Hello all!

My group is going to be trying out some epic play this weekend and I'll be taking half of the Imperial side. I normally fly rebels but we're changing it up for this weekend.

I was wondering how people here focus their attention (escort ships vs the corvette itself, front corvette vs rear.) any advice is welcomed.

I haven't played yet with the corvette, but I have done several games with and against the transport.

Don't get pressured into taking dedicated 'huge ship - killer' squads

If I were you, I would build my squads along the same lines you would for a normal match, just try not to rely too much on large formations, since they can be broken up by huge ships and assault missiles (which i find more often in epic games).

Don't Shoot at Tanky Ships

When the game starts, assess the enemy huge ship. The transport can be built as a tank, or as a dedicated support ship, and sometimes as a slicer tools platform. If the transport is obviously built to draw fire, avoid firing at it, and focus on its escorts. If it is a dedicated support ship, for example a transport with two comms boosters, you may want to set up for an attack run on the transport. If you opponent has loaded it to be a tanky support ship, he probably spent too much on the transport: pick off its escorts and kill the transport at your leisure.

Attack from the side

For attacking transports, the main thing you need to look out for is the transport ramming you. Head-on approaches are especially dangerous; avoid them if you can. Additionally, the head-on approach allows the transport to make very effective use of its 'reinforce' action, negating many of your shots. Try to attack from the side/rear, where the transport can't ram you, and you can shoot either the front or rear sections, preventing effective reinforce actions. Never fly in front of the transport!

Pincer Attack is ideal

Good huge ship players will turn the ship to face you, to make attacking from the flanks harder. It's very hard to actually outflank the transport if it's turning into you each turn. The best way to make an attack run on a transport is to split into two groups, one coming from each side of the transport. This way, the transport can only turn into one group's path. Even if that group continues its head-on attack, the transport exposes its rear to the other group, and cannot reinforce effectively.

I put this pincer attack to very effective use the last time I faced a transport, and it went up in flames before it could make too much of an impact on the game. Just be careful you don't expose yourself too badly to the rest of the enemy fleet in making this kind of attack, and remember that you should only target the transport first if it is built as a dedicated support ship.

My advice is to be just as efficient with squad points in Imperial Epic as you are in 100pt. The only exception imo is to use lots of interceptors. Their 3 red/green dice is nice to have and losing 1 or 2 isn't as critical as in a 100 pt match. Though also use some 2-3 tie groups as well.

The other is to use smaller fighter groups 2-3 ships each and fly in "Waves". 300pts is a lot of ships, larger groups tend to get in each others way and don't split up your opponent as much. Imperials should have a vast numbers advantage... As I said plan to use waves... have the first wave do a drive by on the escorts, then continue past to get behind the big ships.. While wave 2 is following to furball the escorts.

These tactics work very well against a Vette... A transport only rebel build will mean more escort ships which means you want to play more "traditional".

Support ships are a lot more effective, and Etahn A'baht is absolutely devastating in Epic play. Also: pack something that can ionize. It's somewhat useful in dogfights, as crowd control and to screw up enemy movements, but it is also awesome against Huge ships, since it stops them from gaining Energy. A couple of Talas with Ion Pulse missiles is enough to debilitate a Corvette for a couple of rounds. Keep your PS as high as possible--low PS ships can be focused down really, really quickly--and don't get run over by a Huge ship. However, if you can keep your distance, a head-on assault against a Corvette is a pretty effective option, especially if you fly in waves. If you attack from the side, that means you'll be bombarded by at least three weapons each round. An attack from behind can work, but is tricky to pull off. An attack from the front means that only the main guns are facing you, which means only one shot per turn.

In matches with two Corvettes, the best possible match up looks like a T: the enemy has the short end pointed at you, with only one gun firing, while you are perpendicular, with all of those hard point weapons blasting away.