Armada seems to be vulnerable to huge swings in power-builds and combos. For a while it was Demolisher, an auto-include for any Imp fleet, later Ackbar had a period of apparent domination. NOW, it seems to me that Reinforced Blast Doors is going to bring back the triple ISD + motti build. Just to reiterate, an ISD II with Motti and blast doors has an effective 17 Hull points. This seems insane to me? 3 of those seems unbeatable.

Wait. You do realize that RBD is a defensive upgrade and an ISD doesn't have that. It would need Minister Tua and she is limited to one ship. So your fear of three ISD's having it is wrong.

Also as mentioned here in this thread and also by myself in the preview thread ECM's would be way better than RBD for a large ship like the ISD. So your fear are not justified.

ISD-IIs can take defensive upgrades natively.

Armada seems to be vulnerable to huge swings in power-builds and combos. For a while it was Demolisher, an auto-include for any Imp fleet, later Ackbar had a period of apparent domination. NOW, it seems to me that Reinforced Blast Doors is going to bring back the triple ISD + motti build. Just to reiterate, an ISD II with Motti and blast doors has an effective 17 Hull points. This seems insane to me? 3 of those seems unbeatable.

Wait. You do realize that RBD is a defensive upgrade and an ISD doesn't have that. It would need Minister Tua and she is limited to one ship. So your fear of three ISD's having it is wrong.

Also as mentioned here in this thread and also by myself in the preview thread ECM's would be way better than RBD for a large ship like the ISD. So your fear are not justified.

ISD-IIs can take defensive upgrades natively.

Armada seems to be vulnerable to huge swings in power-builds and combos. For a while it was Demolisher, an auto-include for any Imp fleet, later Ackbar had a period of apparent domination. NOW, it seems to me that Reinforced Blast Doors is going to bring back the triple ISD + motti build. Just to reiterate, an ISD II with Motti and blast doors has an effective 17 Hull points. This seems insane to me? 3 of those seems unbeatable.

As someone who ran triple ISDs before I can assure you it's not the case. Yes, your fleet won't be tabled, but you're guaranteed to lose at least one (and possibly 2) ISD and lose a game as a result.

This card isn't as good as ECMs on ships with brace, and the ones without brace don't live long enough to use it.

For 5 points it's kinda expensive, but it could be helpful if you need a ship without brace to survive longer. Tua + Gozanti comes in my mind.

I like the RBDs on the light cruiser, with those and the 5 point turbo laser you get a versatile small ship without breaking the bank.

I like the RBDs on the light cruiser, with those and the 5 point turbo laser you get a versatile small ship without breaking the bank.

/startsuperfluouspost

I think this is right. Large and medium ships that can take defensive retrofits have braces and redirects, so Advanced Projectors and ECMs are certainly competitive choices (if not better choices). Fielding three ISDs with Motti and RBDs sounds great on paper, but it's only just possible points-wise in tournament play (360 points of ISD-IIs, 15 points of RBDs, and 24 points for Motti = 399). I suppose if I deployed them maximum possible distance away from each other, set them off at jolly speed 3, and spammed engineering, I could probably avoid getting tabled, but it's hard to see anything better than a draw on the horizon (and certainly not 9-1 or 8-2 victories).

Personally, I think the RBDs are more attractive for small ships with defensive retrofits (CR-90, MC-30, Artiquens), where a three-damage clear can mean a new lease on life, but the margin between "three damage to clear" and "dead ship" is extremely narrow (for the CR-90 and MC-30, it's just 1 damage card). Plus, only one of those ships can combo with Motti (the Artiquens), and while a 6-hull Artiquens with a three-damage clear sure sounds annoying, I don't think it's gamebreaking. Heck, I'm not even sure it's better than a 6-hull Artiquens with Advanced Projectors... but maybe that's just me.

/endsuperfluouspost

I like the RBDs on the light cruiser, with those and the 5 point turbo laser you get a versatile small ship without breaking the bank.

/startsuperfluouspost

I think this is right. Large and medium ships that can take defensive retrofits have braces and redirects, so Advanced Projectors and ECMs are certainly competitive choices (if not better choices). Fielding three ISDs with Motti and RBDs sounds great on paper, but it's only just possible points-wise in tournament play (360 points of ISD-IIs, 15 points of RBDs, and 24 points for Motti = 399). I suppose if I deployed them maximum possible distance away from each other, set them off at jolly speed 3, and spammed engineering, I could probably avoid getting tabled, but it's hard to see anything better than a draw on the horizon (and certainly not 9-1 or 8-2 victories).

Personally, I think the RBDs are more attractive for small ships with defensive retrofits (CR-90, MC-30, Artiquens), where a three-damage clear can mean a new lease on life, but the margin between "three damage to clear" and "dead ship" is extremely narrow (for the CR-90 and MC-30, it's just 1 damage card). Plus, only one of those ships can combo with Motti (the Artiquens), and while a 6-hull Artiquens with a three-damage clear sure sounds annoying, I don't think it's gamebreaking. Heck, I'm not even sure it's better than a 6-hull Artiquens with Advanced Projectors... but maybe that's just me.

/endsuperfluouspost

I like how it gives you defensive options. You may want to save an exhausted defence token and let the damage go through if you know you won't be attacked again that round.

Another option is to forego using a redirect to preserve your shield strength, particularly if you're under fire from one direction and have a repair command coming up to shift those shields.

Armada seems to be vulnerable to huge swings in power-builds and combos. For a while it was Demolisher, an auto-include for any Imp fleet, later Ackbar had a period of apparent domination. NOW, it seems to me that Reinforced Blast Doors is going to bring back the triple ISD + motti build. Just to reiterate, an ISD II with Motti and blast doors has an effective 17 Hull points. This seems insane to me? 3 of those seems unbeatable.

What game are you playing?! Armada is great because those "huge power swings" don't exist. Ackbar was only dominant when he was brand new. Then we all collectively figured him out and he was relegated to the sidelines during much of wave 2's regionals. Rieekan was the dominant Rebel commander. I will give you Demolisher is powerful, but it's also manageable thanks to flotillas. Triple ISDs will still suck against a squadron heavy build and high activation builds. Sure, it's a lot chew through, but tempo and deployment control will handle it.

Agreed.

Don't forgot you have to wait until your activation to use doors.

Edit: and you could be dead by then

For clarity, not true. You have to wait until the start of the ship phase (so before any ship activates is when you would discard).

https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/2c/4d/2c4de555-925d-4fde-8af6-02873437149b/swm01_rules_reference_guide_lowres.pdf

The rules reference will show it means it goes off basically when any ship starts activating. With that said, your point stands in that if you don't survive to the start of the next ship phase (a ship is killed in one turn between the ship phase and squadron phase), you never have a chance to use them.

OK so what if the enemy have Han Solo? Does Han get to kill you before you can discard RBD and ditch some damage cards. They both occur at the start of the ship phase?

Agreed.

Don't forgot you have to wait until your activation to use doors.

Edit: and you could be dead by then

For clarity, not true. You have to wait until the start of the ship phase (so before any ship activates is when you would discard).

https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/2c/4d/2c4de555-925d-4fde-8af6-02873437149b/swm01_rules_reference_guide_lowres.pdf

The rules reference will show it means it goes off basically when any ship starts activating. With that said, your point stands in that if you don't survive to the start of the next ship phase (a ship is killed in one turn between the ship phase and squadron phase), you never have a chance to use them.

OK so what if the enemy have Han Solo? Does Han get to kill you before you can discard RBD and ditch some damage cards. They both occur at the start of the ship phase?

Rules say:

"First Player does his stuff First."