A continuation of the Star Wars: Armada Reborn series.
To see how I convert a lore ship into a card, see the conversion post.
Today, we talk about the Vindicator-class Heavy Cruiser. I gave some information in the Immobilizer 418 article, but for context:
Tied very closely in lore to the Immobilizer 418 (even from its single appearance), the Vindicator-class Heavy Cruiser is essentially the warfare variant of its gravity-well projecting brother. For about the same points we can create a drastically different ship with a different role – I think this time we’ll go for something like a picket ship that could bring a bit more utility than the Arquitens without stepping on the Victory‘s toes.
Role in Lore
The Vindicator line was meant to replace the aging Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers from the days of the Galactic Republic – specifically, it was supposed to be a standard multi-role cruiser, capable of escorting other ships or operating alone.
It seems that after the fall of the Empire, a few of these were operated by pirate outfits, so we know it has to be able to stand on its own… The trick is if we can make it do so while complimenting other ships.
The Vision
We need a Swiss Army knife of a ship that can slot in wherever there are spare points (there are never spare points). We can do that relatively easily, but we need it to stand out as a true utility ship AND it needs to have the same basic chassis as the Immobilizer 418… Which means it’s time to buckle in, everybody – we’re going to have some variants.
Vindicator-class Heavy Cruiser
The default, off-the-line loadout of the ship. This is going to be geared towards the key to Imperial success – overwhelming firepower with very little regard to loss-of-life. We’re going to make a glass cannon, capable of laying down enough fire to keep Rebel heads down while the cavalry comes.
Hull: 5
Command: 2
Squadron: 1
Engineering: 3
Anti-Starfighter: 2 blue
Shields (Front, Side, Back): 3/2/1
Defense Tokens: Brace, Redirect, Contain
Movement Chart
| Speed 1 | Speed 2 | Speed 3 | Speed 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| x | x | x | x |
| x | x | I | x |
| x | I | I | x |
| I | I | – | x |
Weapon Batteries:
| Arc | Red Dice | Blue Dice | Black Dice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Sides | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Rear | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Anti-Starfighter | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Upgrade Slots: Captain, Weapons Team, Turbolasers, Ion Cannon, Title
Point Cost: 65 points
The concept behind this ship is a clear “shoot first, ask questions later” policy. With three red dice and blue dice on its three attack arcs and both a Turbolaser and Ion Cannon slot, you could outfit it for sniping (like a CR90 on steroids):
Vindicator-class Heavy Cruiser (65 pts)
- Gunnery Teams (7 pts)
- Linked Turbolaser Towers (7 pts)
- Leading Shots (6 pts)
For 85 points (excluding a commander and title), by spending a Concentrate Fire token you can get two shots out of your front or a front and side arc, throwing 6 red dice and 3 to 4 blue dice, with a reroll on the entire pool or a single red dice reroll. If we look at the average dice performance including rerolls (removing a blue for the reroll), two shots out the front look like:
((.92 x 3) + .87) x 2
That’s 3.66 damage per attack, 7.32 damage output per round. Let’s compare that to a Victory II without upgrades for the same cost that somehow managed to double-arc.
(.75 x 3) + (.75 x 3) = 4.5 (Front Attack)
(.75 x 2) + (.75 x 1) = 2.25 (Side Attack)
For a grand total of 6.75 average damage per round. While we’ve got a ship with minimal defenses, the fact it can outpunch a (naked) VSDII says a lot. For the finishing touch, it’s faster and more nimble, which might help it stay in the fight a little longer.
Vindicator-class Light Carrier
Now that we’ve switched it to a carrier, it’s not so heavy anymore. In the lore these could pack up to 72 starfighters, so let’s turn this variant into a squadron pusher.
Hull: 5
Command: 2
Squadron: 4
Engineering: 3
Anti-Starfighter: 1 blue
Shields (Front, Side, Back): 3/2/1
Defense Tokens: Brace, Redirect, Contain
Movement Chart
| Speed 1 | Speed 2 | Speed 3 | Speed 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| x | x | x | x |
| x | x | I | x |
| x | I | I | x |
| I | I | – | x |
Weapon Batteries:
| Arc | Red Dice | Blue Dice | Black Dice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Sides | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Rear | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Anti-Starfighter | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Upgrade Slots: Captain, Gunnery Team, Offensive Retrofit 1, Offensive Retrofit 2, Fleet Command, Title
Point Cost: 70 points
What we’ve got is essentially a bigger, slightly different Quasar. Comparing the two, for 16 points more we’ve added a shield point and swapped two blue die for reds in the front – now the mothership can get a helpful shot off, too. It’s a little less maneuverable at Speed 1, but does have the extra Contain token. In place of one hull point we’ve increased Squadron to 4 and brought Engineering to 3 (to compensate for less armor). Finally its gained a Fleet Command, which is a natural slot for All Fighters, Follow Me!.
All in all, some tradeoffs which make it less resilient and a bit more expensive, but a great addition to a Sloane Swarm fleet. If you play it right, this ship can push five squadrons and even speed them up a little, getting your TIEs in range earlier. It’s also a cheaper way to bring a Fleet Command, since the next step up is a 112 point Cymoon.
Bases!
I’m finally getting around to adding bases you can print and put under the ship – download links are at the bottom of the page.
Download & Play
Here are the image packs that include the front and back of each build, as well as the design for the medium ship base. Print and play it well – I want to hear how it fares.
Danny.blog 