Today I got to play a very special game: Not only was I playing only my second Wave 2 game since Sullust, I also got to play my very first game against the same faction.

While I was trounced by my more experienced opponent, I thought I would share some thoughts on my perception of the experience playing against such a similar enemy.

First, I will list the forces:

Objective: Most Wanted

First Player: 396/400

ISD2 - Flagship - Objective Ship

Admiral Screed

Gunnery team

H9 Turbolasers

Avenger

VSD2

Overload Pulse

VSD 2

Overload Pulse

Yours Truly: 398/400

ISD1 - Flagship

Darth Vader

Intel Officer

Gunnery Team

XI-7

Relentless

GSD1

Intel Officer

Assault Concussion Missiles

Demolisher

GSD1 - Objective Ship

Assault concussion Missiles

Howlrunner

Mauler Mithel

TIE fighter

Major Rhymer

TIE Bomber

TIE Bomber

TIE Bomber

We can see two very different styles of list here and both are potentially brutal in the right situation. My opponent chose Most Wanted knowing that I couldn't afford to leave my basic Gladiator out of the fight. But he forgot a crucial fact: squadrons also benefit when attacking a Most Wanted objective ship.

My opponent closed in with his ships at speed 1, hoping to closely pack in his VSDs to trigger Overload Pulse as often as possible. His Interceptors hung back to ready themselves for blocking the bombers in the squadron phase.

My first turn started disastrously. Demolisher crashed into my ship after poorly judging a turn at speed 3. This would ultimately prove costly later in the game for several reasons. First, Demolisher was not in a position to join my other ships when the battle finally joined. Second, the damage would later lead to the loss of Demolisher with all hands after what should have been a barely survived shot by my opponent's ISD2.

What DID work was turn 3. With the Interceptors still waiting to pounce, Vader ordered Major Rhymer into a bombing run on the ISD2. Rhymer and his bombers proceeded to savage the enemy objective ship for 9 damage stripping shields from the front and side hull zones. The ISD1 unloaded it's full firepower into a nearby VSD, but it was too late. The VSD successfully triggered an Overload Pulse, making the Relentless unable to weather the return fire of the Avenger. Many Bothans died making that roll, and the objective Gladiator finished off that same VSD in a fit of revenge! Relentless survived the turn, but with only 2 hull points and no shields on its front or side arcs. It was annihilated immediately on the next turn. Mauler, Howlrunner, the TIE Fighter and Rhymer proceeded to destroy many TIE interceptors, but inexplicably the ISD1 didn't fire to finish off the survivng enemies. The ship black box would later indicate the gunnery team may have been distracted by a Gungan breaking loose of the ship's brig and assaulting them at a crucial moment, causing them to simply forget about shooting their guns until the ship had already moved to a different firing angle.

With the ISD destroyed at the start of round 4, my opponent activated the Avenger hoping to finish off the remaining Gladiators. While engineers desperately worked to repair the damage suffered by both ships in their earlier collision, the Demolisher's more advanced systems proved to be its downfall. The Avenger blasted the Demolisher out of the sky immediately after attacking the Relentless. However, it made a crucial mistake, blundering into the cloud of TIE Bombers pinned down just as the final Interceptor perished. Major Rhymer made an executive decision to assault the rear of the mighty battleship, left unprotected when the ship moved aft deflector shields in an attempt to shore up damage by Rhymer's own frontal assault. The Gladiator proceeded to blast the Avenger with a full broadside, triggering Advanced Concussion Missiles and taking another handful of hull points off the mighty behemoth. Rhymer, 2 surviving Bomber squadrons, Howlrunner, and Mithel unloaded into the ISD but none could damage the hull.

On turn 5, the Gladiator moved to the rear of the ship, but it was ultimately in vain. the surviving Victory Star Destroyer, despite severe obstruction, successfully landed enough damage from its side arcs to kill the final ship. Rhymer, his Bomber wing, howlrunner, and Mauler Mithel were all forced to surrender in the face of certain death.

What I loved about this game was how it showed the incredible offensive synergy of Imperial forces on both sides. While Rebels plan to face strong offense and Imperials plan to face strong defense many players fail to consider the inherent strenths of their own factions when preparing for unknown opponents. My opponent also made a crucial mistake, failing to activate his powerful fighters during the ship phase to overwhelm my forces before they struck with exceptional force. Despite the Counterattacks delivered by the Interceptors, they successfully destroyed only a single squadron.\, and even that only because the ISD failed to make a crucial attack in that might have eliminated all enemy fighters from the board.

If you haven't already, take a chance and try a fight against your own faction. You'll be surprised what you can learn.

Just a quick note: squadrons do not benefit from Most Wanted, as per the FAQ/errata.

Otherwise, nice report!

No. Squads no not benefit from Most Wanted.

This has been FAQed for a long time.

I enjoyed reading the report - thanks for a very entertaining style! And yes, it is very educational to play mirror matches. You will understand what each side's advantages and weaknesses are much more quickly in a mirror match!

Apparently I missed this, odd because it's the first thing in the FAQ. This is embarrassing.

It doesn't make any sense, but it's embarrassing all the same.

It's interesting who you find out is in your community here when you describe matches you just did. I was Catcusman's opponent. I've experienced a few blue-vs-blue matches in tournaments previously.. actually.. many of the tournaments I've been in featured a large number of Imperial players and very few squadrons. So Empire vs Empire wasn't really new to me.

I don't consider that Interceptor move to be a mistake, it was a considered decision that was the better of several alternatives. When I moved those interceptors it was because the front shields of my Imperial were at -0-, facing an entire cloud of Rhymer bombers and fighters with an ISD-I in range with gunnery teams. I also had one of my overload-pulse VSD double-arced by a Gladiator and facing that same enemy ISD-I. I had to choose between an optimal moment to launch my interceptors, or fire with the doomed VSD to set up more attacks against the enemy ISD.

So it made sense for me to immediately TIE up (heh) that entire swarm of fighters with my sacrificial interceptors. If the enemy ISD activated with a squadron command, in the very least I'd only realistically be facing the ISD's forward arc (and at 11 hull I was confident I could tank it). Since activating the ISD (and other squadron VSD) was no longer a priority my doomed VSD was free to overload pulse Cactusman's ISD to set up for the Avenger to pummel it.

The firepower of the Imperial continues to impress me. After the enemy Imperial was gone I had to focus on both Gladiators. Remembering a lesson learned from my first Sullust game I tried not to kill every ship on the board in one turn and focused on one target- the Demolisher sitting right in front of me. It already had collision damage, but under the ISD it was essentially one-shot. I haven't seen a Gladiator one-shot myself since I took a VSD-I with Expanded Launchers and a Sensor team and made a fresh Gladiator disappear with a magic trick.

The Anti-fighter armament of the Imperial is also impressive. After this game I did another against a rebel opponent. While my only kill was really my opponent's Yavaris, I mowed down plenty of fighters with some AA attacks out of the various arcs. And, while it was undignified to run from fighters, the fact that I could outpace them with sheer speed was also an advantage.

I really enjoy VSD/ISD/VSD lists, and Overload Pulse was the result of realizing how I could abuse the Avenger title. It isn't so cut and dry though, because there are times when you want to trigger the Imperial before the Victories for various reasons, and now Avenger can't hit when it wants to. Still, I like the list, even with the recognized vulnerabilities against fighters. It's something to practice with to overcome the weakness.

Wait until you can take a raider for 2 thirds the cost. I took out an isd in a single turn through a Vic, raider, and gladiator by overload pulsing the isd, then firing the raiders front arc for max damage. Then with demolisher dealing like 8 total damage he was out of tokens and the Vic finished the job.

Definitely sounded fun, and the isd looks like a blast to run.

Overload Pulse Raiders is a nice idea, and it's something I occasionally do when I'm flying rebels with the similar CR-90s. However I get the feeling that Raiders are too vulnerable compared to the CR-90.

The reason I hesitate is because VSDs have some nice resiliency to them. I get the feeling that Raiders are more or less expendable, because they lack the defensive slot and redirect defense token (both of which make the CR-90 quite versatile for defense actually). Any sizable barrage at anything other than long range has a good chance of punching through a Raider arc and harming the ship. They either have to come in on an angle that their targets have to ignore them (like in an MC80's side arc when facing either a low-shield ISD or your Raider), or when you commit them on a suicide mission.

Still I plinked at Warlords and there might be another alternative list I'll try when I get a couple of Raiders. I still like my big-dreadnought builds though, and I'm satisfied with this lists' performance in these matches.

Overload Pulse Raiders is a nice idea, and it's something I occasionally do when I'm flying rebels with the similar CR-90s. However I get the feeling that Raiders are too vulnerable compared to the CR-90.

The reason I hesitate is because VSDs have some nice resiliency to them. I get the feeling that Raiders are more or less expendable, because they lack the defensive slot and redirect defense token (both of which make the CR-90 quite versatile for defense actually). Any sizable barrage at anything other than long range has a good chance of punching through a Raider arc and harming the ship. They either have to come in on an angle that their targets have to ignore them (like in an MC80's side arc when facing either a low-shield ISD or your Raider), or when you commit them on a suicide mission.

Still I plinked at Warlords and there might be another alternative list I'll try when I get a couple of Raiders. I still like my big-dreadnought builds though, and I'm satisfied with this lists' performance in these matches.

Realistically they're as survivable as a cr90, both require 6 damage and an accuracy after evades to one shot. Plus I like my overload pulse shot to be as small damage as possible to maximize the opportunity to burn tokens.

Taking your list for example, you can drop one Vic down to a raider for an extra 37 points, letting you upgrade the other Vic into a second isd, giving you alot more spacial control, and similar beefyness, and a ton more speed potential for objective choice.

But that's my personal playstyle and preference, big berthas sounds fun too

Overload Pulse Raiders is a nice idea, and it's something I occasionally do when I'm flying rebels with the similar CR-90s. However I get the feeling that Raiders are too vulnerable compared to the CR-90.

The reason I hesitate is because VSDs have some nice resiliency to them. I get the feeling that Raiders are more or less expendable, because they lack the defensive slot and redirect defense token (both of which make the CR-90 quite versatile for defense actually). Any sizable barrage at anything other than long range has a good chance of punching through a Raider arc and harming the ship. They either have to come in on an angle that their targets have to ignore them (like in an MC80's side arc when facing either a low-shield ISD or your Raider), or when you commit them on a suicide mission.

Still I plinked at Warlords and there might be another alternative list I'll try when I get a couple of Raiders. I still like my big-dreadnought builds though, and I'm satisfied with this lists' performance in these matches.

I agree with you here. You also forgot that conveniently, Corvettes make their attacks at medium-long range where their Evade tokens are extremely useful. Raiders of both stripes have to get to medium or closer range to land any hits. At least Raiders get Brace and offensive upgrades to make the punishing return fire a fair trade, but I would be very soncerend if my raider ended up in the front arc of a VSD or ISD, for example.

Overload Pulse Raiders is a nice idea, and it's something I occasionally do when I'm flying rebels with the similar CR-90s. However I get the feeling that Raiders are too vulnerable compared to the CR-90.

The reason I hesitate is because VSDs have some nice resiliency to them. I get the feeling that Raiders are more or less expendable, because they lack the defensive slot and redirect defense token (both of which make the CR-90 quite versatile for defense actually). Any sizable barrage at anything other than long range has a good chance of punching through a Raider arc and harming the ship. They either have to come in on an angle that their targets have to ignore them (like in an MC80's side arc when facing either a low-shield ISD or your Raider), or when you commit them on a suicide mission.

Still I plinked at Warlords and there might be another alternative list I'll try when I get a couple of Raiders. I still like my big-dreadnought builds though, and I'm satisfied with this lists' performance in these matches.

I agree with you here. You also forgot that conveniently, Corvettes make their attacks at medium-long range where their Evade tokens are extremely useful. Raiders of both stripes have to get to medium or closer range to land any hits. At least Raiders get Brace and offensive upgrades to make the punishing return fire a fair trade, but I would be very soncerend if my raider ended up in the front arc of a VSD or ISD, for example.

True, but things like initiative and list building play far more into how to get the raider into effective range than just throw it at a ship and hope. Treat it like demolisher with iniative. Activate him last then first, you maximize your evades then use a concentrate fire on the key turn to gaurentee the pulse goes off. At that point he can scamper off to the ships side or rear arc.

Biggest issue I've run into with using overload pulse on victory's is that you waste damage on the pulses shot. Since you arnt taking a turbolaser upgrade, the damage roll from the victory is probably really low after tokens. Firing at an ecm asf for example, your probably only going to do 2-3 damage at best, and he can force a reroll on your crit. Thats really inefficient damage for a nearly 100 point ships front arc

I played two Rebel on Rebel matches. At least that I remember. The one was against a guy who knew what he was doing. And those CR90 B's he ran with all sorts of tricked out ion setups. Jesus that was a trainwreck. That probably was as much my fault as it was his skill. The other was a match against a fighter dependent build with Gallant and a lot of hero fighters. That guy was ok, but I knew what his plan was and just engaged him well.

Both were fun, but sometimes annoying. It's definitely a different mindset when you're facing more agile ships with utility than you're used to.

Biggest issue I've run into with using overload pulse on victory's is that you waste damage on the pulses shot. Since you arnt taking a turbolaser upgrade, the damage roll from the victory is probably really low after tokens. Firing at an ecm asf for example, your probably only going to do 2-3 damage at best, and he can force a reroll on your crit. Thats really inefficient damage for a nearly 100 point ships front arc

At least for my list, the tradeoff is setting up an Imperial-II shot where the defender cannot use any defense tokens. Presuming my VSDs can survive to do it a second turn, nothing will be able to survive such a barrage unless I roll really terribly (as it is, that ISD-I only lasted a couple of turns when it was in range). I have no contingency for that in my list, though I can easily swap out the H9s for Leading shots for truly terrible rolls. In fact I may just do that if I take this list to tournament, since if all goes well I wouldn't need the extra accuracy from H9s for the Avenger anyway.

Yeah, I get that. I still feel it's not as efficient as it could be, have you tried the new ion cannons? Those I feel could get you better overall results. Forcing a discard from your two victories means he simply won't have any tokens for the isd. A little bit more permanence than overload, for 4 points more total. And you can keep avenger to discourage spending brace on the enemy ships, meaning the victories push alot more damage through.

So average 4 damage a pop with a token discard, you'll kill the contain and a redirect from the two shots, and either push 4 damage through from the front, or reduce the token availability against avenger, which can keep h9 as well to negate braces

It gets better against victories and asf, since the Vic will lose both redirects, the get the brace accuracies from h9. So its a likely kill with a good damage roll, or left with 1-2 hull. Asf loses evade then redirect, and should be dead or at 1 hull remaining after h9.

Not a half bad wombo combo, you could even lose avenger really to grab the -1 command title or more squadrons.

Yeah, I get that. I still feel it's not as efficient as it could be, have you tried the new ion cannons? Those I feel could get you better overall results. Forcing a discard from your two victories means he simply won't have any tokens for the isd. A little bit more permanence than overload, for 4 points more total. And you can keep avenger to discourage spending brace on the enemy ships, meaning the victories push alot more damage through.

So average 4 damage a pop with a token discard, you'll kill the contain and a redirect from the two shots, and either push 4 damage through from the front, or reduce the token availability against avenger, which can keep h9 as well to negate braces

It gets better against victories and asf, since the Vic will lose both redirects, the get the brace accuracies from h9. So its a likely kill with a good damage roll, or left with 1-2 hull. Asf loses evade then redirect, and should be dead or at 1 hull remaining after h9.

Not a half bad wombo combo, you could even lose avenger really to grab the -1 command title or more squadrons.

Well, yeah, but think about what you just described: an Assault Frigate that let itself get into the front arc of not one, not two VSD's, but two VSD's and an ISD, all at medium or less range. He's going to die regardless, and deserves to for getting himself into that position in the first place.

But overload pulse against the Avenger negates all of those defense tokens after being hit, and for being attacked by anything else the defender will either lose tokens or else take damage. So if VSD1 pulses a target, the defender has hard choices when hit by VSD2, and can't use the tokens anyway against the Avenger.

I like the effect of NK-7s but not the cost, and not for this build. If I use an NK-7 against a ship the first to go will be the 'useless' tokens (like Evade at medium range) or the redundant ones (like Redirect on VSDs), and this is after the defender has a chance to use those tokens. For the other tokens NK-7 didn't remove they are still two charges. Overload pulse puts everything at one, and any further use of defense tokens means they are gone forever.

In fact there's a line of reasoning to say I shouldn't have the Avenger title, because then I'd get a round of shooting not to do damage, but to force the defender to desperately burn spent defense tokens. So that next turn I don't have to pulse him again.

I'd be tempted to take NK-7s on something like the Raider or the CR-90s. Their function would be to put themselves in the vulnerable arc of an enemy ship and chew on the ankles while the heavy ships are slugging it out with the target. NK-7s can add subtle pressure, while overload pulses are setting up for a massive sledgehammer hit with an Avenger attack.

I did cook up a list involving Avenger (IMP-II) and a couple of Raiders with Overload pulse and a few other ships. I'll be able to try it when my Raiders come in.