Welcome to Lets talk Tactics episode 2
fill free to add any comments, suggestions or corrections as I am only 1 person and have a limited perspective, I will add new things to these posts as I discover new approaches or they are suggested in the reply's.
The Gladiator Class Star Destroyer comes in 2 variants (duh) Gladiator-1 , and Gladiator-2 . The differences are that the Gladiator 2 has 1 red die in the side arcs and 1 additional anti-squadron die at a cost of 6 additional points.
The Gladiator is used in an aggressive role I will call a Hunter, or as general support for the rest of the fleet.
Hunter: The Gladiator is built to do one thing, destroy rebel ships. It is hands down the most aggressive ship in the game currently and is generally used as a forward alpha strike for the fleet. this ship is best used to "hunt" down a target enemy and disable it quickly.
Unlike the Victory Class which, other that being slow, has no obvious weakness the gladiator is lacking in long range fire power focusing almost entirely on close range weapons.(black Dice) In Fact the Gladiator-1 has only black dice in 2 of it's arcs, this means that as long as your opponent is at range you are going to lose.
But on the flip side of the coin as long as you are in close range almost nothing in the game is capable of out damaging you (unless you are point blank in front of a VSD)
Sample Load-outs:
First off Screed is the Glad's Creed as often as practical you should bring Admiral Screed when you bring any gladiator.
Insidious or the generic gsd on the other hand gains alot from Engine techs which allows it to set up shots
other then that basic setup just a naked gsd is probably the way to go
Other upgrades to consider:
Expanded launchers : While i personally do not run these because i consider the ACM's to be better in some situations these could be considered
Engineering team : These can be used to up your engineering to 4 which allows the regen of 2 shield a turn and if paired with Wulff/tarkin can be used to discard 1 damage card a turn using only tokens
using the Gladiator Class:
-Objectives: Good ones to pick for the gsd are Superior positions , fleet ambush (this is also the objective I would pick from my opponent if i was player 1 gsd wants to be close and this brings the enemy closer) and intel sweep (when you have engine tech load outs)
But what i would do above all is make sure you have initiative and can be first player (if your only gsd is demolisher first player is much less important) This is so after you spend multiple turns setting up that 1 close range shot you can actually take that shot. so take like a 10 point initiative bid, (much more than that becomes unpractical)
-setup: I recommend placing your gladiator last during setup (the demolisher or most dangerous gsd if you have multiple) and putting it in a position it close and destroy any stragglers or flanker your opponent has, if there are no enemy ships apart from his main group use you gsd to target the most important enemy ship (this will usually the carrier or the flagship)
-opening (turns 1-2): CHARGE!!!! Generally you will want to go full speed ahead and try to Annihilate that ship you identified in setup. A more experienced opponent will try and focus fire your GSD before he has done much damage and if he set ups in a close formation you should wait for the other ships in your fleet before engaging. i recommend talking a navigate and an engineering token during the turns your closing
-Middle Game (turns 3-4) By turn 4 your gsd should be fully engaged and blasting your enemy's into space debris. I recommend using concentrate fire during these turns, Also spending your engineering token from earlier will be a good idea. When fighting a Bomber list, now is the time to do damage with your anti sqaudren but focus on killing the carrier if you can
-Late Game (turns 5-6) By now the gsd should have killed something and ifs its not dead, You have succeeded
get out of there and start singing
Staying Alive
Use navigate to get away and engineering to repair as necessary. If you are still healthy Fill free to unleash your wrath on a the next victim ship.
Support Role: Sometimes you will just bring the Gsd to support your other ships, mainly to cover the flanks of your victory or as anti-squadron fire support.
this topic is kinda borin- I mean broad basically if it fits you can use it, this is generally a naked gsd that follows the rest of your fleet.
