Star Wars Armada: Interdictor Unleashed
FFG has blown the lid off the upcoming wave IV releases. Follow along as we go though all the new info about the fan favorite Interdictor.
A few weeks ago we got our first taste of info on the brand new Interdictor Cruiser and this thing is so hot we just had to cover some of the tactics it will use right away. Now normally FFG takes a while to get out all the info on new release but in order to facilitate their new Fleet Commander Contest they gave us all a big gift with full details on all the new wave IV cards this week. Today we take a good look at the new cards released by FFG.
And the players cried out for more triangles, and lo, FFG heard them and made more triangles
The Ship
Veiled in secrecy and designed as more than a weapons platform, the Imperial Interdictor was equipped with an experimental gravity well to rip Rebel ships out of hyperspace. This made it a dangerous tool for the Empire, and the ship’s gravity-based technologies are represented in Armada by its new Experimental Retrofit upgrade slots.
Naturally, you can find these upgrade slots featured on both the Interdictor Suppression Refit and the Interdictor Combat Refit.
Twice as many ways to mess with your enemies!
Though the Interdictor comes in two variants, they share a lot of similarities. Both have four dice out of their front/port/starboard arcs, and three out the rear, and a good amount of shields. Both are also identical in their command, squadron and engineering stats. The big difference is that the Combat Refit is a little more directly deadly, gaining more anti-squadron dice and more red dice, whereas the Suppression Refit is more tricky with the ability to have two Experimental Retrofit upgrades.
Now these ships invite comparison to the Victory Class Star Destroyer, since they are of similar size, speed and cost. Overall I feel that the Interdictor comes out looking pretty good compared to the VSD. Firepower for one thing is pretty comparable. With the Interdictor getting a 8 dice double arc to the VSD’s 9 being off set by the fact that the Interdictor is better at fighting out its flanks and rears. Also the Interdictor is both a bit tougher, the extra hull and two contains and 5 engineering, more than make up for a slight reduction in shields. It’s also easier to command given its command value of two. The extra tick of turning at speed two and the ability to take engin tech also makes its a lot more maneuverable than the VSD. That’s not to say the Interdictor totally eclipes it’s cousin, the VSD is both better as a carrier and will deal out a bit more damage in a straight head to head fight. I think overall that the two ships are actually a great compliment to each other and I think the introduction of wave IV will see the VSD coming back into the meta.
The Cards
Go google Rebels
While a lot of people may be disappointed that the new Imperial Admiral isn’t Thrawn, they shouldn’t look past the fact that they got a totally awesome replacement. I mean seriously, this guy rocks and is a great way to shut down squirly Rebel fleets. Combined with the G-8 Experimental Projectors and Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams the Imps now have three ways of slowing down Rebel ships, keeping them right where they want them. Moreover, Konstantine’s ability to speed up the enemy shouldn’t be overlooked, its a great way to make enemy’s overshoot their targets and either miss shots, or fly off the table all together.
Also known as one of those odd dome houses
The Targeting Scrambler is a new and amazing defensive card for the Imperials. The ability to make an enemy reroll dice on attacks is huge and can be a real savior, just ask Lando. Now while this is limited to only being used against close range attacks, that’s not so bad, since black dice are the deadliest and also have plenty of misses on them. What really makes this card great however is that ability to use it to protect other ships in your fleet. While your Interdictor might be hanging back you can use the Targeting Scrambler to protect your Demolisher as it makes close in attacks. Even better you can combine this with the Interdictor title to double its uses.
Droids! Work for the Emperor!
The fourth of the new Experimental Retrofit cards the Grav Shift Reroute is a very interesting upgrade. It’s the first card we’ve seen so far that directly allows a player to effect the playing field and as such allows for some interesting shinanagings. 
For instance when playing the mission dangerous terrain the Imperial player uses the Grav Shift Reroute to bring objectives closer to him.
This allows him to grab a bunch on turn one and clinch the victory!
Oh hey, it’s that guy!
While not as earth(star?)shattering as Konstantine, Titus does allow for a very cheap way to mess with an enemy commander. In particular this is great way to through a Rebel battle line into confusion on turn one. Interesting to note, Titus can slow an enemy to speed zero if he wants too, which could put a ship out of the fight for several turns.
Yularen 2.0
Similar in concept, and price, to Yularen, Aresko allows you to gain tokens from other ships near by. Off the bat this strikes me as a great way to get navigation tokens to active engine techs while still being able to give other orders. Aresko is a very flexible officer and could find a home on pretty much any imperial ship.
You don’t own that plane! The taxpayers do! Son, your ego is writing checks your body can’t cash!
Another great and cheap upgrade card is the Flight Commander. While this guy may seem innocuous at first he actually does a couple of big things for the player. Firstly he helps offset the need for boosted comms, since the ship can now try to move in range of stranded squadrons and then activate them, this allows points to be freed up or for the player to take expanded hangers and Flight Commander. However prephase an even better use for him is to allow your bombers to make their attack runs after your capital ship has stripped shields. Sure this will mean a less effective main attack, but also it means that a horde of bombers get the change to score a lot of crits. I think this guy will be really popular with both Imperials and Rebels.
Looks like Thrawn did make it into this set after all!
Another huge card for fighter based fleets is the Fighter Coordination Team. Another cheap upgrade, this card allows you to make some small movements of your fighters, for effectively free. What’s interesting to note is that there is no limit to the number of times a fighter can be moved by this ability. In the right combination this card could allow for first turn fighter attacks. Crazy!
These are known to be Mace Windu’s favorite Ion Cannons
Lastly the Interdictor comes with a new set of Ion Cannons. These interesting guns allow you to exhaust enemy cards. Already this has some uses, such as stopping engine techs or some of the Experimental Retrofits. In addition it’s sure to gain more uses as more and more exhaustible cards come out.
Well that about wraps up the new cards. All in all it seems clear that the Interdictor is bringing a very unique bag of tricks to the table and is sure to mix up the meta for a while to come.
Interdictor Expansion Pack $39.95
The Interdictor cruiser was designed a major part of the Empire’s response to the elusive Rebel threat. Its gravity-well projectors are capable of wrenching enemy ships out from hyperspace, and its deployment along one of the galaxy’s hyperspace lanes can spell doom for unsuspecting Rebel captains. The Interdictor Expansion Pack introduces the Interdictor miniature as a medium-base Imperial ship, as well as two ship cards, and fourteen upgrades, including the new Experimental Retrofit upgrades, gravity well projectors and grav shift reroutes.
Well that’s all for today folks! Let us know what you think about Wave IV down below in the comments!
You can follow me on twitter!
