RITR: Setup and Round 1

Modified Rebellion in the Rim Campaign: The Beginning and Round 1

After quite some time away from Armada campaigns (and never having completed the Rebellion in the Rim (RitR) campaign that I had started some time ago), our FLGS, Game Nite, has been gracious enough to set aside socially-distanced tables with hand sanitizer and such for small, regular campaigns. To that end, we began a Rebellion in the Rim campaign with 4 players a couple of weekends ago. Prior to building fleets, we discussed the structure of the campaign. I believe the leveling and resources systems of RitR are far more interesting when compared to Corellian Conflict (CC), and also do quite a good job of preventing the massive snowball effect that players could experience while playing a CC campaign. I also really appreciate the thematic idea of small task forces clashing again and again in the Outer Rim, so I enjoy the idea of playing on a 3x3 mat. However, our experience with the last RitR campaign we played was a mixed bag. I was one of 3 Imperial players, and didn't want to field an ISD because I think it’s just killer in such a small playing arena. So I put together a flotilla, a Glad, and a Quasar with Bossk, Zertik, and some generic squadrons. I should note that this campaign was started before the release of the Starhawk and the Onager. Anyway, each Rebel decided to bring a large ship, and so my first match was against an MC75.

I got stomped. It was real ugly. I’m pretty sure I didn’t get a single kill. It didn’t feel good at all. I think I played a second match with my fleet after that, had a similar experience against another large Rebel ship, and so I retired the fleet. My thought was, “Fine, I’m done being cute. I want to contribute to my team!” So I decided to run a Kuat with Boba Fett, Gar Saxon, and a bunch of Defenders. And unsurprisingly, I did well. Because I closed fast and played nasty. But my choices were not in the spirit of the campaign, and so we ended up with a campaign of 3 ISDs (one Kuat, one Cymoon, and one ISD-II, if I recall correctly) versus an MC80, an MC75, and either a second MC75 or an LMC80. Pretty damn lame.


So! Walking into this campaign, we had the discussion as to whether or not large base ships should be banned. I didn’t like this option, because it cut off so many different choices for Rebels (that’s 4 ships that are off-limits), but it also meant Imperials had fewer choices. It was also mentioned that we would likely see serious escalation if one of the Rebels chose to run a large, in which case, one of the Imperials would likely run an Onager, at which point, the Starhawk would show up, etc etc. After some conversation, we decided to try running the RitR campaign at 400 points (with a 500 fleet maximum) instead of the usual 200 (250 maximum). It changes things thematically and means we’re flying on 6x3 mats, but it felt like the best way to encourage creative builds without shutting large base ships out of the campaign completely. We also changed the rule from starting with 2 named squadrons to 4 named squadrons. However, 4 named squadrons is also the maximum for each fleet. Otherwise, rules remain the same. At that point, the fleet building commenced!

Imperial Grand Admiral Nathan:

-Imperial II-class Star Destroyer (120)

-Electronic Countermeasures (7)

-Onager-class Testbed (96)

-Custom Commander (Master Gunner I)

-Orbital Bombardment Particle Cannons (5)

-Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer (56)

-Ordnance Experts (4)

-Gozanti-class Cruisers (23)


-Dengar (20)

-Howlrunner (16)

-Mauler Mithel (15)

-Saber Squadron (12)

-TIE Interceptor squadron x2 (11)


Surprise Attack, Hyperspace Assault, Superior Positions


Imperial Flunky Chris N:

-Kuat Refit (112)

-Custom Commander (Master Gunner I)

-Electronic Countermeasures (7)

-Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (54)

-Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)

-Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (54)

-Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)

Quasar Fire I-class Cruiser-Carrier (54)

-Boosted Comms

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23)

-Bomber Command Center (8)


-Maarek Stele (21)

-TIE Defender squadron x3 (48)


Advanced Gunnery, Contested Outpost, Superior Positions


Rebel Grand Admiral Jacob:

-Starhawk-class Mk. I (140)

-Custom Commander (Master Navigator I)

-Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)

-MC80 Battle Cruiser (103)

-Gunnery Team (7)

-CR90 Corvette A (44)

-Auxiliary Shields Team (3)

-GR-75 Medium Transports (18)

-Comms Net (2)


-YT-2400 (16)

-Lancer-class Pursuit Craft x2 (30)

-E-Wing Squadron x2 (30)


Surprise Attack, Asteroid Tactics, Minefields



Rebel Flunky Pooka:

-MC80 Battle Cruiser (103)

-Custom Commander (Master Navigator I)

-Gunnery Team (7)

-MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63)

-Expanded Launchers (13)

-Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57)

-Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)

-Nebulon-B Support Refit (51)

-Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)

-GR-75 Medium Transports (18)

-Boosted Comms (4)


-Hera Syndulla (28)

-Lando Calrissian (23)

-Kanan Jarrus (19)


Most Wanted, Hyperspace Assault, Infested Fields


Those are the fleets! I can really only speak to my own building, which is that I felt comfortable including a large base ship in a 400 point Task Force. Mostly, this fleet is about fun. The LMC80 and MC30 can go roaring in and sink as much damage as possible. If I’m lucky, they get in a couple of attacks and then just roar on by rather than sticking around. My second wave are the two Nebs who can hopefully finish off ships limping their way. The GR-75 and squadrons are flexible; more often than not, I likely send them with the LMC80 and MC30, but I also have the luxury of keeping them back to hit with the Neb assault wave. Obviously, Hera’s gift of Rogue is wasted on Lando and Kanan, but I plan on adding a bunch of generic squadrons who can benefit in future rounds. You may ask why it is that I bothered with a flotilla and Boosted Comms (as well as an Escort frigate instead of a second Support Refit) if I was just planning on flying Rogues. It’s a fair question. The answer is pretty simple, really: I think I can *mostly* rely on Rogue in each match. But there will almost certainly be a turn, possibly 2, in which I cannot afford to wait until the Squadron phase for them to do some work. But especially if my squadrons end up in a no man’s land (either between my two waves of assaulting ships, or if my second wave has been put down and said wave will not be commanding my squadrons…), then they can still polish off some ships or squadrons in later rounds so I don’t leave points on the table. But I already had the privilege in my first match of seeing just how useful it was to balance my use of squadrons’ Rogue with commanding them. I’ll get to that in a minute!

Bases, Declarations, and the First Round


The Grand Admiral and I gave it consideration, and based our choices on upgrades we knew we’d want to purchase at some point. Having the security of a base we could use was really the main consideration for us. So when the choices were tallied up, the Imperials had bases at Mon Cala and Ryloth, and the Rebels had set up bases at Atollon and Mygeeto. Per the campaign rules, Imperials had first base selection, and Rebels had first declaration. We knew we wanted a border system, and were fairly certain our opponents would plan for the same. GA Jacob sent me on an assault against Concord Dawn, to which Imperial Flunky Chris responded. GA Nathan then chose to lead a challenge against the Ring of Kafrene, to which GA Jacob rose.


It was funny, as Chris’ fleet and my own mirrored each other in a couple of ways: big capital ships that are meant to point forward and shoot, a pair of support ships meant to snipe opponents with red dice, a flotilla each, and clearly relying on squadrons to do some heavy lifting (he fielding a Quasar that will push Maarek and his Defenders with Boosted Comms, and me investing in expensive aces). I thought that my MC30 and Rogue (eliminating my need for squadron commands) would give me an edge over his Quasar, so I felt pretty good about the matchup. As I was the assailant, I had to select an objective as first player. I knew I didn’t want to play a campaign objective because I was not aiming for any unique upgrades and didn’t want to hand Chris the opportunity to snag any. As both of Concord Dawn’s objectives are campaign objectives, that meant I had to select from Chris’ native objectives. I decided that I could not risk Advanced Gunnery in case his Kuat closed fast on my LMC80 and caught me unawares. I seriously considered Superior Positions because I was certain my squadrons could beat his squadrons, hands down. But I thought that having to deploy my entire fleet first was a disadvantage I absolutely could not afford. So I chose Contested Station, knowing I’d at least be able to identify where the main skirmish would occur, and hoping I’d maybe pick up a token or two, or annihilate any ship trying to babysit the station. You can see our deployment below:

I’m out-deployed by one based on lists, as I only have 3 squadrons to his 4. But I’m also first player, and so, I’m actually out-deployed by 2. That means I’m looking more at a central deployment so I can adjust as needed. My thinking was that the LMC80 could keep anyone on my right/his left of the station honest (if it was the Kuat and I need to use my commander’s Navigate ability to get out of there) or dead (if it’s literally any other ship over there on the station). But if I grouped all of my ships together, it would be really hard to wheel and respond to threats accordingly (again, being out-deployed by 2 deployments). So my MC30 went (to my) left of the station, and the two Nebs were placed outside of it so they could slow-roll and pick off anything the MC30 didn’t finish. My squadrons ended up being further out than I should have placed them, which would allow a Defender volley. But I knew from the start that I planned on using squadron commands until at least all of Chris’ Defenders were dead.


This writeup comes nearly 2 weeks after the event, so I can’t really write a play by play here. But here are things I can say:

-After launching some average attacks (even with rerolls), it was clear to me that my MC30 would die, despite any attempts to get out of a rough spot. Rather than try futilely to save it, I used it to ram the Quasar, stay in place, and force my opponent to do something about it sooner rather than later, as it jammed up his navigational lanes. I felt good about that choice. Expanded Launchers is obviously insanely expensive, but I’ll say this - at present, I’m happier with that choice than with a crit-dependent upgrade.

-My LMC80 should not have survived an onslaught from the Quasar, the Arqs, the Kuat, and a con-fired Gozanti. But dice did NOT my opponent’s way, and I was fortunate to get out of there.

-I still have more to learn about using my Nebs more effectively. They were fine (one basically boxed out an Arquitens and kept it from being relevant, while the other ended up taking some shots at the Kuat), but had I thought it through more completely, I could have killed the Kuat.

-Lando, Hera, and Kanan are just fantastic. Absolutely loved them. Their dice were hot, for sure. But they made such short work of the Defenders that they could then go to work on ships. They alone landed so much damage on the Kuat that it only limped away with one hull left. If I had flown one of my Nebs just a hair more competently, it would have been toast.

-My sub-thought here is that my choice to command them for as long as I feasibly could really made the difference in the game. It let me jump Chris’ Defenders before they could do anything beyond throw some dice at my LMC80. It also neutralized any *true* threat the Quasar could present. Once they had eliminated enemy squadrons, they were happy to use their Rogue abilities to just harass Chris’ ships.


This was the closest game I have ever played. Chris managed to score the station all 6 rounds. Crazy. He killed my MC30, and ended up getting my valiant GR75, but that was it. Everyone and everything else got away. I got one of his Arqs, his Quasar, and all of his squadrons (though I’m pretty sure I missed out on getting the Gozanti). I won the match by a single point. At the other table, Nathan defeated Jacob. It could have gone very differently, but Nathan managed to maneuver past the Starhawk’s front arc, and so the Starhawk was forced into an unplanned Ackbar Slash instead. The round ended with a new Imperial presence at the Ring of Kafrene and a new Rebel presence at Concord Dawn.


Luckily, my casualties were minimal, so I’m not forced into a tough decision about what to repair. I do, however, have a choice between making Lando a veteran, or granting that status to my LMC80. My first inclination was to make my LMC80 a veteran, since it is the centerpiece of my fleet. However, upon reconsideration, I’ve decided to make Lando my veteran. He already has so much dice control that I thought I would turn a strength into an obscenity by giving him even more dice control with two rerolls per match. Having won at Concord Dawn, I chose to take my 30 points in squadrons to add an X-Wing, a Y-Wing, and a Z-95 Headhunter to my fleet. This will allow me to leverage Hera’s ability starting in the second round, as well as add two bombers to my fleet.


Looking forward to sharing round 2 happenings with y’all!


-IratePooka