I'm totally torn between the two to take to the store champs this weekend

Either

Assault Frigate MkIIB (92pts)

Electronic Countermeasures, Gunnery Team, XI7 Turbolaser

Or

MC30 Scout Frigate (93pts)

Assault Proton Torps, Ordnance Experts, Turbolaser Reroute Circuits, Admonition

What say you?

BTW my other 2 ships are a TRC Corvette and a pimped out MC80 Defiance with a 5 squadron CAP. Admiral is Ackbar.

Personally, I'd like to know the Admiral before making that call.

Oops my bad. Running Ackbar.

With Ackbar I'd be more inclined towards the GT AFMK-II

The scout frigate can still toss out 4 red at long range, not too bad. Though I,d tend towards the toughness of an AFII, though the black dice on the 30 are just so good!! Agonising choice isn't it

Split the difference:

MC30c Scout

- Admonition

- Gunnery Team

- Turbolaser Reroute

Yeah, for me, it was the Gunnery Teams... If you put GT's on the Shrimp and made it a Scout, I'd go with that one for the best of both worlds...

The only reason I like the AFM2 is because it has that brace. Once you get into range of black dice, you're going to feel that lack of a black dice.

I'd suggest deciding what you want your last ship to do? Do you want it to contribute to the Ackbar swirl, or do you want to fly it super aggressively? Trying to split a ship that can do both will give you a ship that excels in neither.

Depends on play style. With TRC's and Home One I would go with the MC30 and use its small size to flank the Assault Frigate. Having said that, I think you could fit both. . .

+++ Spread the Ackbar (398pts) +++

Assault Frigate Mark IIB (92pts) [Electronic Countermeasures, Gunnery Team, XI7 Turbolasers]

TRC90 - CR90 Corvette A (51pts) [Turbolaser Reroute Circuits]

MC30c Scout Frigate (91pts) [Gunnery Team, Turbolaser Reroute Circuits, •Foresight]

Home One - MC80 Command Cruiser (164pts) [Electronic Countermeasures, XI7 Turbolasers, •Admiral Ackbar, •Home One]

+ Objectives +

Assault Objective [Precision Strike]

Defense Objective [Fire Lanes]

Navigation Objective [intel Sweep]

Created with BattleScribe (http://www.battlescribe.net)

If you're going for the more traditional Ackbar standoff playstyle, I'd probably go with the AF2. The survivability is what you want in that list, IMO, and the brace and higher engineering deliver that in heaps. Personally, I just generally don't like using Scouts as mainline standoff ships, because I think you're wasting a huge part of the ship's potential as a close-in facepuncher, but that's just me.

Speaking of close-in facepunchers, I'd throw out the suggestion of using a Torpedo Frigate if you're not necessarily going for another standoff ship. In this list I'd run one with Ordnance Experts and either APT/XI7 or ACM/TRC. It might sound a little weird using a ship with only medium range shots with Ackbar, but as a facepuncher you want it at black range anyway, so if you fly it right (by "right" I mean "very aggressively") you're maybe missing out on one shot anyway. The two blues are a lot more reliable than the reds, plus you save a good 6 points on the ship itself. I can also say from first-hand experience that nobody will ever pick your Advanced Gunnery or Hyperspace Assault objective more than once with this ship in your list, because two side arcs from this will kill basically anything.

Ackbar is pretty good on both ships. Personally, I prefer the AFMII, because it is more likely to survive until the end of the game. The shrimp will likely die, however, if you play it well it can cause enough damage to make up for its cost. If you're going for a high victory point ratio, you have a much better chance of accomplishing that with the AFMII, as you have a better chance of not giving up any points to your opponent. It's the same way I feel about the gladiator(but at least the glad has a brace). Cool ship, it has its uses, but rarely survives unless it misses out on the action. It all comes down to play style and whether your goal is to win, or to possibly win without losing a capital ship. The people who win tournaments tend to have more 10-0 or 8-0 victories than 6-4 victories.

Based on the make up of your list, I would go for the AFMK2, because I'm afraid the MC30 won't have the ability to sustain as well as the AFMK2. With no Brace, it's very vulnerable to single big attacks (which is unfortunately the range at which it will operate), while the AFMK2 can repair better.

Based on the make up of your list, I would go for the AFMK2, because I'm afraid the MC30 won't have the ability to sustain as well as the AFMK2. With no Brace, it's very vulnerable to single big attacks (which is unfortunately the range at which it will operate), while the AFMK2 can repair better.

I think many people have the misconception (likely due to the Gladiator) that the MC30 has to get itself into range. I think this is ok but not the real strength of the ship. Allowing it to take a shot or two as the enemy advances on it or as you swirl around the enemy you get closer you can then use it to unleash the black dice but you can just as easily use the red dice or even blue dice until then and get the job done.

Based on the make up of your list, I would go for the AFMK2, because I'm afraid the MC30 won't have the ability to sustain as well as the AFMK2. With no Brace, it's very vulnerable to single big attacks (which is unfortunately the range at which it will operate), while the AFMK2 can repair better.

Now, please don't take this the wrong get way but I thought the same way at first.

I think many people have the misconception (likely due to the Gladiator) that the MC30 has to get itself into range. I think this is ok but not the real strength of the ship. Allowing it to take a shot or two as the enemy advances on it or as you swirl around the enemy you get closer you can then use it to unleash the black dice but you can just as easily use the red dice or even blue dice until then and get the job done.

Oh I'm not taking this the wrong way I disagree with your analysis, because for the points playing purely on the red dice is not a good investment compared to a Corvette with Concentrate Fire for instance. I agree that you can swirl around and take pot shots, but in this case the Assault Frigate will be a better choice because it can do it for longer

I agree that the tactic with the Scout is to stay afar preferably on a flank and wait for the right opportunity to come in and unleash black dice in a position of strength, but due to his other ships I still think an AFMK2 is a better investment simply because it can take a punch stronger than the MC30.

Staying in blue range is only good versus other black dice, but my analysis may be meta dependent : unless facing a Gladiator heavy list, most of the Imperial ships are blue dice in my meta (Im not factoring in the mirror matches here, because overall the Rebel is a longer range fleet than the Imperials).

Thanks for the discussion guys. It's provided a lot of food for thought