Hey all - I'm intrigued by armada and even have a FLGS with anopponent or two but I really would like to get a sense of whether a build based around my favorite ships is going to be viable. So here we go:

Imperial strike group

Faction: Galactic Empire

Points: 400/400

Commander: Admiral Motti

Assault Objective: Precision Strike

Defense Objective: Hyperspace Assault

Navigation Objective: Intel Sweep

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

- Relentless ( 3 points)

- Admiral Motti ( 24 points)

- Captain Needa ( 2 points)

- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)

- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)

- Advanced Projectors ( 6 points)

- Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points)

- Leading Shots ( 4 points)

Raider-II Class Corvette (48 points)

- Wing Commander ( 6 points)

- Flight Controllers ( 6 points)

- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)

- SW 7 Ion Batteries ( 5 points)

Raider-I Class Corvette (44 points)

- Tactical Expert ( 6 points)

- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)

- Expanded Launchers ( 13 points)

1 Major Rhymer ( 16 points)

1 TIE Bomber Squadron ( 9 points)

2 TIE Advanced Squadrons ( 24 points)

1 Soontir Fel ( 18 points)

1 TIE Interceptor Squadron ( 11 points)

1 TIE Fighter Squadron ( 8 points)

Fleet created with Armada Warlords

My thinking is that having Soontir near the Advanced squadrons is a moderately viscous combination if my opponent brings squadrons and the Tie Advanced can throw some decent anti shipping strikes if he doesn't (I saw a YouTube of a championship match where the rebel player brought scads of A-wings against the gencon special Victory-Gladiator build and I kind of like the idea of borrowing it)

The missions were picked without much understanding of how they are chosen so advice there is especially appreciated.

If you just want to have fun, you can ignore most of the following-

Personally, I would lose some upgrades, get more hull.

If I was against you, unless you are flying your Raiders into my main arcs, I'm focusing your ISD. I think you are then going to find it very hard to win against such a large points loss. If you can get a Gladiator or Victory, your list becomes less centred, removing the all or nothing nature of the list.

In any case, I think Electronic Counter-Measures is the superior defence upgrade for Imperials, and should replace the Advanced Projectors.

For your squadrons, I recommend a bit more specialisation. Soontir is nice, adds a bit of fun, but I don't think the Interceptor or Fighter adds anything. (I assume you only have one squadron pack.). Drop them to help fund the Raider to Gladiator upgrade.

On the raiders- Wing Commander is completely wasted. A Raider gets to decide on the command it is running every turn, so there is no point running this upgrade. Flight Controllers is better the more squadron points a ship has, and you've put it on the lowest ship. Saying that, if you want a fun squadron controlling Raider, go ahead, but you don't need/shouldn't really have anything but Expanded Hangers.

I agree with TheCall.

ISD: ECM rather than AP. Other stuff is fine but could drop Needa+TRC for XI7 if a little short.

Raider-II is almost the same cost as a VSD1 and no where near as good as a carrier. VSD-I with flight controllers and either ex-hangar or boosted comms. But if you are happy with the ISD pulling carrier duty then a tooled up Demolisher could be a better replacement.

Raider-I: No need for the Tac expert as it only has one command rating. Expanded launchers is a little pricy for me on such a small ship. APTs offer a good punch for not many points.

Fighters: 7 squadrons are good if you take a VSD as your second ship. Otherwise consider Vader replacing either both advanced or the Tie-F + Tie-Int. and use a Firespray or two rather than the bomber. Wulff can be a good way of getting an extra fighter activation out of a carrier if you bank a squadron token turn one.

How is this as an adjustment? I realized that I fell victim to the "oooh, shiny" effect of all the upgrades, so I cut back significantly for another gunboat Raider-I:

Chimera strike group

Faction: Galactic Empire

Points: 396/400

Commander: Admiral Motti

Assault Objective: Precision Strike

Defense Objective: Hyperspace Assault

Navigation Objective: Intel Sweep

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

- Admiral Motti ( 24 points)

- Relentless ( 3 points)

- Wulff Yularen ( 7 points)

- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)

- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)

- Leading Shots ( 4 points)

Raider-II Class Corvette (48 points)

- Instigator ( 4 points)

- Flight Controllers ( 6 points)

- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)

Raider-I Class Corvette (44 points)

- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)

- Expanded Launchers ( 13 points)

Raider-I Class Corvette (44 points)

- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)

- Expanded Launchers ( 13 points)

2 TIE Bomber Squadrons ( 18 points)

2 TIE Advanced Squadrons ( 24 points)

I'm thinking about spending 2 of the extra points to upgrade to Screed from Motti... I'm also not terribly happy about the fighter wing (I'd like more but I don't know where to find the points).

Also, what do you think of the mission choice?

If you want more squadrons, drop expanded launchers.

I would highly recommend at least 6 squadrons for your two ships fitted with carrier upgrades, but 7 or 8 wouldn't be bad. The raider can command 2, and the ISD can command 4. Maybe take 2 Interceptors?

I'd personally put the flight controllers on the ISD.

As I said before, the high the squadron command value of a ship the better flight controllers are. On a Raider they only add 2 blues, on an ISD they add 4. Double the value for the same cost.

If you want more squadrons, drop expanded launchers.

I would highly recommend at least 6 squadrons for your two ships fitted with carrier upgrades, but 7 or 8 wouldn't be bad. The raider can command 2, and the ISD can command 4. Maybe take 2 Interceptors?

I'd personally put the flight controllers on the ISD.

As I said before, the high the squadron command value of a ship the better flight controllers are. On a Raider they only add 2 blues, on an ISD they add 4. Double the value for the same cost.

Do the Raider-Is still make a credible anti-ship threat without the launchers?

2 extra black dice should get you 2 extra damage but this then gets braced down usually. APTs get you 1 extra crit and it can't be braced or redirected and goes through the shields even. If you can double arc and get a little luck it is great for 5 points.

More tweaks:

Chimera strike group

Faction: Galactic Empire

Points: 398/400

Commander: Admiral Screed

Assault Objective: Precision Strike

Defense Objective: Hyperspace Assault

Navigation Objective: Intel Sweep

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

- Admiral Screed ( 26 points)

- Relentless ( 3 points)

- Wing Commander ( 6 points)

- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)

- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)

- SW 7 Ion Batteries ( 5 points)

Raider-II Class Corvette (48 points)

- Instigator ( 4 points)

- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)

- Overload Pulse ( 8 points)

Raider-I Class Corvette (44 points)

- Assault Proton Torpedoes ( 5 points)

Raider-I Class Corvette (44 points)

- Assault Proton Torpedoes ( 5 points)

2 TIE Advanced Squadrons ( 24 points)

2 TIE Bomber Squadrons ( 18 points)

2 TIE Interceptor Squadrons ( 22 points)

I was thinking about possibly giving one of the Raider-Is assault Concussion missiles, but the APTs (with Screed as Admiral) seemed like the best way to go.

Also wondering if I made the right call with Wing Commander over flight controllers (had/wanted to cut 1 for points). Screed was also the reasoning behind overload pulse on the Raider-II- with more blue dice I was thinking that the SW-7 ions would work best for the ISD

Comments and criticism very welcome

I think Flight controllers will be preferable to Wing Commander. You haven't got that many fighters and even though 2 of them are tougher with Escort they may not be around beyond turn 4 so having a wing commander then is useless. Just plot squadron commands for turn 2 and 3 and then see how things are going.

I made the wing Commander vs flight controllers based on seeing a lot of "no fighter" lists on the YouTube matches I've been able to see. But most of them were pre wave 2 so the chances of running into fighter opposition may be very different.

But WC seemed like a universally useful upgrade when FC was not.