Unfilled Rebel/Imperial Niches

By Piratical Moustache, in Star Wars: Armada

Roles that i can see missing (assign your favourite EU gunk as needed):

Rebs

- black dice flak boat

- quasar style medium carrier

- trashy medium combat ship

- betterer medium combat ship with ions

- grav well ship

- chimera style expansion for the home one to give it fleet command option, maybe even a 'battle of endor' variant where it gets upgraded for bear.

Imps

- super trashy light combat ship

- modernised medium warship

- 'bulk cruiser' trashy medium ship

Not sure what else. Maybe a pelta equivalent if thats your idea of fun.

By 'trashy' i mean cheap, good hull and firepower (red and black) but crappy defence tokens and upgrade slots. Speed 2 max. Your local bulk cruisers.

5 minutes ago, Ophion said:

Roles that i can see missing (assign your favourite EU gunk as needed):

Rebs

- black dice flak boat

- Pelta

- trashy medium combat ship

- betterer medium combat ship with ions

- grav well ship

- chimera style expansion for the home one to give it fleet command option, maybe even a 'battle of endor' variant where it gets upgraded for bear.

Imps

- super trashy light combat ship

- Interdictor

- VSD

Not sure what else. Maybe a pelta equivalent if thats your idea of fun.

By 'trashy' i mean cheap, good hull and firepower (red and black) but crappy defence tokens and upgrade slots. Speed 2 max. Your local bulk cruisers.

Hardly

1 hour ago, Ophion said:

Hardly

I mean, it would be good to clarify how these roles aren’t met. The Pelta is not exactly the Quasar, this is true. It does fulfill the same general role (light carrier,) with some tradeoffs including a lower squadron value. The reason for that, as I understand it, is because Rebels have very different squads and shouldn’t have access to a cheap platform that can throw 5 B-wings with Flight Controllers. Or worse, an Aces lineup. That’s just game balance.

The VSD-1 has good red and black dice, is cheap, caps at speed two, has good hull and wishes it has a contain. The only criterion you gave that doesn’t apply is bad upgrade slots (and some would argue no support team is a problem.) The fact that it’s rare to see one doesn’t mean you didn’t describe it.

The Interdictor... define “modernised.” I assumed it meant designed in a way that enabled it to perform competitively in a modern meta, but it seems I’ve misunderstood.

As I was brainstorming niches left, I had the same thought about a rebel carrier but couldn’t rationalize what would make it different enough from the Pelta or the AF mk2 to warrant a completely new ship that doesn’t eliminate the previous ones.

I will say the rebels could use a medium brawler type ship, maybe a Mk1 AF. Make it an ion platform, mostly blue dice version of an AF, but a worthless carrier maybe?

Otherwise, maybe a dedicated flak boat/flotilla of some kind but I haven’t sold myself on if that’s truly needed. That is why most Star Wars ships carry fighters, right?

For a while I thought, a front arc red dice ship similar to a scout hammerhead for the Empire was an infilled niche. A stay-glued-to-the-side of an ISD to poke that ship you just mauled kind of ship. But a Raider can do something very similar depending if you have D-Caps.

Just my 2 cents though as I want the factions to remain their own distinct entities.

ISD is love, ISD is life. We have everything.

52 minutes ago, Rimsen said:

ISD is love, ISD is life. We have everything.

latest?cb=20120514161601

Except for a bigger ISD...

Isn't part of what makes a faction's identity both what they have and what they don't have?

If we keep expecting future releases to fill niches that are currently unoccupied (e.g. a cheap HH-like corvette for the Imps, as has been suggested) aren't we ultimately going to dilute some of the interesting identity of the current factions?

This was (and still is, arguably) an issue in X-Wing. When the game started, the Imps had the identity of cheap crappy swarm fighters and squishy aces, while the Rebs were tankier and slower. By the end of the game, not only did the Imps have a bunch of high-HP very tough stuff (like Phantoms and X7 Defenders) but they also had a big fat turret (Decimator). Rebels, meanwhile, had super maneuverable ships of their own with things like the Corran E-Wing or SLAM-ing K-Wing. You also then had scum, that had cheap squishy swarm ships (Zs, Scyks) and tough jousters (Khiraxzs) and turrets (Y-Wings and Jumpmasters) and zippy aces (Fang Fighters). Arguably, the lines between the factions progressively blurred and blurred.

So, while it seems like we'd prefer new releases to fill available open niches on each faction's roster, it's also the case that doing this alters (if not dilutes) the identity of those factions. Armada would increasingly just become Triangles vs Ovals.

24 minutes ago, AllWingsStandyingBy said:

So, while it seems like we'd prefer new releases to fill available open niches on each faction's roster, it's also the case that doing this alters (if not dilutes) the identity of those factions. Armada would increasingly just become Triangles vs Ovals.

I think that available niches can be filled without diluting faction identity. For example the Empire could get a cheap corvette like a CR90, but slower and little more durable, and the Rebels could receive a faster squishier Experimental Retrofit ship. The Commanders and faction specific upgrades will continue to be an important difference between the Imperials and Rebels, and the points limit will still prevent fleets from having an answer to every situation.

A TRC90 is 51pts.

A DTT Arq is 59pts.

The DTT Arq is slower and a bit more durable than a TRC90.

14 minutes ago, Ginkapo said:

A TRC90 is 51pts.

A DTT Arq is 59pts.

The DTT Arq is slower and a bit more durable than a TRC90.

Shame the maneuverability is worse, not as reactive as the TRC90, doesn't get that guaranteed double, and honestly isn't that much more durable than a TRC90 at long range. Though I think an Arq is slightly better at defending against squads.

(side note, lacks a support team slot. Minor nitpick honestly in the grand scheme of things.)

Edited by TallGiraffe
2 minutes ago, TallGiraffe said:

Shame the maneuverability is worse, not as reactive as the TRC90, doesn't get that guaranteed double, and honestly isn't that much more durable than a TRC90 at long range. Though I think an Arq is slightly better at defending against squads.

(side note, lacks a support team slot. Minor nitpick honestly in the grand scheme of things.)

But is it a cheap corvette with different faction specific style? Yes. Niche filled.

I dont care whether people like it or find it as useful as a cr90. It exists. Deal with it.

1 minute ago, Ginkapo said:

But is it a cheap corvette with different faction specific style? Yes. Niche filled.

I dont care whether people like it or find it as useful as a cr90. It exists. Deal with it.

Honestly I compare it to a Nebulon more than a CR90 in roles.

1 hour ago, TallGiraffe said:

Honestly I compare it to a Nebulon more than a CR90 in roles.

@chr335 said the same thing earlier, and I am in the camp as well now, the Arquitens is more of a Nebulon-B counterpart.

I just want more ships to fit my fun style of play. Stories, DM'ed campaigns, just having many different ships would be nice, whether they already exist and their roles are already filled or not

2 hours ago, Piratical Moustache said:

I think that available niches can be filled without diluting faction identity. For example the Empire could get a cheap corvette like a CR90, but slower and little more durable.

1 hour ago, Ginkapo said:

A TRC90 is 51pts.

A DTT Arq is 59pts.

The DTT Arq is slower and a bit more durable than a TRC90.

1 minute ago, Piratical Moustache said:

@chr335 said the same thing earlier, and I am in the camp as well now, the Arquitens is more of a Nebulon-B counterpart.

Then you need to articulate what you want better

18 minutes ago, Ginkapo said:

Then you need to articulate what you want better

I want every thread to stop devolving into people whining about how they hated The Last Jedi. I enjoyed it and don't care about the hatred, so I would like them to stop so I can stop rolling my eyes so much when I read this forum.

18 minutes ago, Ginkapo said:

Then you need to articulate what you want better

Apologies, what I would like is a small long range corvette where the front arc is the main arc like the CR90, preferably with double evades for easy TRC use, rather than having to use Needa for only one Arquitens.

The thing I like about CR90s is that they are largely indifferent towards what Commander is being used, whereas ARQs really want a list geared towards them to be effective in my experience.

6 minutes ago, geek19 said:

I want every thread to stop devolving into people whining about how they hated The Last Jedi. I enjoyed it and don't care about the hatred, so I would like them to stop so I can stop rolling my eyes so much when I read this forum.

But what else am I supposed to complain about?!?!?!?! I NEED ANSWERS!!!!

8 minutes ago, geek19 said:

I want every thread to stop devolving into people whining about how they hated The Last Jedi. I enjoyed it and don't care about the hatred, so I would like them to stop so I can stop rolling my eyes so much when I read this forum.

The Last Jedi wasn't mentioned in this thread until now...

36 minutes ago, Piratical Moustache said:

The Last Jedi wasn't mentioned in this thread until now...

Because it's not worth mentioning, because it sucked so bad, amirite? ?

One or both sides needs a large base black dice broadside ship.

I would like a cheap 40-45 point ship that can naturally throw 2 red dice out an arc with a Turbolaser slot for the empire. Preferably at least speed 3.

Edited by TallGiraffe
16 minutes ago, Nomemories said:

One or both sides needs a large base black dice broadside ship.

The MC75 Ord gets pretty close.

26 minutes ago, TallGiraffe said:

I would like a cheap 40-45 point ship that can naturally throw 2 red dice out an arc with a Turbolaser slot for the empire. Preferably at least speed 3.

Although I would prefer a new ship for this role, the CR90 is canonically used by the Empire in the Tarkin novel. Need to buy and read it, heard it was a good book.

latest?cb=20120410181002

Not Canon anymore but Ansel Hsiao makes great designs like the Vigil-class corvette which really fits the Imperial aesthetic.