@BiggsIRL began his "Objectively the Best" series in April to highlight some of the lesser taken objectives and the best article as per votes would receive a prize.
This will not be one of those articles, for a number of reasons:
- If you had not noticed, it is actually May now
- Despite @Card Knight nominating me to write the article (thank you!), I unfortunately worked about 300 hours in April so I did not have an opportunity to set out my thoughts
- Superior Positions is one of the most ubiquitous objectives in Armada, and has been for quite some time. I myself routinely include it in my lists, and despite messing around with some of the new CC objectives, will likely continue to do so.
Most anyone who has played Armada for a decent period of time will recognize why Superior Positions is a good objective to have, and has likely arrived at that conclusion through a combination of trial by fire and the error of their ways.
A secondary purpose of this article is to hopefully distract somewhat from the vitriol that has infected these forums the last few days since worlds.
So, away we go.
But first, some history:
War. War never changes. (Wait, wrong fandom)
Until it does.
Warfare changed on May 4-8, 1942.
If you want to get technical, I suppose warfare began changing before that time and it was through a long gradual change that brought about a sudden "boom! in your face!" that unquestionably brought about the signs of changed times.
For those of you who do not know the significance of this date (Spoiler alert: It was the Battle of the Coral Sea. But first, some more history), allow me to paint you a picture:
The warship was the unquestioned king of the sea up until this date. Big, hulking, ugly mother******s. Big guns, lots of guns, lots of armor. Emperors at the beginning of the 20th century had arms races just to see how many they could build and maintain. In the aftermath of the first world war, lots of them were still around, and constituted the backbone of a nations naval forces. Think of a star destroyer, but more pointy and less triangular.
(Triangles are not very hydrodynamic:)
And then World War II began. (I know we have some international users on this board - forgive me the following United States-centric version of military history, but I believe it is illustrative of the points I want to make.)
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl Harbor and specifically targeted the 8 battleships on Battleship row, as it was understood at the time that these 8 battleships would convey US military power throughout the Pacific, making it harder for Japan to exert its own power. They arguably succeeded: all 8 battleships were sunk and/or disabled. Only 6 would re-enter service, months later.
At any rate, one of the reasons this wasn't GG for the United States at this point was that the 3 Aircraft Carriers in service in the US Pacific fleet were not present at Pearl Harbor. (For an Aircraft Carrier, think a large base ship with the command and squadron values of an ISD with the battery armament of a flotilla and no turbolaser slot. Probs can go around speed 2 without engine techs. Who the hell would take one in Armada, amirite? Git gud US).
Fast forward to May 4-8, 1942.
The Japanese have been conducting straight territory grab military operations for months, and the United States has been blunting the advance as much as they can.
The Battle of the Coral Sea was the first naval engagement in history in which neither side's surface ships actually sighted, engaged, or fired upon one another. (Reread that. It's a big deal. And a key point.)
The entire battle was conducted through aircraft; essentially, the aircraft themselves were the weapons by which the battle was fought, an extension of power akin to long range artillery.
The Battle of the Coral Sea was a tactical victory for Japan, but in hindsight a strategic victory for the Allied forces, because the following month, a more important battle occurred.
On June 4-7, 1942 the Battle of Midway Airport occurred. (Actually no, but fun fact, the Hellscape known as Midway Airport in my home of Chicago is named for this famous battle.)
Midway is a small island/atoll in the pacific, roughly mid-way between North America and Asia. (I know. Whoever named it? C'mon man.)
The United States and Japanese Navies again tangled, for arguably the decisive battle of the Pacific Theatre.
On the US side, 3 carriers and supporting ships. On the Japanese side, 4 carriers and some supporting ships. Probably 134 points of squadrons each.
Most importantly, for our purposes, the United States was forewarned about the Japanese plan, and was able to learn the date and time of Japanese moves and could set up an ambush. (More on that in a minute - it all ties in at some point)
Midway was arguably the turning point of the Pacific War and represented a brutal defeat for the Japanese Navy; they lost all 4 of their aircraft carriers that participated in the battle, with the US Navy losing only one. More importantly, the United States could replace its losses more easily than Japan could, and this allowed them to shift towards offensive operations throughout the end of 1942 and up to the end of the war in '45.
Why do I bring up this history? Well, the addition and supremacy of carrier-based aircraft to naval warfare largely gave us the Star Wars universe, and then many years later, Star Wars Armada.
Additionally, the example of the Battle of the Coral Sea and Midway represent what I feel to be a macrocosm of the current state of Armada.
Until that point, the entirety of the world's meta regarding naval battles would be what we refer to as 'big-ship' meta, i.e. what you might comfortably call 'the GenCon special'.
Then a bunch of A-Wings launched a surprise assault on the GenCon special and sank it in 2015, leaving the 2016 Battle of the Coral Sea and now the 2017 Battle of Midway fresh in our minds about the supremacy of squadron play in our fleet combat.
I think I may have milked this analogy for all that its worth, but my point is this: metas change. New technologies and tactics (e.g. new ships/squadrons/upgrades) will change the way that battles are fought.
It is in FFG's interest to make this a fun and compelling game. I know a lot of people are uncomfortable with the shape and trajectory of the meta, but this too shall pass. So it goes.
(Even our worldwide meta is not immune. Squadron play has been supreme for so long that nobody even brings anything else to the worldwide tourneys anymore. Japan tried one last time, but got 10-1'ed. RIP Yamato . And now apparently there is a counter-meta of one shot missiles that can sink a carrier. Imagine that! Regardless of hull zones/shields and everything!)
Are you still with me? Maybe take a break and stretch for a bit. Have a water. Do not eat those doritos and then try to touch my little plastic ships. Ever. Keep your filthy mitts off.
Okay, back at it.
SUPERIOR POSITIONS
Superior positions is, objectively, one of the strongest Core set objectives, despite some deceptively simple text:
" Setup : The first player must deploy all of his ships and squadrons before the second player.
Special Rule
: After a ship or squadron performs an attack against the rear hull zone of another ship,
if the defender suffered at least 1 damage, the attacker's owner gains 1 victory token."
Victory tokens are worth 15 points each. That's 2 points more than an X-wing squadron. 1 point more than a B-wing squadron. 15 points is no laughing matter. Unless it's the punchline to a very obscure joke.
There are two (2) parts of this objective, one affecting setup, and the other affecting gameplay.
In law school they always taught me that three is the correct number of points to make on a topic; no more, no less. So three are the number of points that shall be made, and the number of points that shall be made will be three.
Point the 1st) The Setup Benefit of Superior Positions Cannot be Overstated
Like the Japanese Empire at Midway, your opponent is walking into a trap. They just don't know it yet.
Deployment is one of the games within the game of Armada. It's one of the most difficult thing to get right, deployment and counter deployment. Many people measure their lists not only by how many ship activations they have, but also by how many deployments they have. (It's smart to do.) The utility is obvious. If you have more deployments than your opponent, you can force them to place their threats on the table before you have to put yours out, thereby counter deploying them to engage and neutralize or avoid those threats. This is called 'deployment advantage'.
Think of Superior Positions as super deployment advantage, and it's one of the best aspects of this objective.
I'm not going to spend too much more time on this, but hopefully its plain to all the significant tactical advantage granted by your opponent literally laying all of his cards out on the table before you have to place even a single flotilla.
(I will discuss the potential backfire/counterplay here in point the 3rd)
But basically, if Armada is a game that has three elements: Deployments, Quality of Ship Activations, and Quality of Squadron Activations, you have arguably 'won' one of those three elements just be virtue of the objective you are playing. Obviouslt there is a bit more to it than that, but in the hands of a skilled player, do not underestimate the tactical benefit this affords. They will make it hurt.
Point the 2nd) The Gameplay Token Grabbing Mechanic Can Rack Up Obscene Amounts of Points
My personal Armada high point was racking up 17(!) Superior Positions tokens in the third round of the Chicagoland Regionals.
Granted, that involved a Yavaris / 4 B-wings / double intel / double YT1300 list (Credit to JJ - I took inspiration from his 2016 worlds list, though I went with Bees!! in stead of Whys?!)
My opponent had a Raider / Double Glad / Interdoctor build with a fighter screen. I tabled my opponent; I believe I did lose the AF.
If you'd like to read about how the squadron game is currently top form in Armada right now, I invite you to read literally any other thread on the front page right now. For the purposes of this article, we'll just assume that it is so. Waves 3, 4, and 5 have progressively added more and more options to the fighter game, and specifically the rebel fighter game.
Now you have a bunch of fast, sturdy, and hard hitting damage dealers with reliable dice from re-rolls. (Anybody remember Keyan? He was extremely worth in wave 1 and 2, before the dark times, before BCC...)
Add to that Intel and Relay which give you extreme flexibility in setting up and commanding bombing runs. Fighter Control Team and Flight Commander for even more synergy.
Point is this:
Your butt is hanging there with a 15 point target on it each time I touch it. And with double intel and the other accoutrements, unless you have some craziness, I'm gonna touch it. Verily. And with Yavaris, it could be up to 2 - 7 times in one turn. That's 45 - 90 points. That's almost a star destroyer in points, not to mention the damage that is being done through Bees!! rolling with BCC and/or Toryn Farr.
Obviously this is an edge case. Not every game will go according to plan, and not every list will be this tooled to take advantage of Superior Positions. However, it isn't uncommon to be able to shoot rear arcs.
Some ships have larger butts, like the Arquitens. Trust me, you don't want that butt touched. Some people even take Superior Positions without fighters (madness) because they have small maneuverable ships that they want to get behind their opponents.
If they're running Rieekan, and they don't choose to lose the ship instead of keeping it as a zombie (some people don't know you can actually do that), keep hitting it and punish them for taking Rieekan. They have an Interdoctor? Yes, please keep repairing to stay alive. I'll happily farm you some more.
Silliness aside, unless you as first player can somehow climb out of the deployment disadvantage you've dug yourself into and are running a very specific list, you are probably going to be giving some points up to your opponent. Had I known I would be writing an article, I might have trued to determine just how many, maybe I would have done more metrics on the average number scored / game. At any rate, the in-game effect is strong, and it's a great way to rack up points and extend your MoV against lists that are not as silly as yours in regards to squadrons or synergies. (Unless the dreaded disengaged deployment happens...)
Simply put, this objective gives you points for shooting your opponent in the rear. You are likely going to be doing this at some point during the game anyways. Might as well harvest an extra 15 points for doing so. Additionally, with the point and click nature of squadrons, there's a ton of free points sitting out there if your opponent can't stop you.
Point the 3rd) Some Opponents Can be Tricked Into Taking Superior Positions
Famous last words: "I'm probably going to regret choosing Superior Positions.."
Yes, you are indeed my friend.
But some people feel compelled to, which brings us to the third and final benefit of Superior Positions: Some people look at the gameplay effect and believe that this is a neutral effect that they too will be able to take advantage of, or that they will just minimize the deployment disadvantage.
Punish them for such heresy!
But for serious, when you are faced with the following options for your choice of objectives after you've made the (foolish) decision to go first, you are confronted with the following:
Red: Most Wanted (Previously Advanced Gunnery, probably): because who isn't running this gem? You're gonna have a fun time chasing that flotilla down while he gets extra dice against your ISD, I guarantee it.
Yellow: Contested Outpost (or Hyperspace Assault. Or Fighter Ambush): because the only thing possible worse than chasing down a flotilla is wading into a swarm of Bees!! on your own or letting them drop a Yavaris B-wing combo in behind you. No. Thank. You.
Blue: Superior Positions: "Oh okay, so I can deploy defensively, sit out this game, and/or tap their butts just as easily as they can tap mine. ezpz"
No. Not ez. Not pz.
Do you think this is a game?
Well... You should.
Because it is.
The point is that Most Wanted and whatever yellow objective they've chosen are typically nasty. Obviously your opponent has chosen the ones that work best for their fleet, but that doesn't mean you should go for the false parity that is suggested by the face and language of Superior Positions. They didn't choose it for their health. They chose it for yours. Or rather, your soon-to-be lack of health.
Finally that brings us to the often lamented corner deployment. (EDIT: The following has been edited for clarity.)
You're at a league night. You see their fleet. You see what they're packing. You see their objectives. You pick Superior Positions. And then you plant yourself in the corner and say "Iiiiii'm good. Come at me bro."
Don't be that guy. Nobody likes a 6-5. Valid? Yes. Sporting? No. You came to play Armada. Play Armada.
In the above casual setting I would be disappointed if my opponent chose SPs and then corner deployed. Different metas play differently. Here in Chicago we are big fans of brawling.
Obviously, in a competitive setting, the objectives you take come with built in weaknesses for your opponent to counterplay and exploit to the best of their abilities, and that's the nature of competition.
The corner deployment is an example of such a counterplay, and is a very valid response to a SP list, especially a heavy bomber list full of Bees!!.
As a player, if you are bringing SPs and you are planning on going second most of the time either through a bid or the grace of your opponent, don't be surprised when you get a corner deploy. Your next step is to decide whether you want to smash it, or avoid the engagement. (There are middle grounds too, but I'm an all or nothing kind of dude, so those are my options. YMMV.)
I have been on the giving end of a complete rout after smashing a corner deploy, and I have also been on the receiving end of a total defeat after a corner smashing gone wrong. Respect the first activation.
Which brings me to my final point. For the longest time, it made the most sense to go first. First activation is huge, don't get me wrong, but I have noticed (completely anecdotally) that a lot more players are bidding in the extremes for second . Because they want their frenemies to pick from their objectives. One of those will likely be Superior Positions. It always is for me. (Unless I'm specifically playing something else. And I don't like Solar Coronas. OR getting caught in the rain.)
Thus ends the long ramble we call 'content' around here.
As Biggs suggested, Superior Positions is so ubiquitous that most everyone can see how good it is. And as we saw from worlds, it is one of the most selected objectives, right up there with Solar Corona for the Blue slot.
Have fun out there armchair admirals. (Does anyone actually sit in an armchair for Armada? I think that would increase my enjoyment immensely! Especially over several consecutive rounds.)
- Egg
Edited by Eggzavier