Vader's Death Squadron

By WigTii, in Star Wars: Armada Fleet Builds

Trying a new build. Objectives have not been determined yet. Thanks for the feedback.

Death Squadron (400/400)

Darth Vader (36)

Imperial I Star Destroyer (110), Devastator (10), Adm Montferrat (5), Ordnance Experts (4), Boosted Comms (4), Phylon Q7 Tractor (6), NK-7 Ion Cannons (10), XX-9 Turbolasers (5)

Total 154

Imperial II Star Destroyer (120), Avenger (5), Capt Needa (2), Sensor Team (5), H9 Turbolasers (8), Leading Shots (4), Advanced Projectors (6), Phylon Q7 Tractor (6)

Total 156

Howlrunner (16), Black Squadron (9), Ciena Ree (17), Saber Squadron (12)

Total 54

You have redundancy on both ISDs, Devastator cannot trigger two crit effects together, and you have sensor team AND H9's on Avenger... I think there are more efficient uses of your points/slots

running just two activations is a bit scary as people will have the option to force all engagements on their terms and not yours, add the fact a lot of missions will be a nightmare....

3 hours ago, MandalorianMoose said:

You have redundancy on both ISDs, Devastator cannot trigger two crit effects together, and you have sensor team AND H9's on Avenger... I think there are more efficient uses of your points/slots

There is plenty of redundancy in this build and I'll admit that some of it was intentional. How would you change it?

2 hours ago, Plagueis said:

running just two activations is a bit scary as people will have the option to force all engagements on their terms and not yours, add the fact a lot of missions will be a nightmare....

Two activations can be limiting, agreed. However, building something like this as part of the Corellian Conflict still leaves a possible 100 points to play with...certainly enough to add a third ship and/or more squadrons.

6 minutes ago, Admiral WigT said:

There is plenty of redundancy in this build and I'll admit that some of it was intentional. How would you change it?

Drop devastator and NK7s as they are expensive. Drop boosted coms as your fighters won't last that long. Sensor teams and h9s can go too. If you don't get accuracies just reroll 3 blue dice and any red blanks with leading shots. And again with Vader.

ECM and gunnery team on the ISD-II. With Needa you can go for TRCs ,or XI7/xx9s if you prefer.

this saves you around 25-30 points so you can boost the fighters and with more squadrons you can invest in the ISD-I as a carrier with Flight Controllers etc. Or take a Gozanti as a third ship with maybe a comms net or look at what Supressor can do in combination with avenger.

A good cheap fighter build is 4 tie int and Zertek for 59 points. Even if you never use his reroll a double brace escort for 15 points should keep the interceptors flying and killing for an extra turn.

15 hours ago, Mad Cat said:

Drop devastator and NK7s as they are expensive. Drop boosted coms as your fighters won't last that long. Sensor teams and h9s can go too. If you don't get accuracies just reroll 3 blue dice and any red blanks with leading shots. And again with Vader.

ECM and gunnery team on the ISD-II. With Needa you can go for TRCs ,or XI7/xx9s if you prefer.

this saves you around 25-30 points so you can boost the fighters and with more squadrons you can invest in the ISD-I as a carrier with Flight Controllers etc. Or take a Gozanti as a third ship with maybe a comms net or look at what Supressor can do in combination with avenger.

A good cheap fighter build is 4 tie int and Zertek for 59 points. Even if you never use his reroll a double brace escort for 15 points should keep the interceptors flying and killing for an extra turn.

You have offered much for me to consider, but three of your recommendations that won't work for me and the way I intend to use this fleet:

1. Devastator has to stay for two reasons. First, it's a ship integral to the thematic Death Squadron, and second, it must serve as Vader's command ship especially in the absence of the Executor.

2. Boosted Comms stays as it's necessary for the way I use my squadrons.

3. Zertrik Strom is currently paired with "Whisper" in another fleet build. I like how the two work together.

I considered equipping the Avenger with XX-9 turbolasers, but decided to go with the H9 for two reasons. First, Devestator was already equipped with them, and second, I liked the redundancy of the H9's with the Sensor Team in regard to accuracy icons and their effects. Paired with the Avenger title, I see the three cards as giving me significant flexibility to affect how effectively my opponent can defend his ship. As you suggest, TRC might be a potential replacement option given Needa. I will give it some thought.

18 hours ago, Admiral WigT said:

Two activations can be limiting, agreed. However, building something like this as part of the Corellian Conflict still leaves a possible 100 points to play with...certainly enough to add a third ship and/or more squadrons.

Except CC only lets you open with one upgrade per ship.

7 minutes ago, Grey Mage said:

Except CC only lets you open with one upgrade per ship.

Yes, in which case I would start with the title cards. I won't use a ship without a title.

Avenger upgrades (excluding title) for this build total 31 points, while upgrades for Devastator (excluding title) total 34, well within the potential points you can earn via resources for a single player. That leaves 65 points remaining for either ship and/or squadron additions for a 400 point starting fleet. Personally, I would add 2 Tie Fighter Squadrons (16), 1 Tie Defender Squadron (16), Tempest Squadron (13), and Dengar (20), though I might consider some other combination.

So, this fleet for CC would start with Vader (36), the titled ships (245), and the nine squadrons (119) for a total of 400 points. With all upgrades it's 465. And, even if I didn't get the required points to build the fleet as it was presented above, there is still enough flexibility and redundancy in the build that I could drop some of the upgrades and still end up with a ship that meets my expectations. The Avenger could lose Advanced Projectors and the Tractor Beams while Devastator could drop the Tractor Beams and Admiral Montferrat. The remaining cards can be prioritized in terms of their effectiveness so that both ships would have the capability of delivering a significant offensive punch as they slowly upgrade.