Really want to see Rebel Transports soon

By Crabbok, in Star Wars: Armada

The GR-75 Transport was the most heavily featurered capital ship in the battle of Endor, and I really want to see it in Armada. I realize it isn't a gun ship, and it might be difficult to come up with a purpose for it, but thematically it needs to happen.

I expect it might be a good squadron option. A very cheap capital ship that has a moderate squadron value, (1 or 2), and comes with a few titles that allow it to perform a support role for squadrons. Maybe it absorbs damage that would otherwise go to a nearby squadron, maybe it allows all squadrons extra movement value, maybe it even has a way to add extra dice to squadrons..., those these all would need to be in the form of paid upgrades.

How small would they need to be though? Obviously they'd be smaller than a corvette, so would that make it too small for a small base?

I just cant aee myself ever using it enough, although I agree they were everywhere

I don't play X-Wing, but I know they are in that game. What role do they play there? If they are ever brought to Armada, I suspect it would be similar.

I could see a transport being released along with a pack of new objective cards that revolve around using the transport.

I would see the Transport as being Free VP if they survive, but they would be low on shields and hull so you would need to protect them.

The GR-75 Transport was the most heavily featurered capital ship in the battle of Endor, and I really want to see it in Armada. I realize it isn't a gun ship, and it might be difficult to come up with a purpose for it, but thematically it needs to happen.

I expect it might be a good squadron option. A very cheap capital ship that has a moderate squadron value, (1 or 2), and comes with a few titles that allow it to perform a support role for squadrons. Maybe it absorbs damage that would otherwise go to a nearby squadron, maybe it allows all squadrons extra movement value, maybe it even has a way to add extra dice to squadrons..., those these all would need to be in the form of paid upgrades.

How small would they need to be though? Obviously they'd be smaller than a corvette, so would that make it too small for a small base?

Well, I think that the lack of guns will probably mean that it won't show up. As a Rebel player, why would you put points into something that doesn't help you on offense?

Well, you could give them title upgrade cards (not necessarily unique ones) that grant useful abilities, such as:

Bulk Courier: At the end of any round, if this ship is within distance 1 of your opponent's edge of the play area, remove it from play and gain 1 victory token.

(You'd obviously need to pick three objective cards with Victory Token values... and hope that your opponent picked at least 1!)

Or more general "support" abilities, like:

Resupply Vessel: When a friendly ship at close range resolves a Repair action, you may exhaust this card to flip one of its faceup damage cards facedown.

I'm working on custom title cards in this vein for the shapeways BFF-1 Bulk Freighter, the same general principles would apply here.

I would love to see them even if it was only used as objectives or some support purpose for rebels. Maybe they could come with new objective cards or something. Maybe use fighter bases.

I also hope we se some transport/utility ships as well. It would be great to have some scenary where you use Your captital ships to ambush or protect some weaker ships.

I don't see how you can give transports a purpose in Armada. They can't run, they can't hide and in Armada, you have no way to protect them. Points given for blowing up transports are just a gift.

I could see FFG releasing transports at the same time as an interdictor cruiser. Maybe they both could be part of special convey scenarios/objectives devised just for those ships. The rebel has to take out the interdictor in order to jump to hyperspace, while the Imperial tries to protect their interdictor so they can take out as many transports as possible.

Such a specialized scenario might get old after a while, but I could see a convoy/interdiction objectives being used to make up part of a "campaign" or "epic play" feature in Armada that some posters in other threads are hoping for.

I don't see how you can give transports a purpose in Armada. They can't run, they can't hide and in Armada, you have no way to protect them. Points given for blowing up transports are just a gift.

Something like:

Objective: "Evacuate the Transport"

Setup: Rebels (or Player 2, if same-faction) have the GR-75 Medium Transport card and miniature (no fleet point cost) added to their fleet. Somehow add an objective marker on the play area to mark the evacuation point. Deploy as normal.

Scoring: The player controlling the transport gains X points (smallish #) at the end of each round the transport is still in play, and will gain Y points (big number) if the transport is alive and within distance 1 of the evacuation objective at the end of the round. The other player will gain Z points (pretty big number) if the transport is destroyed.

I don't know. I can't really see how an unarmed ship would be useful in a game of ship to ship combat. Maybe if it was slightly armed and functioned like the HWK of X-wing it might be useful. Or perhaps if it had a Negative point cost but was limited in number and if destroyed would give many VPs to an opponent.

I don't play X-Wing, but I know they are in that game. What role do they play there? If they are ever brought to Armada, I suspect it would be similar.

In X-Wing it serves as an obstacle/support ship (meat shield that buffs other ships) and/or an oversized ramming missile (when it moves and overlaps another smaller ship(s), they are destroyed instantly). As most ships in Armada are larger and heavily armed, I don't see the ship filling a similar roll in Armada (other than pure support). An objective ship would make more sense but don't think it will happen.

As someone who plays naval wargaming (ww2, modern, etc) transports/cargo ships with little to no combat value are everywhere there's people. They are usually used in scenario games, I have several cargo and super tankers. We don't use them most of the time because most forces would remove them from the scene before any battle begins. But convoy attacks, attacks against shipping lanes and logistics support are a large part of war.

I think the idea of maybe no cost but in victory points has merit. I personally would equip them with sensor or ECM bonuses (with a cost) but including them. Not to mention I want them because they're in the movies!

As someone who plays naval wargaming (ww2, modern, etc) transports/cargo ships with little to no combat value are everywhere there's people. They are usually used in scenario games, I have several cargo and super tankers. We don't use them most of the time because most forces would remove them from the scene before any battle begins. But convoy attacks, attacks against shipping lanes and logistics support are a large part of war.

I think the idea of maybe no cost but in victory points has merit. I personally would equip them with sensor or ECM bonuses (with a cost) but including them. Not to mention I want them because they're in the movies!

Then maybe an alternative solution would be to include them as cardboard tokens (a la X-Wing) in the ISD or some other ship, rather than as full ships. Then they could used in scenario play without needing to plunk down money on a non-combat ship.

As someone who plays naval wargaming (ww2, modern, etc) transports/cargo ships with little to no combat value are everywhere there's people. They are usually used in scenario games, I have several cargo and super tankers. We don't use them most of the time because most forces would remove them from the scene before any battle begins. But convoy attacks, attacks against shipping lanes and logistics support are a large part of war.

I think the idea of maybe no cost but in victory points has merit. I personally would equip them with sensor or ECM bonuses (with a cost) but including them. Not to mention I want them because they're in the movies!

Then maybe an alternative solution would be to include them as cardboard tokens (a la X-Wing) in the ISD or some other ship, rather than as full ships. Then they could used in scenario play without needing to plunk down money on a non-combat ship.

Fair enough. I would love a mini though. Especially if they could be upgraded with a crew or something similar.

Edited by phxcmd

I would love to see their inclusion into the game, and I think people above have already mentioned some interesting ideas. I imagine that at Armada scale, some of the 3D printing people (MelMiniatures, etc.) could make some quite affordable models.

Maybe they'll be in the odd-numbered expansion, the way that rogues is in Wave 2.

Also Gozanti cruisers would be awesome, given the emphasis on them in SW: Rebels

Run the ideas together.

Produce a pack that is 2 or 3 transports, plus a few transport-only upgrades, plus 5 or 6 Objective cards. "Second player places 3 transports in his setup area."

Do somthing similar with the Interdictor, since I honestly can't see anything that it's good for, without a scenerio.

Have em as a "squadron" and give em in a pack with some xwings or have em as markers like obstacles on the map

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but I also wanted to have some transports available for my game. I bought some of the "Star Wars Miniature Starship Battles" Rebel transports from Miniature Market.

Edited by Von Deekin

I could actually see this as more of a thing your opponent brings. Mission being something like supply line disruption or shipment hijack or something. Rebels bring imperial transports or imperials bring rebel transports. And the opposing player controls the respective models.

A transport in this game sounds about as useful as a school bus in axis and allies. I'm not really feeling it outside of specialized scenarios, which I tend to avoid, personally.

The GR-75 Transport was the most heavily featurered capital ship in the battle of Endor, and I really want to see it in Armada. I realize it isn't a gun ship, and it might be difficult to come up with a purpose for it, but thematically it needs to happen.

I expect it might be a good squadron option. A very cheap capital ship that has a moderate squadron value, (1 or 2), and comes with a few titles that allow it to perform a support role for squadrons. Maybe it absorbs damage that would otherwise go to a nearby squadron, maybe it allows all squadrons extra movement value, maybe it even has a way to add extra dice to squadrons..., those these all would need to be in the form of paid upgrades.

How small would they need to be though? Obviously they'd be smaller than a corvette, so would that make it too small for a small base?

Well, I think that the lack of guns will probably mean that it won't show up. As a Rebel player, why would you put points into something that doesn't help you on offense?

Darth, I disagree, even though the standard configuration did not have guns, an official variant had a quad laser cannon:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/GR-75_medium_transport

Based on that, you could do something cheap, low shields, maybe 1 black die, but offer squadron 2... Standard use of the GR-75 was to escort them with star fighter patrols... so you could very logically make them star fighter (Squadron) based ships. I think they could play a role (small, faster ship with more than 1 squadron value). They could also give them a negative fielding cost (allowing the alliance to field more points at the risk of a liability in terms of points the empire could score, though I suspect a modified GR-75 with a gun is more likely). I would love to see them, especially as they are so integral to the Rebel Fleet in cannon.

I hear a lot of people speculate that FFG would not go past 2 or three waves... However, I suspect that FFG has a solid plan for the next few waves of ships/squadrons with no intentions of stopping if it stays profitable. You do not license, design, market, and release a game like this with only 2-3 waves. People said the same thing with Xwing after wave 3... and we're looking at wave 7? So I think we're looking at just the beginning.

As for the GR-75, I don't know... but I can see there being a place, a want, a use, and a demand for it. Keeping in mind that FFG is a business and that business's goal is to make money, and one way to do that is to provide people something they are interested in, if there is an interest I am sure they can find a way to make it happen... I for sure would love it for immersion purposes.

Wee need them because it is from the STAR WARS universe. Any ship from this univers combat or civilian, make my heart jump and if i would have tail it would surly be moving back and forth like a happy dog.

And YES we need real models not cardboard.

I would pay for some neet models even if they are weak and blow up easy. I am sure i could find away to bring them into thegame in a good way...

I want the complete star wars feeling With troop ships trying to land or escape.