The latest info on the recent Star Wars Armada FAQ is here! Come and find out how the game has changed for the better…or worse!
The recently released Armada FAQ has made some big changes to how the game will be played. Promoting better list variety and encouraging players to try new things seems to be an overall theme for this errata of cards within the game. The biggest changes seem to be in altering the way Imperial ships and squadrons play in Armada.
*Note: Cards displayed in this article are the new cards changed by Fantasy Flight Games.
Demolisher has been a favorite of aggressive Imperial admirals since the start of the game. It’s ability to shoot and scoot has been an intense combo that spells doom for Rebel fleets. Most notably, Demolisher had the distinction of being able to fire after it performed an Engine Techs boost…but no longer. During your action you can perform one of your attacks after you execute your first maneuver. This changes the standard Gladiator build of having Demolisher + Engine Techs as an auto-include for Imperial fleets. This encourages greater list variety for Imperials, and forces Imperial admirals to adapt to new tactics to make the dreaded Demolisher be the terror it once was again.
Major Rhymer was another Imperial auto-include for bomber heavy fleets that could extend the range of their attacks. A common tactic was to park Major Rhymer in a spot and form a “Rhymer ball” around him with your TIE bombers to take advantage of his range boost. This boost would allow you to fire your anti-ship armaments at close to medium range as apposed to range one. This was a no-brainer type method of sitting and waiting for your enemy to come within range of the Rhymer ball. This has recently changed with the range restriction of Rhymer being only close range, which is still a significant reach, but not as long as before. This adds more risk to the Imperials, forcing them to fly closer with the Rhymer ball.
Speaking of bombers, a change has also been implemented with Bomber Command Center. This amazing card allows you to reroll one die for bomber squadrons when they attack a ship. A common tactic was to include multiple flotillas with multiple Bomber Command Centers to allow for multiple rerolls of the same die. This changed the probability of a reroll being successful from possible to almost certain. The change makes it so that only one reroll is allowed per die. This makes it so that having multiple Bomber Command Center flotillas is redundant rather than auto-include.
If you had seen the latest 2017 Armada Worlds reports, you will see that the top Armada fleets seem to all have General Rieekan as their fleet admirals. This gave your Rebel ships and unique squadrons the ability to become zombies and removed the risks of flying recklessly. It applied to all ships and unique squadrons within a fleet. It has been changed to allow for only a once per round usage, which means only 1 ship or unique squadron in 1 turn may remain in the play area even if it has been destroyed. This changed the Rebel game significantly and makes it so that the Rebels will have tough choices when it comes to deciding which ship to sacrifice for the cause.
Turbolaser Reroute Circuits has been a favorite of small based ships that feature at least 1 evade defense token. This fantastic upgrade allowed for more accurate firepower at the expense of lowering defenses. Being on maneuverable ships, this usually would be easy to set up double arc shots that resulted in a guaranteed 4 damage at the very least. The recent change has made it so that this card must be exhausted after using it, to prevent such tactics. This balances out fleets that favor multiple small ships with TRCs to be effective but not overpowered.
The recent FAQ for Armada has made some big changes to how the game unfolds. Are your favorite ships or squadrons affected by the recent changes? Keep evolving along with the game to become a better fleet admiral!
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About the Author: Barclay Montgomery
