Ladies and gentleman, Armada players of all ages! Welcome to your next tournament in the Star Wars Armada Vassal year, the Star Wars Armada Fleet Exercises!
I know it still seems like it’s far away, but the first round of Store Championships will soon be upon us after the end of this summer, and shortly after that Regionals will begin in full force. Players looking to do well at these events not only need practice, but top tier fleets that not only meet but rise above the meta that exists around them. If you think you have what it takes to be a truly innovative list-builder and find the next golden list that sweeps the meta by force, or if you just want some fun games with a nice twist, this is the tournament for you!
Leader Roles:
Organizer: @GiledPallaeon
Marshal: @GiledPallaeon
Judges: Feel free to send me a PM if you’re available to judge games for the Fleet Exercises, or just use really any player watching your game!
Format:
Structure: Custom - Three divisions, divided by time zone, each playing four rounds of Swiss play. After Swiss is complete, the winners of each division and the player with the highest tournament score that did not win their division will face off in a round robin to determine an overall winner.
Tier: Relaxed - Per FFG’s Fundamental Event Document: "Tournaments at this tier are welcoming to all players, regardless of experience level. The focus is on creating a fun and friendly environment." Anyone and everyone is welcome to sign up for the Fleet Exercises, including players new to Vassal!
Rules:
Rules being used for construction of lists and questions throughout the game will be based on the most recent FAQ and Tournament Rules. UNRELEASED MATERIALS, INCLUDING THE SUPER STAR DESTROYER, ANY CARDS REVEALED THEREIN, AND ANY REVEALED CONTENTS OF REBELLION IN THE RIM ARE NOT ALLOWED. In the event that either the Super Star Destroyer or Rebellion in the Rim are released shortly before or during the early phases of the tournament, this may be relaxed at the Organizer’s discretion. (That’s me, don’t bug me or I won’t.)
400 points total maximum for your list, with a maximum of 1/3 (134 points) of the list being squadrons. Each player must have one of each type of objective (Offensive / Defensive / Navigation). Link to post your list will be below shortly. Lists (minus objectives) will then be posted by the Organizer for public viewing by the start of Swiss play. There is no cap on the number of players in any division. If there is enough demand (e.g. if the Australians suddenly appear with twenty players) more divisions may be added. Additional rules for list building are below.
For division play, each division will be treated as an ongoing, independent Swiss tournament. Players will be matched per standard guidelines, and be given 12 days to complete their match. Each round will be posted on the appropriate Monday, with games expected to be completed no later than the next Friday. In the event that the game must be played over the second weekend, one player MUST PM me as soon as practical, and they MUST copy their opponent on the message. Either player has the opportunity to concede to their opponent if they are unable to schedule and believe they are more to blame for the scheduling conflict, which will result in a 8 point win (140 MOV) for the other player, and a 1 point loss for the conceding player. Players are encouraged to post their scheduled games to the thread once they agree to a game time. A no-show by either player for a scheduled game will result in a 1 point loss for that player, and an 8 point victory for their opponent, with 140 point MOV.
PLEASE POST ALL BATTLE REPORTS IN THE FOLLOWING THREAD, AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS AT THE TOP OF THE POST
What is Legal for Play?
Anything that has been fully released on the retail market by July 1, 2019, provided it also adheres to the Restricted List. If the Super or RitR are cutting it close (color me skeptical, whatever color that is), I may reconsider this stance at that time. For now, they they are banned. Any list submitted including those contents will be deleted without question.
Alright, now for the gimmick of Fleet Exercises. We’ve all heard various people in our local metas complain about how “no one is creative anymore/everyone thinks the game is solved/no one thinks outside the box for fleet-building.” (If you don’t know who that guy is in your area, are you sure it isn’t you? 
) This is your opportunity to shut that player up, and flex your list-building muscles to start experimenting long enough before Regionals you might actually get something out of it.
Below this paragraph are the twenty-two (22) cards of the Restricted List. Between these 22 cards, they represented over half of all upgrade cards used during the 2018-2019 Regionals season (>4000 out of ~8000). Several of these cards significantly overperformed during that season, and most were taken in excess of three times the average usage for its slot. Each list may include four cards from this list, of which none may be duplicates. (Example: you cannot have two Comms Nets upgrades.) FURTHER, a list may only have EITHER Thrawn/Rieekan OR one (1) of the activation officers available to that faction (Pryce for the Imperials, Bail for Rebels, Strategic Advisor for both). LISTS DO NOT NEED TO INCLUDE ANY OF THOSE FIVE CARDS TO BE LEGAL FOR PLAY. HOWEVER, THEY MAY ONLY INCLUDE EITHER THE ADMIRAL OR AN ACTIVATION OFFICER IF THEY CHOOSE TO.
Gunnery Team
Engine Techs
Electronic Countermeasures
Leading Shots
XI7 Turbolasers
Demolisher
Yavaris
Lando Calrissian
Ordnance Experts
Boosted Comms
Assault Proton Torpedoes
Turbolaser Reroute Circuits
Avenger
Admonition
General Rieekan
Comms Net
External Racks
Captain Brunson
Strategic Adviser
Governor Pryce
Bail Organa
Grand Admiral Thrawn
Similarly to the upgrade cards for your ships, there are two more rules that all fleets in Fleet Exercises must adhere to. First, players may only include aces with defense tokens whose combined value is less than or equal to the value of generic squadrons also present in that fleet. So, for example, to include Tycho Celchu and Shara Bey, a Rebel player must include at least 33 points of generics (e.g. 3 generic A-wings or X-wings).
There is also a Restricted Objectives List. Of these four objectives, players may include ONLY ONE (1) of these objectives in their fleet.
Most Wanted
Contested Outpost
Solar Corona
Superior Positions
Lists will be due to me Friday, June 28th, 2019, 11:59 PM EST, in order to allow time for review. I will try to have a rolling review and respond to people who submit as I can. I make no promises about whether or not this will be a sustained effort, I have a lot of life changes happening between now and when the tournament is scheduled to begin. Submissions are now available.
IF YOU SUBMIT AN ILLEGAL LIST, AND I CATCH IT BETWEEN 6/28 AND 7/1, YOU HAVE UNTIL SUNDAY 6/30/19 AT 11:59 PM EST TO SUBMIT A NEW LIST THAT IS LEGAL OR YOU WILL BE DROPPED. NO EXCEPTIONS.
SUBMISSIONS CLOSED
Additional Thoughts:
There hasn't been any issues with games needing a Judge to rule on things before, don't let this tournament be the one it starts. Figure out any issues that arise in the game among yourselves - ask any folks watching along for help as makeshift judges if needed. I'll be watching the games that I can. Remember Rule #1 of Star Wars Miniatures Gaming - "Fly Casual".
If you do have a rule question about how a particular card interacts, PM me as I am the official Marshal for the event! PMs to @Drasnighta @i2xCross, and @Karneck are also an entirely reasonable way to seek a solution. Obviously I can't pop into every game for a game-by-game judgement.
If there's something that you see that needs addressed, please bring it to my attention. I can't fix issues that I don't know about.
Special thanks to @BiggsIRL whose World Cup 2019 post makes up a large fraction of the text in this post, and @CaribbeanNinja for pioneering the tournament format being used in Fleet Exercises this year in last year’s Autumn Tournament.
Good luck, Admirals!
Edited by GiledPallaeon
