So I have played a lot with the starhawk, and well it's really fun, but let's not beat around the bush, and dive right into it, this is my final thoughts on the starhawk.
Okay so let me start off by saying I am going to eat my words. I said that the Starhawk Mark II. I thought it was going to be crap it was going to be bad, but it's largely become my personal favorite of the two. its 10 points more than the Mark I, but it's going to probably sound crazy to some the switching of the black dice in the rear to the blue dice in the rear is almost completely worth that 10 points, as I have found range matters more on salvo than any other attack and man can it be worth it, in addition if you are using LTTs you get the added bonus of getting the red flack dice so that is nice too. I also gave it crap for only being able to take the Unity title, but spoilers, Unity is the best title for the starhawk, and on top of all that not always, but a lot of the time the Mark I wants to take the Magnites when the Mark II does not so in the end the cost is the same.
Now the Mark I has its place and is very good as well and does output more damage on average than the Mark II in its normal shots, but once you factor in that blue dice on the salvo attacks it's probably at the very least even, and sure the Mark I has a black so more damage on average when it gets to use it on a salvo attack, but you will maybe get to use it once a game.
Now for upgrades that go on these massive ships, lets talk about the superweapon. unlike the Onager the whole point of the starhawk is not the superweapon its the chasie you are paying for. Because of this the Super Weapon does not need to be equipet it is not mandatory like the Onager's Super Weapon slot. If you want to use the Magnites go right ahead, but you need to have a plan to use them, and magnights alone does not a good Starhawk build make, and many starhawks without the Magnites can outperform starhawks with them, so don't get stuck in the trap of thinking you have to take them if you are taking a starhawk that is false.
officers well you are the only rebel ship to naturally have two officer slots, so how do you want to use them? Well without a defensive retrofit the starhawk is in need of some defense so Lando is always a good choice, major Durlin is not bad ether. Agate Officer can be nice to ready the single tokens you have. Walex is not a bad choice ether to get back some of your stressed tokens. Expert Shield techs is a good option with the unity title to really get some mileage out of the redirect tokens. Activation shenanigans is also not a bad idea like Bail especially if using a magnite strategy or just the plane old strategic advisor for some more activations. The last officer to consider is if you find your list has trouble putting enough stress on defense tokens Intel officer is a solid choice.
The weapon team slot, is kind of a weird one for me I don't really like gunnery teams on the starhawk particularly the Mark I, they get a little better on the Mark II, but if you want a ships that has a powerful front arc the Liberty does it cheaper, even if it's not as tanky. The Starhawk is built to double arc and while gunnery teams can be nice at times I just find it disincentivizes brining the starhawks full potential to bear. So what does that leave us with, well we have squadron 3 so Flight Controllers is an option, Weapon Battery Techs is not bad either especially if you are going for blue crits. However my personal weapon teams of choice with the Starhawk is Local Fire Control having two salvos is really nice for your big ship meaning you will pretty much be able to salvo every time you are attacked. In addition if you are going the Magnite route Cham can be a thorn in your opponent's side, also Shriv is pretty solid as well to strip off ECM.
Offensive retrofit is really super dependent on your build and it's likely it will be left empty if you are not taking a boarding team, but if you are having your starhawk command squadrons, and I don't really recommend that as there are much better ships to do that with, you could take boosted comms or expanding hanger bay. Taking Proximity mines might help you cover one of your flanks if the starhawk is your only "real" ship in your list Quad Laser Turrets are not terrible, and harden bulkheads has interesting synergy with the Amity title but this is a slot you will likely leave empty.
Ion Cannon Slot, here I feel like we have 3 choices Heavy Ion Emplacements, Leading Shots, High Capacity Ion Turbines. I have recently really started to find a strong distaste from leading shot personally, but it's an okay option I usually pick High Capacity Ion Turbines or HIEs, but I really really like High Capacity Ion Turbines on the Starhawk as it makes its double arc even more dangerous.
Turbolaser slot, so we have a lot of good options in this slot H9 are great particularly when paired with Shriv boarding team to get that ECM gone. LTT is just a staple and is basically my default option for a turbolaser now personally. QBT is a great option if you are not going to be using Magnites, you also have TRC with Amity if that is your thing, and good old XI7s. Again I almost always take LTT as its just so good particularly with the salvo, but you do have some good option here.
Now let's take a look at the Titles and my final thoughts on them, First up Amity.
If you are taking Amity it is one of 4 reasons either you want to use TRC, you see a lot of Onagers and this is a meta call, You are using Mon Mothma as a commander, you could not afford one of the other titles. Amity is by far the weakest title for the starhawk, its ability is pretty meh with dealing extra damage to yourself and another ship when it overlaps you, hardened bulkheads makes this a little better, but then this in essence becomes and 11 point title and that's pretty expensive. The evade is pretty situational, but can be useful really the best use for this guy is if you are taking Mon Mothma as a commander and it's not a terrible idea it works okay, and is fun but its not amazing for top tier play, but if you are looking to have some fun and are not in a want to win this tournament mindset its fun, and I think it could do well in a tournament I just don't think it would come out on top, but I have been surprised before, also amity can only be put on the Mark I, as the Mark I wants to get close.
Concord at 12 points is the most expensive of the titles it give you a salvo token and the ability to spend 1 defence token while a speed zero. Immediately this should trigger Magnite build and that is really what it is for, however because of Bail, and Lando officer I don't feel that this title is needed for the magnite strategy, but is a nice addition to it, also this can only go on a Mark I.
Lastly we have what is in my opinion the best starhawk title Unity, its ability to reroll flack dice against engaged squadrons is not as good and spending a token a speed zero, but it is far better than the extra damage when a ship rams you. Also the redirect token is by far the best token you can get from the 3 titles it really makes the starhawk a beast and is the only title that can go on a Mark II starhawk, and with two officer slots putting expert shield techs for some extra value from your two redirects really pays up in dividends.
So Starhawk Commanders who fit the bill, I mean Agate is just made for the starhawk as it give it a sudo ECM effect, and more tokens to really make this guy a beast. Mon Mothma is interesting and fun with amity, and maybe someone can really break her out, but I would probably put her as a more fun commander than good one on the starhawk. Garm 4 tokens he is pretty solid makes the starhawk capable of some very powerful commands, and if you pair that with a IF petla you will get some very consistent damage, I think Garm Starhawk won a regionals, but I could be mistaken. All the other commanders are a bit meh with the Starhawk Doddona is cheap, but why are you not taking agate, Reekian might be okay if you spam a lot of small ships with the starhawk, but if your hawk dies you have most likely lost anyway so he wont to much fo it. I could go on, but I think you get the idea.
So now let's look at a few of the builds I gave a shot when evaluating the Starhawk, lets start with Mon Mothma Amity.
Starhawk Battleship Mark I (140) • Mon Mothma (30) • Lando Calrissian (4) • Kyrsta Agate (5) • Local Fire Control (4) • Hardened Bulkheads (5) • High-Capacity Ion Turbines (8) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • Magnite Crystal Tractor Beam Array (10) • Amity (6) = 219 Points
MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63) • Walex Blissex (5) • Ordnance Experts (4) • External Racks (3) • Admonition (8) = 83 Points
MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63) • Major Derlin (7) • Ordnance Experts (4) • External Racks (3) • Foresight (8) = 85 Points
Squadrons: = 0 Points
Total Points: 387
The Starhawk is built to get as much mileage from Amity as possible with Mothma its good at all ranges, and with Agate officer we can ready it when needed, or one of our other tokens. Hardenbulkheads makes it so if a ship overlaps us we take one damage and they take two if they are smaller than us a bit niche, but still fun. Magnites are there to slow down ships for the MC-30s to just beat to a pulp, and lando is there for a speed zero drop to trigger magnites to set up the starhawk or one of the 30's for a big turn while still keeping the starhawk relatively safe. Its a fun list it will win you some games, but I don't really see it hitting that top tier level of play, but I would encourage everyone to get it a go at some point Mon Mothma Amity is good fun. Next one my Concord list.
Starhawk Battleship Mark I (140) • Kyrsta Agate (20) • Walex Blissex (5) • Strategic Adviser (4) • Cham Syndulla (5) • Ion Cannon Batteries (5) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • Magnite Crystal Tractor Beam Array (10) • Concord (12) = 208 Points
MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63) • Lando Calrissian (4) • Ordnance Experts (4) • External Racks (3) • Admonition (8) = 82 Points
GR-75 Medium Transports (18) • Hondo Ohnaka (2) • Comms Net (2) = 22 Points
GR-75 Medium Transports (18) • Leia Organa (3) • Repair Crews (4) = 25 Points
Squadrons: • 4 x A-wing Squadron (44) = 44 Points
Total Points: 381
This list is very much built around the Magnite Shenanigans. Strategic advisor to wait out opponents and hit them with the Cham+Magnites for a bad day strip a navigate token with Ion Cannon batteries that ship is dead in the water. With concord you can also drop to zero to set up the 30 for a great shot without to much worry. Okay How about a very strange Garm list now.
Starhawk Battleship Mark II (150) • Garm Bel Iblis (25) • Lando Calrissian (4) • Defense Liaison (3) • Local Fire Control (4) • SW-7 Ion Batteries (5) • Quad Battery Turrets (5) • Unity (10) = 206 Points
Pelta Command Ship (60) • Ahsoka Tano (2) • Intensify Firepower! (6) • Phoenix Home (3) = 71 Points
Hammerhead Scout Corvette (41) • Shriv Suurgav (6) • Slaved Turrets (6) = 53 Points
CR90 Corvette A (44) • Tantive IV (3) = 47 Points
Squadrons: • 2 x A-wing Squadron (22) = 22 Points
Total Points: 399
I don't think this is the best Garm Starhawk list I ran, but it was the most interesting. The Starhawk Spams con Fire commands to really make its side arcs scary, but in a pinch it can switch to a nav or engineering, and at least twice per game it can guarantee itself a token+dail engineering command and that is nice. Tantive IV is a can not seen very often but with Garm+Phoenix home+ Tantive the pelta can start with 3 tokens on it as the tantive can pass the token, and the Hammerhead gets a squadorn to at some point trigger Shriv to get rid of something annoying. it's odd, but fun nonetheless, and not too shabby either. lastly my personal Favorite list Starhawk Rouges.
Starhawk Battleship Mark II (150) • Kyrsta Agate (20) • Walex Blissex (5) • Expert Shield Tech (5) • Local Fire Control (4) • Quad Laser Turrets (5) • High-Capacity Ion Turbines (8) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • Unity (10) = 214 Points
GR-75 Medium Transports (18) • Toryn Farr (7) • Comms Net (2) • Bright Hope (2) = 29 Points
GR-75 Medium Transports (18) • Hondo Ohnaka (2) • Bomber Command Center (8) = 28 Points
Squadrons: • Lando Calrissian (23) • Ketsu Onyo (22) • Wedge Antilles (19) • Dutch Vander (16) • Hera Syndulla (28) • Nym (21) = 129 Points
Total Points: 400
Okay so this list is all about getting salvo to trigger, it's a bit of a do or die strategy, but I find it does far more often than it dies. In order to win by really any significant margin your opponent has to go after your Starhawk meaning you will be getting a lot of value out of your salvo tokens. With Agate Blissex Unity and Expert Shield techs you are going to be one tough cookie to crack. Hide Nym in an obstacle near the Starhawk and when the time is right pop hondo for that squadron token to push Nym onto a big target with Toryn and BCC you will likely get you blue crit to follow it up with a deadly double arc from your starhawk. The rest of the squadrons will do some work holding of opposing squadrons, or just getting in some more damage on ships to help the starhawk out. If your opponent decides to ignore your squadrons and go after the Hawk EST will help mitigate that damage and with Quad Laser Turrets and Unity you can get some pretty consistent damage back at them. I really like this list and it really strong I have run it 5 times and have never lost a game with it.
So Starhawk its a good ship its main roll is to get in there and double arc and put the big hurt on you opponents biggest pieces. that's a bit of an oversimplification, but it can go toe two with any big ship and come out on top even an SSD. it's just a big tanky dice chucking machine, its biggest weakness is having only one copy of its respective defense tokens and no access to ECM, but there are plenty of ways to reconcile that. How have you been using the starhawk and what are some of your favorite builds? Until next time have a great week.
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