What? Bear with me...

Assault Frigate Mark II A: (89 pts)

• Gallant Haven (8 pts)

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate: (62 pts)

• Yavaris (5 pts)

Nebulon-B Support Refit (85 pts)

• General Dodonna
• Salvation
• Ray Antilles

Squadrons (55 of 97 pts):

• Wedge Antilles
• Dutch Vander
• Keyan Farlander

Objectives:

• Opening Salvo
• Contested Outpost
• Minefields

(291 of 300 pts)

So....it's a Gallant Haven/Rebel Aces list, right? Actually, no....but hopefully your opponent will think so. It's actually a rebel jousting list, meant to eliminate the enemy through focused long range firepower. GH is your shield, Salvation your sword, and Aces/Yavaris are both (though really everything's a sword). It requires careful movement planning, and coordination between your ships, but has worked nicely in my test games so far.

Battle Plan:

Gallant Haven should advance in the lead with the aces close by, acting as the fire magnet and sheltering the fighters. It should have engineering commands dialed up for most of the game, after an initial navigate or two - it's the decoy. Gallant Haven should never issue a squadron command! Instead, Yavaris should be close enough to command the fighters, again spamming squadron orders after an initial navigate. Salvation can stand off a bit (but not too far) with concentrate fire as its specialty.

All ships should be trying to get a single enemy in their forward and forward/side arcs and beat it down until it's dead. Even a VSD spamming engineering tokens should go down in two turns, especially with your range advantage (12 red dice + salvation effects). Your enemy should be focusing their firepower on GH, which ought to be tanky enough to survive at range for a couple of turns.

Hopefully enemy squadrons will try to jump the Aces in the first turn or two. With GH + Brace tokens, your Aces can last for several turns under fire, firing back with Yavaris doubling their firepower output, and aided by AA fire from the ships. If they can tie up more points of fighters than they're worth, they've done their job. If they keep GSD's and CR90's from getting too close, then they've done their job.

However, if you win the squadron battle quickly and with Keyan intact, his 4 black re-rolling attack dice can make a significant contribution in turns 5 and 6, quite feasibly finishing off a ship by himself. So the squadron battle element is still important - it's not just a ship jousting list after all. But clearly it isn't squadron-focused. It plays more like a hybrid. (Tip: Against squadrons, have Yavaris command Dutch/Wedge. But against ships, command Dutch/Keyan).

When it comes to your opponent's reactions, he'll face a difficult choice as there is no "best" target for him to shoot. Yavaris is the most vulnerable usually, but it adds the least amount of firepower to this list overall. Salvation is usually too far back for optimal shots, and Gallant Haven can be quite a tank and can maneuver independently once the squadron fight is over.

Objectives:

You want your enemy to approach you on a predictable path, so you can set up a "kill zone" . Contested Outpost is great for this, especially when you're second player. The ability to rack up 90 points while forcing the enemy to come to you is fantastic. Fleet Ambush and Minefields could work as well, because ideally you want to engage one ship at a time. Opening Salvo....well, with three ships and second player you stand an even better chance of taking down enemy ships quickly, which is important.

Weaknesses:

Now, this isn't an instant win button by any means. First of all, it's a list that likes going second (due to the objectives) so if you're not comfortable with that, then this probably isn't the list for you.

Any fleet that can get in close, and remain outside of the Nebs' forward arcs, can absolutely devastate this list. A 3 or 4 GSD+engine tech list is probably the worst list to face. You'll have to mitigate it as best as possible by bluffing with the Aces, and by smart maneuvering with the AF and Nebs.

In addition a good portion of the late game firepower does depend on the Aces and Yavaris working together, so keeping the fighters in range of GH, and Yavaris close by, is needed. While not exposing Yavaris' flanks to enemy firepower. That can be tricky to do in the face of obstacles and enemy maneuvering, so it's important to deploy well. Practice is helpful.

If you lose the initiative bid, mobility-based objectives (Intel Sweep, etc) will be rough against lists with GSD's or CR90's. Salvation can operate semi-effectively in this role alone, as Speed 3 + Antilles adds up to a good amount of mobility, but it's not ideal as it severely depletes the firepower of your core group.

Summary: It's a hybrid list that initially plays like a jousting list but that your opponent may size up as a GH/Aces list. Which it is, sort of.

Feedback:

Is it the intent of the list too easy to see through?

Will Gallant Haven crumple to enemy firepower too easily? Should I add ECM, at the cost of giving up the initiative bid? Would Mon Mothma be a better commander....but what should I give up to get her?

If you playtest it, please contribute and let us know how it worked (or didn't)! Thanks for reading...

Just saying, move dodonna to gallant haven

I think the intent of keeping Dodonna on Salvation is the desire to keep that ship back and out of the fight, while Gallant Haven takes the brunt of the fire. Overall, it seems like a decent list, and I think you've covered its strengths and weaknesses fairly well. I would imagine an intelligent player with heavy squadron support would look to send the brunt of their squads at Salvation, with perhaps one or two to tie up your very minimal fighter screen...a Rhymer Bomber list could cause you problems, as you win the fighter battle if they fight you on your terms (in front of GH and Yavaris), but struggle if they manage to lure your fighters farther away. I could also see an Imperial list potentially out-tanking this one (I intend to post later on my 3 VSD list), but all in all it looks pretty well rounded and with nice opportunities for your opponent to make mistakes.

Also, note that your fighter total is based off of 1/3 the tournament point total, not 1/3 of the points you're actually playing. So at 300 points, you always get 100 fighters.

Yes, GAThraawn is correct - I thought Salvation was probably the safest place for Dodonna. Yavaris is usually fairly exposed as it has to be within medium range of the fighters, who are on the front line. GH actually hasn't taken too much damage in my test games, so it might be a good place for the commander, but I worry that it'll fold eventually. And Dodonna is worth keeping alive the whole game!

On the other hand, it might enhance GH's value as a decoy to put the commander on it. Hmmm, decisions, decisions...

I'm hoping to play against a Rhymer list soon, as I too am worried that it's a hard counter to the list. My probably response would be to send the squadrons after the bombers, with Yavaris in support. They lose GH's shield effect, but against bombers (and a few escorts) it shouldn't matter that much. Yavaris will allow them to double their firepower and will provide AA support. Meanwhile GH and Salvation can pound on the remaining opponent ships.

Actually, the matchup I'm most worried about now is a mirror match. I haven't played any mirror matches, and I'm concerned that double AF lists have the mobility to get in close and wreck my shop while standing up to my firepower. I suppose I'll have to dial in more nav commands when facing mobile opponents to try and keep them in my firing arcs. Any suggestions on dealing with rebel scum compatriots?

I'd love to try this list out vs a 3 VSD or 3 VSD + GSD list....I'd have to use mobility to refuse a flank (while not actually flanking), I think.

Highly doubt anyone will mistake it for aces when there's only 3 squadrons

Well, 3 out of 5 ain't bad.

Part of this may be having to bluff your opponent by boasting about how Farlander or Wedge are going to devastate everything....

... Is that too underhanded?

Sorry for my poor English.

How would you restrict 2 or 3 VSD whith massive fighter cloack from concentrating fire on your nebulons? For example - such fleet: http://armada.fabpsb.net/permagen.php?lng=en

Hmmm, link didn't work. But if they have 3 VSD, then they won't have many fighters. Either way, I think the answer is.....speed 3 and run away! until you can turn around and engage just one VSD at a time. If they have 2 VSD and fighters, positioning and maneuvering is still important to try and keep your nebulon front arcs to the enemy.

I've lost some confidence in this list now that I've realized that GH doesn't stop Soontir Fel's or Mauler MIthel's extra damage....(silly me!)....