diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index b5b061df..4b7d77e3 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ commands:
           command: |
             uname -m > /tmp/mod-checksums.txt
             md5sum ./go.sum >> /tmp/mod-checksums.txt
-            md5sum tools.mk >> /tmp/mod-checksums.txt
+            md5sum common.mk >> /tmp/mod-checksums.txt
       - restore_cache:
           keys:
             - v4-go-mod-{{ checksum "/tmp/mod-checksums.txt" }}
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 2d339aba..94adf9f4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,17 +1,19 @@
-include tools.mk
+include common.mk
 
 # Overridable vars
 DEBUG ?= 0
 LOG_LEVEL ?= info
 DEV_IMAGE_REPO ?= ghcr.io/pgedge
 CONTROL_PLANE_IMAGE_REPO ?= host.docker.internal:5000/control-plane
-CONTROL_PLANE_VERSION ?= $(shell git describe --tags --abbrev=0 --match 'v*')
 E2E_FIXTURE ?=
-E2E_PARALLEL ?=
+E2E_PARALLEL ?= 8
 E2E_RUN ?=
 E2E_SKIP_CLEANUP ?= 0
 E2E_DEBUG ?= 0
 E2E_DEBUG_DIR ?=
+FIXTURE_VARIANT ?= large
+FIXTURE_CONTROL_PLANE_IMAGE ?=
+FIXTURE_EXTRA_VARS ?=
 CLUSTER_TEST_PARALLEL ?=
 CLUSTER_TEST_RUN ?=
 CLUSTER_TEST_SKIP_IMAGE_BUILD ?= 0
@@ -28,7 +30,7 @@ docker_compose_dev=WORKSPACE_DIR=$(shell pwd) \
 		DEV_IMAGE_REPO=$(DEV_IMAGE_REPO) \
 		docker compose -f ./docker/control-plane-dev/docker-compose.yaml
 docker_compose_ci=docker compose -f ./docker/control-plane-ci/docker-compose.yaml
-e2e_args=-tags=e2e_test -count=1 -timeout=20m ./e2e/... \
+e2e_args=-tags=e2e_test -count=1 -timeout=45m ./e2e/... \
 	$(if $(E2E_PARALLEL),-parallel $(E2E_PARALLEL)) \
 	$(if $(E2E_RUN),-run $(E2E_RUN)) \
 	-args \
@@ -149,6 +151,83 @@ licenses-ci: licenses
 .PHONY: ci
 ci: test-ci lint-ci licenses-ci
 
+################
+# e2e fixtures #
+################
+
+_fixture_extra_vars=$(if $(FIXTURE_CONTROL_PLANE_IMAGE),external_control_plane_image=$(FIXTURE_CONTROL_PLANE_IMAGE) ,)$(FIXTURE_EXTRA_VARS)
+
+# Set to 'goreleaser-build' if no external image is specified
+_fixture_goreleaser_build=$(if $(findstring external_control_plane_image,$(_fixture_extra_vars)),,goreleaser-build)
+
+.PHONY: _deploy-%-fixture
+_deploy-%-fixture: $(_fixture_goreleaser_build)
+	VARIANT=$(FIXTURE_VARIANT) \
+	EXTRA_VARS='$(_fixture_extra_vars)' \
+	$(MAKE) -C e2e/fixtures \
+		deploy-$*-machines \
+		setup-$*-hosts \
+		deploy-$*-control-plane
+
+.PHONY: deploy-lima-fixture
+deploy-lima-fixture: _deploy-lima-fixture
+
+.PHONY: deploy-ec2-fixture
+deploy-ec2-fixture: _deploy-ec2-fixture
+
+.PHONY: _update-%-fixture
+_update-%-fixture: $(_fixture_goreleaser_build)
+	VARIANT=$(FIXTURE_VARIANT) \
+	EXTRA_VARS='$(_fixture_extra_vars)' \
+	$(MAKE) -C e2e/fixtures \
+		deploy-$*-control-plane
+
+.PHONY: update-lima-fixture
+update-lima-fixture: _update-lima-fixture
+
+.PHONY: update-ec2-fixture
+update-ec2-fixture: _update-ec2-fixture
+
+.PHONY: _reset-%-fixture
+_reset-%-fixture: $(_fixture_goreleaser_build)
+	VARIANT=$(FIXTURE_VARIANT) \
+	EXTRA_VARS='$(_fixture_extra_vars)' \
+	$(MAKE) -C e2e/fixtures \
+		teardown-$*-control-plane \
+		deploy-$*-control-plane
+
+.PHONY: reset-lima-fixture
+reset-lima-fixture: _reset-lima-fixture
+
+.PHONY: reset-ec2-fixture
+reset-ec2-fixture: _reset-ec2-fixture
+
+.PHONY: _stop-%-fixture
+_stop-%-fixture:
+	VARIANT=$(FIXTURE_VARIANT) \
+	EXTRA_VARS='$(_fixture_extra_vars)' \
+	$(MAKE) -C e2e/fixtures \
+		stop-$*-machines
+
+.PHONY: stop-lima-fixture
+stop-lima-fixture: _stop-lima-fixture
+
+.PHONY: stop-ec2-fixture
+stop-ec2-fixture: _stop-ec2-fixture
+
+.PHONY: _teardown-%-fixture
+_teardown-%-fixture:
+	VARIANT=$(FIXTURE_VARIANT) \
+	EXTRA_VARS='$(_fixture_extra_vars)' \
+	$(MAKE) -C e2e/fixtures \
+		teardown-$*-machines
+
+.PHONY: teardown-lima-fixture
+teardown-lima-fixture: _teardown-lima-fixture
+
+.PHONY: teardown-ec2-fixture
+teardown-ec2-fixture: _teardown-ec2-fixture
+
 ###############
 # image build #
 ###############
diff --git a/api/Makefile b/api/Makefile
index 206856a5..3292752b 100644
--- a/api/Makefile
+++ b/api/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-include ../tools.mk
+include ../common.mk
 
 .PHONY: generate-v1
 generate-v1:
diff --git a/tools.mk b/common.mk
similarity index 71%
rename from tools.mk
rename to common.mk
index 75d41710..06187977 100644
--- a/tools.mk
+++ b/common.mk
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ changie=$(gobin)/changie
 yamlfmt=$(gobin)/yamlfmt
 go-licenses=$(gobin)/go-licenses
 
+CHANGIE_LATEST = $(shell $(changie) latest)
+# deferred simple variable expansion pattern:
+# https://make.mad-scientist.net/deferred-simple-variable-expansion/
+CONTROL_PLANE_VERSION ?= $(eval CONTROL_PLANE_VERSION := $$(shell git fetch --quiet && git describe --tags --abbrev=0 --match 'v*' $$(CHANGIE_LATEST)))$(CONTROL_PLANE_VERSION)
+
 .PHONY: install-tools
 install-tools:
 	go install gotest.tools/gotestsum@v1.13.0
diff --git a/docs/development/e2e-tests.md b/docs/development/e2e-tests.md
index 884dc37e..36fac6ab 100644
--- a/docs/development/e2e-tests.md
+++ b/docs/development/e2e-tests.md
@@ -208,25 +208,27 @@ limactl sudoers | sudo tee /etc/sudoers.d/lima
 #### Lima test fixture targets
 
 ```sh
-# Deploy the virtual machines. By default, this will create Rocky 9 VMs with
-# Lima. This needs to download a ~500Mb VM image the first time it runs, so it
-# may take a while to start the first machine.
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-lima-machines
+# Build and deploy the Control Plane to Lima virtual machines. By default, this
+# will create six Rocky 9 VMs with Lima. This needs to download a ~500Mb VM
+# image the first time it runs, so it may take a while to start the first
+# machine.
+make deploy-lima-fixture
 
-# Install prerequisites on VMs
-make -C e2e/fixtures setup-lima-hosts
+# Rebuild and redeploy the Control Plane to existing Lima virtual machines
+make update-lima-fixture
 
-# Build the control-plane binaries
-make goreleaser-build
+# Teardown, rebuild, and redeploy the Control Plane to existing Lima virtual
+# machines
+make reset-lima-fixture
 
-# Deploy the control-plane
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-lima-control-plane
+# Teardown the Lima virtual machines
+make teardown-lima-fixture
 ```
 
-The `deploy-lima-control-plane` target will output a "test config" file that
-contains IPs that you can use to contact the virtual machines. This test config
-can be used as an input to the end-to-end tests. You can `cat` this file to see
-what's in it, for example:
+The `{deploy,update,reset}-lima-fixture` targets will output a "test config"
+file that contains IPs that you can use to contact the virtual machines. This
+test config can be used as an input to the end-to-end tests. You can `cat` this
+file to see what's in it, for example:
 
 ```sh
 cat e2e/fixtures/outputs/lima.test_config.yaml
@@ -246,82 +248,23 @@ For example:
 ssh -F /Users/jasonlynch/.lima/host-1/ssh.config lima-host-1
 ```
 
-#### Deploying new code changes
-
-If you've made new code changes that you'd like to deploy, you can rerun these
-steps:
-
-```sh
-# Build the control-plane binaries
-make goreleaser-build
-
-# Deploy the control-plane
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-lima-control-plane
-```
-
-#### Testing published releases
-
-If you'd like to test a published image, for example during pre-release testing,
-you can skip the image build and override the deployed control-plane image using
-`EXTRA_VARS`, for example:
-
-```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-lima-control-plane EXTRA_VARS='external_control_plane_image=ghcr.io/pgedge/control-plane:v0.2.0-rc.3'
-```
-
-#### Simulating global deployments
-
-The test fixtures can add latency between specific virtual machines to simulate
-global deployments. The simulated region for each virtual machine is set in the
-Ansible vars file for each test fixture. The `lima_rocky_global` test fixture
-simulates virtual machines in `us-west-1`, `af-south-1`, and `ap-southeast-4`:
-
-```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures setup-lima-hosts LIMA_VARS_FILE=vars/lima_rocky_global.yaml
-```
-
-#### Large cluster
-
-You can deploy a six-host variant of the Lima fixture by using the
-`lima_rocky_large.yaml` vars file:
-
-```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-lima-machines LIMA_VARS_FILE=vars/lima_rocky_large.yaml
-make -C e2e/fixtures setup-lima-hosts LIMA_VARS_FILE=vars/lima_rocky_large.yaml
-make goreleaser-build
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-lima-control-plane LIMA_VARS_FILE=vars/lima_rocky_large.yaml
-
-# After it's deployed, it's used the same as the normal lima fixture
-make test-e2e E2E_PARALLEL=4 E2E_FIXTURE=lima
-```
-
-#### Huge cluster
-
-You can deploy a twelve-host variant of the Lima fixture by using the
-`lima_rocky_huge.yaml` vars file:
-
-```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-lima-machines LIMA_VARS_FILE=vars/lima_rocky_huge.yaml
-make -C e2e/fixtures setup-lima-hosts LIMA_VARS_FILE=vars/lima_rocky_huge.yaml
-make goreleaser-build
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-lima-control-plane LIMA_VARS_FILE=vars/lima_rocky_huge.yaml
-
-# After it's deployed, it's used the same as the normal lima fixture
-make test-e2e E2E_PARALLEL=4 E2E_FIXTURE=lima
-```
-
 #### Emulating x86_64 with Lima
 
 > [!WARNING]
 > This is extremely slow, like 10+ minutes to complete a deployment,
 > and should only be done in the absence of better options.
 
-You can use `EXTRA_VARS` to override the detected architecture:
+You can use `FIXTURE_EXTRA_VARS` with the
+`{deploy,update,reset,teardown}-lima-fixture` targets to override the detected
+architecture:
 
 ```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-lima-machines EXTRA_VARS='architecture=x86_64'
-make -C e2e/fixtures setup-lima-hosts EXTRA_VARS='architecture=x86_64'
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-lima-control-plane EXTRA_VARS='architecture=x86_64'
+make deploy-lima-fixture FIXTURE_EXTRA_VARS='architecture=x86_64'
+
+# It's important to include the architecture with every other target as well:
+make update-lima-fixture FIXTURE_EXTRA_VARS='architecture=x86_64'
+make reset-lima-fixture FIXTURE_EXTRA_VARS='architecture=x86_64'
+make teardown-lima-fixture FIXTURE_EXTRA_VARS='architecture=x86_64'
 ```
 
 #### Stopping and starting hosts
@@ -330,38 +273,13 @@ You can stop the hosts without tearing them down using the `stop-lima-machines`
 target:
 
 ```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures stop-lima-machines
+make stop-lima-fixture
 ```
 
-You can start them again by re-running the `deploy-lima-machines` target. It's
-also recommended to re-run the `deploy-lima-control-plane` target afterwards to
-ensure that the test config is up-to-date.
-
-```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-lima-machines
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-lima-control-plane
-```
-
-#### Cleanup
-
-##### Tearing down the Control Plane
-
-You can tear down the Control Plane in the test fixtures as well as any
-databases its deployed with this `make` target:
+You can start them again by re-running the `deploy-lima-fixture` target.
 
 ```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures teardown-lima-control-plane
-```
-
-This can be a faster alternative to remaking the virtual machines if you're
-re-testing the cluster initialization flow.
-
-##### Tearing down the virtual machines
-
-To completely remove the virtual machines, do:
-
-```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures teardown-lima-machines
+make deploy-lima-fixture
 ```
 
 ### EC2 test fixtures
@@ -391,24 +309,25 @@ different architecture.
 #### EC2 test fixture targets
 
 ```sh
-# Deploy the virtual machines. By default, this will create Rocky 9 VMs with
-# x86_64 architecture.
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-ec2-machines
+# Build and deploy the Control Plane to EC2 virtual machines. By default, this
+# will create six Rocky 9 VMs with x86_64 architecture.
+make deploy-ec2-fixture
 
-# Install prerequisites on VMs
-make -C e2e/fixtures setup-ec2-hosts
+# Rebuild and redeploy the Control Plane to existing EC2 virtual machines
+make update-ec2-fixture
 
-# Build the control-plane binaries
-make goreleaser-build
+# Teardown, rebuild, and redeploy the Control Plane to existing EC2 virtual
+# machines
+make reset-ec2-fixture
 
-# Deploy the control-plane
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-ec2-control-plane
+# Teardown the EC2 virtual machines
+make teardown-ec2-fixture
 ```
 
-The `deploy-ec2-control-plane` target will output a "test config" file that
-contains IPs that you can use to contact the virtual machines. This test config
-can be used with the end-to-end tests. You can `cat` this file to see what's in
-it, for example:
+The `{deploy,update,reset}-ec2-fixture` targets will output a "test config" file
+that contains IPs that you can use to contact the virtual machines. This test
+config can be used with the end-to-end tests. You can `cat` this file to see
+what's in it, for example:
 
 ```sh
 cat e2e/fixtures/outputs/ec2.test_config.yaml
@@ -428,123 +347,96 @@ For example:
 ssh -l rocky -i /Users/jasonlynch/workspace/pgEdge/control-plane/e2e/fixtures/outputs/ec2_deploy 3.133.148.76
 ```
 
-#### Deploying new code changes
+#### Deploying arm64 instances on EC2
 
-If you've made new code changes that you'd like to deploy, you can rerun these
-steps:
+You can use `FIXTURE_EXTRA_VARS` with the
+`{deploy,update,reset,teardown}-ec2-fixture` targets to override the default
+architecture:
 
 ```sh
-# Build the control-plane binaries
-make goreleaser-build
+make deploy-ec2-fixture FIXTURE_EXTRA_VARS='architecture=arm64'
 
-# Deploy the control-plane
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-ec2-control-plane
+# It's important to include the architecture with every other target as well:
+make update-ec2-fixture FIXTURE_EXTRA_VARS='architecture=arm64'
+make reset-ec2-fixture FIXTURE_EXTRA_VARS='architecture=arm64'
+make teardown-ec2-fixture FIXTURE_EXTRA_VARS='architecture=arm64'
 ```
 
-#### Large cluster
+#### Stopping and starting hosts
 
-You can deploy a six-host variant of the EC2 fixture by using the
-`ec2_rocky_large.yaml` vars file:
+You can stop the hosts without tearing them down using the `stop-ec2-fixture`
+target. Stopped hosts do not incur an instance charge (you're only charged for
+the EBS storage) so this is a useful cost-saving measure:
 
 ```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-ec2-machines EC2_VARS_FILE=vars/ec2_rocky_large.yaml
-make -C e2e/fixtures setup-ec2-hosts EC2_VARS_FILE=vars/ec2_rocky_large.yaml
-make goreleaser-build
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-ec2-control-plane EC2_VARS_FILE=vars/ec2_rocky_large.yaml
+make stop-ec2-fixture
 
-# After it's deployed, it's used the same as the normal ec2 fixture
-make test-e2e E2E_PARALLEL=4 E2E_FIXTURE=ec2
+# The architecture is incorporated into the instance's identifier, so it's
+# important to include `FIXTURE_EXTRA_VARS` if you've deployed arm64 instances:
+make stop-ec2-fixture FIXTURE_EXTRA_VARS='architecture=arm64'
 ```
 
-#### Huge cluster
-
-You can deploy a twelve-host variant of the EC2 fixture by using the
-`ec2_rocky_huge.yaml` vars file:
+You can start them again by re-running the top-level `deploy-ec2-fixture`
+target:
 
 ```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-ec2-machines EC2_VARS_FILE=vars/ec2_rocky_huge.yaml
-make -C e2e/fixtures setup-ec2-hosts EC2_VARS_FILE=vars/ec2_rocky_huge.yaml
-make goreleaser-build
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-ec2-control-plane EC2_VARS_FILE=vars/ec2_rocky_huge.yaml
+make deploy-ec2-fixture
 
-# After it's deployed, it's used the same as the normal ec2 fixture
-make test-e2e E2E_PARALLEL=4 E2E_FIXTURE=ec2
+# Similar to the above, be sure to include the `FIXTURE_EXTRA_VARS` if you've
+# deployed arm64 instances:
+make deploy-ec2-fixture FIXTURE_EXTRA_VARS='architecture=arm64'
 ```
 
-#### Testing published releases
+### Testing published releases
 
 If you'd like to test a published image, for example during pre-release testing,
-you can skip the image build and override the deployed control-plane image using
-`EXTRA_VARS`, for example:
-
-```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-ec2-control-plane EXTRA_VARS='external_control_plane_image=ghcr.io/pgedge/control-plane:v0.2.0-rc.3'
-```
-
-#### Deploying arm64 instances on EC2
-
-You can use `EXTRA_VARS` to override the detected architecture:
+you can skip the image build and override the deployed control-plane image by
+specifying `FIXTURE_CONTROL_PLANE_IMAGE` with the
+`{deploy,update,reset}-{lima,ec2}-fixture` targets. For example:
 
 ```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-ec2-machines EXTRA_VARS='architecture=arm64'
-make -C e2e/fixtures setup-ec2-hosts EXTRA_VARS='architecture=arm64'      
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-ec2-control-plane EXTRA_VARS='architecture=arm64'
+make update-lima-fixture FIXTURE_CONTROL_PLANE_IMAGE='ghcr.io/pgedge/control-plane:v0.6.2-rc.1'
 ```
 
-#### Stopping and starting hosts
-
-You can stop the hosts without tearing them down using the `stop-ec2-machines`
-target. Stopped hosts do not incur an instance charge (you're only charged for
-the EBS storage) so this is a useful cost-saving measure:
-
-```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures stop-ec2-machines
-
-# It's important to include the `EXTRA_VARS` if you've deployed arm64 instances:
-make -C e2e/fixtures stop-ec2-machines EXTRA_VARS='architecture=arm64'
-```
+### Fixture variants
 
-You can start them again by re-running the `deploy-ec2-machines` target. It's
-also recommended to re-run the `deploy-ec2-control-plane` target afterwards to
-ensure that the test config is up-to-date, because the public IPs can change.
+By default, we deploy the `large` fixture variant, which contains six virtual
+machines and Control Plane instances, where three are configured to act as Etcd
+servers and three are configured to act as clients only. You can specify a
+different variant using the `FIXTURE_VARIANT` variable with the
+`{deploy,update,reset,teardown}-{lima,ec2}-fixture` targets. For example:
 
 ```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-ec2-machines
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-ec2-control-plane
-
-# Like above, be sure to include the `EXTRA_VARS` if you've deployed arm64
-# instances:
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-ec2-machines EXTRA_VARS='architecture=arm64'
-make -C e2e/fixtures deploy-ec2-control-plane EXTRA_VARS='architecture=arm64'
-```
+# Deploy the 'small' fixture variant with lima
+make deploy-lima-fixture FIXTURE_VARIANT=small
 
-#### Cleanup
-
-##### Tearing down the Control Plane
-
-You can tear down the Control Plane in the test fixtures as well as any
-databases its deployed with this `make` target:
-
-```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures teardown-ec2-control-plane
+# After it's deployed, it's used the same as the normal lima fixture
+make test-e2e E2E_FIXTURE=lima
 
-# It's important to include the `EXTRA_VARS` if you've deployed arm64 instances:
-make -C e2e/fixtures teardown-ec2-control-plane EXTRA_VARS='architecture=arm64'
+# Make sure to specify the variant with the other targets as well
+make update-lima-fixture FIXTURE_VARIANT=small
+make reset-lima-fixture FIXTURE_VARIANT=small
+make teardown-lima-fixture FIXTURE_VARIANT=small
 ```
 
-This can be a faster alternative to remaking the virtual machines if you're
-re-testing the cluster initialization flow.
+> [!NOTE]
+> Make sure to run the `teardown-{lima,ec2}-fixture` before switching variants.
 
-##### Tearing down the virtual machines
+#### Available variants
 
-To completely remove the virtual machines, do:
+- `small`: Contains three hosts, all with `ETCD_MODE=server`
+- `large` (default): Contains six hosts, three with `ETCD_MODE=server` and three
+  with `ETCD_MODE=client`
+- `huge`: Contains twelve hosts, five with `ETCD_MODE=server` and seven with
+  `ETCD_MODE=client`
 
-```sh
-make -C e2e/fixtures teardown-ec2-machines
+There are also "global" variants that mirror the above variants but use `tc` to
+introduce artificial latency between the hosts that simulates the latencies
+between the `us-west-1`, `af-south-1`, and `ap-southeast-4` AWS regions.
 
-# It's important to include the `EXTRA_VARS` if you've deployed arm64 instances:
-make -C e2e/fixtures teardown-ec2-machines EXTRA_VARS='architecture=arm64'
-```
+- `small_global`
+- `large_global`
+- `huge_global`
 
 ### Custom test fixtures
 
diff --git a/e2e/fixtures/Makefile b/e2e/fixtures/Makefile
index 00d848c3..565a337e 100644
--- a/e2e/fixtures/Makefile
+++ b/e2e/fixtures/Makefile
@@ -1,15 +1,20 @@
+include ../../common.mk
+
 # Overridable vars
-CONTROL_PLANE_VERSION ?= $(shell git describe --tags --abbrev=0 --match 'v*')
-LIMA_VARS_FILE ?= vars/lima_rocky.yaml
-EC2_VARS_FILE ?= vars/ec2_rocky.yaml
+LIMA_VARS_FILE ?= vars/lima.yaml
+EC2_VARS_FILE ?= vars/ec2.yaml
+VARIANT ?= large
 EXTRA_VARS ?=
 
+variant_vars_file=vars/$(VARIANT).yaml
+
 ################
 # Lima targets #
 ################
 
 ansible_playbook_lima=ansible-playbook \
 	--extra-vars='@$(LIMA_VARS_FILE)' \
+	--extra-vars='@$(variant_vars_file)' \
 	--extra-vars='$(EXTRA_VARS)'
 
 .PHONY: deploy-lima-machines
@@ -49,6 +54,7 @@ teardown-lima-control-plane:
 
 ansible_playbook_ec2=ansible-playbook \
 	--extra-vars='@$(EC2_VARS_FILE)' \
+	--extra-vars='@$(variant_vars_file)' \
 	--extra-vars='$(EXTRA_VARS)'
 
 .PHONY: deploy-ec2-machines
diff --git a/e2e/fixtures/vars/ec2.yaml b/e2e/fixtures/vars/ec2.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3206fdd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/fixtures/vars/ec2.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+minio_enabled: false
+provider: ec2
+architecture: x86_64
+instance_os: rocky-9
diff --git a/e2e/fixtures/vars/ec2_rocky_huge.yaml b/e2e/fixtures/vars/huge.yaml
similarity index 87%
rename from e2e/fixtures/vars/ec2_rocky_huge.yaml
rename to e2e/fixtures/vars/huge.yaml
index 1d6157be..60a3ad87 100644
--- a/e2e/fixtures/vars/ec2_rocky_huge.yaml
+++ b/e2e/fixtures/vars/huge.yaml
@@ -1,27 +1,23 @@
 ---
-minio_enabled: false
-provider: ec2
-architecture: x86_64
-instance_os: rocky-9
 machines:
   - name: host-1
     swarm_manager: true
   - name: host-2
     swarm_manager: true
   - name: host-3
-    swarm_manager: true
+    swarm_manager: false
   - name: host-4
-    swarm_manager: true
+    swarm_manager: false
   - name: host-5
     swarm_manager: true
   - name: host-6
-    swarm_manager: false
+    swarm_manager: true
   - name: host-7
     swarm_manager: false
   - name: host-8
     swarm_manager: false
   - name: host-9
-    swarm_manager: false
+    swarm_manager: true
   - name: host-10
     swarm_manager: false
   - name: host-11
diff --git a/e2e/fixtures/vars/lima_rocky_huge.yaml b/e2e/fixtures/vars/huge_global.yaml
similarity index 64%
rename from e2e/fixtures/vars/lima_rocky_huge.yaml
rename to e2e/fixtures/vars/huge_global.yaml
index 143465cf..8f397ef9 100644
--- a/e2e/fixtures/vars/lima_rocky_huge.yaml
+++ b/e2e/fixtures/vars/huge_global.yaml
@@ -1,35 +1,38 @@
 ---
-minio_enabled: true
-provider: lima
-architecture: "{{ ansible_facts['architecture'] }}"
-template: rocky-9
 machines:
   - name: host-1
     swarm_manager: true
+    region: us-west-1
   - name: host-2
     swarm_manager: true
+    region: us-west-1
   - name: host-3
-    swarm_manager: true
+    swarm_manager: false
+    region: us-west-1
   - name: host-4
-    swarm_manager: true
+    swarm_manager: false
+    region: us-west-1
   - name: host-5
     swarm_manager: true
+    region: af-south-1
   - name: host-6
-    swarm_manager: false
+    swarm_manager: true
+    region: af-south-1
   - name: host-7
     swarm_manager: false
+    region: af-south-1
   - name: host-8
     swarm_manager: false
+    region: af-south-1
   - name: host-9
-    swarm_manager: false
+    swarm_manager: true
+    region: ap-southeast-4
   - name: host-10
     swarm_manager: false
+    region: ap-southeast-4
   - name: host-11
     swarm_manager: false
+    region: ap-southeast-4
   - name: host-12
     swarm_manager: false
-s3_repository:
-  bucket: backups
-  access_key_id: minioadmin
-  secret_access_key: minioadmin
-  region: us-east-1
+    region: ap-southeast-4
diff --git a/e2e/fixtures/vars/ec2_rocky_large.yaml b/e2e/fixtures/vars/large.yaml
similarity index 77%
rename from e2e/fixtures/vars/ec2_rocky_large.yaml
rename to e2e/fixtures/vars/large.yaml
index e8c4cae2..6441d6d0 100644
--- a/e2e/fixtures/vars/ec2_rocky_large.yaml
+++ b/e2e/fixtures/vars/large.yaml
@@ -1,18 +1,14 @@
 ---
-minio_enabled: false
-provider: ec2
-architecture: x86_64
-instance_os: rocky-9
 machines:
   - name: host-1
     swarm_manager: true
   - name: host-2
-    swarm_manager: true
+    swarm_manager: false
   - name: host-3
     swarm_manager: true
   - name: host-4
     swarm_manager: false
   - name: host-5
-    swarm_manager: false
+    swarm_manager: true
   - name: host-6
     swarm_manager: false
diff --git a/e2e/fixtures/vars/lima_rocky_large.yaml b/e2e/fixtures/vars/large_global.yaml
similarity index 54%
rename from e2e/fixtures/vars/lima_rocky_large.yaml
rename to e2e/fixtures/vars/large_global.yaml
index 3b696731..b3ad957f 100644
--- a/e2e/fixtures/vars/lima_rocky_large.yaml
+++ b/e2e/fixtures/vars/large_global.yaml
@@ -1,23 +1,20 @@
 ---
-minio_enabled: true
-provider: lima
-architecture: "{{ ansible_facts['architecture'] }}"
-template: rocky-9
 machines:
   - name: host-1
     swarm_manager: true
+    region: us-west-1
   - name: host-2
-    swarm_manager: true
+    swarm_manager: false
+    region: us-west-1
   - name: host-3
     swarm_manager: true
+    region: af-south-1
   - name: host-4
     swarm_manager: false
+    region: af-south-1
   - name: host-5
-    swarm_manager: false
+    swarm_manager: true
+    region: ap-southeast-4
   - name: host-6
     swarm_manager: false
-s3_repository:
-  bucket: backups
-  access_key_id: minioadmin
-  secret_access_key: minioadmin
-  region: us-east-1
+    region: ap-southeast-4
diff --git a/e2e/fixtures/vars/lima_rocky.yaml b/e2e/fixtures/vars/lima.yaml
similarity index 62%
rename from e2e/fixtures/vars/lima_rocky.yaml
rename to e2e/fixtures/vars/lima.yaml
index 48c969a2..7fd5e2c5 100644
--- a/e2e/fixtures/vars/lima_rocky.yaml
+++ b/e2e/fixtures/vars/lima.yaml
@@ -3,13 +3,6 @@ minio_enabled: true
 provider: lima
 architecture: "{{ ansible_facts['architecture'] }}"
 template: rocky-9
-machines:
-  - name: host-1
-    swarm_manager: true
-  - name: host-2
-    swarm_manager: true
-  - name: host-3
-    swarm_manager: true
 s3_repository:
   bucket: backups
   access_key_id: minioadmin
diff --git a/e2e/fixtures/vars/lima_rocky_global.yaml b/e2e/fixtures/vars/lima_rocky_global.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index 738ffa66..00000000
--- a/e2e/fixtures/vars/lima_rocky_global.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
----
-minio_enabled: true
-provider: lima
-architecture: "{{ ansible_facts['architecture'] }}"
-template: rocky-9
-machines:
-  - name: host-1
-    swarm_manager: true
-    region: us-west-1
-  - name: host-2
-    swarm_manager: true
-    region: af-south-1
-  - name: host-3
-    swarm_manager: true
-    region: ap-southeast-4
-s3_repository:
-  bucket: backups
-  access_key_id: minioadmin
-  secret_access_key: minioadmin
-  region: us-east-1
diff --git a/e2e/fixtures/vars/ec2_rocky.yaml b/e2e/fixtures/vars/small.yaml
similarity index 64%
rename from e2e/fixtures/vars/ec2_rocky.yaml
rename to e2e/fixtures/vars/small.yaml
index a630754b..882ae0c7 100644
--- a/e2e/fixtures/vars/ec2_rocky.yaml
+++ b/e2e/fixtures/vars/small.yaml
@@ -1,8 +1,4 @@
 ---
-minio_enabled: false
-provider: ec2
-architecture: x86_64
-instance_os: rocky-9
 machines:
   - name: host-1
     swarm_manager: true
diff --git a/e2e/fixtures/vars/small_global.yaml b/e2e/fixtures/vars/small_global.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b881f201
--- /dev/null
+++ b/e2e/fixtures/vars/small_global.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+---
+machines:
+  - name: host-1
+    swarm_manager: true
+    region: us-west-1
+  - name: host-2
+    swarm_manager: true
+    region: af-south-1
+  - name: host-3
+    swarm_manager: true
+    region: ap-southeast-4