Liberty and Dice for All

Although I could blame the pandemic for taking so long between posts, I just really haven't been playing much Armada (been trying other games and painting my armies for Legion).  However, a buddy and me got a couple games in the other day and began theory crafting some fleets for the Rebels.  So, to restart this blog again, let's take a look at a less used Rebel ship, the MC-80 Liberty.

Being mainly an Imperial player, I love the point-n-shoot aspect of ISDs and VSDs; you get them headed toward the enemy and unleash the firepower.  Until the Liberty release, the Rebels adopted a more of "circle the battle field" approach with their large and medium ships.  The Liberty allows the Rebels access to that point-n-shoot tactic in a large base, but the package does have problems and doesn't see much competitive use in the current meta outside of Raddus builds.

Let's start with the strengths...that would be that front arc.  Both versions are rolling seven blue/red dice, with the ratio changing depending on which one you take.  Unless you are really strapped for points, the Battle Cruiser lets you roll four dice at long range, and worth it to get in some damage on the approach to the target ship.  Five shields lets you take a decent amount of damage before your opponent starts digging into hull. Two braces offer a good amount of redundancy in case your opponent has hot dice or a way to generate accuracies.  Finally, two turbolaser slots and an ion cannon slot give you lots of options for combos to really generate some solid attacks (Note: the H9/Quad Cannon combo was recently nerfed by the 1.5 rules).

Weaknesses...let's start with the side arcs.  They are pretty poor, both defensively and offensively.  Basically, you can't let much get by you or you'll have a hard time killing it and it could end up killing you.  Speed 3 on a large base is always good, until you see there is no yaw click at speed 2, forcing you to take navigation to keep that large arc pointed at the target.  Finally, only three defense tokens, and only one redirect can be overwhelmed quickly if you leave your Liberty in firing range of your opponent.

So in the 1.5 meta, how do we build a Liberty that mitigates the weaknesses and builds on its strengths?  First, it won't be a low point cost; most of the upgrades the Liberty needs to be competitive will be 5-9 points.  Second, Liberty builds need another threat on the board to force your opponent to make a choice on what to target. So let's start with a fully kitted out Liberty and then look at possible pairings:

MC80 Battle Cruiser (103)

• Ray Antilles (7)

• Caitken and Shollan (6)

• Nav Team (4)

• Ion Cannon Batteries (5)

• Spinal Armament (9)

• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)

• Mon Karren (6)

= 147 Points

In this build, we are going with a "big gun" style ship, and the Battle Cruiser will allow us to get the jump on our opponent at long range with the extra red die in the front arc and protect a bit better against squadrons with an extra flak die. The upgrades are focused on bring lots of damage and allowing the Liberty to keep that front arc pointed towards the enemy.  Depending on who your Admiral is, these upgrades could be changed, but for this exercise we are just building a generic gun boat.

• Ray Antilles: Tokens are the currency in the new meta and Captain Antilles will help you out immensely in that regard.  Getting a free token with every command can help you dump raid tokens, refresh cards, and match well with the other upgrades we have above.  Toss Ashoka Tano on a nearby flotilla or Pelta and you can switch out Antilles' token for whatever one you need.
• Caitken and Shollan: You could make a good argument for Gunnery Teams in this slot, but with the 1.5 changes and a three command dial stack, getting a Concentrate Fire command or token to activate Gunnery Teams when you need it might make for trade offs during the match.  C&S is a straight forward card that allows you to reroll those finicky reds or fish for an accuracy from your blues.  It also goes with our theme for maximizing the damage out of our attacks.
• Nav Team: Many long time Liberty players have stapled Engine Techs in this slot, and while a great card on the ship, Nav Team allows you to use your command dial and Antilles' token to pull off some really sharp turns at Speed 2/3, keeping that front arc on target and your side arcs away from the enemy.  Engine Techs would be a solid choice if  Madine is your Admiral.
• Ion Cannon Batteries: While Antilles is giving you tokens, why not deny your opponent theirs?  ICB have come back from binder fodder with the new token refresh rules.  Here you can use your crit effect to take a key token from your opponent or make them lose an extra shield.  Win-win!
• Spinal Armament: An extra red die out the front (and back) is a solid choice, making your attacks that much more potent.  The only pause here is that spinals are a modification and would prevent you from taking the newly changed H9s or Quads.  But an extra die with no qualifications is hard to beat.
• Linked Turbolaser Towers: Red dice are fickle and C&S can only do so much, so LTTs are your back up and provide some help if C&S have already been used that activation.  They really shine in the anti-squadron role, letting you add two more dice of any color, with the tradeoff of only attacking one squadron.  A potential four dice flak shot can help you eliminate that pesky generic bomber or force an ace to spend defense tokens, allowing your squadrons/ships to finish them off.  Make one of those dice a red die and fish for the double.
• Mon Karren: Despite the 1.5 change, this remains the best Liberty title.  Using an accuracy to lock down a key defense token can leave your opponent with some tough choices about how to defend against your 9 damage attack.  Just make sure you dial up a CF command or have a comms net flotilla tossing you CF tokens.

As we said before, this Liberty build needs another threat on the board to force your opponent to engage one target or spread their damage around.  In 1.5, an MC-30 with Foresight has jumped to the top as an extremely defensive and offensive ship and could pair nicely with your big gun Liberty. Alternatively, a second large-based ship, built to dish out damage, is much more viable with the new pass token rules.  Either way, I would suggest a "token tosser" flotilla, possibly with Ashoka or Leia, to make sure you have a supply of Nav/CF tokens during the key turns.  Finally, a few squadrons to provide some protection of those weaker side arcs or help finish off fighters weakened by your LTT flak is a good inclusion as well.

A final word on Admirals.  Madine and Raddus remain the most common Admiral in Liberty fleets and for good reason.  Madine "fixes" the Liberty's movement chart, and Raddus dumps your big gun right on top of the enemy.  In the new meta, players should take a look at Garm and Agate to match up with their Liberty.  Garm can keep the token train going without needing a flotilla or Antilles.  Agate can give your Liberty that missing defense token to help you protect your investment.

Please let me know your favorite Liberty builds and what you think of the ship in the 1.5 meta.  Look for additional posts on 1.5 builds in the near future and I hope to see you across the table soon (once it is safe to play in person).