In stark contrast to Worlds, and despite my best efforts, the intel coming out of the European Championships has been very sparse indeed. Fortunately, we’ve been able to illegally obtain the final standings after five tumultuous rounds of Swiss and the lists that made the cut.

1. Gideon ‘Ginkapo’ Lowes – 41pts

If you’re on the FFG forums or the Star Wars Armada Discord channel, Ginkapo is a name you’ll probably recognise. An admitted firebrand, who does not suffer fools lightly, Ginkapo is well known for tinkering with disused Admirals (most notably Admiral Konstantine).

This time however, Ginkapo has left behind his speed-control for the Imperial mistress herself – Admiral Sloane.

Arquitens Light Cruiser



Centicore, Skilled First Officer, Dual Turbolaser Turrets

Gozanti

Suppressor, Comms Net

ISD-II

Admiral Sloane, Avenger, Governor Pryce, Gunnery Team, Boosted Comms, Electronic Countermeasures, Leading Shots

Mauler Mithel, Dengar, Soontir Fel, TIE Fighter, Black Squadron, 2x TIE Phantom, Maarek Steele

Most Wanted, Planetary Ion Cannon, Superior Positions

389pts

So unsurprisingly with a bid that large (though by UK standards quite small from what I hear!) Gink is definitely angling for first. This, in combination with Governor Pryce, really offsets his low activation count and allows him to not only control when the engagement occurs, but invariably get the first blow.

The ISD-II is such a well-rounded workhorse and in my experience it really is at home in Imperial 3 ship lists. Admiral Sloane, works to allows him to exhaust or strip those tokens, at which point the consistency of a re-rollable 4 Red, 4 Blue comes to bear.

Gink’s squadron loadout is really interesting, namely for the inclusion of 2 Phantoms. Phantoms are much maligned within the community, and I can’t say I have had a lot of success with them myself. Their Cloak ability is useful, but it definitely requires a lot of finesse. The rest of the squadron ball just makes a lot of sense though. Dengar / Mauler Mithel for auto-damage. Soontir Fel and Black Squadron to provide cover for the rest of the ball; and of course Maarek for Maarek because he’s that fantastic. Honestly, I really like it, I feel like it has a lot of moving parts, and would be something that could fall apart quite easily in the wrong hands, but there’s a lot of depth and flexibility to it. I can see how Gink could use Soontir and Black squadron to screen the Phantoms and Dengar / Mauler. Really nice.

The Goz and the Arq are definitely there for support. The Goz to feed the ISD tokens as needed, exhaust tokens at critical times, and presumably push some squadrons. The Arq provides supporting / finishing fire, with Centicore very cheaply offsetting the lack of Jendon or another Relay squadron.

Fantastic to see some Imperials making the top cut this time round!

2. Eric Rouyer – 40pts

Now I’m going with the spelling of Eric’s name that he provided me with, over what’s listed on the score sheet. Other than the correct spelling of his name, I really can’t tell you much about his role within the wider community or experience with the game (which will be true of the rest of the top cut). This is no knock on any of the competitors! It’s just a simple reality of being based in Australia, and this tournament showcasing the best of the European continent.

Hilariously though, Eric’s username on the FFG Forums is ‘nooby_le_noob’.

Yeah, somehow I don’t think that’s entirely accurate.

Without further ado though, here is Eric’s list.

ISD-Kuat

Grand Admiral Thrawn, Governor Pryce, Chimaera, Ruthless Strategists, Early Warning Systems, Ordnance Pods, Leading Shots, All Fighters, Follow Me!

GSD-II

Demolisher, Agent Kallus, Ruthless Strategists, External Racks

Gozanti

Comms Net

Gozanti

Comms Net

Mauler Mithel, JumpMaster 5000, 5x TIE Bomber, Lambda Shuttle

Advanced Gunnery, Fire Lanes, Superior Positions

397pts

I really, really like this list. I tried a similar concept in our latest Armada bat-rep, but I feel like Eric’s list does it in a smarter way. Thrawn allows the ships to be taking other commands natively, with the Thrawn dials giving the squadron command support. Not only does this free up the big ships, but it also means the Gozantis can happily palm off tokens while still pushing squadrons.

It cannot be understated how well this list leans into its central concept. The list is aiming to kill opposing squadrons with flak and Ruthless Strategists, and provides a really efficient means of doing so (the Kuat and Demo). Demo can roll up on squadrons with 2 blue (and a black if they’re an ace) and then ping one of the TIE Bombers to knock down 1 hull automatically. The Kuat meanwhile is throwing a blue and a black dice, can also ping the Bombers for auto damage, and then throw another black dice down range if there are any squadrons in close range. Then, if that wasn’t enough, you have Mauler Mithel pushing another layer of auto-damage. Damn.

The low squadron command value on all of the ships doesn’t matter either. Between the four ships there is squadron command 8 (for his 8 squadrons), plus it just isn’t aiming to get a big alpha. It’s looking to do it’s damage off of flak and other means, and then after that roll in drip by drip to bomb opposing ships.

The other thing to keep in mind is that the ISD and Demo still offer a lot of ship-to-ship killing power on their own. Honestly, I don’t know what more to say, it’s a great list and I’ll probably steal it.

Highest form of flattery I can give.

3. Przemyslaw Paluszynski – 39pts

The first of our two Polish finalists, with Euros 2019 just announced for Poland as well!

Somebody nerf Poland please.

As with Eric, it is with the most sincere apologies that I have to admit that all I have is a name and a list here. With that being the case, lets check it out!

CR90B

Admiral Raddus, Hondo Ohnaka

GR-75

Bright Hope

GR-75

Quantum Storm

MC-75 Ordnance Cruiser

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

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette

Ordnance Experts, External Racks

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

Most Wanted, Planetary Ion Cannon, Intel Sweep

393pts

Yeah this a list archetype that is really getting dialled in, and I definitely dig it. Cheap chariot for Raddus, 2 GR-75s as spotters, a swathe of YT-2400s (and a couple of other squadrons), and then the loaded out Ordnance Cruiser with drop readya torpedo Hammerhead as the beating heart of the list.

It took out the Vassal World Cup, it made the Top Cut at Worlds, and it doesn’t shock me that it’s done well again at Euros. The rogues really help it out against heavy bomber lists, while also punishing no-squadron fleets. While the Profundity drop off allows for a first activation strike (which with a 7pt bid it should get a fair amount of the time), and then the Ordnance Cruiser is an absolute beast.

Definitely a lot of skill in keeping the spotters active long enough to setup a perfect drop, and the precision in the drop can be right at the extreme end of the skill curve. But for those that have mastered it, boy its a strong list.

4. Piotr Swietlicki – 38pts

Our second Polish admiral in this year’s Top Cut (NERF THEM ALREADY), Piotr is running a Rieekan list that I definitely can’t help but draw comparisons to Rikki Porter’s list from Worlds.

Did I mention how close it was there at the top though? Piotr squeaked into the Top Cut with a 9 MoV margin over 5th place. That’s right, all that probably separated Piotr from falling inside and outside the cut was killing someone’s poor Black Squadron somewhere along the line. An exciting reminder of how these tournaments can often be decided by the most seemingly inconsequential events.

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate

Yavaris, Flight Commander

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette



General Rieekan



Pelta Command Ship

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

GR-75

Toryn Farr, Bomber Command Center

GR-75

Hondo Ohnaka, Comms Net

Jan Ors, Ten Numb, Gold Squadron, Dagger Squadron, Dutch Vander, 2x VCX-100, Wedge Antilles

Precision Strike, Jamming Barrier, Superior Positions

400pts

Now when I said this list reminded me of Rikki’s, I wasn’t kidding. They’re ridiculously similar (convergent evolution is a beautiful thing). The thing is though, I think Piotr’s minor differences make me prefer this list to Rikki’s. Firstly, Rieekan is shifted to the Admiral Lifeboat hammerhead. Now, on the one hand, this does mean the Hammerhead is almost certainly not in the heart of things terribly often. But what it does mean is that the Command Pelta is no longer such a debilitating loss to the list (and also lessens the amount of points that can be gained from its destruction).

In a similar vein, I personally prefer Piotr’s squadron set-up. In my mind, Wedge and Dutch are a massive upgrade over Norra Wexley and a generic YT-1300. Yeah the escort isn’t as tough, and the bombing isn’t as good, but sweet mother mercy, the Yavaris Dutch/Wedge double tap is nightmarishly good.

As another aside, it’s really nice to see another Pelta list making it to the Top Cut. They’re definitely tough ships to get a handle on, but man some of the top players are really making a name of it.

Top Cut Results

So rolling into the second day of competition, we had Ginkapo v Piotr and Eric v Przemyslaw. I don’t have great details of how play unfolded (and more importantly its late and I have work tomorrow), but I do have photos and the results.

Ginkapo v Piotr

So apparently Gink forgot to use Avenger to take out Toryn Farr, and that this would have really swung the squadron fight (ouch), In the end though, with his ISD beginning to burn, Gink conceded to one of our new Polish overlords, sending Piotr into the final.

Eric v Przemyslaw

Raddus got the drop in behind, but the Imperials managed to slip the net, so this match was a very low scoring affair. Demo managed to take out the Raddus CR90, but the Imperial squadrons were largely wiped out by the rogue contingent. In the end Przemo took the final out by all of 10 MoV! Heartbreakingly close for Eric and the Imperials, but in the end the Poles carried the day to set up an all Rebel, all Polish final.

Przemyslaw v Piotr

And in the end Rieekan was able to force the concession from Raddus! A victory from the lowest seeded player in the cut! Congratulations to Piotr!

Final Thoughts

It’s nearing midnight, and my candle is burning low, but I’ll give a few of my final thoughts. Again, and this is meant with no disrespect to Piotr, but it’s slightly frustrating that Rieekan was once again able to take out the tournament. Not because I think that Rieekan is overpowered (I think the nerfs have reeled him in enough) but because a win like this does nothing to ease such perceptions. Compared to Worlds, the cut this time was far more representative (Piotr was the only Rieekan in play); and while I doubt I’ll be able to rustle up the rest of the Top 12, my suspicion is that there was a real diversity amongst the lists within striking distance of the top cut.

What is very exciting to see is the genuine appearance of rarer game pieces in the Top Cut. Thrawn, Phantoms, TIE Bombers, a Pelta, these are not exactly hot ticket items in most metas; which makes it all the more fantastic to see top players not only using them but using them very successfully.

As we fast approach midnight here down under, I’ve about hit the limit of what I can muster. I hope you found this Overnight Report useful, and if you did, maybe consider slinging us a few dollars every month.

Anyway, until next time.

– Intel Officer Luke