The Consular

We have wrapped up all the ships and commanders for the CIS so for the next little bit we are going to be pretty much exclusively coving the remaining republic ships and commanders and I do have quite a few to get to. In this week’s AMM we are going to be looking at the Consular the republics corvette.

The consular comes in the Armed cruiser variant and the charger c70 in essence one is a black die ship the other is a red die ship. The armed cruiser costs 37 points the charger 45 points so an 8 point difference. Let’s look at the one that most people are probably going to be taking the Charger c70.

This ship feels very similar to the rebellions CR-90 however with some subtle differences the side arc is a bit wider and has two reds over the CR-90 red and blue. This makes it easier for this ship to use more of a broadside type tactic while still getting use out of its front arc. The CR-90 is a bit the opposite it wants to more or less point its front at you while still getting used from its side arc. It’s a subtle difference, but while playing with them that is kind of the feel that I got. Not to mention it has a red and a blue out the back and with the way its side arc is shaped it can get used while running away. This can make the charger’s get-away attacks a bit more punchy than one might think.

The charger only has one evade defense token this can make taking the Turbolaser Reroute Circuits to upgrade a bit less appealing, then on the rebel CR-90; not saying you should never take it, but just know the cost of spending your single evade is a higher cost then the CR-90 spending one of its evades. Linked Turbolaser Towers is always a good pick on a charger. Spinal or Enhanced Armament are also good choices, particularly when running them with an Intensify Firepower fleet command. If you are running Intensify Firepower you should consider running this slot empty you will have a very cheap very efficient ship, you could also put on the Radiant VII title to help power Intensify. Clone Captain Zak loves these ships getting in a few extra dice out the side over the course of the game can really add up. Also, Chargers are a good cheap option for access to reserved hanger decks if you are running some torrents. The Charger is a great option it will play a lot like a CR-90 but is better at skirting around the table while still being very effective.

The Armed Cruiser is cheaper, but if it wants to get work done in combat it will need to get into close range. Another problem is that it has no way of getting re-rolls so that does really hurt this ship. The Armed Cruiser does have two blue die anti-squadron however and that can be a massive amount of damage to enemy squadrons over the course of a game and at 37 points that alone I think makes this ship worth considering. Normally you have to go through squads to get to ships so if you plan this guy right you will get your flack on squadrons one turn and then set yourself up for a close-range attack on a ship the next turn. I won’t say you have to bring Intisify Firepower to make them work, but if you don’t you will want at least a con-fire token banked for your big attack.

Because you don’t have any re-rolls to fish for crits you are always going to be taking External Racks on this ship. These ships can be very very mean Clone Captian Zak also likes to be on these guys with a con fire dial Zak and racks you could dump 6 dice out your side 1 blue 5 blacks, but if you have the double arc and you should drop the racks out the front then con fire and Zak out the side will really put a lot of stress on defense tokens. I do think it is worth mentioning that you do have a defensive retrofit and I decided I had to at least try it out so I loaded one all the way up.

Consular Armed Cruiser (37)

• Expert Shield Tech (5)

• Medical Team (1)

• Reinforced Blast Doors (5)

• External Racks (4)

= 52 Points

So this guy was interesting I used him as a treat as well external racks make them a little scary you don’t want to let your opponent get the shot if you can help it. With this build, I was able to draw a lot of fire, and evade with expert shield tech, and the contain makes it pretty easy to get blast doors to work well, and my opponent had to push far more resources into killing it than they normally would have it did die but did soak up a good amount of damage that some of my other ships would have taken otherwise. I had mixed feeling about it it is pricy but way more durable than it should be. It was at least interesting enough that I want to try it again sometime.

I was also able to use this as a support/finisher ship where it hid behind the lines pass off shields to the big combatants then when into finished off a ship and get out of dodge it worked pretty well in all honesty and was probably the best experience I have had with projection experts.

Consular Armed Cruiser (37)

• Projection Experts (6)

• External Racks (4)

= 47 Points

At the end of the day with Radian VII this ship is the cheapest option for the republic to take a fleet support upgrade and that might be all the justification that you need, to take one of these guys. A fleet support ship that can lay down some pretty solid flak support for squadrons. I guess what I am saying is don’t sleep on the armed cruiser it can be deceptively effective even in a combat role.

Lastly, we can cover swift Return the other Consular title. It is very good it is in essence a free nav command that is limited to ether yaw or speed if you are at distance 1-2 of an obstacle. I honestly like this more on the armed cruiser while it’s still great on the charger the armed cursor can use this to roll in slow and hide behind obstacles then use it to jump in or get the clicks it needs to set up that double arc and deliver a devastating payload.

The Consular is a very good ship and with its two variations, it feels like one is kinda like a CR-90 and the other a raider. This gives the ship a lot of really great flexibility and many different roles to play. Because of this, it will be a very prevalent ship in republic fleets, and whatever you feel your list is missing the Consular can probably do that. What do you think of the Consular? How have you used it effectively? Until next time have a great week.