Admiral Yularen
Admiral Wulff Yularen was an Admiral for both the Galactic Republic and the Galactic Empire. While serving for the Republic he served under Jedi General Anakin Skywalker. He served in many great battles alongside Anakin, other Jedi, and their clone troopers. Ironically he was killed while onboard the first Death Star at the hands of Luke Skywalker and the Rebellion.
Yularen appears in Armada as an Admiral for the Republic and an officer for the Empire. Today we will be talking about the former. Admiral Wulff Yularen of the Galactic Republic.
Coming in at 24 points he is the cheapest commander available to Republic players. His ability is super cool, well his abilities. Up first is "When a friendly ship resolves a (Squadron) command, if it spent a (Squadron) token, it may activate 1 additional squadron." This essentially just allows you to activate an additional squadron using a token. It's like the Rebels' Liberty title but for all ships. This can be resolved on either dial+token or just token. It is the only way in the game currently to activate 7 or 8 squads in one ship activation.
Venator II (100)
• Admiral Yularen (24)
• Expanded Hangar Bay (5)
= 129 Points
This is the Venator that can launch 8 squads in one activation (You don't actually need Yularen on the ship, but I put him there for reference). With the Vens native 5 + 1 for EHB + 1 from a token + 1 from Yularen makes 8 pretty easily. Personally, I find this ship and trick a bit gimmicky, but cool. This ability shines for me with Peltas and Clams. The Pelta Medical Frigate has a native squad value of2, however, with Yularen they are capable of launching 4 fighters. That is equal to a base Quasar or MC80Hc. On the 49 point chassis of the Pelta, this can be wicked.
Pelta Medical Frigate (49)
• Clone Navigation Officer (4)
• Fighter Coordination Team (3)
• Bomber Command Center (8)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
= 67 Points
Pelta Medical Frigate (49)
• Clone Navigation Officer (4)
• Fighter Coordination Team (3)
• Parts Resupply (3)
= 59 Points
When it comes to Yularen Peltas I've been trying to bring two each time, but you can easily make do with one. BCC is optional with Arcs, but really quite good with Y-Wings. Fighter Coord. is really nice for Arcs/Ahsoka. Clone Nav Officer for getting the squad token almost every time you need it. Last, Parts Resupply for powering Yularen's other ability.
"When a friendly ship resolves a (Repair) command, it may spend engineering points on the following repair effect: [Repair Squadron]: Spend 2 points to choose a friendly squadron at distance 1-3. That squadron recovers 1 hull point." Even though this is the second ability on the card, this is in no way a secondary ability. Arguably, it is the primary ability of Yularen and the command boost is just a nice bonus. This ability is nice for repairing pretty much any squad but extra potent when you repair escorts or bombers that would otherwise have died. If you pair Yularen with Arcs or Y-Wings and Ruthless Strategists you can do some funky stuff where you flak-> ruthless-> the repair that squad. Arcs and Ys are already tanky enough, add in this little hack and you've got a nice way to damage enemy squads consistently and effectively. This is where taking parts resupply is critical. Having the ability to throw a repair token at a squad can be game-changing when that token might've otherwise sat on your ship with no use.
Yularen fits with all Republic ships pretty nicely. He can also rock with just about any squad build you can think of, though I would not take him with anything less than 100+ points invested in your squads. Personally, I feel like the way to go is Pelta Medicals or Ven 2s with him, but a Clam being able to activate 5-6 squads is also damn good with Nevoota Bee.
I have been running him recently to pretty good effect. My go-to lately has been some combination of two Peltas + either a Clam and Consular or Venator. I'm still ironing out the lists I've been trying but along with those ships I've been taking something like this:
Squadrons:
• Anakin Skywalker (19)
• Axe (17)
• 4 x ARC-170 Starfighter Squadron (60)
• 2 x V-19 Torrent Squadron (24)
= 120 Points
The only swap here that I'm still torn on is 4 Arcs and 2 Torrents or 3 of each. Both builds are similarly effective but it's just a matter of more practice and flying. I have yet to try Y-Wings with him because I feel like they may like Plo better, but I'll end up trying it soon anyway.