Wave 2 Rebels Jumbo Shrimp -- need advice

By thecactusman17, in Star Wars: Armada Fleet Builds

Looking for feedback, don't play much Rebels but will have a full fleet when my W2 order comes in.

395/400

-MC80 Assault Cruiser Home One

-Admiral Ackbar

-Raymus Antilles

-Electronic Countermeasures

-Redundant Shields

-Leading Shots

-XI-7 Turbolasers

-Home One

-MC30 Torpedo Frigate

-Ordinance Experts

-Enhanced Armament

-MC30 Torpedo Frigate

-Ordinance Experts

-Enhanced Armament

Y-Wing Squadron

Y-Wing Squadron

Y-Wing Squadron

Y-Wing Squadron

Y-Wing Squadron

Advanced Gunnery

Fire Lanes

Superior Positions

With Ackbar activated, those MC30s have the firing profile of an Imperial Star Destroyer 1 out of their side arcs with some rerolls at close range. Seems like a pretty major threat if I can get it in range and at speed 4, I could do that pretty quickly.

I'm fairly happy with the ships, at least initially. But i don't see a good clear strategy for squadrons or objectives. Advanced Gunnery is a given (might even give it to an MC30 to abuse that arc if I take first player) but I can't come up with a solid defensive or offensive objective to exclusively benefit me.

the assault cruiser seems really overbuilt

it can be bumped down to a Command Cruiser and ditch Redundant (aptly named) shielding without losing much at all

that adds gunnery teams to both shrimp

then, either put the rest in bid or squeeze in boosted comms to more efficiently wield the Ys

I have the MC80 overbuilt because I don't really feel they're all that durable. Fewer shield and hull than an ISD especially now that APs have changed. I agree that it does go against my normal minimalist upgrade philosophy.

I've changed this up rather drastically, tell me if this looks better:

-AF2mkB

-Ackbar

-Gunnery Teams

-XI-7

AF2mkB

-Gunnery Teams

-XI-7

-MC30 Torpedo Frigate

-Ordinance Experts

-Electronic Countermeasures

-Enhanced Armaments

-MC30 Torpedo Frigate

-Ordinance Experts

-Electronic Countermeasures

-Enhanced Armaments

-A-Wing

-A-Wing

Most Wanted

Fire Lanes

Superior Positions

I like that I can use this to either circle the drain or spear right across it depending on what I'm facing off against. I'm a little concerned that I need to drop another 4-5 points for a strong bid though and I can't figure out where to pull from. Those MC30s are fragile without ECMs.

I dont see the MC30 as a great fit with Ackbar to be honest. I see my MC-30s divin in for a double arc setup. Front and side blacks into one target. If you wanna conga just roll with AFmk2s.

Afmk2s do not discourage close range fire

Shrimps are a great complement to them

Why the ECMs on the Shrimps and not the Whales? I would think with two of each token, they would not need them and the Whales with one of each token could make much better use. I would try to get Foresight on one of them.

I dont see the MC30 as a great fit with Ackbar to be honest. I see my MC-30s divin in for a double arc setup. Front and side blacks into one target. If you wanna conga just roll with AFmk2s.

It gets the arc of an Imperial Star Destroyer.

Allow me to repeat that: a small ship costed less than 80 points in total gets the single most powerful offensive arc in the game when given the right upgrades. In fact, thanks to having an Ordinance upgrade, it's actually potentially more powerful.

You're not going to get that sort of performance with Mon Mothma.

Why the ECMs on the Shrimps and not the Whales? I would think with two of each token, they would not need them and the Whales with one of each token could make much better use. I would try to get Foresight on one of them.

The Whales can stay at range, but the Shrimps NEED to be close to maximize their offense. And that means the Shrimps are going to encounter far more blue dice and Accuracy results than a carefully positioned Whale. So while I agree the Whales are theoretically more durable with it, the shrimps need it more at least on paper.

Do you mind if I direct you here ? I think you will find a lot of commonality with what you're trying to achieve.

There are definitely a ton more articles there, just take a browse through and you'll see what each of your lists strengths and weaknesses are. I've been practicing Wave 2 for a long time now, take a look :)

I follow you Cactus. Ackbar does make the side arc of the MC-30 very tasty. All I'm trying to say is the ideal MC-30 attack is a 2 arc attack. Toss the side arc into someone and follow it up with the front arc. Ackbar prevents you from utilizing the blacks out of the forward arc. But hey I don't even own a MC-30 yet so take it for what its worth :)

Akbar is optional, and the double-arc set-up is more difficult than advertised

he will see far more use than not

Point taken. Setting up double arc shots turn after turn would be a real piloting challenge whereby the fat side arc should always see something. Thanks guys.

I always fall into that trap. Looks good on paper but once you get in game conditions things dont work like you planned :)

As others noted, strip down to a command cruiser, extended comms, leading shots (it's very good with the 5 to 6 reds you kick out), slaved turrets, ECM ( it's a must in wave 2, if you depend on single defence tokens, so many acuracies floating around), home one (that's 18 points saved). Don't worry about a command cruiser surviving, they are hard as nails from every angle.

Build a fighter strike wing (5 activations), HWK, x wing and 3 ywings (5 points more than your original fighter list)

As for the MC30c go for scout and drop enhanced armaments, grab foresight/admonition and add assault proton missiles ( 18 points more)

As for the MC30c go for scout and drop enhanced armaments, grab foresight/admonition and add assault proton missiles ( 18 points more)

I disagree on the move from torpedo to scout. It moves you into an entirely different build designed to deliver consistent primary fire at long range rather than massive blasts close-in. At that point you're looking at retooling the MC80 to support this strategy, with either engine techs on an assault cruiser (to stay at range and increase your reds) or downgraded entirely to an AF2.

I dont see the MC30 as a great fit with Ackbar to be honest. I see my MC-30s divin in for a double arc setup. Front and side blacks into one target. If you wanna conga just roll with AFmk2s.

CR90a + enhanced armaments = 54 pts

Scout frigate = 69 pts

CR90a is much better Ackbar bait. MC30s need to get close to justify their point cost. If they're the only ones closing in they'll get roasted. Haven't seen a pair in action to increase survivability though.

Ardaedhel, True but as he's going for ackbar with an mc80 he's going to want to play an early to mid long range game/late close range game. The mc30 scout supports this as its can play long or close support.

If I was planning to playing close range early on (not my favourite game) I would not play ackbar at all instead, I would go with Dodonna and load up with three torpedo mc30s (as you suggest) with assault proton torps and xx-9 turbo lasers (73 points each), CR90b with Dodonna's pride (45 points), a neb b Escort with yavaris and xx-9 turbo lasers (67 points) and a fighter wing of Luke, scurrg and a HWK.

Close range crit list....

As for the MC30c go for scout and drop enhanced armaments, grab foresight/admonition and add assault proton missiles ( 18 points more)

I disagree on the move from torpedo to scout. It moves you into an entirely different build designed to deliver consistent primary fire at long range rather than massive blasts close-in. At that point you're looking at retooling the MC80 to support this strategy, with either engine techs on an assault cruiser (to stay at range and increase your reds) or downgraded entirely to an AF2.

Always Engine Techs on the MC80. It's probably the best purchase you can have on the **** thing. I've been playing with the MC80 since Vassal was launched for Wave 2 and I can confidently say that in every game that I've played without or have not used it, I have been disappointed. The key to exploiting the MC80's strengths lie in how you are able to set up slicing shots from both of its huge broadsides. Otherwise, you're only playing with half a ship.

Ardaedhel, True but as he's going for ackbar with an mc80 he's going to want to play an early to mid long range game/late close range game. The mc30 scout supports this as its can play long or close support.

I'll grant that if his plan is to play a long range game, then yes, he should go scout over torpedo. But, again, I think that's a different build than the one he's running here. I myself often run a very similar list with Ackbar on Home One supporting two torpedo shrimp, and it's definitely not a long-range list, but a close-range one supported by a long-range heavy hitter.

If I was planning to playing close range early on (not my favourite game) I would not play ackbar at all instead, I would go with Dodonna and load up with three torpedo mc30s (as you suggest) with assault proton torps and xx-9 turbo lasers (73 points each), CR90b with Dodonna's pride (45 points), a neb b Escort with yavaris and xx-9 turbo lasers (67 points) and a fighter wing of Luke, scurrg and a HWK.

Close range crit list....

I... would not. Regardless, we're not here to talk about entirely different lists, but about the OP's.

APT and XX-9 are directly at odds with each other, why run them both on the same ship?

You need Ord Experts to reliably proc APTs. You're looking at a +25% overall chance to proc it on each shot, for 4 points.

Dodonna's Pride is no less a trap now than it has been for all of Wave 1.

Why put XX-9 on Yavaris? Keep Yavaris lean and focused on what it's there for, best case you're looking at one shot worth of value out of that before Yavaris dies and you give up the points for XX-9.

As for the MC30c go for scout and drop enhanced armaments, grab foresight/admonition and add assault proton missiles ( 18 points more)

I disagree on the move from torpedo to scout. It moves you into an entirely different build designed to deliver consistent primary fire at long range rather than massive blasts close-in. At that point you're looking at retooling the MC80 to support this strategy, with either engine techs on an assault cruiser (to stay at range and increase your reds) or downgraded entirely to an AF2.

Always Engine Techs on the MC80. It's probably the best purchase you can have on the **** thing. I've been playing with the MC80 since Vassal was launched for Wave 2 and I can confidently say that in every game that I've played without or have not used it, I have been disappointed. The key to exploiting the MC80's strengths lie in how you are able to set up slicing shots from both of its huge broadsides. Otherwise, you're only playing with half a ship.

Certainly, they're a great upgrade for it, but I would argue the advantage comes mostly if you're trying to keep your distance.

On the other hand, if you're trying to slash with it, your adversary is probably gunning for it anyway, so what you need is not so much the speed to run them down as the maneuverability to place yourself where you want to be. This means either well-placed navs right up until the point where you need to switch to eng, or command flexibility cards if you're not confident in your ability to predict that timing: Nav Team, Support Team, Nav Officer, that kind of thing.

Edit: clarification.

Edited by Ardaedhel

As for the MC30c go for scout and drop enhanced armaments, grab foresight/admonition and add assault proton missiles ( 18 points more)

I disagree on the move from torpedo to scout. It moves you into an entirely different build designed to deliver consistent primary fire at long range rather than massive blasts close-in. At that point you're looking at retooling the MC80 to support this strategy, with either engine techs on an assault cruiser (to stay at range and increase your reds) or downgraded entirely to an AF2.

Always Engine Techs on the MC80. It's probably the best purchase you can have on the **** thing. I've been playing with the MC80 since Vassal was launched for Wave 2 and I can confidently say that in every game that I've played without or have not used it, I have been disappointed. The key to exploiting the MC80's strengths lie in how you are able to set up slicing shots from both of its huge broadsides. Otherwise, you're only playing with half a ship.

Certainly, they're a great upgrade for it, but I would argue the advantage comes mostly if you're trying to keep your distance. The thing is, if you're trying to slash with it, your adversary is probably gunning for it anyway, so what you need is not so much the speed to run them down as the maneuverability to place yourself where you want to be. This means either well-placed navs right up until the point where you need to switch to eng, or command flexibility cards if you're not confident in your ability to predict that timing: Nav Team, Support Team, Nav Officer, that kind of thing.

Edit: To clarify, not saying it's not a great upgrade, by any means. Just that it's not necessarily an auto-include.

You're not going to be outrunning a Speed-3 ISD without it, so in that sense it absolutely is an auto-include. Your example basically confirmed the need for it even further.

As for the MC30c go for scout and drop enhanced armaments, grab foresight/admonition and add assault proton missiles ( 18 points more)

I disagree on the move from torpedo to scout. It moves you into an entirely different build designed to deliver consistent primary fire at long range rather than massive blasts close-in. At that point you're looking at retooling the MC80 to support this strategy, with either engine techs on an assault cruiser (to stay at range and increase your reds) or downgraded entirely to an AF2.

Always Engine Techs on the MC80. It's probably the best purchase you can have on the **** thing. I've been playing with the MC80 since Vassal was launched for Wave 2 and I can confidently say that in every game that I've played without or have not used it, I have been disappointed. The key to exploiting the MC80's strengths lie in how you are able to set up slicing shots from both of its huge broadsides. Otherwise, you're only playing with half a ship.

Certainly, they're a great upgrade for it, but I would argue the advantage comes mostly if you're trying to keep your distance. The thing is, if you're trying to slash with it, your adversary is probably gunning for it anyway, so what you need is not so much the speed to run them down as the maneuverability to place yourself where you want to be. This means either well-placed navs right up until the point where you need to switch to eng, or command flexibility cards if you're not confident in your ability to predict that timing: Nav Team, Support Team, Nav Officer, that kind of thing.

Edit: To clarify, not saying it's not a great upgrade, by any means. Just that it's not necessarily an auto-include.

You're not going to be outrunning a Speed-3 ISD without it, so in that sense it absolutely is an auto-include. Your example basically confirmed the need for it even further.

I don't know if you understood the example, because it didn't have anything to do with outrunning ISDs. If an MC80 is trying to slash--ie, charging nose-to-nose with ISDs--what it needs is not speed, but the maneuverability to place itself where it wants to be to maximize the effectiveness of its gambit. We're already closing at speed 5, which will close from beyond long range to close in one round anyway.

I only really need to invest in extra speed if I'm trying to keep my distance so I can play the long-range game, and I don't have any other way to give attackers the Heisman (tractor beams, physical blockers, enough firepower to deter the charge, etc).

Slash, as in, getting both arcs to fire, not necessarily charging nose first into the ISD.

Ardaedhel

I stack the xx-9s with APTs on MC30s when I'm running Dodonna. They mutually support the ship to deliver the maximum number of face up damage cards. I work to concentrate my ships on one target, APT are used in the early activations, XX-9s are used once you have dropped the shields, I put both on all the MC30s as its a 15 point investment to allow freedom of activation order.

Dodonna's Pride is only a trap if it is working in isolation, if you work it with the massed MC30s it's just a cheap way to overload targeting priorities. It also has synergy with the admiral and how all other ships in the fleet work.

Adding xx-9 to yavaris is keeping it light, That's one five point upgrade and I tend not to get my yavaris killed ( if I can help it) I keep it at medium range (hence the speed three fighter wing) and do the frigate dance. Three red dice wil deliver a crit most rounds, so if your fighter activation/ early ship activations have nobbled the shields that five point investment is golden.

I like to ensure every ship possible can have synergy with my admiral (even Dodonna is expensive).