Upgrades... upgraded!

I just hit every one of my upgrade articles, leaving me nothing but the Commanders left.  Some basics:

Generic Officers:
Chart Officer got an update.  She's not bad, just, I usually just end up with other options in the slot.  As in all upgrades, if you have a plan for her....  Otherwise it was minor sentences and link updates for a lot of things.

Defensive Retros:
Advanced Projectors - i advise you not to take it, as most of the time EWS does it better, and XI7s still are everywhere.  I may re-evaluate this at some point, but it's very hard to justify at this point.

Fleet Commands:
Updated some links, rearranged parts of it (so now it reads Upgrade-What it does-Who wants it), and suggested using TEA with Flag Bridge...as soon as it comes out.  I''d rather it be in there without the link and have the suggestion in there just to be safe.

Support Teams:
Links and such, removed the passage about using Engine Techs on a CR90 (go read it there!) as I think I only have it in one spot now.  Hopefully not 3....

Turbolasers:
Link updates, more details that QTCs are good on SSDs.  Shocked, I'm shocked.  Who would be taking this upgrade?

Rebel Officers:
Some removal, some links. Draven updates but just removing sentences dancing around the fact that he's at best "fine."

Onwards to commanders I believe! Of course, let me go reread Eric's articles and see how I can shorten some of my own articles....

Minor Squadron Updates!

I got a bunch of squad updates done today!

For the B-wing, I removed any amount of me suggesting you use Independence to move them.  It's not great, use a better way.

For the E-wing, I added a sentence to ensure you're using the snipe you're paying for, or else you're wasting points to just get speed 4.

For the VCX I made it more concise and updated some links.

For the YT-1300 I added some phrasing updates and some minor line changes.

And for the Lancer I advised you not to take it.  Ketsu or nothing, kids.

No MAJOR updates, considering I just updated these all recently.  Next up is the upgrades I have, and then we'll round this all up with the Commanders (and some more of the random articles I've got scattered about).  We're getting there!

 (and some I think the A-wing is dogging it.

MC75 Updated!

And the MC75 is updated.  Not much there, killed a few experimental builds that really aren't worth the experiment in my opinion.  Feel free to take a look, but hey, all the Rebel ship builds are done for wave 8! Time for some upgrades and some squadrons!

Just missing the fancy jacket

On that note, I'll wish you all a very merry Christmas and see you all at the next update

Hammerhead Updated!

Merry Christmas Eve to everyone! And a happy slightly changed Hammerhead article to all!  Main changes were to eliminate a few of the "not as great" builds and then put in a Sato build for the torp.  It was still relatively fresh so I don't have a lot to add with it.  But take a look, and I'm going to TRY to get the MC75 updated in the next day or so? We'll see how busy tomorrow ends up with family and all, but if not, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a festive Life Day to all!

http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/09/hammerheads-costco-brand-raiders.html

Liberty Updated!

Updated the Liberty article, we making our way through!  Soon, soon!

http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/lmc80-battle-cruise-crazy-just-be-glad.html

Added some builds, took out the "necessity" of gunnery teams, and pointed out some of the fun new RitR interactions.  Also, it had been a while, so apparently Mon Karren is "good" now? Who knew?

Updates 12/16

HMC80 is updated. Took some parts out, added in a build with HIE (ooo something different).

http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/04/h1mc80-space-hoagie-of-doooooom.html

Eh, close enough

Onwards to the Liberty!

12/13 Updates

I started it last night, and finished it today.  Pelta is updated, onwards to the HMC80!

http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/05/alpha-beta-charlie-pelta.html

Updates 12/11

MC30 is updated! And slightly fleshed out.  I broke out a separate section for the Torp versus the Scout.  Short answer: if it's not Ackbar, Sato, or Mothma, don't run the Scout.  Take a look!

http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/04/mc30-curse-of-flying-hellfish.html

John Updates 12/8/19

I've updated the Assault Frigate article (underrated and better than you think!), the GR75 (don't bring a combat retrofit!), and the Nebulon one (Still great with Yavaris!)

The Assault Frigate and GR one haven't been updated in a while (LTTs didnt exist before, oof), so feel free to take a look at them, see what's new and hot.  I also defend the AF versus the MC75, so that's fun.

Next up is still more ship articles; then squadrons (quick polishes on those), upgrades (hoping for quick upgrades?) and then commanders.  Oh, and I gotta update a few of the other helper articles, too.  Keep on keeping on, y'all.

Imperial section of the medium fighter coverage article updated

I'm also helping, good job me.

https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/03/squadrons-encyclopedia-3-medium-fighter.html

The Imperial section of the MFC article was a bit antiquated, so it got updated with some more concrete examples. I've been trying to stick to the basic format of 4 different example squad builds:

1. Basic all around squads
2. Lots of Rogues
3. Bomber spam/Ruthless/ATN style group
4. Strategic group

At least with the MFC and LFC articles. There are lots of ways to build squad groups, so they're examples for the most part and depend a lot on how you're building the rest of your fleet. Speaking of which, I'm working on a new article about that right now and it should hopefully get published sometime this week. Maybe even later today if I get a productive afternoon in on it, but don't hold your breath ;).

John Updates 12-2

On the second day of Christmas, my blogger gave to me:

A fully updated chapter about fighting squadron fleets and some tips about running squadronless;
AND A PARTRIDDDDDDDDDGE IN A PEARRRRRRRRRR TREEEEEEEEEEE.

I deleted chapter 9, the old Running Squadronless, and smushed it into chapter 8 (fighting Squadronless fleets) as i was saying a lot of the same points.  I then updated 8 into some better details and how to ACTUALLY do it more.  I still need to hit the links (I'm aware) but it's late and I'll do it tomorrow.  Then holy crud, ship time!

Thanks for reading!

John Updates 12-1

John's through Chapter....7 (I'm aware the numbers are bad, I'm working on it, I promise), how to bomb ships.  Mainly updated with better ways to describe either overwhelming their defense tokens or their shields.  I cut a LOT from here that I had said previously in earlier installments, so feel free to read those and up my pageviews, haha.

And Chapter 8 (Fighting Squadron Fleets!) too!  Some substantial reorganizing, but also some new bits about potential plans for fighting their fleet.  Potentially helpful upgrades have been added in here, along with cutting out some more chaff.

I'm going to try to hit the final part of the Squadrons Encyclopedia (Chapter 9) in the next day or so.  Then, renumbering it all, chapter wise.  After that, it's ship time!  Then upgrades, squadrons, etc.  I've got an article or two kicking around in my system as well, but that's going to take a bit to get together on THAT, so expect updates from me for a bit.

All Eric upgrade articles updated

Me, when editing the Imperial officers article.

All the upgrade articles I (Eric) am responsible for have been updated. That includes all of the following:

• Ordnance
• Fleet support
• Ion cannons
• Weapon teams
• Offensive retrofits
• Imperial officers
• Boarding teams
• Name titles

For the most part it's been pretty basic maintenance but I've had some changes of opinion on a few items within from the last time they were updated (example: Tractor Beams; I won't tell you I think they're amazing now but viewing them as nav token snipers first and foremost has been eye-opening). I've also tried to slim down article length when possible (nothing drastic, but I'd say overall the articles are probably about 10% shorter now) by cutting extraneous repetition and shortening examples. Basically the important content remains but the fluff has been cut a bit.

And that should be all of the big (ship, commander, squadron, upgrade) articles I'm responsible for updated. There's a few others (fleet building and such) but they tend to age much better and frankly I'm tired of article updates for right now. I'm in a good place now for when wave 8 finally drops, though, and that's good.

I've got an idea or two for new articles (not updates!) and expect I'll get something up next week. Thanks for reading!

Every Imperial squadron article updated

I moved through Imperial squadrons much more quickly than the commanders, given they need a lot less overall work. Generally I added in hyperlinks, clarified some passages, cut out stuff that didn't age well, and added bits and pieces here and there. If I note something specifically, it means it was a more substantial update than the basic maintenance, but every Imperial squadron article has been updated.

Carefully rebuilt and less likely to poke my feet next time, I hope.

Finished the Imperial commander updates!

So in case you, the reader, was unaware, the Starhawk teaser article came out today. Go check it out if you haven't yet. In other news, I've finished updating the Imperial commander articles.

This is how you get a toxic work environment, Vader.

Every commander has been updated to the Imperial commander format (rules/discussion/ships/fleet building) and had hyperlinks updated/add as well as...

• Darth Vader
• Removed part about how I'm not keen on Screed with blue crits (yes, there are a few Screed references/comparisons in the Vader article). With HIEs now, I'm just fine with him there, so both he and Vader work fine for that.
• Pretty much everything apart from the rules discussion got a substantial rewrite, often from the ground up, so it's easier to just say "go reread it."
• Emperor Palpatine
• Given I just wrote this one not long ago, I mostly just added a "ships" section to the article and reconfigured/expanded on the "fleet builds" section a bit.
• General Tagge
• Is still bad, just like his buddy Konstantine.
• Another incidence of updating "turn" to "round" in older articles to keep consistent with correct Armada terminology.
• Streamlined ships list, added SSD.
• Grand Admiral Thrawn
• Minimal changes needed, as the added "ships" section comes down to "it really depends on what you want your fleet to do because it turns out everything enjoys doing two dial-strength commands when it activates."
• Grand Moff Tarkin
• Cleaned up the article a bit with the new format. Similar to Grand Admiral Thrawn, it's much more difficult to really spell out what kind of ships you want when the commander can be used so flexibly.
• Moff Jerjerrod
• A lot more added to Jerry's "rules" section, as there are some additional shenanigans possible nowadays with some different interactions. This is probably one of the most important update sections I've added to the various commanders so if you're running Jerry please give it a look.
• Otherwise just a bit of your standard cleanup/adding links/adding a "ships" section.

LFC Updated

I updated the LFC article and because I had free time (laughs) the CR90 article.  They're linked to each other in the first sentence.

LFC: Combining the 2 LFC articles, deleting a LOT of chaff.  No major new examples of "how i squadron?", but Eric and I did update the fighter groups again.  And hey, I'm sure these will stay super relevant for like 15 more minutes!

As with a lot of this, the links are going to be wonky for a bit, as are potential chapter numbers.  I'm working on this NOW while I have TIME (I don't) and should have this better SOON.

CR90: Basically smushed it into the form Eric's article took for the ships (it looked nice and made a LOT more sense to me).  Some updates to the CR90B part, much removed from it all.  Plus I got goofy names for the CR90B ones, so, hooray!

What's next? Likely continuing in the squadron articles (a quick review of the MFC and then onwards to chapters 7 and onwards) and I have several ships to update in THERE.  Got some squad articles to change around too, (generic Lancers: NOT GREAT!) and I do HAVE a bit of actual blogging to throw in soon enough, but it's a busy time for updates and all.  Right before the Starhawk and Onager upset the apple cart meta again.

Thanks for reading!

SFC Update

John did half of it.  Well, an 1/8th of it.  I updated the SFC article to include EVERYTHING SFC (combining the basic definition article with the "how do i use this" one) and I'm sure you can guess what's next for the LFC.  I added in some new group suggestions (Lando! He's good!), trimmed down a fair amount of the extraneous ones, and cut out a LOT from the "basics of use" section.  Examples, diversions and groups that no longer matter, etc.  I also added in a bit about attacking the most important squadrons when you can....

http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/02/squadrons-encyclopedia-2-small-fighter.html

The links for ALL the squadron articles are going to be updated this weekend, when I can hit a lot more on Sunday.  It's LFC next, followed by MFC, and then some more changes and everything.  Eric's new ship articles have been making me want to do some major changes to my OWN ship articles, and those fancy new commander articles sure look swanky.  Looks like I got a bit of work cut out for me!

Imperial commander article updates, every Admiral X updated

I'm working through all the Imperial commander articles alphabetically like I did with Imperial ships and got through every commander named Admiral Proper Noun, which is half of the available Imperial commanders. One big thing is adopting a common format for the articles so it will be easier to edit them in the future without it being so much work (I did the same kind of thing for Imperial ships for the same reason). Specifically, Imperial commander articles will have four main "parts" which are:

• Rules (how it works, things you might not at first realize, FAQ stuff, etc.)
• Discussion (basic introduction, laying out foundational points that will get developed and/or exemplified later)
• Ships (what ships this commander likes to use and why)
• Fleet building (how do we put this all together to make a type of fleet this commander does well with?)

I removed the "how do I beat X?" at the end, given it added in my opinion unnecessary length to the article and it's pretty easy to figure out what troubles that commander when I discuss what types of situations to avoid earlier in the article. If you're the opponent, do that.

SSD and VSD articles updated, all Imperial ship articles completely finished (...for now)

Above: picture of my very own SSD (and my legs, and Ian Cross's hands) from the tournament on Saturday. Credit to Mike Bohlmann for the camera work. Yep, the very same Mike Bohlmann who took second at Gencon with two Peltas and told us all about it!
 
I finally finished up the Imperial ship article updates, so they should be current up until wave 8 hits in a few weeks, then probably some minor tweaks here and there. The SSD article in particular surprised me with how much I updated an article I wrote fairly recently, but I've been getting even more games in with it and my opinions had changed a bit.

• SSD article update:
• Added hyperlinks for Piett and Commander Palpatine references.
• Added rules note to Ravager that with a con fire dial and token you spend them together but resolve them one at a time so you can add a single die, see how it goes, then add the second die.
• Expanded a bit on the defensive officer options for the SSD.
• Replaced SSD card scans with higher-quality images (thanks, Ryan Kingston's Armada Fleet Builder)
• Revised and went into greater detail on turbolaser options (both variants, especially Assault SSD combo options).
• Revised and went into greater detail on second ion cannon option for Assault SSD.
• Added a little bit more depth to the Assault double offensive retrofits upgrade section.
• VSD article update: 
• Streamlined intro and put VSD issues right out front, because we'll have to talk about them to come to any kind of workable solution.
• Shortened and updated longer paragraphs under Basic Usage Recommendations.
• Standardized the format to be similar to the other later ship articles, so removed some segments from earlier to add them back in under the "upgrades" header for the two different variants.
• Upgrade sections added to both variants and filled up/updated. Lots of action going on there.
• Builds also updated fairly substantially for both variants.

The VSD article is still pretty long - it felt like everything I cut got replaced with an equal amount of stuff I added. The VSD-I is surprisingly customizable and there's a lot of discussion to be done about how easy it is to screw things up with VSDs. I don't feel like they're amazing ships but they can have their place and Harrow certainly helped.

Up next is Imperial commander article updates, so stay posted.

John Article Update(s)

So, I'm still blogging here too, haha.  I just updated the "How to Use Strategic" article with some of the new objectives and recommendations about how many sources of Strategic to bring with you, and the Legendary Small Fighter Coverage article update is nearly done.  I swear!

Then it's time for LFC, ships, and I'm sure there's at least 4 more articles I'm forgetting as well.  Dangit.

As for ME, I finished the Chicago marathon in 4 hours, 37 minutes.  Not as fast as I wanted (next year: sub 4:30 is the goal!), but I never hit "the wall" and got to run this city that I love (and do a shot of Malort at mile 25.  No, that isn't a lie or exaggeration).  Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, to everyone who donated to the cause.  I appreciated the HUGE amount of support that you all gave me and the kids.  When the donations started coming in, I was SO grateful for everyone who pitched in.  It was NOT an easy sum, but I GOT IT thanks to all of your help.  As for blogging, I've got a few article ideas in the pipeline that will be popping up in the incoming months, and that's not even beginning to talk about the Starhawk release and Regionals soon!  Speaking OF Regionals, I'll be judging the first of the two Chicago Regionals 2 days after Thanksgiving, which means it's time to pore over that rulebook!

Article updates 11/10

John and I had a great time at the Pastimes tournament we went to on Saturday, and I ended up at 2nd with an SSD fleet, which was fun! I made a few last-minute changes and they worked out great, so I was pleased with that as it was a little nerve-wracking. Thanks for coming out, everyone who joined us!

Look at those sweet acrylic obstacles!

It's a little blurry, but there's the final standings. John came in 13th out of 22 people, but was playing a "for the lols" Leia fleet, so not doing worse is its own accomplishment.

Quasar article updated

Small update for the Quasar. Still have the Raider, SSD, and VSD to go. SSD was produced recently but needs a little bit of tweaking (as I've played with it even more) and the Raider and VSD articles were updated with new RitR stuff (Corvus, Harrow, Versio, etc.) but I won't be satisfied until I review and update the entire article. That said, they're still pretty current if anyone's worried they're wildly out of date.

Quasar article changes:

• Drastically cut down the section comparing a Quasar to a pair of Gozantis. Back when there was no flotilla limit, this was an important discussion. Nowadays there's not as much direct competition - most squad fleets don't choose between them anymore, they take (at least) one of each. It was left in previously because it didn't hurt to leave it there, but I've been endeavoring lately to trim articles down when possible to make them a bit more manageable (for me) and easy to finish reading (for you).
• Added new hyperlinks
• Compressed the title discussion a little bit as it had gotten rather long (it still is rather long, but not so much as before).
• Organized upgrades section more cleanly using bullet points because I love bullet points (see: this list of bullet points). Also added Reserve Hangar Decks (because duh).

Further Imperial ship updates

Hey it's Demolisher and... uh... some other guy

I've updated the following Imperial ship articles:

• Gladiator-class Star Destroyer
• updated/added to the builds, trimmed the article down quite a bit overall as good portions of it were covered later by the "how to use black dice" article, went into more detail with officer options.
• Gozanti Cruisers
• Cleaned up, trimmed some of the fat, explained Suppressor in more detail. Expanded substantially on upgrade options(especially officers, Imperials finally have a lot of options for flotilla officers) and brought up to date.
• Imperial-class Star Destroyer
• Slight updates and hyperlinks added. No major changes overall, but trimmed some fat and expanded a bit in areas I felt needed more elaboration, leaving the article about equivalent length to the previous version. Added new toys like the Linked Turbolaser Towers and Krennic to the Cymoon.
• Interdictor Cruiser
• Trimmed down a fair amount, dropped the commanders section at the end, standardized presentation. Added more hyperlinks, gave some more objective examples with the experimental retrofits, updated upgrades (specifically Auxiliary Shields Team). Made it clear that the Combat Refit is the worst ship in the game and you shouldn't use it 😅.

That leaves us with 4 more ships to go, Empire-wise. I'll be working on those on and off over the next few days although I'm going to be busy with the charity tournament going on this Saturday so it will likely be next week before they're all done. Some need a fair bit of work, others barely any (the SSD article, for example).

Arquitens article updated and Imperial maintenance ahead

Since I finished up Poppa Palpatine, I wanted to start working on article updates in light of the SSD and RitR releases. First priority was the Arquitens article, as they've improved pretty remarkably with access to Krennic, Linked Turbolaser Towers, and Expert Shield Tech, making them easier to slot into fleets than prior to those releases where they were "fine but you need Vader or Jerry to fix some part of them that sucks."

Now with less awful!

Speaking of Imperial commanders, they'll be getting reviewed and updated again once I'm done with Imperial ships. I want to make both types of article's layout more consistent with one another and to that end I'm shortening many of the earlier Imperial ship articles by removing the "commanders that work well with this ship" section from the bottom and will probably be adding a "ships that work well with this commander" section to the commander articles instead. Given the ship articles tend to be some of our longest articles overall and the commander articles are relatively short, this seemed to be the best way to present that information while lessening the burden of getting through those long ship articles.

On a side note, we recently hit 1.5 million pageviews! Thanks for reading!

Reminder: Chicagoland Armada Charity tournament on Saturday November 9th

We mentioned this earlier, but a brief reminder to go sign up if you were interested but hadn't signed up yet!

Website is:
https://www.homebasegames.com/armada?fbclid=IwAR2kc9nAWcQLAdTPhs3oMBlmXd68oL91NV8kWg4B2cGpXGExhCBSuxHPNHw

This will be good practice for the upcoming Primes and it's a fun laid back event.

NOVA Winner Guest Post 2/2!

Matt's still writing, and John will just let him talk below the jump.

See, it's a Chevy Nova, so.....

More Guest Posts! NOVA Winning Guest Post 1/2!

Brief John note here before I dump it off: We got Matt Ansley, fresh off his NOVA win to do his writeup.  Matt, one of the few people who can rival me for wordiness, ended up writing over 14,000 words.  This post is then split into two; this is the "List Genesis and Setup" bit, and next post will be the actual GAMES one.  Everything below the picture of him in blue is his, see you all next time!

Matt is my friend, and that is why I'm allowed to post semi-embarassing pictures of him

John's Finished!

Take Evasive Action! Holy crud this card is really good!

PIVOT!!!

Take Evasive is more interesting about what fleets it SHOULDN'T be with.  CR90 spam is out, as are Arquiten spam lists.  But it helps the Navigational ability intensely of a lot of early wave ships.  Assault Frigates, Nebulons, Victories, speed 2 or 4 MC30s, EVERY LARGE BASE SHIP in the game.  It's a Madine effect without Madine, and it's very much worth building around.  I can VERY much see this on a Cymoon/Chimaera led Imperial fleet doing some handbrake turns to get around the battlefield in a LOT scarier way than you ever thought possible.  Because a more maneuverable Demolisher isn't ALREADY terrifying....  Of super special fun note: Jerjerrod and a Super Star Destroyer's navigate command and this DOES let you do a full 90 degree turn with it.  So.... that's my new nightmare.

As for the Rebels, I like the idea of it on a Pelta, helping out an Assault Frigate and Nebulon, maybe a Hammerhead or two? Maybe a large base? I'm not specifically NOT using a CR90 with it, but it's a very interesting concept, freeing me from automatically stapling a CR90 into things.  LMC80s getting more turning ability have never complained, that's for sure.

Fun fact: this combines super great with Engine Techs, as you're making a speed 1 move there.  It triggers on that speed 1 movement AND your regular movement as well.  Have fun with THAT!

John's making his way through!

Lando and Kanan! I also updated Malee and Mart with a few new sentences (I like them more now!) but I'd suggest clicking on the articles linked in their names as it's not a whole lot different from before.

Gotham City's Best D.A.

Lando is the newest entrant from Rebellion in the Rim, and designed by (again!) Chicago's own Nathan Coda.  If you bring Lando, no bringing Han, as there's only one Falcon in existence.  This ALSO means no putting Lando protecting your flagship.  I know, I'm scared too!

Lando's abilities are super nice, first being able to discard a defense token to set a dice to any side.  That double hit on the red is my personal favorite, but maybe you need a hit elsewhere to finish things off.  Fun notes about this part!

• "That die cannot be modified again." No, you CAN'T scatter the damage away.  You can brace it or redirect it (as brace is for the total number, not the individual die), but you can't Scatter or Evade it.  Lando hates flotillas and will put them in the GROUND.  This ALSO means, however you don't get to spend any accuracy you change it to.  Spending an accuracy removes it from the pool of available dice, which means it's modified.  So no rolling a double on the red and then changing a blue to an accuracy.  Sadly doesn't happen.
• "While attacking." Roll your pool first, man.  Maybe you'll luck into the double you need anyways!  This is for both anti squad and anti-ship, but man, 4-6 damage guaranteed is mighty nice alright.  Toryn Farr still affects those blues, even if he isn't a bomber.
• You want Asteroid Tactics as your yellow objective.  You're welcome.  Build with that in mind.  Keep in mind that he's Rogue, so you move in, spend a token to shoot and get that double red against their ship.  You can then shoot next turn, get that double, and then move to an asteroid for a Brace back.

His second ability lets you spend a Brace to reroll as many dice as you choose.  So when you get targeted by Wedge and here comes 6 dice? Reroll ALL them hits please.  It gives you a chance of removing 1-2 damage shots and may potentially remove way more.  Notes on this!

• No double spending Brace tokens.  So after you have your opponent reroll, you don't get to then Brace that damage again.
• "Spend 1 of your defense tokens." You aren't Admonition; if it's accuracied away you don't get to spend it, and Sloane still is a jerk alright.

Nathan has said that he wanted Lando to bring back SFC and MFC groups, and that's where I'd start with him.  He's going to take out more than his share of points in opposing squadrons, and if you're lucky (slash once you kill all the opposing squadrons) you can then use him to start taking out ships as well.  You CAN put him in a full 134, but.... I wouldn't? Just like, personally? But I need to build and play with him more and probably edit that statement some.... Lando looks like a LOT of fun to play, and I'm VERY excited to get him to the table.

He's all that.  I'm VERY proud of that joke.

Kanan, debuting in Rebellion in the Rim, is my favorite card in the box.  Straight up, no lie, most fun.  Giving me/the Rebels good Raid abilities is ACTUALLY fun and thematic and good.  I've hit ISDs before and gotten them MOSTLY dead in one turn, but that's also SLIGHTLY alive.  The worst thing is when that ISD either does a leave and navigates away, forcing me to chase it, or engineers and repairs away a bunch of that damage I wanted still on there.  Kanan basically says "No" to that plan.  With his ability and dice complement, I can almost guarantee you a minimum of 1 Raid token a turn (don't roll 2 accuracies).  Sometimes you luck into 2 of them with a Hit and a Crit (the Jyn Erso special!) and sometimes you just use one as Raid and the other as pure damage.  Sometimes you just need 2 damage.  In any case, he's shutting down one ship's ability to do a command or dial+token it every turn.  He's REAL fun against Thrawn, that's for sure.

Add in Cloak and Rogue and he can keep hopping on the station to heal up (twice a turn if he wants!).  He's squishy, but able to sneak out.  And he's REALLY FLIPPING ANNOYING.  If you ignore him, I'm just going to keep raiding that ship of yours and preventing you from using it fully (that Arquittens doesn't want to Nav or Concentrate Fire, right? Like, ever?).  If you try to kill him, you're likely going to need to invest way more than 19 points to do it, and I'm going to Cloak out as much as I can.  Raid is good, finally.  Combine him with Rex and go to town.

Try not to have him squadron fight, as he's not great at it, and he'd rather be Raiding ships.  Bring other friends who can fight for them to fight in his stead.

John Half Updates

More Updates, for the YT2400 Ace and Scurrg Ace below.  Expect Kanan and Lando soon. I like them more (NOT sorry) so they get to be my reward for later typing, haha.

I'm sure he's a nice guy, but that is the LAZIEST Star Wars name I've seen.

Mart Mattin, from Rebellion in the Rim, is yet another way of getting Proximity Mines to go off.  What he loses in Dash's ability to take out squadrons, he gains in the ability to throw mines at ships.  Is that worth the points on its own? No.  In combination with a minefield strategy, however....

He hits squadrons as well as a regular YT2400, which is both good and bad, especially as you'd rather be mining things for a chance at 2 damage straight to the hull.  Put mines down for the slower ships, by the way.  Fast ones that can just jump your placed mine aren't a great plan.  He survives long, and would love to live in an obstacle to just stick around as long as possible, and there's nothing preventing him from toggling his slider even if he's about to get shot by a bunch of TIEs during the squadron phase.

For both Dash and Mart, they combine great with Adar Tallon, either giving Dash another crazy bananas attack or launching Mart to where you need him to drop that mine later.

A shiny space penny to whoever can identify who she is in canon for me!

Malee Hurra is the new ace from Rebellion in the Rim.  She is one of the more pricey squadrons, tied with Han and only behind Hera/Morna Kee for most cost in any faction.  She's basically Screed on a stick.  If she's at distance 1 of a ship and only engaged by 1 or 0 squadrons, you can smoosh 2 dice together to make a critical appear.  This is kinda cool on 2 blank reds, but just like Screed it's REALLY good on making (blank) black dice turn into Hit/Crits.  She only works once per activation, and you can't be engaged, and she has to be at distance 1, and the moon has to be in the 7th house, and you have to had sacrificed a FRESH goat (not store-bought) to the crossroads demon, and if you give a mouse a cookie.....

Yeah, it's a fair amount of setup to get the engine working.  The obvious answer is to put her into your Sato fleet, where she can help your ships get that critical off (and I'm DEFINITELY saying get a fancy Ordnance critical off; you're spending all sorts of points for a combo that had BETTER be worth the setup you're investing in it).  I'm not suggesting scrimping on your reroll mechanics, because removing Ordnance Experts/Task Force Organa is an easy way to watching Malee get focused down and shot repeatedly by everything your opponent can throw at her.  But it's a way to potentially remove a few of them and use those points on other things.  Try to keep her on an obstacle to both protect her and prevent her from getting engaged by multiple squadrons.  She does NOT want to fight her way out of those (a blue and a red? Oof, pass), but she CAN Grit move her way out, and the 2 blue dice anti-ship are pretty solid as well.

Other fun things you can do with her!

• Guarantee that you're getting Heavy Ion Emplacements to proc off that CR90B that she's near.  She shows him exactly where to fire the fancy ion lasers and get that crit off.
• Help out an MC30 (or other ship) with Fire Control Teams (yes, THAT upgrade) get off something like Assault Concussion Missiles and XX-9? (And oh, yes, that does work the way you want it to).  Fire Control Teams is an exhaust, mind you, but that can rip some ships apart if you can keep her close enough to get it to trigger.
• If you put Malee inside a Hammerhead (with Rapid Launch Bays) and then put THAT inside Profundity, you can potentially get a critical by aggressively rerolling your Hammerhead con-fire dial out the side (feed the Hammerhead a squadron token, likely with Hondo, to ensure you can kick Malee out).  If you get it out the side, you can then trigger Malee's ability on the front shot of the Hammerhead for 2 potential APT/ACM criticals from your Hammerhead.  (The reason I said to con-fire out the side first is that if you con-fire out the front and don't get the critical, you can't smush 2 dice together out the side since you'd only be rolling 1).  And if you place her right, your Profundity can ALSO benefit from her ability too!  This is a very huge wombo combo, but it's very hard to counter, as she can just jump out of the Hammerhead unengaged.  And then your opponent has to either let the Profundity shoot or find a way to kill her FAST before she can trigger and help it again.  I'm not saying it makes Rapid Launch Bays good, but it's definitely interesting at least?

I haven't fully explored everything Malee can do yet, but she's definitely a very interesting character to build a list around.

LTTs (yeah you know me!)

Turbolaser Update! Alphabetical! Updated a few of them (HTT: not great, Bront!) but mainly added this little beauty.

Where have you been all my Nebulon based life?

Linked Turbolaser Towers (Towers, not turrets!) is the replacement/good version of DTTs (above).  Instead of being a modification and an exhaust effect, it's 2 points more for a reroll on any red dice you attack with.  ANY.  Strap it on an SSD and reroll that red flak! Reroll from BOTH your Nebulon/Arquitens/Assault Frigate attacks! This turbolaser puts DTTs in the dustbin, and that's BEFORE we even get to the flak bit that really hates one particular squadron! If you're a primarily 2-4 Red dice throwing ship and don't have the tokens for TRCs, this is the turbolaser for you.  Anything that's throwing 5+ red dice (Ackbar HMC80s and Cymoons) may want more than just this as their dice corrections.

Main people I expect to see using this are Nebulons, Assault Frigates, Arquitens, and potentially SSDs, ISDs, and Victories with a specific plan for using it.  I wouldn't really put it on an HMC80 but some weird Liberty plan isn't out of the question?  Really, I'm just happy these 3 ships are getting turbolasers that make them worth putting on the table and don't require half the hoops I have to jump through for some of these other upgrades.  If you're bringing one of those 3 ships I linked to at the start of this paragraph, I'd strongly suggest starting with those turbolasers on them.

New Neb Next!

Added the Vanguard, minor updates on the Neb article as well.  I need to hit the turbolasers next....

No, no, it's van Guard.  It's Dutch.

The Vanguard is the newest Neb to join the party, and what a Neb we GOT.  Getting a redirect token and a Weapons Team slot, this "fixes" most people's issues with the Nebulon.

The first question, of course, is what do we replace, the Evade or a Brace token? It's up to you if being a Fake Assault Frigate with an Evade-Redirect-Brace is better/worse than 2 Braces and a Redirect; it'll depend on how you fly it and how you plan on moving into and out of danger.  Easy answer is if heavy squadrons against you, replace the Evade.  If mostly light squadrons, use a Brace.  But it's situational and lets YOU decide.

Now then, what Weapons Team? So MANY good options here, really.  There's a Ruthless Strategists Escort Neb with 2 dice of flak and a 3rd potential point of damage into whatever squadron you're attacking, there's a Gunnery Team version if you just want to double tap out the front at long range, there's a Flight Controllers version if you want a carrier, etc.  The way I look at the Vanguard is that it's the vanguard of my forces; leading them in and letting something else deliver the killing blow.  So if I want a carrier, have Yavaris coming in behind it pushing some squadrons after Vanguard clears the others out with Ruthless flak or Flight Controllers (it's also a great spot for Rex!).  If I want an initial punch for my forces, have Salvation or several hammerheads following up as well.

Sample build that I will need more games with:
Neb Escort (57)
Captain Rex (5)
Auxiliary Shields Team (3)
Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
Vanguard (4)
Ruthless Strategists (4)

That's an 80 point build for basically a fully upgraded Assault Frigate.  Is that better or worse than an Assault Frigate? No idea, but it's CHEAPER, alright.  You can do similar with Gunnery Teams or something like that as well.  The ability to create 2/3 of an Assault Frigate (health and firepower wise) for the cost of a basic Assault Frigate is mighty nice and definitely worth exploring.

CR90 updates whaaaaa

Updated the CR90 with the Liberator title, pasted below.

I'm liberating you from needing a Pelta.  Obvious joke is obvious.

The newest entry in the CR90 title options, Liberator is a PHENOMENAL inclusion.  It's a one-use Fleet Command, and there's some wonderful options that are worth including in your fleet.  The easiest answer is All Fighters Follow Me, zooming in at +1 speed after your CR90 fires into the large ship.  I love the idea of slipping it onto a CR90B with HIE, following a bunch of shield damage up with massive fighter strikes.  You can also put on Entrapment Formation, able to change speeds DRASTICALLY if needed with your whole fleet.  There's arguments for the new Take Evasive Action, Intensify Firepower, or Shields to Maximum, but TEA doesn't actually help the CR90 it's on (if it's helping the rest of your fleet, though....), and IF and StM generally are those you want to be using on multiple turns.  However, don't let me stop you from trying those out.  I just know I'm excited to play that fighter swarm plan.

John's Dropping Articles Like Taylor Swift Albums!

MORE UPDATES - Support Teams are updated and alphabetized!

Listen, I know it's on fire, but the datapad says the first step is checking in with your team to make sure everyone is engaged.

Auxiliary Shields Team is from Rebellion in the Rim, and it's super nice on several ships.  You can increase the shields in their side zone by 1 when you recover them or move them.  Generally, this is on any ship with a Support team slot that doesn't want Engine Techs, or has a plan that doesn't involve Engine Techs or FCT (those are 2 different things).  Realistically, I expect to see this in the wild on Nebulons, Libertys, Interdictors, specific Pelta/Glad builds, Vics named Harrow that don't want Engine Techs for some reason, and specific Command Arquitens builds.  Mainly, Nebs and Libs.  Engineering on turn 1 takes a Neb from a 3-1-2 spread to a 3-2-1 spread (which is a Pelta/Glad shield zone spread).  Leia and Garm can let you get a 3-2-2 spread, which.... ain't bad, actually.  You CAN'T take this on anything that already has Shields 4 (well, you CAN, but it's pointless), so no HMC80s for you.  For everyone who's ever complained about a ship being too squishy on the sides, this is the upgrade you've always wanted.

John did MORE updates????

What is this, crazy town, John doing 2 updates in a day? Rebel uniques below, and those were alphabetized as well for future uses.

I fought on Endor, you know

Captain Rex is one of the new Rebellion in the Rim officers, and a great character on Rebels.  I'm happy he got a great card to go with that.  If you're commanding squadrons and are at close range of a ship, here, have a Raid token to go with the damage I just poured into you! And even more fun, you can't get rid of multiple tokens until I'm not at distance 1-3 of you! He combines great with Kanan, but he's also just really solid on any carrier that's going to end up in the thick of things (and wants to push several squadrons, but I DID say carrier already).  Carrier GR75s, Vanguard (not Yavaris, it doesn't need a SECOND target on it), Assault Frigates, Peltas (provided you can get into the thick of things and then OUT of the thick of things quickly), Large ship carriers, he's great anywhere you plan on commanding squadrons multiple times a game.  Fun note: the ability to remove those Raid tokens ISN'T tied to him commanding squadrons, just existing near the ship.  Fun note 2: even if he dies this turn, no getting rid of those tokens until NEXT turn.  Make Raid count for you.  Rex is GOLD in the right situations, you just gotta leverage him and make sure you keep throwing squadrons with him.  Last fun note: pushing zero squadrons but still spending the dial/token counts as commanding squadrons.  RAID THAT SHIP!

What, you think you some kinda Jedi or something?

Ezra Bridger, protagonist of the Rebels TV series, and friend to space whales everywhere is SUPER fun.  Let's go over movement of obstacles! (Anything I quote is verbatim from RitR, so, take it as gospel.)

• Obstacle movement says you place one end of the middle of the range ruler on the edge of the obstacle you want to move.  Then you move it up to the specified distance (here, 1-2).  It can't end on anything or under anything (squads, ships, other obstacles, any tokens).
• "The obstacle can be rotated as long as no part of that obstacle is beyond the specified maximum distance of its move from that object's original position."  So you can swing one end around, but the other end of the obstacle can't go more than the Distance 2 from it's start.
• "If an obstacle with a token placed on it due to an objective card or other effect is moved, that token remains on the obstacle."  Mines and VIPs get to move with the obstacle.
• "If an obestacle that is overlapped by a ship or squadron is moved, that ship or squadron remains in its current position after the obstacle is moved."  That X-wing does NOT get to move with it.

Lotta words there.  But! What it means for you is a lot easier to explain! Ezra gets to move obstacles around.  Where they're the MOST destructive for your opponent, as it doesn't happen on deployment like Grav Shift Reroute.  You can put Proximity Mines on any of the obstacles and then have Ezra shove them directly in something's path (like a Purgill!), you can slip a Gravity Rift right in front of that Super Star Destroyer, you can push a Dust Cloud JUSSSSST in front of your ship, guess you can't attack me this turn huh sad.  There's a LOT of jerk maneuvers you can do with this, but any list that wants maximum efficacy with Ezra wants some horrid new obstacles to throw in the way.  Dust Clouds, Grav Rifts, Purgills, mines, anything that makes your opponent think he's going one way but actually resulting in bad times for him.  If you're playing Con O, I mean, I guess, but.... there's a LOT better options.  Your WORST case scenario should be throwing an asteroid under their ship for 2 turns, or obstructing your ship from their attack, and there's DEFINITELY better in a lot of the objectives (I cannot stress dust clouds enough, especially if you can lurk on one side and wait them out and force them to cross the cloud and get shot by you.  And again, anyone who selects Rift Ambush from you is ASKING for a bad time.).  It's hard for people to predict in-game when you move an obstacle, and I am very happy to mess with minds in-game.

EXPLOSIONS!!!! - Mr. Torgue

Sabine Wren is relatively easy to understand.  She drops a Proximity Mine (which must be distance 1 away from any OTHER Proximity Mine - RitR book says so).  Any ship that lands on her Prox Mine takes the same potentially 2 damage as any other mine, but! It's placed whatever round you want to.  When you see your opponent coming in at speed 3 and you know he's going to be pushing squadrons this turn? Time for a mine in his landing zone.  It's also an opportunity for ONE more mine token on the board, at the cost of the officer slot (YMMV there).  I like the mines a lot; they're great deployment help, especially for some of the MSU fleets I like to run.  And getting to drop one more just to try to throw under your opponent? Mmmm, delicious! Obvious combo with Ezra is obvious, but hey, worth mentioning.  Don't necessarily throw it out turn 1, but if it REALLY helps your plans, go for it.

Generic Officer Updates!

John got off his lazy butt after running 20 miles today and wrote a thing!

You can tell he's an expert cause he's got that fancy hat

Expert Shield Techs! The new Rebellion in the Rim hotness! Our only generic officer addition! He's pretty phenomenal, especially on anything with a double redirect.  Your MC30s, your HMC80s, potentially the SSD, ISD, or even a VSD.  Goes great on Arquitens too, making them JUSSSST that much tankier, and combining great with the other new turbolaser, Linked Turbolaser Towers.  You CAN put him on a ship with a single redirect, but it's at the mercy of anything with an accuracy.  I'm not saying "Don't do it" just... be aware of the limitations there is all.

He's realllllly good at neutering individual squadron damage shots, and he's even OK when you run out of shields (as he can still reduce the damage by 1 there, too!).  You may want to engineer some with that ship, and that keeps him even more annoying as there's just that much more shields to take out.  He's a great "Lando replacement" on your MC30 cruise missile, if you're using Lando squadron.  He should keep the ship survivable on the way in, and he should hopefully let you get that one shot off before speeding away.  Larger ships may need other people in the officer's chair, but I can definitely see using him there and not be disappointed.

I ALSO alphabetized the Generic Officer Section, so that'll be helpful going forwards.

GenCon Data Updated!

Thanks to Truthiness for fixing the data to grab things correctly. Luckily, there wasn't too much that actually needed fixing.  No idea why some of it was running weird, but it's all updated in the article (Toryn and MC75 Ordnances showed up more than I initially thought.  No real changes to the article were made).

If anyone wants to SEE the data, here's the link to it all.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1v-Pl_S7CwnUGaImSWViRXSieAMn1CdhJ4vBdJiom9CM/edit?usp=sharing

Now, onwards to some Rebellion in the Rim articles....

First up....

Quick John Post!

I've been informed that the GenCon data needs to be updated as formulae weren't reading right.  I'll have an update by the end of the weekend, AND I'll get everyone who wants to see it a link to the data itself.  It's late though, and I just got back from a run, but I'll do everything in my power to get it fixed before Monday morning, so.... check back then!

Also I'll get to a Rebellion in the Rim article soon, too.  SOMEONE is making me look like a lazy loaf.

(eats more ice cream, turns on Hilda on Netflix)

I just started, no spoilers please! But I'm working on stuff I swear!