So myself and a mate (Dave) played a game last night where we both ended up taking Ackbar. The similarities ended there though as we both went for very different fleets.
He went for a large number of ships to make the most out of Ackbar (4x CR90(A)s and 3x Nebulons) while I went for staying power (MC80, AF2, Nebulon and a CR90(A))
This was quite a change for both of us as usually he's dodging my B-Wings and I'm running away from his Demolisher

It was a really interesting game as it played out two different approaches.
Dave's fleet had maybe more potential in terms of number of dice it could out out, but had a more difficult time to use it as he had to contend with 7 ships to maneuver (which he did very well by the way - only one collision in the whole game).
He did try to bring as much firepower to bear on the front arc of the MC80 - two Nebulons and two CR90s. Ultimately though it was not enough as I was able to sneak a side arc at one of them from the MC80 (Defiance title) and batter it senseless. I used tractor beams to slow them down, so either they were not able to clear the MC80 (and so take damage from hitting it!) or not be able to escape a broadside if they did clear it.

The game ended 6-4 to me with the loss of 4 ships on Dave's side and two on mine (Nebulon and CR90) - the MC80 got 3 of the 4.

Much of the game was played at long range so Evade tokens and Accuracy results played much more of a role than would normally be the case, with Nebulons often being able to shake off incoming fire with the combination of a brace and an evade.
Ultimately though as Dave wasn't able to bring his full fleet to bear, my bigger guns showed their worth.

I think if we played again it might go differently, but it's still a harder task for the player with the larger number of ships.

The MC80 with the Independence title worked very well IMO. I was often able to get additional black dice that all helped to maul the smaller ships. Several timed I ended up forgoing Ackbar and firing from my Front+Side at a given ship where I had a double arc on it. I'm thinking now that a fleet with this MC80, no Ackbar and maybe B-Wings could pretty savage to drive into the middle of an opposing fleet.

Nebs n Ackbar? What is the rationale behind such a build? Same with CR90 really.

Flexibility really. You can nearly be facing any direction and be throwing out at least 3 red dice. If you can stay at range, the evade and brace tokens give it quite a degree of survivability.

Edit: These were also all the small rebel ships that he has

Been considering a CR90 Ackbar Swarm myself... Just need about 5 more CR90s...

Was assuming that the Nebs have been chosen because of lack of other small rebell ships, as they seem really underwhelming with ackbar - the side he is boosting is the side you absolutely do not want anybody to shoot back at.. if you look at it from this perspective, roughly half of his fleet was not profitting from ackbar too much.

Dunno about your general idea towards proxying, but playing the nebs as MC30s could have made an edge.. charts and ships statistics are all available, but thats just an idea..

Well, the Neb sides are definitely the hull zones you don't want to be taking damage on. With Evade and brace that's a lot of potential damage avoided if the Neb can stay at long range.

I would never want to take 8 - 10 dice to the side though

I've thought about running Ackbar and Neb Bs. and using them at close range. Head on until getting close for the usual 3 dice, then at close range, if you can double arc it, you get 6 reds and 2 blues, just about as much nasty as a VSD. (Possibly more, depending on your exchange rate of red to blue, and 2 shots vs 1.)

MC30s will be far better doing that at close range, but also more fragile.

I've thought about running Ackbar and Neb Bs. and using them at close range. Head on until getting close for the usual 3 dice, then at close range, if you can double arc it, you get 6 reds and 2 blues, just about as much nasty as a VSD. (Possibly more, depending on your exchange rate of red to blue, and 2 shots vs 1.)

MC30s will be far better doing that at close range, but also more fragile.

Remember if you double arc with the front you can't use Ackbar's dice. You could probably double arc with the side on an ISD if you are really close, though I don't have a large based ship to test that on. I know you can do it with a MC30 and I believe they run more or less the same arcs. Either way, it's not really something to build a list around.

I've thought about running Ackbar and Neb Bs. and using them at close range. Head on until getting close for the usual 3 dice, then at close range, if you can double arc it, you get 6 reds and 2 blues, just about as much nasty as a VSD. (Possibly more, depending on your exchange rate of red to blue, and 2 shots vs 1.)

MC30s will be far better doing that at close range, but also more fragile.

Remember if you double arc with the front you can't use Ackbar's dice. You could probably double arc with the side on an ISD if you are really close, though I don't have a large based ship to test that on. I know you can do it with a MC30 and I believe they run more or less the same arcs. Either way, it's not really something to build a list around.

I know, but the Neb-B has such (Annoying!) wide side arcs, you can often get both in arc on a ship. If you note the number of blue dice, I was figuring that in. I say they are annoying, because it's rare that someone can't shoot a side arc, unless you are perfectly pointed at them. Though it does have an advantage in this case. Hmm, Put EA on it, and it goes up to 8 Red and 2 Blues in total.

Not really to build a list around, but I don't tend to build my lists around an Admiral, just use the one that makes the most sense, so I'll probably be running Independence and Yavaris in the future, for that Ackbar does make a fair bit of sense. It's not a "Oh, let's plan to do this all the time!" more of a, once it gets close, do I plan to try to overfly (as usual, due to the aft shields/guns) or do I go for a close range engagement, which is something that wouldn't be expected? You can fire 2 side arcs a fair distance away, though not to the same arc, but considering the increase in firepower, it's likely worth it. You can also pull that off against Medium sized ships. The MC80 is actually the easiest to hit in the same arc, because of the wide side arcs. (I don't have one to double check, but from looking at where it would be, anywhere I could hit from the sides twice on an ISD would be to the same arc on a MC80, with the exception of certain arcs to the front which rely on hitting the sides of the front of the ISD.

Even without double arcs, with Ackbar, you might well want to fire the side arc vs the front arc. After the initial closure I've often found myself shooting a single red out of the side. Glads, AFM2s, MC80s all will want to sit in that side zone and try for it.

I tend to try to think of unconventional fleets, and so far that's worked out fairly well for me. Trying to cover the contingencies against what others can do.

With the large ships on the prowl with accuracies to spare, neb-b's I think make pretty good options relative to cr90's for ackbar spamming. That extra hull combined with the brace can stretch the survival of a neb-b that crucial extra turn or two. That extra 1 engineering point can also be a HUGE difference (5 repair vs 3 on the token/dial combo!)

I think it's more of a mindset thing. With a CR90, that extra 1 shield in exchange for a brace isn't exactly going to save you most of the time. Considering how often xi7's are on the prowl now, neither is that redirect. Speedwise, the nav charts are the same at speed 3, its just so many people are locked in a coreset view of the Neb they never try it out.

No doubt that with yvaris and salvation the neb b is much much better but its still pretty crazy vulnerable. If an imperial ship or a larger rebel one gets a shot on its side arc the odds of it surviving are not great. Not great at all. And while it might have done enough damage before this for it to have made back its points armada is a game where margin of victory is all important and the nebulon of all varieties doesn't help that enough.

No doubt that with yvaris and salvation the neb b is much much better but its still pretty crazy vulnerable. If an imperial ship or a larger rebel one gets a shot on its side arc the odds of it surviving are not great. Not great at all. And while it might have done enough damage before this for it to have made back its points armada is a game where margin of victory is all important and the nebulon of all varieties doesn't help that enough.

If you get on an MC80's or ISD's bad side, a cr90 will kaboom most of the time.

A neb-b is toast statistically less of the time.

This is what we're talking about when we talk big activations. An ISDI should average 6.75 damage and .625 accuracies per attack. (rerolls, of course, improve this drastically!). That means a dead cr90 more often than not.

For a Neb-B, you need 6 damage on two accuracies (which would kill the cr90 anyways) or you need 12 damage on one accuracy on the soft spot.

"Sir, what would you like to order?"

"I'll have the Neb-b please. With a side of Mon Calamari."

We also know that cr90's do worse than neb-b's vs ISD's according to Ep IV and VI

And hey, if you Akbar slash with enough of these you can shoot out of both sides and still have too many targets for the enemy to hit. Sure you may loose some but they are rebel scum, they are used to dying in droves for the greater good. Plus after the gallant charge you can turn into the unprotected rear of the enemy ISDs and still pour respectable firepower in.

^2

I see the full Ackbar as being four assault frigates mk2 with gunnery teams. 24 red dice that can fire at multiple ships, not outside the realm of possibility to get 40 red dice in a single turn out of that fleet.