Now that I’ve got the Rebels out of my system, it’s time to get serious about Imperial commanders. Most of the Rebel commanders saw mainly incremental changes. Beside Tarkin, Imperials saw some more fundamental reworks. This time, we’re talking about a man who just can’t help but mess with the speed of his approach: Admiral Ozzel. Ozzel was first introduced with the Raider, which also just so happens to be the ship with which he generally finds his best success. After all, when you’re knife fighting in Armada, drastic speed changes are often the difference between life and death. That is Ozzel in a nutshell: massive changes in speed. Old Ozzel wanted to always be navigating to try to get use out of his ability. New Ozzel is...well something else entirely.
Gone is the need to stay navigating. Ozzel just works now. Every ship you have can always adjust their speed by one during their maneuver. No command necessary. It’s essentially Entrapment Formation without any need to fuel a fleet command. His cost also remains the absolute cheapest of any admiral. On paper, the ability sounds awesome. Sometimes you just don’t need a massive 2+ speed change, wasting Ozzel’s ability. Now you can rotate in additional commands for those moments when you know you’re not going to need a big boost. Dialing in those alternating commands can still be difficult, though, so I think command one ships are still his preferred method of fighting.
This is really just speculation, though. Of the commanders I’ve reviewed thus far, I’ve struggled with making an Ozzel list the most. In the end, I’ve deferred to Snipafist and duck_bird’s wisdom. Nu Ozzel still wants to mainly be a knife fighter. The difference is how you command the fleet and how you can support it. So here’s a stab at a terrible Ozzel list based around how I’ve seen Snipa and duck run him in the past.
Name: Is This an Ozzel Fleet?
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Admiral Ozzel
Gladiator I (56)
• Admiral Ozzel (20)
• Skilled First Officer (1)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Engine Techs (8)
• Assault Concussion Missiles (5)
• Demolisher (10)
= 103 Points
Raider I (44)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• External Racks (4)
= 52 Points
Raider I (44)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• External Racks (4)
= 52 Points
Raider I (44)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
• External Racks (4)
= 55 Points
Raider I (44)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
• External Racks (4)
= 55 Points
Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Expanded Hangar Bay (5)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
= 31 Points
Squadrons:
• 4 x TIE Interceptor Squadron (44)
= 44 Points
Total Points: 393
The name of the game is flexibility. Every combat ship in the fleet can flex to concentrate fire in a pitch, even Demolisher with that Skilled First Officer, while still adjusting speed. Another huge difference in this list is the utility of the Raiders themselves. With the changes to evade, they get significantly harder to kill. The minimal squad wing is backed up with a couple Raiders packing some RHDs to keep the screen going. The Gozanti can command that wing while also adjusting speed with Ozzel. It’s simple, sweet, and probably a lot of fun. Is it good? I have no idea. And in this case, I don’t really care. I probably won’t get around to flying this particular fleet. I also doubt it comes close to scratching the surface of nuOzzel’s potential. I definitely look forward to seeing what others can do with his refreshed ability.
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