19 minutes ago, Blail Blerg said:The problem is also you’re not gonna get the same arcs on target. Also to me that low level firepower doesn’t make it feel stronger than a ISD. I was expecting something like 10 dice front and 6 or so on the sides. It’s close.
Well we know one has 9 front and at least 6 side
6 side x2. So even if you dont double arc from the middle of the sides, you have a great 12 shots you can throw out. More if your using that third shot.
Even the VSD1 technically has 6 dice out the front. But the VSD1 is so slow that it hardly ever gets a kill shot. (Yes, I know ways to get it done).
The VSD2 is so expensive that its questionable. But 3 red 3 blue is definitely a lot more imposing.
8 hours ago, Blail Blerg said:The problem is also you’re not gonna get the same arcs on target. Also to me that low level firepower doesn’t make it feel stronger than a ISD. I was expecting something like 10 dice front and 6 or so on the sides. It’s close.
If you can upgrade it to fire twice or thrice out of the same arc, that might start feeling a bit more potent.
Ill have tons of fun with my ssd-isd list with JJ, starting with two passes in tue foreplay turns 
I will be snagging two for sure.
Lots of hate and salt in this thread.
It's not about "kill it or lose", it's about, "I get to command/try to kill an SSD!" I question your definition of "fun", if that doesn't sound like a good time.
I await the next reveal article with a heart full of joy!
45 minutes ago, cynanbloodbane said:I will be snagging two for sure.
Lots of hate and salt in this thread.
It's not about "kill it or lose", it's about, "I get to command/try to kill an SSD!" I question your definition of "fun", if that doesn't sound like a good time.
I await the next reveal article with a heart full of joy!
When might that next article be out? I want to see one of the epic play variants, and hopefully Piett is better than what's rumored to be his ability.
1 hour ago, cynanbloodbane said:I will be snagging two for sure.
Lots of hate and salt in this thread.
It's not about "kill it or lose", it's about, "I get to command/try to kill an SSD!" I question your definition of "fun", if that doesn't sound like a good time.
I await the next reveal article with a heart full of joy!
I think it depends. At my first SC, which was recently, in the first round one match-up was so close the score varied by 15 points... it was like 40-55. Only squadrons died, while the ships didnt really tickle each other. They both thought it was a bit of a boring match but, eh. Whatever. You'll always see boring matchs, its impossible not to see some now and then. I think peoples concern is the same when mass flotillias was a thing. It becomes an outactivating game where, "okay, ive done my thing... i guess I'll... go to the bathroom or something?"
I think it's going to switch up the meta quite a bit. Right now, almost everyone either makes a bid to be first player, or is fine being second player and builds to 400 points. However, I have a feeling that going up against the SSD, you're going to want to win via objectives and staying out of the SSD's range. The thing isn't maneuverable (I'm in the court of JJ will be errata'd to not work on huge ships, otherwise there's no reason to play without him with the SSD), and you'll end up with either a bomber fleet or a single other ship... As an opponent, I will gladly give you first player and make you place your SSD first or second (and to that point, I bet a common build will be a Gozanti plus lots of TIEs, and the SSD so you can delay the placement of the SSD until the end), and then just win on objective points from my objective deck.
And that alone will have a big impact into how the game is played. Because now you're going to see objective based lists going up against objective based lists. And that'll be cool. Then you'll have your standard brawlers and the rest of everything we pretty much now have. I think it'll serve to diversify Armada even more than it is.
It'd also be pretty cool if the SSD came with its own range ruler. I recognize that the black/blue/red dice represent range already, but in the same way that the X Wing huge ships can shoot up to Range 5, it'd be cool if the SSD had a longer range (still maintained black/blue/red bands, just each band reached farther).
21 hours ago, Blail Blerg said:The problem is also you’re not gonna get the same arcs on target. Also to me that low level firepower doesn’t make it feel stronger than a ISD. I was expecting something like 10 dice front and 6 or so on the sides. It’s close.
I guess it also makes a certain amount of sense if the armament is limited in range. Guns near the superstructure would have an awfully tough time even reaching targets amidships, so having the armament broken down into more zones while being able to use more zones seems like a reasonable representation.
You know, I think it woulda been nice to have some overlapping arcs, like how real rotating naval guns were. We get a simulation of this via the arc breakdown in Armada.
But yeah. Having something camp at long range in one single side arc is going to be really frustrating for both players: not killing the SSD very fast, nor can the SSD kill it very fast.
We have to wait for more details before a complete review can be made, but I have mixed feelings right now. In my opinion the Command Prototype hasn't got enough dice, the front arc is identical to the Imperial II, and the side arcs are basically an Assault Frigate Mk2. Now if upgrades like Expanded Armament apply to the auxiliary side arcs as well that would help a lot, but right now it seems more like a damage sponge than a damage dealer.
23 hours ago, JJ48 said:If you can upgrade it to fire twice or thrice out of the same arc, that might start feeling a bit more potent.
Like perhaps Gunnery Teams or Advanced Gunnery?
5 minutes ago, GiledPallaeon said:Like perhaps Gunnery Teams or Advanced Gunnery?
No ONE is taking Gunnery Teams on this ship. That'd BE crazy and roundly mocked by all (guys shut up they might believe me!)
6 minutes ago, geek19 said:No ONE is taking Gunnery Teams on this ship. That'd BE crazy and roundly mocked by all (guys shut up they might believe me!)
If you don’t take GT your red should probably be AG. As far as getting someone to pick that against you...
30 minutes ago, GiledPallaeon said:If you don’t take GT your red should probably be AG. As far as getting someone to pick that against you...
You quote Han Solo?? At ME? IN MY HOUSE?
I mean, I'm very skeptical.
The fewer pieces on the board, the less tactically interesting the game becomes. So when one side is basically plopping a shoebox down onto the table as their entire fleet, the game is going to be won or lost by whether or not that shoebox is killed. At least with lists that have multiple contributing ships, the opponent can take one of several routes by victory by deciding which ship(s) will be their target of priority. One of the nice things about Armada is that you can win a game by ignoring an opponent's ISD or MC80 if you focus on taking down other elements on their fleet. With the SSD, I feel like it'll be either "kill the SSD" or lose as the choice for the opponent.
If objective play is a reasonable counter to the SSD, then games will be super boring if the SSD is unable to meaningfully score enough objective tokens. That said, the SSD player can probably always pick the Red Objective and avoid playing the token game.
2 hours ago, AllWingsStandyingBy said:That said, the SSD player can probably always pick the Red Objective and avoid playing the token game.
Ah, how quickly we forget about the ol’ Opening Salvo + round 6 CR90 ram.
21 hours ago, cynanbloodbane said:I will be snagging two for sure.
Lots of hate and salt in this thread.
It's not about "kill it or lose", it's about, "I get to command/try to kill an SSD!" I question your definition of "fun", if that doesn't sound like a good time.
I await the next reveal article with a heart full of joy!
From a thematic perspective, you're right. That works wonders if you're playing some kind of campaign game or non-standard game. It's amazing. I'd even be the kind of person to setup a game day and purchase the SSD almost solely to make things more epic. But it's a one-off.
But in a standard game, beyond the first time or two I'll run into one, my definition of "fun" (That is legally recognized by the UN as "technically correct", I will have you know) reverts to more gameplay-bound, unthematic and earthly concerns. I feel the epicness of the SSD will be lessened when it's the 7th time you've run it/run into it and lost 4 times with MoVs in the hundreds. It's not that it can't be fun, but it limits the tactical decisions you have to make in a game and to me, those correlate with "fun". Once the novelty wears off, I'm not sure the SSD is a great Armada ship. I'll be happy to be proven wrong, though!
2 hours ago, The Jabbawookie said:Ah, how quickly we forget about the ol’ Opening Salvo + round 6 CR90 ram.
Aaaah, yes. I am more of an adept of the round 3 flotilla self-ram myself. Not quite as effective, but entertaining for my opponent nonetheless.
Anyone ever play Steve Jackson's Ogre? Fewer pieces doesn't necessarily mean tactically shallow (although admittedly that was what turned me off from warfare in a certain grim darkness of the far future when it was still in its 3rd edition)
If nothing else, I'm looking forward to the fact that having an SSD might be an easier way to play solo/cooperative games. Sink the Bismark Executor! could be a great way to introduce players to the game without noobstomping them for not understanding activation order.
Pure speculation, but what if Huge ships:
- could have multiple Commanders?
- didn't have the restriction of 1 Modification?
- didn't suffer overlap damage, and did 2 damage to ships it overlaps?
Would certainty make them feel more HUUGE!!
What if Huge ships could activate three times in a row, could set their dice to whichever face they chose without rerolling, could trigger effects mutliple times and didnt suffer ram damage?
27 minutes ago, Ginkapo said:What if Huge ships could activate three times in a row, could set their dice to whichever face they chose without rerolling, could trigger effects mutliple times and didnt suffer ram damage?
What if huge ships we're one of us? Just a slob like one of us?
10 minutes ago, geek19 said:What if huge ships we're one of us? Just a slob like one of us?
Wouldn’t it be nice if it was longer?
Then we wouldn’t complain about scale.
And wouldn’t it be nice if it lived forever?
Thats the kind of game where we belong.
9 minutes ago, TheCallum said:And wouldn’t it be nice if it lived forever?
It would not, no. It already has too much health.
9 minutes ago, TheCallum said:Thats the kind of game where we belong.
Frown. I need more A-wings to solve this problem...