I'm in my final prep phase for regionals and I've got in a bit of a tiz over what type of bid to play. Now the local meta has tended to be very low bids... 8 is considered high.
I'm planning to play a high activation Demo list (I've been converted) so I'm thinking a higher bid is needed... So what are people seeing ?
I have choice of a 19 point bid or removing APT from my second Glad for 26 points..... Decisions decisions..... What bid would you all be happy with to get first player ?
You Imperials have it easy. . .
You Imperials have it easy. . .
I've always played rebels right from wave1 until 2 weeks ago.....got to admit imps is easy on the brain.....
You Imperials have it easy. . .
I've always played rebels right from wave1 until 2 weeks ago.....got to admit imps is easy on the brain.....
I'm working on a plan to buck that trend and take 400 points of fleet. I just can't leave upwards of 15 points off the table.
It probably won't work. LOL!
Personally, if my list was go first or lose? 360, maybe lower. No joke. We had at least 2 lists show up at San Antonio regionals in the 370's.
One was at 370 flat--he placed second.
Which, yes, for those of you following along at home, that does mean that there are people winning sizable, competitive tournaments by spending literally 40 points on the Demolisher title.
Last first Demo is just so good that's it's worth paying the tax. I spent so much though in how to block and negate the thing it just seemed a good idea to stop fighting and join the fun.
So you would go for the 24 point bid then....
19 should be plenty unless you know of someone who consistanly takes huge bids
I keep going back and forth on everything. Lol not sure what to take for Louisville.
Personally, if my list was go first or lose? 360, maybe lower. No joke. We had at least 2 lists show up at San Antonio regionals in the 370's.
One was at 370 flat--he placed second.
It was a 375 bid and I lost the initiative in my final game to a 374 bid.
No kidding? I must've mathed wrong, was adding it in my head. 
I saw a 375 in a tournament Sunday. I'm not at all surprised; once Clono's list hit big a few months ago, I posed the very curious question of how low exactly the bids would go.
For the original poster, I'm at the point where I'd rather bid really close to 400 and intend to go second. I'm not sure where the bids settle, but at some point we've got to be able to spend the points difference in a way that it makes a difference. There's old a chess saying that the best way to refute a sacrifice is to accept it. That's starting to get to be a lot of points to sacrifice. Believe me, if you bid 375 and no one bids under 390, AND you still take first, people will start underbidding.
The question is, can you go second and be competitive against a 4 ship + squadrons or 5 ship build that is designed to play first?
If you can then the bid you take can be quite low or non-existent if you can't then you have to consider just how low you will go to play first against such lists. If you can get help get some games in against a list with Demolisher. Play a few games until your partner gets the hang of running the list and starts to win games, it shouldn't take long if he is going first and last. 
Now, have him drop something from the list and play again and keep dropping things (upgrades or squadrons) until you win a couple of games back to back. Now at this point you have found the break point to your friends play of a Demolisher list and your bid point if you want to drop that much would be to take that points cost before the break point and bid under that. So if you were at 390 points and then your helper dropped a TIE Bomber you would be looking at a 389 bid.
My regular opponent takes 387 and I think he would be fine dropping a TIE Bomber in a pinch and a card here or there. Perhaps 375 would be playable and he would still manage to win most of his games, I am not too sure any ever went down to just a TIE Bomber.
I guess the alternative is just going "eff it," bringing 400 points of awesomeness, and trying to find good objectives that you can take the most advantage of.
This Weekends worth of "Eff It" for me 
[ REBEL FLEET (397 points)
1 • MC80 Assault Cruiser - Garm Bel Iblis - Raymus Antilles - Electronic Countermeasures - Advanced Projectors - Leading Shots - XI7 Turbolasers (169)
2 • MC80 Assault Cruiser - Lando Calrissian - Electronic Countermeasures - Advanced Projectors - Leading Shots - XI7 Turbolasers - Defiance (146)
3 • B-wing Squadron (14)
4 • B-wing Squadron (14)
5 • B-wing Squadron (14)
6 • B-wing Squadron (14)
7 • B-wing Squadron (14)
8 • HWK-290 (12)
9 • Objectives - Advanced Gunnery - Fire Lanes - Superior Positions (0)
This Weekends worth of "Eff It" for me
I approve of your B-wings without Indepedence. I get such flak for not bringing it. I keep telling people it's not needed.
This Weekends worth of "Eff It" for me
Huh, Critias said bring 400 points of Awsomeness, are you deliberately leaving out the Awesome?
To be honest I'm very happy to play second against another high activation list, ship heavy list or anti fighter list. I've got a good set of missions and ships to play their advantage, once you lose the activation ( last/first) advantage generally I think you are better off playing your mission. What I would not want to be is second player against a bomber heavy list ( I believe the threat range would cause me an issue) so the bid I'm looking for is against that paradigm of list building...... I'm thinking 19 would be fine as most people taking this build would be thinking about maxing out their bombers but I'm open to going 24.
I think for the most part you will either see people close to 400 or 385 or less trying to guarantee the initiative bid. Players who hover around 5-10 points will probably also win the initiative bid the majority of the time (variances due to a local meta not withstanding). The key is to not plan on going first. If you assume you will go first and you come up against someone who outbids you and you havent practiced going second I think that is a mistake.
Its not a bid high or no bid paradigm, there are intermediate points.
WHO do you want to outbid?
For me I go with a 10pt ish bid because I build my fleets to go second, but first/last against heavy squadron lists is mega useful.
What you want to do is bid just enough so you get the initiative against any opponent by as little of a margin as possible.
In all seriousness, instead of killing myself over bidding, I just took my list that likes first player and choosing to go 2nd against all opponents for the last 3 months or so. As has been mentioned before, it requires a lot of forethought and playing to objectives. And mistakes are much less forgiving.
Yes, Caldias has been using his underbid to make my 400 point list go first for the last three months. Then when we play each other in the Regionals he's going to make me go second against his list and I'm not going to have any idea what's going on.
Edited by WuFameWhich, yes, for those of you following along at home, that does mean that there are people winning sizable, competitive tournaments by spending literally 40 points on the Demolisher title.
Could you define "sizable" for me?
Could you define "sizable" for me?Which, yes, for those of you following along at home, that does mean that there are people winning sizable, competitive tournaments by spending literally 40 points on the Demolisher title.
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