Star Wars Armada: Rogues & Villains Overview
Lets take a walk on the wild side. It’s the Rogues & Villains Expansion Pack for Wave II Star Wars Armada!
We’ve talked Imperials. We’ve talked Rebels. Now lets talk about the REAL heroes of Star Wars: The Rogues & Villains! They don’t follow the rules, not even their own. (Well, I guess they do follow their own rules…they just have exceptions.) Lets check them out:
There are 8 different ships to go over and each ship also comes with a “generic” version for less points. The “generic” versions aren’t bad at all but they do lack some of the special abilities of their unique counterparts. Then again you could take multiples of the generics. Anyone want to fly a wing of Firespray-31s? Ahhh yeah! For this article I’m going to focus on just the named ships – I go all the cards more in depth in the video.
Also in the video I cover the “Irregular Squadrons” rule which applies to these new units. They still count as Squadrons despite only having one “model” on the base. They still follow all the normal Squadron rules – except where their rules overwrite. “They can still engage enemy squardons and can be engaged. They are still limited to combat at distance ‘1.’ They can still only attack once per round, they can fire in a 360-dree arc, and they only score damage against ships when they roll a ‘hit’ unless they have the Bomber key word.”
Rogues & Villains Expansion Pack
Han Solo, Boba Fett, and a handful of the galaxy’s most notorious rogues and villains race to the battlefield in the Rogues and Villains Expansion Pack for Star Wars: Armada!
You’ll find eight irregular squadrons, including some of the Star Wars galaxy’s most recognizable freighters, patrol craft, and bombers, each of which can be represented in your games by either a non-unique squadron card or flown by an ace. Like the squadrons from the Core Set and the first wave of expansions, these come unpainted, but are presented in colors that complement their fleets.
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The Rebels
Han Solo – Millennium Falcon / YT-1300
Han is a BEAST on the table top. He’s going to be causing mayhem because he can pretty much activate whenever he wants. He only gets to activate ONCE but he’s got a huge amount of flexibility. Do you need him to swoop in during the ship phase to attack a squadron before it’s a threat? Maybe you want to hold him back until the other enemy squadrons have activated and are sitting ducks. It may seem redundant but having both his special ability and Rogue makes him one of the most flexable (and deadly) squadrons in the game. With his Grit ability he can also by-pass those annoying one-off speed-bump squadrons that are only to slow him down. You can slow down Han Solo, he’s driving the fastest hunk-o-junk in the galaxy!
Dash Rendar – Outrider / YT-2400
I’m a huge Dash Rendar Fan. I’m talked about it before in X-Wing and in Armada it’s no different. He’s awesome, I don’t care what you think. He’s actually a bit faster than Han, so take that you hunk-o-junk Falcon. He’s still throwing out 4 dice, although all 4 of them are blue instead of 2 blue and 2 black. However he’s rolling a black die vs ships and has the Bomber key word. His special ability is also super mean! The more enemy ships/squadrons around he’s getting more re-rolls. And he’s got the double brace with 6 hull – he’s getting into the thick of it and duking it out! If you’re flying near a capital ship you’re also dropping that black die and you have a pretty good shot at rolling a crit with a single re-roll. While he’s not going to single-handedly win you the game, he’s going to cause some problems for your opponents.
Jan Ors – Moldy Crow / HWK 290
Jan Ors is back in the Moldy Crow with some nice support options. Her ability will increase the survivability of your other squadrons around her. She’s kicking out a respectable 3 blue dice but Counter 2 and Intel are what really make her shine. The Heavy keyword reads “You do not prevent engaged squadrons from attacking ships or moving.” That allows other squadrons to bypass them to take on the real targets. Take that speed bump squads! Counter 2 is also really good! Even if she gets shot down, she’s still throwing 2 dice back making attacking her risky. The Moldy Crow is a great escort squadron. The down side is the lack of the Rogue keyword. Whomp-Whomp….
Nym – Havoc / Scurrg H-6 Bomber
This one is a neat ship because it’s the only ship we haven’t seen in any X-Wing previews…yet. Nym is actually from the Clone Wars era but has also made an appearance in several other Star Wars related properties and games like Star Wars Galaxies. He is in a bomber and is very solid vs the ships because not only do his crits count but he’s rolling a blue AND a black die. On a blue crit he also causes ships that have been hit to DISCARD a defense token. Ouch. On top of that he has Grit as well – so just like Han if it’s just one ship he can wave as he does a fly-by.
The Imperials
IG-88 – IG-2000 / Aggressor Assault Fighter
I’m digging the IG-2000’s ability. Were you trying to bypass us? Did you think you’re puny Counter attacks would work? Guess again, Hu-mon! IG-88 also has the Rogue Keyword and with his speed 5, 5 hull and 4 blue dice he’s goin’ huntin’ for Rebel Scum! Keep an eye out for this guy when he’s on the table – he can sneak-up on you VERY quickly! The Escort ke word forces you to take them on before other engaged squadrons. Ignoring the Escort rule allows you to target those high-value bombers instead of their…escort(duh) ships.
Bossk – Hound’s Tooth / YV-666
This guy is a BOSS(k) – with 7(!) hull he’s at tough as some of the rebel SHIPS! His ability is also very cool because it allow him to block his target from using their defense tokens. Couple that with all the black dice he’s tossing about, he’s a very dangerous squadron. Grit (we’ve covered) and Rogue as well. I think Bossk is a solid ship and while he’s slow once he pounces he’s going to be really hard to shake!
Boba Fett – Slave I / Firespray-31
“Guys – it’s JUST Boba Fett. It’s not like he’s cool or anything. He’s just some dumb bounty hunter that has daddy abandonment issues and got “accidentally” beat by a Half-blind/drunk Han Solo. Pfft.”
Then again…you never bet the Fett. His ability bypasses all the hijinks. With Rogue and Bomber he’s a threat to those capital ships with his blue and black die – and he’s no slouch when it comes to engaging those enemy fighter squadrons either! For 26 points the auto damage and his potential damage make him a solid buy in an Imperial list.
Dengar – Punishing One / JumpMaster 5000
Dengar is a team player. Everyone likes when Dengar is their wingman. They like him so much they don’t have the heart to tell him his armor is on backwards. But seriously giving ships Counter 1 or adding 1 to their Counter value is really nice. We’ve covered Intel and the debuff that it causes and I think Swarm is an interesting choice. He’s relatively cheap at 20 points but if you pair him up with some TIE fighters or other squadrons he’s going to pay for himself with the utility he brings to those squadrons.
On the whole, I think the Rogue & Villainy pack adds some really interesting stuff to Armada. These Irregular Squadrons really shift how you can use your fighter squadrons both offensively and defensively. They are a threat to both Squadrons and Ships and I’d really keep an eye out for all the ships with the Rogue keyword. They will sneak-up on you if you’re not planning for them. Have at them Admirals!
Is it ‘Causal Fly-Day’ yet?
