SW Armada: The Arquitens Joins the Fleet
The Arquitens Light Cruiser is unveiled as a new type of Imperial Ship – but how does it rate in the fleet?
This week FFG has released the details on the new Imperial Light Cruiser Expansion Pack for Armada. The expansion adds the new Arquintens class to the game, filling a new role for the Imperial fleet. The Arquintens and it’s upgrades are sure to be another popular expansion for the game, so lets take a deeper look.
The Ship
The Arquintens comes in two variations, the light cruiser and the command cruiser. I have to admit off the bat, I’m really unsure how I feel about this ship. The ship is unique for the Imperials as one of the first broadside ships they get. It really fills a long range broadside skirmisher role. This is not a role the Imperials have been able to fill before, so being able to do so is nice.
Now the Arquintens is able to throw out a good number of red dice, 3 from each side and 1 front the front and rear, which is nice. But the ship just feels odd to me. The Light Cruiser variant seems odd as black and red dice are not really the best combo. In fact the black dice seem to add really little to the ship, since it both wants to stay at range and also doesn’t get missile upgrades. Poor anti squadron dice, speed three with an odd turn and no brace make the ship odd.
The Command Cruiser is a better choice to me. Blue/red dice are a step up and it gets better squadron and anti-squadron dice. Plus an extra upgrade slot. I think my hang up is in it’s role. It’s a very similar ship to the Gladiator , but for long range, not close. Speed three however really holds it back, as the Raider remains better for objective grabbing. This means that its really a ship that’s going to be matched up vs the CR90 as a long range skirmisher. I’ll talk more about this below, but it seems like an unusual role for an Imperial ship. Even though I have some doubts, the Light Cruiser does fill a new role for Imperials and is sure to be a great option for some fleets.
Vs the CR90
The Light Cruiser as a long range skirmisher is going to be opposed by the Rebel CR90. This is not a match up that really favors the Arquitens. Yes it does have an extra point of hull and shield, and it also has one more red dice, and one less blue, (compared to the CR90A), making it a bit more powerful. Both ships however shot the same total number of dice and the CR90 is speed 4 and command one, so much more flexible. You can debate if having two redirects is better or worse than two evades.
The big thing is that the CR90A is 15 points cheaper than the Command Cruiser, and really just as deadly, while also being faster. This is I think a big problem. You could even give the CR90 Spinal Armaments, giving it more dice that the Command Cruiser and it would still be 6 points cheaper. Is the CR90 overpowered, or the Arquintens is under powered? That is up for debate, but it’s still an issue.
The Commander
I really don’t want to be hard on this expansion. I promise I will have some really nice things to say later. But now is not the time. I’m on the fence a bit about the ship, but the same cannot be said about Jerjerrod. Simply said I don’t like him. Now I have never been a fan of any ability that hurts your own ships, keeping them intact is how you win after all. So that the main reason I don’t like him.
Jerjerrod would be a fine upgrade card for a ship, but as an admiral I also don’t like that fact that he is very situational, he will only get used a few times during a game. Lastly I just think there are better choices, Screed or Motti lets says. Sure he seems to help VSD get a little better, but at what cost to them? Some players may like the Moff, but not me.
The Upgrades
Dual Turbolaser Turrets is a nice cheap way to make your shots a little more accurate. Now this card is a little oddly worded, but in essence it lets you re roll one dice, and turn the re-roll into a red dice. It’s not bad, and it is cheap. Now I think Turbolaser Reroute Circuits is probably better on the Arquintens , but this could work on some other ships and is cheap.
Minister Tua is hands down a great card. So far only two Imperial ships get the Defensive Retro fit slot, the Arquintens and the Imperial II. With Tua any Imperial ship can now get that upgrade. This is a great trade for a number of Imperial ships and is going to serve to make tough ships even tougher. Much more Then Jerjerrod, Tua will help out Victories to get back into the game.
Along with Minister Tua comes one of the best upgrades the game has seen. Reinforced Blast Doors is a great card that can do an unprecedented amount of healing. I really cannot overstate how amazing repairing 3 points of non-critical damage is. This in essence gives a lot of ships 3 extra hull points. There is not a ship in the game that cannot benefit from this card. For the big Imperial ships it makes them ridiculously extra tanky, couple with Motti for extra results. Rebels also get a benefit form it. Did you knock that CR90 down to it’s last hull point? Now it’s back at full. You are going to want a lot of these.
Final Thoughts
An Old ship made new again
Overall I think this is a great expansion pack. While I may not like the Admiral I think the uniqueness of the ship makes it good. Filling a role that couldn’t well be filled before is important. Moreover the pack comes with a number of really amazing upgrades, one of which is a must have for both sides. We still haven’t seen the titles, nor one of the upgrades, but from some of the rumors floating around they seem likely to only make the expansion better. All in all, another good additional to the Imperial Fleet.
~Well gentle readers, that’s all for today. Let us know what you think about the new expansion down in the comments.
