I am playing a 400pt tournament on Thursday as Imperial. I have never played with Wave 2 ships so I think I need all the help I can get.

I am planning to bring along the following:

[ EMPIRE FLEET (400 points)]

1 • Imperial II-class Star Destroyer - Admiral Screed - Gunnery Team - Electronic Countermeasures (160)
2 • Gladiator#1 I-class Star Destroyer - Wulff Yularen - Engine Techs - Assault Proton Torpedoes - Demolisher (86)
3 • Gladiator#2 I-class Star Destroyer - Engine Techs - Assault Proton Torpedoes (69)
4 • Raider I-class corvette - Quad Laser Turrets - Instigator (53)
5 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)
6 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)
7 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)
8 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)
http://armada.fabpsb.net/permalink.php?sq=e14c6w1d1e5o1s3n4f12e5s3n4e25g5f23e4e4e4e4

For objectives, I am thinking about the following, though a 400pt it is unlikely to matter:

• Advanced Gunnery
• Fleet Ambush
• Navigational Hazards

What would you do differently ? Should I drop a Tie Fighter to buy a XX-9 for the Imperial II ?

I think you have a very solid list there, one that could potentially win vs all kinds of opponents.

Some thoughts:

Demolisher loves to be 1st player, which you'll never be with your 0 pt bid. So your objectives really do matter, because you'll be playing them every game!

Engine techs on that non-Demolisher seems like a card that could go. I also question the QLT - they can help, a tiny bit, against anything that isn't Rhymer and his medium-range shots. Keep them if you want, drop them if you don't need them.

That frees up 8 or 12 pts that you could use for Initiative bid, or maybe tweak your fighter force or something.

Btw: Navigational Hazards is not an objective (it was in an early preview). Thinking of Dangerous Territory perhaps?

Thank you for the answers. I will drop the QLT and the Engine-tech for Gladiator #2. On that topic, I plan to deploy it slightly behind my main line to take care of any flankers trying to take a shot at my Imperial rear arc. Also, what do you think of giving instead to the Glas #2 an Intel Officer to compensate for the lack of focus on the black dice?

As for the Imperial, I am hesitating between an XX-9 (because of Screed's ability) or a X17 (to take care of the Reb's nasty habit of using Advanced Projectors). Which would you recommand?

[ EMPIRE FLEET (400 points)]

1 • Imperial II-class Star Destroyer - Admiral Screed - Gunnery Team - Electronic Countermeasures - XI7 Turbolasers (166)
2 • Gladiator#1 I-class Star Destroyer - Wulff Yularen - Engine Techs - Assault Proton Torpedoes - Demolisher (86)
3 • Gladiator#2 I-class Star Destroyer - Intel Officer - Assault Proton Torpedoes (68)
4 • Raider I-class corvette - Instigator (48)
5 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)
6 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)
7 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)
8 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)

Looks good but as Green Knight says an initiative bid would really help get the most from Demolisher.

I would drop Wulf and the instigator title. Demolisher tends to be a suicide ship and with a NAV token banked early on he may not last long enough to use the engine techs a second time. If you really have a need to do so then veteran captain can be a cheap alternative.

You could move the Intel officer to the Demolisher or the ISD.

Overall aim for a 6-11 point initiative bid so after the above savings consider Relentless, that Veteran Captain or the odd tie interceptor upgrade to a fighter.

My only advice would be to get Ordnance expert on those GSD's, Black dice rerolls on GSD's can make a world of difference.

My only advice would be to get Ordnance expert on those GSD's, Black dice rerolls on GSD's can make a world of difference.

I was thinking about that one but thought it would be redundant with Screed. Why re-roll when you can simplu select the crit you need to trigger the Assault Proton Torpedoes?

So the list now looks as follows:

[ EMPIRE FLEET (395 points)]

1 • Imperial II-class Star Destroyer - Admiral Screed - Gunnery Team - Electronic Countermeasures - XI7 Turbolasers - Relentless (169)

2 • Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer - Intel Officer - Engine Techs - Assault Proton Torpedoes - Demolisher (86)

3 • Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer - Veteran Captain - Assault Proton Torpedoes (64)

4 • Raider I-class corvette (44)

5 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)

6 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)

7 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)

8 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)

5pts initiative bid.

On the Demolisher prefering to play first... is it always the case? I take the Gladiator to be a glass-canon, hence would it be better to activate it last so that it wont get shot at as often and on top you can probably get it wedged between 2 enemy ships that just moved to use both broad side.

The following turn, your opponent moves first and retaliate. You then activate the Gladiator first unleash a broadside and aim for a rear-arc (hence the engine tech is very usefull for the additional manoeuvrability)

Looks nice.

I meant to say the Veteran Captain was a cheaper alternative to Wulf, giving a Nav token to activate engine techs at the vital moment. On your other Gladiator he isn't needed so take an 8 point bid or maybe the instigator title.

If you are the first turn player with Demolisher you activate it last to keep it at longer range until several of your enemies move and they will probably try to deal with the big nasty ISD you are driving at them. As your final ship you fire 2 red die at long range then rush in using engine techs if needed and put a vicious flank shot onto a target after you move and try to double arc it for next round. On the next turn you activate Demolisher first to fire both a flank and a front shot into the same victim then race a way or possibly ram to finish him off. Engine techs can get you extra rams and the APT crit results can get you 2-3 face up damage cards on top of that.

If you are second player with demolisher all isn't lost but the enemy can see what you have lined up the Demolisher on and activate that ship first to either kill Demolisher or move out of black die range of it.

[ EMPIRE FLEET (399 points)]

1 • Imperial II-class Star Destroyer - Admiral Screed - Gunnery Team - Electronic Countermeasures - XI7 Turbolasers - Relentless (169)
2 • Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer - Veteran Captain - Engine Techs - Assault Proton Torpedoes - Demolisher (82)
3 • Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer - Intel Officer - Assault Proton Torpedoes (68)
4 • Raider I-class corvette - Instigator (48)
5 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)
6 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)
7 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)
8 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)

Which one do you prefer for anti-fighter duty:

4 Tie vs 3 Interceptor?

4 TIE (deployment advantage)

For objectives, I am thinking:

Most Wanted

Fleet Ambush

Minefields

Agree / Disagree ?

I played with the list above yesterday. It works well except for the Raider that virtually did nothing. I am disappointed by the Raider which I had hopped would function more like a CR90. Its weapons are too short ranged and it does not have the capacity to soak the damage from a MC80 or a AFII return fire required for it to close the range. With a CR90 at least you have Red dices and can harass your target at long-range. Hence, I am taking it out of the list and trying to slot in an additional Gladiator instead.

[ EMPIRE FLEET (398 points)]
1 • Imperial II-class Star Destroyer - Admiral Screed - Electronic Countermeasures - XI7 Turbolasers - Relentless (162)
2 • Gladiator I #1 -class Star Destroyer - Veteran Captain - Engine Techs - Assault Proton Torpedoes - Demolisher (82)
3 • Gladiator I #2 -class Star Destroyer - Assault Proton Torpedoes (61)
4 • Gladiator I #3 -class Star Destroyer - Assault Proton Torpedoes (61)
5 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)
6 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)
7 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)
8 • TIE Fighter Squadron (8)

For tournament play, I should strip down the Imperial II and the Glad #1, get rid of the Tie and slot a 4th Gladiator but for casual play, I do not think it would be a nice list to play. Effective but boring.

The Tournament list I was mentioning above. Deadly but boring. From a meta standpoint, the more ships you have the better (more activation, more hull point, better control of the board, not too many points invested in a single ship... etc). Consider my 4 Glad as my anti-squadron screen

[ EMPIRE FLEET (397 points)
1 • Imperial II-class Star Destroyer - Admiral Screed - Electronic Countermeasures (153)
2 • Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer - Assault Proton Torpedoes (61)
3 • Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer - Assault Proton Torpedoes (61)
4 • Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer - Assault Proton Torpedoes (61)
5 • Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer - Assault Proton Torpedoes (61)