Screed Interdictor/Rogues vs Vader ISD & Victory

I recently got an Interdictor for Father’s Day along with an attractive leather carrying pouch for my pipes. While I would love to smoke while playing Armada, it’s decidedly an outdoor thing.

So I ran Screed, who I really like as a cheaper Vader, with an HIE Interdictor, Kallus/Flechette Demo, and a Comms Net flotilla. My squads were all rogue: Morna, Boba, Bossk, IG, Firespray, and Aggressor. On the other side was Vader in a Cymoon, a Vic2, and a Demo. Squad cover consisted of a pair of interceptors. I won the bid and chose second. He picked Superior Positions. I moved the station and a pair of obstacles with my grav shift and set up to do battle while sitting on the station. I missed the setup picture. Here is the close of round 1:

On the second round, we were still positioning. My rogues prepared a warm reception for him. IG88 knocked out the first interceptor in one shot. Here is the close of round 2:

On round three, the enemy Demo jumped into the fray for the triple tap on the Interdictor. The Cymoon moved into a good position to deliver a killing blow while the Vic covered the flank against my Demo. My squadrons delivered some solid damage against Demo. Here is the close of round 3:

Round four began with the Demo, who shot and moved to the far side of the Interdictor (It succumbed to Morna Kee at the close of the round). The Interdictor parked on the station for some mid-combat repairs. My Demo got in close to the ISD. The Vic burned its capacitors and almost popped my Demo. Here is the close of round 4:

Lots of damage cards all around. It was a battle of attrition.

In the final round, the ISD activated first, but couldn’t finish off either the Demo or Interdictor thanks to Brunson and Targeting Scramblers. I then activated my Demo and destroyed the ISD as well as put some damage into the Victory. The Victory ended my Demo, but failed to get the kill on my flagship. My Interdictor and rogues were able to finish it off, ending the game. Morna Kee, my last squadron to activate finished the task. Had she not been able to do the deed, the Victory likely would have been able to finish off my Interdictor the following round, which would have led to a mutual tabling. Even though it was solid win, it was very close to going sideways.

This was a bit of a test fleet for both the Interdictor and all rogue imperial squadrons. Performance of both factors was very strong, especially against such a light squadron screen on the other side.

Lessons Learned:

- The Interdictor is extraordinarily resilient when placed on the station with obstacles close by.

- Morna and Boba as a pair can push through a ton of damage on ships. They make a great team for finishing off damaged foes.

Jerjerrod ISD vs Dodonna Pelta/Yavaris

For this match, I brought a three activation ISD2/Arq/Flotilla fleet with a rogue heavy full squadron compliment consisting of Morna, 2x Firesprays, Zertik, Vader, Mauler, and Dengar. My opponent, Andy, brought a fairly standard Dodonna Pelta/Yavaris list with a TRC90 and a pair of flotillas. His fighter compliment included Luke, Gold, 2x Scurrgs (Proxied), Rogue, and Shara/Tycho. I had a three point bid and chose first. Objective was fighter ambush.

Andy set his fleet up as a slow moving fortress type formation. Here is the setup:

First round was about positioning:

Second round was the start of engagement. I pushed my Arq out front and it took a beating from Luke. My squadrons hit his fighter wing and tied it up which left the three bombers free to hit Yavaris. Here is the close of the second round:

In the third round, Yavaris drifted into medium range of the ISD and was popped along with the TRC90. I lost my Arq in return. Here is the close of the third round:

The fourth round involved the destruction of the Pelta and one of the flotillas, ending the game in my favor. Here is the close of the fourth round:

My fighter wing was tailored to tie up an enemy squadron ball while hitting the enemy ships. It wasn’t designed to win, but to survive long enough to put in some pretty meaningful damage. The benefit to this is that if my opponent doesn’t bring squadrons, it still functions almost flawlessly. I was very pleased with the overall performance of my fighters, even though I didn’t destroy a single enemy squadron. Things may have been a bit different had Jan Ors been on the table. This would have allowed Andy to disengage his fighters from mine and stick closer to his ships or engage my ISD.

Lessons Learned:

- Keep your Arquittens in the rear or flank and utilize it as a finisher or harasser.

- Don’t underestimate the value of intel even if you have a solid AA component. A single turn of lost bombing damage may make the difference.

- Low activation count can be mitigated by a solid squadron compliment, especially with rogue bombers.

Cracken MSU vs Vader Dual ISDs

After a month without playing, Andy and I brought together familiar fleets. I ran a Cracken MSU with Admonition, triple TRC90s with Engine Techs, a pair of slicer tool flotillas and the standard Shara/Tycho fighter support. He brought a Cymoon, ISD2, flotilla, and token fighter wing of IG88 & Saber Squadron (Anti Shara/Tycho tech). With a 19 point bid, I took first and chose his Ion Cannon objective.

I had a significant deployment advantage and so placed my flotillas, fighters and a single CR90 (on left, not visible in the first picture. He had to place his ISDs and I still had three combat ships remaining. These I placed across from the Cymoon, intending to rush forward and eliminate it in isolation. Here is the setup picture:


The first turn progressed as planned. The Cymoon pushed forward at speed three to meet my advance. I moved my fighters up a bit too far and they ended up getting engaged by IG88 with Saber behind. This was a mistake on my part as I was careless and didn’t measure properly. Here is the close of round 1:


In round two, the Cymoon turned to avoid taking a close range shot from Admonition. I moved Admonition in for the double arc. Here is the close of round 2:


In round three, I put fairly significant damage into the Cymoon and positioned myself for the finishing blow. Admonition ended up at close range of the Cymoon rear. I sliced the Cymoon with my right flotilla. Here is the close of round 3:


My first activation in round four yielded me this roll without any re-rolls.


After eliminating the Cymoon with the above roll, I used my CR90s to ram the flotilla to death. My own flotilla on the left side went down to the Ion Cannon and ISD. Here is the close of round 4:


We called the game at that point with a fairly decisive victory to me.

Lessons Learned:

- Better to pair ships up rather than run a 3/1 type pincer. One of my CR90s on the far right never even got to fire.

- Be careful with squad activations so that you don’t get jumped at the close of round 1.