Ok, this is my first go round so be semi gentle.

ISD-2

Grand Moff Tarkin

Relentless

Weapons Liason

Quad Laser Turrets

Electronic Counter Measures

XX-9 Turbolasers

Overload Pulse

VSD-2

Corrupter

Boosted Comms

Raider-1

Impetuous

Assault Concussion Missiles

That totals to 338 points. I've got only the Imperial Expansions, but that includes the fighters and Rogues.

What mix of fighters do I want?

What have I done right?

What have I done wrong?

I'm perfectly willing to modify the cards I've listed but I want to use those three ships.

Thanks.

ISD: Always take Gunnery teams to get 2 shots out the front if faced by several targets. ECMs are perfect. With only 2 command dials the Weapon team probably can go for points or to get an Intel officer in there. XX-9s are ok but XI7s or HTTs are generally considered superior. Ditch Quad Turrets.

VSD: You could move OL-pulse to the VSD then swap Relentless for Avenger to get the nice one two punch. If not then downgrade the VSD-II to a VSD-I to free up 12 points. With Corruptor you could add Chinaneau to get bombers out of trouble with a move 5 to catch people out or a very reasonable Move 3 when getting away from being engaged.

Raider: I like them cheap. If you keep the ACMs put Ordnance experts on him instead of Insidious to reroll the black dice to get a crit.

Fighters: take Rymer and 2-3 TIE-Bombers. Then add 4 Tie Fighters to keep them free from bother. If you don't take Admiral Chiraneau then an intel jumpmaster may be worth it but then that needs protection from a Tie Advanced or two.

I think any imperial bomber wing is going to want ryhmer, dengar for Intel so you don't get pinned down, and Vader or two tie advance to shield the wing... so right there you are looking at 57-60 points... so you are going to have to take points out of your ships to get a decent ball going... one thing I've noticed is that people tend to go with isd1 or vsd 1 if they have bomber wings because the wing provides the reach of firepower so then your ships don't need to reach out as far... frees up more points for bombers as well

Ok. How about this?

Imperial Squadron Tarkin II

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 398/400

Commander: Grand Moff Tarkin

Assault Objective: Precision Strike
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Minefields

[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Grand Moff Tarkin ( 38 points)
- Relentless ( 3 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- Heavy Turbolaser Turrets ( 6 points)
- SW 7 Ion Batteries ( 5 points)

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (73 points)
- Corrupter ( 5 points)
- Flight Controllers ( 6 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)

Raider-I Class Corvette (44 points)
- Impetuous ( 4 points)

2 TIE Advanced Squadrons ( 24 points)
1 Major Rhymer ( 16 points)
2 TIE Bomber Squadrons ( 18 points)
1 Firespray-31 ( 18 points)

Updated the list in the previous post. Added Objective and upped the number of fighters.

http://armada.fabpsb.net/permalink.php?sq=e14c1w1d1i5t5f16e1w2g3f5e25w5e12e12e8e9e17e4e0a3a5a11

After much thought and reading I think this is where I'm going. Any comments?

I would recommend swapping the firespray for 2 tie bombers. You'll get more hull, greater range, 2 separate black dice vs ships, and 2 blue + 2 black vs squadrons thanks to you flight controllers. And, you have squadron activations to spare.

Gunnery teams only get used to shoot a ship, then a squadron from the same arc, because any competent player will keep 2 ships out of the ISD front arc, man its hard enough getting one ship in there long enough to shoot it with all dice, let alone 2.

Last tournament played a guy in the last round who had 3 AFMK II with Gunnery Team (before it all started there was a big discussion about GT being ridiculously good with Ackbar on AF, and I said "Personally if you are flying two or more ships into one of them arcs, you deserve to lose, it is not hard to keep two out." and sure enough I ended up facing him last round, and he did not get to double arc once the entire game with his GT's, wasting 21 pts.

Get rid of the Gunnery Team, add Captain Needa, ditch Heavy Turbolaser Batteries and add Turbolaser Reroute Circtuts, and ditch the SW-7 Ions(you will at best get blue dice 1 shot per game from front arc, side arc sure but you need Accuracys, wasted points on this ship), for Leading shots, this will give you a much more valuable damage output at long range, and for that once per game when you get a full complement of dice front arc, you have Leading Shots to reroll them, if you roll bad.

ISD & Tarkin will be able to command 5 squadrons per turn, do you need the Vic? Why not add a Gladiator for some offensive punch from a ship (85 pts to the 88pts you have currently).

I mean with no Intel you cannot move your bombers out of trouble, ideally you want to pair Corrupter with Admiral Chiraneau, so you keep your Tie Advanced with the Bombers, let them get engaged, and then use the combo to move the bombers range 3, leaving the enemy squadrons locked by your Tie Advanced. and with speed 4 escorts, you don't want your bombers outpacing them, meaning its a lot of points just to get the Firespray-31 to speed 4.

As for the Raider, I'd change the title to Ordnance Experts, this will virtually guarantee 2 damage on every squadron you attack.

@TheEasterKing: Which expansion include the Turbolaser Reroute Circuits and Leading Shots?

@TheEasterKing: Which expansion include the Turbolaser Reroute Circuits and Leading Shots?

MC80 for TRC's and ISD for Leading shots I believe

Check here: http://starwars-armada.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Armada_Wiki

Leading shots is the corvette. TRC is the shrimp

Thanks.

How about this version?

Faction: Galactic Empire

Points: 398/400

Commander: Grand Moff Tarkin

Assault Objective: Precision Strike

Defense Objective: Contested Outpost

Navigation Objective: Minefields

[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)

- Grand Moff Tarkin ( 38 points)

- Relentless ( 3 points)

- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)

- Heavy Turbolaser Turrets ( 6 points)

- Leading Shots ( 4 points)

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (73 points)

- Corrupter ( 5 points)

- Admiral Chiraneau ( 10 points)

- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)

- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)

Raider-I Class Corvette (44 points)

- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)

1 Major Rhymer (16 points)

3 TIE Bomber Squadrons (27 points)

1 Darth Vader (21 points)

1 TIE Advanced Squadron (12 points)

I'd say that's heavy on bombers and light on fighters in support - any rebel fleet with a decent fighter mix will knock out the Advanceds and tear through the Bombers pretty easily, in which case 43 points on bombers is a bit of a waste. I'd also say Darth is expensive for what is still a squadron-light list. I'd cut him plus a bomber out, and fill it up with 4 Ties. Takes you up to the full 400, but personally think it's worth it to get the Rhymerball to where you want it and doing the damage you want it to do.

How about this build?

http://armada.fabpsb.net/permalink.php?sq=e0a3a5a11e14c1w2d1i5f16e1o10w5g3f5e25w5e12e12e8e9e9e4e4

I upped the number of fighters to 2 Advanced and 2 TIE/LN and added Flight Controllers to the Imperial.

How about this build?

http://armada.fabpsb.net/permalink.php?sq=e0a3a5a11e14c1w2d1i5f16e1o10w5g3f5e25w5e12e12e8e9e9e4e4

I upped the number of fighters to 2 Advanced and 2 TIE/LN and added Flight Controllers to the Imperial.

Works for me. I'm personally not a huge fan of the TIE Advanced, plus I don't use bombers, but with the game style you're wanting to play you've got much better coverage for those Bombers, plus you've bolstered your TIEs ability to take on squadrons with the Flight Controllers.

At the end of the day, the only way to find out if it works is to play it. Good luck!

Looking forward to it. Thanks for all the help folks.

Because I can keep modifying the squadron and just bought another pack of Imperial Fighters and a few Rebels to buff my cards.

Task Force Tarkin

Author: Sanguinary Dan

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 397/400

Commander: Grand Moff Tarkin

Assault Objective: Precision Strike
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Minefields

[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Grand Moff Tarkin ( 38 points)
- Relentless ( 3 points)
- Flight Controllers ( 6 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- XI7 Turbolasers ( 6 points)

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (73 points)
- Corrupter ( 5 points)
- Admiral Chiraneau ( 10 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)
- Assault Proton Torpedoes ( 5 points)

Raider-I Class Corvette (44 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)

1 Major Rhymer ( 16 points)
3 TIE Bomber Squadrons ( 27 points)
2 TIE Advanced Squadrons ( 24 points)

Fleet created with Armada Warlords

Much more balanced list. Couple of minor points.

First - Tarkin's an interesting choice. He works best for four or five ship builds, but is very expensive for only three ships. I'd save some points and take someone like Motti or Screed - I just don't think you'll find Tarkin especially useful.

Second - Flight controllers is a bit of a waste on the ISD, particularly when you've got your Victory as a carrier and a fleet that's still relatively light on squadrons. You want gunnery teams to take advantage of that big handful of dice on the front hull. You're very likely to be outnumbered with that build, so the ability to hit more than one ship and hit hard is vital.

Thirdly, I think ordnance experts is a bit wasted on the Raider, personally. A cool option would be to upgrade it to a Raider-II and stick overload pulse on it. You could then use it to soften up targets ahead of a big ISD or VSD hit. But ordnance experts really isn't worth it for a max of three black dice.

And finally, I still think you've got an odd balance between bombers and escorts there. Yes, Chiraneau lets you move them whilst engaged, but then that's only with an activation. Even then, they're not going to move far, and rarely out of danger or into an attack position. Plus, with such poor anti-squadron dice and only two escorts, they'll quickly get ripped to shreds by a decent rebel fighter setup. I'd switch out a bomber and switch in either an extra Advanced or, even better, a couple of TIEs or Interceptors. That gives you cover to move the bombers around, and enought real fighters to at least keep a Rebel threat busy.

3 Ships can certainly benefit hugely from Tarkin - especially when you want to be Engineering More... Tarkin giving out nothing but Engineering tokens saves you more over a game than Motti gives as a Benefit - but worth the points is always a matter

Factor in the point that Ordnance Experts will also affect the Black-Black Anti-Squadron Dice of the Raider. That essentially makes it a virtually guaranteed 2 Damage to every Squadron in that Arc, should it shoot at them, and incidentally boosts the Anti-Ship capability.

You appear to have built a carrier list, but without the mass of squadrons to carry.

If you are trying to decimate opponents bombers, then you have brought the wrong type of tie!

If you are trying to run a bomber list, then add more squadrons! VSD with expanded hanger is 4 activations. This leaves the ISD's 4 activations unused, and lets not mention the option to throw out an extra three with tarkin tokens!

If you dont want a carrier build, then what is that VSD I supposed to be doing? Could always swop it for a demolisher and then you get to go running around the map if you should choose.

First - Tarkin's an interesting choice. He works best for four or five ship builds, but is very expensive for only three ships. I'd save some points and take someone like Motti or Screed - I just don't think you'll find Tarkin especially useful.

3 Ships can certainly benefit hugely from Tarkin - especially when you want to be Engineering More... Tarkin giving out nothing but Engineering tokens saves you more over a game than Motti gives as a Benefit - but worth the points is always a matter

Second - Flight controllers is a bit of a waste on the ISD, particularly when you've got your Victory as a carrier and a fleet that's still relatively light on squadrons. You want gunnery teams to take advantage of that big handful of dice on the front hull. You're very likely to be outnumbered with that build, so the ability to hit more than one ship and hit hard is vital.

The Flight Controllers on someone other than the Victory, lets the Victory activate nothing but bombers and lets a Tarkin-Token'd ISD add fighter capability TO said Bomber Wing Activation.

Is itw roth the Opportunity costs of Gunnery Team? Probably not. But its not a horrible decision.

Thirdly, I think ordnance experts is a bit wasted on the Raider, personally. A cool option would be to upgrade it to a Raider-II and stick overload pulse on it. You could then use it to soften up targets ahead of a big ISD or VSD hit. But ordnance experts really isn't worth it for a max of three black dice.

Factor in the point that Ordnance Experts will also affect the Black-Black Anti-Squadron Dice of the Raider. That essentially makes it a virtually guaranteed 2 Damage to every Squadron in that Arc, should it shoot at them, and incidentally boosts the Anti-Ship capability.

All fair comments. To clarify, this was just my opinion - it's certainly not a horrible decision to take the Flight Controllers, and wasn't trying to say it was. Just I personally think Gunnery Teams works better, particularly when Sanguinary Dan is only flying two out and out fighter squadrons. But that's up for debate, obviously!

I also remain concerned over Tarkin's cost. But like you say, that's a toss-up.

But you're spot on on the Raider. Had forgotten the two anti-squadron dice, so the logic behind Ordnance Experts makes sense.

So here's my next question. Assuming I want to keep the same mix of ships, how can I boost my squadron count without reducing the anti-ship abilities of the Rhymerball?

I assumed that Escort on the TIE Advanced was the best bang for the buck in terms of keeping enemy fighters at bay. Is that a false assumption?

So here's my next question. Assuming I want to keep the same mix of ships, how can I boost my squadron count without reducing the anti-ship abilities of the Rhymerball?

I assumed that Escort on the TIE Advanced was the best bang for the buck in terms of keeping enemy fighters at bay. Is that a false assumption?

Don't want to patronise you if you know this already, but the rules of escort can be slippery. Bear in mind that, just because a fighter has to attack the Advanced first, it doesn't mean that the TIE Bomber isn't engaged. As long as that squadron is at distance one of the Bomber, even if it's attacking the Advanced because of escort, the Bomber is still engaged and therefore can't move (unless you activate it with Chiraneau, and then it can only move at speed 2).

Basically, the Advanced will stop you getting shot, but it won't necessarily mean you get to where you want to be.

A more useful addition might be a Jumpmaster 5000 - this has intel, which gives any ship within 1 of you heavy. With heavy, those squadrons then can't stop your bombers from moving or attacking ships - perfect for Rhymer. Even better, take Dengar - he gives counter 1 to the bombers, which means that they at least get to return fire on an attacking squadron if they get caught out.

Even with a ship with intel, a cleverly positioned rebel fighter can stay out of range of the Jumpmaster 5000 and so engage your bomber. If you really want to give the bombers freedom of movement, the only real way is to have a separate fighter screen that keeps squadrons away from them. What you hope is that they can tie them up far enough away to give your bombers a clear run, but it does rely on have a decent number of fighter squadrons, and on manoeuvring them effectively.

Essentially, Advanced with escorts are a good way of protecting bombers if they get caught by squadrons. But it doesn't guarantee that you'll be able to do what you want with them, i.e. get to work bombing ships.