(Lengthy) Impressions from the Dutch 2016 Armada Nationals.
Some details are a bit hazy – primarily the specifics of my opponents’ lists – due to having been fairly sleep-deprived on the day. I’ll try to edit in the lists as my opponents chime in or if the TO makes them public at some point.
Preparation and Fleet.
Next to none. Playing all three Star Wars miniature games – Imperial Assault being my primary – I don’t get to play Armada that often; and I realise that I had only played it once in the previous six months. It also meant that I had no experience playing with or against stuff from the four latest expansions, had yet to buy them, and only knew what I had read in the preview articles. In short, my expectations for the Nationals were non-existent: I was, however, very much looking forward to an entertaining and geeky day out – my first outing of any sort since becoming a dad six weeks prior to the tournament. In hindsight, the total lack of expectations of doing well might in fact have been the best recipe for doing exactly that.
I got in touch with the store hosting the event to be sure that they had the new ships and to reserve a couple of them for pickup on the morning of the event and then – late into the night before the tournament – I went about trying to make a meaningful list. I was obviously drawn to all the spectacular things that the Interdictor and the Gozanti could do (no, Rebels were never an option for me), but quickly came to the conclusion that, despite their lure, I had better stick to something I was at least a little bit familiar with, considering my recent hiatus.
That list was an ISDII + Demolisher + VSDI (Carrier) + 4 anti-squadron squadrons and dropping the VSDI allowed me to free up some points to play around with the new toys. Well some at least, because I found it surprisingly hard to settle on anything. Is it just me or is it harder to fit in anything from the most recent expansions, in that with all the previous waves we also simultaneously got more points to spend (**** you Fantasy Flight and your vile temptations!)?
Anyway, so I ended up adding a single Gozanti flotilla, to keep me at 3 activations and to play around with the Comms Net as a way to boost me up on tokens. I also added Admiral Titus, as a bit of an afterthought really, mainly because I felt silly just having ordered the Interdictor and not using a single thing from that expansion. Now I did so with Titus; a swooping 2 fleet points no less! An upgrade which seems to achieve little more than force the opportunity cost of a single token on the opponent in that first round (having to use a Navigate order to readjust their speed). I also relocated a Bosted Comms from my now scuttled Victory carrier to my ISD as well as adding an Intel Agent to it. A decision I considered fairly daft, as I frankly find it far too dangerous to bloat too many points into one ship and here I was with a 175 point fat basket of eggs. Finally, I added two squadrons, Rhymer and a TIE Advanced, to my list. It didn’t make for much of a Rhymerball, with him being the only bomber in it, but I do know that a couple of the local players refrain from using squadrons at all (one even admits, in jest, to outright loathe them) and it strangely seemed the right answer to add even more squadrons to my otherwise anti-squadron-focused squadrons to make them better able to pull their weight if I were to face a squadron-less enemy fleet.
That left me with a whooping 11 point initiative bid, more than I’ve ever bother with before, and a strange mishmash of a list made with a single compromise in mind: something I knew while fitting in something from each of the two new Imperial expansion packs.
Sorting and packing all the stuff needed took longer than expected and it got rather late, what with a baby also needing a bottle and diaper change and finding it harder to settle down than usual (the baby that is, not me), so suddenly I was off to my first Armada Nationals after only 2 hrs of sleep.
Points: 389/400
[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Admiral Motti ( 24 points)
- Relentless ( 3 points)
- Intel Officer ( 7 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- X17 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
= 175 total ship cost
Gladiator I-Class Star Destroyer (56 points)
- Demolisher ( 10 points)
- Admiral Montferrat ( 5 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- Engine Techs ( 8 points)
- Assault Concussion Missiles ( 7 points)
= 90 total ship cost
Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
- Admiral Titus ( 2 points)
- Comms Net ( 2 points)
= 27 total ship cost
1 Soontir Fel ( 18 points)
1 Dengar ( 20 points)
1 "Howlrunner" ( 16 points)
1 "Mauler" Mithel ( 15 points)
1 Major Rhymer ( 16 points)
1 TIE Advanced Squadron ( 12 points)
Location
The Nationals were held in the heart of the medieval town of Utrecht in the cellars of a six hundred years old monastery right on the river. Besides being scenic it was also fairly practical for a large event on a very warm day – mind you, it did get far too hot, but not as much as if it hadn’t been in a place like this, build for fairly constant temperature.
It was co-hosted together with the X-Nationals – alas making it impossible to play in both – by the local store
Subcultures
(a cosy store which should be on your itinerary if you, as a gamer, ever happen to visit this neck of the woods). We were around 80 players in total between the two games, with Armada being decked out on a single long table in the middle of the room and with the X-Wingers along the crypt-like walls in a large circle around the Armada. Visually it gave the amazing effect of the admirals fighting in one long protracted line of battle down the centre, while the lesser officers and aces fought less significant engagements along the fringes of the galaxy. Exactly as it should be.
Friendly teasing aside, this tournament would likely not have happened if not for the sixty-something x-wingers making it viable for the store to also host Armada. I’m grateful to Subcultures for hosting something like the Armada Nationals, because with a mere 13 participants it is impossible for the stores to host without taking a financial loss; the unfortunate consequence of small countries with small player-bases and tournament kits made for 64+ players. It’s why we’re seeing no Imperial Assault Nationals in the Netherlands this year and few Regionals for either of the two games.
Anyways, 13 players, 3 rounds of Swiss, and a nice programme that wasn’t too condensed as they needed to keep going well into to evening with the X-Wing Nationals as it were, allowing for amble breaks in the sun (without downtime becoming too much, either).