The Raider-II is ready to make a comeback in Star Wars Armada with this new technical load-out that can put out a punch from downtown!
The Raider-II is a ship that the Empire may have forgotten but crafty Imperial Admirals know not to ignore its strengths. Favoring medium range combat, its front arc of 3 blue and 1 black dice favor an Ion Weapon platform. There were not many Ion upgrades that benefited the Raider-II, until Heavy Ion Emplacements. 
Heavy Ion Emplacements is a 9 point Ion cannon that can really put an impressive amount of damage out. As a Blue crit, you may exhaust the HIEs card to make the defending hull zone, and each adjacent hull zone, lose 1 shield. This is an impressive punch that can reduce the effectiveness of a ship’s shields and Redirect defensive tokens, so this ship should be the first to fire upon an enemy target. The tricky part is to get within range, and medium range could be turn 3 at the earliest. Not with this next upgrade! 
Disposable Capacitors allows you to fire your medium range blue dice at long range for 1 turn. This could be just the long range punch that you need to start disabling your target ship’s defenses. Being at long range can also keep the Raider-II safer at a distance, and can fully utilize its Evade tokens. The hard part is getting a blue critical icon reliably.
Admiral Screed is a nice way around this, but you need to spend a die to change 1 to a crit. Another way is to equip the Raider-II with Veteran Gunners. This Weapons Team upgrade allows you to reroll all dice in your pool. Since blue dice do not have any blanks, the chance of you getting a worse roll is minimal, and you are searching for that crit icon for the Heavy Ion Emplacements. Use this Raider Sniper to take the fight to the Rebels from long range!
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About the Author: Barclay Montgomery
