Revised Commander's Guide - Assault Frigate Mark II

Clearing out Wave 1, and after this is over I'll just have a few Rebel Wave 2 ships to go over.  Let's take a look at a much maligned ship from Wave 1, the Assault Frigate Mk II.

Corellian Conflict Strategy - Initial Builds Rebel (Part 2)

It's time to look at the Rebel ships that you're either unlikely to add - and thus need a firm spot in your list from the beginning - or that if you would add them it would by necessity be when you are in a significant lead in resources.  Not something to count on, in other words.

Defensive Retrofits - Wave 2

Defensive Retrofits for Wave 2 gives us two new options to chose from, as well as three new ships that can take the upgrade.  The MC80 and MC30c join the Rebels in retrofits, and the ISD2 becomes the first Imperial ship to add a defensive slot.  The upgrades themselves differ from before - while the previous retrofits were about enhancing defense tokens and their use, the new retrofits are a whole different breed.

Offensive Retrofits - Wave 2

Wave 2 actually gave us three new Offensive Retrofits, more than doubling the initial numbers.  Continuing with the theme of the Offensive Retrofits of before, we got one that dealt with activating squadrons, one that dealt with getting rid of enemy squadrons, but we got one more that didn't deal with squadrons at all.  In addition, we got three new ships that could take an offensive retrofit - the MC80 (Command variant), the ISD, and the Raider - to go with the previous two.

Let's go over them, shall we?

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.

How Does Wave 2 Change Wave 1 Ships? Part 1 - Rebels

There is little doubt that with Wave 2 on the horizon, nearly doubling the amount of ships, upgrades and squadrons - to give no mention of the increase in total points to 400 - will substantially shake up the game and what we will be seeing on the 6x3 surface in front of us.  But what about the wave 1 ships we've come to know and love?  How does Wave 2 affect them?

And that's what we will be discussing.  Today we will be focusing on the Rebel ships of wave 1; the Assault Frigate Mk II, Nebulon B Frigate, and the CR90 Corvette, with the Imperial ships to come soon.

Wave 1 Memorial Tournament - Round 3 vs doobleg

Here's the final round of Pod 4 for the FFG Forums Wave 1 Memorial Tournament, verses my "first" opponent doobleg.  An excellent player and the winner of the previous tournament, I knew he was going to give me a run for my money.  I also knew that at 15 points I'd have to pretty much win outright to stay in control of the pod.  At this point, doobleg had 8 points having played only a single game against Brian Black, and still had to face off against DabDarklighter.

To refresh our memory, here is what I was up against:

DOOBLEG'S EMPIRE FLEET (385 points)

Victory I-class Star Destroyer - Admiral Motti (97)

Victory I-class Star Destroyer - Weapons Liaison - Assault Concussion Missiles (83)

Victory I-class Star Destroyer - Admiral Chiraneau - Expanded Hangar Bay - Corrupter (93)

Major Rhymer TIE Bomber Squadron (16)

TIE Bomber Squadron (9) x4

Mauler'' Mithel TIE Fighter Squadron (15)

Darth Vader TIE Advanced Squadron (21)

TIE Advanced Squadron (12) x2

Wave 1 Memorial Vassal Tournament - Round 2 vs Dab Darklighter

In ongoing coverage of my tournament for the Wave 1 Memorial, here is my second round opponent. This time I was up against Dab Darklighter - a guy that is relatively local for me - we actually have played before in the past in real life.  For a reminder, here was his list:

DabDarklighter's Fleet:                       400 pts

Flagship                          126pts  

        VSD2                         85

        Admiral Motti            24

        Intel Officer                7

        Leading Shots            4

        XI7 Turbolasers         6

Ship                                102pts  

        VSD2                        85

        Intel Officer                7

        Leading Shots            4

        XI7 Turbolasers         6

Ship                                86pts    

        VSD1                      73

        Gunnery Team          7

        XI7 Turbolasers         6

Ship                                86pts    

        VSD1                      73

        Gunnery Team          7

        XI7 Turbolasers         6

Wave 1 Memorial Vassal Tournament - Round 1 vs Brian Black

In ongoing coverage of my tournament for the Wave 1 Memorial, here is my first round opponent. Due to how the pod worked, I wound up playing my first game against Brian Black, simply because both of us were free on Sunday night.  For a reminder, here was his list:

+++ Brian Black's Wave 1 Tournament List (396pts) +++

+ Ships (304pts) +

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (84pts) [Expanded Hangar Bay (5pts), Flight Controllers (6pts)]
Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (123pts) [•Grand Moff Tarkin (38pts)]
Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (97pts) [•Dominator (12pts)]

+ Squadrons (92pts) +

Major Rhymer TIE Bomber Squadron (16)

TIE Bomber Squadron (9) x4

TIE Fighter Squadron (8pts) x3
"Howlrunner" (16pts)

Turbolaser Upgrades - Wave 1

Wave 1 gave us a relatively large number of Turbolaser upgrades, and a lot of ships to use them with.  In fact, the only two ships that couldn't run a Turbolaser upgrade were either variant of the Gladiator and the CR90B.  Meanwhile, the Victory Class Star Destroyer, Assault Frigate MkII, Nebulon B Frigate, and CR90A Corvette all could take the upgrades.

So lets take a look at what each one does, and see which ships, and which other upgrades, works best with each one.

This article is part of the Upgrades series.

Wave 1 Memorial Vassal Tournament - After Action Report (Initial Thoughts)

With the FFG forums again having a vassal tournament, I knew I needed to be a part of it.  Fortunately not running this one - clontroper5 was going to handle that bit - I could relax and just enjoy the games.  Please note, while I am publishing this after the fact, I actually wrote this article before playing a single game of the tournament.

After Action Report - Massing at Sullust

Hello everyone!  I had the chance to officiate for, and run in the Massing at Sullust event today at my local game store, Drawbridge Games.  First off, a big shout out to the store owner, Enrico, for letting a group of Armada enthusiasts basically take over his store for essentially the entire day.  We had 6 total attendees, which is actually a fairly large turnout for the area - we are still growing by word of mouth.  Drawbridge did manage to grab the only Massing at Sullust event for the area - Morgantown had one the previous day that I don't believe anyone that came to this one made it to, and Dublin, OH had the next closest one.  We had room for 10 players, and 5 had pre-registered, so an all-around good number.

Also a big shout-out to my Co-Officiant Chris - he had been a huge help getting the whole thing off the group, brainstorming with me and Enrico on logistics for the event (how to turn 3 tables, only two of which were big enough for Armada) into room enough for 10 players.

Because we had less than 8 participants, we decided to follow FFG's suggested round change that they had in the rule insert for the kit - 2 rounds and a cut to the top 2.

Defensive Retrofits - Wave 1

Another upgrade set for wave 1 where there weren't that many upgrades, Defensive Retrofits had only two types produced and only two ships built capable of taking the upgrades.  The ships involved were both rebel ships, the Assault Frigate Mk II and the CR90 Corellian Corvette.

This article is part of the Upgrades series.

Offensive Retrofits - Wave 1

Offensive Retrofits for wave 1 were somewhat few and far between - only two of them were produced and only two ships were built capable of taking the upgrades.  The ships involved were the two mediums size ships, the Assault Frigate Mk II and the Victory Class Star Destroyer.

This article is part of the Upgrades series.

Building A Fleet - Ship Roles and WWII

Lately, I've been playing a lot of World of Warships, and thinking of how similar this game is to the concept, if not execution of World War II - the "Golden Age" of naval combat tactics.  World War II was the last gasp of big gun ships before missiles made them obsolete, and the beginning of air superiority as the dominant feature of a modern day navy.

In this sense, Wave 1 can correspond to the beginning of the war, or perhaps the period between The Great War (WWI) and World War II.  You also begin to see the strategies in design begin to diverge between the major players of the time.  In this article, we will be looking at the various ships of Wave 1, as well as the spoiled ships of Wave 2 to see how each fit into the greater strategy of the game.

Ship Types of World War II

The Corvette - The smallest rated ship, the corvette's main role in the WWII era was convoy escort or as a minesweeper.  Probably the closest real world approximation to a CR90 Corvette, or a Raider Class Corvette would be the British Tribal Class Destroyer - a destroyer equipped with a heavier gun battery vs the torpedoes favored on other Destroyer type craft.

The Destroyer - Originally conceived to protect battleships from even smaller ships making torpedo runs, the Torpedo Boat Destroyer (shortened to Destroyer) eventually evolved into the role of making the Torpedo attacks itself, as well as convoy guarding and anti-sub duties.  Armed primarily with Torpedoes, and light armament, the closest equivalents to these would be the GSD and MC30.

The Cruiser - Larger than a destroyer, but smaller than a battleship, during WWII these ships were classified as cruisers and had multiple mission roles, and covered a huge spread of ship sizes and armaments.  For the sake of arguement here, we are going to look at two "sizes" of cruisers, and three roles.

The Light Cruiser - Lightly armored and fast, the light cruiser excelled either as the leader of a destroyer squadron or as an anti-aircraft platform that required protection from other ships.  The Nebulon B Frigate fills this role fairly well.

The Heavy Cruiser - A heavily armored and large cruiser, not sporting the heavy armament of a Battleship, would fall into this role.  The AFII would probably be the best example of this in the game right now.  The role of the Heavy Cruiser was one of high speed, heavy armor, but relatively light armament compared to a Battleship.

The Battleship - The biggest ships on the seas, the Battleship is nevertheless split between "Pre-Dreadnought" and Dreadnought eras.

The Pre-Dreadnought - Slow and unwieldy compared to modern ships, with less armor, speed and guns.  The Victory Class Star Destroyer perfectly encapsulates this concept, having been used extensively in the previous war, but being outclassed by the newer, bigger ISD.

Dreadnought Era Battleships - The biggest things on the ocean.  Heavy emphasis on armor and guns mean that the ships could deliver a pounding and take one as well.  Both the MC80 and Imperial Class Star Destroyer fit into this category.

The Carrier - Here there isn't a really good analog.  Most of the ships are capable of being a carrier, but in WWII and modern navies, the Carrier ship is a dedicated platform for bringing fighter and bomber squadrons to the battle.  If a carrier is directly engaged, it has little defenses aside from slight AA.  For purposes of this exercise, we are going to ignore carriers and assume "offscreen" sources for carriers.

Here are some raw numbers that might be interesting.

Total Numbers for Each Faction:

Rebels:

FS: 1

DD: 1

CL: 1

CH: 1

B: 0

BB: 1

Imperials:

FS: 1

DD: 1

CL: 0

CH: 0

B: 1

BB: 1

Approximate Cost Before Upgrades:

FS:  45

DD: 60

CL: 60

CH: 80

B: 85

BB: 125

CV: 10 pts / Squadron

Commander's Guide - Assault Frigate Mark II

This article is part of the Commander's Guide series.

After our last discussion on the Victory Class Star Destroyer, there is only one ship left to discuss - the Assault Frigate Mark II (AFII).  The AFII is a Medium ship, and the biggest ship currently available on the Rebel side of the board.  However, even as a medium ship, it flies much differently than the Imperial's VSD and boasts a much different armament.

The Assault Frigate Mark II

Overall:

The AFII comes standard with  Command value of 3, putting it equal to the VSD as the least responsive ships on the board.  However, due to its Command value it is capable of stocking tokens for later use.  It also comes standard with a Engineering value of 4, putting it even with the VSD in staying power, recovering 2 shields per turn with a command dial, or 1 with a token.  With the help of the Redemption, it can even us tokens to repair hull damage at 3 total.

For defense, the AFII is equipped with the strongest single shield arc currently in the game at 4 for its fore shields, with 3 on each side arc, and 2 rear.  With that, it also currently has the distinction of the largest amount of shields currently in the game - 12 to the VSD's 10.  It doesn't quite have the VSD's hull though, as the standard numbers there are 8 to the AFII's 6.  Also unlike the VSD, it is less able to take advantage of it's shielding, losing one of the VSD's redundant Redirect tokens for an Evade, but retaining the other Redirect and Brace.

Also unlike the VSD, the AFII can actually make speed 3, though it isn't particularly maneuverable there.  At top speed, the ship has a yaw value of 1 at the 2nd and 3rd pips, giving it a 45 degree turning radius without a navigation command dial.  At speed 2 it retains the yaw, getting a value of 1 at both pips, and at speed 1 it only gets a yaw of 1.  Still that gives the ship twice the turning radius of a VSD at speed 2, and the chance to outdistance the much slower Imperial counterpart.

All ships have the strongest long range side arc currently in the game, with a total of 3 Red / 1 Blue.

Upgrades for the ship are also standard, with Commanders, 2 Titles, Officer, Weapons Team, Offensive Modification, Defensive Modification, and Turbolasers.

Assault Frigate Mark II A:

The Assault Frigate Mark II A (AFII-A) comes in at 81 points, just 4 points short of the VSD2 for most expensive ship in the game.  For this, you get a Squadron value of 2, equal to the NebB-E as an escort carrier.

You also get a 2 Red / 1 Blue fore arc, and 2 Red / 1 Blue rear arc, putting them even with the CR90's front arc / VSD's side arc for damage.  In addition to this, you also have 2 Blue for anti-squadron armament, putting the ship equal to a GSD2 or a NebB-E for anti-squadron combat.

Assault Frigate Mark II B:

The Assault Frigate Mark II B (AFII-B) is the cheaper of the two, coming in 9 points lower at 72 total, or just one point shy of a VSD1.  For getting back those 9 points, you lose the 1 Blue on the fore and aft, giving you only 2 Red in both fore / aft arcs.  You also lose one of the Blue anti-squadron dice, leaving the ship with only 1 Blue for its anti-squadron attacks.

However, the ship does gain a point in Squadron Value, putting it even with the VSD at 3 Squadron value total, making it an excellent ship for a true carrier roll.

AFII denies a flank to the GSD against the Nebulon B

Upgrades:

Just about any commander works well with the AFII.  Mon Mothma improves the ship's Evasion token to Medium Range for discarding a dice and Close Range for rerolls.  Dodonna lets you make the best out of your criticals, and with 3 Red / 1 Blue out of your side arc, you can push some damage through their shields.  Finally, Garm Bel Iblis gives you 3 command tokens at the start of R1 and R5, not a bad stock for your high command value ship.

For titles, there are only two.  "Paragon", for a mere 5 points, lets you maximize damage against a target dumb enough to park in the middle of two of your arcs, with an extra 1 Black at any range on your second attack.  This does stack with a concentrate fire command, so not only do you get to be the only Rebel ship to roll a black die, you can roll two!  That'll put the hurt onto a VSD.

"Gallant Haven" (8 points) goes the other way, being a defensive upgrade for your squadrons, reducing the damage they take from an attack by 1.  Note that this is after any unique squadrons have used their defense tokens.  Suddenly Luke and Wedge have effective "Scatter" against 2 successful hits from a TIE Fighter.  This can really tilt the squadron battle in your favor if you can keep it within distance 1 of the Gallant Haven.

For Officers, Leia is practically worthless.  With a command of 3, changing another ship's command isn't very useful.  She is, however, an excellent addition on another ship in a fleet with an AFII.  Adar Tallon lets you select one squadron to activate a second time when you utilize a Squadron command.  Excellent for maximizing a named pilot like Wedge or Dutch, or getting a B-Wing into position for a bombing run.  Finally, Raymus Antilles gives the ability to maximize your command token activation, and due to a Command value of 3, banking the tokens you don't need.

Much like the VSD, the Liaisons work well with a Command 3 ship, as do Veteran Captains, giving you the command that you need when you need it.  Intel Officers are also an excellent addition to the AFII, due to it's large Red dice arcs and chance to get multiple hits on a single target over several turns.

Flight Controllers improves your AFII-B's squadron activations, giving the squadrons an extra 1 Blue anti-squadron armament.  Gunnery Team allows you to take advantage of your large side arcs for long range shots on multiple targets, or to shoot at both a ship and squadrons, though it doesn't work well with the Paragon title.  Sensor Team lets you make the most of your Red dice, by dropping a missed die to gain an Accuracy icon.  The more dice you get to shoot, the more effective Accuracy results are, and the more likely you are to have some blank dice results.

Offensive Upgrades give the option of Expanded Hanger bay, a good upgrade for the AFII-B, to increase your Squadron value to 4.  Point-Defense Re-route works better with the AFII-A, giving you a reroll for each of your Crit results when performing anti-squadron attacks at close range.

Defensive Upgrades give two options as well.  Advanced Projectors let you utilize all of your shields with the Redirect action, moving them to whichever shield arc is needed, even if it is on the other side of the ship.  Electronic Countermeasures let you utilize the most important defense token, even if your opponent has enough accuracy results.

Finally Turbolasers.  Enhanced Armament improves the already best long range side arc by an additional 1 Red.  XX-9 Turbolasers help you maximize Dodonna's ability, more face up damage cards if a crit effect sneaks through onto the hull.  H9 Turbolasers let you turn a hit result into an accuracy, getting better long range hits with your one accuracy result on your Red dice.  Finally XI-7 Turbolasers let you neutralize the VSD's greatest asset, the Redirect token redundancy, but making only 1 damage able to be redirected at a time.

The AFII integrated into the Rebel Fleet

Roles:

Centerpiece - Because of the natural stats and defensive options available, the AFII makes for an excellent centerpiece to build around for your fleet.

Broadside - The ship works its best when it can bring its powerful side arc to bear on the target, even more if it can get a single target in its sweet spot, the line between the front and side arcs.  With the Paragon title, Enhanced Armaments, and a Concentrate Fire command, an AFII can put out a total of 6 Red / 2 Black over two attacks at long range, for an average damage of 6.5, and maximum of 16!

Carrier - The biggest Rebel carrier, an AFII-B with Expanded Hanger Bay can activate up to 4 ships in a single activation.  With Tallon and Flight Controllers, as well as Gallant Haven, the AFII-B can dominate local space superiority.  Even the AFII-A can fill in as an escort carrier, with 2 squadrons activated.

Escort - A bit high on points, but while filling another role, the AFII-A can support with anti-squadron barrages.

Shield - Due to its larger base, and good shields, the AFII can cover a side to keep another heavy hitter, like a Neb-B, covered from GSD flankers.

**Wave 2 Updates**

Well that's it for ships in the Commander's Guide.  As usual, please let me know what, if anything, I am missing.  And anything I got wrong.  Or anything you'd like to see me cover in the future.  Until next time, folks!