Please answer the following question.

When fighting a transport I prefer to focus on a) the transport or b) the fighter escort first because ________.

Depends n what else is involved. The composition of the rest of the transport's escort, what the transport has equipped, the makeup of my squad, how the transport play is playing it.

There are simply too many variables to say "you should always prioritize the transport/escorts"

not 'always', 'prefer'.

I'd prefer to take the transport down first, but if I'm going up against a list that has an expensive ship (say a loaded Han) and that ship is left to its own devices.... I'm taking that massive bundle of points down first!

I prefer to focus down the Transport but a competent opponent will know better than to have it in the thick of the fight right away, instead keeping it behind their far more dangerous escors supporting them until said escorts have an advantage.

I prefer to focus down the Transport but a competent opponent will know better than to have it in the thick of the fight right away, instead keeping it behind their far more dangerous escors supporting them until said escorts have an advantage.

I hilariously left my Transport alone to attack their bomber formation while the entire rest of our team squad attacked the weaker flank of their formation. As our fleet was mauling that part, they attempted to attack the Transport. It was the Bright Hope. They couldn't hurt it. Over the course of the game, it got one crit (from running over an asteroid) and lost about 12 shields.

In a recent match against one, i lost Vader to being crushed. Then later i found out my opponent had moved it too far forward. I was pretty pissed about that.

I prefer to focus down the Transport but a competent opponent will know better than to have it in the thick of the fight right away, instead keeping it behind their far more dangerous escors supporting them until said escorts have an advantage.

I hilariously left my Transport alone to attack their bomber formation while the entire rest of our team squad attacked the weaker flank of their formation. As our fleet was mauling that part, they attempted to attack the Transport. It was the Bright Hope. They couldn't hurt it. Over the course of the game, it got one crit (from running over an asteroid) and lost about 12 shields.

I had Jonus make a suicide run against mine tonight. That cluster really wasn't worth it.

Agreed. Reinforced/recovered shields are a bugger to get through.

I'd probably stay away from the thing if I can, but it's also going to depend on your own fleet; if you're packing either something which needs to target lock an enemy to work, or which needs its actions to work, or which has a 'gain a stress token to..." rule, then the transport is really, really annoying.

I have to admit my first impulse purchase on seeing it was a quartet of bombers, though.

Advanced torps strike me as a scary thing to unload, although I think proton bombs might actually be a better idea.

Agreed. Reinforced/recovered shields are a bugger to get through.

I'd probably stay away from the thing if I can, but it's also going to depend on your own fleet; if you're packing either something which needs to target lock an enemy to work, or which needs its actions to work, or which has a 'gain a stress token to..." rule, then the transport is really, really annoying.

I have to admit my first impulse purchase on seeing it was a quartet of bombers, though.

Advanced torps strike me as a scary thing to unload, although I think proton bombs might actually be a better idea.

The bombs, sure. They work ok. Especially because the transport has a card that can allow it to remove all focus, evade, and blue target lock tokens from any ship it likes. Not just one ship in range, all of them.