It’s been eventful here at Holo HQ!
Stars aligned so that H.P. could transition to working full-time for Holo Writing, which means that you’re about to see many more updates, contests, giveaways, appearances, and yes, BOOKS.
Speaking of which, The Wizard’s Way is well on its way to being released! Comments from beta readers have come in, edits have been made, layout is complete, and now all we’re waiting for is that final glorious proof copy. Once we’ve affirmed its perfection, it’ll be time to release the Steelgore!
We love all our books, of course, but we’re especially excited to bring you this one.
Though Jacob contributed a lot of content, The Wizard’s Way is primarily H.P.’s weird, hyperactive brainchild, and in it, you’ll see a face of the Holoverse that you’ve never seen before. Namely the face involving fire-breathing steel lions, pug butlers, bear libraries, and lots of general mayhem. But the latter is nothing new. 😛
And hey, if you’d like to receive an update when the novel releases, be sure to join our mailing list!
Fantasy
The Wizard’s Way – Cover Reveal!
Well, it’s been an adventurous month, but it takes more than a malfunctioning eyeball and a collapsed lung to stop me, which means that Draft #4 of The Wizard’s Way is DONE!
Our next step is to see what our beta readers have to say, apply their advice in the next round of edits, and then drop this bad boy – okay, bad but well-intentioned; Chaucey is complicated – on September 1st!
Who’s Chaucey, you ask? Read on to find out—and then to get your first official look at the cover art!
J. Chaucey Thatcher has a monster inside him, but this is the least of his worries.
A murderer prowls the Iron City, slaying inventors. An angry mob storms close behind, blaming wizards. Any they find, they burn alive.
Chaucey is an inventor. He is also secretly a wizard, and the only person who can help with this secret was just murdered before his very eyes.
But when it comes to investigating, Chaucey is as dogged as his best friend is dog. With the help of his loyal pug butler, his sparky (almost? maybe?) girlfriend, and a sleuth of rambunctious bears, he has vowed to unravel the mystery of these murders and save the city from the grips of terror.
But the monster inside him burns for escape.
Will he save the Iron City? Or will the monster destroy it first?
And now, drum roll please…
…
…
…
Though really, forget drum rolls. Let’s bring out the whole band for our illustrator, Mandy O’Brien (aka Painted-Bees on DeviantArt, Tumblr, and Twitter).
I’d been following her art for years on Deviant Art (I mean LOOK AT THIS), so when I started pondering illustrators for a colorful fantasy adventure with two civilizations of talking animals, I didn’t have to ponder long. Her vibrant style combined with the animated quality of her art meshed perfectly with the world I’d pictured in the novel, and looking at these illustrations is like looking at characters that walked right out of my brain onto a computer screen!
Read about them this Fall!
Monsters. Murder. Swashbuckling Pug Butlers.
Coming September 2016.
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The Story of Owen – Book Review
In an alternate version of the present day, the world has a dragon problem. Dragons are drawn to the carbon emitted by burning fuel, which means that wherever there’s a fire, a car, or any sort of industry, a dragon will come looking to feast. Fortunately, for as long as there have been dragons, there has been a proud tradition of dragon slayers.
These days, most dragon slayers work in cities, contracted by governments and corporations to protect the considerable interests in these carbon-heavy environments. This is awesome for people who live in cities (least of all because it results in cool, if ill-advised, iPhone videos. And, you know, safety from dragons). People in the country don’t have it so easy.
This is why it’s “like freaking Mardi Gras” when injury brings Lottie Thorskard to her rural hometown of Trondheim. She’s the most famous dragon slayer of her day, and brings with her a fellow dragon-slayer brother and her sixteen-year-old nephew, Owen. Wimpy and bad at algebra and English, Owen is like many teenage boys, except for one big difference. When he’s not being tutored, he’s training to fight the dragons of rural Canada, and his tutor-turned-bard, Siobhan McQuaid, is ready to sing him into legend.
E. K. Johnston’s The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim has Starred Reviews galore and won a Morris Award this year, so it has a lot going for it. However, despite its impressive pedigree, my reactions to it were mixed. Ultimately, I liked the idea of the novel more than I liked its execution. When it was at its best, though, I enjoyed it quite a lot.
Contrary to its title, The Story of Owen is less the story of Owen, more the-story-of-a-quirky-speculative-version-of-a-dragon-ravaged-world-but-mostly-rural-Canada. It’s obvious that Johnston had a lot of fun working dragons into the history of our world, as every other chapter takes a break from the story to pour new tidbits upon the reader. Take this excerpt, outlining one of the story’s conflicts, as an example:
Most postmodernists blame the decline of the dracono-bardic tradition on the sudden and soaring popularity of the Beatles. The Lads from Liverpool were exactly that: four guys with accents who sang about love and truth, who never once mentioned a dragon slayer. The world split around them. There were many who loved the simplicity of the music, the harmonies and the earnest quality of the lyrics. And there were many who were afraid of the example they were setting.
For the first time since Shakespeare…the English-speaking world was confronted by a cultural phenomenon that was insanely popular and entirely bereft of danger. An entire generation of young people…threw themselves at the Beatles, much to the concern of their elders, who worried about the effect listening to the Beatles’ music might incur.
Note all the ellipses. Then imagine another sentence or two in their places. This to say, for patient readers who enjoy intensely detailed world-building, The Story of Owen is a delightful read. All this world-building, though, presents a big hurdle to less patient readers; Johnston often builds her world at the expense of everything else in the story. Truly, the world is more of a character than the actual characters, and readers have to take in a lot of fictional history before they can begin to process the significance of what the characters are up to.
And for me, though the characters were interesting, they weren’t nearly as interesting as the world in which they live. For people who live in a world consumed by dragons, they’re all astonishingly normal. Here’s where my opinions become extremely mixed. On the one hand, it was cool to read that normalcy. In this world, dragons are just another problem occurring in nature, like tornadoes or bears wandering into the neighborhood. People have plans for how to handle them. This chillness in the face of scaly, fiery death is amusing at first; the downside is that it becomes a little boring to read about after a while. Also, whatever tension is created when Owen actually fights a dragon is often counteracted by the way Siobhan tells the stories, beginning by narrating the version that she told the media (which is heroic), and then telling readers what actually happened (which, while still heroic, is less climactic). The climax itself, too, runs so smoothly and with such little threat to the lives of the defended population that there’s not much tension even there. The characters are simply too competent! (However, this does render a tragic twist at the end that much more unexpected.)
All this said, though I was comparatively indifferent to the characters, and though I found the pacing a bit janky, the world was interesting enough that I plowed to the end of the novel on the momentum of it alone. Most of the other things that I enjoyed about the novel are subtler. You wouldn’t know it from the cover, but Owen is biracial—Venezuelan-Canadian—and a significant lesbian relationship within his family is classily handled. Also, Siobhan is intensely thoughtful about music in the way that only an enthusiastic teenager can be; though it reads awkwardly at times—as when she describes her emotions in terms of the instruments that would play them—it’s not unrealistic for a creative teenage narrator.
It also makes her a much more convincing bard. Character-wise, the novel is the Story of Siobhan learning to become a bard even more than it is the Story of Owen learning to slay dragons! The novel is even (loosely) structured in a way that harkens back to the oral traditions that conveyed Beowulf and monster-fighting epics like it, which was a neat touch, even if we never actually see any of Siobhan’s compositions.
The Story of Owen, then, is an ambitious novel. Sometimes it falters under the weight of its own ambitions. Still, overall it’s a noble and amusing effort. It’s not for everyone, but readers who have the patience to give it a chance will find it rewarding.
***
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Princess Knight, Part I – Graphic Novel Review
Before God sends children down from Heaven, he gives them hearts. A child who swallows a blue heart will be a “brave boy,” while a child who swallows a red heart will be a “graceful girl.” However, when the mischievous angel Tink decides to play a trick, a child destined to be a girl ends up with both, and she’s on her way to being born before God can stop it. God thus curses Tink to life on Earth as a human; the only way for Tink to become an angel again is to reclaim the girl’s boy heart.
This task is not as easy as it seems, for the girl has just been born to the royal family of Silverland. This family needs a boy to continue the royal line, or else risk being usurped by the evil Duke Duralumin. The king and queen thus decide to keep her true gender secret, raising her as Prince Sapphire to protect their crown. Thus begins a fast-paced tale of adventure, mistaken genders, and the hijinks that ensue.
I usually don’t enjoy gender-bender manga, as the gender-bending aspect is often played for silly humor, but Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight, Part I is a rare exception. It reads like a twist on even modern fairy tales, where the princess is both damsel in distress and literally her own prince, and where her ever-changing gender is a source of legitimate drama, rather than an amusing plot point.
This permeates nearly every conflict she faces. Most prominently, the constant threat of Duralumin finding out that she’s not really a prince looms heavily, not only because of what it means for her but what it could mean for the kingdom. This conflict affects her in even small, if convoluted ways, too. At one point, a prince of a neighboring kingdom falls in love with her female “disguise,” only to pledge to kill Prince Sapphire in a later (unrelated) plot twist, not realizing that he and “the flaxen-haired maiden” are one and the same. (Talk about a complicated relationship!)
Despite the gendered nature of its plot, though, the novel is surprisingly unconcerned with gender roles or politics (at least, beyond the basic OMG A GIRL CAN’T RULE A KINGDOM LET’s PANIC ABOUT THAT trope). The closest it comes to commenting on such topics is in a scene where Sapphire briefly loses her boy heart and thus, with only the girl heart remaining, becomes weak. At first the scene inspires an “UGH of course she would become all faint and pansylike without her boy heart,” but upon rereading, it also begs the question, “Is it better to have the associated qualities of only one gender? Or is it better to have a combination of both?” Though it’s a small scene and a simple question, it’s thematically very relevant, and the whole book is a positive answer to this question.
Refreshingly, it’s also not loudly self-aware of its theme, like many Strong Female Character books can be. More than anything, the novel is concerned with taking readers on an adventuresome romp through a fairy-tale-inspired fantasy land, rather than offering any commentary at all. And romp it does! Sapphire teams up with pirates, fights evil witches, swordfights through pretty much everything, and never once stops being anything but a swashbuckling hero/heroine (even though she occasionally does stop to cry over stuff). At 346 pages, it’s a pretty good size for a graphic novel, and yet I was still surprised by how much action was packed into it.
Because of its structure, Princess Knight is bound to appeal to both male and female readers who like this kind of story. There are some hurdles to jump, though, especially for readers who are accustomed to modern manga. Tezuka’s art, while iconic, may look a bit too cartoony and dated for some readers today. In fact, I’d initially avoided his work myself for that reason. Something about the art in Princess Knight, though, was absolutely charming to me, perhaps because it matched the storybook flair of the setting so well. It should also be noted that the art is printed very cleanly, and though the style is simplistic, many of the panels are quite pretty to look at. Another hurdle is the themed naming of the bad guys—Duke Duralumin (a type of alloy), Lord Plastic, Lord Nylon—which doesn’t contribute anything to the story other than inexplicable goofiness. (There are plenty of other goofy elements in the story, but they’re much better handled than this.) Lord Nylon also has a lisp that is rather insensitively played for humor, but it also contributes to a significant early plot point, so it’s not like it’s there without a reason. Still, after that plot point happens, it does read a bit unkindly.
These bumps are minor compared to the delight that is the rest of the book, though. With plenty of adventure, several unexpected twists, and a fun storybook quality, Princess Knight has quickly become one of my favorites.
Eyes Like Stars – Book Review
Beatrice Shakespeare Smith is in trouble. She’s always been notorious for the mischief she creates around the Theatre Illuminata, but after an incident involving a cannon, the destruction of several set pieces, and a spectacular fire, she finds herself stuck with two options—make herself useful, or leave the Theatre forever. Bertie isn’t like other members of the Theatre Illuminata. Everyone else has a defined purpose—They are all characters in famous plays, and without them at the Theatre, the plays cannot be enacted. Bertie was a foundling, with no written purpose, and for her, leaving the Theatre means leaving the only home she’s ever known. She decides, then, to give herself a purpose by restaging Shakespeare’s famous Hamlet, setting it in Egypt rather than Denmark. Her efforts begin roughly. Further complicating her problem is a plot surrounding The Complete Works of the Stage, otherwise known as The Book, a magical tome containing every play ever written, and the force that holds the Theatre Illuminata together. Without its influence, the characters are free to leave the Theatre, and one handsome and cunning player (and close friend) wants to escape at any cost, even if it means sending the Theatre into chaos…
Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev is a unique book. While I’ve encountered plenty of novels about the re-written or reinterpreted doings of famous literary characters, I’ve never before read one where the world was set up quite as creatively as this one. The experience of it is a bit disorienting at first—The Theatre Illuminata is not only a theatre populated by famous characters, but a theatre in which the set pieces are more wonderful than even the most imaginative set pieces in our world. Sets change themselves, as if by magic. Underwater scenes literally take place underwater. The sets themselves are also fully functional pieces of setting, rather than the mere suggestion of place that real-world sets tend to be, which means that if a character wants to take a break in a decadent Turkish bath, she only has to pull up the set piece for it, and Ta-Da! Instant luxury. Because of these elements, the Theatre Illuminata easily falls among the more interestingly established worlds in teen fantasy, and is bound to appeal particularly to theatre geeks.
The author herself had years of theatrical experience upon which to build the world in this novel, and it shows in both the details of the plot and the writing style itself. Bertie’s dealings with the various department managers—from props to scenery to wardrobe—read like fictionalized versions of actual experience, as does the energetic chaos surrounding every action requiring the cooperation of cast and crew. In clever keeping with its subject matter, the novel is also presented in both prose and script form. The switches are a little infrequent—the script format is only used early in the novel, despite there being several places later in the novel where it could have appeared—but they serve their purpose, and help to establish the theatrical setting of the story with greater clarity.
Mantchev’s personal love of theatrical literature is also apparent, as she packs a number of detailed theatrical references into the novel, mainly in the form of familiar characters. Said characters are mostly Shakespearean, which is a little bothersome, given that the Theatre is supposed to gather characters from every play ever. (A few characters, one a major character, hail from other plays, but the dominance of the Shakespearean characters makes the non-Shakespeareans feel out of place.) However, the characters are depicted well enough to compensate for this imbalance, especially Hamlet’s Ophelia and A Midsummer Night’s Dream’s fairy quartet, the latter of which, despite being minor characters in Shakespeare’s play, are amusingly written as main characters here, and through their mischief and snark are bound to become reader favorites. In further homage to the Bard, Mantchev also works in some elegant bits of wordplay. While she never goes so far as to write entire scenes in iambic pentameter, she frequently slips in little jewels of almost-poetry, which, combined with the imagination behind the setting, renders the novel an inventive read on several levels.
Unfortunately, the novel does struggle with a small, yet notable set of flaws. Its largest is that it juggles more major conflicts than it should have, and the conflict that it seems to set up as the major one—Bertie’s restaging of Hamlet—ends up falling by the wayside as trouble ensues with The Book. In fact, the Egyptian Hamlet is never actually staged in the novel, and though the play that replaces it is vastly more interesting and relevant to the narrative, the absence of Egyptian Hamlet made the novel feel incomplete. (Though I could be biased, since Hamlet is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, and I like seeing neat interpretations of it). It also isn’t clear until the end of the story whether the Theatre Illuminata is a theatre in our world, a theatre in a fictional world, or a universe unto itself, which, though only a minor detail, was nonetheless one that I found annoyingly distracting for the first half of the book.
Still, for its flaws, the novel does have charm. It also has sequels! It’s a trilogy completed by Perchance to Dream and So Silver Bright, so readers who love this first book have more to look forward to!
Princeless, Volume 1 – Graphic Novel Review
I came across Princeless by Jeremy Whitley and M. Goodwin at a local comic convention and didn’t have to think twice before picking it up. The cover alone promised all kick-butt girls, dragons, and adventure galore. It did not disappoint.
In Volume 1, when Princess Adrienne comes of age, she’s locked in a dragon-guarded tower because that’s A Thing That Happens to Princesses. Between the boredom of waiting and the dim-witted knights who show up to rescue her, she tires of this quickly. She decides that she’s going to be her own knight and so, with the aid of her dragon pal Sparky, rescues herself and embarks on a quest to free her sisters from their own towers.
A blurb on the front of this book calls it “the story Disney should’ve been telling for the past twenty years.” It’s entirely true. Adrienne is smart; the first few pages show a younger Adrienne tearing apart the plot holes in a traditional fairy tale. She’s also resourceful, and though she admittedly has a lot to learn about adventuring, she’s a capable heroine, well worth admiring.
Granted, she is entirely the “Not the Typical Princess” trope – a trope which, given that nearly every fictional princess these days is “Not the Typical Princess,” is becoming somewhat tired. However, Princeless makes this work by surrounding her with inversions of many other medieval fantasy tropes. Most obviously, despite the European-inspired setting, nearly every character in the main cast is a person of color. Likewise, Adrienne’s prince brother, who would normally be a heroic manly man in this sort of story, is meek and hesitant to inherit the throne, to the point where his father tells him to “stop being a woman.” Instead, his strength is found in his loyalty to his family and, unbeknownst to Adrienne, he plays a small but significant role in the beginning of her adventure.
Even the adventuresome elements are somewhat inverted. While it is all rollicking and fun, Adrienne encounters several practical bumps on her way to saving her sisters, discovering that dragons are hard to ride without saddles, and that it’s hard to fight in jangly armor that isn’t fitted to one’s body type. Though I usually prefer over-the-top adventure, it’s a nice change of pace to read about an adventurer whose problems are more mundane (well, for a person who has a dragon as a friend).
The comic is not without its flaws. However, most of them are minor. For some reason, the quality of the third chapter’s art falters in comparison to the art around it. It’s never off enough to be distracting, though. A bigger problem for me was that there are points where it feels like it’s trying too hard to be a commentary on sexist fantasy tropes. One chapter (also the third, in fact) is blatantly titled “On Sexism in the Armor Industry.” As relevant as the chapter is, I found it hard to believe that the female blacksmith introduced here designed and hand-made a whole line of armor for women without once realizing how impractical battlekinis are for protection—at least until Adrienne points it out. Throw in some stereotypical piggish behavior on the part of nearly every male in the scene, and the chapter reads like it was constructed solely to make a point. Fortunately, though, its actiony bits maintain the rest of the book’s sense of fun. And even with this forced point, it never reads like a preachy political pamphlet. Ultimately it treats its messages with the same sense of fun that it does its adventure.
That said, Princeless is a must-read for those who like to read about heroines with no time for princes. Still, casual readers of fantasy, comics and non, will find much to like in it, too.
The Wizard’s Way – 1st Draft Complete!
artwork by Mandy O’Brien
Hey, everybody! H. P. here! I’ve been largely invisible on this blog for the past age or so. This is partly because I’m a lazy blogger and partly because I do all the marketing, layout, and graphic work for Jacob’s books while he makes the writing magic happen. Mostly, though, it’s because I’ve been devoting every valuable microsecond of my free time to finishing my own first novel, which is…
~ F I N A L L Y F I N I S H E D ~
(The first draft, that is.)
Now, you may be asking, “What is this masterpiece that H. P. has been so reclusively working on?” Well, it comes down to three things:
Monsters.
Murder.
Swashbuckling pug butlers.
Yes, you read that right.
Beyond that, The Wizard’s Way is a story of a young man finding his way in the world. This is challenging for any young person, but it’s especially challenging for one whose way involves keeping giant mechanical flamethrower lions from popping out of him.
Specifically, it comes down to this:
artwork by Mandy O’Brien
J. Chaucey Thatcher has a monster inside him, but this is the least of his worries.
A murderer prowls the Iron City, slaying inventors. An angry mob storms close behind, blaming wizards. Any they find, they burn alive.
Chaucey is an inventor. He is also secretly a wizard, and the only person who can help with this secret was just murdered before his very eyes.
But when it comes to investigating, Chaucey is as dogged as his best friend is dog. With the help of his loyal pug butler, his sparky (almost? maybe?) girlfriend, and a sleuth of rambunctious bears, he has vowed to unravel the mystery of these murders and save the city from the grips of terror.
But the monster inside him burns for escape.
Will he save the Iron City? Or will the monster destroy it first?
artwork by Mandy O’Brien
The TL;DR version? Wizard puberty is the worst.
Now you may be asking, “How soon can I expect to read this redonkulous thing?” Presently, the Jacob half of Holo Writing is giving the book its first hardcore editing pass. Pending a few revisions, we’re aiming for an early 2016 release. (SUMMER 2016 UPDATE: Well, that didn’t happen. But it’s happening soon, so hooray!)
While you wait, however, you can feast your eyes on the above sketches of the cover art, produced by the talented artist linked above! And also here because you are totally not making good use of your Internet life if you skip her page.
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Star Wars: Armada – Character TIE Squadron Tactics
Squadrons provide an important supplement to the capital ships of Star Wars: Armada. As of Wave 1, the Imperial Navy has four basic squadrons and five character squadrons to choose from. Today, let’s take a look at what the character TIE squadrons have to offer.
IN SHORT: Tougher and harder hitting than regular TIE squadrons, character squadrons open up an intriguing set of abilities for Imperial commanders.
“HOWLRUNNER” TIE FIGHTER SQUADRON: Howlrunner is a straight up force multiplier. She makes any friendly squadron with the Swarm rule at distance 1 better by granting 1 additional blue die for attacks against enemy squadrons. Also note that this includes the Counter rule TIE Interceptors have, increasing their already ridiculous attack power even more and making opponents think twice before shooting at them.
Because Howlrunner makes everything around her better, she can quickly tip the scales in larger engagements, but that power also her makes her a choice target. Even though TIE Advanced Squadrons do not benefit from her ability, it can often be advantageous to fly one with her TIE swarm to provide some insurance.
Brace and Scatter defense tokens are great, but accuracy results can negate them, and Howlrunner only has 3 hit points. Still, for 16 points, Howlrunner is an excellent investment in lists with large numbers of TIE Fighters and Interceptors.
“MAULER” MITHEL TIE FIGHTER SQUADRON: Mauler is kind of like Howlrunner in reverse. Whereas Howlrunner wants to hang out with a group of friendlies, Mauler wants to get stuck in with clusters of enemy squadrons. His ability grants automatic damage after he moves, inflicting 1 point of damage to any squadron he is engaged with.
Of course, moving into a big group of enemy fighters isn’t always the smartest idea, and Mauler can’t move while he’s engaged. Fortunately, Imperial players have the tools necessary to give Mauler the support he needs.
TIE Advanced really shine in the protection role, sopping up damage that would otherwise pound Mauler to dust. And Admiral Chiraneau on a nearby ship can permit Mauler to move even while engaged, allowing players to get the most out of his automatic damage ability.
Mauler is a high risk / high reward character squadron and needs adequate support to really shine, but there’s no denying he can inflict a lot of damage when used right. Not bad for 15 points.
SOONTIR FEL TIE INTERCEPTOR SQUADRON: It’s bad enough taking damage from TIE Interceptors just for attacking them. Well, Soontir Fel does this and inflicts damage for not attacking him. Seriously, opponents should just get used to taking damage around this guy no matter what they do. Add in the Brace and Scatter defense tokens, and Soontir Fel becomes very frustrating to take down.
TIE Advanced Squadrons can even be used to force the automatic damage. As long as Soontir Fel is engaging that enemy, they will suffer 1 automatic point of damage whenever they attack the TIE Advanced. The only downside here is the TIE Advanced doesn’t share Soontir Fel’s blistering top speed of 5, which could restrict players under some conditions.
TIE Interceptor or TIE Fighter Squadrons also provide a nice bonus to Soontir Fel by triggering his Swarm rule and benefiting from it themselves. This is even more effective for Soontir Fel because of the combination of Counter of defense tokens. Under normal conditions, Soontir Fel will be dishing out plenty of Counter attacks, and having an extra reroll in those attacks is definitely a nice bonus.
Soontir Fel will inflict damage in just about any combat situation, forcing your opponent to make uncomfortable decisions. That’s not a bad ability for 18 points.
DARTH VADER TIE ADVANCED SQUADRON: Vader is all about dishing out and soaking up damage. With the critical symbol counting as regular damage on his attacks and an additional black die in his anti-squadron attack, Vader can inflict a ton of pain. Note, however, that he does not cause critical effects to trigger.
When targeting enemy squadrons, he will easily out-damage even TIE Interceptors, and his anti-ship attack is on par with TIE Bombers, minus the critical effect.
With 5 hit points and 2 Brace tokens, Vader isn’t going down easily. However, his Escort ability, shared with all TIE Advanced, is something of a mixed blessing. While it does mean Vader can be an effective meat shield for someone else, it also means that regular TIE Advanced Squadrons can’t protect him.
At 21 points, Vader is a very hefty investment for a squadron that is designed to be shot at first. However, his resilience and damage output certainly make him a viable alternative to regular TIE Advanced Squadrons.
MAJOR RHYMER TIE BOMBER SQUADRON: Rhymer is an incredible force multiplier for bombers. Any friendly squadron at distance 1 may attack ships at close-medium range. This is a huge boost in range, and the fact that Rhymer dishes it out to anyone near him makes him a flexible addition for Imperial players.
Also note that Rhymer’s ability does not have any restrictions like Howlrunner’s does. His range increase is not restricted to craft like TIE Bombers, though undoubtedly squadrons with the Bomber rule receive the most benefit. After all, swarm of TIE Fighters can do a surprising amount of damage to an enemy capital ship as all those blue dice start to add up, and Rhymer helps get those hits in.
The range increase has other benefits, too. Bombers rely heavily on Squadron commands, particularly against the faster and more maneuverable capital ship types. However, with the wide strike envelope afforded by Rhymer, bombers have a much greater chance to target enemy ships without moving.
Like most character squadrons, Rhymer can take advantage of a TIE Advanced wingman, but in this case, Rhymer helps out the TIE Advanced as well, extending the range of its black die for anti-ship attacks. He also comes stock with 5 hit points and two Brace tokens, making him a tough proposition to take down. Honestly, his only downside is his lackluster anti-squadron attack.
All this for only 16 points? Yes, he really is just that awesome.
POWER DENSITY: Okay, so regular TIEs are great bargains when you look at their stats in a point for point comparison to the stats of character squadrons. Standard TIEs are potent little troublemakers, especially stock TIE Fighters and Bombers. However, there’s a second side to this discussion, and that is Squadron commands.
The big disadvantage for forces that rely heavily on standard squadrons is the need for higher Squadron values and/or more Squadron commands to get the same mileage from his or her TIEs. I like to call this attribute “power density,” and it’s definitely an advantage that swings in favor of characters squadrons.
2 TIE Fighter Squadrons put out more damage than Howlrunner, but then, they also require twice the Squadron value to get the jump on the enemy. That’s the hidden cost at work. Sure, stock TIEs are cheap, but they also require plenty of love from their capital ships to be the best they can be.
LISTS FOR FUN: How about a look at a list heavy with characters squadrons? Let’s take a look at the Admiral Motti’s Flying Aces.
Victory I-class Star Destroyer (73)
– Admiral Motti (24)
– Admiral Chiraneau (10)
– Flight Controllers (6)
Gladiator II-class Star Destroyer (62)
Gladiator II-class Star Destroyer (62)
Soontir Fel TIE Interceptor Squadron (18)
Darth Vader TIE Advanced Squadron (21)
“Mauler” Mithel TIE Fighter Squadron (15)
TOTAL: 291 points
First, the Victory will be dishing out a generous quantity of squadron commands to support the three character squadrons. Let’s take a look at how that plays out.
Things start off with enemy squadrons taking damage when Mauler shows up (and he can always get that move if needed because Admiral Chiraneau is on board the Victory). Then the enemy takes some more damage when Mauler, Soontir, and Vader unload, and since both Mauler and Soontir have Swarm, they enable each other’s rerolls. Plus Flight Controllers are along for the ride because who doesn’t like TIEs with an extra blue die per attack?
Also, two Gladiators are included, upgraded to Gladiator II’s, for fire support against enemy squadrons as well as general anti-ship destruction. Because while these three aces are awesome, a little help is in order from the capital ships. Then once your opponent finally gets around to attacking your squadrons, Darth soaks up the damage while Soontir inflicts automatic damage on anyone who attacks.
Is it ideal? Probably not, but should be fun, and isn’t that the point? 🙂
SUMMARY: Some bring pure and simply destruction, while other grant huge benefits to nearby friendly squadrons. Either way, there’s no denying that TIE character squadrons are a diverse and powerful group with plenty to offer any Imperial commander.
Check out the complete list of Star Wars: Armada articles here.
Star Wars: Armada – TIE Squadron Tactics
Squadrons provide an important supplement to the capital ships of Star Wars: Armada. As of Wave 1, the Imperial Navy has four basic squadrons and five character squadrons to choose from. Today, let’s take a look at what the standard TIE squadrons have to offer.
IN SHORT: Cheap, fast, and more specialized than Rebel squadrons, TIEs provide a versatile set of cannon fodder to throw at your opponents.
TIE FIGHTERS: At 8 points each, TIE Fighter Squadrons are incredibly affordable and can form effective screening forces with minimal investment. With speed 4, TIE Fighters can easily get the drop on the often slower enemy squadrons. They also pack impressive anti-squadron punch for their points.
3 blue dice allow them to tear through enemy squadrons rapidly, and the Swarm rule only makes this better. With nearby friendly squadrons engaging the enemy, they can reroll a single die. This potent anti-squadron ability can be further supplemented with Howlrunner and/or Flight Controllers for up to 5 blue dice (with a single reroll) per squadron.
And don’t discount TIE Fighters when it comes to engaging enemy ships. True, they only have a single blue die to attack with, but that’s 1 blue die … per 8 points! Attacks like that can add up quickly.
So what’s the downside?
Well, TIE Fighters may put out a ton of anti-squadron damage, but they go down fast. With only 3 hit points, they’re easily focused down during a single round of combat. It also doesn’t help that the Swarm rule and Howlrunner both encourages them to bunch up. Enemy ships with strong anti-squadron batteries should be rightly feared, as they will quickly whittle TIE clusters to dust.
Easy come, easy go.
TIE INTERCEPTORS: At 11 points, TIE Interceptors act like TIE Fighters on steroids. They boast a blistering top speed of 5 and come with anti-squadron armaments of 4 blue dice. Like TIE Fighters, they benefit greatly from Swarm, but also come with Counter.
Thanks to the Counter rule, TIE Interceptors get to fire 2 blue dice at enemy squadrons attacking them, and these counter attacks benefit from both Howlrunner’s ability and Swarm, giving them a potential Counter 3 with a single reroll. Ouch!
TIE Interceptors are a powerful, dedicated anti-squadron force, and their Counter ability can make them highly challenging for bombers like Y-Wings and TIE Bombers to handle. Like TIE Fighters, they also combine extremely well with Flight Controllers. But they are also incredibly frail. In fact, point for point, they are the frailest squadron type in the game as of Wave 1. Swarms of interceptors do not like taking fire from a capital ship’s arc, and it should also be noted that, by the very nature of them having Counter, opponents are more likely to engage TIE Interceptors with capital ships instead of squadrons, when possible.
TIE ADVANCED: Weighing in at a cost of 12 and coming with a hefty 5 hit points, TIE Advanced squadrons are a welcomed bit of durability in the TIE lineup. And a good thing too, because they also come with Escort, forcing opponents to target them first. This combination makes them superb wingmen for named squadrons like Howlrunner or Rhymer.
Their single black anti-ship die and 3 blue anti-squadron dice are respectable, as is their speed value of 4, but TIE Advanced Squadrons are quickly outclassed in damage output by other Imperial offerings. TIE Fighters and Interceptors will shred enemy squadrons, and TIE Bombers can quickly pack on the hurt against enemy ships.
In the end, they’re meat shields. Their best uses are defensive, not offensive, either protecting a critical named squadron or slugging it out with bombers trying to get to a capital ship.
TIE BOMBERS: Featuring a black anti-ship die and the Bomber rule (allowing them to inflict critical hits against enemy ships), the role of TIE Bombers Squadrons is clear. With a cost of only 9 points and speed 4, they’re cheap and surprisingly swift for bombers, a trait that can be exaggerated even more with the Corruptor title on a Victory-class Star Destroyer for even more speed. Throw Rhymer into the mix to allow TIE Bombers to attack at medium range instead of range 1, and suddenly these squadrons can strike targets at considerable distances.
On average, a single TIE Bomber will inflict 1 point of damage against an enemy ship per attack with a 25% chance of a critical effect. This is made even nastier because it’s difficult to use defense tokens against them. Brace can only trigger if the TIE Bombers get a double hit, Evade isn’t going to do anything at range 1 unless Mon Mothma is commanding the Rebel forces, and Redirect can only shift a point or two of damage at a time.
TIE Bombers are utterly devastating when they get into range of enemy capital ships. But there is, of course, a downside. They also come with the Heavy rule, which means they cannot engage enemy squadrons. TIE Bombers may come with a plenty of hit points to absorb attacks, but their effectiveness as a screening force is zero. Secondly, they have the weakest anti-squadron attack in the game: a single black die.
(Capital ships with a single blue die shouldn’t be counted as the weakest because they can strike multiple targets at once.)
LISTS FOR FUN: Want to give a squadron-heavy list a whirl? Try Grand Moff Tarkin’s Flying Circus.
Victory I-class Star Destroyer (73)
– Grand Moff Tarkin (38)
– Flight Controllers (6)
– Expanded Hangar Bay (5)
Victory I-class Star Destroyer (73)
– Corruptor Title (5)
– Admiral Chiraneau (10)
– Expanded Hangar Bay (5)
TIE Fighter Squadrons x 5 (40)
TIE Bomber Squadrons x 5 (45)
TOTAL: 300 points
Okay, it may be 300 points, but it’s easy enough to trim an upgrade or squadron (or even substitute out Tarkin) to price it for an effective initiative bid. The basic idea is that each Victory can activate up to 5 squadrons per round (base 3 + Expanded Hangar Bay + Squadron tokens from Tarkin). And by doing this, they maximize the use of their squadron friendly upgrades.
Flight Controllers can turn those 5 TIE Fighters into squadron mulching machines, spitting out a combined total of 20 blue dice (with up to 5 rerolls). And with the Corruptor title and Admiral Chiraneau, those TIE Bombers are going to be speed 5 normally and can easily escape at speed 3 if they get engaged.
SUMMARY: TIEs, ladies and gentlemen. Fast, hard-hitting, and dirt cheap. Just don’t get too attached to them, because they tend not to last long. 🙂
Check out the complete list of Star Wars: Armada articles here.
Star Wars: Armada – Gladiator-class Star Destroyer Tactics
Capital ships form the critical foundation of any Star Wars: Armada fleet. As of Wave 1, the Imperial Navy has two excellent capital ships to choose from. Today, let’s take a look at the Gladiator-class Star Destroyer.
IN SHORT: With good speed, surprising maneuverability with the right upgrades, and a devastating close range punch, the Gladiator is a deadly addition to the Imperial fleet.
STRENGTHS: How about 4 black dice firing out of the left and right arcs? That’s the first thing anyone should notice about the stock Gladiator I. And if it isn’t, then it will probably be made clear when the Gladiator unloads at close range. On average, that’s 4 damage inflicted out of each attack. Start adding in Concentration commands and/or upgrades, and the Gladiator’s damage output can become ridiculously high.
The Gladiator is also a remarkably well-rounded package. It comes with 1 token each for Evade, Brace, and Redirect, giving it a defensive mechanic for just about any situation. It can turn 2 clicks at speed 1, allowing it to execute some very tight turns. 2 Command allows it to react reasonably quickly to the ebb and flow of battle, and 2 Squadron and 3 Engineering are nothing to sneeze at either.
The upgraded Gladiator II exchanges 1 of its black dice on each side for reds and enhances its anti-squadron batteries to 2 blue dice. This gives it an overall boost in versatility while lessening its broadside punch just a little for only 6 points. With generously wide side arcs, the Gladiator II is well suited to assisting TIE squadrons with sprays of blue dice.
It even comes with 2 forward facing red dice (augmented with 2 more black dice) for chipping away at enemies while on approach. Oh, yes. I like this ship.
WEAKNESSES: When it starts receiving hits, the Gladiator-class Star Destroyer is no Victory. A Gladiator II costs 62 points, only 11 below a base Victory I, but it won’t survive enemy fire nearly as long. 5 Hull Points are still respectable, but caution should be used to ensure the Gladiator is supported by the rest of your fleet and not blindly charging ahead of it.
It’s also not much more than a nuisance at anything outside close range. Sure, black dice are awesome, but only when you actually get to roll with them. Fortunately, there are a few options available to the Gladiator to help with this problem.
With the dirt cheap Insidious title (only 3 points), a Gladiator can use black dice at medium range. The catch? It can only use this ability when firing into an enemy ship’s rear hull zone. Not the easiest thing to achieve, but certainly not out of the question for an appropriately upgraded Gladiator (see combos below).
With the Demolisher title, a Gladiator gains the incredibly potent ability to perform one of its attacks after a maneuver. Given the general need to get in tight, this upgrade provides the Imperial player with considerable flexibility over every other ship that must shoot first and then move.
COMBOS: Gladiators like to fly in close and personal to deliver all those black dice to the enemy’s face. Good thing they have some handy upgrades to help them get there.
With Engine Techs, a Gladiator can execute an extra speed-1 maneuver after its regular maneuver with the use of a Navigate command (either dial or token). This is especially good on the Gladiator because its speed-1 maneuver has 2 clicks, resulting in a potential 4 or 5-click turn. Toss in Wulff Yularen with his ability to copy a token once per round, and 1 Navigate token at the start can last the entire game.
You can even throw the Demolisher title into this mix. A base Gladiator I with these upgrades starts to get a bit bloated at 81 points, but it can undoubtedly get where it needs to go and unload a fist full of black dice when it gets there. Not bad at all.
And speaking of those black dice, the Assault Concussion Missiles upgrade can make them even meaner. On a black critical, both adjacent hull zones take 1 point of damage. Granted, you can only have one critical effect per attack, but the big advantage is this effect doesn’t need to hit the hull to trigger. It works just as well on shields, too. Take Admiral Screed as your commander, force those critical hits when you don’t actually roll them, and watch the damage pile up.
LISTS FOR FUN: Here’s a little list I like to call Admiral Screed’s One-Two Punch.
Victory II-class Star Destroyer (85)
– Admiral Screed (26)
– Overload Pulse (8)
Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer (56)
– Demolisher (10)
– Engine Techs (8)
Gladiator II-class Star Destroyer (62)
TIE Fighter Squadrons x 5 (40)
TOTAL: 295 points
The idea here is to utilize Screed’s penchant for critical hits by deploying two effects in a combination. Pick a target that’s in range of the Victory and is close to the Demolisher. The Demolisher should either have a Navigate token saved up or a Navigate dial ready to reveal.
Activate the Victory first and trigger an Overload Pulse critical hit on the unlucky target, exhausting all of the ship’s defense tokens. Then move and shoot with the Demolisher and pummel the now helpless target with black dice. Even if the target activates in between, the Demolisher’s move and shoot, plus the Navigate command, plus Engine Techs should give you the flexibility to get an arc on the target. After that, they’ll either take the hit on the chin or start discarding defense tokens. Either result is good for you.
I’ve shown the remaining points spent on TIE Fighters and a second Gladiator (upgraded to a type II for extra anti-squadron firepower), but there are plenty of other ways to spend those remaining points. I just naturally prefer to keep my upgrades frugal and my ship count high. 🙂
SUMMARY: Ladies and gentlemen, the Gladiator. One lean, mean short range brawler.
TRIVIA: Did you know that the Gladiator is not a new Imperial ship? In fact, it’s a very old Imperial design dating back to the Star Wars: Droids cartoon series from 1985. Check this out!
Oh, and here’s Admiral Screed, too!
Check out the complete list of Star Wars: Armada articles here.
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Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
Star Wars: Armada – Victory-class Star Destroyer Tactics
Capital ships form the critical foundation of any Star Wars: Armada fleet. As of Wave 1, the Imperial Navy has two excellent capital ships to choose from. Today, let’s take a look at the Victory-class Star Destroyer.
IN SHORT: It may be slow and take an entire game just to turn around, but do not underestimate the Victory’s resilience or its frontal attack power. It will take its lumps and then smash the enemy’s face in.
STRENGTHS: With 8 Hull, plentiful shielding, and 2 Redirect tokens, the Victory can easily sop up massive damage before going down. Ignoring any special rules, a frontal assault against a fresh Victory must inflict an astounding 17 points of damage to blow it up (3 shields from the front, left, and right hull facings plus those 8 Hull points). Add in a Brace token, and the Victory is sticking around for a while, during which it can generate 2 shield points each turn with an impressive Engineering value of 4.
Considering this fortitude, the Victory’s base price of 73 points is an absolute steal. Point for point, it is the most resilient ship in the game as of Wave 1.
The Victory also sports a wide and very deadly front firing arc with 6 attack dice (3 reds and 3 more either black or blue depending on the variant). Seriously, who wants to be on the receiving end of that kind of firepower? It also comes equipped with a minimum of 2 red dice in every arc, ensuring that if the enemy can target the Victory, the Victory can fire back.
WEAKNESSES: Sure, the Victory is great at going head-to-head with opposing ships. It’s when faster enemies start maneuvering around to the sides and back that things get dicey. With its top speed at a puttering 2 and only 1 maneuvering click before Navigate commands are considered, the Victory is very much the slow, plodding behemoth.
To make a bad situation worse, its rear hull zone is a clear blind spot. With only 1 shield and 2 red dice, ships that get in behind the Victory or even manage to flank it are very difficult to dislodge.
Also, while it has red dice in every arc, its lack of Evade tokens means it is at a defensive disadvantage in any prolonged long-range engagement. Opponents with Evade tokens can ignore select die results, but the Victory must take every hit on the chin, and those hits will add up despite its raw resilience.
Fortunately, the Dominator title is a good (if expensive) way to help deal with these problems, giving one Victory per list the option of firing an extra two blue dice in any of its arcs. A nasty surprise to be sure, but one that costs 12 points and consumes shield energy with each blue die fired.
COMBOS: The Victory can be kitted out in a huge variety of configurations, but my favorite application is squadron support. With a base Squadron value of 3 and the ability to take the Expanded Hangars upgrade, the Victory is a clear choice for getting the most out of Imperial TIEs. Add in Grand Moff Tarkin dishing out command tokens, and a single Victory can easily support 5 squadrons per round.
This ability is extremely valuable for Imperial fleets because of the lower cost of basic TIE squadrons when compared to Rebel counterparts. In general, it takes a higher Squadron value to make Imperial fighters as effective as Rebels fighters.
Fortunately, the Victory can be customized for a variety of squadron support roles. Combining its already high Squadron value with Expanded Hangars and Flight Controllers gives any TIEs a huge edge in anti-squadron combat. Plus 1 blue dies for everyone? Yes, please!
And let’s not forget the love a Victory can dish out to bombers. With Admiral Chiraneau onboard a Victory with the Corruptor title, enemies will find it very challenging to pin down your bombers. Even if engaged, they’ll still be able to move distance 3 when activated!
LISTS FOR FUN: Victory’s are tough, right? And Admiral Motti makes ships even tougher … so here comes Admiral Motti’s Meat Lovers Pizza!
Victory I-class Star Destroyer (73)
– Admiral Motti (24)
Victory I-class Star Destroyer (73)
Victory I-class Star Destroyer (73)
TIE Fighter Squadrons x 7 (56)
TOTAL: 299 points
It may not be the flashiest list out there, but 3 stock Victory I-class Star Destroyers flying under Admiral Motti means your opponent has a terrifying 30 Hull Points to chew through. That’s a lot of meat on those pizza slices, and that kind of damage is simply not going to happen in most games. Plus, with triple front firing arcs of doom instead of 1, the Victory’s can be positioned to help defend each other’s blind spots, mitigating (to a certain degree) their largest flaw.
After adding the meat, garnish the list to taste with squadrons (I chose TIE Fighters, but it’s really a matter of preference) and take objectives as you see fit.
7 TIE Fighter Squadrons (6 for a more aggressive initiative bid) provide significant anti-squadron firepower to cover the Victory’s from bombers, and the Victory’s come equipped with more than adequate Squadron values to keep those TIEs running at their peak. 7 squadrons won’t stop a determined enemy squadron push, but all they really have to do is dampen it so that the Victory’s can handle whatever gets through.
And besides, playing 3 star destroyers in one list is just plain fun. At the end of the day, isn’t that the point? 🙂
SUMMARY: The Victory may not be the fastest ship or the prettiest ship (far from it on both accounts), but it is a rock solid workhorse for the Imperials and is currently the safest place to put our commanders. This article merely scratches of what the Victory can do on the tabletop.
Check out the complete list of Star Wars: Armada articles here.
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Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.
Star Wars: Armada – Core Set Review
IN SHORT: Fantasy Flight Games has just released the Core Set for their new table top game – Star Wars: Armada. Here are my first impressions and thoughts on the core units.
GENERAL: The game itself focuses on the big picture, namely two fleets of capital ships battling it out while the fighters and bombers take a far smaller (though still important) role. The game has a wonderful sense of momentum to it. Capital ships navigate slowly. Orders take multiple turns to execute. The ships are massive behemoths that take time to react to changing circumstances, and this is represented very well in the game mechanics.
Star Wars: Armada also strikes that sweet spot between being pick-up-and-play friendly and a possessing a lot of depth hidden beneath the surface. Despite the limited amount of ships and upgrade cards, I was surprised by the number of options available for configuring my Victory-class Star Destroyer. (I played Imperial for all my games so far. My affinity for awesome villains remains unchanged. 🙂 )
Next, here’s what I thought of the ships and cards in the Core Set.
Grand Moff Tarkin: Every fleet needs a commander, and Tarkin is the only Imperial commander in the Core Set. But, wow, what an ability! The guy dishes out command tokens like candy, imparting a huge level of flexibility to the otherwise lumbering Victory-class Star Destroyer. Command tokens may not be as powerful as command dials, but Tarkin hands them out exactly when you need them instead of being forced to predict what you’ll need three turns down the road. But at 38 points, you pay a premium price for this ability. He’s almost the same cost as a base CR90 Corvette.
Victory-class Star Destroyer: This thing is a beast to take down. With 8 Hull, 4 Engineering, 2 Redirect defense tokens, a Brace defense token, and plenty of shielding, the Victory is not going to fall quickly to anything. Tarkin just makes a tough ship even tougher, since the command dials and tokens can be combined to even greater effect, giving the Victory a potential +3 shields every turn if the Imperial player decides to turtle up.
It also has a powerful front arc with 6 attack dice. However, the Victory’s biggest vulnerability is its rear arc, which only has 1 shield and 2 attack dice. With speeds that go from slow to slightly less slow, the Victory is in trouble if an enemy ship slips in behind it and can stay there.
TIE Fighter Squadrons: Cheap anti-squadron covering units. You want your Victory focused on the other capital ships, and TIE Fighter Squadrons are an excellent way to keep those X-Wings from pecking the Victory to death. They’re low cost-to-squadron ratio does have disadvantages, though, since squadrons really need squadron commands from capital ships to be at their most effective.
“Howlrunner” TIE Fighter Squadron: For the price of 2 TIE Fighter Squadrons, the Imperials can take this elite squadron. Howlrunner is a force multiplier, giving any friendly squadron with the Swarm rule (which TIE Fighters have), an additional blue attack die when they attack an enemy squadron. This allows a good TIE formation to absolutely shred enemy fighters. She also comes with defense tokens, so even though her TIE is a piece of flying confetti, it’s a hard to hit piece of flying confetti.
That being said, Howlrunner encourages the TIEs to clump up even more than they already do (again, thanks to that Swarm rule), which can leave them vulnerable to attacks from ships with decent anti-squadron abilities like the Nebulon-B Escort. A spray of 2 blue attack dice at every TIE squadron in one of its arcs is not a pretty thing to see.
General Dodonna: Like the Imperials, the Rebels only get one commander in the Core Set. At about half the price of Tarkin, he’s not quite as impressive. Where Tarkin provides a steady stream of benefits over the course of the game, Dodonna allows the Rebel player to draw 4 faceup damage cards (when resolving critical hits on enemy ships) and choose which of the 4 effects to apply to the enemy. This may have huge gameplay ramifications since critical hits can be so nasty … or it might have minimal impact. When the cards comply, Dodonna can be devastating, but I personally prefer more dependable abilities.
CR90 Corvette: Man, is this ship a nasty little speed demon! With two Evade defense tokens, the CR90 can be surprisingly hard to pin down at long or even medium range. It’s Redirect token and a good spread of shields adds to that unexpected resilience. It also has only 1 Command, which allows it to respond very rapidly to changing battlefield conditions.
That being said, the CR90 will not last long in a straight up fight, particularly at close range, which is why the A-type is a worthwhile upgrade over the B-type. With long range red dice in each arc, the CR90 Corvette A can maximize the use of its maneuverability and evade tokens while still launching attacks at the enemy.
Nebulon-B: The two versions of the Nebulon-B (Escort and Support) have some striking differences in their capabilities. With wide side arcs and 2 blue attack dice against squadrons, the Escort can shred through TIE squadrons at a surprising rate, and its enhanced Squadron value of 2 allows it to activate 2 X-Wing squadrons at once. In contrast, the Support acts as a discount version of the Nebulon-B without these enhancements.
However, those side arcs present a glaring weak point. With only 1 side shield each and no Redirect tokens, the Nebulon-B can start taking hull damage very quickly. Its 2 Brace tokens do help mitigate that damage, but it still wants to engage other ships with its (very narrow) front facing and at long range, where it has a much beefier 3 shields, Evade token, and 3 red attack dice.
X-Wing Squadrons: The X-Wings are well-rounded when compared to the anti-squadron focused TIE Fighters. First, they come with Bomber, which allows them to resolve critical hits against enemy ships, significantly increasing their threat level. Their anti-ship attack also uses a red die, granting the potential to do double damage during a single attack.
Their second rule is Escort, which forces nearby squadrons to take out the X-Wings before dealing with anything else (for example Y-Wing or B-Wing Squadrons in the upcoming expansions).
X-Wings. Hard-hitting and versatile for only 13 points.
Luke Skywalker X-Wing Squadron: Luke has everything a regular X-Wing squadron has and more. When making a bombing run on an enemy ship, he is not to be underestimated because his attacks ignore enemy shields! This, coupled with the fact that he performs his anti-ship attacks with a black die gives him a high damage potential. And with 5 hull and 2 Brace tokens, Luke can weather a lot of firepower before he goes down.
All this for 20 points? Not too bad, I think.
SUMMARY
I had a ton of fun playing with the Core Set and will be collecting the Imperial faction for this game. I can’t put it any more simply than that. 🙂 Fantasy Flight Games has a great product here, and I am definitely looking forward to the Wave 1 releases, particularly those Gladiator-class Star Destroyers.
Check out the complete list of Star Wars: Armada articles here.