So, I'm trying to figure out which combination I like better: VSDs with Gunnery Team, or Enhanced Armament. They both lend to very different firing line approaches, and I wanted to see what you guys think.

Here are my thoughts:

Gunnery Team: Allowing you to fire twice out of your front arc is the best way to get the most number of dice out of a VSD's attacks. You get 6 Reds and 6 Blues, compared to the Enhanced Armament giving you only 6 Reds and 1 Blue. It's also the cheaper of the two options by a fair margin. However, it does come with the limitation of having to have more than one enemy in your front arc to be truly useful; otherwise, it's a waste of points. My best thought is to keep two VSDs side by side, and overlap their fields of fire, so any two ships that come into range take a double pounding of VSD front-arc madness. This strategy would be more effective against other Imperials, who have slower, less maneuverable ships. However, against Rebels, you're often at the disadvantage of being outmaneuvered.

Enhanced Armament: More expensive, at 10 points to the Gunnery Team's 7, and not quite as potentially effective. However, adding a red die to either of the ship's side arcs gives a good increase to its ability to lay down fire on smaller, more maneuverable ships. It is also more useful against single enemy ships, as you can double-arc them. In short, this upgrade is more expensive, less potentially destructive, but far more flexible and maneuverable.

So, what do you guys think?

I am known to be quite partial to the VSD-I, with Screed as my Fleet Commander, Assault Concussion Missiles and Gunnery Teams.

That said I think you can get a good use out of either, a lot would depend on how you and your opponent jockey for position. If you are prepared to bump and grind then the Gunnery team will do well. If you fly by then the Enhanced Armament does well.

I think my best advice is to play with both and see which one you like the best.

I've been using the VSD-IIs, because I like the range and I'm partial to Leading Shot giving such good odds of getting solid firing.

imo, neither

havn't gotten enough out of either upgrade for me to warrant putting them on my VSDs

Hm, an interesting proposal, fickle. How do you like to build your VSDs then?

either FC and hangars, or Dominator (with VSD-2, usually)--upgrades that deal primarily with mitigating its horrid maneuverability in the face of its front-arc dependency-- or nothing

haven't tried out H9 + warlord yet

naked like the day she was born.

naked like the day she was born.

I'd at least like to put Leading Shot on VSD-II's. It basically gives you a mulligan on a really bad roll.

I play with VSD-I with gunnery team against Imperial, and VSD-II with gunnery team and enhanced armament against Rebels.

Why not both upgrades? They dont compede for an upgrade slot, and in a way the gunnery team synergises well with any upgrade that increases firepower. If I had to decide between the two, I would take gunnery teams on a ship that is supposed to fly in formation, and enhanced armament on loner ships.

Why not both upgrades? They dont compede for an upgrade slot, and in a way the gunnery team synergises well with any upgrade that increases firepower. If I had to decide between the two, I would take gunnery teams on a ship that is supposed to fly in formation, and enhanced armament on loner ships.

It gets to be very expensive for both, and while they don't compete in a slot, they both lend to different strategies, so they don't quite compliment each other well.

naked like the day she was born.

I'd at least like to put Leading Shot on VSD-II's. It basically gives you a mulligan on a really bad roll.

Screed alleviates that a little atm. Though with 400 points, I'm likely going to be doing some Tarkin token shenanigans

Warlord H9 is still my favorite.

Warlord, H9 is phenomenal. Drop that on a VSD-1 and suddenly nowhere is safe.

Could you explain the warlord plus h9 combo to me? I dont quite understand the synergy... thanks

Warlord --> turn ACC to HIT

H9 --> turn HIT to ACC

red dice have a double HIT face, which yes you can turn to using Warlord. Essentially, this will double the damage of any one hit icon (hit --> acc --> hit + hit) and it works with both attacks out of any arc (no restrictions, as with EA)

If you're lucky enough to roll a red ACC (1/8 chance), then you can change a hit to an ACC and change that ACC to hit + hit for 1 more damage.

it also guarantees damage against enemy squadrons (no matter what you roll, you can h9 a blue CRIT to ACC and then warlord that ACC to a HIT. If you roll a blue ACC, just warlord it to a HIT. If you roll a HIT, then congrats!)

Note you don't have to use Warlord or h9 if you don't want. For example, if you roll 6 dice out the front and do some like 6 damage, you can opt to just use h9 to stop the enemy from bracing it down to 3.

As mentioned earlier, while it's not "on topic", I've also had some moderate success with Leading Shots. Cheap and effective. My last game I got pummeled by VSDs with Gunnery Team so I'm a little too close to it to say. But, Gunnery Team is a huge thing if used even once really. If nothing else, it allows you to fire at a ship AND do some squadron damage, right?

I would vote for Gunnery Team. The side arcs on the VSD are too small to warrant Enhanced Armament. At least, that is what I have noticed.

So spending 16 points to add 1 damage, at the cost of an accuracy....... The accuracy could net you more damage?

To the OP - my preference has changed from enhanced armament to gunnery team.

Gunnery Teams is what I go for with my VSDs. Since your firepower is concentrated in your nose being able to shoot two rebel ships with that arc is very useful. I just wish I could put Nav Teams on the VSD to maintain that arc better. Enhanced Armament is an upgrade that I much prefer on AFIIs.

So spending 16 points to add 1 damage, at the cost of an accuracy....... The accuracy could net you more damage?

that's 16 points to add 1 damage to any attack (and any # of attacks, the only limit is once per attack) you make out of any arc. It does not cost an ACC, because you would probably not roll that ACC with h9. If you roll a natural ACC and a hit, then it still doesn't cost you an ACC (the roll becomes hit + hit with warlord and ACC with h9)

compare that to the 10 points which add a red die from the two narrow side arcs

also remember, defense tokens are not like green dice in X-wing. You know when they're active, and you know when it's best to negate them or to push additional damage through. H9 + Warlord are at your complete beck and call.

the only real weakness is the evade token, which can negate the red double-hit pretty trivially. But hey, that's why they're both optional effects.

What is a better platform for warlord and H9, VSD 1 or VSD 2?

there's the rub

the VSD-2 is theoretically the better vessel because the blue dice let you dice fix like crazy and let you throw more dice at medium range, but **** gets expensive 31 points for the base VSD-1

the VSD-1 is obviously cheaper, and probably sufficient for all intents and purposes. Plus, black dice with ACC (ala h9, because red dice by themselves are too unreliable) is freakin painful. I'll give it a whirl tonight.

My main problem with the VSD-I is we're basically putting close range firepower on an ship that's not that greatly maneuverable or fast. I've felt from the get-go that, if you wanna run black dice, Gladiators are tailor made for the job.

Yes and No.

You play the standoff game somewhat... If the other guy wants to park his ship at long/medium range, and try to out shoot you, he's welcome to try... You have comparable shields and a lot more hull. Three Reds at long range is about what the enemy is throwing at you, usually...

If he closes in to medium, then two things happen - he's either trying to skirt you on the flank, or he's closing, in which case, you amp up your speed to max and wedge down his throat.

I've found a lot, that objectives are what makes the rebels come to a star destroyer... Twice now, I've spent 2 turns at Speed 0, just letting them get close, before firing up the engines.