Monday, November 30, 2015

Commander's Guide - MC30c Frigate

Finally it is time to chat about the final new ship of Wave 2, and one that I am very excited about, the MC30c Frigate.  The first Rebel ship to pack on natural Black dice, it plays and handles much differently than the traditional rebel long range standoff craft.  Let's look today at what makes the MC30c into the the ship that it is, how it fits into the Rebel fleet, and how it differs from its closest Imperial counterpart, the Gladiator.

The MC30c Frigate.


Friday, November 27, 2015

Commander's Guide - Firespray-31

On Wednesday we talked about the rebel YT-1300 and Han Solo, so today we're going to discuss the Imperial Counterpart, the bounty hunter Boba Fett and the Firespray-31.


Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Wave 2 is here!

That is all.

Commander's Guides - YT-1300

With Wave 2 hitting store shelves this week, it's time to start talking about Squadrons.  Yes, I know we haven't covered the MC30c yet, but frankly I want to actually spend some time playing with it and against it before I write about what it can do.

So today we'll start with the Rogues and Villains squadron pack, the first blister to contain both Rebel and Imperial parts, and talk about the iconic YT-1300 and it's named pilot Han Solo.


Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Wave 2 Support Teams - Projection Experts Appreciation Station

Well, this is excitement.  Wave 2 brings us from 3 Support Teams total, to a whopping 4.  And the ships that can take a Support Team from 3, to a whipping... 4.  It's time to talk about the only new Support Team - Projection Experts!


Monday, November 23, 2015

Wave 2 Weapons Teams

Previously we've covered Wave 2's new officers, but today we are going to talk about the Weapons Teams that come with the new Wave 2 ships.  What ships do they work with?  What roles do they improve?

Well, let's take a look at the two new Weapons Teams.  We've got 3 ships that can utilize them in the new expansion - the Raider, the MC30c and the ISD, plus the three ships from the previous wave: the AFII, the GSD, and the VSD.


Friday, November 20, 2015

Obstacle Placement - Part 3 - Case Studies

Well, we've talked about setting up obstacles, and about different objectives that are played with obstacles, but what we haven't done is actually looked at obstacle placement in a real game.  Well, we're going to look at a few games we've got records for and look at how obstacles were placed, and how that affected deployment and the feel of the game.

So, let's take a look at some of them:


Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Obstacle Placement - Part 2 - Obstacle Specific Objectives

On Monday we talked about placing obstacles in Objectives without any special obstacle rules.  This time we are going to talk about the three objectives that specifically change obstacle placement or rules in their use.  Both Minefields and Contested Outpost change who places what obstacles and where each obstacle can go.  Dangerous Territory, while it doesn't directly change the location of the obstacles, changes how they function for both the first player (worth points when overlapped once) and second player (points and no effect for rocks and debris).

In addition to these, the objective Fleet Ambush also puts some ships from the First Player deployed within a zone where obstacles could be set up.  While I won't be explicitly covering this in the article, keep it in mind when setting up obstacles, both as First and Second player.


Sunday, November 15, 2015

Obstacle Placement - Part 1 - Standard Obstacle Placement Objectives

By request, today we are going to discuss a frequently overlooked and honestly quite difficult topic - obstacle placement.  Now, we're just going to talk about normal obstacle placement, and not dive into more complicated obstacle based objectives like Minefields, Dangerous Territory, or Contested Outpost.  Hell, it doesn't even consider non-obstacle specific objectives like Hyperspace Assault or Firing Lanes.  Just where you want to place your obstacles to maximize your potential deployment and spoil your opponents.

What we will be working with.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Commander's Guide - Guest Article - Imperial Class Star Destroyer

I was going to write up a Commander's Guide for the Imperial Class Star Destroyer, but it doesn't seem fair to write an article for a ship I've never flown before.  Though I have had the honor of flying against it, at Sullust and beyond, because David Sciulli won it, and had been one of my local regular opponents.  He was nice enough to ask me to write his own article on the ISD.

So without further ado, here's David's take on the Imperial's newest centerpiece, the Imperial Class Star Destroyer.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Interview With Worlds Champion Jonathan Reining

I managed to track down Armada World Champion Jonathan Reining and ask him a few questions about Worlds, his championship list, and what his thoughts were going forward.  Before anything else, I wanted to congratulate him for winning Worlds and becoming our first ever World Champion, and thank him for taking the time to answer the questions that I asked him.


Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Blogger Battle! After Action Report - Biggs vs Shmitty

I hope by now everyone knows about Concentrate Fire! the blog by Shmitty and one of the best Armada blogs out there.  In case you didn't, well go click on that link to go and see some of the stuff he's written up.

Well, because the two of us have been reading one another's blogs, and figuring out Wave 1 together, we figured the only appropriate thing to do was to play against one another on Vassal and bring you the aftermath.  You can see his thought process for creating his fleet here.


Monday, November 9, 2015

Wave 2 Officers

Let's continue into discussion of Wave 2 upgrade cards, with Wave 2 Officers.  This is the biggest addition of upgrade cards with the new expansion, bringing in 5 non-unique upgrades as well as 2 named officers for each faction.  We're going to take a look at all the new officers and see where they can fit into your Wave 2 fleet.


The Sky Isn't Falling: Reaction to Worlds

Worlds is over, and with it Jonathan Reinig has taken first overall with his list of Garm Bel Iblis, 2 AFII-Bs, a CR90B, and 8 A-Wings.  Congratulations to him, especially for being our first World Champion for the game, but also for proving something we've really known all along:  Squadrons aren't bad or worthless, just requiring practice and skill to use effectively.

And Jonathan did use them effectively in two games streamed live on FFG's Twitch TV, using them to great effect to destroy his enemy's ships with nothing in the way of upgrades on his stock Assault Frigates and only a Token distributing Garm on his CR90B.  Using the A-Wings, the rebel fighter that is not only the most point-effective Interceptor in the game, but also a viable anti-ship platform and space superiority fighter (see Squadron Composition) he was able to go the distance, ending the tournament with 42 points to his nearest opponent's 37.


Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Commander's Guide - Raider Class Corvette

It's time to dig more into the Wave 2 ships with a new Commander's Guide, specifically the Imperial's Raider Class Corvette, the first thing without "Star Destroyer" somewhere in the name that the Imperials can put down on the table.  Not that this "Personal Pan" pizza slice doesn't look similar to literally everything the Imperials have.  It does get the honor of filling some roles that the previous Star Destroyers couldn't or were not the ideal choice for, specifically anti-squadron support and as an weapon upgrade platform.

Let's take a look at the Raider, and see what's under the hood of the new Imperial support ship.

The Raider Class Corvette, covering the far Left flank with a GSD

Monday, November 2, 2015

Wave 1 Memorial Tournament - Round 4 vs MattShadowlord Game Play

Final match of the Wave 1 Vassal Memorial Tournament - I am up vs Matt Shadowlord and a chance to pull into 2nd or 3rd place with a convincing win.  To review, here is his fleet:

[ MattShadowlord FLEET - 396/400]
- DESPOT Victory I-class Star Destroyer - Admiral Screed (99)
- JUSTICE Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer - Assault Concussion Missiles (63)
- ORDER Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer - Assault Concussion Missiles (63)
- PACIFICATION Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer - Assault Concussion Missiles - Insidious (66)
- AUTHORITY Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer - Engine Techs - Assault Concussion Missiles - Demolisher (81)
- TIE Fighter Squadron (8) x3 = (24)

My ships would be the so far intact original Porkins as Garm's new flagship, the Memories of Alderaan from the previous game, and the new Darklighter II.  BEAST and Dinner Squadrons had been reformed.