Another exceptionally overdue tournament report (I’ve been sitting on this one for over four months!) but better late than never I suppose.

This time around we have the London Masters, a community organised tournament that is incredibly well regarded for both its organisation and prize support.

I want to take a moment here to really praise the tournament organiser, Florian Hess. Florian’s background is in miniatures games that don’t have Organised Play structures so when he picked up Armada he decided that this community deserved nothing different. The goal of London Masters is to provide a special event for the London Armada community (though it seems open to those beyond it!). The 2018 Masters was the third year this event has been run, and by all accounts it really is a highlight event. The prize support is also unreal, including custom alt-arts and game mats.

I think efforts like this are what make our communities amazing and if you’re able to support the London Masters at all, this year Florian is hoping to expand the event to a two day tournament.

It is also why I would like to express an actual, very genuine, apology to Florian for taking so long to get this article together. I really hope 2019 is better than ever (and I will cover it with far greater speed I promise!).

1. Rikki Porter – 39pts

Some of these names I can’t help but feel like I don’t even need to introduce anymore. Look convergent evolution in miniatures game list design / meta is definitely a thing but for me Rikki Porter is the guy behind the hyper aggressive Pelta AFFM! Rieekan aces / squads, which were popularised by his performance with them at Worlds last year.

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette

General Rieekan

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate

Flight Commander, Fighter Coordination Team, Yavaris

Pelta Command

Flight Commander, Adar Tallon, Fighter Coordination Team, All Fighters, Follow Me!, Phoenix Home

GR-75

Toryn Farr, Comms Net

GR-75

Bomber Command Centre

Hera Syndulla, Jan Ors, Scurrg H-6, 2x B-Wing, 2x YT-1300, Gold Squadron

Precision Strike, Fighter Ambush, Superior Positions

400pts

So again I don’t know how much I need to talk about this list at this stage of the meta development. Rieekan Squadrons are very much a list everyone is familiar with and generally know what they can do.

The GR-75s in this list get about the best mileage flotillas can get. Toryn Farr is just obscene for how much deadlier she makes those big, tough, blue dice throwing squads. BCC likewise makes the bombing power just so god damn consistent. On top of this you get all the other benefits, they are an activation, they can block, they can flak, and they can command squadrons in a pinch.

The Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette is the cheapest lifeboat in the game and its job is to not die. I know I was critical of an Imperial equivalent in the Polish Regionals article but I think that is because the Imperial lifeboat just isn’t as effective. For starters the Rebel one is cheaper, but in general as well Rebel carrier builds are just far more prone to being tabled (but with a lot of points still left on the board). So yeah I think it’s a rock solid choice in this kind of list.

Yavaris and the Pelta just do dirty things for these squads. AFFM! in particularly really gives them a surprising amount of speed (and lord help you if you take Fighter Ambush).

In terms of the squads, it’s not what I’d call the most common version of Rieekan ball (they’re normally a lot more ace heavy) but I am a fan. Between the B-Wings, Gold Squadron, the Scurrg, and hell even Hera if she’s in Toryn range, there is an unreal amount of reliable bombing power in this list. That kind of output will melt ships incredibly fast, especially if the ever present Adar Tallon / Yavaris triple double connects.

The YT-1300s and Jan Ors really give this list some staying power, and the problem with Yavaris / Toryn is that those squads can play from behind and still punch as hard as a full strength squadron ball.

Objectives are all kind of nasty. Not surprised this list did as well as it did.

2. Matthew Sheehan – 31pts

ISD Cymoon

Grand Admiral Thrawn, Captain Brunson, Expanded Hangar Bay, Quad Battery Turrets, Avenger

Raider-II

Disposable Capacitors

Gozanti

Bomber Command Centre

Gozanti

Dengar, Maarek Steele, Colonel Jendon, “Mauler” Mithel, Major Rhymer, 3x TIE Bomber, TIE Interceptor

Advanced Gunnery, Fighter Ambush, Superior Positions

399pts

So Thrawn bombers are definitely something a lot of people have been working with during this wave. Personally I think the two-ship build is probably the best version of that rough idea, but this is a mean list nonetheless.

The Gozanti’s Gozanti it up, though I wonder if the second Gozanti wouldn’t have been better spent as points making the Raider an Arquittens or Demolisher. I just question how much utility there is going from 3 activations to 4, for me the tipping point is 4 to 5 (and anything beyond that).

The Raider-II I actuallly kind of like (which feels weird to say), as its able to throw some cheeky dice at long range, though a re-roll capacity would have been much appreciated.

Truthiness talked about the ubiquitousness of the Super Best Friends and I’m inclined to agree. If you’re flying Imperials and you’re taking any kind of Squadrons, your first points should be slotting in Colonel Jendon and Maarek Steele. Dengar and Mauler Mithel are always a mean combination. Most squadron balls tend to bunch up (usually for aura purposes) so Mauler really messes with your opponent’s positional play and in general if Mauler can get two meaty splashes the squadron war is going to go your way.

Rhymer to give Maarek and the TIE Bombers additional range is a solid choice. TIE Interceptor seems like it was squeezed in for points, though for my mind I would rather go no bid and make it Sabre Squadron. My main concern for this list is how quickly those squads could melt to an MMJ double tap or a Yavaris ball. It’s not to say it isn’t good, it’s more I think this squadron composition is susceptible to coming off second best against squadron balls that can really lay on the pain.

Cymoon without any re-rolls or dice modification is always a concern for me. In general the really successful competitive lists tend to be very consistent in their damage output and unmodified red are notoriously swingy.

With this in mind, Advanced Gunnery still seems like a bit of a no brainer for this list. Likewise I think Superior Positions is also good for the counter-deployment options it opens up. In this particular list I would be a bit more leery of Fighter Ambush just because there are a lot of heavy squad builds out there that this list could potentially cede the advantage to on that objective.

3. Andrew Dobson – 30pts

ISD Cymoon

Darth Vader, Strategic Adviser, Gunnery Team, Entrapment Formation!, Spinal Armament, XI7 Turbolasers

GSD-I

Intel Officer, Ordnance Experts, Engine Techs, Assault Proton Torpedos, Demolisher

Raider-I

Hondo Ohnaka, Ordnance Experts, External Racks

Gozanti

Comms Net

Gozanti

Comms Net

Most Wanted, Hyperspace Assault, Dangerous Territory

372pts

So straight off the bat – 28pts on the bid means Andrew is not messing around. I’m going to assume he wants first.

So this is more the flavour of Cymoon I like in that Darth Vader is giving it that sweet, sweet, juicy re-roll. Add on Spinals and XI7 and that 6 red dice coming down range is down right spooky. I can see the logic behind Entrapment Formation!, as it really does help the ISD who probably wants to be either Concentrating Fire or Engineering but for my mind I think for this list IF! would be much better overall as it would make the dice even more reliable.

I like both the Raider and the Gladiator, though it seems unnecessarily redundant to have both Vader and Ordnance Experts. Demo is a bit of a harder call just because it will often be getting two shots off and it does really want those tokens, but on the Raider I’d be pretty happy dropping it.

Gozanti’s Gozanti. Interestingly if this list had IF! I would be incredibly tempted to put Disposable Capacitors on the Goz just for the guaranteed 2 damage at long range.

Not that it probably matters too much but taking Most Wanted instead of Advanced Gunnery definitely seems to be a personal preference. AG makes the Cymoon so much more lethal, but also makes it an incredibly spicy pinata. MW still helps out but is much less of a risk for Andrew.

4. Tim Bailey – 27pts

CR90a

Mon Mothma, Early Warning System, Turbolaser Reroute Circuits, Jaina’s Light

CR90B

Engine Techs, SW-7 Ion Batteries

CR90B

Engine Techs, SW-7 Ion Batteries

MC30c Torpedo Frigate

Skilled First Officer, Ordnance Experts, Assault Proton Torpedoes, Foresight

GR-75

Slicer Tools, Quantum Storm

GR-75

Comms Net

Ketsu Onyo, 3x YT-2400

Most Wanted, Planetary Ion Cannon, Dangerous Territory

391pts

Man this list really reminds me of the older Wave 2-5 Rebel MSU goodness that was popular back in 2016 and early 2017.

So GR-75s. Check. Always good. We know this. Quantum Storm Slicers are such a good unit for predominantly ship based Rebels. Would have probably had Hondo on the second transport rather than comms net. This list is mostly Command 1 units anyway and it just feels like it would get about the same mileage (with far greater flexibility) from Hondo.

Mon Mothma on a TRC90 with EWS is an interesting call. I can see the reasoning behind not putting her on the MC30 (makes that too attractive a target) and then obviously EWS is to help keep her alive; I just question whether you get enough value out of the EWS to make it worth it. Personally I would drop the EWS and squeeze the points to make one of the CR90Bs into another TRC90 or slapped a couple more upgrades on Foresight.

Speaking of, lets talk about Foresight. As far as MC30s go this is a lean upgrade build. For Mon Mothma the difference between Foresight and Admonition is really one of personal preference (I tend to prefer Admonition myself, but I feel like Foresight is just as valid). It’s going to be trying to come in and munch on ships, big or small, with SFO helping for some mid-battle change of plans.

The 2 CR90Bs are interesting. So again, this is slightly older list design looping back around into relevance. What makes the CR90Bs so good is their expendability for ultra-reliable damage. With CF on a double arc it is six guaranteed damage, which if they have the Nav token (maybe the comms net ain’t so useless after all) can be followed up by a double ram. That will burn down things fast. Now obviously its a fine balancing act. At 4 hull a piece, every ram tends to hurt the Bs a lot worse than their target, but its all about timing and trading up.

I think the squads fall into a similar category as the CR90Bs, can get work done, get burn up in flames real quick. 4 squads ain’t what it used to be but because of Rogue if you can time the strike you can be very annoying very fast (especially with Ketsu).

While a 9pt bid is solid, enough lists run huge bids these days to make that about 50/50 I figure. Most Wanted and Planetary Ion seem really good for this list, helping generate extra damage. I’m not the biggest fan of Dangerous Territory, I find invariably it just means you end up tied on points, so I’d probably swap it out.

5. Przemyslaw “Przemek” Paluszynski – 27pts

God damn it Przemek can you stop turning up in events! This is getting ridiculous!

CR90B

Admiral Raddus, Hondo Ohnaka

MC75 Ordnance Cruiser

Lando Calrissian, Ordnance Experts, Early Warning System, Assault Proton Torpedoes, External Racks, Profundity

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette

Ordnance Experts, External Racks

GR-75

Bright Hope

GR-75

Quantum Storm

Jan Ors, 5x YT-2400, VCX-100

Most Wanted, Planetary Ion Cannon, Intel Sweep

393pts

Pretty good example of a blue fish list, in particular it reminds me a lot of the list that JJ took to the Top 4 at Worlds last year. It’s also very easy to break this list down and discuss it.

The 2 GR-75s exist. They spot for Raddus and they can command squadrons if needed. Easy peasy.

The CR90B exists to sub-optimally spot for Raddus, and mostly to not die. Sorted.

The MC75 exists to drop out of Raddus and then Russian Doll the Hammerhead into range of a target. Obviously as Raddus it won’t be activating first, but it’s there to put the pain on something. Ordnance Experts, External Racks, and APTs on an Ordnance Cruiser are some serious firepower. EWS seems to be a meta call, obviously it helps with squads which are damn near omnipresent, but were it me I still tend to prefer ECMs just because it opens up more drop options (generally). Lando obviously helps mitigate this concern as a lot of the time the Raddus drop is designed to pounce, nuke something, take little return fire and then ride into the sunset.

The Hammerhead is there to Russian Doll surprise an unfortunate target, especially if Przemek is first player. It gets a bit trickier if he’s second (which is not unlikely with his 7pt bid) but still doable.

The squads are kind of great, at least for this kind of list. The VCX really just opens up the yellow and blue objectives if Przemek is second player and opens up a lot of counter play if he’s first. It makes Most Wanted the most tempting of his objectives, which is a bit of a trap as the flexibility of Raddus makes it very easy for him to take a non-obvious objective ship, pounce on it and fly off with double points. This is especially true with the 5 YT-2400s. While obviously all squad lists are going to have a tough time against double tapping Pryce or Yavaris the good part here is that this list has a lot of leeway for hanging back with its squads and waiting to jump in thanks to Rogue. In addition YT-2400s really do start to hit a critical mass around the 5-6 mark.

6. Adam Willey – 26pts

MC75 Ordnance Cruiser

Commander Sato, Bail Organa, Ordnance Experts, Reinforced Blast Doors, External Racks, Assault Concussion Missiles

MC80 Star Cruiser

Strategic Adviser, Gunnery Team, Engine Techs, SW-7 Ion Batteries

GR-75

Hondo Ohnaka, Comms Net

GR-75

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

Most Wanted, Planetary Ion Cannon, Solar Corona

400pts

Commander Sato in a Top 8 list! Wild times!

So with no bid it seems pretty clear this list is kind of accepting that it will be second player a lot (which is perfectly fine, that’s generally how I build all my lists). My one quibble on this is that I really dislike Solar Corona in this list. Obviously it helps offset the low deployment count, but I think if you’re paying to take the VCX then you’re much better off taking Intel Sweep to make that blue as unattractive as possible. PIC and MW are both super nasty for this kind of list so I just think Adam would have been playing Solar Corona a lot without necessarily getting as much benefit as he could have.

So the GR-75s are basically there as padding, token generation, and squadron commanding. Again, what we tend to expect.

What’s interesting is the two big ships. I’ll start with the Star Cruiser. Which, spoiler, I really liked. With SW-7s if this thing can get into medium range and have a squadron proccing Sato than that’s just straight up 6 guaranteed damage, plus one fickle red dice. If it can get that on two ships then its handing out 12 guaranteed damage a turn! Oooft. There is a lot to like about a ship that can just come in and go “Hey eat some guaranteed shit”.

I think this pairs up nicely with the Ordnance Cruiser which wants to get in even closer and just dump ludicrous amounts of black dice onto a target. I’m less sold on RBDs (got to find those 2pts for ECMs in my opinion) and I find Bail to be very difficult to use effectively in lists that have less than 5-6 activations but it is definitely something for opponents to work around.

Squads actually seem to hit just the right amount of points / flexibility which is what you want from a Sato list.

7. Callum Wescott – 25pts

Interdictor Suppression Refit

Admiral Screed, Captain Brunson, Engine Techs, Disposable Capacitors, Targeting Scramblers, Grav Shift Reroute, Heavy Ion Emplacements

ISD Kuat

Governor Pryce, Fire-Control Team, Hardened Bulkheads, Electronic Countermeasures, Assault Concussion Missiles, Heavy Ion Emplacements, Relentless

Morna Kee, 2x Firespray-31, JumpMaster 5000

Advanced Gunnery, Contested Outpost, Solar Corona

375pts

This, for me, was definitely the most out there list of the Top 8.

So straight off the bat we got a 25pt bid. Callum is playing for keeps when it comes to first player on this one. Which makes a lot of sense given how important it can be for two ship builds.

This list is interesting though as it trades up the usual second half of two-shipper (a Quasar) for the more expensive Interdictor in exchange for significantly reducing its squadron investment.

So we’ll start with the more traditional part, the Kuat. With Governor Pryce in tow, and such a huge bid, obviously the goal is to come in and first-last the shit out of something. What’s interesting is that this is about the only time I’ve seen a FCT that I actually can get down with (because normally the lack of re-rolls just kills it). So obviously the intention here is to throw the 3 black, 2 blue, and come up with a crit on at least one of them, and then use Screed to change the other colour to a crit so as to give you both ACMs and HIEs. Because you resolve the order of resolution that means potentially you could be stripping five shields / potentially some hull if the dice are about average. On top of which you get whatever actual damage you’ve rolled.

Now doing that twice in a row with Pryce and first player would be exceptionally filthy. Look, it’s a big more luck dependent than I’d personally luck but man at minimum the giddy thrill of dropping that on a player probably makes it worth it.

The interdictor looks to be the support crew for the Kuat, helping to soften blows with Targeting Scramblers and providing yet more shield stripping juicy goodness with its own HIEs (which again is nice with Screed).

This leaves the squads, now with Morna and 2 Firesprays its really all about the bombing. My suspicion is Callum expects the squads to die but their job is to roll with the Kuat and then hit in the same turn as Pryce (using the JumpMaster to clear engagement if necessary). If you pull that off, oh boy yeah that’s nasty.

I think there’s lots of ways this list could get disrupted, or be betrayed by its dice, but I can also see it coming through and overwhelming a lot of lists as well.

8. Peter Spooner – 25pts

ISD Cymoon

Moff JerJerrod, Captain Needa, Gunnery Team, Entrapment Formation!, Turbolaser Reroute Circuits, Quad Battery Turrets

ISD-II

Strategic Adviser, Gunnery Team, Early Warning System, Leading Shots, XI7 Turbolasers, Avenger

Gozanti

Comms Net, Suppressor

Gozanti

Comms Net

Valen Rudor, Ciena Ree

Most Wanted, Contested Outpost, Salvage Run

398pts

Double ISD builds are incredibly fun to talk about just for the surprising amount of diversity that exists in what should be such a small design space.

The Gozantis and the throw away “wow we’re fucking pains!” squads exist. Comms net on both the Gozanti’s obviously very, very good for double ISDs (who are very token hungry).

So lets’s talk about the ISD II first seeing as it seems to be the workhorse of the fleet. It’s job is to roll into medium and just be a reliable gunship. It’s big, it’s tough, and it puts out a very consistent amount of damage that really hurt with XI7s and Avenger. EWS obviously seems to be there to help with heavy squads which are probably this list’s greatest weakness.

The Cymoon is very much a sniper, and while I’ve seen the idea floated, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Needa / TRCs actually used on a Cymoon. So with Gunnery Teams and QBTs it definitely feels like it wants to slow roll and hit up two targets a turn, using the TRCs to balance out a poor roll or really hammer home a good one. It wants to be going before Avenger because then, ideally, Avenger can follow up on at least one target and really punch through some pain.

I really enjoy the combo from Entrapment Formation! and JerJerrod. It allows these ISDs to be spamming either CF or Engineering while still getting all the effectiveness of a Nav command. That’s actually really good value and would allow these ISDs to exert a lot of pressure on the board.

This rolls nicely into the objectives. Both CO and Salvage Run are obviously there to give the ISDs a point that they can take, hold, and dominate. Most Wanted, while not giving a point to control, does make it easier for this list to score big especially against other lists with only a single big ship.