So I'm still tinkering around with a 300 point list for the Sullust tourney and I am afraid that the meta is shifing towards squadrons a little bit (based on what I see around the forums). Therefore, I've sacrificed some of the ship upgrades to add some anti-squadron duty fighters. What do you guys think? I'm really curious

Vic-II w/ Screed
Vic-I

Glad-I w/ Demolisher, ACM

Two interceptors
Howlrunner

Total: 295

Objectives: Advanced Gunnery, Hyperspace, and Minefields

The idea is to keep the fighters alive (Margin of Victory and such), so I'm going to hang them around the ships and wait until they have a good opportunity to strike at once and pick off enemies.

Hmmm... I'm not a fan of interceptors solely because they're nearly 50% more expensive than TIE-Fighters. For that, they get +1 Blue, +1 speed, and the Counter special rule. If you're pairing them with Howl Runner, then the speed isn't that great of a thing, since she'll be limiting their speed overall (though the difference between 4 and 5 is so small, honestly, it makes little difference). The +1 Blue Die is alright, but Counter is really sorta 'meh' on this fighter, because taking one round of a shooting could totally end you with only 3 hull.

I'd rather take 3 TIE Fighters and Howl over 2 TIE-Interceptors and Howl. With Howl out there, you're not going to lose much punch (since you'll be getting another +1 die on the extra TIE Fighter, plus the TIE Fighter's original three which helps off-balance the loss of Counter and the extra shots the Interceptors get). This also helps against unique character squadrons, who can use disperses and braces to lower your damage. More attacks means less negation by defensive tokens.

TIE Fighters aren't as sexy, but I think they're the most effective choice for their points that the Imperials have (except maybe the Advanced).

I have always included Gunnery Teams on my VSDs, don't recall a single time I've regretted it.

I'm a huge fan of Enhanced Armament for my Victory IIs and Expanded Launchers for my Victory Is. For the former, working a mid-range, it makes the side arcs more effective, while the latter makes it death for anything to take a full frontal from the Vic at close range for more than a turn.

I could drop the Interceptors down to regulars and put in Gunnery Team on the two and make it 296

3 3-health ties aren't really going to do much against a supposedly expanding squadron meta

as for whether or not Vics need upgrades, imo yes until 400 points. @ 400, we'll have Vader to make them awesome regardless (though those tractor beams...so I guess they'll still be taking upgrades)

atm, though, their horrendous slowness is a miss-match for the zippy demolisher/afmk2s you tend to find out on the playmat. As such, I always kit mine out to try and overcome their front-arc dependency

The carrier VSD (flight controllers, hangars) does this by focusing on squadrons (who don't care about your arcs at all)

Dominator works out of any hullzone and it makes you terrifying at any angle except maybe the butt

Warlord also works out of any hullzone, and with h9s it can pack a punch. It's also a dirty trick to guarantee damage against enemy squadrons (no matter what you roll, you can h9 and then Warlord it into a hit). Personally, I'd take a VSD-1 w/h9s + warlord any day over a naked VSD-2 (only 4 more points!).

it's pretty disgusting with Skreed auto-correcting your black blanks and then Warlord either pouring on another double hit red and/or h9 pushing your damage past brace tokens

I like Warlord and Intel Officer.

Any red accuracy you roll becomes a double hit, and even then (or if you didn't roll any to begin with) you still get to block a defense token of your choice. So only an all-blanks roll will ever do zero damage, except against a Corvette at long range.

3 3-health ties aren't really going to do much against a supposedly expanding squadron meta

as for whether or not Vics need upgrades, imo yes until 400 points. @ 400, we'll have Vader to make them awesome regardless (though those tractor beams...so I guess they'll still be taking upgrades)

atm, though, their horrendous slowness is a miss-match for the zippy demolisher/afmk2s you tend to find out on the playmat. As such, I always kit mine out to try and overcome their front-arc dependency

The carrier VSD (flight controllers, hangars) does this by focusing on squadrons (who don't care about your arcs at all)

Dominator works out of any hullzone and it makes you terrifying at any angle except maybe the butt

Warlord also works out of any hullzone, and with h9s it can pack a punch. It's also a dirty trick to guarantee damage against enemy squadrons (no matter what you roll, you can h9 and then Warlord it into a hit). Personally, I'd take a VSD-1 w/h9s + warlord any day over a naked VSD-2 (only 4 more points!).

it's pretty disgusting with Skreed auto-correcting your black blanks and then Warlord either pouring on another double hit red and/or h9 pushing your damage past brace tokens

So, are you saying go big or go home on squadrons?

bigger not big

if you just want enough to chump-block enemy bombers while you kill the ships, cut down to the same points worth of generic tie fighters. They're cheaper, come with more bodies, and will annoy your opponent for longer.

for 1 howlie and 2 'ceptors (3 bodies) and 2 more points, you could get 5 meatshields

if you want to actually kill things, you'll need at least 2 more interceptors/fighters. Interceptors hit hard, but they're always just one roll away from going splat.

I personally think that the Victory upgrades that are most effective are:

Victory-I: Assault Concussion Missiles (esp. With Screed) for extra damage (expanded launchers is more random and expensive). Makes the ship hit even harder at close range.

Victory-II: Gunnery Team. Gets the most out of that lovely front arc and mid range firepower, picking multiple targets in one turn, potentially with 6 dice each.

I try not to leave home without these upgrades. Add Demolisher and ACMs to taste.

I was considering dumping the Interceptors and Howl-Runner for a mini Rhymer-Ball with Rhymer and Two TIE Adv. I could add in a third Advanced, but then I would need to run squadron commands on two ships to move everyone (and no more points to add in Exp. Hangar Bay). That leaves me at 297, but once again no upgrades on the VSDs. I could drop down the Vic-II to a Vic-I and add in flight controllers (just in case I really need to take out a squadron) on one and ACMs on the other, putting me at 298.

That list would like:

Vic-1 w/ Screed and Flight Controllers
Vic-1 w/ ACMs

Glad-1 w/ Demolisher and ACMs

Rhymer
2x TIE Advanced

Objectives:

Advanced Gunnery
Hyperspace Assault
Minefields.

Note: I'm more than open for suggestions on the Vics (and anything else I guess)

I like it. I ran a similar list and managed to win a local tournament, just had a few TIE fighters instead and juiced up one of the Victorys to a Vic-II with gunnery teams.

Whatever list you go with, nailing the tactics and your plan is really important. And some practice!!

I was considering dumping the Interceptors and Howl-Runner for a mini Rhymer-Ball with Rhymer and Two TIE Adv. I could add in a third Advanced, but then I would need to run squadron commands on two ships to move everyone (and no more points to add in Exp. Hangar Bay). That leaves me at 297, but once again no upgrades on the VSDs. I could drop down the Vic-II to a Vic-I and add in flight controllers (just in case I really need to take out a squadron) on one and ACMs on the other, putting me at 298.

That list would like:

Vic-1 w/ Screed and Flight Controllers

Vic-1 w/ ACMs

Glad-1 w/ Demolisher and ACMs

Rhymer

2x TIE Advanced

Objectives:

Advanced Gunnery

Hyperspace Assault

Minefields.

Note: I'm more than open for suggestions on the Vics (and anything else I guess)

Are you sure those objectives are right for your build?

Since you're running Screed and ACMs (and no VSD-II to take advantage of AdvGun), wouldn't Opening Salvo work better? It's a ton of guaranteed damage.

Also not a big fan of Minefields as it offers no extra victory points. Maybe Superior Positions? It goes well with the Ryhmerball and lets you deploy those VSD-Is optimally.

With regard to the original list:

I would not take a VSDII without a gunnery team unless I literally had no other option to free up points for them than cutting a ship or a truly mission essential upgrade (e.g. my commander).

The threat of that thing is the front arc; being able to fire something that wide, twice, with six dice at medium range is the entire reason to take that ship. If you aren't running a gunnery team, honestly, just downgrade to a Vic-I.

DiabloAzul, I'm afraid of doing Opening Salvo because of Margin of Victory (I feel that it helps Rebels out much more anyway). I will take another look at the blue and yellow though (maybe Contested Outpost).

Do you guys think the ACMs are a wise addition to the Vic-I or do you think that the extra initiative bid would be better?

It depends how many ships you have. With 4 ships I worry less about initiative bid because unless my opponent has 5+, which means they are rather weak, they can't go first and last simultaneously.

With 3 ships, I'd definitely be worried about my bid, as then you can have something like Demolisher go last in one turn, first in the next, and one shot a ship before you move if the other guy took 4.