So we got some info about the starter for the republic this week and looks like we will get info for the separatists starter next week, if the pattern follows I think we can expect the fighter articles the week after next and then the week of the hopeful release we will get the rules info update. So let's look at the info we have for the republic starter let's start with the fighters the V-19 Torrents.
Okay so I feel like this is what you get when an X-wing and Tie fighter love each other very much. It gets escort from the X-wing and swarm from the tie fighter it has 3 dice like the tie fighter, but unlike the tie fighter one is red meaning it has a damage ceiling of 4 like the X-wing it does not get bomber like the x-wing but gets a more consistent black die against ships, and clocks in at 12 points its a pretty good deal for what you are getting, its probably going to be one of the most constant squadrons in the game due to swarm and its black anti-ship die with the ability to spike due to the red die in anti squadron I think these guys will see a good amount of time on the table because of this and the ability to escort some jedi aces or something and with swarm Reserved Hanger Decks is a thing with these guys.
We also got an ace for them as well “Axe”
So nothing about Axe changes other then he gets some defense tokens and a special ability. First he is the first ace we have seen with an evade defense token, and unless that is getting some rework it will really only be useful for not getting flaked to death, and spending it to use his ability. So here is Axe's ability “Before another friendly squadron at distance 1 suffers damage during an attack, you may spend 1 defense token to reduce the total damage by 1.” It seems pretty good at first glance, however he has escort, meaning he can really only use that ability to protect other escorts in most circumstance, If you get very precise with your fighter positioning you could use him on a non escort squadron, so maybe that will be a thing. Honestly I just think of him as a worse Biggs. Biggs spreads the damage out where Axe can cancel some out, but as long as they are able to attack Axe that is what they are going to do and Axe's ability does not help himself so it really just puts him in a bad spot. I think with some clever positioning he could be a thing but he just seems kinda bad to me, but maybe once I get him to the table I will see him in a new light, but I don't see him making a large impact.
The Torrents actually get even better with the Nevoota Bee title for the Acclamator.
So Nevoota Bee gives squadrons that do not have swarm swarm and squadrons that already had swarm the ability to reroll 1 dice while attacking a ship so you get 1 black die with a re-roll talk about consistent damage, torrents will be a thing so don't underestimate them, but what about the Acclamator how does it hold up?
We get the Acclamator I and Aclamator II so lets take a brief look at these ships, starting with the Acclamator I.
The Acclamator I is the second cheapest medium base ship that we are currently aware of at 66 points its a bargain for 7 hull two black flack dice speed 3 and brace redirect and salvo with pretty much vsd stats the rest of the way around other than one less black out the front and a red being swapped for a black in the rear. Its yaw values are pretty bad so you will likely want a nav, but when the galactic republic gets a fleet command capable ship this guy is going to love take evasive action. So just looking at the Acclamator I I see a few builds open to us.
Dedicated Carrier
Acclamator I (66)
• Flight Controllers (6)
• Boosted Comms (4)
• Expanded Hangar Bay (5)
• Nevoota Bee (5)
= 86 Points
We could drop Boosted Comms or Expanded hanger bay for Reserved Hanger Deck or even another upgrade we will talk about in a moment but you get the idea a pretty though but still relativity cheap carrier.
Ruthless anti-squadron
Acclamator I (66)
• Ruthless Strategists (4)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
• Ordnance Pods (3)
= 76 points
With torrents having 5 hull and you having 2 black flack and an ordnance slot for Ordnance Pods using Ruthless Strategists can really put the hurt on an opposing squadron ball you could even make a hybrid of this and the dedicated carrier if you wanted to.
Boarding vessel
Acclamator I (66)
• Boarding Troopers (3)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
• External Racks (3)
= 79 Points
Again a relativity cheap hard punching ship that when it gets into close range will be forcing tokens to be discards to survive its assault. It does have limited re-roll's, again its cheap, but if you would rather take ordnance experts over boarding troopers go ahead.
The last build is very much biased around a new upgrade card Hyperspace Rings.
Scout in essence lets a squadron deploy anywhere on the table as long as it is not deployed within distance 1-5 of an enemy ship. This can in essence give the republic squall like effect with this build.
Republic Squall
Acclamator I (66)
• Flight Commander (3)
• Hyperspace Rings (3)
• Boosted Comms (4)
= 76 Points
with this build you are very much able to grab the scout squadrons turn one that could give you a pretty nice drop on your opponent. Again this could be combined with the dedicated carrier to really boost the power of your squadrons.
Really I feel the Acclamator I is the carrier version of the ship and the Acclamator II is more the battleship of the two so let's look at the Acclamator II.
Opposed to the 1 it has a blue and black flack dice and adds a blue out the front and swaps the black in the rear for a blue and jumps up to 71 points loses the two offensive retrofits for one defensive retrofit, and that is all the changes. Now first the black turning the a blue in the rear is huge for salvo you will honestly be surprised the difference in damage output just that one little change can make. All the builds that come to mind with this guy are kinda Sammy, but let's take a look.
Return fire
Acclamator II (71)
• Reactive Gunnery (4)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 82 Points
it's a really simple idea you attack me I will attack you back really lean into the salvo idea.
One hit wonder
Acclamator II (71)
• Clone Gunners (5)
• External Racks (3)
• Swivel-mount batteries(8)
= 87 Points
okay so for this to work you will need a con fire command but you can get off one big shot that even without re-rolls simply by the fact of how many dice you will be rolling will be overwhelming. You are in close range so you have 6 dice swivel-mount a black from the side for 7 pop external racks for 2 more 9 con fire in an additional one for 10 and that will trigger clone gunners to add another set to an accuracy for 11 total dice, for an 87 point ship that is pretty crazy. I will say I was pretty sad when I realized swivel-mount batteries where locked to clone wars only.
Simple Flagship
Acclamator II (71)
• Electronic Countermeasures (7)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 85 Points
It's boring, but it is a cost effective flagship that you can put your admiral on pretty boring, but effective.
The Acclamator looks to be a very solid ship enough difference between the two variants. That I can see a case for either or. I think I could see having one Acclamator in most Republic list every conceivable it just does a lot for its price point.
Lastly we have the Consular-Class and well we don't have a whole lot about that in the article and I don't know if we will get more info about it or not so let's just go with what we have.
First we have the Consular-Class Charger at 45 points just a bit more than the CR-90 it has 4 hull one black flack die and it drops an evade for a contain, and an interesting yaw chart with a speed up to 4. It has all the same upgrade slots as the cr90 other than it drops the defensive retro fit for a offensive retrofit. Its armament out the front is 2 red and a blue out the side 2 red and the rear is a blue and a black. Its very much like the CR-90 A, and many of its builds are going to be much like CR-90 builds, however I think we did get a spoiled upgrade that will work well on the consular-class charger Clone Captain Zak
Consular-Class Charger (45)
• Clone Captain Zak (5)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 57 Points
with this you get a fairly hard hitting ship for its weight class, a double arc from this guy can be really annoying with lots of consistent damage thanks to LTT. I really only see the offensive retrofit on this guy being used for Reserve Hangar Deck, but maybe something else will find a spot for that slot as is it will be basically a republic CR-90.
However its second variation the cheaper version the Consular-Class Armed Cruiser seems very interesting, we have not seen the full card so we don't know the upgrades, but we do know it costs 37 points and we have seen the cardboard and it has 2 blue and a black out the front a blue and black out the side and a blue out the rear and two blue anti-squadron dice.
I could honestly see just dropping a naked Armed Cruiser into a list almost purely for it two blue anti-squadron dice and at 37 points I don't think that is a bad investment. I think it will likely lose the clone trait and gain the hinted at senate trait and will swap out the turbolaser for an ion cannon most likely. It's hard to make builds when we don't know the upgrade slots but the fact that you can take one of these naked for 37 points to add just a little bit more punch to the ship or squadron game just makes me think one of these guys will be a really great way to round out a list. Getting my Gozanti into the fight for a few extra points of damage has made the difference in some of my games and with how well rounded this ship seams with anti-ship and anti-squadron firepower I think it will make a bigger impact than most player may think, especially in a skilled players hands. It is also worth noting that if they have the offensive retrofit slot still D-caps is something that might be worth considering with these guys. This is honestly the ship that intrigues me the most in this starter, I feel that it will be deceptively efficient.
All and all it seems like a really well rounded starter with lots of good stuff I am personally a little bit more excited for the separatists that will hopefully be spoiled this week. What are you most excited for? The next few weeks should be a very exciting time for armada and I expect an announcement for the second wave of clone wars to follow shortly after initial release so let get pumped! Until next time have a great week!