So I've been working through some Epic-based Imperial squads. Our local meta seems to gravitate towards 300 pt. epic matches, and a tendency to play rebels. Given that so many points will be spent on the CR90 and/or GR75 rigged for electronic warfare, then rebel escorts (no matter how good they are) are a distraction because the center of gravity on the rebel force will be the huge ships. So the most optimal Imperial strategy is to kill the huge ships: quickly, violently and without distraction. That includes the design of your squad. There should be one element 100% dedicated to fulfilling this crucial mission. All other remaining selections for the squad are tertiary to the objective to killing the huge ships.

So I've devised squad and strategy for your comment:

Torpedo Squadron 8

x4 scimitars (advanced proton torps)

Jendon + weapons engineer + ST321

Marek with cluster missiles

151 points

This leaves 149 points for escorts and flankers. One group of free ranging fighters would begin to tangle with the rebel starfighter escorts. Meanwhile, Jendon and the scimitars are flying slow enough to be dealt their target locks by Jendon before making their torpedo runs. Once the locks are dealt, the scimitars can break into two sections of two bombers each. One section would be escorted by Jendon, the other section escorted by another set of TIE academy's who can act as blockers. Marek is available to escort either section.

Each section, if they arrive on their designated target sections (a GR75, a CR90 bow or CR90 aft), should be able to cripple or destroy their designated targets provided the APT's hit with focus and lock. Once they have released their torpedoes and struck their targets, Marek is available to deal out precision damage with laser fire or cluster missiles.

As the bombers make their run, the free ranging fighters need to disrupt, distract and impede the rebel starfighters from attacking the bombers. That seems to imply plenty of TIE fighters. With 149 points for escorts and flankers, you can field a crap load of them. And you should. A lot of free rangers will keep the rebels away from your bombers. And you'll have points enough for a strong flanker or two to really disrupt the rebel defenses and chase down any rebel that attempts to attack the bomber sections. Until the bombers complete their missions, TIE fighters should not even concentrate on killing individual rebel pilots.

If you are looking at a CR90 and a GR75, I would potentially deal one section to the transport, and the other to the aft CR90. Once the CR90 cannot produce energy, the bow is as good as dead. And once their ordinance is gone, the scimitars can stick around and pick off the hulks.

As for the remaining 149 points of free rangers, escorts and flankers I've worked out the following:

Torpedo 8 Escorts

Mauler Mithel + squad leader

x7 Academy TIE

Vesservy + enging upgrade + daredevil + cluster missiles

The idea is that at least two academy TIE's are available for close escort of a bomber section (Jendon would escort the other). Maarek is also flying as a "reserve" who can as easily intercept any rebel fighter breaking through the swarm as he can deal precision attacks on a huge ship.

Mithel and five other academy TIE's would attack the center of gravity of the rebel starfighter force. They are too strong to ignore. If the rebels break from the swarm to attack the bombers and the TIE's cannot reengage, then they are strong enough to become a threat to the GR75, which cannot deal out enough electronic interference to jam up and disrupt six TIE fighters before it is overwhelmed.

Vesservy acts with the same mission as Maarek, but on the flank. Vesservy can outflank tied-up rebel fighters, it can chase down a rebel fighter breaking through to the bombers, or it can turn and joist in on a damaged huge ship.

I have been liking Brath with hlc for flipping those cards on the huge ships. Add some ions and they will be fairly neutralized. Jonus is good, too, for escorting bombers and hlcs.

I'm not gonna add much to the topic, sry on my cell. However, Marksmanship on Marek with Cluster can get you some nice pick-a-crits on a shieldless huge ship.

I've thought about arming at least one scimitar in each section with ion pulse missiles. They would fire them at range 3 before closing to range 1 the next turn to loose the APT's. The other option is to arm Jendon with an ion cannon, but loosing an ion missile strike before firing the APT's the next turn can overwhelm the enemy defenses. In the meantime the CR90 may have been firing turbolasers for at least two rounds before the Scimitar sections close to contact, thus draining some of that energy reserve.

But I had foregone the ion weaponry thinking that the enemy would have to spread their fire among at least five ships before they close to killing range (Jendon and four Scimitars)... if the rebel player was wise enough to throw turbolaser fire at the torpedo bombers instead of the TIE fighters tangling with the escorts. Fielding ion weapons would only reduce the squad points available for the free rangers and the flanker.

I have been liking Brath with hlc for flipping those cards on the huge ships. Add some ions and they will be fairly neutralized. Jonus is good, too, for escorting bombers and hlcs.

Ion Pulse Missiles are great too. I like flying Vessery and Brath together. Assuming you don't have to worry too much about defense this turn, Brath takes his TL for the missiles and Vessery Focuses. Brath fires the missiles and if he even gets one hit he's golden and can keep his target lock for Vessery's benefit. Predator helps mitigate crappy rolls here. Second round of firing for both of them is usually enough to kill a Transport with this setup. Expensive. but absolutely worth it.

Question for those with experience:

Is it really the case that you should go for the Huge ships and worry about the escorts later? Particularly the transport's ability to attack is modest (sure, slicer tools and being a bowling ball). It seems like once you've dealt with the escorts, you can pick apart the huge ships at your leisure.

Also, is the Advanced Proton Torpedo worth it. Sure, it packs a punch, but you need to;

• Get a target lock
• Get in range 1
• Ideally have a focus token.

Believe me, I really like using ordnance. It's fun. But I frequently doubt that the points are worth it.

Mike, here's the deal.

The best results I have seen is to evaluate how good your opponent is with their CAP vs. how effective their Transport is. If they're being devastating with it, kill the thing quick. It's very hard to be combat effective against someone who knows how to use Jam and Coordinate properly.

The other advice I would give is that you really need to task both. Develop a contingent in your epic list that is made to deal at least primarily with Huge ships. Send them after the biggies, and fly the rest against the escort ships.

Question for those with experience:

Is it really the case that you should go for the Huge ships and worry about the escorts later? Particularly the transport's ability to attack is modest (sure, slicer tools and being a bowling ball). It seems like once you've dealt with the escorts, you can pick apart the huge ships at your leisure.

Also, is the Advanced Proton Torpedo worth it. Sure, it packs a punch, but you need to;

• Get a target lock
• Get in range 1
• Ideally have a focus token.

Believe me, I really like using ordnance. It's fun. But I frequently doubt that the points are worth it.

hmm i don't know about using APT's either.. I seem to rather using regular torps or missiles en masse on golds / prototypes / or rooks..

I don't have much experience with epic games though.. so idk

The corvette is definitely something you don't want to ignore. 4 dice at long range, plus 2 secondary attacks beat you up quickly. But also, it you only attack it a little, it will regen shields, making those attacks worthless. So hit it early and often if you can. The transport is annoying but can be ignored for a bit.

Especially if the pilot isn't too great. Sometimes their bad piloting can be an asset. I once left a transport alone and they smeared their full HP + shield upgrade Biggs. Saved me a lot of trouble, that did...

Another time I Ion Pulse Missle'd a Lando into it's path. The turn before he'd swerved to avoid being denied actions, but that put him in a path to be potentially screwed. Then came Vessery with the Missiles. Rolled three natural hits. Lando never stood a chance.

Sorry Han, it's got more than just a scratch...

Lambda + Fire Control System. Engine Upgrade a good idea too.

Ion pulse and adv torps combo very well

Rexler breath w HLC and predator murders low agility ships, here's 4 crits mr cr90

Swarms also do well against huge ships, just stay out of their way

I don't have a lot of experience, admittedly. And I sure have not fielded a 300 pt list before against capital ships. But there are some basic principles of strategies that guide all of my deployments in ANY wargame, and I tried to build a squad and its strategy around these principles (a nerdy mish mash of trite field manual maxims, trite quotes and years of dry non-fiction reading):

1) discern enemy strength and intentions and obscure yours through disruptive skirmishing

2) find the center of gravity of the gravity of the enemy force

3) expect that striking the center of gravity will decisively knock the enemy off balance

4) consider driving home the point of decision on that center with overwhelming force

5) alternatively, strike that center from the flanks which, inherently, requires more coordination and entails different risks

6) whatever the case, "get there the fastest with the mostest" (NB Forrest)

7) task and kit your forces accordingly, because extracting them in the face of enemy pressure for any other purpose invites disaster

8) attack violently and with unyielding pressure

9) always keep reserves to hedge your bets and exploit opportunities

10) when all else fails, "no man can do wrong by placing his ship alongside the enemy" (H. Nelson)

I guess everyone plays games seriously in there own way. But if you believe I've thought too much of this, I also remember:

11) No battle plan survives contact with the enemy (Moltke the Elder)

12) Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable (DD Eisenhower)

*EDIT: if a tactical or operational combat game does not reward or yield to any of these principles, then that game frankly sucks. Xwing does, which is why this game rocks.

Problem with shuttles is they will get torn up at range by the cr90 primary or any turbo laser fire. I think defenders with HLC and Jonus would be good for killing capital ships, but I think that I would take lots of small ships and destroy the escorts first. My 2 cents

Problem with shuttles is they will get torn up at range by the cr90 primary or any turbo laser fire. I think defenders with HLC and Jonus would be good for killing capital ships, but I think that I would take lots of small ships and destroy the escorts first. My 2 cents

Shuttles are rolling 2, 3, or 4 def dice vs the primary and 2 vs the turbo laser which requires energy, its not as bad as it looks. Now the big boys dont get focus and a sensor jammer on your shuttle is an effective evade token that doesnt get consumed in this situation.

Jendon flying ST-321 with the jammer is a measly 33 points, and if anyone gets in his arc he has the option to light them up instead of passing the lock.

whoops quoted myself instead of edit

I go with 10 AP and 10 Alphas. I don't care if escort gets in the way, it's blown apart in a single turn if it does. Attack the huge ship, and if it's mission vital (as in "destroy the large ship") then don't shy away from ramming (=getting in the way) instead of large wheeling actions when only one or two hit points are left, as ramming will also deal damage.

It's an annoying playing, but it's effective :-)

Lots of good advice, what I have seen works well...

Use Def 2-3 ships only. As been mentioned those shuttles get torn up pretty quickly by the CR90. Try and use 3 attack ships if possible...

Split your forces, plan for a force or 2 that can hold its own against their escorts... Have one small group for the big ship only and try and flank, while your other forces do drive by's on the escorts then proceed to take shots at huge ships while turning around.

If you can get a ship or 2 of 3 attack dice behind the huge ships that is all you need really.

I have found splitting your forces and using waves to hit the escorts then huge ships is pretty effective, your opponent has more difficulty focus firing AND you make more effective use of space and firing options. With 300pts of small ships it can get clustered, so splitting is actually beneficial just try to keep to 2-4 ship groupings.

12 Phantoms for the win

Problem with shuttles is they will get torn up at range by the cr90 primary or any turbo laser fire. I think defenders with HLC and Jonus would be good for killing capital ships, but I think that I would take lots of small ships and destroy the escorts first. My 2 cents

Actually shuttles tend to do very well in our local meta against Huge ships. Epic games have really caught on, as Team Epic allows more people to play at once and encourages the team bonds and friendships that have been cultivating here in the last few months. A few months ago this league was 3 people struggling to get it going. Now it's about 12 regulars and some floaters as well as some guys who do both this one and Attack Wing, so even if they're new to X-wing they're not noobs.

Sidetrack, anyway. Yeah, shuttles. Great because of Ion Cannons, consistent damage and sapping ability, can stay at-range with their stall maneuver if they have to. Plus they're still pretty durable and have a chance to shrug damage at that range, and if they don't then they're the cheapest 10 HP in the game. 21 points, 10 HP, puts them at just over 2 points per hitpoint, and half of it is Shields. The increased room and targets available makes them much more worth it, as they fly beautifully, are almost never without targets, have loads of enemy units to block, and no longer need the Engine Upgrade to be viable in close combat. Broad, sweeping passes from the edge to the middle will tide them over for the whole match.

This is my Epic killer list.

Captain Jonus (22pts)

4x-Scimitar Squadron Pilot (16pts) Cluster Missiles (4pts), Proton Torpedoes (4pts) Semic Charges (2pts)

3x Omicron Group Pilot (21pts) Heavy Laser Cannon (7pts)

6x Academy Pilot (12pts)

"Howlrunner" (18pts)

Seeing the epics take damage from ship col you can bounce the ties off of it for the kill ;-)

I definitely favor cluster missiles over APT's for huge ship attacking--since they generally don't roll agility dice, the clusters are really effective, plus Jonus' reroll effect is even more effective with them. And I don't like being in range 1 of huge ships because it's too easy to get run over.

Good stuff. Thanks. I dropped the APT's for Cluster Missiles and exchanged a Scimitar for Jonus. Maarek picks up Squad Leader. He's there in reserve to deal a death blow and lend another focus to a bomber section, or to intercept rebel breakthroughs. Jonus escorts one section, two TIE academy's escort another. I also found the points to exchange Vesservy for Rexlar. No ions on any part of the squadron.

No ions on any part of the squadron.

Turrible. Just turrible...