Well we got a bit of an unexpected change. Many where planing on a Starhawk Raddus drop, well that has been done away with, but that is not the only change let's look at the the exact rewording of Raddus errata "Before deploying fleets, you may set aside 1 other friendly ship with a command value of 3 or less. At the start of any round, you may deploy that ship at distance 1-2 of you. That ship cannot be deployed overlapping squadrons and cannot be the first ship to activate that round."
I put emphasis on the changes the first change of only being able to set aside a ship of command 3 or less nips the the raddus starhawk idea in the bud. However its the second change that we are going to be looking at as it has far more implications than one would think at first glance.
The first part of this change is an increase in the range that radius can drop a ship from distance 1 to distance 1-2, and considering that a ship only has to have a fraction of a milliliter inside that distance 1-2 its a fairly significant range increases.
However that also comes with a the new limitation of “you”. Raddus used to be able to drop from any friendly ship now it must be from the ship that Raddus is on. So raddus has become more predictable in where placement will happen, but much more flexible in actual placement. I was a bit confused by this change at first, as I really did not think raddus was over performing in anyway, but after some thought I think I know why the changed happened.
I think it is fairly obvious that FFG does not like the Lifeboat strategy. Most raddus lists put Raddus on a fast moving CR-90 now that is not to say CR-90s cant be a flagship and not a lifeboat, but it tends to be that way. I think FFG plans to combat the life boating strategy, thorough FAQ and upgrades like Flagship only that give a buff to ships within a cretin range of you. This is just all my opinion, but it seems likely they want the game to be played around the flagships. In addition sometimes I found raddus games evolve into almost a non game where the best strategy against a raddus fleet to deploy in the corner out wait the drop then engage, it's never been the funniest of games at least for me, and these changes address both issues.
Now is this a nerf, yes; however it is a very minor one. Personally I feel that this just makes raddus different more than nerfs him, as you can still pull off some pretty crazy deployments with profundity and moving raddus from profundity to the ship profundity drop and then raddus drop off of that ship, I mean that gives you some pretty crazy options.
I do think we will see a phase out of Raddus list like this:
MC80 Star Cruiser (96) • Weapons Battery Techs (5) • Heavy Ion Emplacements (9) • H9 Turbolasers (8) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) = 125 Points
CR90 Corvette A (44) • Admiral Raddus (26) • Engine Techs (8) • Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7) • Jaina's Light (2) = 87 Points
CR90 Corvette A (44) • Engine Techs (8) • Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7) = 59 Points CR90 Corvette A (44) • Engine Techs (8) • Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7) = 59 Points
CR90 Corvette A (44) • Engine Techs (8) • Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7) = 59 Points Squadrons: = 0 Points
Total Points: 389
However I think raddus lists like this will be less affected, by the change:
MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63) • Admiral Raddus (26) • Lando Calrissian (4) • Ordnance Experts (4) • External Racks (3) • Admonition (8) = 108 Points
MC75 Ordnance Cruiser (100) • Strategic Adviser (4) • Ordnance Experts (4) • Electronic Countermeasures (7) • External Racks (3) • Assault Proton Torpedoes (5) • Profundity (7) = 130 Points
Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette (36) • Ordnance Experts (4) • External Racks (3) = 43 Points
CR90 Corvette A (44) • Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7) • Jaina's Light (2) = 53 Points
GR-75 Medium Transports (18) • Comms Net (2) = 20 Points
GR-75 Medium Transports (18) • Slicer Tools (7) = 25 Points
Squadrons: = 0 Points
Total Points: 379
I also think it will give rise to Raddus lists that look like these:
MC75 Ordnance Cruiser (100) • Admiral Raddus (26) • Strategic Adviser (4) • Ordnance Experts (4) • Electronic Countermeasures (7) • External Racks (3) • Assault Concussion Missiles (7) • Profundity (7) = 158 Points
MC80 Star Cruiser (96) • Weapons Battery Techs (5) • Heavy Ion Emplacements (9) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • H9 Turbolasers (8) = 125 Points
CR90 Corvette A (44) • Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7) • Jaina's Light (2) = 53 Points
GR-75 Medium Transports (18) • Comms Net (2) = 20 Points
Squadrons: • Shara Bey (17) • Tycho Celchu (16) = 33 Points
Total Points: 389
MC80 Assault Cruiser (114) • Admiral Raddus (26) • Strategic Adviser (4) • Engine Techs (8) • Early Warning System (7) • Electronic Countermeasures (7) • High-Capacity Ion Turbines (8) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • Home One (7) = 188 Points
MC80 Battle Cruiser (103) • Caitken and Shollan (6) • SW-7 Ion Batteries (5) • Spinal Armament (9) • Quad Turbolaser Cannons (10) = 133 Points
GR-75 Medium Transports (18) • Comms Net (2) = 20 Points
GR-75 Medium Transports (18) • Comms Net (2) = 20 Points
Squadrons: • Shara Bey (17) • Tycho Celchu (16) = 33 Points
Total Points: 394
maybe even something as crazy as this:
MC80 Star Cruiser (96) • Gunnery Team (7) • Auxiliary Shields Team (3) • SW-7 Ion Batteries (5) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) = 118 Points
MC80 Star Cruiser (96) • Gunnery Team (7) • Auxiliary Shields Team (3) • SW-7 Ion Batteries (5) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) = 118 Points
MC80 Star Cruiser (96) • Admiral Raddus (26) • Gunnery Team (7) • Auxiliary Shields Team (3) • SW-7 Ion Batteries (5) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) = 144 Points
Squadrons: = 0 Points
Total Points: 380
This is not the end of Raddus he has just adopted a slightly different play style, while making it strategically sound for your opponent to engage your fleet while not worrying about exposing their rear too much, but if you have a profundity trick up your sleeve they will need to be mindful of that.
outside of the command 3 and lower nerf I don't think the rest was needed from a game balance perspective, but it will make games against Raddus a little more enjoyable, and won't be a turtle up delaying type game. I also think this helps open up lower squadron builds as well as the best tool to respond to a raddus drop was squadrons it kind of alleviates that pressure a little bit.
I have a feeling that more changes will come in an FAQ once wave 8 drops in the United States, but as some countries have some wave 8 products they released this info as it sp pertains to wave 8 ships, but I would put money on more changes once wide release happens. We also found out how evade will work at extreme range, and I would almost bet money Mon Mothma will get an errata to be able to cancel two dice at long range, but we will have to wait and see. Until next time have a great week!
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