Hi all,

So I have a fun game tonight ahead of a tournament next week, and I have been playing around with lists but not super happy on one build yet. I want to try something a bit experimental and try to make those really cool options the ISD-1 and Vader not totally suck. My thinking here is - use it like a large Gladiator, and use number of ships plus a key rogue to help soften up my foe. Recognise this list may suck against the fireball though.

Grateful for comments/suggestions!

Imperial Fleet: 399 pts

ISD-1, Vader, Relentless, Tractor Beams, Wullf Yularen

GSD-1, Demolisher, Expanded Launchers

GSD-1

Raider-1

4 x TIE fighters

Boba Fett

Yularen adds some nice flexibility with my tokens and can keep Bobs Fett weakening the targets of my Demolisher/ISD as needed. The Raider can act as a picket in case my opponent has Demolsher too.

Objectives:

Most Wanted

Hyperspace Assault

Dangerous Territory

I like it. I wouldn't swap anything out till you got a game in with it to see how the list works out.

So had the game last night against Ackbar, MC80 command, 2 assault frigates, Luke Skywalker, 3 x X-wings, Tycho and Luke. I lost the Raider and unnamed Gladiator after jamming them in front of an Assault Frigate and MC80 respectively (man those arcs are wide). However, the Gladiator did massive damage on the MC80 and the block allowed me to bring in the ISD-1 for black dice range. That thing is awesome with Vader rerolls! I managed to roll 9 damage on 8 dice with one front arc shot.

Overall, the poor performers were:

- Tractor beams - never really needed them, as I have to be ahead of the enemy to get black dice already and range 5 is red dice range which I want to avoid until I am ready.

- Boba Fett - he got bogged down by X-wings and killed, so didn't do as much as I hoped.

- Expanded launchers - expensive for 2 extra dice.

Therefore, I switched up the list as follows:

ISD-1, Vader, Relentless, Wulff Yularen, Heavy Turbolasers (to capitalise on huge damage rolls)

GSD-1, Demolisher, Assault Proton Torpedoes

GSD-1

Raider-1, Ordnance Experts (for flak duty, which it performed well)

2 x TIE interceptor

4 x TIE fighter

This also gives me a healthy bid of 391 pts to try and get first turn.

Nice to hear Vader work !

I agree that Expanded Launchers is a bit expensive on a GSD... What about Rapid Reload though instead of APTs ? with Rapid Reload, that's 5 Black Dice on a side and 6 with Concentrate Fire Command, which isn't too shabby

For the Heavy Turbolaser Turrets, I made a quicky analysis on how they performed versus XI7 and came to the following conclusions :

1) They work better against targets that have Electronic Counter Measures compared to XI7.

2) They work a lot better than XI7 when you are targeting a hull zone that has no shields o, while XI7 works better to kill the shields. You'll be able to push 1-2 extra damage on a naked hull, which is good !

Rapid reload is nice, but I feel like I am being cheated out of my second broadside. But combine with Demolisher and gunnery teams that could be pretty horrendous! I like...

It feels like XI7 love red dice as it mitigates the ability to push the long range damage onto other facings. With the massive amounts of damage from the ISD-1 (when it gets into range) the HTTs mess with your opponent's ability to brave effectively - which is very nice for pushing through damage and crits onto the hull.

One idea I had was to swap out Relentless for the Avenger title. Wulff Yularen gives a lot of command flexibility so it feels a bit over redundancy, which I don't like. Plus an Avenger barrage combined with Demolisher and/or some bombers could work well in this list. What do you think?