War at Sea
Allied Nations
- Australia
- Brazil
- Canada
- France
- Greece
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Poland
- Soviet Union
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Allies stat table
Axis Nations
Neutral Nations/Installations
Sets
- War At Sea
- Task Force
- Flank Speed
- New Starter
- Condition Zebra
- Set V (Fleet Command)
- Surface action
- First Strike (Forumini Expansion Deck A)
- Infamy (Forumini Expansion Deck B)
- Battle Line (Forumini Expansion Deck C)
- All Hands on Deck (Forumini D)
- Action Stations (Forumini E)
- Dead Reckoning (Forumini F)
Unit Card:
Set - Rarity - Number
War at Sea - Common - 43/64
History:
Reviews:
Lobukia
While hardly the strongest entry in the sub category, the Ambra has two things going for it.
A) its a sub
B) its cheap
Now if you've read any of my other reviews, you should know that I am an apostle of the cheap. The Ambra can still freak out Battleships, it can still contest an objective, and it can still fling torps at other subs. At only 9 points putting 4 of these on the board won't break the bank.
The SA Destroyer killer is wasted (I'd rather have an 8 point sub without it). If a destroyer makes it into your sector, it most likely will kill your sub, making the extra die you don't get to roll worthless.
The biggest red flag to this unit is its hull of 1. A six on any ASW roll basically will kill your sub. That leads to the second point of consideration; while its cheap to put Ambras out, make sure you can protect them, especially with air units. Otherwise every Ambra is really just 9 points you gave to the other guy.
Swarbs:
Ambra is one of the game's cheapest subs, and the cost is certainly this unit's best stat, for nothing else on the card is in any way encouraging. Many players focus on Ambra's single hull point as it's biggest disadvantage, but this can often be overcome. Take a fighter to keep ASW aircraft out of the way (or play at night), take a few of Italy's excellent cruisers to keep destroyers away, or use Ambra primarily against enemy subs since one hull point is no worse than two in a torpedo fight. The area Ambra really seems to suffer in my games is in hitting power. The torpedo stats are comparable to other low-cost submarines, but Ambra also lacks the offensive SA that better submarines have. Ambra's only boost comes against destroyers in its own sector, a situation that most often leads to a dead Ambra. It is simply too easy with submarine harassment to neutralize Ambra's striking power. After spending points on other units just to shepherd your Ambras to turn three and close range, it is frustrating to roll only single dice as your attack. In short, Ambra is cheap, but you probably still don't get what you pay for. Even if you're playing an Italy only build, take Leonardo da Vinci instead. If you're expecting a Casabianca swarm, however, Ambra is the sub for you.
ROUS
Given the class limit of 4 Pegaso's, the Ambra is the 5th best ASW piece in any RM fleet. DD killer is an odd SA, not very useful. Evey other killer SA in the game allows for extra attacks - not sure what the reasoning was on this one. there are a handful of 8 point cost subs that are almost as effective, but when it comes to the knife fight in a telephone booth that is sub on sub combat, rolling 3 dice is pretty good, and should trade at slightly better odds on a points lost per points sunk basis with even the mighty Truculent.
Better than the Leonardo ? hard to say, why not pick up an extra hull point for 2 more points …
Plastic Figure Notes:
