Hey I was just wondering if people had any thoughts about this ship not being the best ship currently in Armada? The reason I suggest it is, is that it appears probably most commonly in most Imperial Lists and more importantly I think the Demolisher card combined with an already potent number of Black Dice, Engine Techs and Speed 3 enable it to reach out and severely damage other ships with little retaliation if you are going first.

I think ive realised in my years of gaming, if something breaks a core rule of a game then it has the potential to be very strong. The rest of Armada has to play by attacking and then moving, Demolisher ignores half of this and I think that's the main strength.

Thoughts? Im not as familiar with Rebel ships but none jump out as having such a strong ability.

Have you ever heard of the Rebel demolisher Yavaris?

It's very strong, no doubt. I've used it to great effect in the past, but "best ship" is subjective. The best value for money is probably still a TRC equipped CR90,and the best combination of offense and survivability is probably the ISD2, but a Demo is a solid ship that has to be accounted for. Its probably the best spike for its points, and is something of a faux-control ship in that your opponent has to position warily when its within strike range. It does, however, always have a massive target on its head, right from the start of the game.

It's high risk/high reward, but if you value super consistency over spike, it's probably not your first pick for best ship.

It sure is great when combined with Admiral Screed/Ordnance Expert (or both) and a sufficient first player bid.

There are however some other strong choices.

On the Rebel side a Nebulon-B with Yavaris title, Raymus Antilles and a screen of B-Wings is a good Demolisher trap.

It can brace Demolisher's initial attack as you will have tough time getting two accuracies into the roll. And if the commander is Rieekan - Zombie Yavaris don't give a ****.

Then depending on your positioning it could roll it's regular armament of 3 red in front, 1 red 1 blue on the sides AND the B-Wings next to it get to activate (2 with squad command + 1 with token from Antilles). They will likely not have to move and can therefore attack twice. That's 6 black and 6 blue dice with bomber.

This combos further with Bomber Command Center and Torryn Far somewhere close by in a flotilla for rerolls on all those B-Wing dice.

Salvation Nebulon-B with Commander Sato is also a strong contender. Sato let's you roll 2 black dice at long range, and Concentrate fire will add you a third one. Salvation counts all crits as 2 damage and can still resolve a crit effect.

Each one of those hit+crit sides on a black die counts as 3 damage on Salvation.

CR90A with Turbolaser reroute circuits are great for the points.

And don't get me started on Admonition. Does that thing kill stuff when flown properly.



Edit - to expand on what NakedDex said, if you want consistency in an Imperial list, take the new Arquitens class light cruiser with either Needa and Turbo circuits or Dual Turbolaser Turrets that come in it's pack.

I knew it. We've come full circle back to Demolisher being powerful!

I knew it. We've come full circle back to Demolisher being powerful!

Have we now

No the demolisher isn't the best ship it does however have one of the more easy to use ships but still dies quickly

An upgraded MC-30c will beat a Gladiator on most days just because it is significantly more potent over range, since it can take both APTs and TRCs. It is slightly more expensive, but you are paying for an extra speed and better defense tokens.

I think the GSD2 Demo is by far the best all comers ship in the Imp fleet. with its speed, title, upgrades it can be a deadly ship that can also fight above its weight class. With the right fleet list it can be a real pain to play and make its points back quite easy. What really pushes it to where its great in mostly every situation is it having the 2 blue dice AS shots. not only can it bring hurt to ships consistently and reliably. Its ALSO ditto for squads. see a bomber wing, have a good build with some anti squad in there, turns 2-3 are triple tap squads time. Clear out what you need, this ship can still be effective in ship to ship combat turns 4-5-6. In a competitive environment this is priceless and can be used to great affect with the right list and play.

It just makes sense this is a go to staple for imp competitive builds. its great at adapting to any situation.

The GSD2 Demo just makes for lazy play and a lack of real battlefield tactics.

The GSD2 Demo just makes for lazy play and a lack of real battlefield tactics.

This is a poor characterization that adds nothing to the discussion.

The Demo changes the tactical landscape of a battle. It doesn't eliminate tactics at all.

Once it's on the table, both players must figure out how to best use or counter it - and there are plenty of counters available now. This isn't the Armada of 2 waves ago.

The same is true of Riekeen/Yavaris, Madine/Liberty, bomber spam, or any other very strong meta lists.

I knew it. We've come full circle back to Demolisher being powerful!

I mean we've had complaint threads about squadrons, flotillas, large ships, and some guy named Ben. It only makes sense we'd restart at the Demolisher.

Also, Ben is OP.

The GSD2 Demo just makes for lazy play and a lack of real battlefield tactics.

To be fair, a lazy Demo player will lose it instantly. It takes a bit of practice and forethought to use most effectively. As for it lacking real battlefield tactics, well that's true; this is naval tactics. Ships capable of doing exactly what the Demo specialises in have been a staple of naval warfare since there was naval warfare - get in scuttle something, get our and let the big guns pound from range.

Hey I was just wondering if people had any thoughts about this ship not being the best ship currently in Armada? The reason I suggest it is, is that it appears probably most commonly in most Imperial Lists and more importantly I think the Demolisher card combined with an already potent number of Black Dice, Engine Techs and Speed 3 enable it to reach out and severely damage other ships with little retaliation if you are going first.

I think ive realised in my years of gaming, if something breaks a core rule of a game then it has the potential to be very strong. The rest of Armada has to play by attacking and then moving, Demolisher ignores half of this and I think that's the main strength.

Thoughts? Im not as familiar with Rebel ships but none jump out as having such a strong ability.

As a Empire player, I do not think so. I am in the camp that the ISD is our best ship, on the rebel side could not say but there have been several cases made for different ships.

Meh

Ito squadron commands, the gonzati matches it for far cheaper

Def not the best there

i used to think the demo was insane but whether im using it or my opponent it just goes in, hits something hard, then dies. Usually doesnt kill its target either since it was only 1 shot.

I'd have to put my hat in the ring for an MC-80 Assault Cruiser now wave 5 is out.

ECM's, Blast Doors, Damage Control Expert and Xi-7's make for a VERY durable and solid weapons platform. Throw in Defiance and Sato to the mix and it starts getting really nasty.

It can even command 3 squadrons.

It is a t least as good as the ISD-II now.

Have you ever heard of the Rebel demolisher Yavaris?

Yea...not the same.

The Yavaris is far easier to kill (weak side, no redirect, much slower and less maneuverable). Also, in addition to being slower, the Yavaris is yoked at medium range to it's fighter ball, minimizing it's threat range. The Yavaris is a defensive spatial control piece but hardly an offensive piece. So if your opponent doesn't want to or doesn't need to fly his fleet right into your own fleet, your Yavaris will have a hard time being very useful, and your fighters will probably be moving rather than double-tapping. In particular, Rebel Yavaris builds can really struggle against Ackbar/Mothma/Cracken TRR Rebel builds who are more than happy to swing around and fight at Range 3, and to a lesser extent Arquitens-heavy Imperial builds now present a similar problem for Yavaris -based fleets. The Demolisher , on the other hand, can zip in and zip out and is dangerous against any type of list. While it needs luck to actually shoot down flotillas, it's usually fast and maneuverable enough to still position such that it is threatening a real ship, and it can always just ram floittlas to death with Engine Techs or use Intel Officer to kill their scatter on the first attack.

i used to think the demo was insane but whether im using it or my opponent it just goes in, hits something hard, then dies. Usually doesnt kill its target either since it was only 1 shot.

It doesn't sound like you're using it right. Worst case scenario, the Demo should have 3 Attacks against its target, ideally all before your opponent can react (last in, first out). When needed, you can also use Engine Techs to ram the target ship 1-4 times pending how much extra damage you need to do and how valuable the target is. The Demo also should not die right after moving in, since if it's under that much immediate threat from the opposing list it should simply move away before it can be attacked by the opponent's best concentrated arcs.

Demolisher hasn't been the best ship in a while, but the title remains the best in the game.

No the demolisher isn't the best ship it does however have one of the more easy to use ships but still dies quickly

This. You know he's going to come loaded for bear. Let him come in, give him a target, and then spring the ambush on him.

Because of the shoot then move mechanic. I find the Demolisher to be more of a FOO (First Optimization Object) Ship. Much how people equate the Fat Han to X-wing. For more information see video below.

I have always used Demolisher to zoom in to finish off a ship damaged by one of the big SD's

This just in: Demolisher is good.

I feel that we have this revelation every week.