OK, peeps. Let's discuss Epic play's white elephant again.

The Corvette has a lovely primary weapon - the 4 dice, range 3-5 Dual Turbolaser turret, with the ability to add an extra attack dice to your roll for the low, low (!) cost of 1 energy.

But how do we fill out it's 3 available hard points? And how do we optimise their effect?

We have the option of Quad Laser Cannons - a 3 dice attack, range 1-2 attack that costs 1 energy to fire, with a built-in Gunner effect for an additional point of energy. 6 points.

Then we have the Single Turbolasers - a 4 dice, range 3-5 (like the primary) attack that costs 2 valuable energy points to fire, has a built-in Skywalker-esque focus effect - but your target doubles it's agility value - and they cost a hefty 8 points each.

Is there any right way to load the Corvette out? The Quad guns are effective against most enemy ships, but their range can be very limiting unless you get your gunship right into the thick of the action. The single Turbolasers can be brutal from a distance against low agility targets - especially Decimators and Shuttles - but will give you a big blind spot and are absolutely unreliable against snub fighters. So do you mix and match these load outs, or do you go all out with a particular plan of attack in mind? Let's take a look at some potential builds which make the most of these weapon's attributes:

Long Range Sniper:

CR-90 (fore): Mercenary Co-pilot, Sensor Team, Single Turbolaser

CR-90 (aft): Weapons Engineer, Engineering Team, Single Turbolaser

119 points

Why only two Turbolasers? With the ability to generate up to 3 energy per turn (4 with the Engineering team), the CR-90 can really only manage two firing at a time. Still, three range 3-5, 4 dice shots per turn isn't bad - especially when combined with multiple target locks that can also be achieved at up to range 5. This bad boy would need to sit broadside along your base line, and relies on a starfighter screen to prevent enemies closing to within it's blind spot. It will punish low agility targets, but nimble starfighters like TIE Defenders or TIE Interceptors will much less worried.

Point Blank Slugger:

CR-90 (fore): Tactician, Quad Laser Cannon x 2

CR-90 (aft): Weapons Engineer, Engineering Team, Quad Laser Cannon

117 points

This big fella really wants to get up close and personal - moving straight into the middle of the enemy to disrupt their movement, break up formations and then make the most of it's accurate (and potentially crippling) point defence firepower. The Quad Guns require less energy to fire (and have a nice built-in Gunner mechanism), so the CR-90 should be able to bring all it's weapons to bear more often, and it's primary weapon can still cause problems for low agility targets at the same time. More attacks - and more accurate attacks - but only if you're willing to get stuck in.

Which approach would you take? Or would you try and get the best of both worlds?

I've always done a turbolaser (rear)and twin quad guns, but I am more inclined to go all quads. The reason being is that once enemies get close those turbos and primarys are no good, and the combat more often than not goes close. I play themed abttles, which means lots of rebels vs imperials, and even at range 3 the TIE's are rolling 4 defense dice at least (barring tie bombers) Up close the turrets can maul them far more effectively.

I try to run a mix, to keep it flexible, though I largely rely on the escorts to keep the flies off at close range.

I live too far away from Gencon for anyone to have gotten the Decimator. Until that comes out or we get Imperial capital ships, I don't see a need for the Single Turbo Laser. Doubling the green dice is just a bad thing when fighting Imperials. I hope this changes one day.

I've found that two quad lasers mixed with the main gun is viscious.

Until that comes out or we get Imperial capital ships, I don't see a need for the Single Turbo Laser. Doubling the green dice is just a bad thing when fighting Imperials. I hope this changes one day.

Ya, pretty much this. Quad laser cannons all the way.

I don't think there will be much discussion on this matter until the Imperials get there huge ship (which is hopefully soon!).

Can't wait for two capital ships slugging it out (X-wing style not Armada style haha)

yeah, seems like two quads is a good way to go. and tempt them to come close.

Personally I prefer the 'balance build' 1x STL 2x QLC. If I'm recall correctly a long while back someone mentioned that gunner/luke are no longer restricted on the CR-90. Which means the STL has an incredibly high chance of proc'ing gunner and a second primary shot.

Personally I prefer the 'balance build' 1x STL 2x QLC. If I'm recall correctly a long while back someone mentioned that gunner/luke are no longer restricted on the CR-90. Which means the STL has an incredibly high chance of proc'ing gunner and a second primary shot.

Just checked, and you're totally right.

Very, very cool.

(still no Navigator though)

It is pretty amusing that 2/3rds of the Corvette's weaponry would be much more effective used against Rebel ships than Imperials...

Seriously. B-Wings, Y-Wings, YT-1300's - even X-Wings and Headhunters - would all fear Turbolasers...

We play a lot of epic to break up the monotony of standard and we've found all the guns to be just a little too underpowered. We were wondering last night about when the Imps get their Epic class if their guns will be "Dual Turbolasers" and grant a static defense boost to the target based on size category. I fear there could be a crap ton of errata or tweaks to rule when they do launch.

The single turbolaser is clearly meant for fighting other Huge ships. I go with Quad-lasers and let the primary weapon be my opening salvo.

The single turbolaser is clearly meant for fighting other Huge ships. I go with Quad-lasers and let the primary weapon be my opening salvo.

It is pretty amusing that 2/3rds of the Corvette's weaponry would be much more effective used against Rebel ships than Imperials...

Seriously. B-Wings, Y-Wings, YT-1300's - even X-Wings and Headhunters - would all fear Turbolasers...

I agree with you both

At the moment I find the corvette works best as a close range attack ship with 3 Quads move in close and KIll Kill Kill. However a little trick I do with my Quads is if i miss with the first shot, there is no target lock and the ship im shooting at has 3 agility and a focus/evade token I dont shoot agian. I save the energy for the next round this way i can move my ship faster or do a 2 turn to put me into a better position to shoot next round knowing i dont need as much energy this helps to make you less predictable.

I faced another Corvette once which had 2 singles and one quad once we were side by side I cripled his Aft and done a lot of damage to the fore won the game soon after. Even when Imps get there huge ships i will still most likley run 3 Quads and move in for the kill

I know ive posted this list bild a lot but here it is agian

CR90 Corvette (Fore) (50)

Han Solo (2)

Quad Laser Cannons (6)

Quad Laser Cannons (6)

Sensor Team (4)

CR90 Corvette (Aft) (40)

Weapons Engineer (3)

Quad Laser Cannons (6)

Engineering Team (4)

Tibanna Gas Supplies (4)

Roark Garnet (19)

Blaster Turret (4)

Moldy Crow (3)

Total: 151

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

If you fly a Corvette you must fly Roak with no upgrades if you wish but the Corvette needs to shoot first

The #1 issue with the CR90 is that it has trouble with accuracy due to limited dice modification. For that reason, weapon engineer is critical to get that 2nd target lock. If they stack, I would say a strong case could be made for running a pair. With the recent changes to gunner/luke, it is also an almost auto-include. The main battery is powerful and getting a second shot out of it is too good to pass up. Han Solo is also very nice for enhancing the flexibility of the target locks.

Sensor team and engineering team are also critical. Sensor team lets you get the locks you need to be able to hit at long range. Engineering team helps you get the energy needed to power the weapons and recover shields.

I really like the STL, but it is too power hungry to run a pair. I feel you are better off powering the STL and boosting the primary attack (and potentially second primary) than firing another STL. You will only have so many target locks to take advantage of. The main downside is that its effectiveness drops off dramatically as target agility goes up. As stated before, it is far better at tearing apart rebel staples like Bs and Falcons than TIEs.

Quad lasers are OK in my book. While they have that built in gunner effect, this makes them energy hungry and you still don't have a source of dice modification to really make them accurate. They are, however, relatively inexpensive and still dangerous enough to act as a deterrent. Additionally, they 'store' 2 shots worth of energy, so having them readied but silent doesn't hurt the long range firepower you should be trying to dish out.

I'm not a fan of gunnery team. Spending 1 energy to turn a blank into a hit for a secondary weapon once a turn is terribly limited and energy intensive. I can see a case made for it, but as it stands I see it as a points sink.

Tibanna Gas is very useful as a one-shot boost to energy and is generally useful enough that I would always included on a gunboat configuration.

My ideal CR90 gunboat would have Han, Luke, Weapons Engineer, Sensor Team, Engineering Team, Tibanna Gas, Single Turbolasers, and 1-2 Quad Laser Cannons.

OK, so it looks so far that a lot of people are more in favour of the Slugger build, and the less-energy intensive, more accurate short range quad lasers.

How do people feel about the Range 2 limit combined with the side firing arcs, though? It essentially means your opponent could be able to get a round of shooting in on your Corvette - maybe even 2, depending on the angle of their attack & approach - before you're able to fire back. Remember, when you're using the Corvette's hard points you need to present at least one flank to your opponent, which can make maneuvering into quad gun range tricky (unless you charge straight into the middle of the enemy formation).

How do people feel about the Range 2 limit combined with the side firing arcs, though? It essentially means your opponent could be able to get a round of shooting in on your Corvette - maybe even 2, depending on the angle of their attack & approach - before you're able to fire back. Remember, when you're using the Corvette's hard points you need to present at least one flank to your opponent,

True but that's going to happen anyway against fast moving fighters...That's where the WED droid and shield recover come into play.

I've been running a number of games that have all been the same. 205 pts vs 205 pts of all non-unique ships. The CR90 is vanilla with just 2 quad lasers. There are 4 snub nose ships to help defend it. The Imperials have about a dozen ships of different types. Each game has started off the same.

On a 3x6 table, it takes a while for the Imperials to get across the board. The CR90 advances conservatively and saves as much energy as it can. Then, once the fighting starts, it picks one ship a turn and kills it. Main gun fires with the extra die. Then, the quad lasers go to town. The re-rolls work great. A few turns of this and the Imperials are really hurting. So far, the Rebels have won all games. I've tweaked it a bit so that the Imperials dropped the Proton Rockets for Concussion Missiles. They just didn't get to fire half their missiles as they died too fast. With the longer range, they have a better chance to kill the ship.

The version I like is pricey, but meaty:

1 STL (on front)

2 Quads

Engineering Team

Sensor Team

Han Solo

Weapons Engineer

Engine Booster

Backup Shield Generator

129 pts.

Engine booster is there to help try to crush ships (who predicted your range of movement, and are avoiding the few wallowing arcs of it)

And backup shield generator is so you can have your cake and eat it (i.e. recover at the end of your turn, and still re-enforce as your aft action)

You may want to drop the engine booster for tibanna gas. I just like trying to ram things

My thought is to charge straight at the enemy with quads, and forget about the STL. this will break up enemy tactics, and you will have broadside shots on both sides likely. Use tibanna gas to bring the pain next round as well. This also puts your aft behind you, where you can hopefully protect it with more fighters. You might even ram an enemy or two in the process. I think it is a mistake to try to make the corvette do too many things, as it needs a lot of support to win. If you want a support ship, bring a transport. I throw the thing at the enemy and do as much damage with it as possible. this usually screws up their game plan, as many people hang back and try to protect it. bomber pilots find their torps are suddenly inside minimums, for instance. The enemy spends a lot of the next turn moving away from the corevette and it's quads, and that is when you maximize your fighters. that's my plan anyway. as for loadout, han is of course good. I was not aware of luke being legal, but that would seem to be an auto include. As is engineering team. I have not found sensor team to be worth it, as the range usually closes pretty quickly.

Word of warning on Luke Skywalker and Gunner - both cards have the "you cannot perform another attack this round" provision on them, so they would be useful for ONE attack only, and that would have to be the LAST attack you make that round.

Engine booster is there to help try to crush ships (who predicted your range of movement, and are avoiding the few wallowing arcs of it)

Err, the last line on the engine booster card specifically reads: "You cannot use this ability if you would overlap another ship."

Word of warning on Luke Skywalker and Gunner - both cards have the "you cannot perform another attack this round" provision on them, so they would be useful for ONE attack only, and that would have to be the LAST attack you make that round.

A bigger word of warning:

These were faq'ed to be not tournament legal on a CR90 along with Navigator.

My thought is to charge straight at the enemy with quads, and forget about the STL.

I've found the opposite to this to be best. It lets you charge up all your guns and such. Also, if the Imperials attack piecemeal (especially prone during multi player play) then it is just easier to kill them.

A bigger word of warning:

These were faq'ed to be not tournament legal on a CR90 along with Navigator.

A quiet word of clarification - that ruling was apparently removed in the most recent FAQ update, hence why it's being discussed here. The only card currently restricted for Huge ships is Navigator.

A bigger word of warning:

These were faq'ed to be not tournament legal on a CR90 along with Navigator.

A quiet word of clarification - that ruling was apparently removed in the most recent faq update, hence why it's being discussed here!

A mad dash to the faq page:

Really? That was a quiet one.

I think they probably realised that the points cost of the upgrades (and their "no further attacks this turn" wording) made the upgrades pretty ordinary anyway.