My ISD keeps getting ripped to shreds. I feel like the engineering value is too low, because once the shields drop, you have to bring back more shields than a VSD with the same ammount of points. Even with Engineering captain and a token, it's never enough to stop the bleeding once it has started.

I'm thinking maybe if I had two ISD's it would split the focus from one to two, allowing one or both more time to dish out some damage, but I don't want to sink $50 into the ship if it's still going to suck this bad.

If it weren't required to compete with Electronic Countermeasures, there's something to be said that Redundant Shields would make a great upgrade for an ISD2. But with only one brace being the main form of defense, there just aren't enough shields to justify not preferring it to keep your hull protected especially in the event of shield failure.

Prior to the XI-7 change, ISD2s looked very scary. Now they are much weaker than people may have anticipated.

My ISD keeps getting ripped to shreds. I feel like the engineering value is too low, because once the shields drop, you have to bring back more shields than a VSD with the same ammount of points. Even with Engineering captain and a token, it's never enough to stop the bleeding once it has started.

I'm thinking maybe if I had two ISD's it would split the focus from one to two, allowing one or both more time to dish out some damage, but I don't want to sink $50 into the ship if it's still going to suck this bad.

it's not that it's getting ripped to shreds, it's that it ain't immortal

game balance, baby!

a pair of VSDs w/t-beams really help take the heat off of the big guy

Ah yes the great Akbar non issue. Boosted comms, Engine Tech (into the front arc), profit? Akbar is predictable and is easily crushed by bombers. I am happy to face any Akbar list.

My ISD keeps getting ripped to shreds. I feel like the engineering value is too low, because once the shields drop, you have to bring back more shields than a VSD with the same ammount of points. Even with Engineering captain and a token, it's never enough to stop the bleeding once it has started.

I'm thinking maybe if I had two ISD's it would split the focus from one to two, allowing one or both more time to dish out some damage, but I don't want to sink $50 into the ship if it's still going to suck this bad.

Bombers are the way to go. Two ISD is begging to be shredded. I have seen a two ISD list do well only once before, by the best player in the area, who routinely comes first with any list.

If you 'split' the focus you will also split your firepower. If you stick them together the movement is predictable and easily countered. More ISD is not the solution to loosing ISD to Akbar (or whatever). Hiding behind Boosted Comms with squadron 4-5-6 is.

Meanwhile the Rebels have no bad eggs in their lineup except the CR-90B, but anyone taking corvettes is taking the A variant anyway. Even the MC30 has impressed me seeing on the table and surviving as long as it does. Moreover with the exception of the Nebulon-B, every rebel ship has access to ECM, and even the Nebs don't need it because they have double brace! So unless the Empire takes Intelligence officers on every ship to fight back, the Empire is going to be the side of taking full damage, because Home One says so.

I suppose it depends how you view your ships. If the Raider is limited by it's 'range issuses' then couldn't the same be said for the MC30c Torpedo Frigate? I've struggled with the Nebulon B. It might have 2 brace tokens but it just seems to underperform for me. Either it fails to do any damage or gets caught in the flank or has to face tank too much enemy firepower. On the other hand I've never really had an issue with the CR-90B. I tend to run it with Overload pulse to try to flip those defence tokens in a Mon Mothma fleet or with the Dodonna's Pride title to deal those face up damage cards in a General Dodonna fleet.

Three Four things. First, the MC30s have an unusual but good defensive suite that doesn't rely on a Brace for easy targeting. Sure they absorb a lot of damage, but at least they cannot be denied access to their defense tokens by a single accuracy (unlike almost every other ship in the game).

Second, they have really good defensive titles that make the best of that defensive suite. Admonition alone lets you discard choice die that you don't want to face (like blue criticals).

Third, the rebels have some really good defensive officers to help beef up their protection... Wallex can return burned tokens (to help Admonition) and Lando is a permanent medium-range evade to target specific dice. The only protection the Raider has in this way is Montferrat, who just counts as an obstruction only at range speed 3... it isn't as if you can target the dice to remove.

Forth, Rebels have access to Mon Mothma, who instantly makes Evade tokens from serviceable to super effective. Now Torpedo frigates can approach and still cancel lethal dice, and Foresight can take this to disgusting degrees.

CR-90Bs have other advantages the Raider's can't enjoy also, like a defensive upgrade slot and a title that lets them ignore obstacles. Both raider titles only deal with fighters, suggesting it's a better screening escort that stays close to the ship than the fast-moving torpedo-puncher that players wish it did better.

T-beams are what made VSDs viable

have had no problem with Akbar after including those and slowing Afmk2s down to an easily destroyed crawl. Motti in an ISD-2 helps a lot as well

other than that, seems Armada's gone the X-wing way of things. Rebels get big beefy bull, Imps gotta rely on their maneuvering and awesomeness to survive

Which is a weird thing to read you write considering Imperial ships have generally higher hull amounts than the Rebels for their size classes (11 vs 8 for Large), an Admiral that increases their hull amounts, and aren't at great at natural maneuvers when you compare ships of equal sizes (I mean, just compare the VSD to the A/F. MC80 equals the ISD at speed).

For large-ship dueling I don't see how Tractor Beams help. I mean I guess it could help ships get closer to a VSD's front arc, but... it still does nothing to prevent Ackbar-enhanced Home-One shots making a mockery of VSD defenses. Even without XI7s without brace a VSD has about two or three times as the defender against Assault Frigates or greater before it's done in this high-damage output environment. VSDs, Tractor beams or no, cannot stand toe-to-toe with the Rebel big guns anymore.

If it weren't required to compete with Electronic Countermeasures, there's something to be said that Redundant Shields would make a great upgrade for an ISD2. But with only one brace being the main form of defense, there just aren't enough shields to justify not preferring it to keep your hull protected especially in the event of shield failure.

Prior to the XI-7 change, ISD2s looked very scary. Now they are much weaker than people may have anticipated.

The universe would be a lot different if this interplay of Accuracy vs Brace tokens wasn't a thing. A lot more ships wouldn't be easy to screw over and the Rebels wouldn't have their advantage with ECM abilities everywhere. But because Brace, the greatest defense ability of the game, is so easily countered by one accuracy result it is important to have it protected with an ECM to keep that token valid.

The only counter to that is intelligence officers. You'll need to pay 7 points for them and sacrifice your officer upgrade. Even then that doesn't make the Empire better defensible... it just levels the playing field so that the rebels have the same problem as the Empire does. Thing is, the Rebels don't have that problem otherwise, and can invest more points into being more dangerous than trying to level the playing field.

...Like using Home One to free up every turbolaser slot in the rebel fleet, going from everyone carrying H9s to everyone carrying XI7s, Enhanced Armaments, or slaved turrets and still getting that accuracy to give Empire a hard time.

The flight pattern of a forward ship at this point is not well understood.

whereas shooting off the side in this game, where the shooting radius is of consistent relation to the movement speeds creates a possibility of using raduis turning to create a sort of orbit effect, increasing length of time where ships can keep firing and stay at a wanted range.

The flight pattern of a forward ship at this point is not well understood.

whereas shooting off the side in this game, where the shooting radius is of consistent relation to the movement speeds creates a possibility of using raduis turning to create a sort of orbit effect, increasing length of time where ships can keep firing and stay at a wanted range.

I guess this is where Tractor beams can help keep a ship from orbiting out of a forward-shooter's forward arc... but practically speaking a broadsider has an easier time keeping things on-target to destroy. When an forward-shooter passes, the game belongs to the broadsider. Imperial ships thus can't be too eager racing into range, because the situation can flip on them easily if they aren't careful, and there is no way to recover from it except to turn hard or T-beam. The only forward-arc turner for the Empire with 2 clicks on its dial is the Raider, where without enhancements it has to slow to speed 2 to do...and lose Montferrat's bonus.

My ISD keeps getting ripped to shreds. I feel like the engineering value is too low, because once the shields drop, you have to bring back more shields than a VSD with the same ammount of points. Even with Engineering captain and a token, it's never enough to stop the bleeding once it has started.

I'm thinking maybe if I had two ISD's it would split the focus from one to two, allowing one or both more time to dish out some damage, but I don't want to sink $50 into the ship if it's still going to suck this bad.

it's not that it's getting ripped to shreds, it's that it ain't immortal

game balance, baby!

a pair of VSDs w/t-beams really help take the heat off of the big guy

VSD 1s wtth TBeams? any other upgrades?

Meanwhile the Rebels have no bad eggs in their lineup except the CR-90B, but anyone taking corvettes is taking the A variant anyway. Even the MC30 has impressed me seeing on the table and surviving as long as it does. Moreover with the exception of the Nebulon-B, every rebel ship has access to ECM, and even the Nebs don't need it because they have double brace! So unless the Empire takes Intelligence officers on every ship to fight back, the Empire is going to be the side of taking full damage, because Home One says so.

I suppose it depends how you view your ships. If the Raider is limited by it's 'range issuses' then couldn't the same be said for the MC30c Torpedo Frigate? I've struggled with the Nebulon B. It might have 2 brace tokens but it just seems to underperform for me. Either it fails to do any damage or gets caught in the flank or has to face tank too much enemy firepower. On the other hand I've never really had an issue with the CR-90B. I tend to run it with Overload pulse to try to flip those defence tokens in a Mon Mothma fleet or with the Dodonna's Pride title to deal those face up damage cards in a General Dodonna fleet.

Three Four things. First, the MC30s have an unusual but good defensive suite that doesn't rely on a Brace for easy targeting. Sure they absorb a lot of damage, but at least they cannot be denied access to their defense tokens by a single accuracy (unlike almost every other ship in the game).

Second, they have really good defensive titles that make the best of that defensive suite. Admonition alone lets you discard choice die that you don't want to face (like blue criticals).

Third, the rebels have some really good defensive officers to help beef up their protection... Wallex can return burned tokens (to help Admonition) and Lando is a permanent medium-range evade to target specific dice. The only protection the Raider has in this way is Montferrat, who just counts as an obstruction only at range 3... it isn't as if you can target the dice to remove.

Forth, Rebels have access to Mon Mothma, who instantly makes Evade tokens from serviceable to super effective. Now Torpedo frigates can approach and still cancel lethal dice, and Foresight can take this to disgusting degrees.

CR-90Bs have other advantages the Raider's can't enjoy also, like a defensive upgrade slot and a title that lets them ignore obstacles. Both raider titles only deal with fighters, suggesting it's a better screening escort that stays close to the ship than the fast-moving torpedo-puncher that players wish it did better.

So how you set your ship up and in what list you run it in makes it viable.

You mentioned that the CR-90B has advantages that the Raider can't access. What about things that the Raider has access to that the CR-90 doesn't? Does the Empire really need another torpedo boat?

So how you set your ship up and in what list you run it in makes it viable.

You mentioned that the CR-90B has advantages that the Raider can't access. What about things that the Raider has access to that the CR-90 doesn't? Does the Empire really need another torpedo boat?

FFG gave the Empire their own super-maneuverable corvette analogue, ostensibly to do similar to what the CR-90 does but in an Imperial way (by a more potent forward firing arc). Because both configurations are short range using black dice, come with Ordnance Experts, and the R-I version comes with a torpedo slot, players are inferring that the Raider is a torpedo boat.

Some are using it this way for great success. Every time I've tried to use it it's died before it can be really effective because it can't do anything about shedding damage to the arc facing the target without needing an engineering command. This takes away from things like navigating and concentrate fire that CR-90s can do when they activate and not have the same problem (in addition to having red dice and staying out where their evades are still useful). So when running a Raider apparently you need to be banking engineering on the turn you're starting to take attacks to replace the two shields you're likely to lose when you're in attack range. Then pray you're not at such a speed or activation order that you're Raider ends up next to the target and gets walloped at close range (If not die from collision damage from having to stop, or watch the target fly off).

The Raider's primary advantage I can see over CR-90s, beyond being cheap platforms for Ordnance and Ion upgrades (if they live), is anti-fighter capabilities. Both variants throw two dice on AA attacks, and both titles deal directly with fighters. Both variants have access to Offensive structure upgrades as well, so they can mount things like Quad Lasers or Point-defense re-route (to re-roll the one blue die you have on the Raider-II). This suggests that the Raider could be a good leading escort for Imperial forces to clear out fighters, and perhaps that's what they were really designed to do.

However when they get anywhere into medium range they stand a good chance of popping easily if they're in any Rebel side arc (re-rolling one die when facing 6+ damage will not save this ship). And speed 4 beckons to many to use them as space cruise missiles to unleash six dice at close range with Ordnance Expert support in the weakest arc of the target. Thing is, I think CR-90s still do this better than Raiders can because spectacular turning of the Raider only comes at speed 2. Which is why many take Ozzel, so that they can climb down to being maneuverable from intercept speed.

That's how I see it at least. Maybe I just need that right game with Raiders to win me over and convince me of their usefulness. So far the only minor success I've had is in a 2v2 game where it took three turns to get a raider parked into an assault frigate rear, and I had to watch the frigate fly away before I could activate and give it damage... while losing my front shields and catching fire from the frigate's rear guns. Every other instance they've popped so easily I'm thinking it's a mistake I own three. I was hoping they could work as well as 3 TR-CR90As.

As an Imperial player I'm primarily bewildered about how Rebel ships are out-gunning the Empire.

This is absurd logic.

Imperials:

More guns

Higher hulls

Better shields

Redirects

Greater squadron activations

Better squadron synergy

Rebels

More long range guns

Better manouverability

Better individual ace pilots

Thats it, just happens that its easier to capitalise on long range tactics than anything else. Rebels dont outgun imperials in general, they outgun them at long range.

As an Imperial player I'm primarily bewildered about how Rebel ships are out-gunning the Empire.

This is absurd logic.

Imperials:

More guns

Higher hulls

Better shields

Redirects

Greater squadron activations

Better squadron synergy

Rebels

More long range guns

Better manouverability

Better individual ace pilots

Thats it, just happens that its easier to capitalise on long range tactics than anything else. Rebels dont outgun imperials in general, they outgun them at long range.

But that's the problem. It's not about having more guns, it's about having more guns on target. And a fleet of Rebel broadsides has vastly more guns on target than Imperials do thanks to the design of their side arcs and the maneuver chart on their broadside ships. A rebel broadside fleet can spend every single turn in range with the entire enemy fleet in its firing arc. A VSD or even an ISD trying to do the same is going to be immediately out-turned and then destroyed. A Gladiator, theoretically the ship designed to counter that, must survive at least 1-2 turns of constant (now boosted) fire to get in range where it will quickly find itself without any ability to mitigate static defenses like Brace and Redirect. And a Raider wimply doesn't have the necessary staying power in hull and shields nor defense tokens to survive a turn of multiple broadsides, especially at close range.

Oh, and discounting the MC80 Assault Cruiser the Imperials and Rebels have effectively the same number of squadron activations unless running a few very specialized lists.

By out-gunning I mean it seems the Rebels are superior shooters. With Ackbar enhancing shots on the scene with Home One, now the Rebels get two free red dice out the broadsides of most of thier ships (excepting Nebs and CR-90s, which you use different tactics for) and an accuracy.

Because I'm thinking of this:

MC80 Command // Home One / Ackbar / Intel Officer / ECM / SW-7 / Enhanced Armament

2x Assault Frigate IIB // Intel Officer / Gunnery Team / Enhanced Armament / ECM

...with 14 points remaining. With Ackbar, the MC80 is putting out 9 dice (11 with Opening Salvo), and each assault frigate delivers 7 dice (9 dice with Opening Salvo) twice, all with Intelligence Agent support. Both are firing six reds for 6 attacks per turn against capital ships (With Intel officer support and using Ackbar). All able to use their ECMs when they get into range to be attacked.

The Empire can't begin to try matching Ackbar's dice bonuses without slaved turrets (since there are no upgrades to enhance the forward shots apart from Ordnance upgrades... if your VSDs survive to get into close range), so say goodbye to gunnery teams. And in order to take three ISDs using them you'll have to drop down to ISD-Is (which means four reds, two blues, and blacks using Slaved Turrets), with little else. No ECMs, no Intelligence agents, no accuracies... that the Rebels enjoy.

I mean you could charge three ISDs and hope to gouge enough damage to make a difference, but the Rebel player can hit a single ISD for three attacks with that much dice with Intelligence agent backup. You'd better hope their rolls are terrible because if not? Well, ISD resiliency will be put to the test.

The Empire can muster 27 red/blue dice total out of Four VSD-IIs, three of which could be armed with Slave Turrets and SW-7s... but good luck getting in range, you cannot engage multiple targets, and against the list above you'll never use Brace except when the MC80 shoots at you (for one time before Intel officer makes it go away).

Outside of this you'll have to resort to GSDs, Raiders as they try to charge the rebel gunline, but then you're no longer running an Imperial gunline, and good luck racing into being outgunned by accuracy red dice. Fighter builds might work, if they are gambling on killing rebel capital ships before theirs make mincemeat of your "carriers" (Which I suppose could be running away while you hope your fighters can chase and destroy the capital ships you'll be flying into).

Believe me, I want to believe the Imperials out-gun the alliance. But then I conjure builds like these and can't see an easy Imperial advantage. Let me know if I'm missing something because I'd like to try it, Imperial gunships are my favorite build.

How long can the rebels stay at long range though? Plan it right and there should be one round of getting hammered before closing the gap. I appreciate this isnt easy, which is why playing rebels is at basic level easier.

However, thought for the day, if the rebels are travelling away from you, why close the distance? Stay just out of range and shepherd them of the edge of the map... they will have to turn at some point (or you got deployment disastrously wrong)

I am not saying this is the perfect solution, but tool an ISD-II with Gunnery Team, Overload Pulse, Xi-7's, ECM and an Intel Officer. Use Screed as your Admiral.

You can then pair this with 2 Glads or an Avenger ISD-II, flavor them as you see fit and still have room for fighters.

The actual ISD shots will be pretty much unblocked and you are guaranteed to exhaust all tokens for the follow up shots from the other ships. Playing two ISD-II's, one of them being Avenger and you can wreck even an MC-80 in a turn.

Now you have to make blue range, but in an ISD, that isn't that hard.

Strip the Rebel scum of their defense and suddenly their ships start popping.

This is my next iteration of the afore mentioned strategy. Don't chase the Rebels, head for the front ship in the conga line, they'll have to close with you or change direction, both of which will get you front arc blue range.

Dual ISD with Screed.

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 392/400

Commander: Admiral Screed

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Fleet Ambush
Navigation Objective: Minefields

Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Relentless ( 3 points)
- Intel Officer ( 7 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- XI7 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
- Overload Pulse ( 8 points)

[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Admiral Screed ( 26 points)
- Avenger ( 5 points)
- Intel Officer ( 7 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- XX-9 Turbolasers ( 5 points)
- SW 7 Ion Batteries ( 5 points)

3 Aggressor Assault Fighters ( 48 points)

My ISD keeps getting ripped to shreds. I feel like the engineering value is too low, because once the shields drop, you have to bring back more shields than a VSD with the same ammount of points. Even with Engineering captain and a token, it's never enough to stop the bleeding once it has started.

I'm thinking maybe if I had two ISD's it would split the focus from one to two, allowing one or both more time to dish out some damage, but I don't want to sink $50 into the ship if it's still going to suck this bad.

it's not that it's getting ripped to shreds, it's that it ain't immortal

game balance, baby!

a pair of VSDs w/t-beams really help take the heat off of the big guy

VSD 1s wtth TBeams? any other upgrades?

My ISD keeps getting ripped to shreds. I feel like the engineering value is too low, because once the shields drop, you have to bring back more shields than a VSD with the same ammount of points. Even with Engineering captain and a token, it's never enough to stop the bleeding once it has started.

I'm thinking maybe if I had two ISD's it would split the focus from one to two, allowing one or both more time to dish out some damage, but I don't want to sink $50 into the ship if it's still going to suck this bad.

it's not that it's getting ripped to shreds, it's that it ain't immortal

game balance, baby!

a pair of VSDs w/t-beams really help take the heat off of the big guy

VSD 1s wtth TBeams? any other upgrades?

Why a VSD 1? Why not a 2?

My ISD keeps getting ripped to shreds. I feel like the engineering value is too low, because once the shields drop, you have to bring back more shields than a VSD with the same ammount of points. Even with Engineering captain and a token, it's never enough to stop the bleeding once it has started.

I'm thinking maybe if I had two ISD's it would split the focus from one to two, allowing one or both more time to dish out some damage, but I don't want to sink $50 into the ship if it's still going to suck this bad.

it's not that it's getting ripped to shreds, it's that it ain't immortal

game balance, baby!

a pair of VSDs w/t-beams really help take the heat off of the big guy

VSD 1s wtth TBeams? any other upgrades?

Why a VSD 1? Why not a 2?

because 12 points says the blue dice isn't worth it

Sure it is expensive but it has been my focus for wave 2 to counter Ackbar.

Started a Armada night at my LGS last night, and it's the first time I've really got to play since Wave 2 came out. I've tested ships and such, but haven't had a real game yet.

I ended up playing a newbie, but to be honest I'm not much more than one myself. We played 300 points because he only had the core set, but I let him use my AFmk2 and MC-80 with Akbar. I was playing a ISD 2 and a VSD 2 with 2 Ties and 2 Int's...

I'll be honest I never once felt outgunned, if anything I think the firepower advantage was mine. When I got the VSD into med range I blasted the hell out of his AFmk2 and did some damage to his MC-80. I made tactical blunder early on and slowed my ISD to 1 and had issues catching up to his ships. But when I got the ISD in med range he couldn't stand up to it.

Sure it is expensive but it has been my focus for wave 2 to counter Ackbar.

Started a Armada night at my LGS last night, and it's the first time I've really got to play since Wave 2 came out. I've tested ships and such, but haven't had a real game yet.I ended up playing a newbie, but to be honest I'm not much more than one myself. We played 300 points because he only had the core set, but I let him use my AFmk2 and MC-80 with Akbar. I was playing a ISD 2 and a VSD 2 with 2 Ties and 2 Int's...I'll be honest I never once felt outgunned, if anything I think the firepower advantage was mine. When I got the VSD into med range I blasted the hell out of his AFmk2 and did some damage to his MC-80. I made tactical blunder early on and slowed my ISD to 1 and had issues catching up to his ships. But when I got the ISD in med range he couldn't stand up to it.

So how you set your ship up and in what list you run it in makes it viable.

You mentioned that the CR-90B has advantages that the Raider can't access. What about things that the Raider has access to that the CR-90 doesn't? Does the Empire really need another torpedo boat?

FFG gave the Empire their own super-maneuverable corvette analogue, ostensibly to do similar to what the CR-90 does but in an Imperial way (by a more potent forward firing arc). Because both configurations are short range using black dice, come with Ordnance Experts, and the R-I version comes with a torpedo slot, players are inferring that the Raider is a torpedo boat.

I honestly think it's a trap to think of the Raider as a CR-90 analogue. People are going to compare them but at the end of the day the Raider isn't the CR-90. It's an anti squadron ship that is flexible enough to fill in other roles but won't do them as well as more dedicated platforms. It could work as a light carrier as it can take the Expanded Hanger Bays upgrade. You could give the Raider II Overload Pulse or NK-7 Ion Cannon and run it in an Admiral Screed fleet. If you're worried about durability then add in Admiral Montferrat. You could just go for pure anti squadron and run a Raider I with Ordinance Experts and one of the ship titles in an Admiral Ozzel fleet.

Yea I ran my raider with montferret and the fighters with one ship dice couldn't touch me and allowed it to survive the entire match.

Yea I ran my raider with montferret and the fighters with one ship dice couldn't touch me and allowed it to survive the entire match.

sadly, Montferret only works vs ships, not squadrons....

My ISD keeps getting ripped to shreds. I feel like the engineering value is too low, because once the shields drop, you have to bring back more shields than a VSD with the same ammount of points. Even with Engineering captain and a token, it's never enough to stop the bleeding once it has started.

I'm thinking maybe if I had two ISD's it would split the focus from one to two, allowing one or both more time to dish out some damage, but I don't want to sink $50 into the ship if it's still going to suck this bad.

it's not that it's getting ripped to shreds, it's that it ain't immortal

game balance, baby!

a pair of VSDs w/t-beams really help take the heat off of the big guy

VSD 1s wtth TBeams? any other upgrades?

Why a VSD 1? Why not a 2?

because 12 points says the blue dice isn't worth it

I personally disagree. If the issue is getting hit by red and blue dice while you are out of black dice range, move up to Red and blue dice ships. Try it out. Sure it is expensive but it has been my focus for wave 2 to counter Ackbar.

Yeah.. unless I'm severely strapped on points, blue dice on a speed-2 ship is ALWAYS worth it.

Few statements:

1) This is exactly why, in a game like this, that I don't limit myself to a single faction. I played VSD+2xGlad+Rhymer at worlds to good effect (a mistake on my part in the last game cost me top4). Now... Ackbar+MC80 w/Home One, Lando, and +3x AFII w/Gunnery Team is doing pretty well for me locally.

2) However, I think that Ackbar+Home One is a bit overpowered. The persistent accuracy, on both attacks from the AFIIs, from Home One is as OP as Ackbar himself. Couple that with the fairly maneuverable AFII and it just puts everything over the top. I do think that a good Rhymer ball has the best chance against this type of list - as Ackbar can totally dominate anything that relies only on black dice armament. I keep trying to make MC80+2x MC30 work since the combination of black and red dice could be brutal if able to force an accuracy (but the MC30 seems like a lost puppy without good dice modification).

3) I'm really curious to see what people like to do against the Ackbar lists strategy wise: it is beatable, but often the opposing player needs to realize that they should play defensively and more purposefully (see #4). The opposing player has to actively work towards minimizing the effect of the broadsides rather than just hope to duke it out. This can be done by trying to come at the front of the ships, or isolating the fight (the opposing player only taking shots from ~2 ships on approach).

4) One of my favorite strategy articles of all time is "Who's the beatdown?" (by Mike Flores: http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/fundamentals/3692_Whos_The_Beatdown.html).It specifically about Magic: TG, but it's applicable in nearly every head-to-head game I've ever played (it's still gospel for Magic). The basic theory is: know whether you need to be on the offense or defense in the game. Is your goal to survive long enough and win via attrition or is it to annihilate your opponent as quick as possible? With objectives, sometimes this decision is easier to make, but still something that needs to be considered. This is even more appropriate in Armada because the role isn't entirely list dependent, eg: did your opponent take an aggressive stance to start? How's the objective look to you?

(and it should probably be said: #3 and 4 is just 'good' strategy... not really specific to the ackbar issue at hand)