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.

apples and oranges there. You don't run have to run VSDs for their black dice

if the VSD-2 were the one with black dice, then we'd be putting short range fire on a not terribly maneuverable ship. As is, you're paying extra points to get more reliable anti-ship fire (increased range)

the VSD-1 is the default cheap setting, which is not there for firepower as much as bulk/area-denial/squadron support unless you do something silly like give it expanded launchers, which just happens to have black dice

My luck is seemingly to always have one ship escape with 1 hull and then be the difference in a win or a loss. If only Warlord wasn't unique.

This is all going to change come wave 2. VSD 2's are going to be great medium range ships then. With SW-7 Ions possibly causing Accuracies to deal damage. . . Oh it will be interesting to see

This is all going to change come wave 2. VSD 2's are going to be great medium range ships then. With SW-7 Ions possibly causing Accuracies to deal damage. . . Oh it will be interesting to see

VSD 2 with dominator, enhanced armament, and SW-7 Ions (if it does what we think it does), will be pretty deadly. When you spend your 2 shields attacking at close/medium range, you will have 3 red/3blue from your sides and 3 red/5blue from your front arc...no where will be safe

... Which is where the Bombers will really come into play...

... Which is where the Bombers will really come into play...

I dont know. . . At that point a VSD will have a .75 damage rate against squadrons with SW-7's. . .

... Which is where the Bombers will really come into play...

I dont know. . . At that point a VSD will have a .75 damage rate against squadrons with SW-7's. . .

It doesn't change the fundamental of the fact that they're throwing 1 Dice. With potentially a Reroll.

It is still 1 die that has better damage potential than 2 dice. That is what you are getting for this single upgrade. Now to add on to that, you get 1 damage against ships with every blue die instead of the .75 that you had before. I think it is worth the points

Not saying it isn't.

I was merely pointing out that when you start gearing for anti-ship, the answer might be Squadrons. That is all.

Not saying it isn't.

I was merely pointing out that when you start gearing for anti-ship, the answer might be Squadrons. That is all.

They are always a possibility. I am just saying that there are going to be more options coming up that will change the way we think. Besides, I want a cheaper answer than Advanced Gunnery and Enhanced Armaments.

To answer the original question, I think Gunnery Teams are absolutely the first choice. I'm generally an impulse shopper, but Boardy and many others have felt the wrath of the Gunnery Teams on my VSD's. But when it comes to cold hard mathematics, I think it also is pretty plain to see.

Think about it like this, if you pay 10 points for enhanced armaments, and take a side shot in rounds 2 - 6, you generate 5 extra dice. Let's say you're having a terrible game and you actually shoot out of BOTH sides every round 2 - 6 (I have some questions about your flying technique...), you generate 10 extra dice. But conservatively, you're paying 2 points per dice generated.

Now say you have Gunnery Teams and you are able to generate extra front shots. Let's assume a VSD1, just for basic math.

Shots Dice at Short Dice at Long

1 6 3

2 12 6

3 18 9

I think it's pretty clear that it ramps up quite sharply. If you're terribly out of position and can only generate 2 side shots in a turn, you still generate either 2 or 3 extra dice in that turn.

I realize that these extra dice you are generating are applied to other ships, this is where gunnery teams on multiple VSD's or having Gladiators to do extra work comes in handy, because a VSD2 at medium range for example, if it can generate 2 forward arc shots, is going to soak up a lot of damage tokens.

Another thing to consider is programming more Navigate moves than Concentrate Firepower in this scenario as well, because being able to generate extra dice in the form of forward arc shots is probably better than 1 extra die on 1 shot.

I generally run a VSD of any sort with Gunnery Teams automatically, unless for some reason I really feel like I want Flight Controllers in that particular build, and I can't see it getting any less likely I'll take them on every ISD I field as well. It's literally the biggest force multiplier for a decently maneuvered VSD you can have, in my opinion.

PS - You can also splash that single blue over enemy fighters out of the same arc you are pummeling a ship from, again, it doesn't sound like much, but read my tournament report on the 9 Y-Wing list, without the ability to shoot his ships and fighters from the same arc he could have saved 50+ points of fighters from death by crowding them into the arc I was likely to use to fire on his ships.