Mc30 Frigate

CahoonM -

Mon Calamari Shipyards went absolutely crazy when designing and building these bad boys. Mc30s (30s, Shrimp) are the in-game equivalent of straight-up launching a rocket at your opponent's face. Mc30s are my favorite ship in the entire game. Let's discuss why:

Alright, off the bat we can see that they are nearly identical. The only difference between the two is the scout has red dice and the torpedo has blue. That small change of only dice makes a surprisingly huge difference when considering which to use. The other major things to notice are speed 4! and double redundant tokens!

These things shine at speeds 2-3 but can fly at any speed effectively. The arc pattern also lends itself to very easy flying and double arcing. Naving is not always necessary but you really want to be hitting with both arcs as often as possible.

They are surprisingly tanky little ships too. If you use the titles or other cards to assist then these little guys can stick around longer than some large ships. Double redundant tokens on top of that make Mc30s wicked tough. 11 shields is an absolute ton for a small ship, but don't let your opponent get APT off, or else you'll be sad. On the same note: avoid asteroids and ramming as much as humanly possible.

Ouch! Right into the side of an ISD

In addition to all of that, they are like little explosive rockets. Mc30s are more than capable of catching and killing just about anything on the board with ease. A close-range double arc will result in dropping 5 black and 3 red or blue dice into your opponent. If you can add a last-first into there that's 16 dice, 10 of which are black, into your enemy. Boom! goes the bad guy.

So, they're fast, agile, pack an insane punch, and hard to kill. What's not to like?

Well, nothing!

  • 69 Points
  • 4 Hull
  • 3/3/2 Shields
  • 2 Command, 1 Squad, 3 Engineering
  • Evade, Evade, Redirect, Redirect

This is the more expensive and less used of the two options. 69 points is very fairly priced for this killing machine. Red dice really make it shine with Akbar or even Sato, but you'd be hard-pressed to find it elsewhere. The damage cap from this one is higher, but the dice become more unreliable. It is entirely possible to blank out with the scout so make sure to bring some dice fixing.

Slots:

  • Officer
    • LANDOOOOO, pretty much always a fantastic choice
    • Major Derlin has a place if you're using it as a flagship
    • Ezra can also be good, but be careful about no damage reduction
    • Walex Blissex is fantastic if you're bringing the admonition title
    • Chart Officer maybe? If you really can't avoid that rock
    • Intel Officer is good under Akbar
    • Expert Shield Tech has been my favorite choice lately for negating a lot of damage
  • Weapons Team
    • Caitken and Shollan if Akbar
    • Ordnance Experts needs a really good reason not to be on this ship
    • There's a place for Veteran Gunners, probably under Akbar again
  • Defensive Retrofit
    • Advanced Projectors can be okay, but Foresight does a better job
    • Cluster Bombs if you have the extra points and are scared of squads
    • Early Warning System is a solid choice for flagships
    • Reinforced Blast Doors... work?
  • Ordnance
    • External Racks(EX RAX) is always good
    • Assault Proton Torpedos(APT) or Assault Concussion Missiles(ACM) are excellent, especially with multiple copies in your fleet
  • Turbolaser
    • Enhanced Armament if Akbar
    • Spinal Armament if Sato
    • H9 is okay here, but great on the torpedo
    • Turbolaser Reroute Circuits are probably the only real choice for this guy. Double Evades make TRCs shine
    • Xi7s can be good with Intel Officer in tow

Okay, so the Mc30 Scout likes to be at long range sniping its little heart out, and then when the time comes zoom in and deliver a massive finishing blow. Akbar and Sato. TRCs and ExRax. Zoom and Boom.

Now for the more popular Torpedo variant:

  • 63 Points
  • 4 Hull
  • 3/3/2 Shields
  • 2 Command, 1 Squad, 3 Engineering
  • Evade, Evade, Redirect, Redirect

The torpedo variant is the more traditionally seen. It is cheaper and has more reliable dice. Torpedos are often used as high-speed destroyers. They zoom into the fight at speed 4, drop to speed 2(dial+token), and then dump monstrous amounts of damage.

  • Officer
    • Lando as always
    • Major Derlin
    • Ezra
    • Walex Blissex
    • Chart Officer
    • Intel Officer
    • Expert Shield Tech
  • Weapons Team
    • Ordnance Experts is about the only thing that belongs here
  • Defensive Retrofit
    • Advanced Projectors
    • Cluster Bombs
    • Early Warning System
    • Reinforced Blast Doors?
  • Ordnance
    • External Racks(EX RAX) is always good
    • Assault Proton Torpedos(APT) or Assault Concussion Missiles(ACM) are excellent, especially with multiple copies in your fleet
  • Turbolaser
    • H9s absolutely rock here! That 100% accuracy when dropping a load of damage is huge!
    • Xi7s

Both variants like mostly the same things, with less focus on dice fixing and turbo lasers for the Torpedo.

Titles:

Foresight used to be the Luigi to Admo's Mario, but not anymore. Foresight has always been my go-to for Mc30s, especially flagships. Let's break it down by both parts: "When you resolve the evade defense effect, you can affect 1 additional die." This means that you always get to effect 2 die when defending. Discard that evade against a larger ship and that makes 3 die. Oh? Does cataclysm want to snipe you from downtown? (extreme range) Boom! Discard that evade canceling 4 dice! Super good with Mon Mothma in tow as well, makes her ability phenomenal. "When you resolve the redirect defense effect, you can choose 1 additional adjacent hull zone to suffer damage." Free Advanced projectors! sorta. This allows you to weather an absolutely devastating amount of damage. That ISD II just dropped 12 damage at you with no accuracies? Nahhh just take 9 shields, 3 hull, and swim your little shrimp butt away.

Admonition is a great title. Essentially allows you to get around an accuracy. Since they stop you from spending. Another interesting bit is that even if you discard a redirect you can still use the other one for its intended effect because discarding it for Admo doesn't count as spending it for the effect.  

B U I L D S ! ! !

Akbar's Boys

MC30c Scout Frigate (69)
• Intel Officer (7)
• Caitken and Shollan (6)
• External Racks (4)
• Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
= 93 Points

Throwing 4 red and 5 black at a close-range ship is nuts. That's potential for 18 damage. Use the twins to reroll what you need and TRC to score that red double. IO the brace and have fun!

Sato Sniper

MC30c Scout Frigate (69)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Assault Concussion Missiles (5)
• Spinal Armament (9)
= 87 Points

Using Sato you can throw two black at long range from any of your arcs. OE to fish for crits. Officer to taste.

The Flagship

MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63)
• Expert Shield Tech (5)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Early Warning System (7)
• Assault Proton Torpedoes (4)
• Foresight (8)
= 91 Points

This has been my go-to flagship recently. It has been doing super well. EST keeps you redirects useful eve without shields and allows you to ignore plink shots. EWS to get that extra staying power and Foresight to make it even tankier.

Mk 6 Mod o Encased High-Explosive, Anti-Armor rocket

MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• External Racks (4)
= 71 Points

Cheap, fast, effective. Fly in, dump rax, fly out.

Jumping from speed 2 to 4 after dumping a load of dice

Overall the Mc30 is an insanely good ship. It is very versatile and loves to be in the thick of it. Run all sorts of variations to find out what you like. My only gripe with Mc30s is the lack of hull, so don't go crashing into things. Other than that these things can be absolute beasts on the battlefield.