Hi folks,

I've been playing a few games with my niece (12) who is having a blast. She's getting the hang of predicting maneuvers and actions and I've been teaching her about ship synergies and working as a larger part of a whole. So now she wants to take on some of the other players at our FLGS. Our FLGS usually runs a weekly 400 point tournament/scenario/battle, so she wants to participate next week all on her own with me and my brother (her dad) along as moral support. She came to me for assistance, but I'm pretty hopeless at squad building for Rebels, so I thought I'd ask the clever people.

She's put together a list of what she absolutely must use. She owns one Core set, one Neb-B, one CR-90 and one Rebel fighter pack, so no Space Whales (Mum and Dad say no more Armada till her birthday in November).

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57)

- Mon Mothma (30)

- Yavaris (5)

Nebulon-B Frigate (Escort or Support, depending on points)

- Salvation (7)

- XI7 Turbolasers (6)

CR90a Corvette (44)

- Jaina's Light (2)

CR90 Corvette B (39)

- Dodonna's Pride (6)

Fighters

Luke (20)

Wedge (19)

Dutch (16)

Y-wing (10)

Tycho (16)

Total: 328/400

She's adamant about using the ships and fighters listed because they're her favourites (her two Y-wing squadrons have more than a few cap ships painted on their hulls) and she wants to see if she can win with her favourites, because she's very much against winning at all costs and "using what everyone else uses" (she's stubborn like her uncle in that regard).

Any help would be sincerely appreciated.

Are you able to lend her a ship?

Another CR90 would probably fit in nicely!

Pad it with extra X-wings for tournament versatility.

I wish her the very best!

Enhanced Armament on the Jaina's Light perhaps? It's something I'm struggling to find the points to do at 300pts, but might well look at when moving to 400pts. It means she doesn't have to worry as much about going head-on into the fight with it, but can take more advantage of the title by skimming around the outside of a cluster of obstacles and taking very little fire back.

I think Intel Officer comes in one of the Empire packs, right? So probably not an option on Salvation, failing that I've used Ray Antilles to some effect on both Yavaris and Salvation. On Yavaris it means activating 3 squadrons instead of 2, on Salvation it means getting the extra dice and a reroll each turn when concentrating fire.

I think DarthBadger is onto a couple of good options. Running that many ships maybe a CR90b with Overload Pulse to exhaust some defence tokens before the Salvation opens fire? And more X-Wings is always a nice bit of flexibility.

Do these games use objectives? If going up to five ships Opening Salvo is a fair option, as would something like Intel Sweep or Dangerous Territory. As for the yellows, she's probably got enough ships there to cover a good area on Fire Lanes, or the Yavaris can make good use of Hyperspace Assault to get into range to use its title.

As an Imperial at four hundred points I would have two VSD and two GSD with plenty of fighter support.... I honestly don't know how good her list would be agains me. I would recommend staying as far away from any Imperial ship as possible....and going for the objectives. Use fighter support to offset the lack of a space guppy.

Yes, no way is it an "up close and personal" list.

With Mon Motha giving flexible options to operate at Medium range

Yes, no way is it an "up close and personal" list.

With Mon Motha giving flexible options to operate at Medium range

Throw in a couple of B-wings to give that up-close deterrent/punch. Make one of them Keyan...you've got the points.

I agree with the previous advice about Antilles (put him on Yavaris) and Jaina's light with EA. Consider putting Mon Mothma on Salvation - Yavaris is always a fire magnet. Or on Jaina's Light, which should be hiding and sniping.

Also consider putting XX-9's on Salvation, letting the other ships knock down shields first. XI7 on Yavaris then...

If you can lend her a CR90 or a Neb it will help a ton.

Salvation goes with Raymus

always

And no Mark II? I would put at least one of them.

She doesn't own a AF Mark II according to the list in the opening post.

you dont need the mark 2

with the addition of the wave 1 titles, nebs are now more than capable of holding their own when played well

mark 2s are much easier to play, though, and more forgiving

At 400 points people are going to feel comfortable blowing lots of points on nasty squadron combos. You'll see plenty of Mauler, Fel, Chiraneau combos and others. So she might want to boost up her squadrons a little. A couple more X-Wings or some A-Wings would help them take some more damage and tie up the enemy. Or she could invest in a couple of B-Wing as at 400 points the table is going to be pretty chocker and so their slow speed will matter less. Position them right and something will fly into them.

But I would definitely upgrade those ships just a little more as my priority. I'd suggest Enhanced Armaments. She's going to want to be fighting at distance so angle those Nebulons right and she'll be able to target any ships with both front and side arcs and get those extra dice into play. Pricey, though. :/ I think she would benefit from upgrades that give her a little more tactical flexibility. Raymus Antilles and Princess Leia, perhaps. Even the best admirals don't say no to a little tactical help, and at a 400 point tournament, some of her fights are going to be FIERCE. I hope she's prepared to show no mercy!

Anyway, I don't know if that helps - she already has a good core list and she should basically be spending the extra points to help improve what it's already good at / fill in weaknesses, so what she buys will depend on how she plans to play. Best of luck to her and I hope she wins some good battles. If she does lose some, I hope she isn't discouraged. It's only the last fight that matters! May the Force be with her!

after either exclusive nebs or exclusive fatties, I have to say the only upgrades needed on a Neb, apart from titles and Raymus, are squadrons

the Escort Frigate is a dead sexy ship right off the boat and really need nothing apart from the aforementioned and a bit of positioning know-how, which is more practice orientated than list

that and, while they're nowhere near as compromised as the forum makes out, they will get 2-shot by the outrageous offensive output of VSD-2s or upgraded GSDs (just like everything else) and one more die out of EA isn't going to help them all that much. One black and one blue from a nearby loitering B-wing, however...

Thanks for all of your help folks. She ended up with 3 wins and a loss, earning her some serious points on the tournament score card.

@Darth Badger, she did end up taking all of her X-wings. I could lend her upgrade cards, but she wanted to win with her models, not always borrowing Uncle's ships.

@Akhrin, I suggested Enhanced Armament on the Jaina's Light and she took it as her last big upgrade with Raymus on the Salvation. As for objectives, she uhm'd and ahh'd for a bit then decided on Intel Sweep, Fire Lanes, and Most Wanted. She played Intel Sweep once, Fire Lanes twice and Most Wanted once. She won the Most Wanted game when the Jaina's Light zoomed past an obstacle and broadsided the targeted Gladiator, destroyed it and won the game thanks to the double points bonus. She said that was her best game.

@ Darth Lupine, we've already had lots of games together and she learnt quickly that close ranged Imperials are death and she practiced a lot keeping out of range of them as the few times she's strayed to close to opposing capital ships, she's suffered badly for it. She's gotten good at predicting maneuvers and she even got a couple of great hits in with the Salvation's front arc.

@Ficklegreendice, she definitely wants to own an Assault Frigate, as she played against a double Space Whale list on the weekend and they gave her a bit of trouble. She just doesn't have the pocket money yet and Mum and Dad didn't want me buying one for her until her birthday (don't ask, it just causes arguments). But she loves the Salvation and its front arc, and she's getting really good at using the Yavaris at the right time to exploit open shields on cap ships. The Y-wings are the real stars of her show. They netted 2 Corvettes, a Gladiator and got the last hit on a VSD.

@knasserII, I suggested B-wings but she wanted to prepare for TIE swarms, and it's a good thing she did. 3 out of 4 of her opponents were very-fighter heavy and the extra X-wings tipped the furballs in her favour. She would say that all of her fights were fierce and she definitely showed no mercy (so proud). She feels like she did a good job and came away feeling that her list was alright, but it's definitely learning how to fly your ships that gives you the advantage. As for future purchases, she definitely wants another fighter pack for more Y-wings and an Assault Frigate because she likes the look of both Paragon and Gallant Haven, so she'll have plenty of ships to choose from.

I wanted to thank you all for your input, you really made the difference for her. She said that she wants to retune her squad herself and post it up here for a critique after a few more test runs, so look out for that. Thanks again all!

encourage that Salvation, it'll do her well in those long range engagements against fatties

Thanks for all of your help folks. She ended up with 3 wins and a loss, earning her some serious points on the tournament score card.

@knasserII, I suggested B-wings but she wanted to prepare for TIE swarms, and it's a good thing she did. 3 out of 4 of her opponents were very-fighter heavy and the extra X-wings tipped the furballs in her favour. She would say that all of her fights were fierce and she definitely showed no mercy (so proud). She feels like she did a good job and came away feeling that her list was alright, but it's definitely learning how to fly your ships that gives you the advantage. As for future purchases, she definitely wants another fighter pack for more Y-wings and an Assault Frigate because she likes the look of both Paragon and Gallant Haven, so she'll have plenty of ships to choose from.

Sounds like she made the right choice, then. 3/4 in the tournament is a great result. Congratulations to her. Well she might want the AFmkII now, but by November Wave 2 will be out and she might want to go for a truly Large ship. I know I would.

Anyway, I'm sure we're all really glad we could help.

An excellent set of results!

Well done!

I like the idea of extra Y-wings!

Fly safe, fight well!

3 wins 1 loss. . . You said 12 years old? Wow, what a tactical mind. I hope no one took it easy in her. Hmmm we may see her at a regionals. . . I am reasonably sure that would get FFG attention!

Now. . . To get an interview for AFN