- The Port and Starboard Batteries on both variants have 6 dice but different combinations, 4 red plus 2 blue for the Assault and 3 red and blue each for the Command Cruiser.
- As far as AAA is concerned the Assault Cruiser has 2 blue dice at it's disposal, the Command cruiser a black and blue die each.
- True to it's name the Command Cruiser has a Squadron value of 4, one more than the Assault Cruiser.
- Unlike it's name suggests, the Assault Cruiser gets a second Defensive Retrofit, while the Command Cuiser gets an Offensive Retrofit-option.
- The Assault cruiser is pricier with 114 Fleet Points (28,5%) and the Command Cruiser is cheaper with 106 (26,5%) before you get to upgrading them.

In Summary, the MC80 will give the Rebels a solid Long to Medium-Long Range firebase, even a solid Squadron Command vehicle that might get your slow-poke B-Wings to the front in time. But it's obvious drawbacks are its limited Speed and Yaw-values, once an Imperial ship engages you from it's front arc you will have a problem getting away from it. So if it going to succeed the Nebulon B-anvil as firebase we will have to see.

Again, card and combo review will follow.

EDIT:

Flagship material? Yes, durable enought and capable of getting the one highest Engineering scores in the game.

Admirals:
- Dodonna (https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/media/ffg_content/star-wars-armada/news/preview5-fleet-building/general-dodonna.png): The MC80 has access to the XX-9 Turbolasers and can turn out a decent number of crits with it's red/blue armament. And Dodonna is not limited to a single attack, so other ships benefit greatly from this Admiral too. IMO best choice for an Admiral as far as the MC80 per se is concerned.
- Garm Bel Iblis (https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/media/ffg_content/star-wars-armada/news/wave1/garm-bel-iblis.png): Bel Iblis is a highly specialized Admiral. It's good in fleet that can bank your tokens, the MC80 fits that bill. But compared to the others he is just not worth it.
- Mon Mothma (https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/media/ffg_content/star-wars-armada/news/wave1/mon-mothma.png): The MC80 has no Evade token, so Mon Mothma has no effect for the MC80.
- Rieekan (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/0a/22/0a224233-2d17-4ed8-af6e-2df137c65c52/swm12_general-rieekan.png): Keeping a ship on the playing field until the end of turn is huge, considering the fragility of many Rebel staples. However it a list with more stable ships it might get you back your investment. I would consider him the 3rd best option.
- Ackbar (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/f6/0f/f60fd77e-bf7c-4c3b-adff-f267f5be505b/admiral-ackbar.png): Buffing a single attack with 2 red dice is cool, and the restriction to the Broadsides isn't a hard price to pay considering of 5 Rebel ship 3 have strong Side Batteries.

Titles:
- Defiance (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/8b/e1/8be15705-7dd8-40b7-8919-73a38c1379fd/defiance.png): Free dice are always nice, esspecially as you get to chose the colour - e.g. adding a black die into the mix for the additional damage. The restirction on this card encourages a late activation, which is hardly a hinderancce.
- Home One (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/f4/a1/f4a1dd25-e6ca-45be-b1ea-117044a90f6a/home-one.png): This has a huge application with combining it with SW-7 Ion Cannons but generally a free Sensor Team to every ship in Range 1-5 is a huge staple.

Sample builds:
1. "Dodonna Defiant"
MC80 Assault Cruiser (flagship)
+ General Dodonna
+ Defiance
+ Enhanced Armament
+ Leading Shots
(153)
A good cheap flagship with 8-10 dice broadside. An option would be to swap our the Enchanced Armament with XX-9 Turbolasers which would trigger Dodonna more often but Leading Shots will give you re-rolls that are best applied to more dice for a higher total damage.

2. "The Unsinkable"
MC80 Assault Cruiser
+ General Rieekan
+ Walex Blissex (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/a4/ff/a4ffd8ca-6a4f-4290-b60b-322f73546280/walex-blissex.png)
+ Redundant Shields (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/04/73/04733b47-be63-4fff-9620-f3a2ea30957d/swm12_redundant-shields.png)
+ Electronic Countermeasures
+ Engineering Team
(169)
This also doable with the Command Cruiser but then you will have to get rid of one of the Defensive Retrofit.

0rph3u5
10-01-2015, 04:02 AM
Okay, this is the momement were I am glad I am not talking because it would be hard not to slip up with the naming convention here:

MC30c:
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/9/23/race-into-battle/

https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/d5/25/d5252274-9414-434e-a7ad-adf73cd9af79/mc30c-scout-frigate.png https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/37/23/37235535-fba1-4a15-9785-509b870badc5/mc30c-torpedo-frigate.png

So far the Rebels have been a faction focused around Medium- to Long-Range combat, with much more red dice and Evade tokens than Imperials. Now comes the MC30 which will probable give the Gladiator a run for it's money as the "best close-combat ship".

Similarites between the two versions of the MC30c:
- Both have 4 Hull Points, putting it right in there in a class with the Raider and the CR90 BUT it is better shielded - up to the standard of the VSD - with 3/3/3/2.
- Again, different loadouts but similar broadside focused Batteries.
- Both have a single blue dice as their AAA Battery.
- 2 Command is interesting as it's black dice dice call for more immidiate reaction time.
- 1 Squadron makes clear that this is ship comes for the ship-to-ship combat.
- 3 Engineering, equal to the Gladiator and the Nebulon B, will help this brawler to survive. No Access to a Support Team though, so no 4 Engieering.
- The Maneuver table is a wierd one: Speeds 0-4 are accessible but the Yaw-value favour Speed 3 with 0/1/2 compared to 1 at S1, 1/1 at S2 and 0/1/1/0 at S4. Looks like this ship won't break once it is at optimum speed and begins to circle its enemies.
- Common upgrade icons are: a Commander, a Weapons Team, a Defensive Retrofit, one Ordnance and one Turbolaser. No class specific upgrade icon this time.

Differences:
- The Torpdeo Frigate comes with blue dice where the Scout Frigate comes with red ones: Front 2 black and 1 blue/red; Sides 3 black and 2 blue/red and Rear 1 black and blue/red each.
- The upgrade from blue to red dice is priced at 6 points, making the Torpdeo Frigate 63 (16%) and the Scout Frigate (17,25%) before upgrades.

I will pause for a bit and then come back and fill in the combo-talk....

EDIT:

Flagship material? No, too fragile and a Brawler.

Admirals:
- Dodonna (https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/media/ffg_content/star-wars-armada/news/preview5-fleet-building/general-dodonna.png): With the great number of black dice the MC30c can bring to bear, Dodonna really does back into play. But then again the MC30c has access to Ordnance-upgrades which have great alternate Critical Effects (and cannot resolve multiple Critical Effects per attack).
- Garm Bel Iblis (https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/media/ffg_content/star-wars-armada/news/wave1/garm-bel-iblis.png): I really don't know how to make Bel Iblis work with the MC30c.
- Mon Mothma (https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/media/ffg_content/star-wars-armada/news/wave1/mon-mothma.png): Mon Mothma gives you the most our of your Evade Tokens, the MC30c has two of them and will need them to get into optimal range for damage. Best option for a MC30c centred fleet IMO.
- Rieekan (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/0a/22/0a224233-2d17-4ed8-af6e-2df137c65c52/swm12_general-rieekan.png): Rieekan keeps the MC30c around when you messed up. 3rd best option, if you ask me.
- Ackbar (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/f6/0f/f60fd77e-bf7c-4c3b-adff-f267f5be505b/admiral-ackbar.png): Whatever build of the MC30c you choose it will benefit greatly from getting those 2 additional dice. 2nd best option to upgrade a MC30c based fleet.

Titles:
- Admonition (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/00/85/0085e4bb-a0ab-47b0-9bf7-f8ead59021f2/swm12_admonition.png): Negating a die at the cost of a Defense Token, which may be a Evade Token at Close range, when it is ineffective, will get you rid of the results you really don't want, like Crits or Double Damage.
- Foresight (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/9f/de/9fde638c-e196-491d-879f-a89e3ecbfdf6/swm12_foresight.png): The Foresight gives you two nice defensive boost, each you can get a better version with another upgrade. It is good choice if you don't have Mon Mothma its a good option for a single MC30c. But the Advanced Projectors-card is a cheaper fit and better at upgrading the Redirect token.

Sample Builds:
1. "Torpedos AND Missiles"
MC30c Torpedo Frigate
+ Gunnery Team
+ Assault Concussion Missiles
(77)

2. "Force Recon"
MC30c Scout Frigate
+ Gunnery Team
+ Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/bf/5c/bf5cd8f2-e24a-40db-a4ba-533e1c6d9e7e/swm12_turbolaser-reroute-circuits.png)
(84)

There is also a cool build in the FFG article, combining the new Assault Proton Torpedoes (https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/42/1a/421a55b8-7e45-4465-b0df-9eb364d4ac2e/swm12_assault-proton-torpedoes.png) with Ordnance Experts (also a nice combo with Gunnery Team).

Brenlak
12-15-2015, 11:39 PM
Sweet lord! You really know how to throw a review up, I havent opened my rebels yet... And now I don't need to till game time!