"You may fire when ready."
–Grand Moff Tarkin, Star Wars: A New Hope
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The Death Star may be the most visible symbol of Imperial might, but it's not the only superweapon employed by the Galactic Empire. An even greater threat may be lurking in the shadows for those who stand in opposition to the Empire: the Onager-class Star Destroyer. Capable of leveling an enemy base from orbit or punching through an enemy cruiser with its heavy armament, this mysterious ship is a deadly addition to any fleet.
Soon, you’ll be able to harness the power of one of these specialized weapon platforms during your epic space battles with the Onager-class Star Destroyer Expansion Pack for Star Wars™: Armada! Join us today as we take a closer look at the many ways this ship can help you use the Empire’s most dangerous weaponry.
Out of the Shadows
Unlike the ubiquitous Victory- and Imperial-class Star Destroyers found throughout the Imperial Navy, the Onager-class Star Destroyer is a rare sight, only emerging from its veil of secrecy for sensitive Imperial operations. Despite this, it’s easy to see what makes it such a threat. Outfitted with a special battery armament that accounts for over half the ship’s length, the Onager’s power is evident from the first moment it enters battle.
It should be no surprise, then, that strategies involving the Onager focus on using this armament to deadly effect through ignition attacks—a new form of attack that uses a pool of dice and a special firing arc not associated with a hull zone. While undoubtedly powerful, ignition attacks are all the more effective because they can target ships beyond long range.
The Onager-class Star Destroyer measures its ignition attack from its targeting token rather than the standard attack range, allowing it to attack the CR90 Corvette at extreme range!
The first step to performing an ignition attack occurs at the end of a ship’s activation, when it can place its targeting token within its special firing arc at close range. Then, at the beginning of its Attack step, the ship must perform an ignition attack against a ship in the special firing arc as its first attack of the activation. The dice for this attack are gathered from the special battery armament like normal, but the range for this attack is determined by measuring from the attacker’s targeting token rather than the ship itself.
Anchored by its special battery armament, the Onager-class Star Destroyer is a threat to virtually any enemy ship in play, and two ship cards let you add one to your fleet in two distinct configurations. The Onager is still being refined, of course, and you can always choose to deploy it in its experimental form as a way to test the ship’s great potential. For a more well-rounded capital ship, however, you can always field a full Onager-class Star Destroyer that supplements its special battery armament with additional firepower in its standard arcs and gives it more chances to coordinate with friendly squadrons.
Beyond selecting exactly what type of Onager-class Star Destroyer you want in your fleet, you can also enhance the ship’s special battery armament itself. For a default ignition attack, your ship must place its targeting token at close range. But this can be modified by equipping it with more potent weapons. Orbital Bombardment Particle Cannons for example, stretch this all the way to long range while also spreading the damage the attack inflicts to the ships and squadrons close to the defender. The attack from some Superheavy Composite Beam Turbolasers, meanwhile, is slightly more limited in range, but can tear through a ship, inflicting a damage for each red or blue critical effect icon in the pool.
Given the impact an Onager-class Star Destroyer can have on a battle, it should be no surprise that the personnel you can assign to the ship also work to enhance its ignition attacks. A commander like General Romodi benefits the entire fleet by increasing the firepower of friendly ships making an obstructed attack—of course, this is especially useful for the Onager and its extreme long-range attacks that can easily become obstructed by ships or obstacles. Similarly, Gunnery Chief Varnillian can boost an attack by constantly swapping in a die from her card, helping you pile on extra damage or gain another accuracy at a critical moment.
The forward firepower of an Onager-class Star Destroyer is the ship's defining characteristic and, as such, it is protected by heavy shielding. But this does leave your ship's side and rear arcs exposed to attack. Thanks to her groundbreaking work with shield generator design, Reeva Demense can help remedy this weakness. If she’s a part of your crew, you can ready one defense token after becoming the target of an attack so long as the defending hull zone has at least one shield remaining.
Although they are a relative rarity, several distinct Onager-class Star Destroyers saw service in the Galctic Civil War, and the Onager-class Star Destroyer Expansion Pack lets you use the unique characteristics of three such ships. The Cataclysm, for instance, speeds up the process of making an ignition attack, letting you place its targeting token at the start of the ship phase at the cost of a concentrate fire token.
Similarly, the Sunder does more than simply bombard a ship with its powerful cannons—it can also use its blue or black critical effects to target and destroy a specific upgrade on an enemy ship. Finally, because the Onager-class Star Destroyer can attack from such extreme distances, you’ll most likely want to keep its speed low while turning it to acquire new targets. This is easier with the Rakehell, which can reposition and line up shots with its special battery armament without moving forward at all.
Intensify Forward Firepower
The Rebellion scored a major victory when it destroyed the Death Star, but the technology behind this massive superweapon endures. Shrouded in secrecy, the Onager-class Star Destroyer is stark reminder of the Empire's might!
