I’ve seen this upgrade run with a small batch of heavy squadrons like Y-Wings pre 1.5, but now that the Intel nerf is here, is it really needed anymore? One could just cut the upgrade and replace the Y-Wings with A-Wings. Does this upgrade still have a purpose that makes it worth the 5 points?
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Star Wars: Armada
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It's essentially trash now.
5 pts to protect a bubble around one of your ships. To get good coverage you'd need multiples.
And well, with the Intel nerf you don't need this at all.
Personally I don't houserule anything unless it's a campaign. Even in casual games with friends I play rules the same way I would if it was a tournament.
Some upgrades are trash, but at least you have the option of not playing them. Judging from my own suspicions, and from other comments in this thread, I think ATN was a soft intel nerf that we can pretty much chuck out the window now that new intel is here. And that's okay with me. There are hundreds of upgrade cards that have been released since 2004; I'm okay with some of them being duds (Lira, Dominator, Independence) in 2021.
There are usually good reasons for this--Slicer Tools and Yavaris were nerfed really hard and not very good cards now, but I'd rather it be that way than playing with old Slicer Tools and old Yavaris in the current Clone Wars/1.5 meta. Yikes.
Soo... Anyone up for houseruling the card? How would YOU change it to make it worthwhile?
Personally I think something like "Enemy squadrons within short range that are engaged with a friendly squadron may not move or engage ships under any circumstances" would make me seriously consider it.
I agree with IrishMadCat here. It really isn't worth 5 points, maybe like 2 or 3. Heck, it's barely worth the cardboard after the Intel nerf. Seriously, why is it a Modification? The only use I can think of and justify is using it with the Grand Army of the Republic, since every other faction has better and cheaper squadrons for point-defense than the heavy squadron alternatives. When looking for the turning point in point costs, taking 3 BTL-B Y-Wings + Advanced Transponder Net becomes cheaper than taking the equivalent 3 V-19 Torrents by 1 point, and currently the GAR ships are small enough that the Y-Wings could actually protect most parts of their hull zones. Of course, ATN prices you into taking an Acclamator-I or a Charger C70, and then you lose out on Modifications for Turbolaser upgrades or, for the Acc-I, you lose slots to trick out the Nevoota Bee. So maybe the 7 points you gain from taking 6 Y-Wings and ATN over 6 V-19s ain't exactly worth it there either. :P
I'm not keen on it. On small ships it isn't worth the investment cost. Larger ships may get protection once but the card doesn't prevent attacking squads from moving away from heavy squads and bombing a different hull zone. Mixing in a few non heavy squadrons can achieve a similar (and more mobile) effect than ATN. For example rather than 4 Decimators take 3 + Bossk, or add Valen Rudor to the mix as he can't be shot out of the blob of heavy squadrons.
Well... I suppose as an empire player you could fly a couple of Decimators as CSP? With "Heavy" removed they're pretty nasty (if expensive).