Star Wars Armada: Galactic Republic Fleet Starter New
"Captain, tell them we wish to board at once."
–Qui-Gon Jinn, Star Wars™: The Phantom Menace
As the Galactic Republic attempts to match the might of Separatist fleets, it makes use of every available ship, even those not originally designed for military service. Although it is recognized throughout the galaxy as a diplomatic vessel, the Consular-class cruiser is one such ship that now finds new life as part of the Republic Navy.
Outfitted for combat and crewed by expert clone troopers, these cruisers will soon play an integral role in your first Republic fleets for Star Wars™: Armada with the Galactic Republic Fleet Starter!
This Fleet Starter lays the foundation for the Republic faction with an Acclamator-class Assault Ship miniature and two Consular-class Cruiser miniatures as well as four squadrons of V-19 Torrent starfighters. With these miniatures as the building blocks, the Galactic Republic Fleet Starter also invites you to fine-tune your fleets with six ship cards that allow you to deploy your capital ships in two variants each as well as 20 upgrade cards that add additional officers, weapons, and more to your ships.
We’ve already shown you both variants of the Acclamator-class Assault Ship and some of the upgrades you’ll find in the Galactic Republic Fleet Starter. Join us today as we did even deeper and examine the Consular-class Cruiser!
Republic Retrofit
The sudden onset of the Clone Wars has left the Republic scrambling to put together a navy. While the powerful corporate backers of the Separatist Alliance can use their manufacturing might to mass produce warships, the Republic instead must rely on existing ships like the Consular-class Cruiser that have been retrofitted for combat.
But just because the Consular-class Cruiser wasn’t strictly built for battle doesn’t mean it can't be an effective warship. In fact, refitting the Consular-class Cruiser for combat missions has enabled it to take on wildly different capabilities and you can make use of two different versions of the ship in your fleets. The Armed Cruiser variant is prepared to use the Consular-class Cruisers inherent speed to the fullest by charging into battle and pestering enemies at close to medium range.
For an added punch, this version of the ship can also be equipped with ordnance, allowing it to slam an opponent with some Assault Concussion Missiles during an attack and spread the damage to the hull zones adjacent to the defending hull zone. Getting so close to the enemy also means drawing their fire, of course, and the Armed Cruiser can make effective use of an Auxiliary Shields Team that treats the maximum shield values of its left and right hull zones as increased by one when recovering or moving shields to those zones.
The Charger c70 variant, on the other hand, is effective from longer range and may prefer to operate from the edges of a battle. Doing so makes this ship an ideal carrier for a Clone Navigation Officer, who can coordinate with friendly ships at distance 1–5 to get them an additional concentrate fire, navigate, or squadron token that matches his own ship's command.
No matter which type of Consular-class Cruiser you choose for your fleet, specific titles make the ship even more versatile. A ship like the Radiant VII, for instance, can take on a completely new role in the fleet supporting other ships. In this capacity, it can perform a Parts Resupply to assign Engineering tokens to friendly ships at distance 1–5. Perhaps even more crucially, the Radiant VII can also help the entire fleet focus on its targets with a Munitions Resupply that helps them all concentrate fire at just the right moment.
The Consular-class Cruiser's maximum speed of four helps the Radiant VII maintain a solid position relative to the rest of the fleet, but other ships take advantage of it in their own way. A Cruiser like the Swift Return, for example, uses obstacles to its advantage. It becomes more unpredictable when it's at distance 1–2 of one by changing its speed by one or increasing its yaw value by one during the Determine Course step.
Report to Battle Stations
The Clone Wars will come down to every last ship. Prepped for battle and ready for anything, the Consular-class Cruiser adds a crucial component to Republic fleets looking to stand against the Separatist menace. Add yours with the Galactic Republic Fleet Starter!