Totally can't decide on what to take... Especially since the one I don't use is available for someone else to play with if their stuff doesn't arrive in time....

Empire, duh!

I like the empire list myself, but I would drop one regular TIE for ACMs on the Demolisher. Gives you a pretty unbeatable bid too!

Is there any "why" s attached to the statements? Up until now, I've been playing a list similar to the Rebels one presented there - and indeed, switched to the Rebels when a local tournament was going to be all Imperial...

Just curious at the decisions more than anything...

I'd go with Empire, but first I'd drop a TIE Fighter, add ACMs, and perhaps upgrade another TIE Fighter to an or Interceptor. My reasoning is that I can see more opportunities for those fighters to make a difference when the carriers die or drift out of range thanks to Rhymer. On your Rebel side you have 3 ships but only Yavaris is a dedicated carrier. The moment you no longer have the carrier, your fighter strategy is probably going to fall apart, especially the B-Wings which are reliant on carriers moving them into position.

It's a tough call on dropping that TIE, IMO. It's a really tight list right now. Dropping the TIE will drop you to an odd number of squadrons, losing a deployment, which normally I would say drop a second fighter and trade it for an upgrade/better fighter... Except that your fighter force is at an almost perfect balance right now, and losing a second TIE would hamstring you on the anti-squadron front.

With your build, if you do choose to sacrifice fighters for ACM, what I might do is change your fighter comp to:

Rhymer

Bomber

Howlrunner

Interceptor

It'll leave you with one point less for the bid, comparable anti-squadron dice, slightly less squadron hit points, but an even number of squadrons, and therefore no deployment waste. It's kind of a wash, honestly, cause while ACM on demolisher is really good, you're losing some squadron robustness to get it. Really comes down to personal preference IMO.

I'd go with Empire, but first I'd drop a TIE Fighter, add ACMs, and perhaps upgrade another TIE Fighter to an or Interceptor. My reasoning is that I can see more opportunities for those fighters to make a difference when the carriers die or drift out of range thanks to Rhymer. On your Rebel side you have 3 ships but only Yavaris is a dedicated carrier. The moment you no longer have the carrier, your fighter strategy is probably going to fall apart, especially the B-Wings which are reliant on carriers moving them into position.

The Rebel list is more defensive than most... B-Wings are Mines, and Yavaris is a dedicated carrier - but with Garm and his tokens, I have squadron support all around.

X-Wings being as dual role as possible - half-assed bombing, and Space Superiority. I tend to leave a lot of my fighters on the Rebel side unsupported... A Cluster of them is a small ship that way.

I got 5th of 12 with a very similar list last sullust (different fighters), so this one's an evolution.