I think about what other players are likely to bring, and then figure out what ratio of squadrons:ships is likely to beat that opponents profile. I then consider how their lists are going to drive, and what sorts of maneuvers are going to be able to take advantage of those maneuvers. Then I choose the specific ships and squadrons to fill in the ratio.

Or, I think "ISDs are cool. Lemme drive two of them!"

I run with a concept that I like, that fits my play styles of slow and steady, **** the maneuvers go right at them, and frustrating your opponent! Imperial VSDs an ISDs flinging lots of squadrons suits the first, VSDs and ISDs suits the second, and a mix of Rebel ships suits the third. While I see the value of other admirals, I almost exclusively use Motti for the Imperial Navy, as I like to intentionally ram my opponent's ships. For the Rebels, Mon Mothma is frustration incarnate, and alli I need to do is fly my butt off untill I can get my perfect shots.

For the MC80s, I will learn to love Ackbar, but on the surface he is not quite my style.

1: Pick a plan that suits my style.

2: Plunk in the admiral that I almost always run and select ships and squadrons that fit the plan.

3: add upgrades and tweak until it fits the plan.

4: choose objectives that let me control the battlefield.

5: run through an after action review, and modify the list for next game. If I can defeat my regular group who know my style and plan... Because we do a little AAR on the smoke break afyer the game, then it can work against anyone.

chose tactic ( agressive, Defensive , hit and run , swarm of squadrons and so on...)

Chose ships that match your tactic ( firepower , uppgrade possibilities , survivability , movement , Commands...and so on )

Build your fleet and se how you come out.

Then choose a commander that will support your tactic and try to fit him in your list. do some last changes if needed.

Then play your chosen tactic to the end or you will loose.

And remember sometimes you can be unlucky with the dice rolling , that dosent mean you dont have a great list.

If you feel that the dice rolling decided the game, play again with your list and learn about your weaknesses of your list and improve it to next time.

Mine isn't a scientific process, but my list building generally follows the following 21-step pattern:

1. Wake up in the middle of the night with a random fleet thought. Roll over. Put self back to sleep by counting up fleet points. WARNING: may not result in accurate numbers.
2. Wake up in the morning and try to remember that random fleet thought. Decide if it was worth waking up over. If so, sit down with fleet builder. If not... probably still sit down with fleet builder.
3. Build the crazy idea in the fleet builder (could be a single ship, could be a ship-squadron/ship-commander/ship-objective combo, could be an entire squadron wing or fleet).
4. See if it fits, numbers were accurate, how it looks, what it can do.
5. Identify potential bloat/point-sinks in the list, and what trimming the fat could net.
6. Add Commander (if missing) and any missing near-auto-include ships (i.e., Demolisher) and/or upgrades (i.e., Ordnance Experts on Raider/GSD, Gunnery Team on ISD/AFII, Leading Shots on ISD/MC-80) and/or squadrons (i.e., Rhymer), not necessarily in that order.
7. Fill out remaining fleet points with ships/squadrons that compliment/compensate for existing list.
8. Re-identify any remaining bloat/point sinks, and what further trimming could net.
9. Assess how survivable the list is against known opponents' lists. If survivability is a serious concern, reassess upgrade and ship/squadron selection choices. When all else fails, go with Rieekan.
10. Assess the maneuverability and speed of the list. If unbearably slow, see if upgrade or squadron selection can compensate.
11. See if it includes 4+ ships and 10+ squadrons. If not, see if a stripped-down version can fit 4+ ships and 10+ squadrons. If not, see if existing ships/squadrons pigeon-hole me into a particular strategy/objectives, or afford flexibility. If pigeon-holed, try to rejigger so as to not be pigeon-holed.
12. Assess firepower of the list. If bad, rejigger to improve, preferably while maintaining survivability, maneuverability, and flexibility.
13. Reassess commander selection.
14. Re-identify any remaining bloat/point sinks, and what further trimming could net.
15. Finalize list.
16. Finalize 4-5 variations on the final list, adjusting ship/squadron/upgrade/commander/objection selection.
17. Take a shower. Mull over the list(s).
18. Rejigger list again based on shower assessment.
19. Close fleet builder with sense of satisfaction.
20. Go to sleep.
21. Wake up in the middle of the night with a random fleet thought...

(Two of these steps may or may not be fictional.)

I find list building to be a circle. I did cover list building in my blog this week (see link in sig) but I will give a brief synopsis here.

What do i want the list to do?

What ships help this?

How many squadrons?

what admiral excels?

what upgrades?

what objectives?

then go back to the beginning and start answering these questions honestly. maybe you get to step 3 and realize, oh **** this changes steps 1 and 2. whats nice about the basic list above is you can start anywhere and just go down the list and loop back, hence the circle mention. I try to run threw those questions a few times on the same list, keep fine tuning. then wait a day and revisit it to see if i still like it.

also, this may be the best advice i can give, i suggest only list building on the toilet while at work, my best lists have come from that dojo.

I'm really interested in the thought process from the guys picking ships before admirals and treating admirals as an after thought.

I'd like to know more!

It's like pairing wine with dessert, I find it easier to plan the body of the dessert first. Not to say you can't start with a wine and then figure out what to bake for dessert....

So if I start with W00t all the Corvettes, then Mon Mothma.

If I start with let's try a well rounded force — say 2 Frigates for beef, a Yavaris to anchor the squadrons, and a CR90 for zippy duties; then ponder hmm, do I want to try out Ackbar? Not this time, since I want to try a jack of all trades approach, I think Garm.