The Edge of Wild Space

An introductory campaign for Star Wars: Armada.

Increased Anti-Imperial Activity in the Outer Rim

All along the outskirts of the Empire, unrest has begun to boil over.  Some worlds openly defy Imperial edict and rule, and are subjugated once again through force of arms.  However, sympathy for the Alliance to Restore the Republic has grown a great deal in the recent cycles.  The amount of equipment and support the Rebellion has garnered has surprised Imperial authorities when they began to suspect the extent of the rebel fleet scattered (for now) across the galaxy.

Imperial Sector Fleet Naugrelas was created to combat this threat.  Consisting of only a few small destroyers and their accompanying support craft, many captains in Naugrelas saw battle against the Alliance fleets on the other side of the galaxy.  The fleet's new commander's directive is to chase suspected rebel ships in the Outer Rim Naugrelas sector, and has already been alerted to the Alliance 'navy' in the area.  The Sector Fleet has already chased one such small fleet as it gathered ships across the Outer Rim, before finally losing them in Wild Space.

Wild Space is the frontier of the settled galaxy.  There is little law, outside of what power the Empire can project.  Sector Fleet Naugrelas is one such projection of that power.  The Fleet's admiral has already dispatched assault carriers and patrol craft to Kajj and is consolidating power at an orbital dock at Dekora.  Now, the fleet sets about searching the settlements and planets at the edge of Wild Space near the Unknown Regions for the rebel fleet they know is nearby.

The problem for Sector Fleet Naugrelas now becomes space itself.

The Unknown Regions are a dangerous area for starships, in the best of circumstances.  Light years of desolate, uncharted expanses stretch betwixt the stellar phenomena the area is known for.  Explorer teams have for thousands of years slowly plodded from one zone to another, methodically charting courses in, through and around stellar nebulae, black holes, and even stranger phenomena not seen elsewhere in the galaxy.

Pirate Star-Map belonging to so-called "Neo-Privateers".

The Birthwell is one such area.

Sector Fleet Naugrelas suspects the area is being utilized by pirate and rebel factions to stage attacks against Imperial trade or military goods.  The uncertain routes, along with the untrustworthiness of the phenomena, contribute to the hesitancy of the Imperial military to exert much force here.  Recently this has begun to change however, as Imperial patrols have now followed pirates INTO the nebulae surrounding area and identified nav points.  

In addition, overt rebel activity has increased near Yem'da, on the edge of the nebular vortex.  It seems fleet-level action is inevitable, and the Empire has sent several Victory-class destroyers to root out the pirates and engage any rebels they may find.  The threat of the black holes and nebular storms is great, but the glory to be won is greater.

Campaign Rules

The Edge of Wild Space is an introductory campaign for Star Wars: Armada.  The campaign will simply be a team league consisting of nine standard games.  The linear structure here will allow all players the chance to focus on the standard game and the rules for a while.  During the course of this event, players will discover their favorite ships and develop their own fleet tactics.

In this campaign, there are two factions:  Imperial Sector Fleet Naugrelas and Alliance Battlegroup Tarquinas.  Players who insist on calling themselves "scum", "neo-privateers" or "pirates" will be considered rebel alliance for purposes of this campaign and have access to all rebel assets. At the end of the campaign, the team with the highest win rate is declared the winner, and the ongoing narrative will use the statistics from the campaign to adjust the setting for the next wave of campaigns.

Imperial Sector Fleet Naugrelas will attempt to identify and engage hostiles at the rim of the Birthwell, particularly Yem'da and the nav-points from there to Kajj.

Alliance Battlegroup Tarquinas is to deter Imperial interdictions at all points of ingress to the Birthwell space, particularly the secret routes to Teyyaun.

Ongoing and Results

Star Wars Portal

Despite everything you may think to the contrary, Star Wars is still the most consistently popular tag on any of Iron Seer's sites.  I know, right?  I still dig Star Wars even if I got more Imperial than First Order on my table.  So, as we move into 2021 it's probably a good idea to get all this sorted, especially if we want to reference it later.

Speaking of references, this post will be updated as new Star Wars posts hit.  I still have so many unopened ships I want to devalue by opening.  I also plan to make a great many more 'pew-pew' noises.

Last Entry: 05/16/21

---

• Star Wars Campaigns
• The Edge of Wild Space - (05/16/21)
• Space Aces in Wild Space - (03/28/21)
• Journey to Wild Space - (08/26/18)
• Journey to Wild Space Campaign Material - (09/09/18)
• Rogue Star Wars - (06/10/18)
• Battle Report: Jedi Temple Heist - (07/15/18)
• Battle Report: Bothawui Run - (08/05/18)
• Post-Game Sequence - (09/27/20)
• Cloak of the Sith - (03/11/18)
• Random Deathwind Corridor Missions - (04/01/18)
• Cloak of the Sith Final Stage - (02/17/19)
• Star Wars Articles
• X-Wing 2.0 - It's a Clone War - (08/02/20)
• Rogue Star Wars Mayhem, Inc. - (01/20/19)
• Rogue Star Wars Buru Brothers Shipping & Handling Team - (05/27/18)
• Rogue Star Wars Imperial Hunter-Killer Team - (03/04/18)
• Rogue Star Wars Rebellion Tech-Partisans Team - (02/11/17)
• Star Wars Miniatures - (12/03/17)
• Top 5 Reasons Armada is Also - (10/15/17)
• Top 5 Reasons X-Wing is Still Cool - (10/08/17)

---

More to come!

Reverse Format 5/16/21

Journey to Wildspace Campaign Material

Journey to Wildspace is now go!

Inspirobot is our Counsel for Interplanetary Action.

What follows is specific information on Scenarios and Campaign Bonuses for our Armada campaign.  All Journey to Wild Space scenarios utilize the Complete Setup procedure in the main Armada rulebook.  However, there are a few twists to each specific scenario.  In addition, all these scenarios will have a variable Fleet Point range.  Players must adhere to the maximum Fleet Size unless they are unable, at which point they can field a smaller fleet or concede and head to Refit.

If at any point a Fleet decides to "jump to lightspeed" i.e. concede DURING a game, that player loses the game regardless of current Victory Points / Fleet Points.

Scenarios

Maximum Fleet Points: 200 + (1d6x50) (250-500 Fleet Points)

Battle Line

Complete Setup as in the main Armada book.

Fleet Assault

Complete Setup as in the main Armada book, except that players deploy in corners, up to half the table edge in each direction.

Patrol

Players may only deploy one ship on the board at the beginning of the game, and 1 to 3 fighter squadrons.  Players deploy in corners, up to half the table edge in each direction.  At the end of every turn, players may place a new ship from their fleet touching one of their board edge sections and up to three fighter squadrons at Range 1 from that ship.  The ship will act normally from then on.

Escort

The Second Player designates one ship as their VIP.  If that ship exits the board on the opponent's board edge, the Second Player gets the cost of that ship added to his score at the end of the game.

Deathstroke

Complete Setup as in the main Armada book except there is no turn limit.

Campaign Bonuses

With the exception of the Fleet Points bonus, these are retained and can be spent at the beginning of any game, before setup is started.  One of each bonus can be spent on a single game, giving you all available bonuses in one game.

Momentum

Your maximum allowable Fleet Points increase by 20% for the next game.

Hyperspace Assault

Deploy all your ships after your opponent has placed his entire force.  If both players declare Hyperspace Assault, they are both spent and there is no effect.

Fleet Command

Once this game, at the beginning of any turn, you can use your Fleet Command to assign any Command Token to all your ships.  All ships receive the same Command.

Fleet Points

This bonus is not retained to be spent, but takes effect immediately.  Gain 1d6 x 100 Fleet Points.

Fighter Deployment

Once this game, you may activate all your fighter squadrons without having to use a Squadron Command.

Star Wars Armada: Journey to Wild Space

The Rebels assembling near Roon would like to think they are ready to fight, but it is time to flee.

The Imperial Fleet has decided to devote resources to the fight around the Cloak of the Sith.  This bodes ill for the Rebels assembling there, so an exodus of the area has begun.  However, the Rebel fleet can ill afford a stand up fight at this point with an assembled Imperial fleet.  It is time to abandon the Cloak.

The plan is to move the Rebel fleet to a less conspicuous area somewhere in Wild Space.  In order to successfully accomplish this, the Rebels must contest Imperial Control in important strategic areas relevant to the movement of naval assets.  If a path can be safely navigated through Rebel controlled space, more of the fleet will be able to make it to the rendezvous point.

It's going to be tough...and there will be losses.  For the Rebellion, the other side of this trial will be only more fighting against an implacable enemy.  Yet hope lingers...and fosters courage still.

---

Journey to Wild Space is Iron Seer's 2018-19 campaign for Star Wars: Armada!

The fleets will battle over five nodes to generate a lockdown on each one.  Players must cultivate Projected Power if Imperial, or generate Resistance if Rebel.  When all the nodes are locked down, the campaign is over.

In addition, the fleets must marshal their resources in the form of Fleet Points.  Each fleet starts with 1200 Fleet Points, which may be spent on ships and upgrades to deploy during the battles.  At the end of each game there is Refit phase where Fleet Point adjustments are tallied for each fleet.

Battles are variable points totals, and players will bid an amount of fleet points to the scenario.  Typically this will be the maximum, but eventually players will want to conserve Fleet point in an effort to outmaneuver the enemy.  The player's bid becomes the point value of their fleet.

If a player feels they do not have enough Fleet Points to commit to the scenario, that fleet can make a concession of the game to the enemy.  This will allow the retreating fleet time to regroup, and the fleet will be awarded Fleet Points for doing so.

For each game, the Imperial player decides which node to fight over.  The players will randomly determine a scenario from the Journey to Wildspace scenarios list, below.  For each point of Projected Power or Resistance earned, that Fleet earns a Campaign bonus also chosen at random from the table below.  Play continues like this as players earn their respective objectives.

When a node has 5 points of either Projected Power or Resistance on it, it is locked and out of the game.  The battle there is over.  The campaign continues until each node is locked.  At the end of the campaign, the fleet with the most Projected Power or Resistance is the winner, with Fleet Points acting as tie-breaker.

The Nodes

• Bothawui
• Rebel assets in the polar bases are being removed and made ready for transport to the new base beyond the Unknown Regions.  The fleet's journey will begin here.
• Ryloth
• Some of the best Rebel troopers are marauders and gangsters, many of which hail from Ryloth and Roon.
• Utapau
• The largest of the Rebel fleet's ships have been waiting here for the smaller vessels to assemble, floating deep in-system.
• Hoth
• Both acquiring and delivering systems, weapons and munitions here, the Rebel fleet is careful to approach Hoth (and their new operating base) with discretion.  Much care was given to engaging Imperials in the nearby systems pre-emptively, deceiving them into believing the attacks were staged from another location entirely.
• Jakku
• The final jump-point for the fleet into Wild Space.  Failure to secure this node will mean a much rougher trip from another start point.

The rest of the galaxy is not represented, because we aren't concerned with that right now and I don't own the rights to this material.  So I had to make my own map, with node points and planet names.  Except it's not really a map, it's a starfield with some wild colors on it mean to represent Wild Space.  All trademarked names belong to Disney, k?  Whom I am NOT affiliated with, other than my having bought a game they licensed to Fantasy Flight Games.  I think I'll stop right here.

---

Journey to Wild Space Scenarios

If there are 3 or less points of Projected Power or Resistance on a node, determine the mission by rolling 1d6 on the following table.  If there are 4 points of either Projected Power or Resistance on a node, the scenario played is automatically Deathstroke.

1. Battle Line
2. Fleet Assault
3. Patrol
4. Escort
5. Breakout
6. Station Assault

Link to Scenarios.

---

Campaign Bonuses

For each point of Projected Power or Resistance earned, a fleet rolls 1d6 on the following table and obtains the corresponding bonus.

1. Momentum
2. Hyperspace Assault
3. Fleet Command
4. Fleet Points
5. Initiative Bonus
6. Fighter Deployment

Link to Bonuses.

---

Refit Phase

1. Count up the total cost of all ships destroyed for each fleet.
2. Each player gains Fleet Points equal to the points value of Enemy ships destroyed.
3. Each player loses Fleet Points equal to the points value of own ships destroyed.
4. A player who elects not to engage and concede Projected Power or Resistance to an opponent for a game gains 200 Fleet Points during Refit.  The winner of the concession gains none.

Top 5 Reasons Star Wars Armada Deserves Your Attention

The test monkeys discover the hidden camera.

For years and years, Star Wars had been kind of a stale thing.  Like, since BEFORE the prequels, for those of you that remember.  It was X-Wing that got me back on the Star Wars hype train, and the Force Awakens trailer made me cry.  Before I saw it, of course.

Either way, I've always been a Star Wars fan, and I finally just accepted it a few years ago.  I finally saw how hard it was to have lived with that denial all my life.  My 'movie' was Return of the Jedi, and I was four years old when it came out.  I remember watching it on laserdisc in 1984 or something.  It made an impression, and I've had a lightsaber in my heart almost my entire life.  Figuratively.


#5 - Star Wars & FFG

Fantasy Flight Games must be commended on their Star Wars lines.  They dovetail nicely with each other and hit all the major beats - ship to ship combat at fighter and fleet scales, several RPG's covering facets of the universe, card games, board games and an upcoming miniatures wargame, Star Wars: Legion.

You can wage war at every level in the same universe, a feat that has only been matched by a few franchises.  Star Wars has never matched this impetus before, but now it's a cornerstone (or should be) of every gaming club.  Kudos to FFG, you knocked it out of the park.

#4 - More Complex Mechanics

Veteran gamers will enjoy the depth of the system, while simultaneously realizing it's not as complex as some other systems.  The mechanics are MORE complex, than say X-Wing, but not TOO complex to put off newcomers.  This gives Armada an appeal to a wider audience that goes beyond the Star Wars branding.

#3 - It's a Great Introduction to the Space Navy

Fleet-scale games require a little more imagination to get the most out of.  A lot of the movement and positioning has to be abstracted because of the sheer scale involved in the simulation, which is usually measured in kilometers.  To simulate the sluggishness of some ships, and the dependency upon support and distance, some different mechanics are utilized that might trip up some casual or X-Wing newcomers.  However, if you are introducing new players to different types of games all the time, Armada provides a quick jump off point to fleet scale space battles for newbies.  Everyone knows what a Star Destroyer is, and even if they aren't familiar with some of the ships or terminology if they are a budding gamer they'll quickly grasp the conventions and be able to take them along as they explore more complex rulesets.

#2 - Models & Dice

The models rock, end of story.  They are well-painted right out of the box, and you can have a ship ready to fight in a few minutes after purchasing it.  That alone is worth the price of admission.

However, the dice have got to be a selling point as well.  Many of us old-timers balked at having to use these colorful dice with strange symbols at first, but the novelty of them has grown on me.  These dice simplify the mechanics and playability by removing a lot of the math traditionally associated with combat calculations.

I think the dice mechanics, across all of FFG's Star Wars line, are the single most important thing that allows the games to attract and retain 'new' players, and by 'new' I mean brand new gamers.  The dice may have been off-putting at first, but they are colorful moving pieces whose symbols are easy to read and understand without any involved calculus or trigonometry.  Not that math is a bad thing.

#1 - Relative Snootiness

Yes.  It's a well known fact that if you play both Armada and X-Wing you are allowed to be snooty toward "X-Wing Only" plebes.