Thursday 23 March 2017

Star Wars Armada Prep game for Jan 2017

I started off pulling all the ships out and putting the unmade ones together then sorted all the cards out. Looking at the points values I decided that 300 points a side would look right and would suit 4 players. I always try to get a game to cope with 4 players as I don't always know who will want to play on the day.

Originally I set up the forces on a 3ft by 3ft map but it didn't look right and checking the rules I realised I could use 4ft by 3ft and that was much better.

The game area:



The Imperial force cards etc is the first 2 rows and the Rebels the top 2:

I wanted a force people would recognise so for the forces I picked are:

Rebels - 300 pts
Frigate - Admonition with the overall commander General Cracken
Corvette-A Tantive IV cpatained by Raymus Antilles
Corvette-A captained by Toryn Farr
2x  A-wing squadrons
1x YT2400

Imperials - 300 pts
Imperial Class 1 Star Destroyer - Relentless with overall commander Admiral Screed, and tractor beams
Victory Class Star Destroyer captained by Admiral Titus
Gozanti class cruisers with the vector capability
5 x TIE fighter squadrons
2 x TIE Interceptors

The Game

I chose the 'Intel sweep' mission. I split both forces  placing units in each corner angled so that they could intercept in the centre of the board. I then placed the objectives which undid this strategy - not on purpose. I didn't reset the forces as this was a solo game to remind of the rules so that I'd ensure a smooth game at the club.

The scout frigate picked up the first objective

The Rebel right was in trouble straight away

Boom - Tantive IV destroyed with the opening shot


TIE fighters attack the Scout Frigate

Toryn Farr aims her corvette towards the centre

A lone A wing squadron takes on the Imperial left


Toryn Farr heads for another objective

The A wings go in

The TIE's head for the Frigate and Corvette having destroys an A wing squadron. Only the YT2400 is left of the Rebel squadrons supporting the Scout Frigate

The Rebel right wing A wing squadron draws blood taking out their TIE interceptor counterparts
The TIE's focus on Toryn Farr
 

The cruisers blast away at the A wings and miss

The Rebel ships destroyed so far

The Imperial tally

The YT2400 doesn't make it. The Corvette narrowly misses flying off the board

The Scout Frigate takes shots to the rear


The last A wings bracketed

The Scout Frigate narrowly misses flying off the table

Toryn Farr opens fire on the rear of Admiral Titus's Star Destoyer


The A wings are no more


The game ends with only Toryn Farr and Titus engaged


It was a fun game, but it did feel one sided. I did learn that if I had a Corvette and the Scout Frigate firing on the Imperial Class Star Destroyer I could have taken it out with the right dice, disabusing me of its invulnerability. On the other hand a Star Destroyer with the right dice can destroy a Corvette in one go, which hurts with small forces. I like the way the rules worked and they made the game exciting, and the objective token changed how I played.

I'm now ready for the January game.

(The quick witted will notice this is getting published in March, which indicates how slow I am getting these out. I started writing this before the Jan game and kept the same present tense to avoid rewriting it. Assuming I haven't used past and present - which does happen!)