Hey guys, first post. I've been playing since the game has come out (about 10 games), but I'm trying to get my first tourney under my belt.

Here's what I'm thinking:

-VSD I w/ Screed, assault concussion missiles, gunnery team

-VSD I w/ assault concussion missiles, gunnery team

-Gladiator I w/ Demolisher, Engine Techs, Assault concussion missiles, veteran captain (for the speed token in emergencies).

Comes out to 284 (16 point initiative bid)

Objectives: Contested Outpost, Minefield, Advanced Gunnery

I know there's no squadrons, but I find being outnumbered for activations is way more of a disadvantage. Basically, I'll ignore all squadrons and just go for ship kills.

Glad will be objective ship if Adv. Gunnery is selected

Not sure about the Contested Outpost though. Thoughts?

If taking 2 Vic's I'd be tempted to take two VSD2's and give them both leading shots maybe give one Dominator. 16 point's is way too much for a bid, I run my lists at 296 and have never been under bid.

Vic 2 + Screed + Leading shots.

Vic 2 + Dominator + Leading shots.

Glad 1 + ACM + Demolisher + Engine Techs at 297 would be my suggestion.

Or drop Engine tech's and take a Tie/Squint to tie up enemy bomber balls.

You don't really need more on a Glad than ACM and Demolisher either, engine techs can be good but not necessary.

Welcome to the forum! I like the list, but the natural weakness is against enemy squadrons. I use a very similar fleet with a handful of TIEs just to bog down any pesky bombers long enough for my fleet to sweep past at flank speed. The alternative might be to take a Gladiator-II to snipe out the enemy squadrons in between munching corvettes.

I also think Gunnery Teams aren't that useful on a Victory-I, as their best range is short range - there are rarely two ships in that killzone at the same time. Spending those points on Dominator for the non-flagship might be a nice way to add some extra punch as needed, or H9 turbolasers for accuracy results. In my experience, Victory-Is get one good shot per game - so they really want to make it hurt. Kovutalli's suggestions are also very solid.

Good luck, hope you bag yourself an ISD!

Hey guys, thanks for the tips. If I upgrade one Vic-I to a Vic-2, should I do the other as well? For squadrons, just vanilla TIEs for screening or Interceptors for potentially worthwhile damage to the bombers?

And alas, KovuTalli, leading shots is one of the only cards I don't own (have 2 cores and one each of the expansions, plus a couple of cards here and there I've picked up). Is Overload Pulse an acceptable substitute or does that card suck (I haven't really used it any)?

Mundo, I definitely see how gunnery team isn't the greatest on Vic-Is (I think this comes from my last game coming up against three Neb-bs that ran abreast of each other and wrecked my beautiful VSDs, which I agree has biased me ).

I've had a lot of success recently with a Vic II, and two Glads and a smattering of TIES. You're onto a good formula. If you keep both Vics, I'd recommend, as mentioned, switching one to a Vic II, that way you can use the varying threat ranges to trap your opponent, if that makes sense. I'd definitely recommend dropping a couple upgrades (Engine Techs, Gunnery team on Vic 1 maybe) so you can get a few TIE Fighters, if nothing else. Having just a couple of squadrons can throw a wrench into bomber wings and the like.

Also Re: Initiative, in real life, I've never seen more than an 11 point lead, usually that's overkill. I'd say you can be at 291/292 with 99.9% the same effect.

So this brings me to 281, what upgrades do you recommend for the VSDs (I'd like to stick at 293 or below)?

VSD-II w/ Screed

VSD-I

Glad I w/ Demolisher and ACM

3x TIE fighters

Just some thoughts off hand, given your constraints. Leading Shots plus Gunnery Team maybe? (292) Or perhaps Leading Shots and H9 Turbo Lasers? (293) These would all be for the VSD II. If you want something for the Vic I, perhaps a Nav Team so you can use tokens to turn faster when you don't have that maneuver planned?

I guess it depends on what's being played in your area, but I rarely see an initiative bid of more than three points. Last tournament I played at (though that was several months ago now) everyone I played against was at 300pts exactly, and from talking to my opponents everything they'd played against was also at 300.

You could consider Wulff Yularen instead of the Veteran Captain on the Gladiator. Take a manoeuvre token in turn one, then Wulff lets you re-use that token all game while your dial focusses on other commands. Likewise it means if you're not using that token in a turn he can be used on whatever other token you've got generated (if you don't need to Engine Techs for a turn then maybe he could be keeping your Concentrate Fire to deal more damage, or Engineering to keep the ship alive depending on what you've got and the position you're in).

what about just putting Dominator on the Vic-II (or even the Vic-I for a little medium range punch)?

Also, what is the love for leading shots on the Vic-II? I feel I'm missing something that is obvious to everyone else, but blue dice are guranteed to do something and statisically speaking 3 red dice should only come up with one blank (which Screed turns to a crit).

Akhrin, that idea with Wulff piqued my interest. I'll definitely keep that in mind during my practice rounds. Broady, your tips are on my radar as well. thanks

How about Ion Cannon Batteries instead of Leading Shots ? Leading shots can work, but spending a blank red dice to get a free blue crit works well with Screed.

Adding H9s on Vic-1 and Ion cannons on the Vic-2 brings me up to 294. Does that sound good?

H9s could be really helpful on the Vic1, might let you stop that Brace token that reduces black die damage output so severely.

Try H9's and Warlord! You can pull that double hit out even on side attacks, unless you roll 2 blanks of course. Then again, you could include sensor team instead of H9's, and then add Enhanced armaments.

Also, try 295 points. You will still be underbid and can choose from your opponents objectives.