I really don't like lists that depend greatly on large numbers of squadrons. My thoughts doesn't matter a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, but my gripes boil down to two issues:

1. 100+ points on squadrons leads to a low number of ships. Low number of ships means that I will be at an activation disadvantage.

2. Squadrons attacking ships is never as effective as I want it to be. Black dice with bombers are great, but the lack of dice-roll mitigation can be frustrating.

Flotillas fix both gripes. I can run a list with 134 points of squadrons and still have 4-5 ships. Bomber Command Center (BCC) is going to drastically alter the effectiveness of bombers.

I am very excited to see how my local meta changes with wave 3.

Are there any upgrade cards you are looking forward to using in wave 3? How much do you think each ship will cost?

Edited due to Snipafist's excellent reminder. Thanks!

Flotillas fix both gripes. I can run a list with 134 points of squadrons and still have 4-5 ships. Bomber Command Center (BCC) is going to drastically alter the effectiveness of squadrons. Tie fighter swarms could truly be the death by 1,000 cuts that we wanted!

Please note that Bomber Command Center only works on bombers, so it won't affect TIE Fighters. It does make bombers in general much more reliable, though, and seems particularly cost-effective when used with cheaper single-dice bombers (Y-Wings, X-Wings, TIE Bombers).

I feel like the extra activations will definitely help carrier lists or big Motti types, but I'm curious as to how it will impact the Clon5 type lists. On the one hand, high-activation Demolisher-centric builds don't necessarily need every Raider, and swapping one out for 2 Gozantis (or even 3 depending on their cost) might be worth it for those fleets.

If Flotillas become somewhat ubiquitous I feel like Accuracy results are going to be valued a bit more than currently, meaning upgrades like H8s, Home One, or even the dreaded Sensor Teams might become more common. Raiders and CR90-Bs would certainly gain some additional usefulness as Flotilla snipers, and fleets that rely on lots of Red/Black dice (Clon5, Ackbar AFII congas without Home One) might find the new entries somewhat frustrating to deal with. If things swing this way, that means ECMs will likely become more common on bigger ships too, to counteract more accuracies being thrown around.

Overall, I'm most looking forward to a huge boost in effectiveness to X-Wings with BCC, as well as access to cheap Rebel ships with a Squadron value of 2.

And Nym rerolls. Nym rerolls forever.

Oddly enough, at first thoughts, flotilla allows me to switch my 4 ship 6 squadron build into a 5 ship 4 squadron build, (potentially 6 ship if costs work).

At the moment I lack a carrier, and being able to lose a pair of squadrons, but keep deployment numbers, gain an activation and also actually activate my squadrons is wonderful.

Sure it helps the squadron balls, but it helps min squadron too. (Not sure its quite as useful for zero squadron players)

I feel like the extra activations will definitely help carrier lists or big Motti types, but I'm curious as to how it will impact the Clon5 type lists. On the one hand, high-activation Demolisher-centric builds don't necessarily need every Raider, and swapping one out for 2 Gozantis (or even 3 depending on their cost) might be worth it for those fleets.

For what it's worth, I feel like Raiders are very necessary, at least the way I run my Clon5-style list. Raiders can wait it out and pop people in the face. Gozantis really can't, even though they're cheaper activations overall. I'm also not sure what benefit a Clon5-style list gains from Bomber Command Center or repairing hull damage, given the nature of the fleet.

Flotillas, conversely, are pretty good against lots of black dice due to their Scatter, which should be interesting provided those flotillas are able to punish a Clon5-style list for not destroying them somehow.

If Flotillas become somewhat ubiquitous I feel like Accuracy results are going to be valued a bit more than currently, meaning upgrades like H8s, Home One, or even the dreaded Sensor Teams might become more common. Raiders and CR90-Bs would certainly gain some additional usefulness as Flotilla snipers, and fleets that rely on lots of Red/Black dice (Clon5, Ackbar AFII congas without Home One) might find the new entries somewhat frustrating to deal with. If things swing this way, that means ECMs will likely become more common on bigger ships too, to counteract more accuracies being thrown around.

Agreed. My buddy and I can't quite bring ourselves to admit that H9 Turbolaser Turrets and Sensor Teams actually exist (we kid, we kid), but they very well may be making an appearance. Flotillas don't care about HTTs or XI7s, either, and at least the H9s do SOMETHING against every kind of ship and are useful against flotillas.

Overall, I'm most looking forward to a huge boost in effectiveness to X-Wings with BCC, as well as access to cheap Rebel ships with a Squadron value of 2.

Me too, but from the other side . TIE Bombers with Rhymer get UGLY with Gozantis + Bomber Control Centers around to support them.

And Nym rerolls. Nym rerolls forever.

My Rebel buddy won't let me forget. Nym's already a war criminal as it is, he's just going to get meaner.

I agree with everything being said, although how much more common can ECM's possibly get?

I agree with everything being said, although how much more common can ECM's possibly get?

What makes you believe that wave 3 will see an increase in the use of ECMs? The comment about H9s/Sensor Teams?

If that is so, then Advanced Projectors may see another lease on life, as they're currently disfavored due to the preponderance of XI7s seen on larger ships.

Its in response to a comment wing buffet makes in his post.

While I don't often see MC80s leaving port without ECMs, plenty of ISD-IIs and AFIIs show up without them, at least locally. This was in regards to the H9/Sensor comment from earlier, where Accuracy may become a more commonly desirable outcome if Flotillas end up being a pain in the ass.

Even if the Fleet Support abilities aren't top notch, the opportunity to knock out an enemy activation in a volley or two could make them high priority targets regardless, and, as snipa said, at least upgrades like H9s are useful against pretty much everything (unlike more particular abilities like XI7s). Just a theory, but it all depends on Flotillas being a) present and b) worth prioritizing.

Did anybody see any info on the flotillas point costs or speed chart? I think if flotillas will become the next big (technicall: small) thing in the meta, each faction will have to browse their stuff for a dedicated flotilla hunter. Something that can reliably shut down the scatter, deliver 4 damage even after the single evade has been spend, and does not cost more than it have to. Would say CR90s on the rebel side for obvious reasons. For Imps, there might finally grow a spot for the shunned raider II. Its cheap, it is agile and the blue armament has advantage here. I could even see some use for ion cannon batteries in this, as I dont expect flotillas to roll around with command tokens most of the time. Thats an add shield damage per crit that you might direly need to one shot pop a flotilla..

I have yet to pluck up the courage to put together a proper Rhymer ball - in Imperial fleets with large expensive ships as a mainstay, I've tended to err on the side of caution and take a raider over a pack of bombers. Call me cowardly, but that extra activation combined with greater numbers of reliable anti-ship guns has tended to win out. With flotillas, I can solve the two problems, gaining a cheap activation and making bombers more efficient. The options they open up are exciting!

But what I'd really like to see brought in with flotillas is a selection of new objective cards centred specifically around flotillas. Lots of people are excited about the prospect of a Hoth escape scenario, and I'm sure that many games will be designed around the flotillas in local circles, but it would be fun to play games at a competitive level based around escorting them as transports.

Did anybody see any info on the flotillas point costs or speed chart?

That has been well hidden thusfar.

And I really, really want to love advanced projectors more, but ECMs are an auto-include with a brace. At least, they work somewhat well on the shrimp.

I agree with everything being said, although how much more common can ECM's possibly get?

What makes you believe that wave 3 will see an increase in the use of ECMs? The comment about H9s/Sensor Teams?

If that is so, then Advanced Projectors may see another lease on life, as they're currently disfavored due to the preponderance of XI7s seen on larger ships.

My tarkin vsd build is pretty tight...not sure how the gonzo is gonna fit