I will echo the commentary that if I am going to run one naked, it's actually going to be a CR90B.

A CR90A, naked, wants to stay at long range and evade. The problem is that your average damage output from the front arc then becomes an exepcted 1.5 before your opponent mitigates. Basically, it can lightly tickle things and that is all. It is mathematically incapable of hurting a flotilla at long range, for example, without a CF command.

So you would need objectives that reward running away and not being in a fixed place while playing a second player to get real value out of it, and the truth is that those don't exist. I think with the A, you need to be running TRC or you shouldn't take it.

On the other hand, I think the B is actually quite useful even without upgrades. It's dirt cheap (39 points, the best non-flotilla cost in the game), it hits surprisingly hard since it can reliably get close enough to double arc. It is fragile, and it will die quickly, but if you need a blocker / spare activation / extra ship it can be quite useful. With Rieekan, it becomes supremely annoying because it can become a one turn guaranteed jam of another ship.

So, to answer your question, I would run one naked without upgrades by taking that A piece of cardboard on the base and flipping it over to the B side, and playing it as a ship either destined to live (because I need something to escape) or destined to die (because it's my best option to deny a key enemy piece) and try to maximize its annoyance level.

I would run one naked without upgrades by taking that A piece of cardboard on the base and flipping it over to the B side

My TRC90s have no upgrades

Thanks for the fun replies everyone !

@Dras : You are now banned from wearing perms. You can't look glorious like this anymore :

@Reinholt : Very good analysis ! On its own I definitely agree that the Corvette is too measly to do any serious damage. That was actually the trick of the question ! However, I'm currently experimenting with a new way to build fleets, which is building around the base of the ship and using the upgrades to further performance naturally, rather than building around a ship/upgrade combo. I've had excellent results with the Empire as of yet, and I'm going to go back to the Rebelz for funz, but was curious to see how you guys envisionned the playstyle of a basic CR90A without upgrades

Thats' okay. My hair's already longer than that, anyway... I'd hate to consider the work that would go into actually making it that way...

man. You rock a perm too!? Holy Diver, man!

Use it to skirt the edges of the battle, go for objective tokens, and take potshots at whatever gets in range.

when facing it its a target of oppertunity, probably not a main concern. but if it happens to get close...

My TRC90s have no upgrades

What a coincidence! Neither do my SW790-Bs!

Use it to skirt the edges of the battle, go for objective tokens, and take potshots at whatever gets in range.

When facing it its a target of opportunity, probably not a main concern. but if it happens to get close...

Man I read this and thought: "Put a GoPro on a Corvette!"