Any thoughts on these two all-or-nothing builds?

4 x Blue Squadron with Ion Cannons

or

3 x Gold Squadron with Ion Turrets

Dutch Vander with Ion Turret

Both of these builds suffer from low agility. The Bs would be more mobile, but the Ys have the ion turret. It's a tough call. I think what it will come down to, in my opinion, is staying out of firing arcs since you're not doing a ton of damage to get rid of other ships.

I've tried

2 x Blue w Ion cannon

2 x Gold w Ion turret

It worked quite nicely, the longer range of the ion cannon complemented the shorter range of the ion turret quite nicely.

A TIE Swarm will wreck your day against the second list. 3 dice attacks for 1 damage against the TIEs is a losing prospect, especially since the swarm may be able to ace one of your Y's on turn 1 of combat (I managed it at Imdar.) You will disrupt their formation with at least 1-2 hits per turn, but you are only dealing 1-2 damage per turn against their 18-21 total hull against their likely 6-9 damage to your 32 hull/shields (not counting crits, which you take and they don't.)

The first list has potential, but you'd have to make some interesting choices about when to ion and when to regular attack. You have the same survivability issue as with the Y's (super tanky but really easy to hit) but have far more offensive power this time around. Not having turrets will make you a victim to anything with a high maneuverability and better PS than 2 (interceptors and phantoms specifically.)

I like the idea of the mass ion squad, but perhaps try to mix up turrets with cannons. Something like:

2x Blue Squadron Pilot (22)

-Ion Cannon (3)

-Fire Control System (2)

2x Gold Squadron Pilot (18)

-Ion Cannon Turret (5)

100 total

Now your ion hits set up your B's for TL/Focused 3-4 dice shots, and you have turrets to cover the B's from interceptors and stuff trying to get around behind you. You still suffer from 1 defense dice and low pilot skill, but still have the same 32 total hits to help with that.

4 Ywings with ions is brutal. Its very annoying.

2 Ywings with ions and 2hwks with ions and tacticians is even worse. Sure you are throwing 3 dice vs 3 agility, and only doing 1 damage a turn. But the objective isnt to kill things quickly, its to control them.

TIE Fighters that cannot move and cannot take actions just plainly die. The goal of the list is to ionize as many ships as possibe, then get behind them and either ionize them off the table or bleed them till they are dead. If you can stress them while ionizing them, you will easily win. '

The turrets are particularly brutal vs TIE Fighters and Interceptors, as they remove their most important advantage, the ability to manuever into and out of firing arcs.

Gray Squadron + Ion Cannon Turret + R2

Gray Squadron + Ion Cannon Turret + R2

Rebel Operative + Ion Cannon Turret + Tactician + Hull Upgrade

Rebel Operative + Ion Cannon Turret + Tactician + Hull Upgrade

Brutal and very easy to fly. Makes short work of swarms.

I like:

2 x Gold w ICT

2 x Blue w Ion Cannon

I"d either take all blues or a mix, and that's because the blues have more firepower. Either list is going to have trouble with their tiny agility.

The plan for the list is really trying to control as much movement as much as possible. Ion as many ships as you can, then try to manuever in behind them to finish off with your primary weapons.

Both squads drop 32 hit points on the table, which is quite a lot to chew through, even if they are only agility 1. The Blues have their two K-turn which MAY allow them to drop in behind an ioned opponent and finish them with their primaries at close range. The Y's have the utility of the turrets - they can continue to pepper away at enemies without having to worry too much about staying in arc. Maybe generic R2 units could help on the Y's to improve movement options a bit and line up primary weapon opportunities.

The plan for the list is really trying to control as much movement as much as possible. Ion as many ships as you can, then try to manuever in behind them to finish off with your primary weapons.

Both squads drop 32 hit points on the table, which is quite a lot to chew through, even if they are only agility 1. The Blues have their two K-turn which MAY allow them to drop in behind an ioned opponent and finish them with their primaries at close range. The Y's have the utility of the turrets - they can continue to pepper away at enemies without having to worry too much about staying in arc. Maybe generic R2 units could help on the Y's to improve movement options a bit and line up primary weapon opportunities.

The problem with that is that the blues are PS2, which means they'll likely be moving first. Therefore, in order to clear a 2k, they need to be at point blank range already (within 1 base length). So you're giving up a 4 dice primary for a 3 dice 1 damage max ion. Not a good trade. In that regard, the Ys are better because they can shoot 360, plus they have a 4k, so if they're just on the outside of R1, they can 4k behind their opponent.