Say by the way, is Sloane's ability limited to only squads in her fleet in the AOA of CC?

3 minutes ago, NobodyInParticular said:

Yep, but doubtless somebody can make it work. . . my point is that the empire has at its disposal some really cheap fighters that suddenly are multi-purpose. Even 10 could strip the tokens of at least one ship a turn with any luck at all, and that is powerful.

Sure, but thats not in one activation. You need to command 10 squadrons, you need to get past enemy squadrons, and key, you need to be able to follow up.

Its not exactly straight forward if there is any opposing squadrons.

3 minutes ago, TheCallum said:

Sure, but thats not in one activation. You need to command 10 squadrons, you need to get past enemy squadrons, and key, you need to be able to follow up.

Its not exactly straight forward if there is any opposing squadrons.

Nope, which is why it's not OP. As with everything, there are counters and timing issues. But least the threat is there, and possible.

A few thoughts

1. Squadron activations in an affordable package, on a medium base is a nice gift to Konstantine.
2. Automatically countering the new defense-denying hotness is a nice gift to Tagge.
3. Even though Boarding Engineers involves a squadron command, it happens when you reveal your command, not when you use the command. So you can't do any fancy tricks to put damage cards on the target during your activation and then flip them with BE (sorry, Flight Commander plus ramming).
4. Quasar with Boarding Troopers has the potential to disrupt the "hammer and anvil" wisdom of running two threats in your fleet. Paired with a Quasar, you need one big finisher, since it can so reliably knock out something that's been ruined by the Q. The rest of your fleet is for squadrons and supporting fire.
5. I hope the Quasar includes two Offensive Retrofit slots. As a purpose-built carrier ship, I think it deserves the chance to run a boarding upgrade plus EHB or Boosted Comms. Or both Boosted Comms and EHB.
6. I want a third version of Vader as an Officer who specializes in boarding.
7. If Sloane did what she does, but could only exhaust defense tokens, not spend them, I would definitely still use her. If she did what she does, but didn't let squadrons reroll crits, I would definitely still use her. If she did what she does, but she cost 10 points more, I would definitely still use her. I really expect her to get a tweak by the time she's released, like Sato did.

14 hours ago, Drasnighta said:

At a Price Point of 24 points, and the ability to make Ships discard defense tokens?

Swarm Sloane has my Vote.

Otherwise she should be more than Tarkin.

Defense Tokens are the Economy with which one buys Victory .......... And she takes them away from the enemy in handfuls.

The princess and shields to maximum makes me think defense tokens are less important

2 minutes ago, Wonderbread said:

The princess and shields to maximum makes me think defense tokens are less important

I would agree with you if Repairing Hull was the same "price" in Engineering Points as Repairing Shields....

But with the abilityt o lose the Brace without even a chance of using it.... Ouch.

Dang, these look good.... Ever since I saw the picture of the Quasar Fire in the Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels , I wanted one.... and now I can have one. Can't wait to get a better look at these cards!

15 hours ago, NobodyInParticular said:

And finally, Avenger found a playmate that doesn't require such detailed timing.

And what did rebels get in return? I foresee a lot of imperial vs imperial superfun tournaments.

1 minute ago, xerpo said:

And what did rebels get in return? I foresee a lot of imperial vs imperial superfun tournaments.

Yeah, even our HERO abandoned us. . . oh well, at least we excel at long range attacks and decent squadron covers. . .

"Long range" attacks super-overpowered.

What makes me really sad is that this topic has 17 pages so far, and 15 of them are all about possible combos with new imp commander and speculations about the quasar. Im wondering why we even have a Rebel faction at this point.

Just now, xerpo said:

And what did rebels get in return? I foresee a lot of imperial vs imperial superfun tournaments.

Rebels have a very strong toolkit already. Rieekan aces is still good. Yavaris is still good. Jan's SeX-Wings are still good (probably more so because their tokens don't get stripped and they dont trigger kallus), E-Wing snipe alpha may be indirectly buffed as a result of stronger Hull three TIE's. The AFMK-2 can also run these new boarding options, and we have no idea what the Cham Syndulla thing does.

We don't yet know what the hammerhead non unique task force titles do.

Ramming Fleets (oh how it galls me to write this) may have just recieved a buff (hack gag wheeze) and nobody does that better then the rebels. (Stroke)

Dodonna synergizes well a lot of this stuff.

Hammerheads look like they finally (its been a long wait from one wave to the next) give the rebels a place for flechettes.

So there you go. I also think, given what we've seen thus far, that the wave favors the imps, but not by much and not undeservedly so. Currently the imps were a bit lacking in listbuilding options compared to their rebel counterparts and the quasar + sloane + some of these upgrades look to open things up some. IMO, obviously.

4 minutes ago, xerpo said:

What makes me really sad is that this topic has 17 pages so far, and 15 of them are all about possible combos with new imp commander and speculations about the quasar. Im wondering why we even have a Rebel faction at this point.

Well you have to admit, the Imps have been waiting for a decent and cheaper carrier for a while, and they finally got it. The Rebs, being so diverse, already have good carriers, brawlers, snipers, tankers, etc. As such, the Imps were the ones who missed the most, and so gained the most. All the rebellion needed was solid rammers for Rieekan, and that tile gave us that. Still, no combos. . . we only even have two ships (including the new one) to take the boarders. . . maybe our officers will be better when they are revealed?

Edit: essentially Ninja'd. . . move along. . .

15 hours ago, Hedgehogmech said:

Sorry, they're Rogue...

They also lack dice with an accuracy face.

56 minutes ago, NobodyInParticular said:

Say by the way, is Sloane's ability limited to only squads in her fleet in the AOA of CC?

She says "friendly squadron", so I think so. Don't have my CC rule book in front of me.

4 minutes ago, NobodyInParticular said:

Well you have to admit, the Imps have been waiting for a decent and cheaper carrier for a while, and they finally got it. The Rebs, being so diverse, already have good carriers, brawlers, snipers, tankers, etc. As such, the Imps were the ones who missed the most, and so gained the most. All the rebellion needed was solid rammers for Rieekan, and that tile gave us that. Still, no combos. . . we only even have two ships (including the new one) to take the boarders. . . maybe our officers will be better when they are revealed?

Edit: essentially Ninja'd. . . move along. . .

Please tell me what is IYO wich is the cheap decent carrier for the rebels and compare it with the quasar. Please tell me what is IYO the decent Brawler for the rebels and compare it with Avenger or Demolisher. Please tell me what is IYO the decent sniper for the rebels and compare it with a single Arquitens. Please tell me what is IYO the decent tanker for the rebels and compare it with an Interdictor.

Rebels are too diversified. They have no great carrier, they all are mostly average carriers. They have no superbrawler, they all are average brawlers when you invest in upgrades, if not they are just decoys. They have no snipers, they ALL are snipers because if they happen to come into shortrange they explode. They have no supertank, they all can be equipped with average defense retrofits but our most tanky ship (MC80CC) is worst at tanking than a medium size ship like the Interdictor, in terms of hull and engineering point/fleet points cost.

I really dont want to overextend through this, I think its pretty obvious for those who have been playing rebels since release and im not trying to convince any super fan of the empire guy. Just saying it out loud, Rebels are fading in this game.

Agree with Mad etc - the Rebs have got so much diversity compared to the Empire, its why Ive only played Emps twice despite owning a fleet of them. These new additions will entice me back in.

On the Reb side of life, we've kind of had it our way since wave 3 (18 point flotillas, Lib, E wings) and we're still getting great stuff here. Leia as admiral is potentially huge (esp if her ability stacks with tokens) and formations of cheap ramming Hammerheads will wreck that hull 6 Quasar. As a Rebel player, Im very happy.

5 minutes ago, xerpo said:

Rebels are too diversified. They have no great carrier, they all are mostly average carriers. They have no superbrawler, they all are average brawlers when you invest in upgrades, if not they are just decoys. They have no snipers, they ALL are snipers because if they happen to come into shortrange they explode. They have no supertank, they all can be equipped with average defense retrofits but our most tanky ship (MC80CC) is worst at tanking than a medium size ship like the Interdictor, in terms of hull and engineering point/fleet points cost.

MC80 Christmas tree with Ackbar (or indeed any other admiral ) is a tank and a half. It takes the most savage beatings and puts out the most red dice in the game generally.

There's a flaw in your comparison - Rebs dont have dedicated brawlers because thats the Imperial's turf. Rebs do lightning surgical strikes, which they excel at in this game. The MC30? The Liberty (a potentially speed 4 large base ship)? And wit squadrons, the rebels can out brawl all but a swarm of defenders - and who has the points for that?

3 minutes ago, xerpo said:

[yadda yadda yadda] but our most tanky ship [yadda yadda yadda]

No more questions, your honor.

1 minute ago, xerpo said:

Please tell me what is IYO wich is the cheap decent carrier for the rebels and compare it with the quasar. Please tell me what is IYO the decent Brawler for the rebels and compare it with Avenger or Demolisher. Please tell me what is IYO the decent sniper for the rebels and compare it with a single Arquitens. Please tell me what is IYO the decent tanker for the rebels and compare it with an Interdictor.

Rebels are too diversified. They have no great carrier, they all are mostly average carriers. They have no superbrawler, they all are average brawlers when you invest in upgrades, if not they are just decoys. They have no snipers, they ALL are snipers because if they happen to come into shortrange they explode. They have no supertank, they all can be equipped with average defense retrofits but our most tanky ship (MC80CC) is worst at tanking than a medium size ship like the Interdictor, in terms of hull and engineering point/fleet points cost.

I really dont want to overextend through this, I think its pretty obvious for those who have been playing rebels since release and im not trying to convince any super fan of the empire guy. Just saying it out loud, Rebels are fading in this game.

Well, I've always considered the MC80AC (the one with two defense slots) to be pretty tanky, since while it has less hull and engineering than an Interdictor, it has better shields, and can equip RBD AND ECM, Medical Team or Engineering Team, and Damage Control Officer. Spam engineering tokens, and there you go. Sniper I'd say would be Salvation, and yes, it pops in close range, but what sniper doesn't? Even the Arquittens does. For brawler I'd go with either the AFMIIA, which with Spinals has 4 dice in every arc, and with Ackbar is murderous, MC80s, which while slow can hand out tons of damage, or MC30s. Less hull than a Glad, but more shields. I don't know too much about carriers, as I have yet to make a dedicated carrier fleet, but Yavaris and/or the Pelta seem like viable candidates, and while they may not push as many squads as the Imps, they can let them do things which the Imps can't (double taps, free movement, boosted movement, etc). . . Overall I think both sides are pretty balanced, with the Imps having ships that are generally better than the Reb equivalent at one thing, but worse at almost everything else, and thus when paired may flounder where the Rebels flourish. . .

Basically we don't have as Rebels such specific roles as the imps, but we are better at multi-rolling. Like squads, like ships.

10 minutes ago, xerpo said:

Please tell me what is IYO wich is the cheap decent carrier for the rebels and compare it with the quasar. Please tell me what is IYO the decent Brawler for the rebels and compare it with Avenger or Demolisher. Please tell me what is IYO the decent sniper for the rebels and compare it with a single Arquitens. Please tell me what is IYO the decent tanker for the rebels and compare it with an Interdictor.

Rebels are too diversified. They have no great carrier, they all are mostly average carriers. They have no superbrawler, they all are average brawlers when you invest in upgrades, if not they are just decoys. They have no snipers, they ALL are snipers because if they happen to come into shortrange they explode. They have no supertank, they all can be equipped with average defense retrofits but our most tanky ship (MC80CC) is worst at tanking than a medium size ship like the Interdictor, in terms of hull and engineering point/fleet points cost.

I really dont want to overextend through this, I think its pretty obvious for those who have been playing rebels since release and im not trying to convince any super fan of the empire guy. Just saying it out loud, Rebels are fading in this game.

GR75 vs Gozanti

Pelta vs Quasar

Admonition vs Demolisher

TRC90 vs Arquitens

In summary: Both sides have good stuff.

Remember when Sato was announced?

Remember the outcry of OP OP OP!

Yeah, maybe we should wait until we get the final card and can play with them before we start talkig about how Armada is dead again.

14 hours ago, Warlord Zepnick said:

RIP Vic Star Destroyers

The Quasar frees up a Vic's to be gunboats, without forcing you from having to use the Vic as a Jack of All Trades.

Just now, SoonerTed said:

The Quasar frees up a Vic's to be gunboats, without forcing you from having to use the Vic as a Jack of All Trades.

Long live the JJ EL VIC 1!

14 hours ago, Drasnighta said:

Yeah, and then they strip the Defense Tokens from Ships 25% of the time. Even while TIE Fighters.

TIE fighters roll 3 blue dice. The odds of rolling at least one accuracy are higher than 25%. (I'm not sure of the exact math myself, as I don't remember the formula off-hand, but it's much higher than 25%).

19 minutes ago, xerpo said:

Please tell me what is IYO wich is the cheap decent carrier for the rebels and compare it with the quasar. Please tell me what is IYO the decent Brawler for the rebels and compare it with Avenger or Demolisher. Please tell me what is IYO the decent sniper for the rebels and compare it with a single Arquitens. Please tell me what is IYO the decent tanker for the rebels and compare it with an Interdictor.

Rebels are too diversified. They have no great carrier, they all are mostly average carriers. They have no superbrawler, they all are average brawlers when you invest in upgrades, if not they are just decoys. They have no snipers, they ALL are snipers because if they happen to come into shortrange they explode. They have no supertank, they all can be equipped with average defense retrofits but our most tanky ship (MC80CC) is worst at tanking than a medium size ship like the Interdictor, in terms of hull and engineering point/fleet points cost.

I really dont want to overextend through this, I think its pretty obvious for those who have been playing rebels since release and im not trying to convince any super fan of the empire guy. Just saying it out loud, Rebels are fading in this game.

Brawler: an 88-points Admonition(torpedo frigate, OEs, APTs, admonition, h9s) is more powerful than almost every demolisher build, especialy 1v1, can also take down flotillas, and has more synergy with admirals (dodonna, rieekan, etc)

fighter: Mon Karren with spinal armament, leading shots, gunnery team and xx-9 will outdamage every ship out there. sure, it doesnt have the staying power of a Motti ISD, but it has superior long range damage and can be supported with the amazing TRC90s.

carrier: YAVARIS.

YES, REBELS(the ones i mentioned) ARE ALL ABOUT THE TITLES. who cares? you can use them and kick butts.