Defensive Retrofits - Wave 2

Defensive Retrofits for Wave 2 gives us two new options to chose from, as well as three new ships that can take the upgrade.  The MC80 and MC30c join the Rebels in retrofits, and the ISD2 becomes the first Imperial ship to add a defensive slot.  The upgrades themselves differ from before - while the previous retrofits were about enhancing defense tokens and their use, the new retrofits are a whole different breed.




Cluster Bombs - 5 points - After a squadron performs an attack against you, even if you are destroyed, you may discard this card to roll 4 blue dice.  That squadron suffers one damage for each "hit" or "crit"icon rolled.  First off, it should be noted this isn't an attack.  It cannot be scattered, braced, or laughed off in any way.  Is it useful?  Well, it takes up the slot normally awarded to Electronic Countermeasures on a critical ship.  It could find a home on a MC80 Assault - a ship bound to pick up a lot of squadron interest as it makes its way through the fight.  Probably not on the ISD2, and a bit pricey for a CR90 corvette.   Probably the best home would be on the MC30c - a ship with very little in the way of anti-squadron weaponry that isn't likely to hang around the rest of your fleet in favor of making an ordinance run at the enemy.

Is it worth it?  Again that depends on what you are typically up against.  Against Rhymer this upgrade would make him think long and hard before firing on you, but likely wouldn't stop his friends from dog-piling on and daring you to pop it off.  Against Luke, Keyan, or really any named squadron list?  Worth the point cost, definitely.  Against generic squadrons?  Maybe not as much.  Another upgrade we may see more of as the meta shifts to squadrons.


Redundant Shields - 8 points - At the start of each Status Phase, you may recover 1 shield.  AKA the MC80 Assault's second best friend (after ECM).  This is a pretty good number of points for an upgrade that basically reads "Have a free engineering token, but you can only use it for shields".  Nevertheless - it is free shields in a hull zone you are already being shot on, and it pops up at the end of each round.

Aside from the MC80, it also could go on an MC30c who will likely need the extra shields if it is shot at by anything moderately threatening.  Also an option would be the CR90, possibly with Projection Experts to pass the extra shields generated on to a different ship taking damage.  The ISD doesn't need this upgrade though - it wants to be able to brace with ECM.


 That's it for defensive retrofits.  This has been another Upgrade article.  Until next time!