So, this is a list I've been mulling, and I'm contemplating it as a possible change to my current list going into regionals. It's designed to flatten things with as much firepower as possible and move on. I'd appreciate any feedback on it, including if two ship builds are even viable.

Imperial II Star Destroyer (flagship)

Darth Vader

Devastator

Engineering Captain (in case of emergency)

Gunnery Team

XI7 Turbolasers

SW-7 Ion Batteries

Electronic Countermeasures

Imperial II Star Destroyer

Avenger

Gunnery Team

Intel Officer

NK-7 Ion Cannons

Electronic Countermeasures

Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams

Fighters:

Soontir Fel

2x TIE Advanced

Total: 396. I usually bid for initiative but go second, to force the other guy to choose from my objectives.

The idea here is that the Avenger goes first, does as much damage as possible and strips defense tokens, while the Devastator comes in for the deathblow. For comparison, my current build keeps the Devastator and fighters as is, but replaces the Avenger with two Gladiators (one of which is the Demolisher) with APTs, Ordnances Experts, and Engine techs.

I'm also open to suggestions on the assault objective. I'm using Contested Outpost and Minefields for my Defense and Navigation objectives, but with the recent errata to Advanced Gunnery, I'm not sure what to use.

Thanks!

Having Avenger going first is a waste of its ability, you would be better off with Relentless or switch titles on your ISD and have Avenger going second.

I feel Tractor Beams work better in pairs, as you generally want to use them to slow the faster, smaller ships that can easily recover from being slowed by only one so either drop the one you have or drop Engineering Team / SW-7 and add a second.

I think Opening Salvo maybe best of a bad choice, or drop Gunnery Team on one ship and use Advanced Gunnery.

Would personally have more fighter cover.

Whether 2 ship fleet is viable in a tournement, I'm not sure. It may win some rounds, but I think lack of activations will hurt it in the end.

My thoughts anyway.

Alright. Well, I'm not necessarily attached to the two ship concept. I want to keep the Devastator like it is, as it's proven extremely effective, even as the last ship standing. My fighter screen has also been effective against all but the biggest, meanest bomber balls. I'll bulk it up if I can, but I'm not going to reduce it.

With that in mind, I might replace my Gladiators (or the Avenger, in the above list) with a cloud of Raiders. I could do either of the following, while keeping the same Devastator build and fighter screen:

-3x Raider I, all with Rapid Reload (total list 395 points)

-1x Raider II with Overload Pulse; 2x Raider I with ACMs (total 397 points)

Using these would also let me use Most Wanted effectively in my list, plus give me extra options against squadrons. Alternatively, I could try the following along with the Devastator:

-Boba Fett; 2x Raider I each with title, Ordnance Experts, and Expanded Launchers (395 points)

-2x Victory I with ACMs (399 points)

-1x Victory I with ACMs, Ordnance Experts, and XI7 turbolasers; 1x Raider I each with Impetuous, Quad Laser Turrets, Ordnance Experts, and Expanded Launchers (399 points)

Thoughts?

This is my 2x ISD build

Lock Down
Author: jpersons73

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 400/400

Commander: Admiral Screed

Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Relentless ( 3 points)
- Tactical Expert ( 6 points)
- Flight Controllers ( 6 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- Heavy Turbolaser Turrets ( 6 points)
- Overload Pulse ( 8 points)

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

- Admiral Screed ( 26 points)
- Avenger ( 5 points)
- Wulff Yularen ( 7 points)
- Flight Controllers ( 6 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- XX-9 Turbolasers ( 5 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)

7 TIE Fighter Squadrons ( 56 points)

I love playing two ISD builds but I feel you'll never be competitive with them. Vs. Rebels they can stay outside blue range on the front arc and close in your side / rear. Most matches I get maybe one double blue shot for overload pulse/Avenger combo. You need to have Tractor Beams, ECM, crit upgrade, IS-7's and/or SW-7's that a lot of point for only 2 good shots / turn. Most of your shots will just be 4 reds out the front with only Screed to modify them. With dual gunnery teams you can bully other imperial lists, maybe catch one Rebel ship in dual tractor beams down to speed 1. My best luck with dual ISD's so far has been Rhymer balls with them, but you don't have enough points to out squadron a full squadron list. At best one ship limps off the table so your down 120-170 points right there, I get tabled vs a good balanced rebel build most days. Monmothma, AF,TF,CR90 x2, 3xwing's, 3awing's

Ok. Then I think I'll drop the two ISD idea for a tournament list. I'm leaning towards the triple Raiders as support for my current Devastator build. Each one comes with ACMs, then I add Quad Lasers to the Devastator to provide some added bomber defense. Total is 397, and gives me activation options and a bit more flexibility than my current pair of Gladiators. If that fails, I'll just go for the cudgel and bring a pair of Vic Is with ACMs.

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it.

Faction: Galactic Empire

Points: 400/400

Commander: Admiral Motti

Assault Objective: Precision Strike

Defense Objective: Fleet Ambush

Navigation Objective: Minefields

[ flagship ] Imperial I-Class Star Destroyer (110 points)

- Admiral Motti ( 24 points)

- Wing Commander ( 6 points)

- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)

- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)

- Heavy Turbolaser Turrets ( 6 points)

Imperial I-Class Star Destroyer (110 points)

- Wing Commander ( 6 points)

- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)

- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)

- Heavy Turbolaser Turrets ( 6 points)

1 Dengar ( 20 points)

1 Major Rhymer ( 16 points)

2 TIE Advanced Squadrons ( 24 points)

6 TIE Bomber Squadrons ( 54 points)

I ran this in the team vassal tourney and did pretty well, despite my newbishness...

Notes:

Motti was indispensable! He just keeps the ships alive the whole game... I don't think there is a commander that will get more out of two ISD build...

My rolls were hot! And had they not been I think I would have missed having ordnance experts or leading shots around...not sure how to got them in the list though...

HTT: not sure they did anything here, XI7 may have been a better choice

Wing commander: could be dropped, but I did find the flexibility useful, although I did pay a premium for it... also, not sure what to throw in instead

Objectives should have been precision strike, contested outpost, superior positions...

On the concern about lack of activations, when you squadron command, and you activate say 4 bombers n dengar, you are getting 4 full black dice, and another black, often positioned optimally, and from potentially range 5, plus ryhmer range... the only ship that can really compare to that would be an engine techs demolisher... you are essentially getting a naked double arc'ed raider's worth of damage on top of whatever your ISD can throw... so it's really more like two activations in one, or 4 ships worth of dice in 2 activations, and I think that can be really powerful unto itself!

I like that build, my buddy runs something similar. I'm getting the impression that the most effective two ship builds are centered on squadrons, since (as you pointed out) you get gobs of dice from your squads, then your ship launches its attack. For a super-gunship like my Devastator build, I think I'm better going away from a two ship build and going with a light fighter screen and some escorts.

I've been having a brainstorm with my buddy for the last couple days over this, and here are the two options we came up with:

FLEET 1:

Imperial II Star Destroyer (flagship):

Darth Vader

Devastator

Engineering Captain

ECM

XI7 Turbolasers

SW-7 Ion Batteries

Victory I Star Destroyer:

XX-9 Turbolasers

Navigation Officer

Victory I Star Destroyer:

XX-9 Turbolasers

Navigation Officer

Raider I Corvette:

Assault Concussion Missiles

Raider I Corvette:

Assault Concussion Missiles

Raider I Corvette:

Assault Concussion Missiles