Since this game has released I have been trying to make sense of the list building. When the rulebook stated only 100 of your 300 points could come from squadrons, I assumed there was a limit because they were so important or powerful. I always made my lists come as close to the 100 points in fighters as I could. But looking at lists on these forums I rarely see a list coming that close to 100 points in squadrons.

I guess my question is this: where should my priorities be? Should I focus on ships over fighters? I always assumed if you were overrun by fighters you would lose due to them picking your ships apart. Is it bad to run a ton of squadrons? Thanks for the advice.

Honestly j want to see what a one minimum ship plus an excess of 200 fighters plays like. Is it actually any good?

Honestly j want to see what a one minimum ship plus an excess of 200 fighters plays like. Is it actually any good?

you are still limited to 1/3 of your points for fighters so you will always have a few ships

Honestly j want to see what a one minimum ship plus an excess of 200 fighters plays like. Is it actually any good?

Not really. Without ships to command your squadrons they preform less than optimal.

priorities depend on fleet building

cr-90 spam can't enable much, and therefore won't take many apart from A-wings (speed 5 and counter lets them engage and be effective without squadrons)

Nebs aren't amazing straight anti-ship apart from Salvation, and they're great at supporting squadrons with the escort variant's 2-anti squadron and 2 squadron. I fit as many squadrons as I can after stuffing in 3 nebs and both offensive titles

Afmkiis are flexible enough to go whichever way, catering to either straight anti-ship or squadron support (dat haven) or even both. How many squadrons you bring and which depends on your playstyle.

Squadrons are massively important, even if only to counter other squadrons (since they are the most effective anti-squadron weapon thanks to engagement, bar none) which is something imperials especially have to take into consideration

This game is balanced enough that any list can work....so full squadron lists are potentially very good, and no squadron lists are potentially very good, and everything in between.

More important than the composition of the list are objective choices, the initiative bid, the choice to go first or second, and most importantly, how you use what you have on the table.

This game is balanced enough that any list can work....so full squadron lists are potentially very good, and no squadron lists are potentially very good, and everything in between.

More important than the composition of the list are objective choices, the initiative bid, the choice to go first or second, and most importantly, how you use what you have on the table.

All that is plausible, provided that your opponents bring 'any given list'. However, because like with any game of this nature there's going to be a 'meta', and certain lists will perform better against certain other lists. You'll want to have the better-performing list in your meta environment, whatever that is.

To the OP: it really depends on what your opponents are bringing. If they're not bringing bombers and you've got fast ships, you're probably fine not bringing any squadrons. But will they oblige you in this way? If not, you'll want squadrons that will counter what they're going to bring.

(And, yes, I know that some people hate the whole concept of a 'meta', but that's like being a sailor who hates the sea.)

I don't dislike the concept of a 'meta', but what I do disagree with is the assumption that metas remain static.

All it takes is someone to be a one-trick pony for 2 wins, and then a terrible loss, before they change their tac.

(And, yes, I know that some people hate the whole concept of a 'meta', but that's like being a sailor who hates the sea.)

But the OP was only asking in general if squadrons were an essential part of the game. And as far as I can tell, the "strongest list" meta discussions (such as they are) include both squadron heavy Gallant Haven lists, and no-squadron Star Destroyer lists. And balanced lists seem to do just fine as well.

Yes, of course some lists will do better against others...but that's not what the OP was asking about.

Striker, play some games, see if you enjoy using squadrons, figure out what works for you, and then start making some lists. There truly is no "best" way, only what's best for you.

(And, yes, I know that some people hate the whole concept of a 'meta', but that's like being a sailor who hates the sea.)

But the OP was only asking in general if squadrons were an essential part of the game. And as far as I can tell, the "strongest list" meta discussions (such as they are) include both squadron heavy Gallant Haven lists, and no-squadron Star Destroyer lists. And balanced lists seem to do just fine as well.

Yes, of course some lists will do better against others...but that's not what the OP was asking about.

Quite right. I may have been partly distilling a related conversation.

Still, I do think my first post gets at the question, though I should not have focused as much on Maturin's point as I did. The point is that the amount and type of squadrons that you ideally want to bring will depend on what you think your opponents are going to bring. That, in turn, may depend on what they think you are going to bring, if they are thinking about it in such a strategic way.

Without any information, you probably want to just bring squadrons that will cover your ships' Achilles heels. If you're bringing VSDs, you'll want to bring TIE fighters to keep the bombers off your ships, but you won't need to bring a full 100 point allotment. Just enough to TIE up those bombers.

In my area I have been seeing three capital ships with 4 or 5 fighters with them and that it works well with both rebel and imperial factions.

Honestly j want to see what a one minimum ship plus an excess of 200 fighters plays like. Is it actually any good?

That'd be an interesting experiment.

My guess is the list would really suck. Only one ship buddy for activation, and once it goes down all the squadrons evaporate.

I guess that implies the squadron cap is there for theme/aesthetics and not for game balance.

What could do with investigation is how many more squadrons than you can potentially activate with commands is viable.

without Squadron commands, fighters really have a hard time being effective. You need that initial Move and shoot for the "shock" to tip the fighter battle in your favor. once they win their engagement usually the command ship is to far away, and they will need to spend a round to get into position if they can. Most people on these forums try to match ship squadron values with the number of squadrons.

Typically in my games the first two rounds they put themselves in position, and by round 3 they are engaged. With interceptors (or a-wings) they are engaged by round 2. Rounds 3 and 4 are spent in a furball engagement, round 5 is a re-engagement, or reposition, and maybe have another shot in the final round.

Honestly j want to see what a one minimum ship plus an excess of 200 fighters plays like. Is it actually any good?

Fighters can be very random, bombers less so but still rather random. Some games they will be great others you'll wish you hadn't spent a point on them.

Becuase of the shoot or move mechanic, having just a large number of squadrons they would struggle to get to position to fire on a ship.

In my area I have been seeing three capital ships with 4 or 5 fighters with them and that it works well with both rebel and imperial factions.

This seems to be what my friends and I are leaning towards when we play together as well. It seems to work out and it's an enjoyable list. You have a few big ships to maneuver around with plenty of squadrons to still have some fun and utilize good squadron dials.

The important thing to consider is what role you are going to utilize for your squadrons. If you are going to use them as ablative armor / Bomber interceptors for your Victories, then you only need enough to tie up the opponent's squadrons for a few turns. If you are going superiority, than you need enough anti-squadron attack power to overwhelm what your opponents are likely to field, and no more. If you are going the bomber escort route, than you just need enough ships to tie up the opponent's fighters, and then a bomber or two to discourage approach of your vulnerable ships (i.e. NebBs). If you are going Bomber heavy on the offensive, than you need a lot of fighters for protection in case the opponent went Superiority.

So for total points, it goes something like this:

No Squadrons / All Ship Build > Fighter Escort > Superiority > Bomber Escort > Bomber Attack.

To answer the original question.....

As with all these type of games, after the wife notices the amount of expansions, then add one more.

For me, 5 packs of each fighter pack. I think she knew something was up at 3 and was testing me.

I either failed orn passed depending on your point of view.