I know it's only relevant for a month, but I am curious what other admirals are brewing up.

Currently I have been working with the Victory-I in order to save points on the initial ship. I find that the smarter rebel players are staying out of short and medium range, making the Victory-II no better at the task. A must so far has been Enhanced Armament and Expanded Hangers. Seeing as I only have the one ship it may as well be good at everything. Throw in Tarkin, fill up the rest with Ties.

For game night on Wednesday I'm planning to bring:

Victory II + Tarkin, Title, Defense Liason, and enhanced armament. Fill with 4 ties or 2+howlrunner.

Throws 6-8 dice out the front and sides, can repair 3 shields/turn.

I'm expecting the hardest match up while we're in this "just core set" time to be the vic + title and upgrades to taste. This build should hopefully have an edge on the Vic 1 with a slightly longer engagement range, and more accuracy results to lock down that brace token. If I can brace and block 3 damage, that's great and should give me an edge as the engagement goes on.

At this stage its all just theory crafting, we'll see how it looks after 3-5 games...

I played 2 games with:
VSD1, Tarkin, Enhanced armament, Gunnery Team, Dominator, Howlrunner 3 Tie.

Works very well when I need the blue dice I just use the dominator power otherwise the 3 red is all I need, the key is to make sure you squadron at the right time to make sure you take out key xwing threats quickly

I've managed to catch a couple of rebel players in close range (Normally the CR90 who is try8ing to use Dodonna's abilities)

I've played one 180 point game and one 300 point game so far.

In 180p I ran with:

Victory I - 73
Grand Moff Tarkin - 38
Wullf Yularen - 7
Enhanced armament - 10

Howlrunner - 16
TIE - 8
TIE - 8
TIE - 8
TIE - 8

Overwhelming victory against a nebulon, cr90, and 4 x-wings including luke. Lost a couple TIEs and a few shields but tabled everything else. I wouldn't consider this a particularly telling tactical victory though and I didn't learn much.

I learned more from a 300 point game against 2x nebulon II (whichever has 2 anti fighter dice), 2x cr90 (one of each type, one with dodonna's pride title) and 5 x-wings with no luke. The game was much closer, ending with most of the TIEs dead, a Victory I dead, but both nebulons, one cr90, and one x-wing dead for the imperial win.

That list I used, which I consider pretty good for a 2 core set list, was:

Victory II - 85
Grand Moff Tarkin - 38
Enhanced Armament - 10
Wullf Yularen - 7
Gunnery team - 7

Victory I - 73
Enhanced Armament - 10
Dominator title - 12

Howlrunner - 16
TIE - 8
TIE - 8
TIE - 8
TIE - 8
TIE - 8

I've only played 2 games and witnessed a game or two more though so my thoughts are by no means thoroughly tested on this. Any thoughts others have I'll definitely pay attention to.

So far Tarkin seems good (though mandatory of course), Wullf seems great too as he essentially gives you a mini version of Tarkin's effect on your one ship for 7 points instead of 38 for the same 1 command token gain. Dominator title seems very good with engineering + engineering token letting you repair 3 shields per turn and turn those shields back into attack dice if you want, better than the concentrate firepower command for sure. Enhanced armament seems worth it too as you will be using hopefully one side arc shot per turn and the 1 red die per turn is definitely worth 10 points, 3 red dice from front and 3 from side both firing at long range is great.

The upgrades other than the ones I have taken so far do not seem amazing to me.

I'm currently thinking along the lines of a couple Victory Star Destroyers, plenty of TIE fighters to screen them and lots of TIE Interceptors to race out and try to pin down enemy snub fighters.

I'm currently thinking along the lines of a couple Victory Star Destroyers, plenty of TIE fighters to screen them and lots of TIE Interceptors to race out and try to pin down enemy snub fighters.

I am still need a game or two more before I am ready to discuss. I flew a VSD for my first two games with Enhanced Armement and Howlrunner with Tie squadrons but now I think I will go Rebels for a couple of games.

Dude (ie, Tentacle Tickler), it's driving me nuts...can you please spell "build" correctly in the 2 4 threads you have started? Thanks.

Lmao! I had not even noticed that. Guess I'll have to email Josh and see if I can get him to change the titles for us

Copy/Paste casualty. Sometimes I feel like a genious

Lmao! I had not even noticed that. Guess I'll have to email Josh and see if I can get him to change the titles for us

Copy/Paste casualty. Sometimes I feel like a genious

Thanks man, I appreciate it. I was able to let the first 2 threads go, but when I logged on this morning and there were two more, my brain started getting very upset. :-)

Lmao! I had not even noticed that. Guess I'll have to email Josh and see if I can get him to change the titles for us

Copy/Paste casualty. Sometimes I feel like a genious

Thanks man, I appreciate it. I was able to let the first 2 threads go, but when I logged on this morning and there were two more, my brain started getting very upset. :-)

Surprised you didn't catch "genious" I'm happy somebody caught it, before it went any further!

At a 180? Or are you thinking more of a 300 point game?

Probably looking at 200 points plus once I've got past the core box set

Looking at this in a formulaic way:

Tarkin prevents you from having the points for 2 Victory-Class Star Destroyers so you start with Tarkin and a Victory. If you take the most expensive ship and fill it with the most expensive upgrades you are at 172 points. So you have to take at least 1 TIE Fighter squadron.

The result is you are pretty much locked into:

Tarkin, Victory, 1 TIE Squadrons which costs 119 points for the Victory I-Class (essentially making the Victory II a 12 point "upgrade")

So how do you you spend your 61 points?

I took Wulff, Missiles, ECM , 3 more Squadrons and Howlrunner

Edit: Can't take ECM on a Victory-Class. I'm apparently a dirty cheater

I didn't think either Victory had an upgrade slot for ECMs (Electronic CounterMeasures), since it is a defense upgrade right? I'll have to double check.

I really saw no reason to have Tarkin + Wulf while getting back the token you just used is nice, Tarkin can just give it back to me next turn (Since I can't use both tokens in the same action anyway).

I still stick with

• Enhanced Armament
• Gunnery Team
• Dominator
• Howlrunner
• 3 Tie

I find EA is needed since you rarely get the front dream shot off or at least you shouldn't as the rebels are really fast and manouverable. Gunnery team because many times I see the rebel player trying to get both ships onto the same side so at least one isn't getting shot at.

Dominator basically gives me blue dice when I need it so its like having a toned down victory II for 8 points instead of 12.

The only thing I'm not 100% sure on is ... is Howlrunner better than 2 Tie.

Well thanks to the Battlescribe files being uploaded I can now indulge my passion for list building

+++ New Roster (167pts) +++

++ Imperial (Standard) (167pts) ++

+ Victory Star Destroyer (167pts) +

Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (167pts) [Enhanced Armament (10pts), Gunnery Team (7pts), Overload Pulse (8pts), •Dominator (12pts), •Grand Moff Tarkin (38pts), •Wulff Yularen (7pts)]

+ Objectives +

Assault Objective [Advanced Gunnery]

Defense Objective [Hyperspace Assault]

Navigation Objective [Minefields]

Created with BattleScribe ( http://www.battlescribe.net )

The Advantage being with going all in a single Victory II for the entire fleet, is either you take the initiative to get those telling first volleys in or choose to go second and give the rebels a choice of taking withering fire from your main guns, flying through minefields, or having less turns to damage you whilst you can do a combat hyperspace jump in to one of three points limiting his strategic options. What is there not to like?

+++ New Roster (179pts) +++

++ Imperial (Standard) (179pts) ++

+ Victory Star Destroyer (123pts) +

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (123pts) [Expanded Hangar Bay (5pts), •Grand Moff Tarkin (38pts), •Wulff Yularen (7pts)]

+ Objectives +

Assault Objective [Most Wanted]

Defense Objective [Fleet Ambush]

Navigation Objective [Dangerous Territory]

+ Squadrons (56pts) +

TIE Fighter Squadron (8pts)

TIE Fighter Squadron (8pts)

TIE Fighter Squadron (8pts)

TIE Fighter Squadron (8pts)

TIE Fighter Squadron (8pts)

•"Howlrunner" (16pts)

Created with BattleScribe ( http://www.battlescribe.net )

Would be the 179 point alternative with a full emphasis on getting the most out of the Tie Fighters. If gaining the initiative squadron orders can get a full Tie Swarm going on, if going second the opponent needs to choose between a narrow setup,having a ship that can be downed by Tie Fighters or an objective mission where they can damage on the rocks.

@TrentL you can use dial and token in same turn, see RR P4 just above Critial Effects in the Commands section

Tomorrow I shall try:

Victory Class I SD; Grand Moff Tarkin, Enhanced armament & Expanded Hangar Bay

6x Tie fighters including howl Runner.

(Yes; I'd like to use as much as I can with my single core set )

I didn't think either Victory had an upgrade slot for ECMs (Electronic CounterMeasures), since it is a defense upgrade right? I'll have to double check.

You are correct. I had a transcription error in my spreadsheet. Now to go deliver an apology...

[quote name="TrentL" post="1519216" timestamp="

The only thing I'm not 100% sure on is ... is Howlrunner better than 2 Tie.

Break down

2 ties vs howlrunner

Both equal 16 points

2 ties have 6 anti squadron howlrunner has 3 (but adds 3 to your list via ability) total 6

Comparable firepower but concentrated firepower tends to be less effective against tokens and the swarm ability triggers on a lower percentage of dice than just ties

Slight edge 2 ties

Survivability: 2 ties 6 hp howlrunner 3hp plus 1 brace token and 1 scatter token (scatter = you are meaningless I ignore you)

my experience? The scatter token alone tends to cancel between 3&5 hits by itself add 1 or 2 more from brace and presto

this means list with howlrunner are less likely to lose fire power after shooting since howlrunner will be the primary target and is hard to kill

Edge goes to howlrunner

Other variables 2 ties can engage more fighters and have a slight increase in anti ship damage

But howlrunner is easier to activate with commands,(since there are less total squads, in this case 4 you can activate your entire fighter force with a command +token other wise you would need expanded hangers to activate all of them )(another point concentrate d firepower means that your more likely to kill something before it shoots back)

Conclusion: armada is ridiculeslly balanced and when something says it is worth 16 points it means it is worth 16 points, no more no less...

I really saw no reason to have Tarkin + Wulf while getting back the token you just used is nice, Tarkin can just give it back to me next turn (Since I can't use both tokens in the same action anyway).

I still stick with

• Enhanced Armament
• Gunnery Team
• Dominator
• Howlrunner
• 3 Tie

I find EA is needed since you rarely get the front dream shot off or at least you shouldn't as the rebels are really fast and manouverable. Gunnery team because many times I see the rebel player trying to get both ships onto the same side so at least one isn't getting shot at.

Dominator basically gives me blue dice when I need it so its like having a toned down victory II for 8 points instead of 12.

The only thing I'm not 100% sure on is ... is Howlrunner better than 2 Tie.

This Thursday I am going to be playing my first games outside the Learn to Play game. At least I assume the store I am going to is running full 180 pt games. Here is my list:

Vic I 73

Tarkin 38

Dominator 12

Expanded Hangar Bay 5

Enhanced Armament 10

Howlrunner 16

TIE Squadron x3 24

Total: 178

Objectives: Advanced Gunnery, Contested Outpost, Dangerous Territory

Although looking at it again I think I'm going to drop Expanded Hangar Bay and add in Gunnery Team. I can use a squadron token from Tarkin to get all 4 squadrons moving with my squadron command. Though going full 180 pts means I probably won't have a chance at initiative.

The idea I have is to maximize firepower since I only have a single ship. Then the objectives either help with that, or tell me where my opponent is gonna be if they even try for the objectives. Then I can focus my attention there.

I think right now with core sets only, the Imperial player just needs to keep his VSD alive and deny the Rebels objective points, hopefully taking out a ship or two along the way. Strategy will definitely change when wave 1 hits.

Well thanks to the Battlescribe files being uploaded I can now indulge my passion for list building

+++ New Roster (167pts) +++

++ Imperial (Standard) (167pts) ++

+ Victory Star Destroyer (167pts) +

Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (167pts) [Enhanced Armament (10pts), Gunnery Team (7pts), Overload Pulse (8pts), •Dominator (12pts), •Grand Moff Tarkin (38pts), •Wulff Yularen (7pts)]

+ Objectives +

Assault Objective [Advanced Gunnery]

Defense Objective [Hyperspace Assault]

Navigation Objective [Minefields]

Created with BattleScribe ( http://www.battlescribe.net )

The Advantage being with going all in a single Victory II for the entire fleet, is either you take the initiative to get those telling first volleys in or choose to go second and give the rebels a choice of taking withering fire from your main guns, flying through minefields, or having less turns to damage you whilst you can do a combat hyperspace jump in to one of three points limiting his strategic options. What is there not to like?

+++ New Roster (179pts) +++

++ Imperial (Standard) (179pts) ++

+ Victory Star Destroyer (123pts) +

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (123pts) [Expanded Hangar Bay (5pts), •Grand Moff Tarkin (38pts), •Wulff Yularen (7pts)]

+ Objectives +

Assault Objective [Most Wanted]

Defense Objective [Fleet Ambush]

Navigation Objective [Dangerous Territory]

+ Squadrons (56pts) +

TIE Fighter Squadron (8pts)

TIE Fighter Squadron (8pts)

TIE Fighter Squadron (8pts)

TIE Fighter Squadron (8pts)

TIE Fighter Squadron (8pts)

•"Howlrunner" (16pts)

Created with BattleScribe ( http://www.battlescribe.net )

Would be the 179 point alternative with a full emphasis on getting the most out of the Tie Fighters. If gaining the initiative squadron orders can get a full Tie Swarm going on, if going second the opponent needs to choose between a narrow setup,having a ship that can be downed by Tie Fighters or an objective mission where they can damage on the rocks.

I can't seem to get the Armada files loaded on to my phone's Battlescribe.

[quote name="TrentL" post="1519216" timestamp="

The only thing I'm not 100% sure on is ... is Howlrunner better than 2 Tie.

Break down

2 ties vs howlrunner

Both equal 16 points

Survivability: 2 ties 6 hp howlrunner 3hp plus 1 brace token and 1 scatter token (scatter = you are meaningless I ignore you)

my experience? The scatter token alone tends to cancel between 3&5 hits by itself add 1 or 2 more from brace and presto

this means list with howlrunner are less likely to lose fire power after shooting since howlrunner will be the primary target and is hard to kill

Conclusion: armada is ridiculeslly balanced and when something says it is worth 16 points it means it is worth 16 points, no more no less...

You forgot to mention; Howlrunners value increases the more Swarm squadrons you have and keep in close proximity.

I wouldn't make Howlrunner my primary Target! She augments others, it's easier to wipe out the weaker targets!

If you were to just buy Howlrunner instead of two Ties I'm not sure even with the defense tokens its worth it. You can MathMarda it but you can't really work these things out in a bubble; it doesn't take into account your overall strategy.

Howlrunners probably better with Interceptors; If your opponent shoots her she gets defense tokens and if they shoot the interceptors they get counter. (They also have swarm). It also looks like she adds dice to their counter.

Howlrunner: While another friendly squadron with swarm at distance 1 is attacking a squadron, it may add 1 blue die to its attack pool

Tie Interceptor

Counter 2: After a squadron performs a non-counter attack against you, you may attack that squadron with an anti squadron armament of 2 blue dice, even if you are destroyed.

Swarm: While attacking a squadron engaged with another squadron, you may reroll one die.

The more Swarm units you have (and are willing to keep together) the more Howlrunners worth. (especially Interceptors)

This Thursday I am going to be playing my first games outside the Learn to Play game. At least I assume the store I am going to is running full 180 pt games. Here is my list:

Vic I 73

Tarkin 38

Dominator 12

Expanded Hangar Bay 5

Enhanced Armament 10

Howlrunner 16

TIE Squadron x3 24

Total: 178

Objectives: Advanced Gunnery, Contested Outpost, Dangerous Territory

Although looking at it again I think I'm going to drop Expanded Hangar Bay and add in Gunnery Team. I can use a squadron token from Tarkin to get all 4 squadrons moving with my squadron command. Though going full 180 pts means I probably won't have a chance at initiative.

The idea I have is to maximize firepower since I only have a single ship. Then the objectives either help with that, or tell me where my opponent is gonna be if they even try for the objectives. Then I can focus my attention there.

I think right now with core sets only, the Imperial player just needs to keep his VSD alive and deny the Rebels objective points, hopefully taking out a ship or two along the way. Strategy will definitely change when wave 1 hits.

I won one and lost one, against the same fleet (rebel fleet with 2 X-Wings). The first game was the Dangerous Territory objective. Neither of us took a ship out, and I miraculously managed to navigate my VSD BETWEEN all the obstacles despite wanting to land on them. We spent way too much time at long range.

Second game was Fire Lanes and we spent the entire game circling the board. I think we only got 1-2 shots on ships the entire game.

The objectives really make it an interesting game. It changes both strategies. I think since we are new we sort of over-cater strategy to the objective. It is still possible to win by gunning down your opponent, regardless of objective.

I'm xefinitt still behind the learning curve. Still trying to get into the flow of the game, anticipate my opponent, and execute my own plans.

This list worked really well when I was able to execute, I just didn't have much time to do so.