Star Wars Armada: Screed Power
When it comes down to playing Imperials, I think you absolutely have to field at least one Imperial Star Destroyer. Here’s why:
Hero here from HERO’s Gaming Blog,
That thing is absolutely beastly compared to almost every other ship in the game. The ISD-II comes stock at 120 points and the front arc is massive for the amount of damage that it can drop. When you’re throwing 4 reds and 4 blues from 4 shields in the front, 3 on the sides and 2 in the rear, even the side arcs are not safe for players trying to flank the damn thing. The most impressive thing about the damn ship is its ridiculous speed. Having such a powerful ship move so quickly allows it to bully the middle of the board really easily.
Let’s just lead with the list I’ve been toying with:
SCREED TYPE1
Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 395/400
Commander: Admiral Screed
Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Minefields
[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
– Admiral Screed ( 26 points)
– Relentless ( 3 points)
– Intel Officer ( 7 points)
– Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
– Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams ( 6 points)
– Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
– XI7 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (85 points)
– Intel Officer ( 7 points)
– Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
– Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams ( 6 points)
– XI7 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
Gladiator I-Class Star Destroyer (56 points)
– Demolisher ( 10 points)
– Engine Techs ( 8 points)
– Assault Concussion Missiles ( 7 points)
1 Darth Vader ( 21 points)
Trapping your mans, sealing your fate.
Following relatively the same formula that I’ve been building my Rebels, I think the most effective power option would be to maximize on its firepower and control the engagement from start to finish. This is why you see my Intel Officer + XI7s, but you’ll also see Tractor Beams in here because of how much effect it has on ships that venture near the ISD-II. Let me explain to you really quickly why I think the Tractor Beams is a great upgrade: For the points that you spend on it, you can consistently disrupt any ship of your choosing as long as its in range. You simply pick a ship during your activation and its affected. There’s no rolling, no way to negate it, no way to get around it, you simply exhaust the card and the effect happens. Slowing ships down to by an entire speed means that they have to constantly execute navigate commands or stack navigate tokens just so they can hope to out-turn the ISD. They certainty can’t outrun it, so reaching better angles of engagement is absolutely needed to avoid getting 8-diced constantly. I know that most MC80 players will be crapping their pants if their ship is stuck at 1 with an ISD’s guns locked on you. It’s just insane that it affects ships of equal size.
This is the new Imperial hotness.
Unfortunately, not all ships are slow, and not all games are going to be Red vs. Blue anymore. Now that you’ll have games where Rebels will fight Rebels and Imperials vs. Imperials, so this handy little upgrade suddenly makes Gladiators a lot slower than they would like, and Victory-class Star Destroyers cry all day as they try to pick their speed back up with that 3-command rating. Tractor Beams are where’s its at folks, seriously. Being able to automatically disrupt movement with no way to counter and to do it turn after turn because of how commands are queued is going to be painful. Not only does it force your opponent to constantly order navigate commands to negate its effect, but there’s absolutely no downside to having it. This is the very definition of cost-efficiency.
BOOM!
Keep in mind that this is pretty much my skeleton list when playing Imperials. Running the trifecta of ISD, VSD and GSD gives me a lot of options overall. The VSD is pretty much outclassed by the ISD, but the point cost that you pay for it is more than fair for something that has 8 HP to chew through and can still deliver consistent damage with its 3 reds and 3 blues. The only thing that it’s really missing is the ability to take Engine Techs or ECM. Those upgrades would drastically help the performance of the ship itself. You shouldn’t worry too much though; the Victory is still an excellent ISD support vessel with its various weapon upgrades. In addition, the Gladiator in this list has Engine Techs and I think it’s absolutely ridiculous the kind of mileage you can get with a pseudo speed-4 Gladiator that has the Demolisher title. I mean, just look at its speed-1! It has 2 clicks for whatever reason just so it can do some movement craziness after it shoots, moves and shoots again with ACM and Screed’s ability to turn crappy rolls into something great. A single Gladiator on the flank, moving the way it does with black dice and ACM is something you do not want to have in your face.
Serious value for the cost.
Lastly, we have Vader hanging around with his TIE/x1. Why Vader? Because like I said a previous post, Vader is one of the best pilots to have if you’re looking out for Rebel bombers. There’s nothing that sucks more than having a bunch of B-Wings just hanging out camping the backside of your ISD, so Vader’s there to fix the problem. He has speed-4, 5 health, double Brace, and godly firepower when it comes down to killing enemy fighters. The three blue and black dice with his pilot ability that allows him to treat crits as hits can potentially give him 5 damage. That’s pretty much a dead B-Wing a turn if he rolls hot. His speed allows you to hound other ships as well, since his black dice on ships can churn out 2 damage a turn with decent rolls. Never fear bombers because you know good ol’ Anakin’s got your back.
All in all, Screed is the right man for the job if you’re out to kill with the Imperials. It must be a damn good coincidence that Screed can turn useless dice into crits on a ship with 4 blue dice (or three on the Victory). There are so many cards out there that react nicely with crits and the combo potential is huge. Just look at what Overload Pulse can do to an enemy ship before the ISD-II with the Avenger title gets to shoot. Oh look, a fully exhausted ship. Better rip into it with my ISD-II firing full SW-7 Ion Batteries that turn those useless accuracy dice into pure damage.
The list goes on, and it can get pretty comprehensive but I’m sure by now you guys have something to work with. Don’t like Vader for whatever reason? I’m sure you’ll find room for Boba Fett because he’s also really amazing for the points. Do yourself a favor Imperial players: Make Screed your Admiral of choice and buy yourself an ISD or two. That way, you can feel comfortable taking on just about anybody on the battlefield.
Welcome to the Imperial Navy!
