Sunday, November 15, 2015

Armada: Analyzing list progression

Really getting down into it.

When it comes down to finalizing your list to be used for tournaments, there's going to be plenty of revisions.  If you look back to my first post on Armada, you'll see a list that featured the M80 Assault and 2x MKIIs with Enhanced Armaments.  As the list progressed, it became much more focused on doing control and putting out damage.  I dropped the Enhanced Armaments for XI7s and took Intel Officers on every ship to control the option to Brace as much as possible.  From there, I went a little bit further and dropped the M80 Assault variant down to the Command because I think the points savings is worth the adjustment in firepower, and I used the points to purchase Dash Rendar as a solo protector of the fleet from bombers.  Now, I'm re-thinking if I need the Intel Officers on the MKIIs if Home One is already handing out free Accuracy.

The list, looks like this:
MC80 Command, Ackbar, Home One, Intel Officer, Engine Techs, ECM, XI7
MKIIB, Gunnery Team, ECM, XI7
MKIIB, Gunnery Team, ECM, XI7

I have 37 points to work with here, and from here, the list can literally go in these directions:
397 - Change Engine Techs to Nav Team, add Intel Officers to both whales, add Dash Rendar
398 - Add Intel Officers to both whales, add Nym
394 - Add a single Intel Officer and Dash Rendar
396 - Add 3x A-Wings

The reason why the skeleton list itself includes Engine Techs is because I think this is one of the best upgrades you can possibly have on the M80.  Ackbar and Home One are mandatory upgrades, but next to the XI7, ECM and Intel Officer, Engine Techs is one of those upgrades that will make or break the M80 on the battlefield.  With Tractor Beams being a thing and the rest of the ships in your list moving a max of 3, having the Home One being able to keep up while making tighter turns than the MKIIs gives it all kinds of movement possibilities that you simply will not have stock.  This is why I think the first option is out for me.

Now, we have 3 options to work with:
398 - Add Intel Officers to both whales, add Nym
394 - Add a single Intel Officer and Dash Rendar
396 - Add 3x A-Wings

I think there's two trains of thought here and they're both arriving at the station at the same time.  The first option here is 2x Intel Officers and Nym to bring the list up to 398.  With the points being so close to 400, you're almost sure to lose the the choice to go first and second.  The list is also pretty vulnerable to enemy fighters because Nym is a dedicated bomber for the most part.  He's cheap enough to fit into a list with 2x Intels, but other options to include is Tycho as a dedicated Interceptor, or Luke as a fighter/bomber hybrid.  Tycho gives me a little extra reach in his A-Wing with speed-5, but his 4 hull points and 3 blue dice makes him a little fragile in a sustained fight.  His biggest strength is the ability to dash 5 around the battlefield to tie up bombers that might spread out from you.  Luke is also a pretty solid buy for a good ship-threatening ability, 4 blues on squadron, 1 black on ship with the Bomber keyword.  Unfortunately, the speed 3 leaves a little to be desired.

The force is strong in this one.

The second option here is to take the best of both words, kinda.  Dash Rendar is arguably the best single ship for the Rebels if you're looking for a fighter-bomber that is fully autonomous.  Bomber and Rogue are fantastic keywords to have and the 6 HP, 4-speed and double Brace will keep him around for a while.  Really though, Dash is a great option compared to the more expensive A-Wing variant.  This last option is the least attractive to me:  I lose most of my control to add 3x A-Wings, which is nice and all, but I think I need some control elements to keep the power of the list intact.  What Intel Officer provides me over accuracy is that once a turn, I can bypass enemy ECM to really threaten the Brace token.  If he doesn't brace for impact, that's fine with me.  If he does, he gets its effect for one round and loses it forever.  That might as well the end for his ECM as well because ECM to guarantee a Brace is why the upgrade is taken the vast majority of the time.

We're down to this:
398 - Add Intel Officers to both whales, add Nym/Luke/Tycho (Dash won't fit)
394 - Add a single Intel Officer and Dash Rendar

I think it's pretty much going to be down to 2x Intel + Luke or a single Intel + Dash.  Dash will give me 394 and Luke will give me 397.  Dash will give me Rogue and the possibility to go first more, but Luke will give me more control with 3x total Intel Officers in the list.  Is the triple Intel Officers even needed with Home One bonus?  Home One does hit the hardest out of all the ships.

Which one would you go with and why?

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