As promised, here’s the rules I used for the league I ran. Note that the TP bonuses below were adjusted on the fly every week so that each faction had a chance to come back from a loss. That way, no team felt like they were getting blown out and didn’t have a chance. Another thing I learned was that I should put the two “fun” missions (Imperial week 2, Rebel week 3) opposite each other in the same week. Otherwise you end up like we did, where my players managed to avoid both by Rebels winning week 2 and Imperials winning week 3.
Without further ado, here’s the rules! They’re also linked as a Word doc next if you’d rather read them later that way. Armada league 1
Each week Tournament Points, per margin of victory in the tournament rules, added up by faction determines the winner for the week. The following week will have special bonuses or options depending on who the previous week’s winner was.
The final week’s special rules are determined by the faction with the higher total for all three weeks. After the 4th week, the total TPs for each faction determine the winner.
Text in quotes is flavor text.
“The Barys system is a key manufacturing location for the Empire: an orbital factory there produces over 40% of the concussion missiles used in their Gladiator class ships. If the Rebellion can sabotage it, they would cause widespread shortages of the crucial munition, aiding their fleets galaxy-wide.”
First week: “The Rebel High Command dispatches several task forces to try to slip past Imperial forces and rendezvous deeper inside the system to establish a base of operations. Unfortunately, Imperial picket ships and sensor nets have alerted the in-system defense fleet to their presence, and the Emperor’s finest commanders are even now jumping their flagships into hyperspace to bolster and reinforce this lynchpin of Imperial might.
Standard mission, no special rules.
Second week:
Imperial victory: “The Rebels have slipped past the Imperial forces, though in much weaker numbers than they’d hoped for due to stiff resistance from in-system defences. In order to have any chance of success at their mission, they have to risk raiding an Imperial supply convoy for much-needed resources.”
The Imperials have control of two CR90s (supply convoy) that have a top speed of 2, no weapons, and 1 shield in each hull zone. They are deployed before any other ships are placed. If the Imperial player can successfully move them off the opposing player’s edge and has more points on the board than off it, they win +3 TPs. If the Rebels destroy both ships OR destroy 3/4ths of the Imperial fleet’s points, they win +3 TPs.
Rebel victory: “Taken by surprise, the Imperial defence fleet was unable to stop the bulk of the Rebel fleet from infiltrating the system. Now they must try to track down their rendezvous point by process of elimination, planet by planet, so that they can bring the full might of the Imperial Navy upon these traitors…”
Each Imperial victory earns them +1-2 additional TPs.
Third week:
Imperial victory: “Having stymied Rebel attempts to consolidate their foothold in the system, it is time to crush their little uprising with one swift, mighty blow.”
In all games this week, while the player with the lowest point total list will choose who will be first player, and therefore who will choose the mission, during gameplay the Imperial player will always have the initiative and will move a ship first (note that this does not affect first or second player for deployment or mission effects). Any Rebel victory here is worth +1-2 TP
Rebel victory: “With their staging site secured, the Rebels are now ready to attack the orbital factory. But first, they need to gather intel on where it is and how well it is defended.”
This week, the Rebel player must secretly choose one of their ships or squadrons to be the Tracking Device Carrier. If the Tracking Device Carrier fires on an Imperial ship at close range or range 1, they may choose to forgo doing damage and instead plant the tracking device on that ship. If they do, and that ship survives the battle (running it off the table counts as surviving in this case), the Rebel player can add ½ of the total point value of the ship to their victory point total at the end of the game. Destroying the ship doubles its VP value, excluding upgrades, to Imperial players
Fourth week:
Imperial overall lead: “The Rebel presence in the system has been broken, and whatever scheme they were concocting will never come to pass. The remnants of their fleet has begun to break up and try to flee the system, do not let them escape!”
In this final round, lowest point total fleet player chooses to keep or give away initiative as normal, however there is no mission. Imperial players only score points for Rebel ships destroyed, while Rebels only score victory points for Rebel ships that are moved off the play area on the Imperial edge. Rebel squadrons destroyed count for Imperial VPs, while any Rebel squadrons remaining in play at the end of the 6th round count for Rebel VPs.
Rebel ships that escape are worth an additional half of their base VP cost, without upgrades.
Bulldozer: Any ship that is equal to or larger in size than the ship it overlaps may, instead of using the normal overlapping rules, place an “L” token for one of its corners where it would have been placed if the overlapped ship was not there. In subsequent turns that token may be moved as if it were the ship, and once the actual ship can be placed back on the board, move the ship from its current location to the new legal location and remove the token. Ships still take one damage each while overlapping in this fashion, and ranges and LOS is measured to where the ship model is.
Rebel: “The Rebel Alliance has made many sacrifices to allow this opportunity and we must not squander it: the time to attack the orbital factory is at hand. All fleets assume attack coordinates, and may the Force be with you.”
In this final round, lowest point total fleet player chooses to keep or give away initiative, however there is no mission. The Imperial player will always place the first obstacle, regardless of being first or second player, and that obstacle must be the space station. The space station in this game does not have its normal effect, instead it is the orbital factory.
The Rebel player must board a strike team to plant explosive charges and destroy the factory. To do this, the Rebel player must bring one of their ships within range 1 of the factory and drop it to speed 0. It must then spend a full round at speed 0 while the team and their explosives are offloaded. To spend a full round, note which activation that ship is, and it may only be accelerated again at that stage or later to score. Example: a Rebel CR90 is in range 1 of the factory and spends a Navigation token or order to drop to speed 0. It is the 2nd Rebel ship activated that round, so if it is activated first the next round, the factory is not destroyed. It must be the 2nd or later Rebel ship activated to destroy the factory, unless it is the only remaining Rebel ship.
If the Rebel ship is destroyed before its activation, the factory is not destroyed.
If the Rebels succeed in planting the explosives, the factory explodes and all ships and squadrons within close range suffer 2 black dice worth of damage as if they had been hit by a ship’s battery armament on a hull facing of their choosing. The space station is then removed from the play area and the Rebel player scores an additional 6 TPs. If the space station is not destroyed by the end of the 6th round, the Imperial players score an additional 3 TPs.