Star Wars Armada - Wave VII News

Link: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2017/8/25/the-grand-admiral-arrives/


The Grand Admiral Arrives:
Announcing the Seventh Wave of Expansions for Star Wars: Armada



"I will start my operations here, and pull the rebels apart piece by piece. They'll be the architects of their own destruction."
    –Grand Admiral Thrawn


Two of the Star Wars galaxy's greatest admirals join the heated fleet battles of Star Wars: Armada with the game's seventh wave of expansions.

Even as its new ships, squadrons, and upgrades blast their way onto the battlefield, Armada Wave VII provides two new commanders—one Rebel and one Imperial—who are both more than capable of leading their forces to victory.

Rebel players gain the services of the blunt and pragmatic Admiral Raddus, whose leadership ensured the Rebellion successfully retrieved the Death Star plans from Scarif, and fans of the Galactic Empire can savor the long-awaited arrival of Grand Admiral Thrawn!

• Chimaera Expansion Pack
  
• Profundity Expansion Pack
  

Perfecting the Art of War

"I studied the art of war, worked to perfect it."
    –Grand Admiral Thrawn


In Armada, you assume the role of fleet admiral, serving with either the Imperial Navy or the fledgling Rebellion. As your fleet engages your opponent's, it's your job to ensure your ships and squadrons are all provided the right commands. You direct their movement. You balance your defensive and offensive tactics against your need to complete objectives. And all of this means planning multiple steps in advance.

The Star Destroyers, Mon Calamari star cruisers, and other capital ships at the heart of Armada aren't quick and nimble like the starfighter squadrons that buzz all about them. They're massive, lumbering vessels that need time to adjust. Getting them into the right position at the right time requires anticipating your opponent's moves, as does making sure your crews are ready to take the right actions.

This is where Thrawn comes in. The striking, blue-skinned Chiss is almost unparalleled as a tactician. Even without the powers of the Force, he's able to anticipate his opponents' moves, using his studies of their history, philosophy, and art. He aims for an understanding of his opponents' deepest desires, using it to play upon their weaknesses, and he's patient enough to allow his foes some smaller victories in order to win the larger war.



In short, Thrawn is, in many ways, the epitome of what every Armada admiral aspires to be, and his inclusion in your Imperial fleet ensures that you'll immediately reap the rewards of his foresight.

And Thrawn's foresight is just the beginning of all that Wave VII has to offer!


Chimaera Expansion Pack

In addition to the new Grand Admiral Thrawn commander card, the Chimaera Expansion Pack introduces a new Imperial Star Destroyer, adorned with Thrawn's stylized chimaera, two Mandalorian Gauntlet squadrons, six ship cards, two squadron cards, and seventeen other upgrade cards.



The first thing you might notice about the new Star Destroyer from the Chimaera Expansion Pack is that it looks different from that in the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Expansion Pack. This is thanks to its distinctive chimaera design. But the physical, aesthetic differences between the two miniatures only begin to hint at the differences in the strengths that they bring to your fleet.

Where the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Expansion Pack gives the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer and the Imperial II-class Star Destroyer, the Chimaera Expansion Pack gives us three copies each of two different refits, the Imperial Star Destroyer Kuat Refit and the Imperial Star Destroyer Cymoon 1 Refit.



Both these Star Destroyer refits feature new upgrade bars that may lead to significant changes in the way you fly your fleet. Maybe you'll only make a minor tactical adjustment. Maybe you'll adjust your entire strategy to accommodate the Cymoon 1 Refit's ability to equip any of the expansion's three Fleet Command upgrades. Maybe you won't even take advantage of the new upgrade potential, but simply by gaining the option, you place yourself in a better position to respond to your foes' tactics, and make it harder for them to anticipate yours.


Profundity Expansion Pack

"This is Admiral Raddus of the Rebel Alliance. All squadron leaders report in."
    –Admiral Raddus


Where the Imperials gain the Grand Admiral and a number of other characters from Star Wars Rebels in the Chimaera Expansion Pack, the Profundity Expansion Pack offers the Rebels access to the MC75 star cruiser, Admiral Raddus, and Jyn Erso, as well as other notable characters from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

All told, the expansion allows you to field its hulking MC75 cruiser miniature using either of two ship cards, then affords you a wide range of tactical adjustments with its fourteen upgrade cards.



With its punishing arsenal, powerful shields, and resilient hull, the MC75 cruiser is bound to make a massive impact upon any battle in which it takes part, but it's only to be expected that certain commanders may use the ship more effectively than others. And there's likely no commander better suited to making sure your MC75 cruiser hits for maximum impact than Admiral Raddus .

As in Rogue One, when his decision to support Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso drew the full strength of the Rebel fleet to Scarif, Admiral Raddus has a habit of bringing reinforcements into your Armada battles, just when it looks like everything's going wrong. At the beginning of the game, Raddus can designate any friendly ship other than his to be set aside, and until that ship finally arrives, your forces will be outnumbered and outmatched. Even if you and your opponent haven't yet begun trading shots, you'll still have forfeited a valuable action with which you could have been baiting your opponent's ships out of position.

But while your forces might temporarily suffer from the absence of any ship Raddus sets aside, they'll rejoice when it arrives. Since it can come in at distance "1" of any friendly ship—and since it can face any direction when it arrives—you'll be able to bring it onto the battlefield wherever it can function most effectively.

You could bring an MC30c Torpedo Frigate out of hyperspace in a position that it's already able to catch its target with a full complement of attack dice. You could bring the Tantive IV into the battle in position to assign an engineering token to your damaged MC80 Battle Cruiser . Or you could fly Admiral Raddus aboard the Profundity , race your CR90 Corvette A around the enemy's flank, and bring both your  Mon Karren and Garel's Honor into the battle positioned at your enemy's back.




Tactical Genius

Capital ships, commanders, and far-sighted strategies. These are the heart of Star Wars: Armada. They fuel every missile barrage and every burst of cannon fire you enjoy, they propel you toward your objectives.

With its new ships and commanders—and with all the new far-sighted strategies they can empower—Armada Wave VII marks a thunderous return to the core of the action.

Look for the new ships, squadrons, commanders, and other upgrades from Armada Wave VII (SWM29, SWM30) to arrive at retailers everywhere in the fourth quarter of 2017!

Link zur Quelle


"I will start my operations here, and pull the rebels apart piece by piece."
    –Grand Admiral Thrawn

Fans of the Galactic Empire are going to enjoy Star Wars: Armada Wave VII.

As we announced in August, Wave VII consists of two starship expansions—one for the Rebellion and one for the Empire. Both are bringing brilliant new commanders to your Star Wars fleet battles. The Rebels gain the services of Admiral Raddus, who arrives with his flagship, the Profundity, in the Profundity Expansion Pack. The Imperials, meanwhile, gain the legendary, blue-skinned tactician Grand Admiral Thrawn .


Arriving as part of the Chimaera Expansion Pack, which features a repainted and retrofitted Imperial-class Star Destroyer as well as two Mandalorian Gauntlet squadrons, the Grand Admiral is undoubtedly the star of the wave. A fan-favorite villain who first came to life in Timothy Zahn's classic novel, Heir to the Empire, Thrawn recently made his way to Star Wars Rebels, where he served as a formidable opponent to Hera Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus, and the rest of the show's namesake Rebels.

Given Thrawn's reputation as a master strategist, many Armada fans felt it was inevitable that he would appear in the game, and they were right. But it's not just the fact that he arrives in Wave VII that's noteworthy; the way he's incorporated into the game is just as notable. Grand Admiral Thrawn is one of two cards in Wave VII designed by the game's World Champions.

Before we get to the rest of the wave, then, we're going to honor these World Champions and their contributions to the wave. Soon, we'll hear from 2015 World Champion Jonathan Reinig about his card design, but today we begin our Wave VII previews with the story behind Grand Admiral Thrawn, as told by 2016 World Champion Josiah Burkhardsmeier.


You can watch the full coverage of Josiah's victory in the 2016 Star Wars: Armada World Championships by following this link to our YouTube page.

2016 World Champion Josiah Burkhardsmeier on Designing Grand Admiral Thrawn

How do you capture the essence of one of the greatest and most iconic Star Wars admirals? This was the challenge I faced when planning Grand Admiral Thrawn’s entrance into Star Wars: Armada. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was a challenge I even wanted to undertake, so we’ll get back to that question later…

When the developers approached me about the card I wanted to design for winning the 2016 Armada World Championships, the first question I asked myself was, “What type of card do I want to make?”

I looked at the meta at that time and thought about filling holes that existed. I thought about creating a card that would mesh well with my playstyle. However, whenever I approached the design from a purely mechanical standpoint, I couldn't find a theme or character I loved that fit my mechanics. I thought my ideas were cool, but I really wanted to create something special and iconic, not some generic turbolaser.

I decided that to be satisfied, I would need to design a character card, which most likely meant an officer or admiral. I started asking myself a different question, “If you could choose anyone, what iconic Star Wars character would you choose?” Here, my first thought was Thrawn, but I wasn’t sure if FFG would allow me to pick him. I thought through some other character ideas, but I couldn’t shake the desire to at least ask about Thrawn.

The Essence of Thrawn

Now I was, once again, asking myself that opening question. How could I capture Thrawn's essence?

I needed to create an ability that did service to the greatest strategic mind Star Wars has ever seen. What makes Thrawn Thrawn? The ability had to feel like Thrawn. It needed to require strategic foresight and reward the ability to plan for the future. Thrawn’s ability to coordinate his forces meant his game ability needed to be fleet-wide. The fact that Thrawn could take whatever forces he was given and use them to maximum effectiveness meant his ability needed to work for all fleet types.

I had to consider other factors, as well. There were already numerous lower-costed commanders that were very effective. Admiral Motti , Moff Jerjerrod , and Admiral Sloane are all well under thirty fleet points. On the other hand, the higher-costed commanders have seen less play on the Imperial side of the table. I wanted Thrawn to be a viable Commander at more than thirty fleet points. His ability needed to be strong, wihout forcing a price that would limit his playability.

Thrawn's playability was another reason I wanted his ability to fit any fleet. The last thing I wanted was for Thrawn to be a commander who only saw play in a few competitive archetypes; it just wouldn’t fit the Grand Admiral.

I decided the best way to accomplish all my goals would be through commands. Commands are already fleet-wide, and we plan them in advance. Taking that planning a step further, to a place no other commander had, felt like Thrawn.

[imghttps://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/11/10/11105e15-18dc-4ccb-9666-de44384f16e1/swm29_thrawn-dials.png[/img]
The command dials assigned to your ships are locked into place and order, sometimes as many as three deep, but the dials assigned to Grand Admiral Thrawn are available whenever you need them most. Here, an Imperial Star Destroyer reveals a squadron command when its squadrons have already been destroyed, but Thrawn allows it to gain the navigate command it so desperately needs.

Taken together, these things led us to the final design for Grand Admiral Thrawn, and an ability that forces choices in setup, encouraging that element of planning the whole fight before the battle begins. Also, since ships can’t double up on the same command, Thrawn demands that you take extra care when setting your command dials for your ships so you get maximum value from your fleet-wide free command.

Some players may choose to give Thrawn three copies of the same command to simplify their interaction with the fleet, but these players miss out on the tactical flexibility that Thrawn can provide. Building more ships into your fleet makes every one of Thrawn's commands more effective, but those commands are typically more powerful on larger ships. There are many choices, but playing Thrawn is fairly easy, and he is a solid addition to any fleet. Still, cunning commanders will soon see there is plenty of room to master his use.
Bringing Thrawn to Life

Once I settled on the basics, I wrote up several variations for Thrawn's ability and sent them to FFG, along with my request to be allowed the honor of designing Thrawn. I didn’t hear back for a little while, and during that time Wave VII started development. Lo and behold, Thrawn was included in the wave. But his ability wasn’t one of those I had sent. It turned out he was already in development. I was a little disappointed, but I had avoided getting my hopes up too high. It was back to the drawing board for me…

Then, a few weeks later I got an email. It said that the developers had decided to give my idea for Grand Admiral Thrawn a shot. I was incredibly thrilled! As testing went on the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Soon the final decision was made to use my idea for Grand Admiral Thrawn, the result of which I’m so excited to see released into the wild!

And as a way to showcase the incredible tactical flexibility that Thrawn and his flagship Chimaera can give a fleet, I've submitted a sample fleet that I’d love to play.

   

• Imperial Star Destroyer Kuat Refit with Grand Admiral Thrawn, Ordnance Experts , Electronic Countermeasures , External Racks , Intensify Firepower , and Chimaera
     
  
• Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer with Ordnance Experts, Engine Techs , Assault Proton Torpedoes , and Demolisher
     
  
• Quasar Fire I-class Cruiser-Carrier , Flight Controllers , and Pursuant
     
  
• Gozanti-class Cruisers with Comms Net
     
  
• TIE Defender Squadron
     
  
• TIE Defender Squadron
     
  
• Valen Rudor
     
  
• "Mauler" Mithel
  

Total Fleet Points: 398



This fleet packs an overwhelming amount of firepower aboard the ordnance-toting Chimaera, and has the command flexibility needed to bring it all to bear on its target.

To bring this fleet to battle, I’d probably have Thrawn take two navigate commands and a repair command. This leaves my ships free to concentrate firepower or repair during the engagement, while Thrawn provides the navigational ability to get on target. If I take damage earlier in the game than anticipated, Thrawn can give me that engineering command while I wait for the ones on my command stacks to reach the top.

There's more flexibility within the fleet, as well. Intensify Firepower will help boost the damage on my attacks, and—if needed—Chimera can swap the card out for another Fleet Command that better suits my needs. The Pursuant can even use its Title and Thrawn to resolve three different commands in one turn—in addition to whatever benefit my current Fleet Command is giving me. The ability to adapt to a changing battlefield often means the difference between victory or defeat, and this fleet—with Thrawn—can provide that flexibility.

Acknowledgements

Designing Grand Admiral Thrawn has been one of the greatest experiences in my board gaming life, and I’m proud to share him with the Armada community!

You are all such an incredible group of people, many of whom I’ve had the pleasure to meet in person. Thank you for making our community what it is today!

I’d also like to thank all the playtesters who helped get Thrawn ready for release—without you this wouldn’t have happened! And last, but not least, I’d like to thank Michael Gernes and Sam Stewart, the lead designers on Wave VII. Thank you so much for all your hard work and for allowing me the opportunity to design such an iconic card!

Governor Pryce

"They fight so hard to gain so little."
    –Governor Arihnda Pryce

The Chimaera Expansion Pack for Star Wars: Armada is notable for many reasons.

The expansion marks the arrival of Grand Admiral Thrawn.  It introduces a new Imperial Star Destroyer with an alternate paint scheme—designed to match Thrawn's signature Chimaera. It allows Imperial players to field a pair of Mandalorian Gauntlet squadrons. And as we revealed in our first preview of the expansion, it introduces a pair of Champion cards—designed by 2016 World Champion Josiah Burkhardsmeier and 2015 World Champion Jonathan Reinig.

One of the greatest parts of winning the Armada World Championship is earning the chance to work with the game's developers to design a card and make a lasting impact on the game you love. Now that we've already seen what Josiah Burkhardsmeier had to say about the privilege of introducing Grand Admiral Thrawn to the game, we turn our attention to Jonathan Reinig and the card that he hopes will shake up the metagame and bring back the big Imperial ships—the really big ships…


2015 Armada World Champion Jonathan Reinig shakes hands with his opponent during the final match. You can watch the match on our YouTube channel.

2015 World Champion Jonathan Reinig on Governor Pryce
When my swarm of A-wings led me to victory in the 2015 Star Wars: Armada World Championships, I was overjoyed. But if I am completely honest, it was not the way I wanted to win.

Prior to Worlds, I had dreamed of marching a giant Imperial Star Destroyer across the table and watching waves of enemy ships break against its shields as its turbolaser batteries ended their feeble attempts to stop me. Sadly, however, the more I put the Imperial Star Destroyer on the table, the more I found my attempts to fly it to victory more frustrating than impressive.

With opponents bringing more and more activations to the table, ships like the Imperial Star Destroyer that required large fleet-point investments simply became less and less practical. I would be forced to activate my Star Destroyer early in the round, having run out of other options, and then I would watch as the Rebellion's Corvettes snaked around and past me.


The iconic Imperial Star Destroyer.

In more than one game, I was forced to watch my opponent's Demolisher activate last in a round, fly right in front of my Imperial Star Destroyer, fire, and then activate first in the next round, firing again and running away. My opponents were almost mocking my big ships in a way—playing chicken like that.

When I won Worlds, I knew I wanted my card effect to prevent the Imperials from suffering these kinds of insults in the future. The Star Destroyer was a massively imposing force in the movies, and I wanted it to invoke the same awe and fear on the table.
A Large Impact on the Value of Large Ships

Luckily enough, after I expressed this opinion, the design team did an amazing job of helping me create a card that really supports the types of ships I've always wanted to fly— Governor Pryce.


Governor Pryce may clock in at a monstrous seven fleet points, but she still feels fairly comfortable aboard a ship into which you are already sinking over one-hundred points. She takes up the officer slot, which is conveniently a slot currently available to all medium and large ships in the Imperial fleet, and the fact that she is restricted to medium and large ships means she won't add yet another tool to the Demolisher.

Far more interesting, though, is what Governor Pryce can do for the game's larger ships. In short, she makes all my dreams of big activations viable.

It's true that she forces you to showcase what round her ship will activate last, but this is a price I’m willing to pay for the ability to get all of the information possible before committing to a course. The payoff is that by activating last in a round, you will have forced your opponent to play out his entire hand, moving some of his ships into the danger zone before you activate. This gives you the chance to bring your Star Destroyer into the fight just the way you want them.


With some clever positioning, the Imperial player leaves the Rebels nowhere to go but straight into his Star Destroyer's main battery!

And if you have bid deep enough to become first player, you may even get to live the dream of activating your Star Destroyer last in one round, and then first in the next. Not many ships can withstand a Star Destroyer's full-strength one-two punch!

Governor Pryce in Action
Currently there are a ton of ships that could benefit from Governor Pryce. Activating last in a round with a heavy hitter is an extremely strategic tool.

The most obvious spot to stick Pryce would have been the Demolisher. Being able to guarantee it acts last in the round would have meant you no longer had to "out-activate" your opponent; however, Governor Pryce's restriction to medium and large ships ensures that this isn’t going to be a problem. Guaranteeing a player's ability to move the Demolisher last is not something I felt the game needed.

My favorite officer slot to fill with Governor Pryce is on the Imperial Star Destroyer. This fits with my original intent, and when I build a fleet, the officer slot is generally one of the last slots I worry about filling. The defensive retrofit, weapons, team, and turbolaser slots all generally rank far higher on my priority list. This means Governor Pryce's opportunity cost is rather negligible.

One build I look forward to trying out is an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer with Governor Pryce, Gunnery Team,   Spinal Armament,  and Leading Shots.


Properly positioned to activate last in a round, this punishing Star Destroyer can fire its forward battery armament at two separate targets trapped in its front arc. Then—if you are truly a master of positioning—you can activate it again in the next round to unload against the same two targets, presumably obliterating them.

Still, this isn't the only use for Governor Pryce. Another excellent place to put her would be aboard a Quasar Fire I-class Cruiser/Carrier with Expanded Hangar Bay,   Flight Controllers,  and the Squall   Title. Starting far outside of your enemies' threat range, this ship could pounce at the end of the turn to direct a large number of elite Imperial squadrons against your opponent—after he has lost his ability to counter your assault with his fighter activations.

There are plenty of other ways to use Governor Pryce, too, and I look forward to seeing her in action. I'm delighted to have had the chance to work with the design team, and I hope she'll help make the Empire's largest ships as brutally effective in the game as they were always meant to be!

Wave VII Is Coming
Armada Wave VII is coming, and it's going to introduce a host of exciting new tactics and strategies for both the Galactic Empire and Rebel Alliance. Without a doubt, the Champion cards from the Chimaera Expansion Pack are bound to play a prominent role in your upcoming battles—as players everywhere look for ways to incorporate Grand Admiral Thrawn and Governor Pryce into their Imperial fleets.

What else will we find in the Chimaera Expansion Pack and Profundity Expansion Pack? We'll take a closer look in our next previews, so stay tuned!

Profundity

“I say we fight!”
  –Admiral Raddus, Rogue One

As we saw chronicled in Rogue One, the Rebel assault on the Imperial installation of Scarif was integral to the later events of A New Hope. Without the courage and heroism of Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, and the other Rebels, the Death Star plans would never have been recovered. And without the Rebel fleet arriving in orbit above Scarif and engaging in a desperate space battle with the Imperial garrison fleet, the Rebels sacrificed on the planet below would have lost their lives for nothing.

Throughout this battle, the Rebel fleet was commanded by Admiral Raddus in his MC75 cruiser, Profundity. Now, with the Profundity Expansion Pack for Star Wars: Armada, you’ll be able to bring your own MC75 cruisers into your Rebel fleets! Today, we’ll take a closer look at just what you might expect to find within, as you expand your Rebel armadas with these new Mon Calamari ships.

You can pre-order the Profundity Expansion Pack at your local retailer or online through our webstore today!



Cruiser Assault

The MC75 cruisers belonged to the first generation of warships launched by the Mon Calamari as they escaped from the Imperial occupation of their oceanic homeworld. Converted from passenger craft and even civic structures, these vessels were nonetheless armed with a fierce mix of turbolasers, ion cannons, and proton torpedoes. Among the first of this class was the Profundity, the flagship of Admiral Raddus and the bastion of the Rebel fleet.

MC75 cruisers enter your games of Star Wars: Armada with two distinct ship cards: the MC75 Armored Cruiser and the MC75 Ordnance Cruiser. Perhaps uniquely for the Rebel fleet, the front hull armaments for the MC75 cruiser are nearly as powerful as its flank armaments—five attack dice from the front and from both flanks. It’s up to you to determine which configuration of the MC75 is best for your fleet—and how you’ll use these ships’ stacked range of available upgrades!


This Expansion Pack comes with a new commander, who opens the door to cunning strategic choices, starting before you even deploy your fleets. If Admiral Raddus is the one leading your ships into battle, you may enter the game at a disadvantage in exchange for better positioning later. Before you deploy your fleet at the beginning of the game, Raddus lets you choose another friendly ship and set that ship aside. Then, at the start of any round, you can deploy that ship close to a friendly ship, bringing it straight into the heat of battle and into perfect position to concentrate fire on the weakest part of your opponent’s formation. Essentially, you’re holding one of your ships back, bringing it out of hyperspace at the perfect moment to change the tide of battle with an unexpected attack.


Your attacks become more powerful when you have Caitken and Shollan occupying the Weapons Team upgrade slot on a ship like the MC75 cruiser. These Mon Calamari aides to Admiral Raddus can be used to reroll any number of dice of a single color when you’re making an attack. Since the MC75 cruiser boasts three dice of the same color from its front and flank hull zones, you’ll always get good value for using Caitken and Shollan to make your attacks with this cruiser more effective.


Alternatively, you may devote both your Weapons Team and Offensive Retrofit upgrade slots to a single individual— Jyn Erso, a hero of the Rebellion. Provided you spend a Squadron command dial or token, you can target an enemy ship with Jyn Erso to shut down your opponent’s plans with raid tokens. Each raid token matches a single command, and so long as a ship has a raid token, it cannot execute any commands that match the raid token! Jyn Erso lets you issue two raid tokens to the targeted ship, potentially hamstringing your opponent’s plans to repair his ship or concentrate firepower. What’s more, if that ship had a greater tactical significance by having an objective token, Jyn Erso grants you a victory token, as her noble sacrifice brings you one step closer to winning the game.



Jyn Erso issues two raid tokens, preventing your opponent’s ship from using two of its commands.

The new ordnance included in the Profundity Expansion Pack also gives you the tools to bring down your foes. A Wide-Area Barrage may be used during any attack, spending a critical hit from a black die to spread your damage across multiple ships. Provided there’s another enemy ship or squadron at close range to the defender, you can deal that ship half of your total black hits—targeting multiple enemies and spreading your damage across the enemy fleet.


If you’re a fan of Admiral Raddus’s ability to hold one of your ships in reserve, you’ll be equally thrilled to see his flagship offers a similar effect with the Profundity title upgrade. Profundity lets you choose a small ship with a command value of one and set it aside at the beginning of the game. Then, as with Admiral Raddus, you can bring this ship into play at the start of any round, adding a new attacker to your fleet. There is, however, one notable difference when you’re using the Profundity—you may choose to unequip a Commander and an Officer from the Profundity and add them to the ship that you’ve just brought into play! Perhaps your commander’s flagship has been grievously damaged, and you’re in danger of losing some of your most important upgrades. By bringing in another ship and moving your high-ranking officers over, you’ll continue the fight without losing your key personnel.


Finally, you can build an entire fleet of Mon Calamari ships and take advantage of their similar design by equipping your “MC” ships with the Mon Calamari Exodus Fleet upgrade. Hearkening back to the Mon Calamari flight from their homeworld after Imperial occupation, you can use this upgrade to boost your ships’ engineering points and repair your fleet. So long as you have plenty of Mon Calamari ships in your fleet, it’s certainly worth considering if you want to declare that your fleet is a detachment of the Mon Calamari Exodus Fleet.


Fighting for Freedom

Admiral Raddus and the crew of the Profundity were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that the Rebellion could survive. It’s up to you to honor that commitment by adding new MC75 cruisers to your fleet.

Chimaera

“To defeat an enemy, you must know them. Not simply their battle tactics, but their history, philosophy, art.”
  –Grand Admiral Thrawn, Star Wars Rebels

Across the Galactic Civil War, the Rebel Alliance has faced few threats that can match the tactical genius of Grand Admiral Thrawn. A general with a strategic mind like no other, Thrawn has come closer than nearly any other opponent to bringing the young rebellion to its knees. With grand-scale fleet combat as Thrawn’s greatest area of expertise, it’s fitting that he now makes his debut in Star Wars: Armada!

In our earlier preview, we already saw Grand Admiral Thrawn through the eyes of World Champion Josiah Burkhardsmeier, the very player whose vision brought Thrawn to life for your games Star Wars: Armada. Today, we turn our attention to Thrawn’s devastating flagship, as presented in the Chimaera Expansion Pack!


Refitted for Maximum Firepower

Within this Expansion Pack, you’ll discover a new Imperial-class Star Destroyer, emblazoned with Grand Admiral Thrawn’s chimaera sigil. This difference is merely on the surface level, but you’ll soon discover that Thrawn’s changes to the way you build and fly your fleet go far beneath the surface. The changes start with two new types of ship cards that you can use to refit your Imperial Star Destroyers—the Kuat Refit and the Cymoon 1 Refit. Both new ship cards offer new variants of upgrade bars and attack dice that you’ll be able to use to batter the Rebellion into submission in entirely new ways.  


We’ve already looked at this expansion’s new commander: Grand Admiral Thrawn himself, but if you’re unable or unwilling to invest the number of points it requires to bring Grand Admiral Thrawn into your fleet, you can gain a fraction of the effect for a fraction of the cost with Taskmaster Grint. Like Thrawn, Taskmaster Grint rewards Imperial players for planning ahead at the start of the battle. After you deploy your fleets, you may place a command token of your choice on Taskmaster Grint—then, when you reveal a command matching that token later in the battle, you may gain a matching command token without spending the dial. If you want to expand your fleet’s ability to capitalize on a single type of command, Taskmaster Grint gives you the tools to make that command more impactful throughout the battle.


Imperial-class Star Destroyers are fearsome in battle, but few are more dangerous than the capital ships that made up Thrawn’s renowned Seventh Fleet. So long as you’re fielding multiple star destroyers, you could certainly benefit from equipping them each with the Seventh Fleet Star Destroyer title upgrade. Standard Imperial tactics and ship design dictate attacking head-on as often as possible—harnessing the triangular shape of the star destroyer to concentrate maximum laser fire on the enemy. Still, that frontal assault means you’ll likely be taking fire to your front hull. With the Seventh Fleet Star Destroyer upgrades, your ships can cover each other, reducing the damage that friendly ships take to their front hull.


You may also choose to designate one of your Imperial-class Star Destoyers as the Chimaera itself, opening the door to using your Fleet Command upgrade cards with a remarkable versatility. Not only does Chimaera give your ship a Fleet Command upgrade icon, it lets you discard an equipped Fleet Command upgrade in order to replace it with any other Fleet Command upgrade—cycling your Fleet Command upgrades mid-battle to find the one that works best for the current situation.


There are three Fleet Command upgrades in the Chimaera Expansion Pack, and each of them offers a devastating change of tactics to give you the upper hand. Entrapment Formation! gives your ships an added edge in maneuverability, changing their speed when they determine their course. Intensify Firepower! can guarantee that every friendly ship gets at least one hit during an attack. Finally, Shields to Maximum! gives you the opportunity to recover your shields and boost your ships’ defenses. Obviously, each of these Fleet Command upgrades require you to spend command tokens or discard the card if you want to use them—offering yet another reason why you might want to consider Taskmaster Grint as one of your fleet’s officers.


In addition to a repainted, refitted Imperial Star Destoyer and a true wealth of upgrades, this expansion also includes two new squadrons—the Mandalorian Gauntlet Fighters. In addition to being hard-hitting in combat, the Mandalorian Gauntlet Fighters are Rogue squadrons—meaning they can both move and attack during the Squadron phase. What’s more, they’re adept at intercepting your opponent’s commands and helping to dispel his control over his fleet.


Mandalorian Gauntlet Fighters benefit from the Assault ability—allowing them to sacrifice a hit when attacking a ship in order to give that ship a raid token. Each raid token bears a symbol matching a type of command—and while a ship has that raid token, it cannot execute that type of command! Perhaps you desperately want to stop your opponent from repairing his ship or you need to pin down his squadrons. By sending your Mandalorian Gauntlet Fighters out on assault, you can keep those commands from interfering with your own well-laid plans.

An Artful Victory

Grand Admiral Thrawn is coming to your games of Star Wars: Armada—and he isn’t coming alone. He’s bringing the whole Seventh Fleet with him, including his flagship, Chimaera. How will you use Thrawn’s tactical genius in your games?

He's going to fight


“Rogue One, may the Force be with you.”
  –Admiral Raddus, Rogue One

At the climax of Rogue One, three storylines are playing out simultaneously. One chronicles Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor’s heroic infiltration of the Imperial installation. The second follows their Rebel comrades as they wreak havoc outside the base, creating chaos and buying Jyn and Cassian the time they need to succeed. And the final storyline follows the Rebel fleet, providing orbital support and a chance to receive the transmission of the vital Death Star plans.

Those Rebel starships in orbit are under the command of Admiral Raddus—who’s coming soon to Star Wars: Armada in the Profundity Expansion Pack. Today, guest writer Chris Fritz shares his thoughts on making Raddus shine in your Rebel fleet!


Chris Fritz on Admiral Raddus

Hey everyone! Those of you that hang around the online Star Wars: Armada community may know me as Truthiness. I’m a community blogger and gamer, focusing heavily on Star Wars: Armada, and I’m really excited that Fantasy Flight Games invited me to share my ramblings to the community at large. Those of you that follow me on the Steel Command blog know that I absolutely love theorizing and breaking down new and emerging fleet builds. Today, I have the pleasure of doing so for none other than Admiral Raddus.

First, I should address a little bit of my philosophy on fleet building. While some believe that fleets should be able to function independent of their commander, I firmly believe in starting with the commander and building the fleet around that central pillar. Sure, some commanders don’t really need this: Admiral Motti and Moff Jerjerrod generally work in pretty much any fleet. Many others, however, such as Admiral Ackbar and Mon Mothma, require a little more forethought and care when constructing their fleets. Do you really want a bunch of Nebulon-B frigates or Hammerheads with Admiral Ackbar? Are you going to take nothing but big ships with Mon Mothma? Of course not! That doesn’t make them bad commanders. It just means you have to plan a little more deliberately when you’re putting together your fleet.


With that philosophy in mind, let’s take a closer look at the topic of today’s article. Above all, Admiral Raddus shatters the normal deployment paradigm of Star Wars: Armada. Deployment can be critical to deciding the outcome of a game, and getting that last ship placement can be a major deciding factor. While a fleet with multiple small units might not care, deployment often makes or breaks large ships. If you deploy in the wrong position, you can end up out of the fight for critical turns or flying straight into a trap you can’t avoid. As such, players often load up on cheap squadrons and flotillas to pad deployments. That’s where Admiral Raddus comes crashing in out of nowhere to ruin your opponent’s best laid plans. With Raddus as your commander, you essentially guarantee that you get the last deployment, but without needing the usual investment. Squadron padding for deployment’s sake becomes unnecessary. Objectives like Solar Corona or Superior Positions don’t hold as much appeal for your own objective deck.

Raddus also changes normal activation dynamics. If you’ve been around Star Wars: Armada for a while, you’ll know that the number of activations on your side is a pretty big factor. Being able to guarantee the last activation and move your ship into perfect position without worrying about return fire is crucial. When combined with first player, it can be the deciding factor in a game. Just a single sequence of last activation followed by first activation with the same ship can swing the game.

Raddus changes that normal logic for one of your ships. Up until you use his ability, Raddus guarantees you could have the last say in positioning during any one round. Your opponent may have “out-activated” you, but because the ship brought in by Admiral Raddus comes in at the beginning of a round, you get to react to that final positioning. It only works for that one turn, but as I said, that can make all the difference. As second player, you can use that advantage to force the first player to choose between his planned first activation or getting smashed in the flank by your newly arrived ship. As first player, you may not get an immediate reward for your positioning, but you certainly will in subsequent turns.

My last major consideration with Raddus is really more about what isn’t in his limitations versus what is. Namely, there is no limitation on the size of the ship you bring in from hyperspace. If you’ve played an All Out Assault in The Corellian Conflict campaign expansion, you have an idea of how incredible it can be when a large ship hyperspace-jumps into the battlefield. Raddus gives you that advantage in every time. There is a little bit of a catch-22, though. To get the most out of your new ship’s placement, you want to throw a lot of points into a large ship equipped to cause maximum pain. However, you also want a good number of other ships in your fleet to maximize the flexibility of placing your ship that hyperspace-jumps into play. You may choose to use lots of flotillas and sacrifice ship-to-ship firepower, or you may skimp on squadrons and become more vulnerable to attack from your opponent’s squadrons. Both approaches have their risks and advantages.


Admiral Raddus brings in an MC80 Star Cruiser out of hyperspace to catch the Imperial fleet in the flank!

I find the best place to start when building an Admiral Raddus fleet is with that large ship. This ship will define your approach to the rest of your fleet. One of the most potent combinations I’ve seen is an MC80 Command Cruiser loaded up with upgrades: the Defiance title, Quad Battery Turrets, Leading Shots, Electronic Countermeasures, Flight Commander, and most importantly, Rapid Launch Bays. You then load up the Rapid Launch Bays with three B-Wing squadrons and a HWK-290. All put together, it unloads an absolutely hellish burst of firepower coming out of hyperspace, with little your opponent can do to stop it.


My personal favorite is using a MC80 Battle or Star Cruiser. While it won’t match the burst potential of the Defiance combination shown above, it has a long reach combined with good speed to keep up the pressure. An MC80 Battle Cruiser with Spinal Armaments, a Gunnery Team, and Leading Shots will spit out a lot of dice over a wide area, with Raddus giving you the perfect positioning.


From there, you just need to decide what your support ships are going to be. Because you want options for the hyperspace deployment, you need a fair number of ships. I set my personal minimum at four (not including the hyperspacing ship) to maintain maximum flexibility. That likely means you’re looking at Hammerheads, CR90s, and/or GR-75s. You need at least a Hammerhead to use as your flagship. After all, you can’t use Admiral Raddus if he’s not on the board and you can’t use a flotilla as his flagship. I find the support ships that you choose often depend heavily on how competitive you want to be in the squadron game. If you don’t mind going light on squadrons, you can grab more Hammerheads and CR90s to supplement your ship-to-ship firepower. Or, if you feel the need to maximize squadrons, you’ll gravitate toward flotillas and their cheap squadron activations. Here are a couple fleet builds with some of the above considerations:

Defiance
391/400 points


MC80 Command Cruiser
- Defiance
- Flight Commander
- Engine Techs
- Rapid Launch Bays
- Electronic Countermeasures
- Quad Battery Turrets
- Leading Shots

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette
- Admiral Raddus
- External Racks

GR-75 Medium Transports
- Bomber Command Center

GR-75 Medium Transports
- Comms Net

GR-75 Medium Transports
- Bright Hope
- Toryn Farr

3x B-Wing Squadrons
1x HWK-290
2x A-Wing Squadrons
Shara Bey
Tycho Celchu

This fleet wants to play heavily in the squadron phase. Shara, Tycho and the A-wings are there to fend off enemy bombers. Meanwhile, Raddus drops in Defiance to gut the enemy fleet. This is a very “all or nothing” approach, but one that can work well if executed properly.

Liberty or Death
392/400


MC80 Battle Cruiser
- Raymus Antilles
- Gunnery Team
- Leading Shots
- Nav Team
- Spinal Armament
- XI7 Turbolasers

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette
- Admiral Raddus
- External Racks
- Task Force Antilles

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette
- External Racks
- Task Force Antilles

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette
- External Racks
- Task Force Antilles

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette
- External Racks
- Task Force Antilles

GR-75 Medium Transports
- Slicer Tools

Shara Bey
Tycho Celchu

This list illustrates the reverse approach, emphasizing ship-to-ship firepower and allocating a bare minimum of resources to manage the squadron fight. The abundance of Task Force Antilles titles will help mitigate some of the worst bomber attacks, but it still risks getting overwhelmed by squadrons. On the flip side, the MC80 Battle Cruiser brings a fearsome amount of consistent, long-range firepower that covers a large area.

Those two lists are just a small taste of the opportunities that Raddus opens up for Rebel players. Like you, I’m chomping at the bit for Wave VII, and I can sincerely say that the design team knocked this wave out of the park. Thank you all for reading!

Launch the Fleet

“This is Admiral Raddus of the Rebel Alliance.”
  –Admiral Raddus, Rogue One

The massive space battles of the Star Wars saga are one of the most iconic pieces of the series and the Galactic Civil War. From the opening shots of the Tantive IV fleeing from a massive Star Destroyer to the ground-shaking battle above Scarif in Rogue One, these conflicts and the capital ships that define them are thrilling moments. Now, you’re about to have two more monstrous capital ships, crewed by thousands, that you can bring to the space battles on your table in Star Wars: Armada.

The Chimaera Expansion Pack and the Profundity Expansion Pack are now available at your local retailer or online through our webstore!

Even more than growing the Imperial and Rebel fleets with new capital ships, the two new expansion packs of Star Wars: Armada Wave VII are focused on their commanders. Grand Admiral Thrawn and Admiral Raddus define their expansions as much as any capital ship or fighter squadron, and with these new commanders added to the ships, cards and tokens in these expansion packs, you can be certain that your interstellar battles will never be the same.



Chimaera Expansion Pack

The Chimaera is Grand Admiral Thrawn’s flagship, an Imperial Star Destroyer emblazoned with Thrawn’s stylized chimaera sigil. The aesthetic differences between the Chimaera and a standard Imperial Star Destroyer are striking, but perhaps the greatest benefits lie with the new officers that the Chimaera Expansion Pack brings to your fleet.

In an earlier preview, we invited 2016 Star Wars: Armada World Champion Josiah Burkhardsmeier to take us behind the scenes on the Grand Admiral Thrawn upgrade card that he created. Thrawn is a tactical genius, and his powers of anticipation and preparation make him incredibly dangerous—to the Rebellion or whoever else you may pit Thrawn against.


In the game, Grand Admiral Thrawn lets you prepare for any eventuality by placing three command dials facedown on his upgrade card after deploying your fleet. Then, during the game, you can reveal one of these dials at the beginning of the Ship Phase to grant an identical dial to every ship in your fleet. Provided you can correctly anticipate the commands that you’ll need once battle is joined, Grand Admiral Thrawn may be just what you need to tip the battle in your favor. You can read more about how you might use Grand Admiral Thrawn in Josiah’s guest article here!

There’s a second World Champion card to be found in the Chimaera Expansion Pack as well: none other than Governor Pryce. Designed by 2015 World Champion Jonathan Reinig, Governor Pryce also rewards your ability to plan ahead and examine the battle before it even begins. During a round of your choice, you can guarantee that Governor Pryce’s ship will activate after all other ships—potentially firing last in one round, then immediately firing again in the next round! You can find more about what Governor Pryce can bring to your fleets in Jonathan’s article here.

Of course, the Chimaera itself is also included in this expansion pack, along with a host of powerful upgrade cards and new ship cards for you to refit your Imperial Star Destroyers. In our preview, “Chimaera,” we took a closer look at the ship and upgrade cards that you can expect to find inside this expansion!



Profundity Expansion Pack

As much as the presence of Grand Admiral Thrawn shapes the Chimaera Expansion Pack, Admiral Raddus does the same for the Profundity Expansion Pack. Arriving in force aboard a hulking MC75 star cruiser, Admiral Raddus draws you into the space battle of Rogue One, with two ship cards for the MC75 cruiser and a total of fourteen upgrade cards.

In our first guest article with Chris Fritz, we explored exactly what can become possible when you include Admiral Raddus in your army. Admiral Raddus allows you to set aside one of your ships at the beginning of the game—and then have it “hyperspace jump” into the battle at a key moment. If your Imperial opponent is suddenly faced down by a massive capital ship emerging from hyperspace and bristling with turbolaser cannons, it might just be enough to break the Imperial lines and destroy your enemies in a key battle. You can read more about Admiral Raddus in Chris’s guest article here.

Admiral Raddus brings a new ship blasting out of hyperspace to catch the Chimaera in flank!



We also took the time to explore the interplay between the objectives that you choose and the ships that you bring to the battle in Star Wars: Armada with Ian Cross. Though neither the Chimaera Expansion Pack nor the Profundity Expansion Pack introduce new objectives to the game, every new capital ship that enters the game offers a new variable into your battles—and another thing to consider when you’re picking the perfect objectives to accompany your fleet. You can read more of Ian Cross’s conclusions in his guest article here!

And finally, we took the time to look into the Profundity Expansion Pack itself, taking a closer look at the options you’ll find from the two MC75 ship cards and the arsenal of upgrade cards to be found within this expansion pack. With characters like Jyn Erso arriving to support Admiral Raddus in battle, you can bring the might of the Rebel Alliance to bear against the Galactic Empire with this new capital ship. You can read more here in our article, “Profundity.”

Jump to Hyperspace

The fleet battles of Star Wars: Armada are about to heat up, with two powerful new capital ships and two brilliant commanders blasting their way onto the battlefield.