I have only a little experience with the game so far, but it seems to me that if you can achieve fighter superiority, then you don't really need squad commands a lot after that, unless you are chasing something fast. you can be free to send y-wings on a deep strike to hammer that vic across the table. I also think that a few bombers or bwings make good body guards for capital ships. a few bombers behind a victory for that corevette that comes around behind, or the bwing beat sticks waiting on that gladiator.

Squadrons are not viable? You can’t be serious. This whole line of thought is baseless, the guys at IFF tell us this, or look at the list that won GenCon. Come on guys use a little bit of thought here.

Killing 300 points of ships is hard when all you have is 200 points of ships, is the suggestion here that my 100 points of squadrons is sitting on the hands doing nothing? For this statement to be even remotely true the points cost for squadrons has to be quite significantly out.

I would also ask, do you need 100 points of squadrons, I think a group of 40-70 points would be quite sufficient to spoil any plans your opponent has.

Deployment Advantage has been covered, as has Activation Advantage. But the idea that I can take a ship and shoot with it and in addition give 3-5 squadrons an order no one is talking to the advantage that the fighters have in that deliver their attacks in addition to the ship supplying the order.

So having a single activation have 3-5 dice of various colours added to the 2-6 dice you’ll get off the ship can create a decently sized damage bubble. A four ship build may start with an activation advantage but I question it being able to hold onto it through the whole game.

Kill the carrier? Why do you suppose that I have to take a Carrier, a single AF or VSD will activate 3 squadrons, 4 with a token. So why have the Expanded Hangers and all those upgrade cards that add one or two more squadrons into the mix. Why not just build a ship that can activate a handful of squadrons but still shoot every bit as well as it otherwise could.

Having more than I can activate in a single turn isn’t a bad thing either, holding something back in reserve is never that bad, unless you are clairvoyant and can see where your opponent will be in a turn or two.

I also think the rather basic victory condition is obvious, kill the ships, and perhaps that works. But a fleet with squadrons could just use the damage bubble it has to create a few good hits and just aim for being 91vp ahead each game. Once it gets its points it runs away if it needs to. Many of the Rebel ships fire backwards almost as good as they do forwards, so running isn’t that bad an option at times.

In an all ship meta, guess what, Squadrons can win.

I don't think anyone is arguing that squadrons are useless, but are they efficient? You have to first reserve a stack of points to bring squadrons, which means one (or more) less ships. The activation advantage is huge, by the way.

Secondly, you need to ensure you bring enough ships with a cumulative squadron command equal to your number of squadrons for the most effectiveness. Sure, you can play defensively by having squadrons hug your ships every turn, but that's several turns of invested points doing no damage while your opponent uses his full ~300 point list to smash you. Lastly, you must issue squadron commands instead of increasing damage (concentrate fire), gaining positional advantage (navigate) or repairing (engineering).

It's a complicated process to maximise the effectiveness of squadrons, and some players may think it's too costly. Also, let's not forget that competitive players always gravitate to the most efficient builds possible because they want to win consistently. Squadrons see plenty of use in casual games, I'd bet (I use squadron-heavy lists all the time at home).

If you are using your Squadron Commands to consistently ensure you are getting Squadrons to attack enemy ships, then the Squadron Command is going to be dramatically more effective then Concentrate Fire will be at increasing damage output. Which is the point a poster made fairly recently. The opportunity cost of the different Command, particularly when comparing Concentrate Fire and the Squadron Command, is of less concern then the opportunity cost in points.