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For anyone that follows Star Wars Armada, it’s probably not new information that Wave 2 is upon us! With the Massing at Sullust pre-release event this weekend, there will be new ships in the wild shortly. With the release of Wave 2, we see our standard fleet size increased to 400 points, along with the release of the first large based ships for the game. With the information thats currently available, the game is sure to change up and be a lot more varied in match ups.

For the Imperials, they are going to be getting the nimble and quick Raider Class Corvette, along with the Iconic Imperial Class Star Destroyer. Both are going to be welcome additions as the Imp. Class brings massive firepower to the table, while the Raider will fill a role that only squadrons can currently fill for the Empire. The Imperial Class has a default 8 dice front arc, and can be modified with upgrades to be able to throw even more, and if something is unlucky enough to get caught in your side and front arcs thats 12 dice before upgrades. The Imperial Class embodies everything that is the Empire – size, firepower, and a massive presence on the table – it is sure to be my flagship for any battle I fly into. The Raider is incredibly quick, and with upgrades can alter its speed by 2 in a turn, making it unpredictable. Couple this with it’s inherent anti-fighter capabilities and it makes an excellent escort to protect your larger more valuable ships. The Raider is also a capable brawler against other capital ships, with 4 front dice, it can shoot and then move back out of range before the enemy can react and return fire. The Raider is also incredibly cheap to field, so you can bet to see a lot of these on the table once Wave 2 arrives.

For the Rebellion, they are getting the MC80 Mon Calamari Star Cruiser, along with the MC30c Frigate. The MC80 is almost if not more iconic as the Imperial Class Star Destroyer – as it is featured as Home One in the films commanded by Admiral Ackbar. The MC80 brings the most firepower available to any Rebellion ship, however it has it’s most firepower in the side arcs, needing to be flown a lot differently then it’s Imperial counterpart. It is also primarily a long range platform so circling an engagement is probably going to be preferred, or if you are more of an aggressive player, flying right up the middle and getting shots off from both sides will net good results for sure if you’re willing to take that risk. There is also a Command variant of the ship, which changes the squadron value of the ship from 3 to 4, allowing you to control more squadrons if that is how you like to play. The MC30c is designed to be used as either a fire support vessel on the edges of the battle, or can be modified to be a torpedo variant designed to get up close and personal and deliver a devastating attack with it’s blue and black dice. With modifications such as Enhanced Armament, you can add even more dice to the ship’s arcs for even more firepower. The nice thing with both of these ships – is they offer a Rebel player more flexibility in play style as both can be used at long range, or more aggressively and up close.

Another great addition coming in Wave 2 are new squadrons. These are going to be in the form of Rogues and Villains such as Han Solo for the Rebellion, and IG-88 for the Empire. The new squadrons will play the same as the current ones, however some will use the new Rogue keyword – allowing them to both move and attack during the squadron phase of the game – something that can currently only be done when using a squadron command from a ship. The named pilots also have new abilities that make them more durable than generic squadrons – however they are going to have to be supported as they are still squadrons and won’t last solo against an enemy fleet.

The last thing I will mention is with all the ships come new upgrades and modifications. Probably the most exciting one I have seen is the Phylon Q7 Tractor Beam – which allows the player to exhaust the card in order to reduce the speed of a same or lesser sized ship class to speed 1 unless the target has a navigate token available. To me, this will be a must have upgrade on the larger ships, as you can lock down an enemy ship and then focus fire it down.

So, there is a quick rundown of what we have to look forward to once Wave 2 is available. It will be fun to see what lists come out of the Massing at Sullust tournament this weekend. While I won’t be playing in the tournament due to work commitments and no local tournament being held – as soon as Wave 2 drops you will find some detailed reviews of them right here on Flaming Dice Reviews!

**All images from FFG Website