My final game of the day (of the four I played) of our mini-tournament was against David Faulkner from Cochise Squadron. This was only David's fourth game against an opponent who was not learning the game for the first time, with the other three games being earlier in the day; he is primarily a Legion player, so I really appreciated him joining us to get into the "competitive" Armada scene in our area.
Name: Robert Calkins
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Admiral Sloane
Assault: Surprise Attack
Defense: Asteroid Tactics
Navigation: Superior Positions
Interdictor Suppression Refit (90)
• Admiral Sloane (24)
• Wulff Yularen (7)
• Engine Techs (8)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
• Grav Shift Reroute (2)
• Targeting Scrambler (5)
• SW-7 Ion Batteries (5)
• Interdictor (3)
= 147 Points
Quasar Fire I (54)
• Captain Brunson (5)
• Flight Controllers (6)
• Boosted Comms (4)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
• Stronghold (5)
= 77 Points
Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Hondo Ohnaka (2)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
= 28 Points
Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
= 26 Points
Squadrons:
• Ciena Ree (17)
• Howlrunner (16)
• Saber Squadron (12)
• 7 x TIE Interceptor Squadron (77)
= 122 Points
Total Points: 400
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Name: David Faulkner
Faction: Rebel
Commander: Admiral Ackbar
Assault: Targeting Beacons
Defense: Planetary Ion Cannon
Navigation: Solar Corona
MC75 Armored Cruiser (104)
• Admiral Ackbar (38)
• Major Derlin (7)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Reinforced Blast Doors (5)
• External Racks (3)
• Leading Shots (4)
• XI7 Turbolasers (6)
• Aspiration (3)
= 177 Points
MC30c Scout Frigate (69)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Reinforced Blast Doors (5)
• External Racks (3)
• XI7 Turbolasers (6)
• Foresight (8)
= 98 Points
CR90 Corvette A (44)
• Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
• Jaina's Light (2)
= 53 Points
Squadrons:
• Han Solo (26)
• YT-2400 (16)
• 2 x X-wing Squadron (26)
= 68 Points
Total Points: 396
Based on his list, it looked as though his plan was to use Ackbar broadsides by the MC75, MC30, and CR90, while getting the former in close to destroy his opponent.
He had initiative and chose to be second player. I chose Solar Corona as the objective.
Deployment: Most of the obstacles were placed in the center of the play area, which worked out great for my Grav Shift Reroute. I deployed my ships right of center, with my Interdictor protecting my Quasar on the left, with a Gozanti to the left of that as a buffer. He deployed the MC75 closest to my fleet on the outside side, followed by the MC30, and then the CR90.
Round 1: Both of us moved our fleets forward on line. My squadrons were positioned to strike in Round 2, baiting Han Solo to activate first next round.
Round 2: After my opponent opted to not activate Han Solo at the top of the round, my squadrons pounced on him and my opponent's other squadrons, destroying him and an X-Wing. My Interdictor and Gozanti both ended up in the side arc of the MC75 after movement (after the MC75 rammed the MC30, landing on an Asteroid Field as well).
Round 3: I activated my Interdictor first to try to get it out of medium range of the MC75; considering that my opponent rolled two double hits, maybe I should have stayed in close range to use my Targeting Scrambler. With my Brace locked down and the MC75 having XI7s, my Interdictor ended up taking four damage cards; thankfully, my Gozanti was able to scatter his attack at close range. My Quasar then activated its squadrons, which immediately destroyed my opponent's remaining squadrons. His CR90 and MC30 bypassed my units, with the latter getting dangerously close to the edge of the playing area.
Round 4: I opted to activate my Quasar first to get it out of the side arc of the MC75, which unfortunately kept the Interdictor in arc. The Interdictor took two more damage cards before scooting away. While his MC30 was able to stay on the board, it was effectively out of the fight for the rest of the game. His CR90 then landed directly in the middle of my un-activated squadrons, which immediately stripped its Redirect token and damaged it.
Round 5: My Interdictor activated, pushed some squadrons at the CR90 to damaged it, then moved safely out of range. After attacking the Quasar, the CR90 was destroyed by some squadrons and the Quasar. While his ships closed, mine were able to safely stay at range. With my ships and squadrons disengaging, we called the game after the round with the final score being 121-0 (7-4, 121 MoV).
Thoughts: I thought David did a pretty good job for only his fourth competitive game, so kudos to him. But given my ships' lack of punching power, he probably should have gone straight into my fleet with his MC75 and MC30; I would have been extremely disorganized if I had lost my Interdictor or my Quasar against his fleet. Having said that, I probably need to talk to David a little about some particular rules in Armada. He comes from a miniature wargaming background (Legion and 40k), where measurement and placement seem a little less specific; in Armada, the exact movement or placement of a ship/squadron are extremely important. For instance, he was not initially locking in his ships to the maneuver tool and a few times picked up his ships without marking them to adjust his shield dials. This was just him not understanding the intricacies of the game rules (I was there too once), so no big deal, but I will talk to him about it before next weekend. It was great to have a newer player join us though.
Hope you enjoyed the BATREP!