l ... but lord thats expensive. 115 points. You should take an ISD instead.

In comparsion, honestly, how many people are going to take a Naked ISD though?

At 400 points I'd even consider to take 5 naked VSDs ... so why shouldn't you want a naked ISD together with naked Raiders and naked squadrons?

At 400 points I'd even consider to take 5 naked VSDs ... so why shouldn't you want a naked ISD together with naked Raiders and naked squadrons?

Which, so far, from what we've seen on this forum, sets you as an Outsider in that regard.

Nothing wrong with it at all, just interesting.

Fair enough.

Now that SW-7 Ions are coming out, though, I think it will be a different story. Being able to just point at a ship and say "3 damage" (or 4 with CF...) is going to be quite the asset. And with Captain Needa, you might even be at an advantage while at range. The VSD-I will continue to be an excellent choice, of course, but this cyclical nature amuses me.

VSD2 + Tactical Expert (6) + SW7 ions (5) + Slaved turrets (6) = 102 points

• The guaranteed focus fire dice from the tactical expert allows you to spam engineering / navigate commands as necessary.
• You can make the front fire 4 blue and 4 red dice with tactical expert and slaved turrets.
• All accuracies you don't need are converted to damage due to SW-7 ions

Then....

• Roll it up to 114 points if you want to add dominator , for a free +2 blue (remember you can spam engineering commands to replenish shields because of the tactical expert )
• If you do choose dominator, slaved turrets and tactical expert , you can shoot 3 red 3 blue out of your back arc at any time, or 3 red and 4 blue out of the side.

Thought about slaved turrets for VSDs ... I don't like them. I'll take Gunnery Teams in any case.

A VSD2 + Dominator + SW-7 + XI7 + Gunnery Teams could do well ... but lord thats expensive. 115 points. You should take an ISD instead.

I'd take my decked out VSD-II vs a base ISD without any upgrades any day, both directly against it as well as synergy-wise with the rest of my fleet. Not every build has the points to go for a second decked out ISD, the VSD-II is a nice compromise being potentially better than an unupgraded ISD for the same point cost.

I've not really had alot of thrilling times with either vsd. It's predominantly assault frigate opponents that outpace and outlast the Vic most times. Demolisher puts in work, but you run into diminishing returns with extra gladiators. I'd have been much more happy paying for a 3 red/ 1 blue/ 2 black and extra click on the first turn for speed two than just blue dice. (Basically how the isd 1 front arc is, which I really like)

I disagree actually and have been having even more fun with the VSDs here recently as I've really started spamming Navs (Engineering commands still sprinkled in though). That extra turn makes them a lot more viable when stacked and with some H9s thrown in there, when I hit, I hit hard.

I disagree actually and have been having even more fun with the VSDs here recently as I've really started spamming Navs (Engineering commands still sprinkled in though). That extra turn makes them a lot more viable when stacked and with some H9s thrown in there, when I hit, I hit hard.

I agree insomuch as I feel the VSD's potential is really unlocked when you start thinking of the "standard" order post-engagement as Navigate. Sprinkle in Engineering and maybe a Squadron command (depending on fleet setup) to taste, but the extra yaw from Navigate helps overcome the "handling like a pregnant cow" VSD problem, particularly when done consistently.

the extra yaw from Navigate helps overcome the "handling like a pregnant cow" VSD problem, particularly when done consistently.

This is why I run Tarkin and weapons liaison as officer for VSDs.

• Command dial set to navigate turn 1,2,4,6 (+/- 1 speed, +1 yaw)
• Command dial set to engineering turn 3 and 5
• Apart from turn 1 (navigation tokens) Tarkin always gives out engineering tokens (+1 shield)
• Use the weapons liaison officer to swap out the engineering/navigation token for a full focus fire / squadron command when tactically necessary.

This is a recipe for VSDs that makes them a hell of a lot more adaptable, manoeuvrable and durable, all of which pay dividends on actually getting something within your front arc.

I've not really had alot of thrilling times with either vsd. It's predominantly assault frigate opponents that outpace and outlast the Vic most times. Demolisher puts in work, but you run into diminishing returns with extra gladiators. I'd have been much more happy paying for a 3 red/ 1 blue/ 2 black and extra click on the first turn for speed two than just blue dice. (Basically how the isd 1 front arc is, which I really like)

I disagree actually and have been having even more fun with the VSDs here recently as I've really started spamming Navs (Engineering commands still sprinkled in though). That extra turn makes them a lot more viable when stacked and with some H9s thrown in there, when I hit, I hit hard.

I have too, I actually ran 2 Vic 1s and demolisher at the massing of sullest that steven just won, and took third. I used navigate on each of my ships all but maybe 6 times, so figure about 40 of my orders were navigates. But there really wasn't a situation were I wished I had blue dice over black, I think it came up maybe twice the whole time and I wouldn't pay 12 points for that.

I stand by that I'd rather have had the dice spread and an extra click, or no ion slot and a defensive retrofit instead.

I think black dice are generally going to be superior to blue, especially since you can have all 3 with the title if you so desire.

The only time I'd go for a Vic 2 is if it's going to be by itself. But generally, I'll have 2 or 3 Vic 1's together, forming a wall - my opponent is eventually going to HAVE to get within range 1 of at least 1 of them , if not all. Then it's just bumping to keep them there. But typically, with Screed, all I need is a single close range shot from a Vic 1 to end my target. Because by then I've already had some longer range shots, and I've already weakened my enemy a bit - and since most respectable lists have a demolisher glad as well, it's a safe bet that I've won by that point.

And the blue dice don't guarantee accuracy - so if you are worried about brace - what are you going to do when your 3 red come up with only 1 hit and 2 blanks, and your 3 blue are all hits/crits. 4 damage braced down to 2. Nice Vic 2 doing only 2 damage from it's front arc. Vic 1 with adv concussion missiles and screed going to do so much more than that it's insane.