Star Wars Armada was recently released on the world and give space ship gaming nuts like me a time to rejoice. The Game itself will be reviewed in a future post, however in this post we will be looking at the Rebel Fighter Squadron Expansion pack.
You can see painted Examples of these ships in this post
The Star Wars Armada Core Starter Set included 4 X wing squadrons (12 models total) and 6 TIE Fighter Squadrons (18 models).
The Rebel Fighter Squadrons expansion added considerably to your Star Fighter strength.
In the box you get 8 fighter squadrons
2 x X wing Squadrons (6 models)
2 x Y wing Squadrons (6 models)
2 x A wing Squadrons (6 models)
2 x B wing Squadrons (6 models)
the models are plastic and are NOT Pre-painted. They are molded in a nice light tan this is totally playable out of the box. Detail is nice but some compromises needed to be made for the scale. Small bits, like laser cannons on the X wing are much thicker on the model to prevent breakage. Also there are some mold lines, though most are easy to remove with a sharp x-acto knife.
For $20.00 retail you not only get the models. The Pack comes with all you need to play with your new models. The flight stands are more complex then the ones found in FFG's X Wing game. Each stand has a push slider to tell if your squadron has activated, a dial to denote damage points and a tree shaped stand to place three fighters per stand.
FFG ran a real risk of over complicating the stands for this game but the design is so slick and, after a few games, so intuitive that you don't notice.
In the game you can run your squadrons as standard or choose to upgrade to one of the named pilot cards. For example the Core Starter set allows you to field standard X wings or Luke's X wing squadron at a price increase. Named pilots get some nifty rules and bonuses.
In this Expansion you get 4 different types of Rebel Fighter Squadrons. Each type brings different tactical options to your play.
X Wing Squadron:
This is the mainstay of the Rebel Alliance and the only duplicate from the Star Wars: Armada Core Starter set.
The X Wing is a solid all arounder. With a lackluster speed of 3 it doesn't get anywhere fast but with 4 Anti Squadron dice they punch hard. 5 Damage points means they stay in the fight longer then their usual pray, the TIE Fighter. The X Wing is also throwing a Red Die against enemy Ships, with the bomber skill making those attacks deadly.
Y Wing Squadron
The iconic Y Wing. This dedicated bomber is a good stablemate to the X Wing. With a speed of 3 it can keep pace with X Wings. 6 hull points makes the Y WIng very durable. A paltry 2 anti squadron dice makes them half as effective as an X Wing versus other Squadrons.
The Y wing shines with a Black Die + Bomber skill attack on enemy Ships At 10 points it's cheaper then any other Rebel Squadron.
One of the fastest fighters in the game, the A Wing can zip along at speed 5, getting where he needs to be quickly.
While the least durable Rebel fighter, with a Hull of 4, it's still better then a TIE Fighter Squadron.
Offensively the A Wing throws 3 Anti Squadron dice, however taking into account the juicy Counter 2 special rule, the A Wing will often get to roll 5 Dice over the course of the turn. (As long as it is attacked) This gives it a great damage potential then even the mighty X Wing.
B Wing Squadron
The Rebel Premier assault fighter. It hits squadrons hard with 3 Anti squadron dice and it hits ships hard with the Bomber special rule and a Blue AND Black die.
5 Hull points keeps it in the fight.
The downside for the B Wing involves speed, it's the slowest fighter in the game, and cost. It's the most expensive vanilla fighter unit in the game.
That said, heaven help a Star Destroyer that is attacked by squadrons of B Wings.
In this expansion you also get 4 new unique pilots, one for each type of ship.
Wedge Antilles (X wing)
Wedge is the Boss. In addition to all the standard goodies a normal X wing squadron brings to the table Wedge had some tasty bonuses.
He gets two Brace tokens that let him halve all damage from a single attack.
He can also add two extra blue dice (50% increase!) if he shoots at a squadron that is already activated.
Dutch brings us pretty cool effect. If you hit someone who hasn't activated yet you can flip their activation slider to Activated! I guess this abstractly represents an Ion effect. It's a great way to deal with a terrifying enemy squadron and a great combo with Wedge.
Dutch also gets a couple of Brace Tokens to help him survive.
Tycho Celchu (A wing)
Nothing can faze Tycho. He can't be pinned in combat. He's got a black die when attacking capital ships and like all A Wings can move at a speed of 5. He can easily move to a spot and snipe through a down shield.
He's also got a Brace and Scatter token. The Scatter allows him to totally negate a single enemy attack.
Keyan Farlander (B wing)
Keyan is the premier bomber pilot. Once a ships shields are down he can re-roll any of his black attack dice. With two black dice, the Bomber skill (Count Crits and get extra damage) and the re-roll he can be deadly.
Conclusion:
The Rebel Fighter Squadrons pack adds a lot of options for Rebel players. While pricey at $20.00 US you do get a lot of stuff in the box. Adding the iconic Rebel ships from the original Star Wars trilogy makes the game feel more cinematic. The models look great and paint up well with a minimum of effort.
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