Armada Tournament at Game Nite (May 2021)
This won't be your typical sort of tournament report because I'm not writing specifically about how I did (spoiler alert: not particularly well!), but rather talking about the tournament and the fleets we saw as a whole. We had a casual Armada tournament at our Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS), Game Nite, this past Sunday. We had a total of 9 people show up (including myself). I considered sitting out so we had an even number and nobody had to sit out a round, but as it turned out, it worked out better this way because one of our players had to drop due to time constraints, leaving us with 8 going into the third round. I'm basically going to tell you where each player placed, as well as what they were flying. Then I'll talk a little about my matches, but not go into too much detail. I say that because I don't approach local, casual tournaments the same way I approach sanctioned events, like Prime tournaments or Nationals. In looking at the fleet lists other people brought, I know I'm not the only one. People really came to play 3 Armada matches, test out new ideas, and test them in a tournament setting. For the record, I'm choosing not to share anyone's objectives but my own. I think a lot of people prefer not to share objectives simply because if they have a favorite (such as how one of my default choices when I field squadrons is Infested Fields), they'd prefer that not necessarily be public knowledge, and I can respect that.
First place went to Chris N. with 27 tournament points!
Indestructible Starhawk Bomb (127/400/400)
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Starhawk-class Mk.II (150 + 61: 211)
· Kyrsta Agate (20)
· Toryn Farr (7)
· Walex Blissex (5)
· Local Fire Control (4)
· Boosted Comms (4)
· Point Defense Ion Cannons (4)
· Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
· Unity (10)
GR-75 Medium Transports (18 + 14: 32)
· Adar Tallon (10)
· Boosted Comms (4)
GR-75 Medium Transports (18 + 12: 30)
· Bomber Command Center (8)
· Boosted Comms (4)
Nym (21)
Wedge Antilles (19)
Biggs Darklighter (19)
Norra Wexley (17)
3 x X-wing Squadron (3 x 13)
Gold Squadron (12)
Second place went to Nathan with 24 tournament points.
Untitled Fleet (0/389/400)
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Starhawk-class Mk.I (140 + 65: 205)
· Kyrsta Agate (20)
· Lando Calrissian (4)
· Intel Officer (7)
· Sensor Team (5)
· Quad Laser Turrets (5)
· Leading Shots (6)
· XI7 Turbolasers (6)
· Concord (12)
Starhawk-class Mk.I (140 + 44: 184)
· Expert Shield Tech (5)
· Intel Officer (7)
· Sensor Team (5)
· Quad Laser Turrets (5)
· Leading Shots (6)
· XI7 Turbolasers (6)
· Unity (10)
Third place went to Kyle with 19 tournament points. Congratulations to Chris N., Nathan, and Kyle for placing in the top 3!!
Turbolasers are pretty accurate, right? (48/400/400)
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Assault Frigate Mk.II B (72 + 52: 124)
· Admiral Ackbar (38)
· Electronic Countermeasures (7)
· Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
MC30c Scout Frigate (69 + 7: 76)
· Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
MC30c Scout Frigate (69 + 7: 76)
· Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
MC30c Scout Frigate (69 + 7: 76)
· Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
2 x YT-1300 (2 x 13)
2 x A-wing Squadron (2 x 11)
Fourth place went to Scott with 17 tournament points.
Turny 5-23-21 (72/400/400)
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Acclamator II-class (71 + 57: 128)
· Bail Organa (28)
· Clone Navigation Officer (4)
· Gunnery Team (7)
· Early Warning System (7)
· External Racks (4)
· Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
Acclamator II-class (71 + 29: 100)
· Clone Navigation Officer (4)
· Gunnery Team (7)
· Early Warning System (7)
· External Racks (4)
· Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
Acclamator II-class (71 + 29: 100)
· Clone Navigation Officer (4)
· Gunnery Team (7)
· Early Warning System (7)
· External Racks (4)
· Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
Anakin Skywalker [yrep] (19)
Axe (17)
3 x V-19 Torrent Squadron (3 x 12)
Fifth place went to Chris L. (myself) with 16 tournament points.
TIE One On (106/396/400)
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Command Prototype (220 + 70: 290)
· Admiral Piett (22)
· Damage Control Officer (5)
· Commander Vanto (7)
· Flight Commander (3)
· Gunnery Team (7)
· Take Evasive Action! (6)
· Rapid Launch Bays (6)
· SW-7 Ion Batteries (5)
· Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
· Executor (2)
Howlrunner (16)
4 x Tie Interceptor Squadron (4 x 11)
Gamma Squadron (10)
4 x Tie Bomber Squadron (4 x 9)
Ion Storm
Contested Outpost
Doomed Station
Sixth place went to Ian with 15 tournament points.
Fighters, Form Up (90/391/400)
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Acclamator I-class (66 + 27: 93)
· Flight Controllers (6)
· Expanded Hangar Bay (5)
· Boosted Comms (4)
· Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
· Nevoota Bee (5)
Acclamator II-class (71 + 12: 83)
· Weapons Battery Techs (5)
· Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
Armed Cruiser (37 + 28: 65)
· Obi-Wan Kenobi (28)
Charger c70 (45 + 15: 60)
· Clone Captain Zak (5)
· Enhanced Armament (10)
Plo Koon (24)
3 x V-19 Torrent Squadron (3 x 12)
3 x BTL-B Y-wing Squadron (3 x 10)
Seventh place went to Lewis with 14 tournament points.
GN May (100/398/400)
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Acclamator I-class (66 + 50: 116)
· Bail Organa (28)
· Clone Navigation Officer (4)
· Clone Gunners (4)
· Hyperspace Rings (3)
· External Racks (4)
· Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
Acclamator I-class (66 + 31: 97)
· Clone Navigation Officer (4)
· Flight Controllers (6)
· Expanded Hangar Bay (5)
· Boosted Comms (4)
· Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
· Nevoota Bee (5)
Acclamator I-class (66 + 19: 85)
· Clone Navigation Officer (4)
· Clone Gunners (4)
· External Racks (4)
· Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
Anakin Skywalker [yrep] (19)
3 x ARC-170 Starfighter Squadron (3 x 15)
3 x V-19 Torrent Squadron (3 x 12)
Eighth place went to Dakota with 10 tournament points.
Radish Time (33/394/400)
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MC80 Battle Cruiser (103 + 60: 163)
· Admiral Raddus (26)
· Gunnery Team (7)
· Leading Shots (6)
· Spinal Armament (9)
· XI7 Turbolasers (6)
· Mon Karren (6)
MC75 Ordnance Cruiser (100 + 26: 126)
· Major Derlin (7)
· Ordnance Experts (4)
· Electronic Countermeasures (7)
· External Racks (4)
· Assault Proton Torpedoes (4)
Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57 + 15: 72)
· Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
· Redemption (8)
Shara Bey (17)
Tycho Celchu (16)
Ninth place went to Rob with 5 tournament points (as he had to concede his second round match and did not play a third).
Untitled Fleet (69/400/400)
===========================
Imperial II-class Star Destroyer (120 + 45: 165)
· Grand Moff Tarkin (28)
· Overload Pulse (8)
· Spinal Armament (9)
Victory I-class Star Destroyer (73 + 21: 94)
· Expanded Launchers (13)
· Warlord (8)
Gladiator II-class Star Destroyer (62 + 10: 72)
· Demolisher (10)
Boba Fett (26)
Tie Interceptor Squadron (11)
4 x Tie Fighter Squadron (4 x 8)
I was between flying my SSD/TIE Swarm fleet, my new "Hippocampus agatus" fleet (which I posted up earlier this week), and my "Wolves Amongst Sheep" Grievous fleet (also posted up in the Armada fleets section of this blog). Ultimately, after chatting with some folks, I decided to run my SSD fleet. It felt like it would be the most fun, I assumed there'd be plenty of Separatist fleets present (owing to the Invisible Hand being the most recent ship drop), and there ended up being no other SSDs on the scene. I was extremely surprised to not see a single Separatist fleet present! If I'd known, I would probably have flown Grievous after all. But anyway, I had made a couple of small changes to my TIE One On fleet, swapping out Valen Rudor and my 4 TIE Fighters for SW-7s and Linked Turbolasers on the SSD, as well as 4 TIE Interceptors. Obviously, I lose an ace, and have a net loss of one squadron. But I decided the Counter was valuable enough that it was worth making the change.
Yeah! Just like that!
In my first match, I felt pretty good going in against Kyle because various incarnations of this fleet had been decently effective in the past, and Kyle's squadron presence was minimal. My strategy with this fleet is always the same: the fighters go in the Rapid Launch Bays and the Bombers fly in the shadow of the SSD. First, this is the opposite of what opponents expect, so it's a little easier to bait them into that alpha strike against my SSD. But since I can weather a first strike, it's what I want to see happen. Secondly, having the Interceptors in RLB in combination with Flight Commander means my SSD can run over the squadrons sitting in its front arc (because that's where they belong, right? So I keep running over them and my opponent can replace them in the best possible place), and rather than having my TIEs scattered and woefully out of position, I can drop Howlrunner and her contingent of TIE Interceptors on whoever I want within distance 1. It's proven very effective, so long as I keep my TIE Bombers flying close to my SSD.
Anyway, in this match, the squadron game went more or less as I expected, except my Bombers were just a *smidge* too far forward and out, which let an A-Wing jump into the middle of them, and out of range of my TIE Interceptor drop. A misplay on my part, and a great jump by Kyle. That cost me a couple of bomber shots before I could rectify the mistake, and as we all know, any of my bombers that don't fire in a turn is all upside for my opponent. The other thing Kyle did beautifully was keep his ships out of medium range of my SSD. It was really, really well-flown. I didn't want to be too aggressive and risk his ships scooting out of my front arc, but the result was that he effectively held me at arm's length while Ackbar tossed red dice at me. By the time I was actually threatening his ships, it was just too late and he tabled me. I got his squadrons, and that was it. Really, really well done, Kyle!
Because I was sitting at the bottom of the standings, I had the bye in the second round, and then I played Ian in the third and final round. Ian had the bid and chose to go second, so I went with Superior Positions. I figured he'd really have to go out of his way to shoot my SSD in the butt, and since I only had one ship to deploy, it wasn't bothersome to deploy everything before he did. He ended up deploying in a gun line, and I was happy to oblige, so I turned into a confrontation. Between my SSD and my bombers, I was able to dispatch all but the Consular Charger, as it ran wide around me to shoot at me as it flanked. My SSD was never in any real danger, though I was certain it would end up crippled. The mistake I made came in the second to last turn: I sped up my SSD. I'm not really sure why. I think it was so I could clip the station, heal a damage card, use Engineering to heal another couple of cards, and try to avoid being crippled by the end of the game? But honestly, I should've just stayed at speed 1. Had I done so, I could've thrown 4 TIE Bombers at the Consular instead of just the 1. No guarantees, of course, but there's a good chance I land the two or 3 damage required to kill it off. But as it stood, I DID speed up, and so could only send 1 TIE Bomber after it. It was a 7-4 win for me, but could've possibly been far better.
So that was it! It was a good showing, we got some fun, experimental stuff to the tables, and everyone went home with some promo stuff and several games of Armada under our belts. I've always known that my Piett SSD is basically an all or nothing proposition, but I've really enjoyed playing it with the TIE swarm (because I can't remember the last time I saw a TIE swarm). That said, I think I'm done messing with this build. This was a nice little send-off for it, and maybe my SSD will see play again at some point, but I can't imagine it'll be anytime soon. Too many other things with which I'd like to mess. If you're in the STL area, I hope we'll see you at the next Game Nite tournament! More info can be found on the Game Nite and St Louis Armada Facebook pages.
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