Hello All,

I am a new Armada player and only have 2 games under my belt. I am heading to a tournament at my local gaming store this weekend and would love some advice on my list. Having a good time and meeting other Armada players is my primary reason play in the tournament, winning is secondary, but if I can put up a good fight that would't hurt. Here is the list:

ISD-2 with Admiral Motti, ECM, leading shots, Gunnery team and XI7 turbolasers (168 pt)

VSD-2 with leading shots, disposable capacitors, quad battery turrets and gunnery team (104 pt)

Gozanti with comms net (25 pt)

Raider 1 with external racks and ordnance experts (51 pt)

Tie fighters x6 (48 pt)

Obj: Most wanted, Hyperspace assault, intel sweep

I also have a light cruiser and another Gozanti

Thanks for any advice/input

It looks solid. You’ve got a well-balanced list with the classic loadout for everything. If you have Strategic Adviser and can fit it, getting up to 5 activations is nice, but not too serious. Do your best, stay relaxed, stay positive and have fun!

Yes good list.

Raider could swap for a slicer tool Gozanti with suppressor. avenger on the ISD so when the VSD fires the front arc kitchen sink at long range (twice) the enemy have to think about using defence tokens knowing the ISD ignores red ones. If suppressor can turn a brace red on say an MC80 even ECM won't save them. Next upgrade to Howlrunner and possibly some cheap officers like Strat Avdiser, Kallus or SFOs

8 hours ago, daylatedollarshort said:

ISD-2 with Admiral Motti, ECM, leading shots, Gunnery team and XI7 turbolasers (168 pt)

VSD-2 with leading shots, disposable capacitors, quad battery turrets and gunnery team (104 pt)

Gozanti with comms net (25 pt)

Raider 1 with external racks and ordnance experts (51 pt)

Tie fighters x6 (48 pt)

Obj: Most wanted, Hyperspace assault, intel sweep

I also have a light cruiser and another Gozanti

Good list. I'd recommend this:

1. Strategic Adviser aka SAD (from wave7, buy or borrow 1), otherwise go with Skilled First Officer.
2. Recommend SFO on your VSD too.

What's your bid?

I would also consider dropping QBT and leading shots on VSD2 to change a tie to a Lambda or Howlrunner. -> The lambda will also give you a tiny bit of control over the yellow and blue objectives.

The more I think about it. This is a decent list going first, so I'm hoping you have a decent bid.

If you could squeeze another Gozanti and SAD for 6 activations, that would be even better. (Its possible: Drop ISD2 to ISD-Cymoon, drop QBT and LS, drop OE, possibly even drop 2 ties). Just beware you're running low squad count for 4 ties. And you'd probably want Kallus on the VSD if possible at that point.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I added the Strategic Adviser and went with a zero bid. I tabled my opponents in my first two games and lost game 3 on the last shot. Came out with 24 total points and won the Tournament.

Bravo! What were they running?

Nice! Battle report maybe?

So, this is what I remember:

Game 1: My opponent was a newer player like myself. He was running a rebel list with an MC30, a Neb B support and a Corvette. He had a bunch of hero squadrons. The objective was hyperspace assault. I kept my raider as the hyperspace assaulter. I had my ISD on the left, my gozanti between the ISD and the VSD and my VSD on the right. My tie fighters were in groups of three's in front of both the ISD and VSD. My opponent went first and with only three activation's I was able to use my Strategic adviser to help position my ships. His Neb and MC 30 head towards my ISD and his corvette speeds towards my VSD. On turn two his MC 30 moves way too fast and ends it's turn in a double arc of my ISD. With some great dice I destroy it in a single round of shooting. On turn three, my raider jumps in and double arcs his Neb B. It takes a lot of damage and would then drift into range of my ISD and is finished off. On the other side of the field, my VSD double arcs his corvette and I spend my disposable capacitors and destroy his corvette in a single round. With all of his capital ships destroyed, my opponent conceded. I had lost all of my tie fighters. This win was not my tactical genius, but my opponent making poor choices. I won 10-1.

Game 2: My opponent this round was a more experienced player. He had an MC 80 with Ackbar, an MC 30, a GR 75 and a ton of bombers with fighter escort. The mission was the one where the asteroid and debris fields move throughout the game. My set up was similar to the first game, ISD on left, Gozanti center and VSD on right. My raider was on the far right, to hunt down his transport. He had his MC 30 across from ISD, his MC 80 and GR 75 lined up against my VSD. This game I made some big mistakes that my opponent was not able to fully take advantage of. I made the mistake of overclocking the speed of my ISD to 3. I guess I was trying to predict where the MC 80 was going to be and my ISD ended up only getting in one round of shooting before I had to turn had left or shoot off the board. However, my opponent made a major mistake as well. He did not turn his MC 80 in time. I was able to ram his MC 80 head on with my VSD and kept us locked in place for 2 rounds. With some hot dice I was able to melt his MC 80 with the Gozanti and raider throwing shots as well. His bombers all chased after my ISD, but he only had 1 rogue and once his squadrons got outside the MC 80 range, did very little additional damage. By turn 5, the only ship he had left was the MC 30, which came behind my VSD and I was able to destroy with the VSD's side and rear arcs as well as some help from the Raider. I won 10-1.

Game 3: The final match was against an experienced Imperial player. He had a ISD-1 with boarding troops and Avenger. (This was a combo that I did not know and would cause me great pain.) a VSD, a Gonzanti and a Gladiator-1. He had 2 squads of Tie fighters, Howlrunner and another Tie fighter hero. This game was crazy. It was a huge slug fest in the middle of the field. The highlights/lowlights were his 11 damage turn on my ISD where he landed his boarding parties, flipped all of my tokens and then blasted me at short range with a double arc. I was able to destroy his ISD and VSD, so that by turn six all that was left was his Glad, his Gozanti and his 2 Tie fighter heros and my VSD with 2 damage left and my Raider. On his last throw of the dice his Glad was able to shoot after moving and with just 2 red dice hit my VSD from three damage, popping it's rear shield and putting on the 2 damage needed to kill it. I lost a great match 7-4.

With 24 points I was 2 points ahead of second place and won a medal (From the 2015 Armada Winter tournament kit), 20 dollars in store credit, a alternative art card for the Gladiator -2, leading shots and Tie fighter squadron. It was a great experience and I found a group of guys who play every week to join. That was the best reward overall.

Congrats and welcome to Armada - in the main I have to say it's a great experience and the vast majority of players of all levels of ability and experience are very helpful and friendly.

And BT Avenger is a beast - one of my early introductions to the game was vs a Rieekan Yavaris list. Best way to learn is to play; have fun