Hello guys !

The couple of squadron threads led me to think about anti-fighter capabilities of ships, and how to better leverage them in lists. I'd love if we could all share our experiences about that !

In all my games, my opponents are very proficient in playing with their fighters. Whether it's to counteract a Bomber Wing or deal damage to ships, they are always sound investments.

We all know that the best way to deal with enemy fighters and bombers is to destroy them in the ship phase prior to them being activated by another ship, as their efficiency dramatically reduces in the squadron phase. And that is done either by sending fighters of your own or using your ships' anti-fighter dice.

Now, only 3 ship variants have 2 blue anti-fighter dice as of Wave 1 :

1) AFMK2 A

2) Neb B Escort

3) Gladiator II

I've always been a fighter lover and in all games where I throw squadrons I usually ensure wins Recently, I did try 300 points list with only 2 squadrons and had trouble dealing with the enemy fighters. The list was : 1wing + Tycho, AFMK2 A, 2 Neb B Support Refits. The AFMK2 A was specced as Paragon, Enhanced Armament, Sensor Team and didn't really ever fire an arc at the squadrons.

All in all, I really was less effective than expected against squadrons.

Now, the more I think about it, the lighter you go on squadrons, the higher your need is for at least one dedicated anti-squadron ship, that will use both 2 blue dice as well as squadron commands (it's funny to see that every ship that has 2 blue anti-fighter dice also have 2 squadrons ).

I can really see a good combination going for squadron commands plus anti-fighter barrage to provide good anti-fighter capabilities to deal with them in one swift stroke.

The AFMK2 A is a bit weird in this regard, due to it kind of wanting to use its broadsides against ships but it's also where the enemy squadrons are likely to go (maybe Gunnery Team woud help ?)

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And you, how have you used your ships to combat squadrons ?

Cheers !

I went with the AFMKIIA, and the Neb-B Yavaris (+ a Corv) to a Tournament where I was the only Rebel.

What it let me do, is keep my Y-Wings and B-Wings *behind* my Ships. With Banked Squadron Tokens from Garm, I set up a threat that basically said "My Ships will be over here... Feel free to bring your Ships over to mine, where you want to be, Dirty Imperials, and I'll shove a Wall of B-Wings down your Throats..."

This of course, encouraged them to try to move their TIE Fighters and Interceptors forwards to either Pin down my Bombers Early, or to set up to where I was going to want to be moving my Bombers.

This in effect, draws those likely armoured TIEs into firing Range, where I am - occasionally - still out of Ship Range.

With Yavaris as well, my Bombers are likely to be in Range of Yavaris when they get pinned down - if they get pinned down - which gives Yavaris shots on them.

I find its all about the Bait.

This isn't so much for the here and now rather than the near future, but I know one of the first ways I plan to try and use anti-squadron fire when wave 2 hits: Ruthless Strategists. I figure that I can probably afford to go full bomber list, and even if my opponent does have fighters, I can start trading in the bombers' HP to kill off the enemy squadrons.

Another tactic I'm starting to look at is the idea of keeping my squadrons close to a black/blue ship until they're ready to be activated. Whilst the black anti-squadron dice are shorter range, they are also more powerful, and I figure the range isn't as big of an issue if you're dictating where the enemy squadrons need to go

The other side of it is...

... I'd almost always take a Neb-B Escort, anyway.

I don't think I'm paying a Tax in points for those Anti-Squadrons - they were going to be paid anyway.

Same with the AFMKII-A... I'm finding it just too useful with its other dice, to go without. So the "tax" in points is already budgeted.

personally, not impressed with anti-squadron batteries in general. I've only seen it really decimate ties and be useful with gunnery team, otherwise it's jsut a matter of smashing squadrons into the same arc as your ships are approaching from to force some really bad choices

Neb-B escorts are about the only time I invest in it, and then it's because they also get squadron 2. These guys are fun, because they cover b-wing with something akin to a cheesegrater that grates tie fighters

the greatest anti-squadron asset imo is Haven. Haven with just 3 aces has routinely gobbled far superior numbers of squadrons, simply because the aces refuse to take damage

there's also the h9 + warlord combo, which guarantees squadron damage if you got the shot. This becomes far more likely with gunnery team

MOV for tabling needs to be fixed first.

Imo, also better damage rates for fighters need to be worked out too.

That is not what this thread is about, at all really.

I've used gsd 2s and a Vic in most my games. And with only one exception squads have not been a problem for me. But. I see people getting better and experimenting more. I think the anti squad dice has to be supplemented by a few ties. Or something. 2 blue is just not good enough. Lol

If playing Rebel, I think I'd almost always take an 11-point A-wing over a 12-point "upgrade" from AF2B to AF2A. If only because, while two blue dice will shred TIE Fighters and Interceptors, they will simply fail to kill anything else fast enough to make a difference. An A-wing, on the other hand, can generally pin down enemy bombers for a round or two, which is often enough.

If playing Imperial, you don't want to lose black dice on your Glad's broadside. And again, you're not going to take out Y-wings or B-wings or even X-wings with anti-squadron fire - either you send some TIEs after them, or you'll just have to weather the storm.

its a 9 point upgrade.....

Anyways, I did chew through a flight of I think 5 Y-wings in 2-3 turns when my opponent accidentally flung them too far forward on turn 2, so my 2 AFMrk2 A's had only squadron targets for that turn. 3rd turn one still focused on squadrons and the other started on the ships, and on the 4th turn the 1-2 survivors started flying away to deny me victory points.

Now I want to try a frigate with gunnery team and point defense reroute. That way you can use your huge broadside arcs for anti-ship AND anti-squadron activities! And re-rolling the crits would of been very helpful that match, so I am reading over that upgrade again.

I would say that the squadron defenses are decent enough as it is, don't make it any stronger.

If playing Rebel, I think I'd almost always take an 11-point A-wing over a 12-point "upgrade" from AF2B to AF2A. If only because, while two blue dice will shred TIE Fighters and Interceptors, they will simply fail to kill anything else fast enough to make a difference. An A-wing, on the other hand, can generally pin down enemy bombers for a round or two, which is often enough.

If playing Imperial, you don't want to lose black dice on your Glad's broadside. And again, you're not going to take out Y-wings or B-wings or even X-wings with anti-squadron fire - either you send some TIEs after them, or you'll just have to weather the storm.

Not sure if the Glad II red dice is such a liability - lots of good results on it, and if it ends up with a bad result you can use it to fuel Screed.

My main issue with the II is that 2 blue anti-squadron dice looks good on paper, but too often there are other (ship) targets that require attention. Same with the other 2-dice ships for that matter.

If you have Demolisher on a GSDII it can open up some nasty options for anti-squadron fire. Imagine firing on a group of enemy squadrons from your front arc, then moving, then firing again from your side arc, for a total for 4 blue dice against every fighter in that ball. If you really want some laughs, throw on a Ruthless Strategist and he'll trigger twice against each squadron in the target ball (assuming you get some of your own squadrons to move in before you fire).

The best bit is that being a GSDII doesn't particularly get in the way of Demolisher being used for anti-ship duties. It just opens up the extra option of going for the fighters if they're more of a threat (or if the time is wrong to pounce on an enemy ship).

If you have Demolisher on a GSDII it can open up some nasty options for anti-squadron fire. Imagine firing on a group of enemy squadrons from your front arc, then moving, then firing again from your side arc, for a total for 4 blue dice against every fighter in that ball. If you really want some laughs, throw on a Ruthless Strategist and he'll trigger twice against each squadron in the target ball (assuming you get some of your own squadrons to move in before you fire).

The best bit is that being a GSDII doesn't particularly get in the way of Demolisher being used for anti-ship duties. It just opens up the extra option of going for the fighters if they're more of a threat (or if the time is wrong to pounce on an enemy ship).