http://raisedeflectorshields.com/2015/07/18/harnessing-the-power-of-imperial-squadrons-part-iii-strategy-and-battle-reports/

The final part of the three-part series of flying with Imperial squadrons! A discussion of strategy and tactics, as well as some of the battle reports that I did record. I love getting constructive criticism and learning ways I can improve on my blog, my writing, and especially on the points made in the article itself.

Additionally, if any of you are itching to get your thoughts out there, I am looking for more people to help write! The more good player content, the better the game gets for everyone!

Great reports!!

some of the best I have read actually.

The second list up there was nearly identicle to the one I ran at a tournament I played in last week, it worked really well and is Amazingly fun to play(it helped that I went home with a medel) anyway good advice

Hmmmm have you considered using a defense liason instead of Wulf? It would allow you to bank a CF and Squadron Token or even a Repair token and get you a navigation command whenever you need it.

You could do the reverse with a Weapons Liason and just have navigate commands all the time.

Now this is what I'm talking about! Absolutely impeccable job, mate! It's been a terrific series and I've really enjoyed each of these articles. That said, this really is a capstone one, and one that I simply adored. It does what I've been genuinely interested in but I haven't seen a lot of: Squadron formations. I wanted to know the experiences with the ins and outs of how and importantly why they should be deployed and kept like that. And you delivered more than I could have ever hoped to ask for.

The battle reports were brief enough that we could read them like case studies and still get a very good idea of the reasons on why they're illustrations, thus they feel less like anecdotes for it. What can I say, you nailed it, and got a fan (and I generally am not a huge tactica person as they tend towards the gamey in prose).

Speaking of prose, I'm still absolutely adoring each little literary blurb and excerpt: they set the mood wonderfully and really lend a character and completeness to it that marries the game aspects with the narrative aspect that I heavily favour. Likewise, they're not too long for those individuals who don't like them.

H'excellent, simply h'excellent.

Likewise, I'll echo Lyraeus: what's your thoughts on the Weapons Liaison? I mean, I like Wulff but I've just been using him to bank 1 navigate command for an engine modified Gladiator so I could always have that threat of a burst of speed on my opponent's mind (a counter in itself, thugh it effectively leaves me with just 1 command token). Ah, I digress! A rebel equivalent is naturally interesting, and I'd just be happy to hear about the general squadron and even inter-squadron/ship formations (Like you did with the defended flank using the Victory to prevent gaps in the escort screen.)

What an excellent article! Well done!

Thanks guys! It was really fun to write, and I'm thinking of doing something on B-Wings next

Hmmmm have you considered using a defense liason instead of Wulf? It would allow you to bank a CF and Squadron Token or even a Repair token and get you a navigation command whenever you need it.

You could do the reverse with a Weapons Liason and just have navigate commands all the time.

I do actually like that idea, and haven't tried a liaison on Demolisher before! I did decide that, at least in this list, Wulff didn't help me as much as Intel Officer did, which is what I finally went with. When your bombers are only rolling 1 dice at medium range, Mon Mothma becomes an unbelievable pain in the A** and targeting her evade tokens with Intel, or even better when solely attacking with Demolisher, is a fantastic way to make up for the lack of black Accuracies and remove the evade tokens so that they are defenseless. I will try a liaison, though, because that sounds like great fun!

H'excellent, simply h'excellent.

Likewise, I'll echo Lyraeus: what's your thoughts on the Weapons Liaison? I mean, I like Wulff but I've just been using him to bank 1 navigate command for an engine modified Gladiator so I could always have that threat of a burst of speed on my opponent's mind (a counter in itself, thugh it effectively leaves me with just 1 command token). Ah, I digress! A rebel equivalent is naturally interesting, and I'd just be happy to hear about the general squadron and even inter-squadron/ship formations (Like you did with the defended flank using the Victory to prevent gaps in the escort screen.)

H'thank you so much! Glad I could provide useful information

As I think more about Liaisons, I like them on the Gladiator more and more. First round, Concentrate Fire, bank as token, then maybe Navigate to token if you don't need to use the command, and then Navigate Navigate Navigate for the rest of the game, spending one to Concentrate Fire (I'd do a Weapons Liaison) if you've got a good shot. Of course, the same could work with Defense Liaison, too... hmmm... maybe I'll do an article on liaisons

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

These reports are great! They are exactly what a newbie like me is looking for. After reading them I personally don't think that I'll go for this type of build, and yet I still feel that I now have a better grasp of fleet building and tactics (plus some intel on what to expect if I fly against this type of list). Looking forward to the next article!

flobbing AWESOME!

Great linkage, great explanations, no condescension or acronyms, etc. Great layout. Good pacing.

Do you think we could have a thread where people could post all of their teaching articles? I think it would be totally handy.

Do you think we could have a thread where people could post all of their teaching articles? I think it would be totally handy.

Do you think we could have a thread where people could post all of their teaching articles? I think it would be totally handy.

One of us will likely compose something that will get stickied.

On a more on topic note I liked how you put in demo ga!es to test your theories. Looking forward to your B-Wing article.

I'm curious about that rebel list you flew in the fourth game...the points add up to 292 so I think you left out a card. Do you remember what it was? Thanks!

Thanks for the tip! Indeed, Salvation carried an Intel Officer as well. I updated the post, thanks for the catch!

Great discussion. I liked the thoughts on formations and use of escorts, was quite original and went beyond the usual "use this combo" stuff.

Is it worth exploring the potential of something other than Rhymer ball? I used corruptor with 4 x plain tie bombers the other night. Quite effective, they almost nailed paragon through an unshielded side except that I mucked up my command dials and had an engineering rather than a third squadron command. I find if bombers work in close conjunction with capital ship guns they are far more effective.

I think that would be pretty effective too, the only problem is that to remain effective you almost have to continually spam Squadron commands, as you realized, especially against the faster Rebel ships. Rhymer, with his medium range, gives your squadrons semi-autonomy: although Squadron commands are still key, you have the flexibility of that range to still be effective at all moments of the game.