SW Armada: I’ve got Some Profound Ideas

Lets look at some ways to use the new cards previewed for Star Wars Armada.

At long last the silence from FFG has been broken by a nice string of articles showing us some of the new stuff to come in Armada. This week they previewed a number of cards coming out in the Profundity Expansion Pack. The always awesome AdamHarry has already done a good overview of those cards, so today lets dig a little deeper and see how we might really put some of them to use.

Caitken and Shollan

This pair is a big of mixed bag. Now re-rolls are always pretty great, and harder for Rebels to get than Imperials, so that a real plus for these guys. However they are a pretty pricey upgrade card and take up a valuable slot. The MC75 doesn’t have more than 3 dice of any one type on a facing. Since you can only use it on one facing, I wonder if its really worth the points. It’s also competing with the cheaper Ordnance Experts, which is better for black dice, and the ever popular Gunnery Teams.

All in all I wonder if the MC75 is really the place for this card. Maybe dropping it on MC80 Battle Cruiser is actually the way to go. That ship can, with a Con Fire command, get up 6 red dice out its front, which makes the re-roll really worth it. A Rebel Assault Frigate with Ackbar can actually get up to 7 red dice on a side, which also makes it a pretty good ship for this upgrade. Still on both of those you’ve gotta ask if it is worth giving up the 2nd shot from that arc?

Mon Calamari Exodus Fleet

This is one of the more niche cards I think I’ve seen FFG put out. In the wrong fleet this card is just a waste of points. To really gain any benefit from it you are going to have to really build a fleet around it. In addition since this is a title card your ship is going to lose out out on some of the other options. Still, built up right it should allow a large MC to get 10 engineering points, which is a ridiculous amount, and can make a ship next to impossible to kill. Get Redundant Shields on the ship and somehow run Shields to Maximum! And You MC80 could get 7 Shields back a turn.

Wide-Area Barrage

Oh. Oh myyyyyy. Now this card might be the real gem in the set. This card can really put out the damage. Certainly its got an obvious use on the MC75 Ordnance Cruiser with its two ordnance upgrade slots. You could run Wide-Area Barrage and Expanded Launchers on a ship to give it (with a con fire command) 6 black dice out the front. Throw on ordnance experts for re-rolls and you can do some serious damage to your main target and also splash up to 6 over to a second. Now think about running that in a Sato list, and doing it at long range. Thats pretty spicy.

It’s also a card to make Imperial’s pretty happy. This is a great cheap option for GSD I, which can, with a con fire command, throw out 5 black and get re-rolls. That again can do a lot of damage. It’s also a great card for killing Aces or Flotillas since the 2nd target isn’t being attacked this should mean they can’t use tokens, so no brace or scatter. Goodbye flotillas! Overall just a really great card.

Jyn Erso

Surprise new mechanic!  Jyn like all the other “boarding” cards is kind of hard to pull off, since you have to strat you turn close to the target. She seems like she might be fun to use, a cheeky way to grab some points and also mess with the enemy’s plans. It’s not clear how you get rid of raid tokens yet, so that answer may decide just how crippling is she. Still this is a going to be a hard card to use. You’ve gotta not only play it right but also be playing the right mission to get full use our of her, and shes got a big opportunity cost in the slots she fills. I’m on the fence here. Jyn is sadly not really my type of card, but I can see how she might be powerful.

Final Thoughts

I’ve already covered most of thoughts on how to use Raddus. Overall this is shaping up to be a very solid wave. Before these cards were revealed I would have said it looked like the Imperials were getting a much better boost, now I’m not sure, which is good!. I am very much looking forward to getting to play with all these new toys in the near future.

Let us know what you think of the new cards 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.