Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Imperial Star Destroyer Preview!!

After a long drought with minimal news from FFG, today we received the first preview of a Wave 2 ship!  This has been met with much rejoicing in the Star Wars: Armada community.  The ship not only provides new options in fleet building, but the upgrades that are included seem like they will be a real boon to some of the Wave 1 ships as well.




If for some reason you haven't read the preview yet, go do it now.  Heck, even if you have give it another look!  Go ahead, I'll wait.

Preview

Now that you're back can we just say "Wow".  At 110 and 120 points the two versions of the ISD will likely check in as the most expensive ships in Armada for some time.  They bring some massive forward firepower, amazing durability, and solid speed to go with an excellent upgrade bar.  They will rightfully be the centerpiece of many Imperial fleets going forward.

I will break down the various upgrades in other posts, but wanted to offer some quick thoughts on what this upgrade will bring to the game as a whole:

  • The addition of Tractor Beams will be absolutely game changing.  Aside from blocking, there hasn't been much you can do to impact your opponent's movement options.  This opens up a whole new set of strategies.  I can really see fleets that use Tractor Beams to setup Squadrons so they can be effective with fewer squadron commands.
  • The 2x Offensive refits on the ISD-I will make for some potentially interesting possibilities as the upgrade pool grows.  Overall though, I think the Defensive Refit of the ISD-II will see more use.  It will be able to make the ISD-II very tanky.
  • Both of the ISD models will benefit a ton from Leading Shots with their combination of all three dice colors.
  • Between the MC-80 and ISD both having Contain, they will make General Dodonna a little less useful.  XX-9 Turbolasers however will allow you to still put face up cards on both of those ships even with Contain.
  • Vader is excellent both from a gameplay standpoint and the rules fitting the story.
  • There are at least 7 upgrade cards with the ISD that haven't been spoiled yet.  I'm sure that we will see some with the other Wave 2 ships.
  • I already can't wait for next Wednesday! 
 
 What do you think?
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  1. MundoSeptember 4, 2015 at 9:29 AM

    The ISD looks awesome, can't wait to get mine (which is already on pre-order). 😃

    I do wonder if the addition of the large ships will also make squadrons more of a requirement. Although both ISDs have decent anti-squadron firepower, it feels like a waste to be shooting your ISD at a few fighters when you can blast a whale to pieces instead. I think I will need a solid fighter screen to accompany this beast.

    I am thinking ISD-II with Vader (those rerolls!), gunnery team, and advanced projectors. Add VSDs and fighters/interceptors to taste.

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