The Interdictor is charging up its Projectors and Tractor Beams to prepare for a new way to battle the Rebels. Use the obstacles to your advantage!
The Interdictor has been getting more attention lately with the Heavy Ion Emplacements + Disposable Capacitors combo running around, but it has more tricks up its Experimental Retrofits. It’s Grave Shift Reroute can not be taken lightly as it is the only upgrade in the game that allows you to move obstacles around. This can work wonders with a carefully chosen Navigation Objective.
Navigational Hazards is an Objective that favors obstacle damage. The second player will be able to place 4 objectives, which will work fantastically with Grav Shift. The key that makes this whole Objective is that whenever a ship overlaps an obstacle and suffers 1 or more damage, the opposing players fleet gains 1 victory token. Not only are you damaging enemy ships, but you are also gaining extra points for doing so. Also of note, at the end of each round, these obstacles move again, alternating with each player and to within distance 1-2 of its original position. Even more opportunities for damage points! 
Grav Shift Reroute is what makes all of this work. This card allows you to place a Grav Shift token after obstacle placement. After deploying fleets, you may move each obstacle at distance 1-3 of the Grav Shift token to within distance 2 of its original location. This is clutch since you can place your token nicely within your 4 obstacles that you originally placed, see where your opponent deploys, and then Grav Shift those obstacles right in his flight path. Easy points and damage right there! 
This all sounds so great, but you have to remember that your opponent will be able to move obstacles, and he wants that sweet victory point damaged-ness as well as you do. You can mitigate this to some degree with a Chart Officer. This nifty 2 point officer upgrade kicks on after you execute a maneuver. If you overlapped an obstacle, you may discard Chart Officer instead of resolving the effects of overlapping that obstacle. Getting to ignore a faceup damage card from overlapping an asteroid? Sign me up! 
The sluggish Interdictor may have a hard time dodging all of those obstacles, even with Chart Officers. Engine Techs can help you skirt the edge. Keep Navigate commands handy and you can dodge those obstacles in your way by being able to perform a speed 1 maneuver after your original maneuver.
Your opponent will be carefully trying to dodge those obstacles as well as you, but you can hinder his movement with the Interdictor. G-8 Experimental Projector can reduce an enemy ship’s speed at distance 1-5 before it resolves its Determine Course step. You may exhaust the G-8 to temporarily reduce that enemy ship’s speed by 1, to a minimum of 0 until the end of its maneuver. This only reduces its speed temporarily though, not the speed on its dial. This can be the key to making sure they hit on obstacle in one turn and another once their speed is back to normal. 
To further mess with your opponent’s speed (that’s why you brought an Interdictor, right?) is with Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams. When you activate, you may exhaust this card to select an enemy ship at distance 1-5 of your size class or smaller. That ship must spend a maneuver token or reduce its speed by 1 to a minimum of 1. This works great against MC30s and Corvettes that try and thread the needle through those obstacles you threw at them. At the very least it forces those ships to remove a navigate token, which is arguably the most useful token in Armada. Deploy your Tractor Beams and Grav Shifts to throw those obstacle right at the Rebel ships with the Interdictor!
More Star Wars Tactics
About the Author: Barclay Montgomery
