Star Wars Armada: The Blockade Runner Strikes!

The CR90 Blockade Runner comes into it’s own as we discus the most flexible ship in Star Wars Armada.

The Ship

Today I want to talk about the most flexible, and possibly most powerful, ship in Armada, the humble CR90 or Corellian Corvette. The CR90 is one of, if not the most, iconic ships in the Star War universe and it’s been around in Armada from the very start. We’ve talked about it before here on BOLS and many others have gone over it’s strengths and weaknesses but still many are missing its full potential. For quick review here are its cards:

When your ship is a hammer, all your problems start to look like nails

The A is the longer ranged version of the two, boasting respectable numbers of long range red dice and the ability to get some decent upgrades, such as turbolasers. Due to its redundant evade tokens a lot of people like to arm them with Turbolaser Reroute Circuits for some reliable long range attacks.

Wait… don’t hammers have to get up close?

Unlike the A the CR90B has only blue dice making it a solid midrange attack ship, able to dodge into an enemy blind spot and put out a lot of accurate fire. It’s also dirt cheap. While some people like to use them for things like Overload Pulse, the more popular upgrade seems to be SW-7 Ion Batteries allowing every shot to be a hit.

Cost Effectiveness

Both of these variants have  a lot to be said for them. Now the reason I call this one of the most powerful ships in the game simply comes down to cost vs dice out put at range. These ships are fast and pretty easy to get a double arc shot of with – for either 44 or 39 points you are putting out 5 attack dice, 6 if you use concentrate firepower… and that is with out any upgrades. Compare the ISD 2,  the stock build can put out 12 dice for 120 points (though its much harder to get a double arc with the ISDs) or one dice per 10 pts. This is roughly on par with most other ships, the MC80 pays about 12 points per dice. Now both the Raider and the Gladiator are super cost effective, paying about 7 points per dice, but they get a lot of short ranged black dice which are much harder to use and often will be out of range. Three CR90s for roughly the same points as an ISD 2 will put out 15 dice or something like – or roughly one die per 8 points and they will do it at range AND with high maneuverability & survivability.

The Loadout

Pew Pew Pew

The load out I’ve really been liking taking this ship with lately is using the CR90 A and putting Slaved Turrets on it – this costs a total of 50 points. Now at first this may not seem like a great move. Yes, I get an extra red dice, but by going down to two dice I am losing an dice by only being able to make one attack a turn. In isolation this may in fact not be the best build but when taken as part of a larger fleet this ship really tends to shine. In fact you could even say that as part of my fleet it’s a…

Sigh. I went there.

That’s right, the real key to this load out is taking Ackbar as your Admiral.  Suddenly with Ackbar this ship gets a ton more powerful. Your side shots now go from just one red dice, to 4 (1 base + 1 for slaved turrets + 2 for Ackbar) or 5 with a concentrate firepower – and while at mid range you can ever throw in a blue dice. This kind of firepower rivals MC80s and ISD2s at long range and the ship has the speed to stay at long range.

Moreover since with Ackbar you couldn’t fire out of your front or side anyway the slaved turrets have less of a downside. With your powerful single attack you don’t have to worry about getting it to double arcs. The other big advantage I like from this build is that it’s super flexible from any angle. While your sides are most powerful getting up to 6 dice, your front attack can still put out up to 5 dice and ever your rear can throw out 3 red dice. This means the ship isn’t losing a ton of dice when it has to make complicated maneuvers. This makes it really easy for you to get several of the same ships in your fleet and concentrate fire on a single target. Which, as it turns out, is just what I like to do…

The List

Any bets on when the Pelta-class frigate is gonna show up?

Ackbar’s Four Horsemen

Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 393/400

Commander: Admiral Ackbar

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Fire Lanes
Navigation Objective: Minefields

[ flagship ] MC80 Assault Cruiser (114 points)
–  Admiral Ackbar  ( 38  points)
–  Home One  ( 7  points)
–  Raymus Antilles  ( 7  points)
–  Engine Techs  ( 8  points)
–  Advanced Projectors  ( 6  points)
–  XI7 Turbolasers  ( 6  points)
–  Leading Shots  ( 4  points)

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)
–  Tantive IV  ( 3  points)
–  Slaved Turrets  ( 6  points)

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)
–  Slaved Turrets  ( 6  points)

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)
–  Slaved Turrets  ( 6  points)

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)
–  Slaved Turrets  ( 6  points)

Fleet created with Armada Warlords

How it Plays

So I’ve been running this list now for a while and have gone to three tournaments with it, including our local regional, and It’s done very well for me. The key here is using the light but deadly CR90s to wear down an enemy with massed long range fire for the first few turns. Then the slower Home One comes in to deliver some killing blows. The CR90s are also deadly enough to chase down anyone who tries to run.

Home One I will say adds a lot to this fleet. The ship’s ability makes the red dice of the CR90s more accurate. It also tends to draw a ton of fire from enemies (which helps keep the corvettes going). Fighters can pose a bit of a problem for this fleet. But to counter them use the sheer speed of the CR90s to blow past the enemy fighters and kill their capital ships. Even when I take some hits the CR90s are cheap enough that I can lose one or two and till pull off 9-1 or 10-0 victories. In my mind, this a pretty unique fleet that I haven’t seen other people taking yet, which is something I look for when making lists. It’s also ton of fun to play since the CR90s are great to fly – their speed and maneuverability lets them do some really crazy stuff. They have the ability to fly in fast, deliver a solid punch, and then fly off into the metaphorical sunset.

That’s all for today folks! What do you think of my fleet and how do you like to use the CR90 in your games of Star Wars Armada?

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Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.