The Empire Strikes Back Fleet

 The Empire Strikes Back Fleet

I decided to try something new and build a fleet inspired by each movie. Honestly, the first one I built was based on The Empire Strikes Back because that's the film that gave me this idea in the first place. The thing I'd like to share about these fleets is that they're not based on their respective movies, but inspired by them. For me, the difference is that the inspired fleets sometimes include ships and squadrons included in the film and sometimes not, whereas any fleets based on the film would be more grounded in what we actually see on screen in that film. Let's see what nonsense I've come up with below!

ESB Fleet (106/400/400)

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MC80 Star Cruiser (96 + 26: 122)

· Caitken and Shollan (6)

· Ion Cannon Batteries (5)

· Nav Team (4)

· Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)

· Endeavor (4)

CR90 Corvette A (44 + 37: 81)

· Leia Organa (28)

· Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)

· Jaina's Light (2)

Nebulon-B Support Refit (51 + 12: 63)

· Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)

· Yavaris (5)

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 + 10: 28)

· Bomber Command Center (8)

· Bright Hope (2)

Hera Syndulla (28)

Han Solo (26)

Luke Skywalker (20)

Wedge Antilles (19)

X-wing Squadron (13)

Blockade Run

Asteroid Tactics

Dangerous Territory

Again, my fleets are inspired by the movies, not based on them. So you'll see stuff here that obviously wasn't in Empire. When I think of ESB, my first thought is not of Darth Vader's big reveal, but of Han and Chewie flying the Falcon through that blasted asteroid field. So yeah, this is absolutely a ridiculous list. But it seems fun, so I'm rolling with it. I started with Han and the Asteroid Tactics objective because obvious reasons are obvious. I continued to build out the squadron contingent just because obvious reasons continue to be obvious. I pick Luke and Wedge because they're good but also because they're featured prominently on Hoth, which is another one of my favorite parts of the movie. Hera gets included because she can make Luke and Wedge Rogue so they can keep up with Han, since I don't want to be forced to command them every turn. That said, my hope is obviously that I will be commanding my X-Wings, as I've included Yavaris in here. I mostly picked up a Nebulon-B Frigate because it's where Luke has his hand replaced at the end of the movie. Honestly, Yavaris probably isn't a great choice for this fleet because I've only got 5 squadrons. That said, several are them are pretty heavy hitters, and Yavaris doesn't see a lot of play since it was nerfed with the 1.5 rules changes. I thought I'd try it out and see if it was useful at all, since I only have 5 squadrons.

"Wait. Chris, you just said Yavaris isn't a good choice for this fleet because you only have 5 squadrons, but now you're saying it might be useful because you only have 5 squadrons. You having a stroke? Do you need an ambulance, buddy?"

I mean, it's a distinct possibility. The thing is, I almost never fly Rebels anymore. I still think they're great, but I just never fly them. And Yavaris was never in my arsenal because it was a proven commodity and just didn't interest me that much, so I'm really inexperienced with the title. Especially since the change made to the title. I'm thinking there's a good possibility that Yavaris is not good for this fleet because I just don't know any better. But I'm also thinking that with only 5 squadrons, I could use a bit of an edge and maybe Yavaris will provide it? If not, then I can easily drop the title, no problem. Hera is a bit of a redundancy in case I'd have to sacrifice positioning in order to push my squadrons, which I'd rather not do. And LTT goes on the Neb because red dice and because I might appreciate the squadron support.

I include Jaina's Light with TRC because I'm planning on nimbly dodging asteroids, so of course I do. I decided this fleet wanted to be led by Leia. I looked at the variety of commanders and nobody other than Madine really fell into line with my notion of asteroid dodging. I did consider him, though! Then decided I didn't want to build an apparatus that supports his ability. I figured it would be easier to work around Leia. Plus, the artwork used for her on her commander card is from ESB, so it felt right.

Yeah, we might as well talk about this guy, then...

The LMC80. What the heck am I doing with an LMC80 in this fleet that's meant to be dodging asteroids, commanded by Leia, and inspired by The Empire Strikes Back? It's a fair question! And I'm confident that I don't have a satisfactory answer beyond, "I wanted a large ship in this fleet." It's a crappy reason and not one that's usually sufficient for the inclusion of something so wildly against type in an Armada fleet. And not just against type, but expensive, too. I knew I wanted a large base because I wasn't planning on flying MSU. I wanted something bigger with some more firepower to leverage against my opponent. Because while I'm not anticipating any of these film-inspired fleets to be competitive, I am trying to build them in such a way that they work in casual games. I want them to be fun and to have some semblance of synergy. That's part of the challenge I've given myself. So since I'm planning on being nimble and moving about, I thought that using the LMC80 made sense in the context of having a ship that doesn't want to stick around. The MC75 and MC80 can both kite around the battle and fire broadside, thus effectively sticking around longer. The Starhawk is a Starhawk and too big and expensive for this fleet. I could have considered the Providence, but honestly, it didn't even occur to me as an option because I still don't think of that thing as a Rebel ship. No matter how many times I see it on the table, whenever it's next to Rebel ships, I always have to do a double take.

The LMC80 wants to punch things and then get out of there. It doesn't want to stick around because it simply cannot afford to. And it can't dilly-dally because, well, it can't afford to. I did put Nav Team on here to help with the tighter turns, since Nav Team does interact favorably with Leia. I have LTT on there because, again, red dice. And I included Ion Cannon Batteries because this is Empire Strikes Back and the ion cannons are so ungodly effective as the Rebels evacuate Hoth. Seriously, I knew I'd be getting my rerolls from Caitken and Shollan, so I went with a cheap ion upgrade that has been more effective since the advent of 1.5 and increased utility of command tokens. And finally, I included Endeavor because I know I'll be in the middle of a lot of scraps and it would be great to not get hobbled prematurely by an untimely and inconvenient crit. Plus, the art is cool. Plus plus, it's not terribly expensive.

Finally, I include an extra generic X-Wing and a GR-75 because I've got the points and because what's an ESB fleet without those plucky little transports? Plus, I've seen a lot of squadronless out there, so why not throw my bombers a little support if my opponent isn't flying squadrons? I add Bright Hope for good measure. Dangerous Territory makes me as impervious to those obstacles as Han was while dodging Star Destroyers and TIE Fighters while Blockade Run is loosely tied into the theme. It's a wonky objective that I never get to play, and given that half of my fleet wants to fire straight ahead and then hit the accelerator, I thought...

At this point, it behooves me to let y'all know that this was intended to be a bit of a group project from the start! I invited my good friend Josh (of CabinCon fame!) to participate in this activity as well and he graciously accepted. We agreed not to share notes or anything until after we've finished building our fleets and explained our reasoning. I thought it might be more fun that way than if we were bouncing ideas off of one another. We're totally capable of doing the latter, but then we'd be more likely to get into the weeds on trying to build something together instead of just comparing notes. Below are his list and reasoning for it. Read and enjoy!

Name: Asteroid Chase

Faction: Imperial

Commander: Admiral Piett

Assault: Ion Storm

Defense: Asteroid Tactics

Navigation: Infested Fields

Imperial I (110)

• Captain Needa (2)

• Avenger (5)

= 117 Points

SSD Command Prototype (220)

• Admiral Piett (22)

• Admiral Ozzel (2)

• Darth Vader (1)

• Executor (2)

= 247 Points

Squadrons:

• 4 x TIE Bomber Squadron (36)

= 36 Points

Total Points: 400

The goal of this fleet was not to be at all playable but to suggest the scenes in ESB when the Empire is chasing the Falcon into the asteroid field.

Vader is on the Executor, of course, and it's the Command Prototype to allow the ISD and some TIE Bombers in the fleet.

The goal is to kill Ozzel as early as possible because at this point in the movie, he's already come out of lightspeed too close to the system. I thought about ditching him entirely, but I think it's funnier to have Vader choke him out during the game (and the SSD doesn't mind the free maneuver).

From there, we are moving to the asteroid chase, and I decided to spend the points for the Avenger ISD since that ship with Needa in command is central to the Falcon's escape.

That scene also determined my three objectives and my fighter contingent. Using the exogorth ones for defense and navigation are obvious, but I chose Ion Storm as the Assault objective for a couple reasons. It eliminates the station and makes it a pure asteroid and debris field, and it encourages being near the obstacles. "You're not actually going IN to an asteroid field?!"

I could have chosen TIE fighters to suggest the chase into the asteroid field, but I had a different scene in mind. The four TIE Bomber squadrons are there to specifically evoke the time when Han, Leia, Chewie, and C-3P0 are sitting in the dark, listening to the steady, muffled thuds of the TIE bombers making runs overhead. I love that scene for the lull after the excitement of the chase, but the constant reminder during that lull that the Falcon is under siege, and the tension that builds as they realize where they've really landed. Plus, the Falcon's escape is one of the best examples of Han's ingenuity and flat-out skill and the Empire's overreliance on its superior technology. A lot of the Empire's failures, I think, are due to their commanders not having to work too hard because they have such an advantage in numbers and firepower. It's inconceivable to them that they could fail to deal with a single ship (especially a beat-up freighter that can't even jump to hyperspace) given their massive advantage, but they still have blind spots that the Rebels manage to exploit time and again. The power of a small, determined force that has to rely on their personal attributes is on display for one of the many times through the trilogy, as is the Empire's vast but often misplaced belief in their infallibility (Arvel Crynyd, anyone?).

Back to the gameplay — keep Needa around for a while, even though he's no longer useful. Once the bombers are destroyed or out of the fight (bonus points if your opponent has Han touching the back of the Avenger and you are ignoring him), use Vader to kill Needa as well, completing Vader's purge of the Death Squadron's officers who have failed him for the last time.

For extra thematic fun, since we're here to make bad choices in both fleet building and strategy, park the Executor and Avenger right outside the asteroid field at speed-0 for a while. What could go wrong? Surely you'll catch some Rebel scum if you just wait there and outlast them.

Yeah, so see, now I'm mad I didn't check in with him before writing up my own fleet. Because I think his logic and choices are so much more inspired than my own! Well done, Josh! I mean, we agree that both of our lists are garbage, but they're fun and thematic garbage, to be sure! I guess I've gotta step up my game in time for our next film-inspired post - Return of the Jedi...