SW Armada: The Top Imperial Aces

The Rebel roster if full of famous ace pilots. Today we look at the best of the best Imperials.

At the forefront of the Empire’s mastery of space are their swarms of fighter. Though Imperial fighters tend to be more fragile then their Rebel counterparts, anyone who thinks their aces are less deadly is a fool. It could even be argued that having to deal with their inferior ships, and surviving, makes them even stronger. The Empire’s Aces are a mix of swarm buffing support squadrons and deadly killers. Men and women who will stop at nothing to see the Empire victorious. Today we take a look at the top five Imperial Aces from Star Wars Armada.

5. Bossk

In his famous Hound’s Tooth Bossk one of the toughest and deadest squadrons in the game. His ship isn’t the fastest, and has limited ability to effect wider fights. Despite this there are few, if any, squadrons that can hope to match him in a one on one fight. Seven hull and a brace make him extremely hard to kill. The four black anti-squadron dice are one of the deadliest attacks in the game, since each one has a 75% of scoring a hit. A three red dice attack, such as a Z-95 or Strom has, might have a higher max output, but they are less reliable. Only Wedge, attacking an already actived target with 6 blue dice and Vader, reliably do as much damage. Moreover the ability to add a  free accuracy when damaged makes him an ace killer. Add in rogue, grit and a decent anti-ship attack and you have one of the most solid and reliable aces in the game.

4. “Mauler” Mithel

Mauler is by far the most… explosive of the Imperial Aces. While not particularly good at killing individual targets, no Imperial squadron can match Mithel’s ability to do vast amounts of AOE damage to enemy ships. Mualer is an amazing anti-swarm ship, and the ability to bypass most defenses is a huge boon. As we see more and more fleets taking squadrons in large numbers Mauler becomes a better and better choice. In addition newer cards, such as Fighter Coordination Team that could allow Mauler to move, and activate his ability more than once a turn, make him capable of out matched raw damage output.

3. Howlrunner

The Empire has no shortage of deadly aces. It indeed has a plethora of deadly killers at it’s disposal. Amid this glut of raw killing power it is the aces that have the ability to buff or effect large numbers of ships that really stand out. Howlrunner is one of those aces. Much like Mithel she doesn’t do much damage herself. However her ability to add dice to friendly swarm ships attacks, and counterattacks, makes her truly amazing. Her buffing ability makes her a centerpiece of a number of Imperial squadron builds and allows a swarm built on her to take on Rebel ships head to head.

2. Dengar

Similar to Howlrunner, Dengar is an amazing force multiplier. Few ships in the game have the ability to buff their allies like he does. Giving counter to, or increasing the counter of, nearby friendly squadrons is a hugely powerful ability. It get’s even better when mixed with Howlrunner above, giving nearby TIE’s counter 2 and TIE Interceptors Counter 4. This combo easily makes your ships far more deadly and means any enemy has to think twice about attacking you. Dengar is however useful in a number of other ways as well. Intel is an amazing ability giving him and nearby ships movement and targeting flexibility. While he may be at a huge boon in a swarm of attack fighters, he also is a great fit for your bombers. A force of bombers not only gains some defensive firepower, but also the ability to ignore enemy interceptors to focus on more important targets.

1. Major Rhymer

Major Rhymer is far and away the best squadron in the game. No other other squadron has the effect on a game as Rhymer does. Nor has any squadron, or even most ships, effected the Meta in such away. The ability to massively increase the threat range of your squadrons is a unparalleled, almost game-breaking ability. It has allowed the creation of the infamous Rhymerball and its variants which have been a mainstay of competitive Imperial lists since Wave I. Newer cards, like Admiral Salone only insure that Rhymer will continue to find new and deadly ways of being used for waves to come. No single ship has come close to being as trend setting or integral to a factions stratagems as has Rhymer.

That’s all for this week Armada Fans! Let us know which Imperial Aces you think are best, down in the comments! 

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.