Luminara Unduli Fleet - Blunt Dive

 Luminara Unduli Fleet - Blunt Dive

Let's start with the list itself, shall we? Quick note: If you're familiar with the most excellent Armada Fleets Designer app, then you'll be familiar with the format of the fleet list. If not, then you should know that the numbers in the parentheses next to the fleet name are as follows - number of points invested in squadrons/total number of fleet points/maximum number of fleet points.

Blunt Dive (63/397/400)

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Acclamator I-class (66 + 48: 114)

· Luminara Unduli (25)

· Clone Gunners (4)

· Flag Bridge (0)

· Reserve Hangar Deck (3)

· Ordnance Pods (3)

· Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)

· Take Evasive Action! (6)

Acclamator II-class (71 + 25: 96)

· Clone Gunners (4)

· Early Warning System (7)

· Ordnance Pods (3)

· Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)

· Implacable (4)

Pelta-class Medical Frigate (49 + 20: 69)

· Clone Commander Wolffe (6)

· Munitions Resupply (3)

· Reserve Hangar Deck (3)

· Auxiliary Shields Team (3)

· TB-73 (5)

Charger c70 (45 + 10: 55)

· Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)

· Swift Return (3)

Ahsoka Tano (23)

Kickback (16)

2 x V-19 Torrent Squadron (2 x 12)

Station Assault

Fire Lanes

Infested Fields

First of all: Blunt Dive. The hell does that mean? It's a type of American football play. Basically, a fullback dives straight ahead with the halfback following close behind. It's a play designed to pick up only one or two yards at a time, so you see it most commonly on the goal line or on third and short. You might see it on first down as a way of changing pace and gaining 3-4 yards instead of 1-2, thus setting up a much easier second down.

"Okay, cool story, bruh. But what does this have to do with Armada?"

Not as much as I perhaps imply, honestly. But I was thinking of a name for this fleet, and I kinda wanted to call it Monsters of the Midway after the historic Chicago Bears defense that featured William "The Refrigerator" Perry. It's true that I'm a New York Giants fan, but I appreciate solid defenses, and The Fridge has my respect for running in a touchdown in Super Bowl XX from the backfield. The Bears had pulled the same stunt on the Patriots earlier in the season, but Perry was so damn big that the Pats couldn't do anything to stop it during the Super Bowl because when there's a boulder twice your size rolling at you, all you can do is get crushed after you get in the way.

To that end, I've put together a fleet that doesn't really have any surprises. Whether or not it actually rolls downhill, I don't know. If I find out this idea works, I'll probably rename it "Monsters of the Midway." But until then, I'm just naming it after a play that sort of influences how Imma run this sucker. Basically, I'll be counting on a decently tight formation, for the most part, of ships that won't go down, courtesy of Luminara's ability. I've got two Acclamators that will likely stay on the outside of the formation, framing the Pelta and the Consular Charger. I'm sure there will be instances in which it behooves me to get the Charger into a flanking position, but more often than not, I'll be keeping it "between the tackles." If someone tries to flank the Acclamators, I'll have a lot of Navigate dials and I've got Take Evasive Action! equipped to my Acclamator I with Flag Bridge that will be my "Break Glass in Case of Emergency" move. But failing that, my Consular and Pelta can drop their speed so that when ships come around the flank, my Consular with its Turbolaser Reroute Circuit and my Pelta With Aux. Shields Team and extra Evade token (courtesy of TB-73) are waiting for said flankers. That said, if I do decide to deploy the Charger outside for any reason, I've put the Swift Return title on it so that it can flank more easily.

If Liam Neeson is on that Charger, you might as well just give up now.

Both Acclamators are equipped with Clone Gunners so when I get those rolls I want, I can ensure they stick. It's why I've got Munitions Resupply on the Pelta - I'll only get so many uses out of Clone Gunners, so I'll need to make them count. But honestly, I don't anticipate that my Acclamators will be in protracted battle long enough that I'll wish I could have fueled them for an extended period. If that's the case, then I can't imagine I'll win the fight. My Acclamators need to hit and then limp away if they're going to survive. Both have Linked Turbolaser Towers to help my dice behave, as well as Ordnance Pods to provide squadron support, given the small size of my squadron contingent. It's also why I've got Reserve Hangar Deck on two of my four ships.

I knew I'd need at least several squadrons. And while I'm uncomfortable not having any bombers, I just couldn't find the room for them in this build. So I'm going to try it this way first to see if I'm anywhere near where I'd like to be with regards to effectiveness. Ahsoka and Kickback work together beautifully, as he and the generic V-19s can guard her, and when she moves in, she can order Kickback to throw some dice (of which he can reroll one with Swarm in most scenarios), and then Kickback can move to better provide cover for Ahsoka or my ships. So it's a pretty small screen, but I'm hoping it'll be an effective one.

I've got EWS on my Acclamator II because chipping away at enemy dice pools is fun, and because I'll need a boost if I'm giving up shields to protect other ships or squadrons through my Implacable title. I've said it before, but while I think Nevoota Bee is the better Acclamator title, Implacable is my favorite. I just love the hell out of it. Which brings us to the remaining upgrades equipped to the Pelta. I admit that it feels a bit hodge-podgey. I've got Munitions Resupply to facilitate Clone Gunners on my Acclamators. I've got Reserve Hangar Deck to support my squadrons while boasting Auxiliary Shields Team and TB-73 to protect the Pelta itself. So what the hell is Clone Commander Wolffe doing on there? I'm worried that my V-19s won't have much to do if I'm up against a squadronless fleet. Or if I'm facing a minimal fighter screen that doesn't threaten my ships. So I've thrown Wolffe on there to ensure that my squadrons will have a secondary task (hinder enemy commands) to accomplish if they complete their primary task (stall/eliminate enemy squadron presence). Yeah, he's 6 points, so that's a lot to invest in a secondary plan. If I play through several matches and never use him, then I'll probably just replace him with Clone Navigation Officer or something. Maybe Clone Captain Zak. But I figure he's worth a shot. Especially because I'm not concerned with an overly big bid, so 3 points is sufficient.

I went with Station Assault not because I want to sit on the stations, but because it forces my opponent to approach my boulder instead of my having to wait until my Acclamators actually lumber over to them. If they don't, it's straight points for Lumi. Fire Lanes is a big question mark, and I'll likely go another direction. But again: it's beaucoup points if my opponent doesn't approach and challenge me. For now, I'm willing to take my chances with this objective. And finally, Infested Fields. It's a guaranteed 30 points lead (at least), plus gives me some obstacle-moving shenanigans. I don't necessarily love this objective for this fleet, but I looked at all the other objectives and couldn't make a solid decision until I've played with this fleet a couple of times. I almost never flew Victory Star Destroyers, and I haven't flown a lot of Acclamators, so I've got some homework and practice ahead of me before I can make more informed decisions regarding my objectives.