today we're going to look at the last ship in the separatist faction the Recusant destroyer. The ship is very fast and is the only large ship to have a native evade token. It also has the most strange arcs in the entire game. so when I first saw this ship I was very intrigued and was very excited to try it out. Now that I got into the table several times let's take a look at what my thoughts are on this ship.
The Recusant class destroyer comes in two forms its support destroyer and light destroyer. You're more likely to see the light Destroyer in play however both are still great options but since we're going to be seeing the light a bit more let start talking about that one.
The light Destroyer has 8 hull one blue anti Squadron is command 3 as Squadron 2 engineering 3 and go up to speed 3 and it only costs 85 points and it's pretty cheap for a large ship. Out the front, it's got four Reds and two blacks and out the sides we have 3 reds and one black with three shields on the front left and right and then two shields on the rear. Something that should stand out to everybody is the double click at the second joint at Speed 3 this really makes this ship very maneuverable. The light Destroyer also has a weapons team offensive retrofit ordinance and turbolaser upgrade slot.
One of the main reasons you're going to see that light Destroyer over the support Destroyer is first points cost is five points cheaper however in addition to that it has an ordinance lot which the support store does not mean it can dish out a little bit more damage your Ordnance lot is almost always going to be external racks. there are few exceptions to this such as if you're running a tf-1726 raid token list to get more black dice you might put a black crit effect in this slot instead.
Recusant Light Destroyer (85) • Ordnance Experts (4) • B2 Rocket Troopers (7) • Assault Concussion Missiles (5) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) = 108 Points
In most cases with the light destroyer your turbolaser going to be linked turbolaser Towers however, the Recusant Is a ship that very much wants to double arc. A lot of people at first see the big front arc and run this guy straight in this is a mistake. This ship because of how its arcs are shaped actually wants to move and do broadside attacks because its arcs are shaped so strangely it can double arc from the front and side while performing broadside attacks. Because of this I have also found really great success with Enhanced Armament when I've been running intensify Firepower as a fleet command this can start to get really insane with Mar Tuuk as a commander this means you could be throwing 5 Dice from each attack at long range.
Recusant Light Destroyer (85)
• Enhanced Armament (10)
= 95 Points
The Recusant is a ship that really wants to follow the mantra always be navigating. the ship almost always wants to be going Speed 3 it is so maneuverable at Speed 3 especially with a navigate command. I've had games where I've literally had these guys at speed 3 the entire game from turn one on words and because of the very strange Maneuvers that you can do because of that double click at the second yaw at speed 3 you have such amazing flexibility while maintaining Speed 3. Staying at speed 3 makes it easy for these guys to get in at close range deliver their external racks and then jump out with your evade token you want to try to stay at long range as much as possible and then close in to deliver that one really big shot at close range. and that's pretty much the name of the game when it comes to the light Destroyer. Long-range double arc get in close dump ex-racks then jump out.
Recusant Light Destroyer (85)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• External Racks (4)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 100 Points
So what about the support destroyer it has a very specific role to fill and that role is a carrier. it's a bit of an awkward role because you cost 90 points and can only push three squadrons natively. For 70 points we can take a munificent comms frigate that also has a squadron of 3 however this comes without the weapon team slot for flight controllers. you can gain access to flight controllers by taking a Providence class Dreadnought for 105 points. So if you are looking for a Carrier option that can take flight controllers your cheapest bet is the Recusant support destroyer. You do lose the ordinance slot but gain an additional offensive retrofit slot this gives you easy access to upgrades like expanded Hangar Bays Reserve Hangar decks or boosted comms all are great at supporting squadrons.
The support destroyer can still push out a very respectable amount of damage especially when double arcing ships. so it still makes for a tempting option though it generally wants to stay no closer than medium range. with the red anti squadron die the turbolaser slot is pretty much locked into taking linked turbolaser towers. Really at the end of the day, the support destroyer’s role is to push squadrons while still maintaining a respectable amount of damage output very similar to the light destroyers but only brought down because it cannot take an ordnance upgrade However its offensive capabilities even with the loss of that ordinance upgrade can be more than made up from your ability to push squadrons effectively.
Recusant Support Destroyer (90)
• Flight Controllers (6)
• Expanded Hangar Bay (5)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
= 111 Points
Let's talk about the Recusant titles first step we have Gilded Aegis.
This is an interesting title I've played around with it quite a bit and it never seems to do what I need to. However, I can see it is very nice since you want to always be navigating you can use this as a fake engineering command to move Shields to the hull zone that is being targeted by enemy fire. With General Grievous it becomes easier to Justify because you'll get the token back when stuff dies. I am personally not sold on this upgrade, though I do see the appeal.
Next up we have Nova Defiant
I really like this upgrade it's really nice when paired with T-series Tactical Droid in your office or slot. this combo which does cost 8 points effectively gives your ship two extra dials in the game. this can be especially effective if you're using a support destroyer to push squadrons. however, planning things out and having some flexibility with your dials is also extremely nice. Nova Defiant is also really good with Admiral Trench however I will refrain from talking from that in this article and we will cover that topic in Admiral Trench’s Commander article.
Last up we have Patriot’s Fist.
I had mixed feelings about this upgrade my big problem with it was that you want to be double as much as possible. if you are double arcing can you always get more damage that way than using Patriot’s Fist. However, Patriot Fist is very good insurance for when you miss the double arc. I would say this is a good title to put on your ship because generally when you're approaching you won't have a double arc and when you're disengaging you also won't have a double arc. I feel that as long as you get to use this twice a game once when engaging and once when disengaging you will make up the point cost of the card.
In summary, the Recusant destroyer Is very solid combat option it'll push out consistent damage for you and is damaged can't begin to add up especially with the double arc this is kind of the theme for the separatist and the vast majority of their ships want to double arc do a little bit of damage on both shots and overheat your defense tokens. This is very much my play style and probably one of the main reasons why I really enjoy playing the separatists. while I think all three titles for this ship are good I don't think any of them are mandatory and that's a good thing what you're most likely to see with this ship is highlight Destroyer with Linked turbolaser Towers external racks and Ordnance experts. The support Destroyer has a bit of a natural but I have used it to great success.
So this is the last of the separatist ships this means we will start talking about the republic ships finally. I know that some of you have been really wanting me to talk about the republic ships as I know some people have been struggling building Republic list. I just want to say right out of the gates the Republic is a very solid faction it is just very different from the other factions in the game. I recently ran a narrative event for the Clone Wars in my local area and the Republic really gave the Separatists a thrashing. so if you're struggling with Republic just know you're not the only one but also know it's probably just going to take some time and a bit out of the box thinking.. I'm looking forward to talking about the Republic we have a few more separatist commanders to talk about but after that, we will start talking about the Republic. until next time have a great week!