Last week we covered the rest of the upgrades in wave 10 that where exclusively for the Clone War factions. This week we will look at the generic cards that are coming in wave 10 and their impact on each faction. I also want to apologize, as there was some concerns expressed about spelling/grammar in last weeks AMM. I do try to make the content as professional as possible, however sometimes I do not have as much time to review my content as I would like particularly with my Dyslexia. I do appreciate everyone's patience and support as I continue to strive to put out weekly Armada content, and strive to overcome some of my shortcomings while doing so. With all that lets dive into these cards.
Point Defense Ion Cannons are an ion cannon upgrade that costs 4 points, and can not be put on huge ships. It lets you while defending at close range or distance 1 to force the attacker to re-roll 1 die. So first off this is great against squadrons that have potential to get a double on a single die, when this happens you will almost always get some value of of this card. When dealing with ships at close range black dice have a habit of getting hit crits, and so this can really help further mitigate being in close range particularly on ships that want to say in close range or are slow and will have trouble getting out of close range. It can be used to re-roll a crit in an attack pool to make it a little less threatening keeping Heavy Ion Emplacements or Assault Concussion Missiles from triggering.
So how will this impact each faction? Let's look at rebels first.
The MC-75 Armored Cruiser, I think is a good place to start. I have found its ion cannon slot a bit odd, however with this it adds a bit more protection from squadrons, and ships when in close range. Some may say its competing with leading shots, however I feel like leading shots on a ship with a dice pool smaller than at least 6 is just not worth it, and I like to get my dice mitigation from somewhere else, even on ships with more dice.
The MC-80 Home One both variations are a good pick I think I like it a bit more on the assault if only because fewer blue dice make things like SW-7s and HIE a bit less valuable, but the fact that you have two defensive retrofits and then this defensive option on top of it can make you into a really mean and durable ship.
MC80 Assault Cruiser(114 points) - Expert Shield Tech ( 5 points) - Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points) - Early Warning System ( 7 points) - Linked Turbolaser Towers ( 7 points) -Point Defense Ion Cannons ( 4 points) =144total ship cost
The MC-80 Liberty is a bit more of an odd choice particularly for the Star Cruiser with 4 blue dice out the front it can really utilize the ion cannon slot. However the Liberty is not the most defensible ship in the whole world, so it could be nice to have this as an option particularly against squadrons.
Lastly is the Starhawk, its slow and the Starhawk mark I particularly wants to stay in close range. This might also make the speed zero concord idea with Magnites a bit more survivable, and you can still the re-rolls from LTT and ordnance experts. Its not game breaking, but it does help that idea survive a bit longer.
For the rebels I would have to say the 75, and Home One seam to be where this card has the most potential. Lets look at the Empire.
Starting with the Victory-II, the victory-II is slow, so if it gets stuck this can help it survive a little longer, but the main issue is the Victory-II is currently way overpriced, and that would have to change before I would consider taking this card here.
ISD-I so the ion slot on the ISD-I has always been a little strange, because it only has two blues out the front, and two out the rear so its a bit hard to utilize. Point Defense Ion Cannons I think is a easy slot in on the ISD-I giving you use of the slot and also increasing durability.
Imperial I-Class Star Destroyer(110 points) - Ordnance Experts ( 4 points) - Linked Turbolaser Towers ( 7 points) - Point Defense Ion Cannons ( 4 points) =125total ship cost
I feel that the ISD-II with all its blue dice wants to utilize its ion slot in a different way, but I think the Kuat is a good candidate. While the Kuat is is one of the few ships I still like leading shots on, you don't need leading shots of the re-roll ordnance experts and/or Intensify firepower are still options. It's a playable option.
The Interdictor is really the last pick for the empire, and again you might want something different, but if you are really looking to make your Interdictor into an absolute tank of a ship this can give you even more durability. However you are probably going to be better off with a different Ion Cannon.
As of now the Republic has no ships with the ion cannon slot so this card does nothing for them, so lets look at the Separatists.
The Munificent I think is the best place for this card you are slow and having some survivability option is nice you also only have two blue dice out the front so blue crits really wont be a thing unless you have Kraken.
The only other ship that can take this for the separatists is the Providence, and again I think its a solid pick for the slot, I don't feel like I like leading shots on this ship. . You also have so few blue dice that without Kraken blue crits don't really seam like a thing. So something to boost survivability seams like a good pick if you want to feel the slot.
Point Defense Ion Cannons is a card that I think is going to be a sleeper for some people. It is going to add just that extra amount of durability ships need to survive in close quarters combat. While it seams unimpressive you might be surprised just how much damage this card can save you over the course of a game, particularly when up against squadrons.
Flak Guns, really excited for this card. First it makes all your anti-squadron dice more reliable because they are become black dice. Second while performing a salvo attack blue dice can be used at long range a black dice at medium range. So your getting extra reach with your salvo attacks, and that is just wonderful particularly for ships with black dice in their rear armament.
For Rebels the ship this helps the most is the MC-75. It has multiple ways to get access to Salvo, and personally I am not afraid to forfeit re-rolls with ordnance experts and trust in the power of intensify firepower.
MC75 Ordnance Cruiser(100 points) - Local Fire Control ( 4 points) - Flak Guns ( 3 points) - Reactive Gunnery ( 4 points) - External Racks ( 4 points) - Assault Concussion Missiles ( 5 points) =120 total ship cost
It will also be nice to give the Starhawk Mark-I some more range on its black salvo dice as well, it might be worth it on a MC 80 command cruiser for all long range dice attack dice with reactive gunnery maybe, but that's really It for the rebels.
For the Empire is pretty simple in almost all cases every ISD should ether be taking flack guns or reserved hanger deck, and I guess the ISD-I can take both. I guess if you have no way to access salvo because of how you want to upgrade your ISD you can give this a pass, but Salvo is just so good, and with flack guns each ISD other then the Kuat can chuck 3 dice a long range and the Kuat's black dice gets to be chucked at medium range, it just seams too good to pass up to me. You could also make an argument to take this on an Interdictor, however I think disposable capacitors is the better choice there.
For the republic I think its pretty easy to see where this can be used the Acclamator-I and the Venator. The Venator only has one offensive retrofit slot and its pretty competitive for that ship, but its not bad at all with the red, blue, black rear armament. The Acclamator-I has two offensive retrofits so that makes it a little easier to deal with, and it gets that one black die in its rear into more salvo attacks not huge, but still very nice.
Lastly the Separatists, its really going to be the Providence and the Recusant using this upgrade. This upgrade makes the Lucid Voice title a little less appealing, but again the offensive retrofit it a bit competitive with reserve hanger deck and b2 rocket troopers, also expanded hanger bay.
For the Recusant getting extra range from the light destroyers black die is always nice, and the support destroyer has two offensive retrofit slots so getting some extra range in there is not terrible, however I think its unnecessary.
For what it is flak guns is a nice upgrade and I think its going to increase the competitiveness of the offensive retrofit slot, and I think that is a good thing.
Our Last Generic upgrade is DBY-827 Heavy Turbolaser, say that 5 times fast.
At first Glance this seams kind of underwhelming while performing a salvo attack you can change one die to a face with a crit icon. First its only 3 points, and yes it does take up a turbolaser slot so that is a bit of a drawback, but if you remember the face of a black die with a crit on it also has a hit and with the other new upgrade flak guns, getting black dice into a salvo attack is much easier then before, this card makes ships with black dice in their rear arc and salvo really scary to shoot at.
Rebels have extra synergy with this card with Agate officer who lets a ship on a red or blue crit ready a defense token, and her crit effect can be used on a salvo, with DBY-827 Heavy Turbolaser you get officer Agates effect as a sure thing, I an not 100% sure what build would want to utilize this, but it seams like it has some kind of niche to fill.
Again the MC-75 Armored cruiser can get some extra punch from this guy, as it has one black die in its rear, another good candidate for this is the MC-30, its turbolaser and defensive retrofit slot have been underutilized, but maybe a DBY-827 heavy turbolaser and reactive gunnery could be a thing? Also the Starhawk Mark I, I am a bit more hesitate here as I think the turbolaser on the Starhawk is a bit more valuable then the MC-30's and the MC-75's, but its an option. There are plenty of other ships that could take this like the MC-80, however I think to make it worth giving up your turbolaser slot you would likely need to pair it with Agate officer maybe always bracing the reading the brace with an ECM, reactive gunnery combo on the assault version.
For the Empire if you bring Intensify Firepower, I think paring this with reactive gunnery is great on a Arquitens light cruiser. This ship is unfortunately unable to take flak guns, but it can make that salvo attack a bit more scary at close range. There is really not much else going for DBY-827 heavy turbolaser on the Imperial side of things.
For the Republic DBY-872 heavy turbolaser wants to be on the Venator and the Acclamator I just like flak guns, its just more damage from your salvo attacks for 3 points so its nice. It really comes down to what you need in the turbolaser slot, but with Intensify Firepower not available to the republic every turn I think it is at the very least an interesting option.
For the Separatist I think this is mostly about the Provenance dreadnought, because it has two turbolaser slots this is a good second pick with its black die in the rear. However again Intensify Firepower on the carrier you could probably justify taking the DBY-872 heavy turbolaser. The Recusant light destroyer can also make good use out of the DBY-872 heavy turbolaser in the right build.
The DBY-872 heavy turbolaser is a card with a bit of a niche but it excels at that niche. Its probably the card that intrigues me the most in the whole set, and I am looking forward to trying it in all of the factions.
That it just 3 cards, but I think they have the ability to be impactful on each faction. I think the MC-75 is the ship that gets the biggest boost form these upgrades, I can honestly see the Armored Cruiser ruining all 3 of these upgrades. I am very excited for this wave to drop and I hope we get a release update soon from AMG. Until next time have a great week!
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