Simple solution. Pick advanced gunnery and deny your opponent the red objectives?

Superior positions and contested outpost both force the battle.

Advanced Gunnery is a two edged sword. If you pick this and come up against an MC-30 fire support ship you are in for a world of hurt. Also if for example WuFame doesnt have an MC-80 in his list then he is probably running AFIIs and/or Yavaris and having Advanced Gunnery for them with Garm is meh at the best. Precision Strike, Hyperspace Assault (especially with Yavaris), and Minefields are the way to go. Mines if great for forcing an opponent to go a certain way.

I agree that B-Wings are underrated. I can easily get across 3/4 of the map (assuming I am heading directly to my opponents side) by round 2.

If the issue is getting B's into combat in this sort of skewed set-up, I love Independence (Truthiness is to blame ).

YEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!!! PREACH THE INDEPENDENCE GOSPEL MY DISCIPLES!

I have faced B wings with the ships matching speed 3 times and I looped around them killing as i went speed 2 just makes for a easy targets to snipe a long range. But then again, I never charge right in form the front 180.

I've been trying to prove to local friendly haters that the B-wing is viable and, while it's seemingly an uphill battle, I realized the last couple times I played that my fleet has one glaring weakness.

I can't really do much if my opponent just deploys on the other side of the board and runs away for 6 rounds. I imagine this must be a problem in a lot of lists. Two nights in a row, I've had opponents pick objectives like Precision Strike or Superior Positions, then deploy out of the way and never come in for a fight. I'm obviously slow rolling toward them and I might sink a kill or so in the last couple rounds but ultimately the game ends uneventful and I take a 6-4 or 7-3 with a low MOV.

I can't imagine this mentality. Why even come to the table if you don't want to play. Anybody else experiencing this?

Sounds horrible, but if your in competitive play, just go for a large initiative big so you pick. Solved.

A smart opponent isn't going to just blunder into you if they feel like they won't win in the exchange. If the other guy sets up 4 VSDs in a line ahead of you, it would be suicide to charge right into the front arcs of all those dice. B-Wings present a similar problem. I could chide your opponents for not having a better long-term plan than "avoid conflict all day" but there it is. You need some way to force conflict. I'd consider one or both of the following:

1. Bid for second player (should only require about a 4-5 point bid, anyone bidding more than that usually wants to go first) with objectives you can milk for points if the enemy doesn't come to you. Currently only Contested Outpost does this for you. Superior Positions and Precision Strike both assume combat rather than encourage combat, which is the problem you're experiencing already. I realize red objectives don't help much there, but a blue objective like Intel Sweep or Dangerous Territory can assist you in encouraging the enemy in coming to you to stop you from picking up free points. I'd also recommend considering Fire Lanes as a yellow objective with a Rebel fleet. A single MC80 can lock down several tokens for several turns no problem.
2. Use Independence. Independence is made for running B-Wings as active bombers rather than as reactive bombers. It's even useful for giving squadron commands turn 1 (where normally that's foolish) to get those B-Wings up past the middle of the table. That's particularly nice for Garm who often doesn't have a lot of great options for first turn commands given his ships are already full up on command tokens. I'd consider Adar Tallon as well, as you can drop Keyan Farlander somewhere at speed 4 and then tell him he still gets to attack later. Assuming you're also using the Yavaris (they're good together), you can later on get some extremely strong synergy from combining an Adar Tallon activation for attack + move + not sleepy followed by a 2*attack Yavaris activation on a character ace bomber like Nym, Keyan, or Luke.

I probably shouldn't have started this topic. Heh. I'm mostly just complaining about the mentality of not engaging from the getgo, especially in friendly games. I do understand there are ways I can mitigate the scenario, and a lot of the advice I'm already putting into place.

I don't think Independence would help all that much. It's an issue of getting the ships in range, not the squadrons. If I run Independence, I end up just parking my B-wings out of activation range then watching my opponent roll away from them while they take a shot here and there. It's also 8 points, which I feel is pretty steep for a title you end up using once a match.

I also have to take an MC80.

The problem is there isn't a red objective that can dictate the terms of engagement. Most Wanted comes close, since you pick both ships after deployment, so if you see a runner you can pick a ship that you will at least get some shots on. But Precision Strike looks to be a much better mission for your list.

Has anyone mentioned multiple tractor beams? I guess it only works if you really commit to it. But also...

I probably shouldn't have started this topic. Heh. I'm mostly just complaining about the mentality of not engaging from the getgo, especially in friendly games. I do understand there are ways I can mitigate the scenario, and a lot of the advice I'm already putting into place.

I don't think Independence would help all that much. It's an issue of getting the ships in range, not the squadrons. If I run Independence, I end up just parking my B-wings out of activation range then watching my opponent roll away from them while they take a shot here and there. It's also 8 points, which I feel is pretty steep for a title you end up using once a match.

I also have to take an MC80.

Not at all! It's a relevant topic. Its not uncommon to encounter an opponent who attempts to avoid engagement when it is not on their terms, whether altogether or (most commonly) to withdraw or move ships away from unfavorable circumstances (just stop moving so I can destroy you!).

I think this thread touches on how you force engagement with an elusive enemy, especially when using a slow moving piece. And that is a problem I think most people have encountered at one time or another.

I've used a VSD1 in two tournaments so far, and in both tournaments I encountered smart players who used my lack of mobility to their advantage. In some of my matches those players were able to break off engagement to save a severely damaged ship or use small fast ships to control activation and to skirt around me and eventually flee. The mobility of my VSD was a major problem.

First deployment really matters. I can definitely chalk up one of my toughest matches to poor deployment by myself (Sad!). I got to first table and then psyched myself out and changed my deployment plan at the last moment (Double Sad!). I put my admiral on my VSD (as bait) and because of not smart deployment my VSD was left exposed on its left and my Demolisher was too far away to support. I couldn't bring the hammer down against the anvil so to speak. And also my opponent's Raider literally ran a giant circle around the table out of my reach. Even at speed three my Demo and ISD couldn't maneuver to correct poor positioning.

Second, ensuring destruction of an enemy who can flee is a very pertinent issue. I touches on issues like speed, maneuverability, navigation, blocking, tactical flexibility (combining fast and slow ship/squadrons in a fleet), objective selection, and activation order at least. So I guess your post opened up a can of worms but that is what makes Armada interesting. There are many different factors to consider that are like an interlocking web; one issue (eg deployment) effects many others (fleet selection, initial speed, fleet strategy, etc).

Anyway, my post has gotten longer than intended so I'm going to get the kids ready and go eat some fried chicken.

I also have to take an MC80.

***FOUND THE WEAKNESS***

I also have to take an MC80.

***FOUND THE WEAKNESS***

I've downed plenty of MC80s without flying them. I personally don't enjoy them,

MC80s with Advanced Gunnery are nice, but after playing Imperials for a bit the Mon Cal's broadsides just feel flacid. Defiance certainly helps.