14 minutes ago, ShoutingMan said:Right, I see that on the PDF.
I'm interested but atm, thebiglev is storing the PDF. IF you want to do it, I can copy your link to the front page though!
Also, excited to hear you're trying Taskforce. Let us know what you think!
1 minute ago, Blail Blerg said:I'm interested but atm, thebiglev is storing the PDF. IF you want to do it, I can copy your link to the front page though!
Also, excited to hear you're trying Taskforce. Let us know what you think!
What I meant, but was overly terse, is that I now realize that thebiglev was the right person to contact. But I missed the obvious until you pointed it out.
I'll have to look at my services; I don't know if I have any suitable online storage.
Salgood gentlemen. I can host it on the google drive if you like, or you could host it wherever you please and add a link to it. I appreciate the condensing of the file. I am not a graphics designer and didnt even really try to make it smaller haha!
Thanks. Sent it off. Have a look, and if you like it post it too.
Thank You/Bump Post
This looks great! I am slowly working to establish an Armada presence in my area and I think this will be a GREAT way to bring new players into the game and avoid the freak out factor of needing 400pts and 2+ hours just to start.
I'll try to run this soon and will report the results.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1-BjUS9VA1uU_9IX6QsyrNGDRxPLoRwIe
This is the new and improved PDF from ShoutingMan. I recommend it 100% as its nice and condensed from my old huge bloatey beast.
Played Taskforce today. Really liked the condensed format. Playing a 400pt game takes all afternoon typically. This let us get a game in with setup in under 90 minutes. This might let us start doing a weeknight game a bit more regularly than we can get to weekend tournament-size games.
And a question: We played Dangerous Territory as Objective. The card says to place all obstacles distance 5 from sides. That clumped everything in the middle of the board. Is that the Taskforce interpretation?
3 minutes ago, ShoutingMan said:Played Taskforce today. Really liked the condensed format. Playing a 400pt game takes all afternoon typically. This let us get a game in with setup in under 90 minutes. This might let us start doing a weeknight game a bit more regularly than we can get to weekend tournament-size games.
Awesome! I hope it gets your group to grow!
What did you end up playing? Any other impressions?
My fleet was:
Author: ShoutingMan
Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 199/200
Commander: Moff Jerjerrod
Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Planetary Ion Cannon
Navigation Objective: Dangerous Territory
[ flagship ] Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (85 points)
- Moff Jerjerrod ( 23 points)
- Disposable Capacitors ( 3 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
= 115 total ship cost
Arquitens-class Command Cruiser (59 points)
- Captain Needa ( 2 points)
- Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points)
= 68 total ship cost
2 TIE Fighter Squadrons ( 16 points)
= 16 total squadron cost
His fleet was (going from memory)
MC75, Madine, Strategic Advisor, Hardened Bulkheads, H9, ECM, and some other odds and ends for 175 points
GR75, Bright Hope, Comms Net, and Leia, 25 points.
I won bid, took 2nd player. Dangerous Territory was chosen.
I lost. Madine grossly outmaneuvered my VSD and I lost it in Round 4. I conceded at that point.
My only gripe was I didn't get to use DCaps.
We went from outside Long to inside Medium in one move so I didn't have a chance to try that upgrade out.
Though it's more points than the original 180 Core game, after playing 400pts for a couple years, 200 pts feels light. It's faster to build a fleet, faster to setup for the game, faster to play, faster to pack up. It's promising as a "sandbox" to play with ship builds, deployment and maneuvering mechanics.
It's possible it allows for more unbalanced scenarios than from the Core set: An MC75 Madine monster owns a major portion of the board compared to a VSD, and compared to a 400pt setup. And there may be other builds that are especially "swingy" (like a BT Avenger fleet, or a Quasar Bomber fleet) against an opponent's build not set to counter those specific threats. So, we'll see.
My one frustration so far in building is that it motivates cheaper Admirals. I'd like to experiment with Vader or Thrawn, but 30+ points in a 200 pt fleet is a big bite. That's the one aspect I find Taskforce doesn't promote playfulness with.
I'm also hoping the game might be fast enough that sometimes, instead of doing a full 400 pt game even when there's time, I might do a pair of Taskforce games. A way to get more variety and experimentation into a session.
3 hours ago, ShoutingMan said:And a question: We played Dangerous Territory as Objective. The card says to place all obstacles distance 5 from sides. That clumped everything in the middle of the board. Is that the Taskforce interpretation?
Hi,
The card actually says they only need to be distance 5 from each player's edges, not the sides of the board. So there's a full 1/3 of the boad to use for four obstacles. As such, it seems very manageable.
Is this the interpretation you were using?
As large ships - I have experienced it also. It has gotten more pronounced in standard 400 point Armada. Since Wave 6, there has been a steady monopolization of efficacy in using one large ship and many squadrons in even 400 point Armada. Other players have noted this as well. It is slightly exacerbated in Taskforce, but I view it as an issue with the game itself. The information to support this can be viewed in the regional results page.
Edited by FrightfulCommand
20 hours ago, FrightfulCommand said:Hi,
The card actually says they only need to be distance 5 from each player's edges, not the sides of the board. So there's a full 1/3 of the boad to use for four obstacles. As such, it seems very manageable.
Is this the interpretation you were using?
As large ships - I have experienced it also. It has gotten more pronounced in standard 400 point Armada. Since Wave 6, there has been a steady monopolization of efficacy in using one large ship and many squadrons in even 400 point Armada. Other players have noted this as well. It is slightly exacerbated in Taskforce, but I view it as an issue with the game itself. The information to support this can be viewed in the regional results page.
Re: Dangerous Territory. We misread in our haste. That makes more sense.
The Big Ship effect I'm not sure how I feel about it. When I play an ISD-centric fleet, I'm competitive against my regular opponent. When I play anything else, I'm getting clobbered by his Big Ship fleet. For now, I'll keep mixing it up and try to learn small / medium ship mechanics better.
I dunno, I ran a couple of arqs in this format supported by firesprays and vader and managed to beat paired liberties. So long as you can inflate your firepower I think you can make non big ships work. Paired vsds with dcaps could also work, shooting Six dice downrange as soon as they acquire a target.
I need to run this format again, but we may need to introduce maybe a one big ship limit or somesuch, to stop mass hull and mass dice dominating the format. Especially worth strat advisor to deal with too.
2 hours ago, ShoutingMan said:The Big Ship effect I'm not sure how I feel about it. When I play an ISD-centric fleet, I'm competitive against my regular opponent. When I play anything else, I'm getting clobbered by his Big Ship fleet. For now, I'll keep mixing it up and try to learn small / medium ship mechanics better.
I'm not really fond of the big ship effect right now either. I did not feel like Motti ISD + Firesprays was unbeatable in wave 2-5. I'm not sure why suddenly it seems so, perhaps everyone has gotten much better at large ships (including myself). However, without a hair of a doubt, those two things are the MOST powerful things you can get in Armada in the standard game right now. Only 20% of people take mass squads, but they win at 56% with an increasing line of success all the way through the top 4 and 8. That's more than 275% efficacy. Almost all modern fleets are 1 large ship + either flots and squads or 2 large ships. Regardless, they ALL contain 1 large ship, which is a massive skew in where the game used to be in terms of large ships used.
Basically, its not you ShoutingMan, I cant get non-large fleets to work against single large fleets and mass squad fleets at either 200pts or 400pts.
When it comes to Taskforce, through waves2-6, it literally reflects what the game feels like at 400 points. This might be because we got some serious activation control for larges only, AND we got a high level of quality-drastic-increasing upgrade combinations. First we also got the Cymoon, which is a BIG upgrade for long range, cheaper and 5 dice than the 120pt isd.
3 minutes ago, Norsehound said:I dunno, I ran a couple of arqs in this format supported by firesprays and vader and managed to beat paired liberties. So long as you can inflate your firepower I think you can make non big ships work. Paired vsds with dcaps could also work, shooting Six dice downrange as soon as they acquire a target.
I need to run this format again, but we may need to introduce maybe a one big ship limit or somesuch, to stop mass hull and mass dice dominating the format. Especially worth strat advisor to deal with too.
I think I really to make this clear: But I was WRONG about the two liberties being good. Its too clumsy.
what I think IS good is ONE LARGE SHIP + bomber squads.
Like Motti ISD + 3 firesprays and a tie.
Or... as you saw, MC80 + squads.
Edited by Blail BlergBeen playing Taskforce as default lately (since a normal game still takes me ~4 hrs versus 90 min for TF).
Last week I fielded:
Taskforce - Quasar Bombers + BCC
Author: ShoutingMan
Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 194/200
Commander: Admiral Motti
Assault Objective: Precision Strike
Defense Objective: Planetary Ion Cannon
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions
[ flagship ] Quasar Fire II-class Cruiser-Carrier (61 points)
- Admiral Motti ( 24 points)
- Pursuant ( 2 points)
- Flight Commander ( 3 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
= 94 total ship cost
Gozanti-class Assault Carriers (28 points)
- Bomber Command Center ( 8 points)
= 36 total ship cost
1 Tempest Squadron ( 13 points)
1 TIE Advanced Squadron ( 12 points)
3 TIE Bomber Squadrons ( 27 points)
1 JumpMaster 5000 ( 12 points)
= 64 total squadron cost
My opponent had a Madine MC75 loaded with everything and Bright Hope. I won bid and took second. He chose Superior Positions. I lost by one point. One better roll and I would have one the game. So, interesting and a fun chance to experiment anew with Bombers.
This week I'm flying Sloane for the first time. Which is why I like TF, easier to experiment by building a simple fleet focused on a game concept.
Taskforce - Quasar Sloane +2
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Admiral Sloane
Assault: Targeting Beacons
Defense: Planetary Ion Cannon
Navigation: Superior Positions
Quasar Fire I (54)
• Admiral Sloane (24)
• Boosted Comms (4)
• Disposable Capacitors (3)
• Pursuant (2)
= 87 Points
Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Comms Net (2)
= 23 Points
Gozanti Cruisers (23)
= 23 Points
Squadrons:
• 6 x TIE Fighter Squadron (48)
• JumpMaster 5000 (12)
= 60 Points
Total Points: 195
Hey that's awesome to hear! That's the point of Taskforce! Faster play and more experimenting! Have you considered blending the two lists together?: Take Sloane, Flight Controllers on Quasar for the first list, possibly bumping one of the squads to something around 13-15 points with blue dice? Like Ciena? Or dropping Flight Commander and Boosted Comms for SFO and a Lambda somewhere?
13 hours ago, Blail Blerg said:Hey that's awesome to hear! That's the point of Taskforce! Faster play and more experimenting! Have you considered blending the two lists together?: Take Sloane, Flight Controllers on Quasar for the first list, possibly bumping one of the squads to something around 13-15 points with blue dice? Like Ciena? Or dropping Flight Commander and Boosted Comms for SFO and a Lambda somewhere?
Thanks. I'll keep this in mind for the next iteration of this fleet. I hope to iterate and work this fleet and also Sloane for a few games. There's new mechanics I've never used.
I've been able to play armada a lot more lately thanks to this format. It's far easier to convince my wife to commit to such a shorter timeframe. Thanks for all the hard work on it!
Played another TaskForce game yesterday. I played a Motti Cymoon + 1 game. My Cymoon was Avenger Boarding Troopers plus H9 and Enhanced Armament, and Strategic Advisor. Goz had Supressor and Comms Net. Opponent played Madine MC75 + Bright Hope. The MC75 had black dice, plus External Racks and Ordnance Experts. Bright Hope was geared for killing squadrons, plus Slicer Tools, as I've previously played with squadrons every game and have been recently interested in Sloane Quasar. He got a bit snookered by that, since I surprised him with a squadron less big-ship fleet. I won the bid, took first player, and chose Dangerous Territory. I won the game with two tokens and no lost ships. (Exciting as I've lost all prior TF games against him.)
Some thoughts: I've been playing "MSU"-type fleets on TF to explore. My opponent has been honing a Madine MC75+1 fleet. Reviewing my losses, I realized that a red-dice ship centered on the play area can reach any ship not skimming the distance-1 edges of edges. Sloane Quasar has a pretty good chance, but it requires skilled flying, having to have both ships the right place to get the squads in the right place to set up the attacks while maintaining relative positions to then get the squadrons away and healed before they get blasted by flak. But doing that by necessity places small ships well within the H9 Red Dice range of a big ship. A big-ship fleet is more direct: aim pointy end and roll dice, trusting 9+ hull to keep it alive or a few rounds.
So I changed it up and flew a big-ship to check the above. And yes, I got all the way through the game without losing even my Goz.
But it was close. A slightly better roll at two different rounds and my opponent would have taken out my Goz and won on points. Conversely, had I taken a different tact in the middle, I might have popped his flotilla and had a fully secure victory. We both struggled with slightly different fleets than we've played recently.
I will say, he made good use of Phylon and Slicer tools. Conversely, I got no use out of Suppressor. I need to think about that some more; I think going second lends itself to using the weird Flotilla support cards. But I also flew my Goz for safety, not successful use of Suppressor, which really hurt its value.
I just finished an exciting Taskforce against @racknut . It was extremely tight, and I won after losing my Goz and getting 10 damage to my Cymoon.
I flew JJ Cymoon Relentless + Comms Net . He had Madine MC75 + Bright Hope. We both had 195 pts; a token toss and he got choice. He took second; I chose Dangerous Territory.
A few photos are here:
I deployed with to land on an Asteroid as my first move, with Engineering planned for Round 2 to toss the card, with the goal of staying alive and winning on aggressive objective collection. On round 3, we were in a Mutually Assured Destruction setup. My Cymoon and Goz were double-arced by Madine, and I had his GR75 double-arced by JJ. I chose to go for the trade and avoid big damage on my Cymoon: I double-arced Bright Hope and eked out the kill; he then double-arced and rammed the Goz to kill it.
That move, I JJ'd at speed 3 to do a big 90-deg turn and hopefully get positioned to get some arc on his MC75. I chose that over landing on the second asteroids for a third token, since the card might be a problem at the end of the game.
This led me to having a mediocre arc on him and doing another JJ turn-around that put me at close range in front-side double arc. He poured it on with External Racks and did 9 damage, accuracy-ing my Brace, for six cards total. He then rammed for seven cards. But that was Round 5.
Round 6 I had an Engineering Command and tossed a card, down to six. I rolled some dice at him, but no Criticals landed. My navigation setup at speed three wasn't as good as I'd hoped. I could probably land on an asteriod and probably still be at Medium range of a side arc, or I could surely be at medium range but hit no obstacles. I took my chances at the side arc hitting my rear.
He rolled the dice and got one accuracy and six damage. I had two shield, so I'd be at 10 cards total and no crits. He used a reroll option on two reds hopping to eke out one more damage. He converted a damage and a critical to a double-damage and an accuracy. Same effective outcome, so I stayed alive with 10/11 hull damaged.
Unfortunately, in his aggressive pursuit he flew off the board in that final round, with no token or command available to Madine to safety.
It was pretty thrilling. We got some mechanics explored we haven't used much. I played aggressively going for risky gambits that paid off, which is fun. And the game came down to a die roll here or there. A single extra hit in the three rolls of rounds 5 and 6 and he'd have won, tabling me and not having to fly off the board.
And it was less than two hours, out and back, which really helps us get more Armada playing in.
Edited by ShoutingManI really want to do something cinematic or story-focused with Task force, but can't think of how yet.
Our flgs group got a couple games of this in last night. We played the version with the 50pt objective token and no admiral required. Apparently there was a tournament recently that they took over and did it at too? Was kind of confused what they did for that but anyway.
Interesting. I've been leery of trying it since I saw the thread started in February but they talked me into it. In general I've noticed whenever you mess with a games intended scale, particularly going smaller, they tend to break around some weird strategy or game unit. And I'm still expecting we'll find one here eventually. But in the mean time, it was at least interesting. As we develop meta in our area I'll check in from time to time. Also notably a few in our area, after getting used to the correlian conflict, have started regularly playing 500pts, and that doesn't seem too bad so far.
Remember that this game was designed originally for 300 pts. Gotta wonder what breaks now if the game is slightly larger than intended.
It's vsds.