Well I’ve done the Dreadnaught-class and I’ve had requests for the a Rebel variants. I was tempted to create Rebel variants, however I essentially decided to not do it because I created this article instead!
So lets get stuck into the Assault Frigate MK I, the Dreadnaught's successor/evolution:
The Overall Design:
The Assault Frigate MK I and II are both refits of the popular and common place Dreadnaught-class as the Rebellion wanted to make use of these old but powerful ships. Unfortunately they lacked the crew numbers to use them in any capacity, so instead of just discarding these ships, they updated the design to automate them, better suite their tactics and also replace the outdated tech of the Dreadnaught with more modern technology.
Because of this, my design tries to fit somewhere between the Dreadnought and Assault Frigate MK II. This makes it a manoeuvrable light weight version of the Dreadnaught, while retaining its large pool of crew and team upgrades, but being a less well rounded version of the MK II.
This leaves us with a much more manoeuvrable ship compared to the Dreadnaught (which, for those of you who read my article early last week, I’ve updated with worse speed as I was too generous for it). With less hull than both the Dreadnaught and MK II, but slightly improved shields over the ship it was refitted form.
The Variants:
Assault Frigate Mark I:
This variant’s armaments are well rounded in the front and sides, if only fully effective at medium range. This is not because the MK I was known for ion weapons, but because it specifically had shorter range turbolasers due to the power drain from its engines.
This is also shown in its upgrades with it having a turbolaser slot as well as a crew, gunnery team and pair of support teams to show its heritage as a Dreadnaught with excessive needs for crew. This too is shown elsewhere with its high command value, of three, for a ship of its size.
Split Fin Assault Frigate Mark I:
Seen once during the battle of Kamino, the Split Fin variant was almost identical except for its iconic two front fins. This isn’t overly strange or rare as the MK I was less of a standard ship and more of an idea, with those retrofitting the ship being the ones to decide what the ship looks like. It’s changes are subtle over the standard MK I with an extra squadron point to show its increased hanger space and an extra blue die in the front and rear hull zones. This again is shown in its upgrades, with it losing the support teams for a second gunnery team and turbolaser slot to show its extra weapons on the second fin and combat capability.
The Upgrades:
Fluidly Retrofitted:
The MK I is strangely rarely used in stories so there is a limited pool of named ships for me to draw from. This means I’ve been creative, using this title to give it access to the MK II’s titles as well as the Dreadnaught's titles. This is because I see the creation of both the MK I and II as more like growth, with these ships starting off as Dreadnaughts captured by the Rebellion, refitted heavily and renamed Assault Frigates. Then over time as these ships are constantly repaired and refitted, their already non-uniform design becomes more unrecognisable. The Rebellion then reclasses these more heavily modified versions as the MK II Assault Frigates.
Katana:
I made a Katana title for the Republic's Dreadnaught-class that was designed to be surrounded by other Dreadnaughts. Although this title is for a Dreadnought, using the last upgrade, you can equip this to this ships. The ability shows how Han used the Katan’s slave rigged controls to control an otherwise inactive Dreadnaught and crashing it into a Star Destroyer, letting you essentially “squadron activate” friendly ships instead.
Peregrine:
Garm Bel Iblis’s flagship, the Peregrine was one of the Katana Fleet Dreadnaughts he recovered. The Peregrine’s special feature was an odd comms suite on the outer hull, compared to most comms suites being in the centre of ships. This is because of Garm Bel Iblis’s desire for a more private comm room.
I was going to incorporate this into its ability but realised I ended up with an ability similar to Comms Net. I decided to just let it add a fleet support upgrade to make it more flexible as an upgrade instead.
Unlike the Katana, the Peregrine is not a dreadnought title as although its depicted as a Dreadnaught, its said to be heavily retrofitted so I see it as maybe being more of a MK I instead.
Garm Bel Iblis:
When I started to make the upgrades for this pack, I was annoyed as Garm Bel Iblis would be a perfect commander for this ship pack. But as he’s already been made for Armada (in the MK II’s pack which I think is neat as a way to tie it to its past as a Dreadnaught), I’ll settle for making him a crew upgrade instead. His ability shows off one of his less respectable moments, when he ordered his troops to fire through civilian targets that were between him and his enemy, as he was certain they would die either way. Very cold, which gives me an idea for a commander…
Saw Gerrera:
In some ways the cannon version of Garm Bel Iblis, Saw is a more brutal and ruthless Rebel commander who is more than willing to discard morals in return for success. His ability is inspired by an X-Wing upgrade that scum ships have access to, but Saw’s Rebel pilots can also take, Deadman Switch. This upgrade damages all ships around the defender when a ship is destroyed. because of explosives packed into the ship. Saw lets your fleet become kamikaze bombers, letting them run in, do as much damage as possible, then explode in balls of flame, making your opponent reluctant to kill your ships off at close range.
Bonus Stuff:
As I've a few requests for both Rebellion and Separatist Dreadnaught cards I thought I'd add in a bonus pair of ship cards here:
Under-Crewed Dreadnaught-class:
This Rebel variant of the Dreadnaught shows the Rebellions issue with using the Dreadnaught, with its command value at five because of their lack of personnel to run the already crew hungry ships. It's also limited to one per fleet to show how the Rebels would quickly convert them to MK I or II Assault Frigates.
Automated Dreadnaught-class:
The Separatist variant has a lower command value compared to the other Dreadnaught variants because of their heavy use of Battle Droids allowing them to easily automate the systems of the ship. However this also means there is no room on board for organic crew meaning you can barely modify this ship. Like the Rebel variant, the Separatist's Dreadnaught is limited to one per fleet as they are less often seen in their fleets even though they did have access to them.
The Conclusion:
The Assault Frigate MK I, possibly my lest favourite of the three ships in the heritage of the Dreadnaught, however is an essential part of that heritage and shows the Rebellion ingenuity and skills at using what little they had available to create amazing ships. It was known the Empire was desperate to capture the MK I because they saw it as only superior to the Dreadnaught and a massive threat they wanted to replicate!
Thank you all for reading.
Watcher Leader out.