Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Committing to a Regionals List

I'm getting the itch for Regionals season. I'm trying to go in with a better prepared list this time, so I'm starting my fine tuning now. I've got two lists in contention. True to form, neither is exactly orthodox.

In one corner we have Madine with supped up afterburners. In the other, we have Papa Vader and his might Avenger. The one thing the two lists have in common is an extremely light squadron presence and only a single flotilla. While the rest of the meta has skewed strongly toward squadron play in one form or another, I've been heading the opposite direction, going lighter and lighter on squadrons in both my Rebel and Imperial builds. I've consistently spent around 50 or so points for squadrons. I'm attempting to get even lighter than that in order to bring ever more guns to bear. My prospective builds are all the way down at 33 and 30 respectively. 

Besides that, these two lists could not be more different. Let's start with Madine:

Da Red Wunz Go Fasta!!!

CR90 Corvette A (44 + 39)
+ General Madine (30)
+ Jaina's Light (2)
+ Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)

MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63 + 26)
+ Skilled First Officer (1)
+ Ordnance Experts (4)
+ Assault Proton Torpedoes (5)
+ H9 Turbolasers (8)
+ Admonition (8)

CR90 Corvette A (44 + 15)
+ Engine Techs (8)
+ Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)

CR90 Corvette A (44 + 15)
+ Engine Techs (8)
+ Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)

CR90 Corvette A (44 + 15)
+ Engine Techs (8)
+ Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)

Shara Bey (17)
Tycho Celchu (16)

Most Wanted
Superior Positions
Hyperspace Assault

You really have to see it in action to understand what this list is capable of. It excels at what I call "small ball." It nickel and dimes opponents everywhere it can. Flotillas just don't leave the game alive. Either the MC30 hunts them down or they meet the business end of ET rams. It doesn't have a centralized threat, so it's able to keep pressure at multiple angles. That also means it doesn't give up much if you take out a ship. The most expensive ship is 88 points, and we know how obnoxious Admonition is to kill. The CR90s can disengage at will thanks to Madine and Engine Techs, making them almost as frustrating to finish off as Admonition.

This list used to make use of CRambo90s, but I found myself lacking the firepower to bring down large ships. At the same time, I was finding the Engine Techs to be worthwhile on CR90s regardless of ramming intentions, especially combined with Madine. That's how I ended up with this odd marriage of TRC90s with Engine Techs. This list also used to bid for first player. With Avenger causing bids to go back up, I decided to ditch bidding. Instead, I took that bid, dropped a flotilla and 2 A-Wings, and invested in a fourth TRC90. I only wish I could get Engine Techs on it, but just having Jaina's Light will make it nearly as adaptable as the others. The list still maintains ramming flexibility, though. It have no problem deleting an MC30 with rams if the opportunity presents itself. Nor am I afraid to go after Cracken lists in the same fashion. At the end of the day, this list maintains tremendous flexibility.

Finally, of the two lists, this is the one with which I have the highest level of comfort. I've played it a fair amount and done well against a lot of different and challenging lists. I think it's worst performance since changing out Liberty for Admonition is a 5-6 with a MOV of 7 at a Store Championship. Now, Regionals is months way, so that doesn't mean all that much right now. I can get comfortable with whatever over the next few months. But as I've said before, comfort with a list might be the single most important factor in Armada, and this list starts with a leg up.

My main concern is a tooled out Defiance. I can dodge ISDs all day long, but the wide side arc of the MC80 is difficult even for these ships to avoid. Add in the fact that I have a habit of picking Advanced Gunnery when it pops up, anything in an Ackbar Defiance side arc is certain to die. That's the one archetype that this list is completely untested against. It also happens to be the most popular archetype of the top players in NOVA.

I'm also concerned that I'm a little too light on squadrons. The Vader list below has the advantage of Flechettes to gum up the works. This list has no such thing. It's just Shara and Tycho looking to stay alive as long as possible. They're certainly a dynamic duo, but I worry I'm asking too much of them.

Now let's talk Vader:

Death Squadron Wave 6

Imperial I-class Star Destroyer (110 + 62)
+ Darth Vader (36)
+ Boarding Troopers (3)
+ Minister Tua (2)
+ Electronic Countermeasures (7)
+ Spinal Armament (9)
+ Avenger (5)

Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (54 + 2)
+ Captain Needa (2)

Raider I-class Corvette (44 + 11)
+ Ordnance Experts (4)
+ Flechette Torpedoes (3)
+ Instigator (4)

Raider I-class Corvette (44 + 7)
+ Ordnance Experts (4)
+ External Racks (3)

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 + 4)
+ Suppressor (4)

Ciena Ree (17)
Valen Rudor (13)

Contested Outpost
Salvage Run
Most Wanted

I should note this is not the final version of the list. The Arquitens is a placeholder for some wave 7 goodies on the way. No, it's not an unannounced ship. It's just a oldie that gets considerably better with a new upgrade. For now, the Arquitens functions in a similar way by providing long range support.

Do I really need to say anything besides Avenger/Boarding Troopers? When Vader gets angry, this list really shines. He finds a ship and deletes it from the game. Unlike Madine's MSU, Vader can wade in against Ackbar Defiance and come out on top. Suppressor is also an underrated tool side by side with Avenger. It does a good job of letting Avenger soften targets at long range, or just plain deleting flotillas that wander into range in an attempt to delay activation of another ship.

I also really like how this list handles the squadron game. The two Raiders put out an impressive amount of flak. It's especially good at dealing with Sloane lists. If Instigator gets off the Flechettes, it's pretty much game over for Sloane. Against Rebel Aces, it affords me time to get in close.

Flexible this list is not. Avenger can be out maneuvered with relative ease. It's still an ISD. If you where able to avoid the front arc before, you can still do it now. It's set up to go for the home run, so it struggles when it doesn't have a clear cut primary target or can't get to it. This could be an even bigger problem come wave 7. Raddus popping out on a flank would be catastrophic.

Which route do you think I should go? I'm leaning toward my ongoing adventures with Madine, but the raw power and aggression of Vader is just as fun.


  1. The Rebel list is a nice idea, main concern would be a pair of G. Team, D. Cap. Vic's which we are seeing a decent amount of near me. I think Vics with the above loadout, possibly with Quad Batt. Trts are the official new "small ship swarm," killers. Marrek Steele and Jendon will be a problem on the CR 90's if you face him.

  2. I like the Madine one, but I generally like Madine. I don't think Valen/Cienna has the staying power of Tycho/Shara, but I also only play Rebels, so I'm biased. Without knowing what SEEEEECRET TECH you have for the Arquitens, I'm not sure what to say about the list, other than that I bet several players will be practicing against ABT. So, I keep finding new ways of saying, "Play Madine."

  3. I would pick Vader. That list will be a real handful to deal with, and you will either win big or go home! I might pick RBDs over ECMs though, as squadrons picking him apart will be more of the issue than other big ships - which should crumple under Avenger's guns.

  4. I second RBD over ECM actually. Avenger is made for destroying big ships. You want to shoot them at red range and strip some shields, then head in to close range and activate first and blow them up. Your opponent having more than 1 big ship is unlikely, and so taking a lot of big dice salvos is equally unlikely. The big threats are an opponent Avenger, squadrons, and a ton of TRC90's or similar. ECM does very little against those, while RBD is actually fairly effective.

    1. But at the same time there is a fair amount of VSDs out there now that we have access to disposable capacitors