So, building for Sullust like everyone else.

I'm having flashbacks to the last tournament I was in. My opponent and I were both taking Victory and Gladiator builds, but he cut his down to 296 points and managed to defeat me simply through holding Initiative. I'm determined not to let this happen again, and find myself building to 294.

Is this unreasonable? How low are you willing to go to claim the initiative?

Edit: Meant in the 200s instead of 300s, since wave 2 hasn't hit yet...

My current build for the Vassal tourney is 394.

Yes, I like the initiative bid, but if anything could be added to make my fleet hum better...I probably would. I could add some turbolasers or a couple vet captains but overall its not making my fleet better to do so...so, bid it is.

It all depends on how bad you want initiative I suppose.

Here's how I see it: at 10 point initiative bid, you're losing 3.3% of your total fleet cost, in exchange for what's probably guaranteed initiative. Even then, your opponent probably isn't sitting at 300 exactly either. If they're at 298 or 297, or heck, even 295 or so, you're only differing the two fleets' costs by only 5-8 points. In exchange for that, you get to pick the mission, and you have the initiative for the entire game. I find the initiative is imperative, because it lets you take advantage of placements that your opponent doesn't want. For instance, if an opponent ends a turn with one of their ships double-arced by a Gladiator, you can be darn sure they'll move that first if they have the initiative. However, if you have it first, you can blow their ship to kingdom come.

For 300 points 294 is the sweetspot for me, I used to run at 296 but a lot of glad lists bid for that now.

I haven't lost a game due to initiative, so I try to make the most of my fleets, and they usually end up in the 297-299 range.

I'm going back and forth between 294 and 297, myself. Trying to decide whether I want a six point bid, or a three point bid with Insidious on a Glad. I will probably end up settling for the three point bid... at least that's what I'm thinking tonight.