RitR - Support Team Upgrade

Another vacation article completed - we're going to take a look at Auxiliary Shields Team, the Support Team upgrade from Rebellion in the Rim, and upgrade that can help you get some extra shields in place before a fight kicks off.

Auxiliary Shields Team - 3 points

Engineering Command: You may treat the maximum shield values of your right and left hull zones as increased by 1 when you recover or move shields to those zones.  If you do, the number of shields in those zones cannot exceed a maximum of "4".

Who wants more shields?  Well, aside from "everyone" I mean.  I guess the real question is "who is willing to spend 3 points and fill a slot dominated by Engine Techs for more shields?  Let's take a look at the Rebels:

CR90 - Not really this ship.  With only 2 Engineering and only 1 Redirect and a huge front hull zone you're not getting good value from this upgrade.  Useable, but not efficient.

MC80 Command / Assualt - Can't use it at all, due to the maximum value of "4".  Good thought, but no.

MC80 Battle / Star Cruiser - Low side shields and high engineering value means this is an option.  Good token spread as well.  Takes up a slot that wants a navigate based effect though.

Nebulon B - Probably the best home for this upgrade.  Good token spread, doubles your side shields, and halfway decent engineering to make the boost happen.  Only 3 Engineering means you can pull both shields up, but it costs you a shield from somewhere (probably the rear), but you can also do it with a token if you're running a token objective, Garm, or Hondo.

Pelta - Ever want to run a VSD but with less guns and hull?  Honestly though, the bonus shields to the side can be a life saver, and you've got the engineering do both sides in a single dial.  Takes away a Engine Techs slot though if you're interested in speed.


How about Imperials:

Arquitens - Between this and a Defensive Retrofit slot you can create a surprisingly tanky ship for a 5 hull / no brace platform.

Gladiator - But... Engine Techs...  Seriously, you want the advantage to approach / escape with this ship more than you want to take an extra hit.

Interdictor - The last thing your opponent wants your Interdictor to have is more shields.  Good on those tank Dictor builds.  You don't need speed with the flying brick anyways.

Onager Testbed - I still think Engine Techs for the effective 3 Speed change is the right way to go here, but you've got side arc shields that are a bit weak if something gets into them.


Okay, so a few things of note here - the increase to shield maximum is only while you are doing an Engineering Command on that ship.  So if you're thinking of pairing this with Projection Experts, don't.  Unless you're doing something funny with a CR90 moving shields then replacing them with a different ship's projection experts, but that seems more of a gimmick than actually usable.

It doesn't have the Aspiration requirement that those shields be reduced before messing with recovering other shields, so go nuts there.

It gives you something to do with your R1 activation other than bank a navigate token / actually navigate, so hey that's cool.

Well, that's pretty much it.  Should be good for some things.  Get it on the table and see what you think.