Tactical Genius

Greetings, Star Wars™: Armada fleet commanders!

After sorting through countless submissions, the developers of Armada have chosen four fleets to fly to battle in the Star Wars: Armada Fleet Commander Contest.

Congratulations go to Craig Lincoln, James Lockwood, Adam Pye, and Alexandra Smith! Their fleet designs managed to catch our developers’ eyes with their creativity and tactical genius.

Naturally, per the rules of the contest, each of these fleets incorporates at least one of the Wave III flotillas and at least one Wave IV ship. They also highlight just how varied a role these new ships can play in your fleet designs.

Craig Lincoln’s Rebel Fleet

• MC80 Star Cruiser with Mon Karren, Gunner Teams, Leading Shots, and Spinal Armament
• MC30c Torpedo Frigate with Lando Calrissian, Fire-Control Team, Assault Concussion Missiles, and XX-9 Turbolasers
• Nebulon-B Escort Frigate with Yavaris, Flight Commander, and Fighter Coordination Team
• GR-75 Medium Transports with Bright Hope, Leia Organa, Repair Crews, and General Madine
• B-wing Squadron
• B-wing Squadron
• “Dutch” Vander, Y-wing Squadron
• Dash Rendar, Outrider
• Objectives: Advanced Gunnery, Fire Lanes, Intel Sweep

     Total Fleet Points: 398

Craig Lincoln states that he designed his Rebel fleet so that it would feature “three imposing, threatening, and flexible ships with the flotilla there to patch any holes. An adaptable squadron wing is capable of eating up enemy squadrons as well as bombing ships.” He went on to add that he “chose General Madine solely for the added maneuverability he lends to the MC30c and MC80 Star Cruiser .”

This suited the tastes of developer Sam Stewart, who says, “I asked for a maneuverable fleet, and Craig certainly delivered! With three of these ships able to hit speed three and one able to reach speed four, I look forward to getting into the mix of things quickly.”

Sam even shed a little light onto the strategy he hopes to employ. “I’m hoping to hit a target hard, score points, and then bug out before my opponent can land a killing blow.”

As for the decision to put General Madine aboard the Bright Hope , Sam feels Craig’s decision is risky, but respects his reasoning. According to Craig, the decision was made because he felt the Mon Karren would be an opponent's primary target: “Mon Karren will likely draw a lot of fire. For this reason, I put General Madine on the flotilla, to spread points across the fleet and to mitigate losses.”

James Lockwood’s Imperial Fleet

• Imperial II-class Star Destroyer with Devastator, Captain Needa, Gunnery Team, Electronic Countermeasures, XI7 Turbolasers, SW-7 Ion Batteries, and Darth Vader
• Interdictor Suppression Refit with Interdictor, Admiral Titus, Targeting Scrambler, G7-X Grav Well Projector, MS-1 Ion Cannons
• Gozanti-class Cruisers with Repair Crews
• Gozanti-class Cruisers with Repair Crews
• “Howlrunner”
• TIE fighter Squadron
• TIE fighter Squadron
• TIE fighter Squadron
• TIE fighter Squadron
• Objectives: Contested Outpost, Minefields, Most Wanted

     Total Fleet Points: 399

James Lockwood’s Imperial fleet uses its Wave III and Wave IV components to facilitate the destruction unleashed by its heavily upgraded Devastator . He writes, “At an eye-watering 193 points, the Devastator is the centerpiece of this fleet, chaining together its upgrades for extreme, targeted damage. This works by firing the unmodified battery dice, then using Darth Vader to reroll as many dice as possible, ideally discarding a defense token. The Devastator Title and concentrate firepower commands are then triggered to add blue dice, which are guaranteed damage with SW-7 batteries . The XI7s are the nail in the coffin, virtually shutting down redirects without any use of accuracy. Any accuracy not used to target other defense tokens are converted to damage.”

As for the fleet’s Wave III and Wave IV ships, James adds, “The other ships in the fleet are primarily intended to support the Devastator and keep it in the fight. The Interdictor provides support by reducing damage, interfering with deployments, and potentially exhausting enemy upgrades. The Gozanti flotillas pull triple duty by managing the fighter screen, repairing the two capital ships, and increasing the fleet’s total number of activations.”

Developer Alex Davy tips his hat to the fleet’s unmitigated audacity. “This is a fleet with chutzpah! This is a fleet that isn’t afraid to sink half its points into a single vessel, station Lord Vader on the bridge, and wade into the fray, guns blazing.

“That said,” Alex continues, “I didn’t pick this fleet for style points alone. It also fulfills my desire for a fleet built around the commander’s ability and appeals to my dark side: I tend to pursue highly aggressive strategies, and I absolutely love it when things go boom.”

Adam Pye’s Rebel Fleet

• MC80 Battle Cruiser with Liberty, Raymus Antilles, Flight Controllers, Medical Team, Spinal Armament, XI7 Turbolasers, Leading Shots, and Garm Bel Iblis
• Nebulon-B Escort Frigate with Yavaris, Medical Team, and Turbolaser Reroute Circuits
• GR-75 Medium Transports with Bright Hope, Boosted Comms, and Bomber Command Center
• Jan Ors, Moldy Crow
• Dash Rendar, Outrider
• Wedge Antilles, X-wing Squadron
• “Dutch” Vander, Y-wing Squadron
• Y-wing Squadron
• Y-wing Squadron
• Scurrg H-6 Bombers
• Scurrg H-6 Bombers
• Objectives: Fire Lanes, Precision Strike, Superior Positions

     Total Fleet Points: 396

Producer Michael Gernes likes how Adam’s fleet gains strength from the variety of its squadrons. “Adam’s fleet puts a lot of power into its squadrons, making good use of some of the support from Wave III.”

This was clearly Adam’s aim, as well, as he states, “Mine is a carrier fleet, and my three ships are not interested in charging into battle. Instead, they want to send the squadrons to distract and wear down the enemy until the Liberty can blow them away.”

Adam is also confident of his fleet’s ability to deal with enemy squadrons. “Flight Controllers on the Liberty make my squadrons much better at anti-squadron duty than might be expected from the squadrons I chose.”

Still, since the fleet features so many moving pieces, Michael acknowledges that he needs to be mindful of his positioning. “The GR-75 with its Bomber Command Center is essential. The real challenge is making sure that all the squadrons stay in its area of effect. If I can pull that off, and use Yavaris to double-activate the Scurrgs, I’m confident the squadrons will tear up any enemy ship enough for the Liberty to finish it off.”

Of course, the fleet makes good use of its objectives, as well—enough so that Adam says the fleet should generally prefer to go second in order to play to its objectives, “Except for Jan Ors , every squadron I have is a bomber squadron, so Precision Strike is an obvious objective. Fire Lanes are great if the fleet goes second, as it forces my opponent to come to me (and into my waiting squadrons), and Superior Positions rewards my squadrons’ maneuverability.”

Alexandra Smith’s Imperial Fleet

• Interdictor Suppression Refit with Interdictor, SW7 Ion Batteries, Targeting Scrambler, G-8 Experimental Projector, and Admiral Konstantine
• Victory I-class Star Destroyer with Ordnance Experts and Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams
• Victory I-class Star Destroyer with Ordnance Experts and Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams
• Gozanti-class Cruisers with Comms Net
• Gozanti-class Cruisers with Comms Net
• TIE fighter Squadron
• TIE fighter Squadron
• TIE fighter Squadron
• TIE fighter Squadron
• TIE fighter Squadron
• TIE fighter Squadron
• Objectives: Advanced Gunnery, Contested Outpost, Minefields

     Total Fleet Points: 398

Back when we announced the Fleet Commander Contest, developer Max Brooke admitted his preference for “fleets that unlock new strategic options for existing components, such as through clever combinations of upgrade cards and strategic pairings of ships and squadrons.”

As he was going through the many fleet submissions, Max felt that Alexandra’s list stood out for the clever way it uses Admiral Konstantine and Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams to catch enemy ships within the powerful forward firing arcs of its Victory I-class Star Destroyers .

The intention of the fleet was further clarified by Alexandra's strategy description: “This list is designed to force the enemy into performing only maneuver commands. Utilizing the movement disruption of the Interdictor and Admiral Konstantine, it wants to trap enemies in the deadly forward arcs of all three ships and blast away.”

And the Gozanti-class Cruisers ? Alexandra writes, “The Gozantis feed tokens to the sluggish Star Destroyers when required and allow you to activate only when it’s best for you.”

Max likes how the pieces work together and especially how it revises the Victory I-class Star Destroyers role in the fleet. “The Victory I-class Star Destroyer brings a lot of potential hurt to the table, but loosing the full power of its devastating front arc against faster foes can be a challenge. I appreciate how Alexandra’s list transforms the function of the Victory through its use of new elements from Waves III and IV.”

Which Fleet Will Win?

The Fleet Commander Contest is not yet over! These fleets and their new Wave III and Wave IV ships are more than show, and our developers will soon demonstrate their varied strategies and tactics when they fly these fleets to battle against each other in an in-house tournament.

Were any of these fleets more inspired than the others? Which will make the greatest impact on the ongoing Galactic Civil War? Go to Twitter to vote for your favorite, and share your opinions with the rest of the Armada fanbase on our Facebook page and community forums!