So (obviously) this is my opinion and based on my own lackluster skills but...

...I think the MC80 is a dud. It's died every time its hit the table, and that chops out a huge chunk of points I was spending in a vain attempt to make it viable. It hits no harder than a VSD out of those side arcs, has a huge base that is easily boxed in by GSDs and cookie cutter Demolishers and isn't fast enough to get out of trouble. FOR ME all of this results in a ship that's likely to spend more time gathering dust in my case than spending time on the field.

The cards that came with it are great (Except Cluster bombs. Really tired of dud cards in rebel ships, see Point Defense Reroute) and Admiral Ackbar is a beast...but overall I think the MC80 is a straight up miss. Too expensive to justify a ship that isn't fast enough or tough enough or hard hitting enough without expensive upgrades that make it worth even more points to your opponent when it inevitably goes down.

I think it would be a great ship if it could have gunnery teams but with out them it's a POS compared to the assault frigates

I am trying get to think how many times my MC80 has gone boom. . . Once. . . Yea, once. Out of a good dozen games.

Now, ISD's. Those things go boom ALL the time. Wit Akbar, without Akbar. They just seem to wilt.

^_~

I couldnt disagree more. My MC80 has been doing amazingly well so far.

Amazing how much difference playstyles makes to this game!

Agreed. My MC80 has won four out of four games, solidly. Against single and double ISD's, and against another MC80. Hasn't died yet. Used Garm in three of those games.

Then again I'm using B-wings and engine techs to keep the opponent at bay...I've probably issued Nav commands 75% of the time.

So for those of you who have had success with the MC-80, how do you play them and how do you upgrade them?

It has also seen great use here as well. Lots of Victories for the MC80. Ackbar, Electronic Countermeasures and X-17s seem to be the local favorite.

Ha! Yes! Finally!

Look, it's easy to say that the MC80 really hit a ship hard but OP nailed it. That beast is a point sink nightmare. "But Drunk Tarkin, if you put these four upgrade cards on it and use Ackbar it throws so many dice! Plus, you're drunk!" Yes, yes I know - just give it time. People will be four-gupping with Ackbar instead soon. For squadron command and toileting it just doesn't stack up and becomes the big target that your opponent has to destroy to either pull a big win or nullify the two or three ship-kills worth of points its owner might have racked up.

The success stories will all come down to "I hit a ship with XI7 and it totally blew up!"

Keeping it from being a points sink is definitely a challenge, but I think it still has potential. To start with, I think making something else your flagship is a good idea.

Ha! Yes! Finally!

Look, it's easy to say that the MC80 really hit a ship hard but OP nailed it. That beast is a point sink nightmare. "But Drunk Tarkin, if you put these four upgrade cards on it and use Ackbar it throws so many dice! Plus, you're drunk!" Yes, yes I know - just give it time. People will be four-gupping with Ackbar instead soon. For squadron command and toileting it just doesn't stack up and becomes the big target that your opponent has to destroy to either pull a big win or nullify the two or three ship-kills worth of points its owner might have racked up.

The success stories will all come down to "I hit a ship with XI7 and it totally blew up!"

Why dont you go and play with your MC80 first ^_~

Many of us have large helpings of your favorite pie waiting ~_^

The potential for a points sink is definitely there, and the lack of gunnery team makes the firepowerinferior to the guppy, it still has a big place. Their titles, specifically Home One and Independence, are extremely good.

I've never used a turbo-laser upgrade on mine. Majority of my builds have been Command cruiser, Independence, ECM, and Engine techs, and Garm. That's it.

Even though I have Independence, I only ever issue a squadron command on turn 1, to catapult my Bwings into action. After that it's a maneuvering game, with a goal of flanking and tanking as needed (much as Lotheral suggests). With engine techs and nav commands, the MC80 is a fast and maneuverable beast. Yes, you lose out on CF and Engineering commands, but you get essentially a 1-1-1 movement chart, plus another click at either of the first two joints. That's a 90 degree turn!!

The Bwings and accompanying AF do much of the heavy lifting, though it's almost always the MC80 that delivers the coup de grace.

Taking an MC80 also guarantees your opponent will never choose Advanced Guunery as a mission. If they do, it will HURT.

I'm sorry, Home One upgrade makes the MC80 great. To the point of down right dirty since the only Imperial ship with ECMs is the ISD II. Add in XI7s to the ships and you just punch through shields left and right stacking up damage to hull.

I will say I use the MC80 as a fleet support/control ship keeping it at long range the entire time not worrying about it firing too often. It's usually the last ship moved or first depending on what support action I use it as.

I've used it to tank 2 Vics and an ISD, or to block a limping away AF to let it repair, hand over 2 shields a turn and repairing them at the same time, Home One (A Given since it's amazing), actually doing the Ackbar Slash (Wasn't my plan but worked out that way), the list could continue but all in all the MC80 is pretty much a beast.

I don't know how you are using it so I can't say you are using it wrong but I promise there are a lot of people using it right and love it.

There are certain borderline cases that the ISD and MC80 have access to at their dice flinging capacity that change the game in terms of what they can do, namely, the "big activation."

The nature of the game up till now has been maneuver, attrition, set yourself up for the next round. You could pretty much depend, barring stupendous rolls, "I go, u go" for most ships. I think wave 2 (so far as I can tell on my kitchen table) brings something else: "I go, u go boom."

The few extra dice on the ISD and MC80 put it into the super-kill category. From the games I've seen, after one ship goes under, the tide quickly turns- I'm sure you've seen this too where an otherwise very close game suddenly swings into an 8-2 or 9-1 based on that first kill. Usually, this is attributable to excellent attacker and/or poor defender maneuvering over the course of several turns. With the ISD/MC80, you're able to punish otherwise minor (in wave 1) mistakes more severely.

While I too was sort of wondering what the MC80 is doing on the table at all relative to the assault frigate initially, after more experimenting, I can really see what those few extra shields, few extra hull points, and few extra dice can do. True, it may not be quite a single activation to kill a guppy, but it's close. Similarly, the shields/HP on the ISD and MC80 are the only things able to take some of these "super-shots" and still be alive.

In short, on paper, the numbers of dice/hp per point don't work out. But in practice, because of the way activations work, you can really see things scale non-linearly (especially when considering upgrades and accuracy results).

Sorry if this is rambling- I'll try to get some math posted soon...

*Edit consider, for example, the difference between a 10 damage point accuracied, Xi7'd result vs a 9 point accuracied, xi7'd result. And then consider the difference between an 11 dmg vs 10 dmg, as applied to actual ships. Very, very possible if you also consider squadron value 4 bombing runs.

MC-80 Assault Ackbar, XI7, ECM, Defiance.

Add a Black Die if your opponent activates first. Add a other if you have concentrate fire on your dial.

6 Red, 2 Blue, 2 Black of which only 1 point can be redirected. Good odds on getting at least one accuracy to negate brace.

Chuck that mitt-ful of dice a coupla times and see what damage you score!

All solid points for sure. I think I know where the problem lies honestly (hint: it's me) but it's nice to see a bunch of different thoughts and opinions. Now I just have to put the knowledge gained into improving...which is the hard part.

I see it as a big support ship that supposed to make the rest of your fleet better. And out of all the support ships available its by far the most survivable compared to a neb support or a cr90 support.

You can give us examples of how you build it and fly it. We can give you tips and such that way if you want. We can always say fly it like us but you might not like it they way we play it.

Why dont you go and play with your MC80 first ^_~

Many of us have large helpings of your favorite pie waiting ~_^

I did. It killed a gladiator before dying to some Rogue Bombers and a Demolisher - but, that's just my experience. Thanks for the valuable input Lyr!

I fired up Warlords and tried building a brawler MC80 but it strikes me just how much better the MC80 is operating with a fighter screen. Independence with Boosted comms extends the range of your B-Wing strikes significantly, and you have a defensive upgrade slot to absorb some hits. Then you help your B-Wings clear their opposition with a round of spraying AA fire at whatever's trying to pin the B-Wings.

Sure, it's one round of not shooting at that Star Destroyer, but imagine activating 4 unopposed B-Wing squadrons in their face before firing. If shields don't melt in the facing arc, then defensive tokens exhaust, which is when you open up with your massive volley and force further discards or causing damage.

Meanwhile the Star Destroyer you're targeting will only have one shot at your massive side arc, even with a gunnery team. In fact with a fighter command and attacking B-Wings, you can put more damage into the opponent broken up over several attacks to soften him up.

A Fighter-centric MC80 seems rather fitting for the Rebels now that I think about it. I don't think the Rebels will compete with the Empire gun-for-gun, they have to rely on their fighters to be just as successful. In fact, I wonder if the Rebels are more about the team rather than individual ships, since Home One is great with other side-arc shooters.

MC80s are for splitting Imperial setups in two. Either he has to hold all his ships together, and lose out on some shots from his trailing ships, or he splits his forces and you slash through and split all of his ships in two.

Another build I've been toying with: the "invincible" version with redundant shields/engineering team + redemption/projection experts nearby.

Daaaaang it takes a long time to kill! Unless you have 2 ISD's on you, of course.

Why dont you go and play with your MC80 first ^_~

Many of us have large helpings of your favorite pie waiting ~_^

I did. It killed a gladiator before dying to some Rogue Bombers and a Demolisher - but, that's just my experience. Thanks for the valuable input Lyr!

Hey, was just wondering: Does Home One title work only for other "friendly ships", or can that upgrade apply to the mc-80 as well?

Hey, was just wondering: Does Home One title work only for other "friendly ships", or can that upgrade apply to the mc-80 as well?