Thanks for the review of the VWC 2022 Top 4! It is always interesting to hear from others their thoughts on the state of Armada, and what is strong or weak, especially the similarities and differences in opinions from more skilled and experienced players. As a mediocre player who mainly plays Imperials (Yes, Sloane is my favourite commander :D), I feel similarly that MJ in the context of the faction is way overtuned, and very oppressive when building Imperial squad balls, exacerbated by the ace limit (though overall a good change imo, has had some other side effects). You can really only have 2 ace choices when building Imperial 134, because MJ has stolen half your slots, compared to Rebels where there is so much to choose from even with 4 slots free :D. Having an alternative to make Sloane function without MJ would be a dream. PDICs should definitely be glued to everything atm, and one of the reasons overpriced Defenders and Firesprays are turning up, since Sloane's original purpose was to make generic anti-squad ties worthwhile, and PDIC undoes that. I do disagree with Imperial squadrons being the best, I'd argue that only CIS does it worse when talking 134 vs 134, Sloane literally preys on smaller squad balls, which I believe is how it got its reputation (CIS 134 with it's similar squadron profile also loves taking advantage of its points advantage and struggles hard against equal odds). Sandwiched between heavy flak and tanky squadrons, Imperial squad balls are in a weird position. Rebels have *very* potent rogue options that allow for autonomous action, and Biggs balls are incredibly good screens and can bring Howlrunner to a halt (and with RR1 terrifying on the offense too with X-Wing Hera, I'm looking forward to your thoughts on RR, since Rebels seem the clear winners from it), Rebels with their focus on one-for-all lets them navigate the ace limit better by boosting their more robust and multirole generics further. Republic Squad capabilities are terrifying too, they have very potent squadron activation capabilities, and imo, the strongest squadron commander in Yularen. GAR also has easy access to very good flak *and* ordinance pods, they have a very heavy focus on combined arms, layering cheap high hull Y-wings with ruthless pods, ARCs eat anything that they catch, new Delta Anakin provides that aggressive punch that was missing, and they can capitalise on the initial advantage with mercy mission to increase the margins and ease the need for them to take unfavourable ship engagements with their inferior ships. GAR just rolls through an Imperial Squadron alpha and then mows those poor 3 hull ties down in droves, which is why RHD is necessary for Imperial and CIS swarm squads more than ever, also a reason why we see 1 ISD2 and then 2 flotillas and raider geared with as many RHDs as possible. The other way is also going high hull and not losing those squadrons, another reason why all the overpriced generic defenders are popping up. Though the nice flak from CIS is also pushing this direction too. Onagers among doing other things have shown why overlapping rerolls is so strong, SamS stacked CF dial + token, Veteran Gunners, Vader Officer, and Ordinance Experts to find the results he was looking for. Dice Reliability is king, PDIC = creates unreliability, Vader = reliability, MJ = pure reliability. The onager answer for Rebels seems to have been found, Agate on almost anything is very strong and is incredibly strong with Gallant Haven too, Cracken MSU with Rogues as well. CIS has access to very tanky providences, and Recusants are very maneuverable and can flank an onager. Imperials you uhh, take onagers yourself? Or put Needa on your ISD to have a chance? GAR so far seems to struggle the most, best chances seem to be playing 2nd with objectives like CRIS that have dust fields. It would be awesome to see a review of Rapid Reinforcements 1, and also of the top 8 at Adepticon since no Imperials made it to the top 11!
To speak to Adepticon, top 8 was 6 Rebel and 2 CIS, no empire. Plenty of imperial players at the tournament (I think they had the most representation) but none made top 8. I think people are finally starting to figure out how to beat Onagers so its not as easy to win with them now. As you said, most of the top performing lists were lots of rebel squads and ships that do well into onagers/ISDs. I think empire is probably still the dominant faction overall, but players are finally starting to build to beat the top imperial lists and that showed at Adepticon.
Excellent insight as always. Do you have a theory on why imperials were absolutely non-existant at Adepticon? My third hand info sounds like pdics were not out in force. Also, do you think rebel larges can use pdics to mabey gain some playability? Mabey something like mc80 battle with spinal, ltt, caikan, endevor, pdics, and agate.
I do think that all Rebel larges are worth looking into. I have not played much with them lately but suspect that a PDIC/Agate Large would do really well at not giving up points, not sure the rest of the fleet around it can support it, but If I was to take a Rebel large I would look into it very seriously. An Agate MC80 Home One with Expert Shield Techs and a second brace is really tough, but i have not found the right supporting cast to put around it yet.
@@squirrelman4000 i think we've got some very strong rogue medium balls to work with, lando, shara, ketsu, 2400's. Cr90s just dont push the kind of supporting damage package and the mc30 is just sad now adays. I'm playing the winning adepticon list to learn its aspects. Paragon plus defiance, mabey.
As a new armada player I’m loving your videos !!!
Really interesting analysis! ty very much!
Now I understand Commander Beck!
Thanks for the review of the VWC 2022 Top 4! It is always interesting to hear from others their thoughts on the state of Armada, and what is strong or weak, especially the similarities and differences in opinions from more skilled and experienced players. As a mediocre player who mainly plays Imperials (Yes, Sloane is my favourite commander :D), I feel similarly that MJ in the context of the faction is way overtuned, and very oppressive when building Imperial squad balls, exacerbated by the ace limit (though overall a good change imo, has had some other side effects). You can really only have 2 ace choices when building Imperial 134, because MJ has stolen half your slots, compared to Rebels where there is so much to choose from even with 4 slots free :D. Having an alternative to make Sloane function without MJ would be a dream.
PDICs should definitely be glued to everything atm, and one of the reasons overpriced Defenders and Firesprays are turning up, since Sloane's original purpose was to make generic anti-squad ties worthwhile, and PDIC undoes that.
I do disagree with Imperial squadrons being the best, I'd argue that only CIS does it worse when talking 134 vs 134, Sloane literally preys on smaller squad balls, which I believe is how it got its reputation (CIS 134 with it's similar squadron profile also loves taking advantage of its points advantage and struggles hard against equal odds). Sandwiched between heavy flak and tanky squadrons, Imperial squad balls are in a weird position.
Rebels have *very* potent rogue options that allow for autonomous action, and Biggs balls are incredibly good screens and can bring Howlrunner to a halt (and with RR1 terrifying on the offense too with X-Wing Hera, I'm looking forward to your thoughts on RR, since Rebels seem the clear winners from it), Rebels with their focus on one-for-all lets them navigate the ace limit better by boosting their more robust and multirole generics further.
Republic Squad capabilities are terrifying too, they have very potent squadron activation capabilities, and imo, the strongest squadron commander in Yularen. GAR also has easy access to very good flak *and* ordinance pods, they have a very heavy focus on combined arms, layering cheap high hull Y-wings with ruthless pods, ARCs eat anything that they catch, new Delta Anakin provides that aggressive punch that was missing, and they can capitalise on the initial advantage with mercy mission to increase the margins and ease the need for them to take unfavourable ship engagements with their inferior ships. GAR just rolls through an Imperial Squadron alpha and then mows those poor 3 hull ties down in droves, which is why RHD is necessary for Imperial and CIS swarm squads more than ever, also a reason why we see 1 ISD2 and then 2 flotillas and raider geared with as many RHDs as possible. The other way is also going high hull and not losing those squadrons, another reason why all the overpriced generic defenders are popping up. Though the nice flak from CIS is also pushing this direction too.
Onagers among doing other things have shown why overlapping rerolls is so strong, SamS stacked CF dial + token, Veteran Gunners, Vader Officer, and Ordinance Experts to find the results he was looking for. Dice Reliability is king, PDIC = creates unreliability, Vader = reliability, MJ = pure reliability.
The onager answer for Rebels seems to have been found, Agate on almost anything is very strong and is incredibly strong with Gallant Haven too, Cracken MSU with Rogues as well. CIS has access to very tanky providences, and Recusants are very maneuverable and can flank an onager. Imperials you uhh, take onagers yourself? Or put Needa on your ISD to have a chance? GAR so far seems to struggle the most, best chances seem to be playing 2nd with objectives like CRIS that have dust fields.
It would be awesome to see a review of Rapid Reinforcements 1, and also of the top 8 at Adepticon since no Imperials made it to the top 11!
To speak to Adepticon, top 8 was 6 Rebel and 2 CIS, no empire. Plenty of imperial players at the tournament (I think they had the most representation) but none made top 8. I think people are finally starting to figure out how to beat Onagers so its not as easy to win with them now. As you said, most of the top performing lists were lots of rebel squads and ships that do well into onagers/ISDs. I think empire is probably still the dominant faction overall, but players are finally starting to build to beat the top imperial lists and that showed at Adepticon.
Great analysis as always!
Are you still making content? I hope you do. Love your videos
Hey i would love to see your next video.
Do you have some tips on using black dice ships?
Great recap and analysis man, too bad it was all empirial, was hoping some other factions made the cut. Cheers
Excellent insight as always. Do you have a theory on why imperials were absolutely non-existant at Adepticon? My third hand info sounds like pdics were not out in force. Also, do you think rebel larges can use pdics to mabey gain some playability? Mabey something like mc80 battle with spinal, ltt, caikan, endevor, pdics, and agate.
I do think that all Rebel larges are worth looking into. I have not played much with them lately but suspect that a PDIC/Agate Large would do really well at not giving up points, not sure the rest of the fleet around it can support it, but If I was to take a Rebel large I would look into it very seriously. An Agate MC80 Home One with Expert Shield Techs and a second brace is really tough, but i have not found the right supporting cast to put around it yet.
@@squirrelman4000 i think we've got some very strong rogue medium balls to work with, lando, shara, ketsu, 2400's. Cr90s just dont push the kind of supporting damage package and the mc30 is just sad now adays. I'm playing the winning adepticon list to learn its aspects. Paragon plus defiance, mabey.