So... uh...
I was super excited to try out Agate with the Starhawk, and the MC80 Liberty. Heck, I kinda wanted to see how she worked with an MC75 too, or on a MC80 Assault.
But then I tried her out on an Assault Frigate Mk II A.
And she's amazing for the ship. She is somehow exactly what the ship needed to be relevant again, a good ship, and fun as hell to fly!
So, why is this ship so good? It's the perfect combination of fast, hard hitting, and tanky. What it can't out shoot, it can outrun, and what it can't outrun it can out shoot! Let's look at the basic build for the ship.
Assault Frigate Mk2 A (81)
• Kyrsta Agate (20)
• Walex Blissex (5)
• Local Fire Control (4)
• Reinforced Blast Doors (5)
• Paragon (5)
= 120 Points
Squadrons:
= 0 Points
Total Points: 120
So, I know what you're thinking. "Biggs, I can just take an ISD for 120 points." Well, you can but this 120 points includes the commander tax (and is a Rebel ship). But what do you get for these points?
You get 12 shields, an effective 9 hull, 2 Braces, 1 Redirect, 1 Salvo, 1 recovered token, and a dice spread of 2R / 1U & 3R / 1U, with an extra black die if you double arc. And you will double arc, because this ship has one of the best arc setups in the game. Or you don't even need to double arc, because you have Salvo, and that is enough to trigger Paragon when you get around to your activation. Not to mention a psudo-ECM effect.
That's actually a lot better than the ISD's 11 shields, 11 hull, 1 brace, and 2 redirects. You can't get another brace, period, and you'd need to take Tagge to get one back! 7 points for an ECM and 20 points at least for a commander... That's expensive.
So, you've got a really, really good anchor for your list, about as cheap and effective as you can reasonably get! Now you're free to take whatever else you want, and you can get a lot of other stuff into a list with 280 points to play around with.
Let me know how you're using the Agate Assault A in your lists!
Unbelievable. My fleet build last month was the following:
ReplyDeleteThe Three Stooges
Assault Frigate Mk2 A (81)
Kyrsta Agate (20)
Walex Blissex (5)
Local Fire Control (4)
Disposable Capacitors (3)
Reinforced Blast Doors (5)
XI7's (6)
Paragon (5)
=129
MC80 Assault Cruiser (114)
Strategic Adviser (4)
Early Warning System (7)
Reinforced Blast Doors (5)
Leading Shots (4)
Quad Battery Turrets (5)
Defiance (5)
=144
Nebulon-B Support Refit (51)
Lando Calrissian (4)
Auxiliary Shields Team (3)
Vanguard (4)
Local Fire Control (4)
=66
Squadrons:
Shara Bey (17)
Tycho Celchu (16)
2 x A-Wing (22)
=55
Total = 394
My conditions were I wanted 1 small, medium and large ship. An MC80 with EWS and RBD is already a tanky ship, making the other 2 a target (it was here I thought about punishing opponents who ignore the MC80). Agate, Blissex, 2 braces, poor man's ECM, RBD easily makes the Paragon every bit as tanky as any rebel large. With its massively upgraded defence, making the trade of evade for the ultimate deterrent in a 3 dice salvo is a no brainer, getting in medium range (or long range, hello DC) and daring the opponent to shoot first, potentially doubling the use of the Paragon title.
The Vanguard is an attempt at a survivable Nebulon, as 2 Braces and 5 Hull is maybe the greatest starting point for a small ship. LFC again sacrificing long range defence for the deterrent of 2 red dice every time the opponent targets it. AST's boosting those weak side arcs is obviously necessary. Lando hops aboard the rebels easiest target to provide that death shot insurance. With great prior positioning and dial setup the Vanguard could unload 8 dice into an enemy ship over 3 attacks.
The squadrons come along with the one job in mind that is typical of A-wings... Tie up and frustrate the enemy squadrons as long as possible and allow the ships to beat up the opponents. Double flak from 2 of the ships can lend a helping hand where necessary.
I don't play competitively at all and realise massive improvements could be made to this. My first trial with this fleet was a huge success, tabling my friend who strangely brought 6 Demolishers. No accuracies were a dream scenario for Shara and Tycho, who tied down 2 each, by bracing each 2 damage shot down to 1, and scattered any 3 damage shots. Anything less than that was a bonus in itself.
Nice, glad other people are independently discovering what a great medium ship this is.
DeleteOther great things about this setup: 2 blue dice flak. With Toryn nearby you can fairly consistent get 2 points of damage on generic squadrons, or make aces use up brace tokens.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you can customize your tokens with Agate and LFC. Against big dice pools you'll want 2 braces as Biggs has suggested. But against squadrons you might want two salvos instead. Don't need Walex? Use an Expert Shield Tech and get two redirects....so many options!