If you were going to pick certain upgrades that were especially thematic for a given faction, which ones would you pick? Could be on the basis of lore (e.g., these ion cannons are canonically installed on this faction's ships), faction identity (e.g., Imperials use Ruthless Strategists because mwah hah hah bad guys), or play style (e.g., Imperials use Flight Controllers because swarmy TIEs). Could be for the Rebels, the Empire, new Clone Wars factions, or even upgrades you think would be perfect for a faction that doesn't exist yet.

Curious what you think makes the most sense for each faction. I was inspired by the way that FFG makes certain Talent upgrades be faction-specific in X-Wing for the purposes of "faction identity," like Ruthless, Selfless, Fanatical, Treacherous, etc.

Pick a Vader and you will be right.

Agree with @ovinomanc3r that Vader is appropriately thematic with almost all of his Armada variations (I don't think he should be an Escort squadron).

I think that there should have been an upgrade card for octuple barbette turbolasers by now.

I'm hopeful that once the new Ace rules have been in the wild for a bit, we will get a Squadrons card pack, repricing or ability editing existing squadrons. Vader deserves to be amazing as a squadron.

As for the more generic upgrades, that I think the OP was referring to, engine techs and most of the support team slots seem distinctly Rebel in my mind. Boarding Teams definitely Imperial! It is hard for me to imagine Rebels actually wanting to try to board a Star Destroyer. Even if the entire crew of an MC80 charged over, they are going to be outnumbered 10/1!

6 minutes ago, cynanbloodbane said:

I'm hopeful that once the new Ace rules have been in the wild for a bit, we will get a Squadrons card pack, repricing or ability editing existing squadrons. Vader deserves to be amazing as a squadron.

As for the more generic upgrades, that I think the OP was referring to, engine techs and most of the support team slots seem distinctly Rebel in my mind. Boarding Teams definitely Imperial! It is hard for me to imagine Rebels actually wanting to try to board a Star Destroyer. Even if the entire crew of an MC80 charged over, they are going to be outnumbered 10/1!

You could always get a new Darth Vader squadron, something like "Darth Vader - TIE Advanced Prototype"; stats and pts cost to taste.

10 hours ago, cynanbloodbane said:

I'm hopeful that once the new Ace rules have been in the wild for a bit, we will get a Squadrons card pack, repricing or ability editing existing squadrons. Vader deserves to be amazing as a squadron.

As for the more generic upgrades, that I think the OP was referring to, engine techs and most of the support team slots seem distinctly Rebel in my mind. Boarding Teams definitely Imperial! It is hard for me to imagine Rebels actually wanting to try to board a Star Destroyer. Even if the entire crew of an MC80 charged over, they are going to be outnumbered 10/1!

That was indeed my intention. (I'm working on an ambitious campaign project and it got me thinking about this.)

Yeah, on my Rebel list I think the most iconic upgrades are things like: Engine Techs, H9 Turbolasers, Boosted Comms, Sensor Team, External Racks, Rapid Launch Bays, Chart Officer, Assault Proton Torpedoes, Turbolaser Reroute Circuits, Support Officer, Repair Crews.

On my Imperial list I thought some of the upgrades deserved to be: Ruthless Strategists, Boarding Troopers, Reserve Hangar Deck, Flight Controllers, XX-9 Turbolasers, Reinforced Blast Doors, Assault Concussion Missiles, Heavy Ion Emplacements, Heavy Turbolaser Turrets, Intel Officer, Phylon Q-7 Tractor Beams.

Plus, cards that are explicitly designated as faction-specific. Those of course have lots of iconic upgrades, but I'm intentionally ignoring those and focusing on dividing up the neutral cards to reinforce faction identity (in my project). None of these lists is final or comprehensive or even something I'm that confident about. I'm just trying to see if something can take shape here, but also it seemed like an interesting enough conversation that I wanted to see what people thought about the idea in general.

I even have a Scum or "Mercenaries" list I'm working on: Proximity Mines, Jamming Field, Quad Laser Turrets, Weapons Liaison, Fire Control Team, High Capacity Ion Turbines, Flechette Torpedoes, Entrapment Formation!, Heavy Fire Zone.

ET is wed to Demo, and now that Harrow is out, frequently seen with Vics now, and Interdictors. Hard for me to call it an iconic Reb upgrade, especially with Mc30s being unable to use it.

16 hours ago, Piratical Moustache said:

I think that there should have been an upgrade card for octuple barbette turbolasers by now.

I’ve always been under the impression that was QTCs.

@Formynder4 @cynanbloodbane

Engine Techs is definitely an important card for Demolisher and Harrow builds, no argument there. In the context of cards that are strategically important because of rules interactions, it belongs in lots of Imperial lists. I'd only put it on the Rebel list when talking about where it fits in-universe or within a campaign, where non-tournament upgrade combinations might occur.

Vader squad definitely needs a big rework. He should be the best combat squadron in the game & costed appropriately. And none of this escort malarkey.

Maarek is arguably the best imperial combat squad overall. Vader should be at least a serious contender for that title & I just can’t say he is under the present version.

8 hours ago, The Jabbawookie said:

I’ve always been under the impression that was QTCs.

Needs 4 more barrels per turret to be octuple barbette turbolasers, after some wookieepedia searching I think that card image is the big port/starboard guns on a VSD1.

To be honest, I though the 8 turrets on the sides of the ISD tower were represented by the Heavy Turbolaser Turrets upgrade. Given that the artwork seems to show them in that location.

Unless the octuple barbette turbolasers are something different

3 hours ago, ISD Avenger said:

Vader squad definitely needs a big rework. He should be the best combat squadron in the game & costed appropriately. And none of this escort malarkey.

Maarek is arguably the best imperial combat squad overall. Vader should be at least a serious contender for that title & I just can’t say he is under the present version.

Granted we don’t know how screen works yet (Belbulab) but if it TIEs in with swarm that might be a good fit to swap escort with on Vader. Now everyone else is taking the hits while Vader goes and crushes folks. and would then be more thematic.

otherwise, I like advanced projectors for the rebels cuz ridiculous Mon Cal shields.

@cadetvw For sure, squadron Vader could use some love (in my current campaign project, he can be improved over time). Screen looks to be like a "you take this hit for me" keyword, or at the least a "hide behind ranks of minions" thing. I'm not so sure that's Vader's gimmick, since especially in recent media he's a lead-the-charge rage monster, though in his many decades of appearances he's probably done it.

How about giving him Adept 2? Would make him a consistently deadly slayer, and besides that it feels like a "this guy uses the Force" tag.

1 hour ago, Nostromoid said:

How about giving him Adept 2? Would make him a consistently deadly slayer, and besides that it feels like a "this guy uses the Force" tag.

Because that'd end up just giving Whiffwalker Adept 1, at least..

On 8/11/2020 at 12:25 AM, Nostromoid said:

If you were going to pick certain upgrades that were especially thematic for a given faction, which ones would you pick? Could be on the basis of lore (e.g., these ion cannons are canonically installed on this faction's ships), faction identity (e.g., Imperials use Ruthless Strategists because mwah hah hah bad guys), or play style (e.g., Imperials use Flight Controllers because swarmy TIEs). Could be for the Rebels, the Empire, new Clone Wars factions, or even upgrades you think would be perfect for a faction that doesn't exist yet.

Curious what you think makes the most sense for each faction. I was inspired by the way that FFG makes certain Talent upgrades be faction-specific in X-Wing for the purposes of "faction identity," like Ruthless, Selfless, Fanatical, Treacherous, etc.

Projection Experts always felt like a Rebel card to me because the upgraded ship is sacrificing it's safety a bit to help out someone in trouble.

@codytx2 Yes, agreed that "sacrifice health to help friend" is the go-to Rebel synergy that FFG leans into. X-Wing's "Selfless" upgrade is the epitome of their faction identity upgrades in that game, countered by the Empire's "Ruthless" (aka Ruthless Strategists).

2 hours ago, Drasnighta said:

Because that'd end up just giving Whiffwalker Adept 1, at least..

Interested, interested, tell me more, like what specific FFG employee to email to get this going....

15 hours ago, Nostromoid said:

@cadetvw For sure, squadron Vader could use some love (in my current campaign project, he can be improved over time). Screen looks to be like a "you take this hit for me" keyword, or at the least a "hide behind ranks of minions" thing. I'm not so sure that's Vader's gimmick, since especially in recent media he's a lead-the-charge rage monster, though in his many decades of appearances he's probably done it.

How about giving him Adept 2? Would make him a consistently deadly slayer, and besides that it feels like a "this guy uses the Force" tag.

Going by the Rebels cartoon it would suggest he could at least use a scatter token as he barely seems to get hit at all. And frankly Bomber keyword as well as he mauls the Reb command ship singlehanded, while chewing through a squadron of Awings.

3 hours ago, ISD Avenger said:

Going by the Rebels cartoon it would suggest he could at least use a scatter token as he barely seems to get hit at all. And frankly Bomber keyword as well as he mauls the Reb command ship singlehanded, while chewing through a squadron of Awings.

The a wings just rolled 2 crits on their counter, and Toryn wasnt around. As for the Pelta, Vader rolled really solidly on the damage, just hit crit over and over again, and I BET Jendon was nearby. Prove he wasnt?

18 hours ago, ISD Avenger said:

Going by the Rebels cartoon it would suggest he could at least use a scatter token as he barely seems to get hit at all. And frankly Bomber keyword as well as he mauls the Reb command ship singlehanded, while chewing through a squadron of Awings.

If he lost Escort, and gained a Scatter token, that would be really powerful, but I would expect nothing less from the "best star pilot in the galaxy." But let's remember that his ability gives him the crit damage of Bomber, if not the ability to inflict face-up damage cards.

Are there any Scatter Aces with escort? That combo seems like it could be broken. Tel kinda has escort if he has readied tokens and Soontir Fel has an escort-like ability, I guess. But a 5 hull scatter/brace escort would be REALLY tough to get past.

Yeah, I think FFG has avoided Scatter/Escort together intentionally. Scatter has been paired with some pseudo-Escort abilities that you mentioned, but it seems like Scatter is reserved exclusively for low-hull squadrons. Speed over toughness, it's the closest thing Armada has to being able to say that these are fast and nimble squadrons that are tough to hit but die fast when you do. I doubt they'd ever give a printed Scatter token to a 5-hull squadron.

But, we're seeing in the Clone Wars that they're doing something similar with the Dodge keyword. It's a much more limited, much more consistent Scatter-like ability, as the name suggests.

That's for anything competitive or for Organized Play. For a more narrative scenario, I think the rigid balance concerns can get tossed a bit.

On 8/16/2020 at 7:17 PM, Nostromoid said:

Yeah, I think FFG has avoided Scatter/Escort together intentionally. Scatter has been paired with some pseudo-Escort abilities that you mentioned, but it seems like Scatter is reserved exclusively for low-hull squadrons. Speed over toughness, it's the closest thing Armada has to being able to say that these are fast and nimble squadrons that are tough to hit but die fast when you do. I doubt they'd ever give a printed Scatter token to a 5-hull squadron.

But, we're seeing in the Clone Wars that they're doing something similar with the Dodge keyword. It's a much more limited, much more consistent Scatter-like ability, as the name suggests.

That's for anything competitive or for Organized Play. For a more narrative scenario, I think the rigid balance concerns can get tossed a bit.

IG-88

D'oh you're right. IG-88 is definitely a fast and nimble squadron, but is also very tough for a squad with Scatter.