German Masters (Nationals) has come and gone, and once again I’m here with the fleets that have come out of it (for which I must give a very sincere thanks to Sebastian from Discord for providing me with both the lists and photos of them!).

Much like the UK Nationals, the German Masters draw in a lot of highly skilled players (46 this year). German Masters played five rounds of Swiss, before graduating to a Top 4 single-elimination cut.

Because of German data security laws, the publishing of the players’ last names would be of questionable legality. Not wishing to break said laws, I’ve instead drawn inspiration from German nobility in ages past and given the players a rank and title befitting their station.

Swiss

1. Markus “Nebulon-B” the Third, Lord of Mecklenburg – 41pts

So as is standard for a lot of these international tournaments, I really have very little idea about a bunch of the players.

If you want an inkling of how ferociously competitive the European Armada scene is though, try this one on for size. The Lord of Mecklenburg, ruler of German Swiss, first amongst 46 of his esteemed peers, came 46th out of 64 players (not including drops) at the European Championships earlier this year. Damn.

This is not meant as a slight on the Lord either. No, rather it is indicative of the especially high level of Armada that the Europeans play. Very talented players can be absolutely kicked around when they’re having a bad day in Europe.

MC80 Battle Cruiser

Intel Officer, Caitken and Shollan, Engine Techs, SW-7 Ion Batteries, Spinal Armament, XI7 Turbolasers, Mon Karren

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette

Admiral Raddus, Hondo Ohnaka

CR90B

Engine Techs

CR90B

Engine Techs

GR-75

Slicer Tools, Quantum Storm

GR-75

Comms Net

2x A-Wing

Most Wanted, Hyperspace Assault, Solar Corona

378pts

With a 22pt bid it should come as no surprises that the Lord of Mecklenburg is generally aiming to be first player.

Although this report will release first, the Lord of Mecklenburg’s list really, really reminds me of Truthiness’ list coming out of NOVA. What I really like about this style of list is how it amplifies the power of the Raddus drop. Between two GR-75s and the Engine-Tech Corvettes I don’t know how you stop this list from dropping that Liberty off where it wants to.

This flows into its next strength, namely, because the Liberty is a long to mid-range sniper rather than the traditional MC-75 close range brawler, it can be a lot more flexible in where it drops. This is particularly true of the Lord’s list as his 5+ re-rollable red dice, with Intel Officer, XI7s, and Mon Karren is really capable of punching a big hole in the side of just about anything.

There is very little else to talk about with this list and, again, this is not meant disparagingly. This low number of moving parts is, I think, a huge plus for the long tournaments that take place at a premier level. The Lord of Mecklenburg has a clear, concise, plan. He’s going to out maneuver you with his small units, drop off the big guy into a fantastic spot, and then just start chewing you up. It’s an effective plan that can stand up to the fatigue of a premier event better than say an intricate heavy squadron list.

My one complaint is the inclusion of the 2 A-Wings. I’m very skeptical of how much value they add to this fleet. If they were Shara and Tycho I would be on-board, but realistically two generic A-Wings get shredded faster than they’re worth. If it were me, I’d be taking the points from those A-Wings and putting TRCs onto the CR90s to make their damage output super consistent and swapping out comms net on the second GR-75 for another slicer tools. Update: I’ve been informed that the CR90s are B’s to cut down on points, and that the A-Wings are merely there to stall a deployment. Not sure how I feel about that, but it at least clears some things up.

Still, it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest that the Lord of Mecklenburg ate up a lot of would-be contenders on his way to the top of Swiss.

2. Abraham “Interdictor” the Sixth, Count of Daun-Falkenstein – 41pts

Apologies to the Count of Daun-Falkenstein, but I know nothing of the man other than his name, his title, and the fact that I like the cut of his squadron ball jib.

ISD-II

Admiral Sloane, Strategic Adviser, Gunnery Team, Boosted Comms, Reinforced Blast Doors, Leading Shots, Quad Battery Turrets, Avenger

Arquitens Light Cruiser

Turbolaser Reroute Circuits

Gozanti

Comms Net

Maarek Steele, Colonel Jendon, Dengar, Ciena Ree, Howlrunner, Mauler Mithel, Valen Rudor, Saber Squadron

Most Wanted, ?, Solar Corona

398pts

The meta for Imperial Squadrons seems to have shifted to 2-3 ship lists and really this can be attributed to Imperial MSU being something of a non-starter at the moment (Imperial MSU + Squads being decently popular throughout Waves 5 and 6).

The Count of Daun-Falkenstein’s list fits that mould quite nicely. The Gozanti is there to pass tokens to the big guy and to command squadrons as needed. The Arquitens is, I suspect, a flanker and a finisher. There to punish ships once their defence tokens have been stripped by Sloane or to force Daun-Falkenstein’s opponents into a tough spot (do you exhaust the brace now knowing that makes it far more likely to be burnt?).

The ISD is the heart and soul of this list however. It’s going to be doing the heavy lifting on both the squadron command and anti-ship front. I’m somewhat leery of the choice of Strategic Adviser here. I think Strategic Adviser offers a lot more tangible benefit when lifting your activation count up to and beyond 5 activations. It could have worked for Daun-Falkenstein, but I question whether he found Strategic Adviser that helpful seeing as it only took him to 4 activations. Similar questions could probably be leveled at the choice of RBDs over ECMs but I’m more willing to give that a pass (and on a hull heavy beast like an ISD it will invariably get to make great use of those RBDs).

The one interaction I do really enjoy is QBTs, Leading Shots, and Avenger. It’s not a ground breaking combination, but boy I have to imagine that Count Daun-Falkenstein got real mileage out of that by dramatically increasing the damage output of the ISD at long range.

This pairs particularly well with the nasty squadron ball. As indicated, I’ve run that exact squadron ball before and it is seriously mean. Ciena Ree, Howlrunner, Mauler Mithel, Valen Rudor, Maarek Steele, and Saber Squadron can all lay an extraordinary amount of anti-squadron smack down. This lethality is only heightened by Colonel Jendon’s double tap. Mauler Mithel in particular though, is often the real lynch pin to winning the squadron war. If Mauler can get 2-3 good splashes off then normally its game over for the opposing squad wing.

Obviously with Sloane, most of the time Daun-Falkenstein is looking to clear the skies as fast as possible and start stripping tokens so that the ISD and the Arq can follow up and finish the job. Maarek / Jendon can be especially vital to the war effort once bombing runs begin but I feel like the reliable damage his two combat ships can dish out make this need far less vital than some of the other common Sloane variants such as the perennial ISD / Quasar builds. It might seem a small difference, but not being as dependent on the Super Best Friends in the later stages of the game gives this list a lot of flexibility when compared to lists of a similar design.

3. Dennis “Tokra” Count of Bentheim-Steinfurt-Tecklenburg-Limburg – 39pts

The Count of Bentheim-Steinfurt-Tecklenburg-Limburg is not unknown to me personally. We effectively knocked each other out of the running for the Top Cut in the second round of the 2016 World Championship back when the Count was running his infamous 8 Gozanti Tarkin list (the Count won 6-4 under the old system, but we’d end up 5th and 3rd respectively on Day 1A).

He is also, however, widely known throughout the Armada community for his long list of achievements. 2-time German National Champ, Top 2 Euros 2017, and consistent high placings at Worlds and other major events. Safe to say the Count has some pedigree.

MC80 Command Cruiser

Strategic Adviser, Fighter Coordination Team, Electronic Countermeasures

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate

General Dodonna, Flight Commander, Yavaris

GR-75

Adar Tallon, Boosted Comms

GR-75

Toryn Farr, Comms Net

Corran Horn, Luke Skywalker, Ten Numb, Dutch Vander, Dagger Squadron, Gold Squadron, 2x VCX-100

Precision Strike, Fire Lanes, Sensor Net

398pts

The Count has previously been on the receiving end of some especially vicious defeats at the hands of Rebel Aces, so it’s perhaps somewhat unsurprising that he’s decided “If you can’t beat them, join them”.

Really a lot of aspects of this fleet don’t need much explaining (in large part due to the omnipresence of Rebel Aces for so long).

The comms net GR-75 will pass tokens off to both Yavaris and the MC80, it can block, it can command squads if needed. Also the whole time it will be allowing his squads to re-roll (and probably the MC80 and Yavaris when it comes to squadron flak).

The boosted comms GR-75 will be used to move key squadrons into position, particularly Corran Horn, before having them untap with Adar Tallon.

Yavaris will move up and double tap squadrons, often the one untapped by Adar. It’s murderously effective. Having the admiral on Yavaris is an interesting and somewhat risky choice. My suspicion is that the Count was running Yavaris as far back as he could with the aid of relay.

Corran, Ten, and Dutch are all extremely effective against enemy squadrons, especially when they’re able to go off as many as three times in a round between Adar and Yavaris. Their bulk presence makes this difficult to stop as well. Try and kill or lock down Corran, and you leave yourself open to Ten and Dutch (and so on).

Luke, Dagger, and Gold are all especially good against enemy ships. Particularly when, you guessed it, they get to go off as many as three times in a round. Again, the fact that there are so many threat units makes this a difficult prospect to handle.

Meanwhile the VCXs boost the range of all of the Count’s carriers, and allow for token farming (more on this later). Lack of intel really is the only obvious question mark on this squad ball, but I have to feel the plan is to just punch its way out with the power of Yavaris. Not the worst plan, but it does give the opportunity for a savvy opponent to tie it up for longer than other Rebel Ace Builds.

Lastly, the Command Cruiser adds some muscle to this fleet. Strategic Adviser pushes him to five activations (which is where I think it’s worth the opportunity cost). ECMs allows it to stand up to some punishment. But really, its the FCTs that signal its role. It’s a squadron shepherd, there to bump the squadrons forward, and shield Yavaris and the GR-75s by sheer weight of its bulk (and this is probably why Dodonna isn’t on the MC80). At a gut level I really, really want to question the lack of Leading Shots but I can also see why he’s gone that way for lack of points. The main possible point swap would be dropping Comms Net, but realistically Yavaris activating another squadron is worth far more than the MC80 being able to re-roll.

What’s interesting about this list isn’t so much what’s in it (the squads make a lot of sense, and it’s not that different from previous iterations) indeed, it shares a lot of DNA with Nathan Coda’s World Championship winning list. Instead what is interesting is the objectives that it’s running.

Almost all Rebel Aces default into taking fighter based objectives, and for obvious reasons. What’s really clever about this list is that it’s taken design cues from lists like the Fish Farm to set up a very, very nasty objective suite. Sensor Net with two VCXs? Forget about it. You’re going to get farmed into oblivion if the Count is half-way decent. Fire-Lanes? Doesn’t matter that he can’t re-roll those MC80 dice if they’re scoring him 45pts a turn.

Which leaves you with Precision Strike. Do you really want to give that kind of objective to a Dodonna Bomber list?

Yeah neither would I, but that is what I really admire about this list. It takes the lessons learned from the Fish Farm (that lists can be built around giving your opponents no good choices as first player) and marries it to the most consistent archetype Armada has had throughout its lifecycle. I’m calling it the Ace Farm and don’t be shocked if I steal the heck out of it.

4. Oliver “Gariel” of Leiningen-Dagsburg – 38pts

Oliver of Leiningen-Dagsburg is another unknown to me. Lacking evidence to the contary, I have to assume that he looks something like this:

What is clear though is that Oliver of Leiningen-Dagsburg is, at least currently, a purveyor of a very uncommon fleet.

ISD-II

Admiral Motti, Strategic Adviser, Gunnery Team, Electronic Countermeasures, XI7 Turbolasers, Leading Shots, Relentless

Arquitens Light Cruiser

XI7 Turbolasers (?)

Gozanti

Comms Net

Dengar, Morna Kee, 3x VT-49 Decimator, Mandalorian Gauntlet Fighter

Advanced Gunnery (?), Fighter Ambush, Superior Positions

393pts

Similar to my comments regarding the Count of Daun-Falkenstein’s list, it feels like Imperial squadrons have moved towards these low activation fleets because of reasons touched upon earlier. In fact, superficially, Oliver of Leningen-Dagsburg’s list is very similar to Daun-Falkenstein’s in regards to its ships (both having an ISD, an Arquitens, and a Gozanti).

So first off. The Gozanti. It passes tokens to the big guy, it blocks things, it throws some cheeky dice. We should all be pretty familiar with the role they take by now.

The Arquitens would again, I suspect, be a flanker and a finisher. The choice of XI7s really does make me pause though. I don’t find the Arquitens to be a reliable enough platform to warrant XI7s, and personally would much rather a dice modifying upgrade like TRCs or Dual Turbos – but I digress.

ISD-IIs are such a good platform, and I’d argue that this upgrade suite is pretty much what most admirals would want for an ISD-II in a gunship role. Gunnery Team, ECMs, XI7s, Leading Shots. Tick, Tick, Tick, Tick. I also really rate the inclusion of Relentless here. Most of the time this ISD would be firing before other damage has been punched out so the usual choice of Avenger doesn’t make sense; having some cheap dial flexibility is a great alternate instead.

Again, I’m fairly skeptical of the inclusion of Strategic Adviser in a 3 ship list. This may, however, be more of a localised meta consideration. If 4 ship builds are more common than 5 in Germany, then my arguments carry less weight. Still, overall, I think the officer chair could have been better filled in both of these lists.

The squad ball though is where Oliver of Leningen-Dagsburg really has brought something different. Dengar, Morna Kee, three Decimators, and a Gauntlet fighter. I’ve seen some really, really, interesting squadron balls this Premier Event season, but this might be the contender for the most wild of the year. So this ball does a bunch of things really well. Firstly, it’s nearly all Rogue, and let me tell you, I think Rogue is vogue (right now). There’s been a general shift away from the heavy squadron builds that we saw dominating in the lead up to Worlds, and the re-emergence of more and more all-ship builds.

Rogue squad balls tend to thrive in that sort of environment because of their flexibility and because they don’t require a carrier to have them operating. This rogue ball is particularly interesting though. Morna Kee and the three Decimators are throwing 12 black dice a turn against other squadrons. That’s nasty as hell, particularly against brace heroes and generic squads (and even would start to tell against scatter heroes just by sheer weight of fire). Plus, even though they’re non-bombers, Decimators are one of the only Imperial squads to be throwing two or more dice at enemy ships (with their average being 1.5 damage). That will also rack up very quickly.

Dengar is a nice inclusion not only for his intel (allowing those Decimators to keep rolling) but because of his buff to the Decimators counter. Now you’re taking 12 black dice, and if you want to shoot them you could be taking 8 blue dice as well!

The Gauntlet fighter I’m far less sure about, but that’s heavily influenced by the fact that I haven’t been particularly impressed by Raid (the reasons for which have already been explored by others). There’s definitely times it could probably help things, but that’s a lot of points for a could probably help, maybe, type of upgrade. I think a Firespray or IG-88 would have been a better use of the points.

Still overall, that squad ball is something that really had me thinking, and normally it’s a good sign when something piques my interest.

With a 7pt bid I could see this list angling for first, but it’s objectives load out makes me think it’s comfortable either way. Fighter Ambush / Superior Positions are something of a no brainer for this list, but I approve their selection all the same. Advanced Gunnery I almost question whether that’s really the objective, because if it is I’m honestly a little shocked. With Gunnery Teams overriding Advanced Gunnery, only the Arquitens could make use of the objective, and if it was I really have to ask ‘why?’. There’s a lot more lists out there that would get better use from being first and having the weaker side of Advanced Gunnery than that Arq would with the better side.

Top-Cut

So with our noblemen all arrayed, and their loyal followers inspected, the Top Cut saw the following match ups:

Markus III, Lord of Mecklenburg vs. Oliver of Leningen-Dagsburg

Abraham VI, Count of Daun-Falkenstein vs. Dennis, Count of Bentheim-Steinfurt-Tecklenburg-Limburg

Unfortunately, there was no real coverage of the first match-up. Which is a real shame because I would have been very curious to see how that match unfolded (particularly on how Oliver used his Decimators).

The second match-up had some brief coverage:

Suffice to say there was an uprising from the lower ranked lords, with both Dennis and Oliver prevailing!

The final match can be summarised in one image.

That ISD was quickly surrounded by Rebel bombers, reduced to Speed 0 from a Comms Noise and then promptly died.

I want to take this moment to give Oliver some real credit. He had the bid in this match-up and he would have known by this point that Dennis’ list was absolutely brutal for first player to deal with. So he made the smart choice and decided to not play the Ace Farm’s game. The problem with this was that a lot of his objectives were based around fighters as well. I still think it was the overall right call, but definitely a real uphill battle no matter what he did.

To the winner, however, go the spoils.

For the third straight year, Dennis “Tokra” Count of Bentheim-Steinfurt-Tecklenburg-Limburg is the German National Champion.

Long may he reign.