So I'm trying to get better with the Imperials. Well, so far, I'm failing miserably. The litmus test I am running against my Imperial lists against is...

AFmkII B w/ Garm and Gun Teams

AFmkII B w/ Gun Teams

Neb B Sup w/ Salvation and Intel Officer

3x A wings

Dutch

I've tried Rhymer lists, 2, 3 ship lists... I seriously can't put down enough to burn more than a ship without losing 1-2 of mine in the process.

Am I nuts? Are my dice totally anti-Imperial? Is this just because most of my tests are playing against myself? I just don't feel like they have enough output without just leaving most of the game to chance.

I know this is odd to talk about on the eve of wave 2. I have a tournament coming up and its definitely 300 points. Regardless I'm just trying to find something I like and I can take to the casual event and not get stomped.

Feel free to lay down the suggestions, call me incompetent, whatever floats your boat. I'm just going to continue kicking my own a**!!! DO YOU MIND!?!?!

When in doubt, Screed it out. The Gencon special in wave one is more or less the "default" Imperial list for a reason. Wave two should crack the Imperial meta wide open though.

Are you using enough Nav commands? Those extra clicks on the movement tool on VSDs are invaluable to keep your front arc in play.

Rebels have the Long Range advantage, Imperials have everything up close.

They are better up close than the Rebels are at long range...

However, with the Wave 1 Ships being the Gladiator and the Victory SD, you need to leverage those missions that either draw the Rebels to you, or have you start closer to them... But then not give them the opportunity to get away.

That caveat is why I do not recommend Hyperspace Assault unless you're doing so with Demolisher and are willing to chase...

But otherwise, Fleet Ambush, Fire Lanes and Contested Outpost are good. As are Minefields if you're able to refuse a flank with them. Those are the missions of choice for the Imperial, and the issue was most Imperial players I encountered either focused on taking that full 300 points with no initiative bid, or were all about the Red missions.

When advantages are stacked against you, you do feel underwhelmed.

In your case, you may also have to factor in that, as you are doing Shadowplays against yourself, the Rebels have an affinity with your desired playstyle, and thus, they certainly will intrinsically feel either underwhelming or more difficult to use Imperials.

I guess I feel that the Rebel list is super flexible. It can run. It can fight. It's just good all around.

The Imperials can't duplicate it even with Tarkin and it's super expensive to do so. It can't turn, everything is expensive, and I swear to God, I can roll hot and end up never being able to lay down enough damage (especially post brace) to hit the hull.

I've spammed nav commands and kept the front arc on the enemy, but couldn't kill them. That could be just be bad rolls.

This could just be me beating me. If I had enough to run two identical fleets, I'd love to see a mirror match of my Rebel fleet would do.

probably nuts

nothing wrecks Assault Frigates like Bombers supporting a good Demolisher to the face

you basically need Skreed, for now. Imperials have only two capital ships in Wave 1 and VSDs are stiff **** while GSDs only ever do work at close range.

VSDs-2, properly positioned, also really hurt Assault Frigates (but they will be replaced by the ISD-2, which hurts a lot more )

are you pounding on one target at a time? with front and side arks at the same time? I find the big skill is setting up the shot so you get to use both on the same target. Ramming is also the Empires friend. also good numbers of Ties with Howrunner kills A wings quickly enough to let your Bombers help out killing them then go get the ships . Have fun and keep trying.

PS: don't forget to repair repair repair

I really want to love bombers. I somehow find the blank side of the dice EVERY time I use them.

Honestly my best list is two GSD I w/ACM and a Vic II w/ Screed, IO, and usually Gun Teams and some supporting TIE's. Best case I seem to break even. I may get one AF but I'll eat at least one GSD, if not two.

I guess I just feel very underwhelmed with Wave 1 Imps.

After I switched to Imperial I had quite a bit of success with Screed, a Vic and two Glads, in a number of variations. I think I manage to strike a good balance between a decent initiative bid and good 2nd player objectives. It was never easy, but it I've certainly won a lot more than I've lost.

I think Green Knight hit the nail on the head. While you are discovering Imperials, the VGG screed list is a good skeleton to start with.

It's just you, dude.

Learn to point the line between your front arc and side arc at the target you are vaporizing.

I really want to love bombers. I somehow find the blank side of the dice EVERY time I use them.

oh I feel you

that's why I B-wing and not Y

but Imp bombers aren't really there for the punch, you have Star Destroyers for that. they're there for the range. It's just impossible to avoid those buggers without engaging them or, if they cannot be engaged (cherineau), killing them

My biggest tip for imperials is ALWAYS be front of your opponent.

This is at all ranges do everything you can to get in that front arc because that means they will have to close the gap when they move and if put your star destroyer right they may be unable to escape

Is the VSD going to be seeing much play once wave 2 is out?? It seems so impossibly slow and unmaneuverable. Maybe I just suck with them but I see ISDs and gladiators becoming the mainstays of the fleet.

I appreciate all the comments. I'm sure I'm just lumping my feelings about Imperials into a generalization. You know, like how Neb B's can't win tournaments.

I think Wave 1 is not my cup of tea as far as Imperials go. I think Wave 2 will allow for more options that fit my style. And the extra points allow for a fighter build that I'll like.

I think I'm just pretty darn good at my Rebel list. And I try to take a minute between setting both sides dials so I can try to forget. It sometimes works.

And let's be honest. If you have a streak of cold dice, you tend to get frustrated. It's definitely been the case since last week's X Wing tournament. Can't tell you how many blanks I've found.

If you play 3Glads, you're probably still going to lose one..... for the glory of tabling your poor opponent.

Imps don't run. They play intercept.

Also they shoot way more dice. Play as first player.

1 vsd is a good anchor. Drive it like a spike into the area your opponent will go. Corral them with the Gladiators like sheep dogs. Slaughter them and let the blood flow.

I mean to be fair to the OP, I do feel like Imperials have less valid fleet builds in wave one than Rebels. It comes down to having only two capital ships and of those two it's mostly about the shortcomings of the VSD. I want to make it clear that for its cost the VSD-I in particular is a solid chunk of hull points with a nasty front arc. It's not useless and has its place in the right fleets (to FFG's credit, I don't feel like any ships through wave 2 are useless, although I'm a little skeptical about the points value on the VSD-II and I'm wondering why I would ever use a GSD-II over a GSD-I in the kind of fleet that wants a Gladiator in the first place, but I digress). The problem is the **** thing handles like a drunk pregnant cow (that's very irresponsible Mrs. Cow, think of the baby won't you?). So long as you have faster support ships to goad/herd enemies into the VSD(s), you can make those front arcs pay off more consistently. The only ship in wave one that can help you do that is the Gladiator, and the Gladiator does a fine job there.

But here comes the second part of the problem. Gladiators can do a shocking amount of damage when used well and Screed helps them do it very well. So slowly but surely, the Gladiator you brought along to help your VSD(s) becomes the Gladiators you bring along to help your one flagship becomes a "how many Gladiators can I squeeze into this list" fleet with Screed sitting in the lone VSD-I to keep himself healthy for as long as possible.

Which isn't to say Motti doesn't do a lot for a VSD-centric fleet(sorry Tarkin, maybe one day your time will come), often with a Rhymerball for the "I want to reach out and touch someone" element the VSDs lack. The problem is the VSDs on their own, even with bomber help, really want another more maneuverable ship in the fleet to help keep your opponent honest and at that point you're running a Gladiator (because what else can you run?), at which point you probably want Screed at which point you want more Gladiators and hell we covered that already above .

With wave 2 coming out in days, literally every other ship in the Imperial fleet can be configured to make up for the VSD's shortcomings (as the Raider, ISD, and GSD are all superior in speed/maneuverability) which opens up a lot more options on that front in addition to fleets based around ISDs or even Raiders as the foundation. Therefore it seems to me like the lack of diversity you see on the Imperial front is largely due to the extreme disadvantage of having but two ships to choose from for all of wave one. Three ships combine in much more interesting ways for Rebels and thus it has not been as extreme of a problem.

But anyways to repeat myself from earlier: run the Gencon special or some variant to give yourself the best chance. Chase down those Rebels and pour black dice into them and trigger ACMs constantly. As their shields evaporate, you could swear you can hear Rebels crying right before their ships explode. You're in the Imperial navy, son. Black dice or GTFO.

So, I've felt very similar to how OP feels while running my own Wave 1 Imperial fleet vs a friend's Rebel fleet. A key note here neither of us enjoy the 6 round time limit, nor the objectives, and haven't used them, but I've been told that /should/ play into my favor as Imperials, and it isn't (so far).

In the 5 games I've played so far, I've killed a single Frigate, and nothing else capital ship wise. I have no idea how or why. I ran 2 VSD1's and a GSD1 that game with tarkin, 2 TIEs, and some stuff. Since then I've been trying to deal with the ridiculous amount of bombers he's able to put into play. Between Xwings and Ywings I'm sure there's at least, if not more than, 10 fighter stands on his side every game and I have yet to field anything that can weather that. I fly howlrunner balls with escorts and Fel in to tie things up, take out 1 or 2 Xwings, and then Wedge flies in and activates 3 times wiping out a stand an attack. The remaining forces easily mop up my unnamed fighters and his NebBs and Corvettes just hide on the other end of the map while bombers pummel my now defenseless capitals which lumber around trying to face the right direction to at least hit his little ships once they have to come back towards me or fly off the map. (The only game I've won was by basically parking at the edge and letting an equally new player misjudge his speed 3/4 ships and fly past me into hyperspace)

I can see where using objectives, especially ones that force him to not run would /help/, but it doesn't help me deal with the immense amount of bombers he fields. From my PoV they hit far too hard while having far too much health for a measly 2 points extra over a standard TIE. Unless I need to just ignore them completely and try to chase down his capitals before his bombers can kill mine?

So, I've felt very similar to how OP feels while running my own Wave 1 Imperial fleet vs a friend's Rebel fleet. A key note here neither of us enjoy the 6 round time limit, nor the objectives, and haven't used them, but I've been told that /should/ play into my favor as Imperials, and it isn't (so far).

In the 5 games I've played so far, I've killed a single Frigate, and nothing else capital ship wise. I have no idea how or why. I ran 2 VSD1's and a GSD1 that game with tarkin, 2 TIEs, and some stuff. Since then I've been trying to deal with the ridiculous amount of bombers he's able to put into play. Between Xwings and Ywings I'm sure there's at least, if not more than, 10 fighter stands on his side every game and I have yet to field anything that can weather that. I fly howlrunner balls with escorts and Fel in to tie things up, take out 1 or 2 Xwings, and then Wedge flies in and activates 3 times wiping out a stand an attack. The remaining forces easily mop up my unnamed fighters and his NebBs and Corvettes just hide on the other end of the map while bombers pummel my now defenseless capitals which lumber around trying to face the right direction to at least hit his little ships once they have to come back towards me or fly off the map. (The only game I've won was by basically parking at the edge and letting an equally new player misjudge his speed 3/4 ships and fly past me into hyperspace)

I can see where using objectives, especially ones that force him to not run would /help/, but it doesn't help me deal with the immense amount of bombers he fields. From my PoV they hit far too hard while having far too much health for a measly 2 points extra over a standard TIE. Unless I need to just ignore them completely and try to chase down his capitals before his bombers can kill mine?

Not to be rude, but if you're not ending the game after 6 rounds and you're not using objectives then you're not playing the game the way it was designed or balanced. That's especially true if you're running a slow fleet with VSDs which take forever to turn around after the initial engagement. A Rebel fleet with infinite turns is going to get the better of you after that first joust because he'll be able to turn around much faster than you and then has infinite turns to keep punishing you afterwards while your slow VSDs continue to try turning while getting shot in the rear.

If he is running 10 squadrons of bombers why are you only running 2 TIE squadrons? Are you committing your TIEs too soon in other games? That's a fairly common mistake - if you just throw your TIEs up there, they are going to get mulched up by Rebel fighters and anti-squadron flak that has nothing better to shoot at. If you're within range of the Yavaris jank (triple activation) then it sounds to me like you're being too reckless with your TIEs. Are you ganging up on his Y-Wings to make the most of Swarm? Are you using Howlrunner? Have you considered dedicating a carrier VSD-I to assist you(I'd recommend Expanded Hangars+Flight Controllers with Howlrunner and TIEs to get big piles of blue dice)? Have you considered Interceptors? They're kind of a gamble in the "maybe no squadrons" meta, but if your regular opponent is going squadron heavy then they're superlative superiority fighters.

How is your friend running 10 squadrons? Unless it's all Y-Wings (100 points), he's going over the 1/3 limit for a 300 point game and his fleet is thus illegal.

Why are you running Tarkin (he's very expensive, especially in smaller games)? Have you considered a cheaper commander like Motti instead?

So, I've felt very similar to how OP feels while running my own Wave 1 Imperial fleet vs a friend's Rebel fleet. A key note here neither of us enjoy the 6 round time limit, nor the objectives, and haven't used them, but I've been told that /should/ play into my favor as Imperials, and it isn't (so far).

In the 5 games I've played so far, I've killed a single Frigate, and nothing else capital ship wise. I have no idea how or why. I ran 2 VSD1's and a GSD1 that game with tarkin, 2 TIEs, and some stuff. Since then I've been trying to deal with the ridiculous amount of bombers he's able to put into play. Between Xwings and Ywings I'm sure there's at least, if not more than, 10 fighter stands on his side every game and I have yet to field anything that can weather that. I fly howlrunner balls with escorts and Fel in to tie things up, take out 1 or 2 Xwings, and then Wedge flies in and activates 3 times wiping out a stand an attack. The remaining forces easily mop up my unnamed fighters and his NebBs and Corvettes just hide on the other end of the map while bombers pummel my now defenseless capitals which lumber around trying to face the right direction to at least hit his little ships once they have to come back towards me or fly off the map. (The only game I've won was by basically parking at the edge and letting an equally new player misjudge his speed 3/4 ships and fly past me into hyperspace)

I can see where using objectives, especially ones that force him to not run would /help/, but it doesn't help me deal with the immense amount of bombers he fields. From my PoV they hit far too hard while having far too much health for a measly 2 points extra over a standard TIE. Unless I need to just ignore them completely and try to chase down his capitals before his bombers can kill mine?

Not to be rude, but if you're not ending the game after 6 rounds and you're not using objectives then you're not playing the game the way it was designed or balanced. That's especially true if you're running a slow fleet with VSDs which take forever to turn around after the initial engagement. A Rebel fleet with infinite turns is going to get the better of you after that first joust because he'll be able to turn around much faster than you and then has infinite turns to keep punishing you afterwards while your slow VSDs continue to try turning while getting shot in the rear.

If he is running 10 squadrons of bombers why are you only running 2 TIE squadrons? Are you committing your TIEs too soon in other games? That's a fairly common mistake - if you just throw your TIEs up there, they are going to get mulched up by Rebel fighters and anti-squadron flak that has nothing better to shoot at. If you're within range of the Yavaris jank (triple activation) then it sounds to me like you're being too reckless with your TIEs. Are you ganging up on his Y-Wings to make the most of Swarm? Are you using Howlrunner? Have you considered dedicating a carrier VSD-I to assist you(I'd recommend Expanded Hangars+Flight Controllers with Howlrunner and TIEs to get big piles of blue dice)? Have you considered Interceptors? They're kind of a gamble in the "maybe no squadrons" meta, but if your regular opponent is going squadron heavy then they're superlative superiority fighters.

How is your friend running 10 squadrons? Unless it's all Y-Wings (100 points), he's going over the 1/3 limit for a 300 point game and his fleet is thus illegal.

Why are you running Tarkin (he's very expensive, especially in smaller games)? Have you considered a cheaper commander like Motti instead?

yeah, a lot of these questions popped to mind for me too.

I admit when i first started I didn't bother with objectives or with the turn limits but as I've grown to actually understand the depth and complexity of the game I have realized that objectives are absolutely pivotal to the balance of the game. Also, explain how he is activating his fighters without having his ships in range for bomber commands? Frankly from the description posted, and with all due respect, it sounds like more than a few rules are being missapplied or straight broken!

I find that when there is serious missaprehension of the rules its a HUGE help to seek out new people to play with like in an FLGS setting. I can't even remember how many rules I was misinterpreting in my first few games!

So, I've felt very similar to how OP feels while running my own Wave 1 Imperial fleet vs a friend's Rebel fleet. A key note here neither of us enjoy the 6 round time limit, nor the objectives, and haven't used them, but I've been told that /should/ play into my favor as Imperials, and it isn't (so far).

In the 5 games I've played so far, I've killed a single Frigate, and nothing else capital ship wise. I have no idea how or why. I ran 2 VSD1's and a GSD1 that game with tarkin, 2 TIEs, and some stuff. Since then I've been trying to deal with the ridiculous amount of bombers he's able to put into play. Between Xwings and Ywings I'm sure there's at least, if not more than, 10 fighter stands on his side every game and I have yet to field anything that can weather that. I fly howlrunner balls with escorts and Fel in to tie things up, take out 1 or 2 Xwings, and then Wedge flies in and activates 3 times wiping out a stand an attack. The remaining forces easily mop up my unnamed fighters and his NebBs and Corvettes just hide on the other end of the map while bombers pummel my now defenseless capitals which lumber around trying to face the right direction to at least hit his little ships once they have to come back towards me or fly off the map. (The only game I've won was by basically parking at the edge and letting an equally new player misjudge his speed 3/4 ships and fly past me into hyperspace)

I can see where using objectives, especially ones that force him to not run would /help/, but it doesn't help me deal with the immense amount of bombers he fields. From my PoV they hit far too hard while having far too much health for a measly 2 points extra over a standard TIE. Unless I need to just ignore them completely and try to chase down his capitals before his bombers can kill mine?

Not to be rude, but if you're not ending the game after 6 rounds and you're not using objectives then you're not playing the game the way it was designed or balanced. That's especially true if you're running a slow fleet with VSDs which take forever to turn around after the initial engagement. A Rebel fleet with infinite turns is going to get the better of you after that first joust because he'll be able to turn around much faster than you and then has infinite turns to keep punishing you afterwards while your slow VSDs continue to try turning while getting shot in the rear.

If he is running 10 squadrons of bombers why are you only running 2 TIE squadrons? Are you committing your TIEs too soon in other games? That's a fairly common mistake - if you just throw your TIEs up there, they are going to get mulched up by Rebel fighters and anti-squadron flak that has nothing better to shoot at. If you're within range of the Yavaris jank (triple activation) then it sounds to me like you're being too reckless with your TIEs. Are you ganging up on his Y-Wings to make the most of Swarm? Are you using Howlrunner? Have you considered dedicating a carrier VSD-I to assist you(I'd recommend Expanded Hangars+Flight Controllers with Howlrunner and TIEs to get big piles of blue dice)? Have you considered Interceptors? They're kind of a gamble in the "maybe no squadrons" meta, but if your regular opponent is going squadron heavy then they're superlative superiority fighters.

How is your friend running 10 squadrons? Unless it's all Y-Wings (100 points), he's going over the 1/3 limit for a 300 point game and his fleet is thus illegal.

Why are you running Tarkin (he's very expensive, especially in smaller games)? Have you considered a cheaper commander like Motti instead?

What he said.

Also, since you know he's going to bring squadrons, you might as well break out the interceptors.

Try this to start:

Soontir

Mauler

2 Tie Advanced.

Good way to blow up some squadrons for cheap.

Add some interceptors, or whatever or flight controllers or chiraneau for mauler.

In the 5 games I've played so far, I've killed a single Frigate, and nothing else capital ship wise. I have no idea how or why. I ran 2 VSD1's and a GSD1 that game with tarkin, 2 TIEs, and some stuff. Since then I've been trying to deal with the ridiculous amount of bombers he's able to put into play. Between Xwings and Ywings I'm sure there's at least, if not more than, 10 fighter stands on his side every game and I have yet to field anything that can weather that. I fly howlrunner balls with escorts and Fel in to tie things up, take out 1 or 2 Xwings, and then Wedge flies in and activates 3 times wiping out a stand an attack. The remaining forces easily mop up my unnamed fighters and his NebBs and Corvettes just hide on the other end of the map while bombers pummel my now defenseless capitals which lumber around trying to face the right direction to at least hit his little ships once they have to come back towards me or fly off the map. (The only game I've won was by basically parking at the edge and letting an equally new player misjudge his speed 3/4 ships and fly past me into hyperspace)

I can see where using objectives, especially ones that force him to not run would /help/, but it doesn't help me deal with the immense amount of bombers he fields. From my PoV they hit far too hard while having far too much health for a measly 2 points extra over a standard TIE. Unless I need to just ignore them completely and try to chase down his capitals before his bombers can kill mine?

As a fencer I have often had my coaches give me the following advise: If you are doing something and it works keep doing it, if you are doing something and it doesn't work you have to change what you are doing.

You have 2 very slow ships, almost no fighter support and then add no mission and no turn limit your opponent is doing exactly what you would expect him to do. Run away and let the bombers deal with your small number of squadrons and then turn on your ships.

Many of the missions and the turn limit will force an engagement of the forces, if you are strongly against that then all you can work with is the construction of your fleet. So the simple solution is to take fighters 100 points of fighters if you can. 12 X-Wings if you have nothing else, then just burn down his fighters, then bombers and see what happens.

If you don't like the missions try inventing some. Put the space station in teh middle of the board and play contested outpost. Or take 3 objective tokens and deploy them within 3 range of your opponents starting edge. +50 points for each one captured. Do something that causes your opponent to want to make a fight of it.

So, I've felt very similar to how OP feels while running my own Wave 1 Imperial fleet vs a friend's Rebel fleet. A key note here neither of us enjoy the 6 round time limit, nor the objectives, and haven't used them, but I've been told that /should/ play into my favor as Imperials, and it isn't (so far).

In the 5 games I've played so far, I've killed a single Frigate, and nothing else capital ship wise. I have no idea how or why. I ran 2 VSD1's and a GSD1 that game with tarkin, 2 TIEs, and some stuff. Since then I've been trying to deal with the ridiculous amount of bombers he's able to put into play. Between Xwings and Ywings I'm sure there's at least, if not more than, 10 fighter stands on his side every game and I have yet to field anything that can weather that. I fly howlrunner balls with escorts and Fel in to tie things up, take out 1 or 2 Xwings, and then Wedge flies in and activates 3 times wiping out a stand an attack. The remaining forces easily mop up my unnamed fighters and his NebBs and Corvettes just hide on the other end of the map while bombers pummel my now defenseless capitals which lumber around trying to face the right direction to at least hit his little ships once they have to come back towards me or fly off the map. (The only game I've won was by basically parking at the edge and letting an equally new player misjudge his speed 3/4 ships and fly past me into hyperspace)

I can see where using objectives, especially ones that force him to not run would /help/, but it doesn't help me deal with the immense amount of bombers he fields. From my PoV they hit far too hard while having far too much health for a measly 2 points extra over a standard TIE. Unless I need to just ignore them completely and try to chase down his capitals before his bombers can kill mine?

Not to be rude, but if you're not ending the game after 6 rounds and you're not using objectives then you're not playing the game the way it was designed or balanced. That's especially true if you're running a slow fleet with VSDs which take forever to turn around after the initial engagement. A Rebel fleet with infinite turns is going to get the better of you after that first joust because he'll be able to turn around much faster than you and then has infinite turns to keep punishing you afterwards while your slow VSDs continue to try turning while getting shot in the rear.

If he is running 10 squadrons of bombers why are you only running 2 TIE squadrons? Are you committing your TIEs too soon in other games? That's a fairly common mistake - if you just throw your TIEs up there, they are going to get mulched up by Rebel fighters and anti-squadron flak that has nothing better to shoot at. If you're within range of the Yavaris jank (triple activation) then it sounds to me like you're being too reckless with your TIEs. Are you ganging up on his Y-Wings to make the most of Swarm? Are you using Howlrunner? Have you considered dedicating a carrier VSD-I to assist you(I'd recommend Expanded Hangars+Flight Controllers with Howlrunner and TIEs to get big piles of blue dice)? Have you considered Interceptors? They're kind of a gamble in the "maybe no squadrons" meta, but if your regular opponent is going squadron heavy then they're superlative superiority fighters.

How is your friend running 10 squadrons? Unless it's all Y-Wings (100 points), he's going over the 1/3 limit for a 300 point game and his fleet is thus illegal.

Why are you running Tarkin (he's very expensive, especially in smaller games)? Have you considered a cheaper commander like Motti instead?

Not being rude at all, I know the game is balanced for the objectives but we both get frustrated at the idea that there's a round limit, especially since we're just killing time before RPG games in a few hours. Objectives we might worry about more if we weren't struggling to teach ourselves the game, we can't make our schedules line up with the store's actual Armada group so we'd have people that knew what they were doing helping us learn. I should have mentioned the 10 bombers list was us trying out 400pts, it was closer to 6 or 7 in our 300pt games.

But being too aggressive with my fighters does sound like it could be my issue. And until today I've only had 1 set of the fighter pack so my Interceptors didn't go very far with only 2 of them. I'm hoping more will help things. I have been using Howlrunner in every match surrounded by as much swarm as I can. I tried a carrier VSD-II (as you described, only it's the 2, which likely led to me fighting the closer range I need to keep for squadron commands vs the longer range it wants to shoot at. Now that you mentioned the VSD-I as a carrier I can see why that would work better.) once but it did little good after a very poor initial placement had it on the wrong flank for where his ships would run.

I used tarkin because I (apparently wrongly) thought I'd need the command management he provides. If I'm spending every command on turning or fighters I thought I'd like the tokens to either boost those or give me repairs or rerolls. It's likely a holdover from my time playing Star Trek Attack Wing and playing fleets with as many free actions as I could get. Motti just seemed like a bad idea, ideally if I'm taking so much damage I need his extra hull points, I've lost anyway. Which means I'll probably go with Skreed next time because Tarkin really doesn't seem as useful as I thought.

EDIT:

Further weight towards me being too aggressive with my fighters, the fighter engagements largely happen well within his command range and just barely on the border of mine. I have been trying to pin his fighters away from my ships, which seems to be a major flaw on my part.

So, I've felt very similar to how OP feels while running my own Wave 1 Imperial fleet vs a friend's Rebel fleet. A key note here neither of us enjoy the 6 round time limit, nor the objectives, and haven't used them, but I've been told that /should/ play into my favor as Imperials, and it isn't (so far).

In the 5 games I've played so far, I've killed a single Frigate, and nothing else capital ship wise. I have no idea how or why. I ran 2 VSD1's and a GSD1 that game with tarkin, 2 TIEs, and some stuff. Since then I've been trying to deal with the ridiculous amount of bombers he's able to put into play. Between Xwings and Ywings I'm sure there's at least, if not more than, 10 fighter stands on his side every game and I have yet to field anything that can weather that. I fly howlrunner balls with escorts and Fel in to tie things up, take out 1 or 2 Xwings, and then Wedge flies in and activates 3 times wiping out a stand an attack. The remaining forces easily mop up my unnamed fighters and his NebBs and Corvettes just hide on the other end of the map while bombers pummel my now defenseless capitals which lumber around trying to face the right direction to at least hit his little ships once they have to come back towards me or fly off the map. (The only game I've won was by basically parking at the edge and letting an equally new player misjudge his speed 3/4 ships and fly past me into hyperspace)

I can see where using objectives, especially ones that force him to not run would /help/, but it doesn't help me deal with the immense amount of bombers he fields. From my PoV they hit far too hard while having far too much health for a measly 2 points extra over a standard TIE. Unless I need to just ignore them completely and try to chase down his capitals before his bombers can kill mine?

Not to be rude, but if you're not ending the game after 6 rounds and you're not using objectives then you're not playing the game the way it was designed or balanced. That's especially true if you're running a slow fleet with VSDs which take forever to turn around after the initial engagement. A Rebel fleet with infinite turns is going to get the better of you after that first joust because he'll be able to turn around much faster than you and then has infinite turns to keep punishing you afterwards while your slow VSDs continue to try turning while getting shot in the rear.

If he is running 10 squadrons of bombers why are you only running 2 TIE squadrons? Are you committing your TIEs too soon in other games? That's a fairly common mistake - if you just throw your TIEs up there, they are going to get mulched up by Rebel fighters and anti-squadron flak that has nothing better to shoot at. If you're within range of the Yavaris jank (triple activation) then it sounds to me like you're being too reckless with your TIEs. Are you ganging up on his Y-Wings to make the most of Swarm? Are you using Howlrunner? Have you considered dedicating a carrier VSD-I to assist you(I'd recommend Expanded Hangars+Flight Controllers with Howlrunner and TIEs to get big piles of blue dice)? Have you considered Interceptors? They're kind of a gamble in the "maybe no squadrons" meta, but if your regular opponent is going squadron heavy then they're superlative superiority fighters.

How is your friend running 10 squadrons? Unless it's all Y-Wings (100 points), he's going over the 1/3 limit for a 300 point game and his fleet is thus illegal.

Why are you running Tarkin (he's very expensive, especially in smaller games)? Have you considered a cheaper commander like Motti instead?

Not being rude at all, I know the game is balanced for the objectives but we both get frustrated at the idea that there's a round limit, especially since we're just killing time before RPG games in a few hours. Objectives we might worry about more if we weren't struggling to teach ourselves the game, we can't make our schedules line up with the store's actual Armada group so we'd have people that knew what they were doing helping us learn. I should have mentioned the 10 bombers list was us trying out 400pts, it was closer to 6 or 7 in our 300pt games.

But being too aggressive with my fighters does sound like it could be my issue. And until today I've only had 1 set of the fighter pack so my Interceptors didn't go very far with only 2 of them. I'm hoping more will help things. I have been using Howlrunner in every match surrounded by as much swarm as I can. I tried a carrier VSD-II (as you described, only it's the 2, which likely led to me fighting the closer range I need to keep for squadron commands vs the longer range it wants to shoot at. Now that you mentioned the VSD-I as a carrier I can see why that would work better.) once but it did little good after a very poor initial placement had it on the wrong flank for where his ships would run.

I used tarkin because I (apparently wrongly) thought I'd need the command management he provides. If I'm spending every command on turning or fighters I thought I'd like the tokens to either boost those or give me repairs or rerolls. It's likely a holdover from my time playing Star Trek Attack Wing and playing fleets with as many free actions as I could get. Motti just seemed like a bad idea, ideally if I'm taking so much damage I need his extra hull points, I've lost anyway. Which means I'll probably go with Skreed next time because Tarkin really doesn't seem as useful as I thought.

I rather like Tarkin at 400 points. Especially if you are running more than 1 big ship and can just pile up those delicious tokens to unleash at the right moment. A good combo to try is using Soontir fel with a couple of Tie Advanced and mauler mithel with Chiraneau. The tie advanced have Escort, so his fighters have to shoot at them, but if they are also engaged with Soontir they automatically take a damage, tie advanced also have the flexibility of packing a black die for anti-ship. Chiraneau allows your activated squadrons to move even if engaged, so you can drop Mauler into a fighter swarm and do 1 damage to all of them then next turn activate him and move him a little and do another damage to all of them. Also worth noting that Howlrunners added dice count for Counter as well, so she helps soontir and any tie interceptors roll more pain back at the rebel scum. If you make a strategic investment in anti-squadron fighters and try to get him to commit his sqadrons first you can easily neuter most rebel squadron setups or at least keep them out of the fight enough that they don't tip the balance.

So, I've felt very similar to how OP feels while running my own Wave 1 Imperial fleet vs a friend's Rebel fleet. A key note here neither of us enjoy the 6 round time limit, nor the objectives, and haven't used them, but I've been told that /should/ play into my favor as Imperials, and it isn't (so far).

In the 5 games I've played so far, I've killed a single Frigate, and nothing else capital ship wise. I have no idea how or why. I ran 2 VSD1's and a GSD1 that game with tarkin, 2 TIEs, and some stuff. Since then I've been trying to deal with the ridiculous amount of bombers he's able to put into play. Between Xwings and Ywings I'm sure there's at least, if not more than, 10 fighter stands on his side every game and I have yet to field anything that can weather that. I fly howlrunner balls with escorts and Fel in to tie things up, take out 1 or 2 Xwings, and then Wedge flies in and activates 3 times wiping out a stand an attack. The remaining forces easily mop up my unnamed fighters and his NebBs and Corvettes just hide on the other end of the map while bombers pummel my now defenseless capitals which lumber around trying to face the right direction to at least hit his little ships once they have to come back towards me or fly off the map. (The only game I've won was by basically parking at the edge and letting an equally new player misjudge his speed 3/4 ships and fly past me into hyperspace)

I can see where using objectives, especially ones that force him to not run would /help/, but it doesn't help me deal with the immense amount of bombers he fields. From my PoV they hit far too hard while having far too much health for a measly 2 points extra over a standard TIE. Unless I need to just ignore them completely and try to chase down his capitals before his bombers can kill mine?

The turn limit and the objectives are part of the game, just like points values. Ignoring them will do strange things to the balance of things.