Blah, blah, blah, Armada is fantastic. Blah, blah, blah, I’m excited to see the lists that have come out of [insert tournament]. Now that my standard spiel is out of the way, we can dive into the results from the NOVA Open.

One thing to note is NOVA’s tournament structure. It had two flights (Day 1A and Day 1B) which both played five rounds of Swiss. After Swiss the Top 2 players from each day plus the next four highest ranked players from a combined standing would move on to the Top Cut. Those eight players would then play an additional three rounds of Swiss to determine the overall winner.

Initially I had hoped to release this as a combined article incorporating my analysis of Day 1A, Day 1B, and the Top Cut altogether. That article would have been fairly unwieldy and also delayed the release of any of my content on NOVA by a considerable amount of time; so instead here we are.

Day 1A

1. Alexandra “duck_bird” Tornabene – 43pts

I’d definitely seen Alexandra around on the Armada Discord, but I must confess it was certainly only a passing familiarity. I reached out to her for a spiel about herself and she came back to me with the following:

“A spiel about myself? Nah I’m just a dork who plays games”

It’ll do Alexandra. It’ll do.

ISD-Cymoon

Darth Vader, Strategic Adviser, Entrapment Formation!, Gunnery Team, Spinal Armament, Quad Turbolaser Cannons

Arquitens Light Cruiser

Intel Officer, Enhanced Armament

Arquitens Light Cruiser

Intel Officer, Quad Battery Turrets

Raider-I

Boarding Troopers, External Racks

Gozanti

Hondo Ohnaka, Comms Net

Most Wanted, Contested Outpost, Solar Corona

397pts

Duck’s list reminded me a lot of Rasproteus’ list that came out of Gencon, and a lot of the comments I made there also apply here. By dropping Demolisher down to a Raider-I though, Duck was able to include a lot more upgrades throughout her list.

Firstly, it’s safe to say the Gozanti. Does. Gozanti. Things.

Duck’s Cymoon is pretty close to the scariest kind of Cymoon you can fight. Entrapment Formation! offers enough maneuver flexibility to free up the commands for Concentrate Fire. Between this, Spinal Armaments, and QTCs that thing can get up to 6-8 red dice with a re-roll at two targets a turn. That’s disgusting.

My one complaint on that Cymoon is that it feels like it is crying out for Avenger. She’s got the Arqs, she’s got the BT Raider, just give that thing Avenger and you might as well not have defence tokens.

In the same vein as Rasproteus’ list, the average damage from Duck’s Arqs with Vader is annoyingly high; which, in turn, forces tough decisions through Intel Officer. Because she’s sprung for EA and QBTs though, Duck has the flexibility to fire from multiple arcs. That does make a big difference in terms of the way they fly and the mileage you get out of them; particularly as it opens up the potential to get an additional two dice a turn from her turbolaser upgrades.

The Raider-I looks to be (and I know that’s true because Duck told me) a glass cannon that is often more useful for because of the implication of danger it projects rather than the damage it gets to actually apply. It’s a smart way of drawing fire away from her more important ships. Either you target and kill the Raider (and thereby leave the Arqs and Cymoon alone) or you ignore it and Duck gets to smash something’s face in with it. That’s generally what we call a win/win.

This list is happy to go either first or second because of its long range firepower and high activations. As first player Duck gets to fire off the Cymoon (or one of her other deadly ships) at the top of a round. As second player the only objective I’m a little ‘meh’ on is Solar Corona but that’s a fairly good sign when her worst objective is the one that allows her to completely counter deploy her opponent.

2. Adam “SpaceCowboy17” Newton – 39pts

SpaceCowboy17 has been a part of the FFG Forum community for as long as I can remember. I’m fairly certain I was getting into disagreements with him about the Armada meta as far back as 2015. In real life though he’s a valued member of the Atlantan Armada scene and, by all accounts, a fairly chill dude.

AF-MkII B

Admiral Ackbar, Raymus Antilles, Caitken and Shollan, Boosted Comms, Electronic Countermeasures, Slaved Turrets

CR90A

Jaina’s Light, Turbolaser Reroute Circuits

CR90A

Hondo Ohnaka, Turbolaser Reroute Circuits

GR-75

Ahsoka Tano, Comms Net

GR-75

Boosted Comms

Shara Bey, Tycho Celchu, 4x A-Wings, 2x VCX-100

Most Wanted, Fire Lanes, Intel Sweep

397pts

The structure of this list really takes me back to the Wave 3/4 days of Armada, when Assault Frigates were the lynchpins of lists fairly frequently and medium fighter wings were a lot more common.

TRC90s are the archetypal flanker / follow up unit. These two in particular have a bit more bite because of Ackbar (even accounting for the introduction of EWS). They’ll take the double arc when they can get it, and really are just a nice source of contributory fire, particularly with the current abundance of big ships who can’t evade the TRC double.

Two GR-75s are there to do flotilla things. Pass tokens, block, push squads. You know the drill. I’m a big fan of Ahsoka in general so it’s nice to see her in a list. The token flexibility she provides is really solid particularly in conjunction with Raymus.

The Assault Frigate is really interesting, as mentioned before it really reminds me of the kinds of Assault Frigates one used to see in waves gone by. Upgrade heavy, Raymus Antilles in the officer’s chair (quite possibly the most taken Rebel officer for a long period of time), and mixed role with it acting as both a gunship and a carrier. Caitken and Shollan Ackbar Assault Frigates can really punch out some firepower, though I think without an Intel Officer I would personally prefer XI7s rather than Slaved Turrets (5 dice that neuter redirect probably being better than 6 dice that don’t – particularly when it also opens up the possibility of double arcs, flak, and the fabled Ackbar slash).

My only other real concern with the Assault Frigate is how it can be bullied by Large ships in the current meta; but, admittedly, the AF with ECMs can often be tougher than you’d think.

Squads are a nice medium size wing. Shara, Tycho, and the 4 A-Wings are great for holding up heavy squad wings, but just as easily can start bombing. 2 VCXs are really nice for Strategic as it makes both Intel Sweep and Fire Lanes a real point sink. Would have gone Sensor Net in the blue objective slot myself, as it’s just so easy to make more than 75pts with 5 ships and 2 Strategic squads, but Intel Sweep does take a lot less effort to secure which can be very helpful. Most Wanted, as with most lists, is really good here.

3. Chris “Truthiness” Fitz – 39pts

Truthi has been a big part of the Armada community for a long time; forming part of the triumvirate over at Steel Strategy. He’s also fairly active on Discord, the FFG Forums, and Vassal. His exceedingly bright fleet is painted after the Independent Planets flag from Firefly. It also looks really wicked, which is why I had to include it.

MC80 Star Cruiser

Strategic Adviser, Caitken and Shollan, Engine Techs, Heavy Ion Emplacements, Quad Battery Turrets

CR90A

Admiral Raddus, Engine Techs, Turbolaser Reroute Circuits, Jaina’s Light

CR90A

Engine Techs, Turbolaser Reroute Circuits

CR90A

Engine Techs, Turbolaser Reroute Circuits

GR-75

Slicer Tools, Quantum Storm

GR-75

Slicer Tools, Hondo Ohnaka

Station Assault, Contested Outpost, Intel Sweep

386pts

So as I hinted at during my coverage of the German Masters I felt Truthiness’ list and the Lord of Mecklenburg’s were, at a broad level, quite reminiscent of one another. Still, even then, there are a number of differences between the two lists.

The Liberty here is more of a mid-range fighter. It doesn’t necessarily have to get in close (because even at long range three red and a blue with a re-roll will stack up) but it wants those blue dice involved if it is going to score truly notable damage. Engine techs are fantastic on a Liberty in general (due to its wonky maneuver chart) but Truthi gets the additional advantage in that they allow him to fly at a lower listed speed to help proc QBTs. This gives him 5 blue dice to throw down range, and extremely reliable odds (when you account for the Caitken and Shollan re-roll) of scoring the crit needed to trigger HIEs. Truthi’s Lib is nowhere near as brutal when you draw the direct comparison to Markus’. It has a shorter optimal range and less defence token manipulation. However, Truthi’s Lib does have the advantage in that it’s incredibly consistent. It might not hit as hard, but its hits will all feel pretty rough.

In general, Truthiness’ fleet has an unbelievable amount of maneuver flexibility. There’s just too many spotters in the fleet to truly be able to prevent a good Raddus drop from this list I feel.

The two slicer GR-75s are always nice, particularly against carrier lists but also against other big ships (‘Oh what’s that? You thought you had a navigate or a repair? Yeaaahhhh, nah’).

The 3 Engine Tech TRC90s not only serve as phenomenal Raddus spotters but they also significantly diversify the threats coming from this list. One of Raddus’ main problems is having attack avenues other than the drop ship, both to take advantage of being first player and for those times where the drop is sub-optimal or where the target ship escapes. Some lists get around this with a Profundity drop, or a MC30, or massed rogue squadrons. This list does it through the consistent, long-range, whittling of concentrated TRC90s. The icing on the cake is that with their Engine Techs, the CR90s are also perfect rammers for those last few points of hull damage (or all of it in cases like Admonition).

14pts is right around that bid-range where you should really be getting the bid the majority of the time, but where you also shouldn’t be overly shocked if you don’t. Truthi’s list definitely prefers first but it’s a solid objective suite. They all have the potential to score him a solid amount of points, but more importantly they also allow him to dictate where the game is played. For Raddus, the significance of that power can’t be understated as it makes the chances of an especially strong drop all the more likely.

4. Scott “PwnerTrainee” Cowan – 34pts

Don’t y’all just love it when I have access to your Discord / Online names and they’re hilariously fantastic.

But in all seriousness, Scott seems like a stand up guy from the Armada Discord. If you aren’t already on the Discord now is a good time as any to expand your Armada world.

Arquitens Light Cruiser

Admiral Sloane, Centicore, Reinforced Blast Doors, Captain Brunson

Quasar Fire II

Boosted Comms, Agent Kallus, Flight Controllers, Ruthless Strategists

Raider-I

Darth Vader (Boarding Team), External Racks

Gozanti

Comms Net

Gozanti

Zertik Strom, ‘Whisper’, Maarek Steele, Major Rhymer, 3x TIE Phantoms, 2x TIE Bombers

Most Wanted, Fighter Ambush, Superior Positions

399pts

Another list reminding me of earlier waves. This is the kind of list that I feel has fallen out of favour with most Imperial players in lieu of the 2-3 ship, ISD lead, squadron builds.

First off. The Gozantis.

They exist.

The Vader-Raider is a fantastic pressure unit (similar in role to Duck’s). If it’s allowed to move in it will likely cripple a key target, and if it’s not allowed to move in well that’s ok because it means that his other ships aren’t getting beaten up on. This Raider has the added benefit of also being a really good shepherd for the squadrons with its double black flak.

The Arquitens looks to be part life-boat, part flanker, and part bait. The platform itself is just nice for flinging that little bit of extra annoying dice. It’s the upgrade suite though that really seems to suggest that Scott was dangling that Arq out there in harms way to try and intentionally draw fire. It’s a bold strategy given that Sloane is on there, but that’s kind of the point. If Scott can get you to fire on the Arq and you don’t kill it then all of those shots were wasted. I could be talked into shiftng Brunson onto the Vader-Raider as it would offer it a lot more survivability, but am not super fussed about it one way or the other. Centicore is also very nice for giving the Gozantis a convenient range boost for their squadron commands.

The Quasar is a real flak boat version. QF-II for the red AA, Kallus for the additional dice against uniques, Ruthless Strategists for the auto-damage. It’s all solid, just something that I haven’t found to be the most effective for myself. I think this largely has to do with the fact that it’s the kind of load-out that is unbelievably fantastic when it gets the right match-up (unique squads) but is completely wasted against the wrong one (all-ship lists). To be clear, that kind of upgrade design is completely viable, lots of lists do that intentionally to cover against the lists that they’re weakest to (all-ship builds taking anti squadron tech like EWS and Quad Laser Turrets for example). I just personally have a preference towards upgrade suites that are helpful all the time (it’s why I’m such a huge fan of Captain Brunson for example).

When it comes to the squads the main thing that stands out to me is that this is a finesse squadron ball. Maarek is so good it hardly bears mentioning, and it’s pretty obvious what the point of Rhymer is, but the other parts are a lot more interesting. The TIE bombers really are there as disposable damage for Ruthless Strategists (and hey a bomber dice is still a bomber dice). Zertik is there to take the hits the other things can’t, which is really important because of all the dang Phantoms in this build (Whisper excepting, as she is low key fantastic). Phantoms are actually surprisingly good anti-ship with Sloane (they should, on average, score a result of some kind). They’re also nice because they’re one of the only Imperial squadrons to throw two dice at enemy ships. They are seriously damn fragile for their points though, and that’s where the finesse element comes in – it really strikes me that without Intel Scott has to be very on point with both his use of Escort and Cloak to dictate the terms of engagement. I would have loved to have watched a game of this squad wing just to have seen how he used it.

Fighter Ambush and Superior Positions make too much sense not to take, though FA could bite him a little bit given that the location and positioning of that Quasar is really important considering how fragile it is.

Most Wanted is often taken in squadron lists, not for the extra dice but for the ability to make one of your opponent’s ships worth double. It’s a good way of soft-countering a really threatening piece in your opponent’s list (hard to be super aggressive with a Demolisher that’s worth 120+ points) or to rack up those big wins (a Most Wanted ISD is pretty much an 8-3 minimum). Still, sometimes you can’t help but question how much value is being derived from it.

5. Sean Sundberg – 34pts

It feels really weird to be talking about a Sean Sundberg list that isn’t some fish farm variant. As I’ve said before, in my mind he was one of the progenitors of that archetype. The list he’s used at NOVA definitely looks like it was intended to shake things up and give him a break from a style of play he’s been locked into for a while, so kudos to Sean for being extremely successful even when he’s on ‘break’. Sean was unfortunately just shy of making the Top Cut (which I think could have been really interesting for a number of lists that did make the cut if it had) but I definitely wanted to go through it in any event.

MC30c Torpedo Frigate

General Cracken, Admonition, Lando Calrissian, Ordnance Experts, XI7 Turbolasers, Assault Proton Torpedoes

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette

Task Force Organa, Boarding Engineers, External Racks

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette

Task Force Organa, Boarding Engineers, External Racks

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette

Task Force Organa, Boarding Engineers, External Racks

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette

Task Force Organa, Boarding Engineers, External Racks

GR-75

Slicer Tools, Expanded Hangar Bay

6x A-Wing

Most Wanted, Planetary Ion Cannon, Navigational Hazards

380pts

This list almost strikes me as the Rebel equivalent of the Imperial Clonisher builds. With a 20pt bid and six activations, Sean was clearly intending to be first player a vast majority of the time.

The MC30 is a quintessential Landmonition loadout. Extremely resilient (except against rams) and hits like a freight train. XI7s is rightfully the turbolaser of choice for this ship in the post-FAQ meta. Between his bid and activations Sean would be setting up first / last with this thing fairly comfortably.

One interesting point though – the admiral.

Cracken was successful at the top levels of play during the 2016 premier event season before largely dropping into obscurity thereafter (predominantly as a result of the abundance of heavy bomber builds). These days the main inhibitor for Cracken is that MSU is, generally, in somewhat of an awkward spot (due to the presence of long range sniper fleets) and because Cracken’s ideal play style can be quite boring for some players.

I think these concerns are alleviated somewhat by the other core component of this list. 4 Torpedo Hammerheads with External Racks and Boarding Engineers. First off – that’s some wild shit right there. Secondly, it also does make a fair amount of sense with Cracken. With their additional hull and their contain token, Hammerheads are just that little bit extra survivable when compared to Cracken’s traditional ship of choice, the CR90A. Their movement chart also allows them to turn harder at Speed 3, particularly with a Navigate command in hand.

Again, with his activation count and his bid, those Hammers are going to roll in, flip some cards, unload some missiles, and bug out. Also they’re only 42pts each! You have to kill off three of the little bastards before you’ve evened out a big ship going down. There’s a really nice ability for those ships to be consistently trading up.

The GR-75 and the A-Wings are there to play blocker against heavy squadron lists. Slicer tools to mess with carriers and big ships, expanded hanger bay to push additional squads, and the A-Wings to die as true heroes of the Rebellion. Against low to non-squadron lists the A-Wings become less throw-away and more additional black dice to throw against enemy ships. Even without bomber that .75 damage a roll does a lot of work.

Most Wanted and Navigational Hazards are great objectives for Cracken. PIC I’m a little less stoked on but it’s not troublesome enough to warrant a change (plus I also can’t think of many things I’d prefer over it).

So that’s Day 1A! Day 1B and the Top Cut will follow soon. But for now, I’m out of here.

– Intel Officer Luke