Star Wars Armada: Fielding The Super Star Destroyer

Lets take a look at the kind of list we might take with a Super Star Destroyer.

The Super Star Destroyer is coming to Star Wars Armada and people are starting to get very excited. The big questions on everyone one mind is obviously how this will change the game and what kind of fleets we can expect. I’ve been playing around with some ideas and have had a few thought. The big thing to me, is what size fleet are we talking about? While you can take an SSD in a 400 point game, the prototypes are 220 and 250 points, the lists you can build aren’t a lot of fun. Just paying for the ship and your commander, plus a few upgrades for the SSD will eat up the vast bulk of your points leaving you with few choices. So I wanted to look at a bigger fleets. Today I’ve got an 800 point fleet, twice normal size, that feels like it was able to fit in a real SSD and some options. Lets take a look.

The List

The Big Fleet

Commander: Moff Jerjerrod

– flagship – Executor II-class Star Dreadnought (411 points)
–  Moff Jerjerrod  ( 23  points)
–  Ravager  ( 4  points)
–  Minister Tua  ( 2  points)
–  Agent Kallus  ( 3  points)
–  Damage Control Officer  ( 5  points)
–  Instructor Goran  ( 7  points)
–  Gunnery Team  ( 7  points)
–  Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams  ( 6  points)
–  Point-Defense Reroute  ( 5  points)
–  Advanced Projectors  ( 6  points)
–  H9 Turbolasers  ( 8  points)
–  Quad Turbolaser Cannons  ( 10  points)
–  Leading Shots  ( 4  points)
–  Overload Pulse  ( 8  points)
509 total ship cost

Imperial Star Destroyer Cymoon 1 Refit (112 points)
–  Avenger  ( 5  points)
–  Strategic Adviser  ( 4  points)
–  Gunnery Team  ( 7  points)
–  Spinal Armament  ( 9  points)
–  XX-9 Turbolasers  ( 5  points)
142 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
–  Suppressor  ( 4  points)
27 total ship cost

1 Dengar ( 20 points)
1 Soontir Fel ( 18 points)
1 TIE Advanced Squadron ( 12 points)
6 TIE Interceptor Squadrons ( 66 points)
116 total squadron cost

Points: 794/800

Assault Objective: Close Range Intel Scans
Defense Objective: Planetary Ion Cannon
Navigation Objective: Solar Corona

Running the Fleet: The SSD

So the big thing to talk about here is obviously the SSD. I’ve gone with the biggest baddest one, the Executor II which has a simply massive amount of weaponry. I like the Ravager title because SSDs get a command token for every dial they get, so you should be able to add 2 dice to any attack when needed. Tua gives the SSD a defensive slot, which I’ve filled with Advanced Projectors. With so many hull zones and so many shields I feel it can really get a ton of use out of this. Kallus helps boost the already crazy anti-squad value of the ship.

Oh yeah…

Given that the SSD already has  a ten dice primary I didn’t feel the need to really take upgrades to add to that. With both H9s and Quads you should be able to easily get enough accuracy results to lock down the enemies defensive tokens. Leading shots is pretty much a must have, and Overload Pulse should be easy to trigger with all the dice you are rolling. I’ve also taken Jerjerrod as the commander to help give the SSD a lot more maneuverability. With 33 hull its one ship that can afford to spend a bit to get that super turn when needed. In general you want the SSD in the thick of things dealing death and soaking hits.

Running the Fleet: Support

To back up the SSD I’ve taken a Cymoon Refit ISD. The idea here if for it hang back a bit and go after the SSD. It can use it deadly long range attacks to finish off targets that the SSD has already devastated. Since I’ve got Overload Pulse on the SSD I took the Avenger title here to hopefully take advantage of that. I’ve gone with the XX9 turbolasers to hopefully help finish off those damaged targets.  Between the Strategic Advisor on the the ISD and the SSDs ability to pass. This means that even though I’ve only got 3 ships in the list, I still get 5 activations. While this isn’t amazing at 800 points it should help.

The Gonzanti is there just to get me an extra activation. That’s really its only job. I’ve gone with a lighter fighter screen for 800 points, but one that I hope will be useful.  Between Instructor Goran and Dengar those TIE Interceptors get a very nice counter 4, meaning any fighters trying to break though to get to my ships will take damage even if they wipe me out. Any squadrons that get through the my screen should fall prey to the SSDs significant anti-squadron armament.

Look For Big Games

So that’s the list I’ve come up with right now.It’s really all built around delivering a one-two punch with the SSD and ISD, with the rest of the fleet there to keep them alive as long as possible. I think this could be a pretty mean fleet to fight, and the sheer firepower and thoughness of the SSD is very intimidating. Overall I just can’t wait to put an SSD on the table and get in some big games.

Let us know what kind of SSD fleets you are looking at taking, 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.