The Last AMG Armada GT - CTC OTTAWA 2025

7th June 2025

Rosco

8 mins

G’day everyone! What a huge couple of weeks… The trip to Ottawa and then on to Toronto, and Niagara Falls with Kate and her parents has kept me busy lately, with a shed-ton of work waiting for me on my return. But finally, here we are: My run-down of the awesome tourney at CTC Ottawa!

OTTAWA Grand Tournament @ CTC 2025

The Canadian Tabletop Championship (CTC) in Ottawa, held at the Rideau Curling Club (RCC) from 23–25 May 2025, marked a turning point for Star Wars: Armada — the final officially supported tournament under Atomic Mass Games (AMG). But while High Command has sent its last dispatch, the game isn’t powering down. Amid the rattle of dice, clutch commands, brutal crits, and capital ships trading volleys in glorious pew-pew fashion, Armada’s official chapter closed with a bang — but not a goodbye.

Under the shadow of AMG’s banner for the last time, the competition drew sixteen Admirals to the tables on Day 1, each bringing their flavour of fleet warfare to the RCC (without the brooms, dad shoes, and light beers). The faction breakdown told a story of what some might call ‘loyalty and legacy’: seven Imperials pushed their agenda, five Rebels conducted daring raids, three Republic fleets stood firm, and one lone Separatist — yours truly — skulked in the shadows of disruption and sowing discord. After a day of tactical manoeuvres and brutal broadsides, the top four cut advanced to Day 2 (one from each faction!), while the rest joined a fun Task Force side event that kept the dice rolling. Most of the lists can be found on T4 here: https://t4.tools/events/5f402bcf-5b73-484b-a006-f90f4e0f84f1#lists

Prep Phase

Fleet Builder: Starforge

After Worlds this year, I was sort of done with the CIS fleet that I’d been playing and honing over a year or so - the Mar Tuuk CIS fleet entitled: “They Mar Tuuk our jerbs” in the 2025 Armada Vassal World Cup (previous report here) and at AdeptiCon Armada 2025 Worlds Day 1 (previous report here). So I decided to bring something similar, but simpler and fun to play, while remaining competitive. With the current ‘No Squads’ sentiment going around after Worlds, I went with a Squadless Mar Tuuk dice machine, inspired partly by @tellsek’s winning list from the 2025 Polish Masters.

Marty’s Purple Squad rides again!

The fleet intends to enhance and capitalise on the firepower of the tanky Invincible Providence Dreadnought to speed into a target, get Boarding Troopers (BT) off to flip some of their defence tokens, followed up by a double-arc shot with extra dice fed by Mar Tuuk and external racks, then modified by XI7s and XX-9s. Not as crazy in average damage compared to my Hyena drop carrier build, but still quite brutal with the opening BTs, especially that XI7/XX-9 combo.

A Support Recusant with Patriot Fist (PF) was a logical choice for me, giving me some reliable long-range firepower on a highly manoeuvrable platform, a Hardcell transport to follow up the rear with Mar Tuuk, and then two tooled-up Gozanti gunboat flotillas with High-Capacity Ion Turbines (HCIT). Having no squads now, I also switched up my objectives:

🟥 Most Wanted - Simple. Pick their juiciest target, leave them with a runaway Gozanti.

🟨 Abandoned Mining Facility - Use Wat Tambor to max effectiveness and farm bulk points with his wild engineering point production while drawing the enemy in to fight.

🟦 Hyperspace Migration - Draw the enemy in while farming Purrgil points… or bait them.

CTC GT Day 1

After arriving at RCC, setting up and grabbing a free coffee, the first pairings were up quickly!

Game 1 was against Megan from Regina and her Obi-Wan Republic fleet. I was the first player and chose her Contested Outpost objective. It was a very fun game, and we had some great chats while playing. As our fleets closed in, I sped up to challenge the station and managed to land a great double arc on the Venator Tranquility, allowing a rather brutal activation at the start of the next round, destroying it with the BT/double arc combo from Invincible in one turn. I was worried about her squadrons still, but her remaining two Peltas weren’t able to hold out for long against the advancing Invincible and Patriot Fist, though Megan did hold on to the station for three rounds, and the squadrons destroyed a Gozanti as it wandered into the asteroid field. Megan had cleverly defended the station, forcing me to approach quickly, but unfortunately missed quite a few cues to use upgrades and abilities, which was very lucky for me, as the result might certainly have gone the other way. The final score was 420-90 to me for a 10-1.

Game 2 was against Ottawa local Mich (@The Michstache) and his Moff Jerjerrod Imperial SSD fleet! I chose the second player, and we played my Hyperspace Migration objective. I deployed my fleet to be able to get all ships firing on the SSD at the same time, while baiting him to close the Purrgil farming Gozanti in the bottom corner. Initially, the ruse worked, allowing me to get my ships up into position out of the SSD’s brutal front arc, but Mich caught on quickly and manoeuvred hard towards my fleet, with his spotter squadrons Captain Jonus and Hondo in close pursuit. From there, it was a slug-fest between all my ships and his. After handfuls of dice flying across the table, the XI7/XX-9 combo sung, applying a long list of critical damage cards to the SSD to cripple it’s ability to fight and repair effectively. After a bloody battle, the SSD went down, taking a couple of my ships with it. The Gozanti in the corner managed to pick up a single Purrgil token too. Final score 420-202 to me for an 8-3.

After lunch, Game 3 was up against Brendan (@naga) from Hamilton (I think - sorry, I forgot mate) and his Admiral Tarkin Republic SPHA-T fleet. I chose the first player again, and we played his Planetary Ion Cannons (PIC) objective. Looking at his fleet, I had to get in quickly to isolate and destroy one of the Vens and then skedaddle. The best target was Resolute, as the other was the tanky Tranquility. I began feinting a move into the centre, he began to split his Vens, and I quickly sped in to jump on Resolute, landing in position for another good double arc shot at close range. At the beginning of the next round, I again used the brutal BT/XI7/XX-9/External racks combo to destroy Resolute in one activation, then moved to disengage while avoiding any casualties, staying just in range to get a snipe shot to finish off his Consular. Brendan also disengaged, and we called it there with no more fighting to be done. The final score was 186-0 to me for another 8-3.

For the final game on day 1, I was at the top table against Phil (@_phil) from Montreal and his Sloane Imperial squad-heavy fleet. This was not going to be easy. He chose second player, and we played his Most Wanted, with my PF and his Gozanti as the objective ships. He deployed cautiously, forcing me to drive straight at his ISD to engage. I sent my PF to hunt his carrier on the flank, forcing him to choose which of my major ships to focus on. As it turns out, he rightly chose the extremely high-threat Invincible, with his Sloane-powered squadron ball quickly stripping its defence token suite, leaving it open to a couple of full ISD2 front arc shots. With no tokens or way to power Thermal Shields, Invincible went down fast, with the two Gozanti gunboats following suit shortly after. PF managed to find its mark, taking down the carrier and we disengaged with no more shots to be had. A tough battle and very well played by Phil. Final score was 120-285 to Phil for a 3-8, leaving me 2nd on the ladder HOWEVER also sending me through to Day 2 top cut!

I’d never made a day 2 cut before, so I was pretty stoked =) Final standings can be found on T4 at the link here: 2025 CTC Ottawa GT Day 1

Below are some pics, with two pics from each game in order of games one to four.

CTC GT Day 2 Top 4 Cut

Finally into a top cut! It’s not Worlds and also not a massive competition, but I was still just as chuffed to be there, playing for the top spot with three others! Unfortunately, the day 1 winner, Phil, had to travel home and was unable to stick around for day 2, so Brendan was bumped up into the top 4!

Game 1 was a rematch against Brendan and his Tarkin fleet. Again, I picked first player and his PIC objective. We deployed in a similar formation and my plan was pretty much the same also - take out Resolute and bugger off. He was sure to avoid splitting his forces this time, but the speed of my approach with Invincible caught him again with another great position for the following round. Invincible delivered its now signature brutal single activation kill shot into Resolute and moved around Tranquility, away from their main firing arc. His squadrons quickly shifted to strike at the two exposed Gozantis, destroying both before disengaging. Another quick game, well played by Brendan, and always fun to play a game with such a great bloke. Score: 186-60 for a 7-4 to me.

Game 2 was then up against Megan’s other half, Michael from Regina, and his Kyrsta Agate Rebel rogues fleet. He chose second player, and we played his Asteroid Tactics objective. He deployed very cautiously at opposite ends of the board, leaving me with a choice of which way to go and regretting the deployment choices I’d already made thus far, plus a sneaking suspicion that his squads will be doing some work on my ships while I try to speed up to catch up to him. I turned my fleet to pursue his flagship at top speed, but went too far out with Invincible, leaving it open to bombing runs from squadrons early on and no way to escape them. PF was also speeding to catch him, but overshot the mark trying to get a decent long-range shot too early. Invincible kept streaking across the map with Michael’s squadrons persistently nipping at its heels, eventually going down to a ‘death-from-a-thousand-cuts’ just before it was able to get a decent shot at his flagship. As we ran out of time, the only casualties were Invincible and one of his transports. Well played by him! Score: 29-167 for a 4-7 to Michael.

Game 3! This one was against Simon W and his Admiral Motti Imperial squad-heavy fleet. Simon chose second player, and we played his Asteroid Tactics objective. Simon deployed cautiously as well, much like Phil had the day prior, with his carrier well off into the corner and his ISD guarding the approach. I was again regretting my deployment, wishing I’d gone for something more central to allow flexibility and time. Simon just needed to stall and get the 6-5 to potentially win the tournament. I had to get in and win big to make up TPs and MoV to take the top spot, so I went full send. It took a few rounds to get into range, but he eventually turned in with his ISD, and I jumped at the chance, albeit not with the usual timing window, as he got a close-range engagement on Invincible before the next round due to his critical timing in spending a pass token. He chose to use his Vader boarding team to remove my Thermal Shields and then delivered a dice roll of damage to Invincible, but with no accuracy icons, I was still able to brace (and survive). With Invincible left to use BTs on the next round, I managed a high shot at the ISD, causing a large amount of damage, saving it only with Motti’s extra hull points. PF managed a mediocre shot into its side, but it was then finished off by an extremely upset Gozanti gunboat that delivered five damage into the ISD’s front arc for the kill. PF was sadly lost to some loitering squadrons that had been pestering it, and his carrier was safely well out of range. In the end, the score was a hard-fought 167-114 for a 6-5 to me.

A VERY close game, well played by Simon that also saved him enough points to win the tournament, winning on 19TP and a MoV of 400. Michael took second with 19TP/245MoV. I ended up in third with 17TP/179MoV, and Brendan came fourth at 11TP/6MoV.

Final standings can be found on T4 here: 2025 CTC Ottawa GT Day 2 top cut

What an awesome, fun tournament, meeting some great people, and as part of an amazing event. Well played, everyone - GG!

My spoils - LOVE the 3D print ships! Plus a cool CTC fleet/army tray and some meme cards!

A well-run event and tournament

Tournament Organiser (TO) Murray (@Murcanic) and her assistant Bob ‘Helper/Builder’ ran the show like seasoned admirals, keeping things smooth, fair, and fun throughout during the GT and the Task Force side event. The prize pool was nothing short of stellar: official AMG ship cards and dice (probably the best ones around IMO), actual sealed Armada product, beautiful 3D printed ships, custom bases and manoeuvre tools, and those coveted CTC trophies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd — the kind of loot worth starting a galactic conflict for.

Task Force side event rules used for CTC - Seems to be the accepted standard for TF now.

It’s also worth mentioning CTC itself as a whole — an S-tier event across the board. The venue (RCC) was spacious, well-ventilated, and ideal for a weekend packed with dice, strategy, and community spirit. With multiple game systems running side by side, the organisers kept everything humming smoothly with efficient ticketing, clear scheduling, and a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere. Quality food and drinks were available on-site with minimal wait, and there was plenty of room to play, chat, and spectate without ever feeling cramped. The hall itself was quite loud, being a big, empty hard floor curling rink and all… but nothing out of the ordinary for a gaming convention. Whether you came for Armada or one of the many other systems on offer, CTC delivered an experience that felt both polished and genuinely fun — a real benchmark for community-run events. HIGHLY recommended for anyone thinking of going along in the future!

Right… now to look towards the future of Armada!

Now… ‘official’ support may be over, but the community is just getting started. From homebrew campaigns and local league nights to community-run tournaments and narrative events, Star Wars: Armada is entering a new era — one shaped by the players themselves. The Canadian Tabletop Championship wasn’t just the end of an era; it was proof that the spirit of our game lives on, charting our own course across the stars (and the tabletop).

Watch this space, as a whole galaxy of community content lies ahead for the future of Star Wars: Armada!

Cheers again and thanks for reading,

Rosco 🥃