Armada: “Now don’t get jittery, Luke…”

Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) unveiled at GenCon 2018 one of the most anticipated and requested starships for Star Wars Armada: The Executor-Class Super Star Destroyer. That’s right, the infamous command ship of Darth Vader. FFG proudly showed off their largest produced “mini” measuring in at 24″ long, and mounted on two large-ship stands! The expansion is packed with special upgrades including two new admirals, Admiral Piett and even Emperor Palpatine himself!

Is it true to scale?

Let’s address the elephant in the room… Scale…

Size comparison of Star Destroyers (1.6km) above the Executor (~17km) – graphic courtesy of theforce.net

The Executor is truly huge. Schematics for the Super Star Destroyer placed in the ballpark of around ~11 times the length of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer. This has always proven to be a challenge incorporating the colossal ship into even a relative scale setting for Armada, without completely breaking the game. Even if the ship took the full six-foot length of the table, that would have still been shorter than it was true to scale. Obviously, that length would not have made for a very fun match and it would have might as well been a play-mat.

SSD comparison with Large and Medium ships (Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd)

Thankfully, it appears FFG was able to strike a balance and keep this new ship true to Armada’s roots. Largely based on FFG’s experience with Star Wars X-Wing years prior, the Executor introduces a brand new ship class into the Armada system: “Huge-class”. The Super Star Destroyer seems to dwarf the already intimidating Imperial Star Destroyer (formally the most powerful ship in the game) and even makes the Victory Star Destroyer (the game’s first Imperial ship) look like a tugboat!

What does this mean for Armada?

The Viscount (image courtesy of Wookiepedia)

One thing seems for sure: Armada is here for the long haul. One thing that FFG has made clear, is that this only the first of more “Epic size” ships to come, hinting at possibly a Rebel faction epic ship of their own. There was a precedent set by Armada’s ill-fated grandfather, Star Wars Miniatures: Starship Battles, in which the starter kit included an Executor for the Imperials and an overly large Mon Calamari ship called the Viscount. It’s not a stretch to imagine that FFG will soon release a similar Huge-class ship for the Rebel faction. So don’t worry Rebels, you’ll be getting your own huge ship pretty soon too!

Or… A rebel-captured SSD? Yup, that did happen in Star Wars Legends before Disney re-wrote the history books. Regardless, we are sure to see SSDs duking it out!

Rebel-captured SSD Lusankya battles it out with the Imperial SSD Reaper (Star Wars Legends, image courtesy of Wookiepedia)

But let’s get down to brass tacks, how is this going to change the game? Only two of the expansions four ship cards are allowed for tournament play. The other two are predicted to be for higher point-cost scenario play and/or campaign style games. At even a cursory glance the SSD is the equivalent of two Imperial Star Destroyers on the board, but not without its share of drawbacks. The SSD’s sheer size is both its strength and its downfall.

How will it fight?

Stay tuned for a follow-up article where I deep-dive into SSD tactics for both the Imperial and Rebel factions. As luck would have it, a local member of NOVA Fleet has his own 3D print of a 26″ Super Star Destroyer (created before FFG formally introduced it) that it is already mounted and ready for play. Using custom print-outs from KDYards.com, we’ll be taking a closer look at how the SSD can fight, and how it can be killed… notwithstanding suicide A-Wings.

Massive Disclaimer: All rights to the images and content are reserved to their respective owners. Star Wars is a registered trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd. The opinions and observations in this article are for entertainment purposes only.