Just played a quick game against myself. (About freaking time, stupid work)

I think the ISD is fine. The MC80 is the underwhelming one. Felt like just dud. Maybe I need to work on that.

I love the disparate opinions on this forum!

Tis an interesting set of forums

I mean this was my... 3rd time flying the new big ships. I just don't feel the same way I do going from Vic to Imp as I do AF to MC80.

I also don't wanna play Ackbar. Mostly because that's the real easy way out. And I love the versatility of Garm. So is my opinion skewed? Absolutely. It's more about figuring how to use it knowing it's a bigger, less impressive, more expensive AF. If I ran Ackbar that mindset has been beaten like a dead horse in these forums since Sullust.

Just played a quick game against myself. (About freaking time, stupid work)

I think the ISD is fine. The MC80 is the underwhelming one. Felt like just dud. Maybe I need to work on that.

I love the disparate opinions on this forum!

Tis an interesting set of forums

I mean this was my... 3rd time flying the new big ships. I just don't feel the same way I do going from Vic to Imp as I do AF to MC80.

I also don't wanna play Ackbar. Mostly because that's the real easy way out. And I love the versatility of Garm. So is my opinion skewed? Absolutely. It's more about figuring how to use it knowing it's a bigger, less impressive, more expensive AF. If I ran Ackbar that mindset has been beaten like a dead horse in these forums since Sullust.

I find that the MC80 is like the Nebulon-B. It is amazing with its titles but lackluster otherwise.

I love it but at the same time I am meh

Lyraeus, I played with the fleet builder some this morning. Getting the feeling you're right. I think it can function as a support or carrier for a reasonable price, but don't expect it to be anything much without a strong cast to carry it beyond that.

Time to invest in more Assault Frigates!!!

Lyraeus, I played with the fleet builder some this morning. Getting the feeling you're right. I think it can function as a support or carrier for a reasonable price, but don't expect it to be anything much without a strong cast to carry it beyond that.

Time to invest in more Assault Frigates!!!

I think Independence with Boosted Coms will be a great ship. Using Garm and you can easily have 10ish squadrons.

Lyraeus, I played with the fleet builder some this morning. Getting the feeling you're right. I think it can function as a support or carrier for a reasonable price, but don't expect it to be anything much without a strong cast to carry it beyond that.

Time to invest in more Assault Frigates!!!

Dat is depressing... a little bit.

Lyraeus, I played with the fleet builder some this morning. Getting the feeling you're right. I think it can function as a support or carrier for a reasonable price, but don't expect it to be anything much without a strong cast to carry it beyond that.

Time to invest in more Assault Frigates!!!

Good thing I already own 3.

I think Independence with Boosted Coms will be a great ship. Using Garm and you can easily have 10ish squadrons.

...and Dat IS glory, which evens it out fine!

Just played a quick game against myself. (About freaking time, stupid work)

I think the ISD is fine. The MC80 is the underwhelming one. Felt like just dud. Maybe I need to work on that.

I love the disparate opinions on this forum!

I like Chocolate!

I like Peanut butter!

We like both... together!

Just played a quick game against myself. (About freaking time, stupid work)

I think the ISD is fine. The MC80 is the underwhelming one. Felt like just dud. Maybe I need to work on that.

I love the disparate opinions on this forum!

I like Chocolate!

I like Peanut butter!

We like both... together!

We can't repel flavor of that magnitude!!!

I'm a little worried with MC80s having higher shields and access to a support team. With Ackbar, Mc80 broadsides fire the same amount of dice (and with more red dice), and have a higher ability for self-repair. The only thing the lack is gunnery team, but it's not like an attacking ISD gains a second attack on the same ship with a gunnery team either.

So my worry is that a self-healing eternal MC80 can hold off the supposedly monsterous Imperial star Destroyer simply by spamming engineering and let Ackbar and the passive gunners (with any passive turbolasers) do the work for him, along with the rest of the fleet.

Sounds like XI7s will be very popular this time around, so I don't buy the "MC80s have more shields" argument. I'd rather have hull than shields.

This. This for days sir.

I have been unimpressed with the extra shielding on the MC80.

I'm a little worried with MC80s having higher shields and access to a support team. With Ackbar, Mc80 broadsides fire the same amount of dice (and with more red dice), and have a higher ability for self-repair. The only thing the lack is gunnery team, but it's not like an attacking ISD gains a second attack on the same ship with a gunnery team either.

So my worry is that a self-healing eternal MC80 can hold off the supposedly monsterous Imperial star Destroyer simply by spamming engineering and let Ackbar and the passive gunners (with any passive turbolasers) do the work for him, along with the rest of the fleet.

Sounds like XI7s will be very popular this time around, so I don't buy the "MC80s have more shields" argument. I'd rather have hull than shields.

This. This for days sir.

I have been unimpressed with the extra shielding on the MC80.

This can be true until you figure out it is easier to move shields and repair shields than it is to repair hull.

4 Engineering points can move an entire facing to reinforce the downed side. Or you can repair a point and move 2 shields. It is pretty good

I'm a little worried with MC80s having higher shields and access to a support team. With Ackbar, Mc80 broadsides fire the same amount of dice (and with more red dice), and have a higher ability for self-repair. The only thing the lack is gunnery team, but it's not like an attacking ISD gains a second attack on the same ship with a gunnery team either.

So my worry is that a self-healing eternal MC80 can hold off the supposedly monsterous Imperial star Destroyer simply by spamming engineering and let Ackbar and the passive gunners (with any passive turbolasers) do the work for him, along with the rest of the fleet.

Sounds like XI7s will be very popular this time around, so I don't buy the "MC80s have more shields" argument. I'd rather have hull than shields.

This. This for days sir.

I have been unimpressed with the extra shielding on the MC80.

This can be true until you figure out it is easier to move shields and repair shields than it is to repair hull.

4 Engineering points can move an entire facing to reinforce the downed side. Or you can repair a point and move 2 shields. It is pretty good

That. And Redundant shields in the other slot (next to ECMs to protect the brace) just keeps them healing. It's these super-repair cucumbers that I'm most concerned about as an ISD driver.

If you can get two ships in and reliably do more than four points of damage before the MC80 activates, to punch through and do damage, I think that could work. If you take fighters you do multiple strikes of low amounts of damage to deplete the shields without kicking the MC80s brace token, then fire. You have less shields to go through when you strike.

But if the MC80 has fighters it does the same to you, and the moral of the story is Always Take Fighters!

Ok guys, today I did it. I took this:

The Rocky Mountains (400)

ISD-I // Motti / Veteran Captain / Gunnery Team / Leading Shots

ISD-I // Quad Laser Turrets / Gunnery Team / Leading Shots

ISD-I // Quad Laser Turrets / Gunnery Team / Leading Shots

It was against a fighter heavy list, with an MC80, Yavaris, and a Torpedo MC30. I realized early that fighter cloud was going to be ugly, the hope was to kill his capital ships before the fighters got too upedy. They ended up taking basically one and a half star destroyers, and their MC80 didn't die... plus my AA rolls were terrible.

but I did one-shoot the MC30 when it tried to block me. And the only reason Quad Laser Turrets weren't more effective was because Motti's ISD didn't take them. But I only had so many points left over...

in the end of the game my ISD was chasing down the Yarvaris, in kind of a scary way (banked Navigation commands all the way down). He was one point from death.

I... kind of want three ISDs now. To practice with and make better.

Yeah... three ISD Is will take a pounding. Three ISD IIs with ECMs would be far more durable... but you can't fit three ISD IIs with ECMs and a Commander in a fleet. So it has to be ISD Is... which will take a pounding...

Quads seems like a reasonable upgrade to me, as anti-bomber swarm insurance (unless you face Rhymer, then the execution becomes more difficult because the counter only triggers if the attacking squadron is at Distance 1). It's not going to be as powerful as some squadrons supported by a Raider, but it's better than nothing.

I'm a little worried with MC80s having higher shields and access to a support team. With Ackbar, Mc80 broadsides fire the same amount of dice (and with more red dice), and have a higher ability for self-repair. The only thing the lack is gunnery team, but it's not like an attacking ISD gains a second attack on the same ship with a gunnery team either.

So my worry is that a self-healing eternal MC80 can hold off the supposedly monsterous Imperial star Destroyer simply by spamming engineering and let Ackbar and the passive gunners (with any passive turbolasers) do the work for him, along with the rest of the fleet.

Sounds like XI7s will be very popular this time around, so I don't buy the "MC80s have more shields" argument. I'd rather have hull than shields.

This. This for days sir.

I have been unimpressed with the extra shielding on the MC80.

This can be true until you figure out it is easier to move shields and repair shields than it is to repair hull.

4 Engineering points can move an entire facing to reinforce the downed side. Or you can repair a point and move 2 shields. It is pretty good

That. And Redundant shields in the other slot (next to ECMs to protect the brace) just keeps them healing. It's these super-repair cucumbers that I'm most concerned about as an ISD driver.

If you can get two ships in and reliably do more than four points of damage before the MC80 activates, to punch through and do damage, I think that could work. If you take fighters you do multiple strikes of low amounts of damage to deplete the shields without kicking the MC80s brace token, then fire. You have less shields to go through when you strike.

But if the MC80 has fighters it does the same to you, and the moral of the story is Always Take Fighters!

ISD's can repair just as well thanks to Tarkin. Repair command + repair token from Tarkin = 6 engineering points = 2 hullpoints restored or 3 shields. MC-80's only gain the upper hand repair-wise on turns that they use a repair token they banked earlier.

ISD's can repair just as well thanks to Tarkin. Repair command + repair token from Tarkin = 6 engineering points = 2 hullpoints restored or 3 shields. MC-80's only gain the upper hand repair-wise on turns that they use a repair token they banked earlier.

Lots of cases where that's not true. Raymus or a Tantive IV token dispenser will keep pace with the Tarkin bucks (or a Wulff engineering token); Engineering Team, Redemption support, or Redundant Shields in the second slot will all push the pickle's repair beyond the ISD's.

So after thinking this over for a bit, I think there is a bit of cognitive disconnect for the ISD:

• It looks super impressive, like a wedge you can drive directly into the heart of your foes.
• We see them leading the charge for the Imperials repeatedly in the movies.
• It can go speed 3.
• The intimidation factor is real for your opponents.

However, ignore all that. If I told you that you have a ship which is:

• Incredibly lethal from the front, which is wide, but considerably less so from any other angle.
• Somewhat less maneuverable than grandma's 1970 cadillac with no power steering.
• Durable, but certainly no more durable than some of the other tougher ships and still capable of being destroyed in a single round under concentrated fire.

How would you play that thing?

You would not lead a charge with it. That means it's more likely to get destroyed quickly, less likely to bring its guns to bear for a long period of time, and more likely to be outmaneuvered and simply ignored. You would, actually, lead with your other ships and bring this guy in as a cleanup hitter, for once the enemy is already forced to engage you and this sucker can come in and just drop the hammer on things.

So to that end, for anyone who thinks the ISD is underwhelming, I have a challenge for you: play slow with it. Keep it in back, force yourself to pick your spots, do not let it engage first or get outmaneuvered.

The trick (like most ships) is to not be too aggressive. Throw some cautionary engineering dials in there to keep it alive, and don't spend the points on getting rid of cards unless you really need to. Just up those shields. I have found that it is a great ship that is able to ambush quickly, but just like any ship if you fly it straight into the side of Ackbar's Home one and don't have a plan on how to get more dice than just him on it. Sure it's going to die a horribly quick death.

To further blow minds, I've become a big fan of using the ISD2 (okay still haven't figured out the 1) with squadrons and keeping them relatively close so I can use its impressive anti-squadron battery to help out. I love the ISD2. It and the way the new squadrons combined with the old have made me enjoy Armada even more than before.

To further blow minds, I've become a big fan of using the ISD2 (okay still haven't figured out the 1) with squadrons and keeping them relatively close so I can use its impressive anti-squadron battery to help out. I love the ISD2. It and the way the new squadrons combined with the old have made me enjoy Armada even more than before.

Squadrons are even more fun now. With Intel being thrown in, upgrades like Flight Controllers become important because you have to find ways to drop that damnedable Jan Ors fast! With that you have Dengar and Howlrunner making TIE Interceptors counter 4 which just is silly.

Add in all the upgrades and some crazy times can be had!

I also agree about the squadron screen for the ISD, and that the ISD2 is the vastly superior model. I feel that, in general, you want to maximize the pain you can deliver, which means maximizing the front arc. Given that the ISD is always going to be very unmaneuverable relative to most opposition, that means you have to maximize the range of the arc, as you aren't going to turn that thing on a dime to bring it to bear at short range.

Thus, being able to sit back, defend against squadrons, and fire away seems fully plausible. My favorite ISD build right now is the 2-variant with gunnery team to maximize the pain from the front arc. I'm not sure any other options are required or desireable. Sometimes keeping it cheap helps.

I dunno, ISD-Is can take Expanded Hangars and Boosted Comms along with their Flight controllers. Wanna command five fighters out to long range and give everyone an extra blue die? How about with Howlrunner? Do you like your interceptors at long range firing six dice with a re-roll?

Went two ISD II. Equipped them out with gunnery,ecm. Then overload pulse and avenger with the sw-7 ion that turn accuracy into hits. Had screed to makes sutr the overload pulse went off.

Then finished it off the rhymer, tie bombers and tie advances.

First move the overload pulse ISD exhaust the targets tokens. With gunnery he focus on two different ships.

Avenger then comes in with the knock out punch.

I managed to get a one two hit on a mc80 like this. 1st ISD managed to get three accuracy and four dmg. Boom front shield gone. Second got 5 dmg and 3 accuracy which meant 8 dmg and no defense tokens to be used

I dunno, ISD-Is can take Expanded Hangars and Boosted Comms along with their Flight controllers. Wanna command five fighters out to long range and give everyone an extra blue die? How about with Howlrunner? Do you like your interceptors at long range firing six dice with a re-roll?

I like the ISD-I more as a pure carrier, unfortunately it doesn't have the long range firepower to hang back while the squadrons engage. The ISD-II is more versatile imo, makes for a less effective 'pure' carrier but a superior battlecarrier.

I feel like the ISD-I is probably superior as a fighter-oriented carrier simply due to the fact that its Weapon Team slot is open for Flight Controllers much more than the ISD-II's (which is Gunnery Teams). Given that the ISD-I wants to be more aggressive, I'm not sold on the necessity of Boosted Comms with it, however (but if you've got the free points, it can't hurt right? or go with the Tractor Beam).

The ISD-II is likely a superior fit with Boosted Comms and functioning as a bomber-oriented carrier, though. Bombers don't care about missing out on Flight Controllers provided you've got your Rhymerball set up right.

I dunno, ISD-Is can take Expanded Hangars and Boosted Comms along with their Flight controllers. Wanna command five fighters out to long range and give everyone an extra blue die? How about with Howlrunner? Do you like your interceptors at long range firing six dice with a re-roll?

I like the ISD-I more as a pure carrier, unfortunately it doesn't have the long range firepower to hang back while the squadrons engage. The ISD-II is more versatile imo, makes for a less effective 'pure' carrier but a superior battlecarrier.

If the goal is a pure carrier build, adding Slaved Turrets boosts an ISD I to four red die. Not sure that's worth the cost of limiting yourself to two attacks, but if you want ISD II-level ranged firepower with ISD I-level squadron upgrades, it's available. It also allows the Weapons Team slot that's usually allocated for Gunnery Teams to host something like Flight Controllers (as Snip suggests), or Ordnance Experts. An ISD I with Slaved Turrets, Boosted Comms, Expanded Hangers, and Flight Controllers will still run you less than an a standard ISD II with ECMs and Gunnery Team (131 vs. 134).

Not advocating for this type of build, per se, just throwing it out there.

I feel like the ISD-I is probably superior as a fighter-oriented carrier simply due to the fact that its Weapon Team slot is open for Flight Controllers much more than the ISD-II's (which is Gunnery Teams). Given that the ISD-I wants to be more aggressive, I'm not sold on the necessity of Boosted Comms with it, however (but if you've got the free points, it can't hurt right? or go with the Tractor Beam).

The ISD-II is likely a superior fit with Boosted Comms and functioning as a bomber-oriented carrier, though. Bombers don't care about missing out on Flight Controllers provided you've got your Rhymerball set up right.

Having boosted coms lets you snuff out a Rhymerball before it and it's intel friends can open fire on your capital ship.

Tractor Beams is another option, to help hold targets out at medium range to get into the cloud of your fighters to get pummeled to death. And there will be other offensive structure slots in the future...

Having boosted coms lets you snuff out a Rhymerball before it and it's intel friends can open fire on your capital ship.

Tractor Beams is another option, to help hold targets out at medium range to get into the cloud of your fighters to get pummeled to death. And there will be other offensive structure slots in the future...

I guess I look at it as if you're trying to pounce on a Rhymberball, the initial Squadron activation will likely be while your TIEs/Interceptors are still within medium range. The fighters will then likely jump to long range (or further out) to commence with the attack, but by that point your important work is done or mostly done (knocking out the crucial components, like Dengar and/or Rhymer). Depending on how you maneuver the ISD afterwards and the particulars of how your fighter attack run went, you may be able to safely move the ISD back into Squadrons command range of the fighters should another Squadrons command be necessary next turn. Just to be clear: I don't dispute that the Boosted Comms are certainly useful and 4 points as an insurance policy is definitely appealing. I just don't think they're a mandatory element on an ISD fighter-oriented carrier with Flight Controllers. If you're planning on using Squadron commands on both fighters and bombers, then I'd consider it mandatory.

It also comes down to the rest of the fleet and the intended use of the ISD-I. The Tractor Beams are a lot more useful if you're planning on running the ISD-I closer in to maximize the value of its black dice. They're also handy if you're trying to land bombers in front of a slowed-down enemy ship so it keeps landing on the bombers and displacing them back to its front arc (which is good with a more modest bomber wing or if you're bringing Firesprays in addition to your fighters).