Really can't complain. My first 400 point game. I got beat pretty bad. My opponent fielded a swarm of bombers. "Hey, those are tiny. They can't hurt a fearsome Demolisher!" Whoops.

Lesson learned. Time to bring in a new fleet, this time one capable of tying up enemy squadrons efficiently.

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 398/400

Commander: Admiral Screed

Assault Objective: Most Wanted
Defense Objective: Hyperspace Assault
Navigation Objective: Minefields

[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Admiral Screed ( 26 points)
- Avenger ( 5 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams ( 6 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- XI7 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)

Gladiator I-Class Star Destroyer (56 points)
- Demolisher ( 10 points)
- Veteran Captain ( 3 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- Engine Techs ( 8 points)
- Assault Concussion Missiles ( 7 points)

Raider-II Class Corvette (48 points)
- Overload Pulse ( 8 points)

1 Soontir Fel ( 18 points)
1 TIE Interceptor Squadron ( 11 points)
1 "Howlrunner" ( 16 points)
1 TIE Fighter Squadron ( 8 points)
1 Dengar ( 20 points)

Thoughts?

The overall shape of the list is okay! And yes Demolisher quickly folds to bombers. Try not to be hyper aggressive with it. It is super effective but not very resilient for 90 points.

Objectives:

-Hyperspace Assault + Contested Outpost or Fire Lanes

Hyperspace with 3 ships and no bombers isn't good. You will put Gladiator into Hyper Space now you have only two activations! Then you you rely on the Hyperspace tokens getting into position which is not garunteed. Hyperspace works well with Bombers/Medium Ships. It can also work well with Glad. But not with 3 ships.

-Minefields + Dangerous Territory or Intel Sweep

Minefields can go horribly wrong. If you mine them in they might just sit there and you take a draw. Only use minefields if you have thought long and hard about how you plan to use it and how to deploy it for certain matchups. Play DT first. It's not a blowout objective in terms of points but isnt bad and you start to get the feel for proper deployment of derbris. Intel Sweep is harder and risker to play correctly but has more points in it.

+- Most Wanted is good. But would be better with a Raider I. The list im going with would require a cut to fit Gunnery Teams, if you change it back it would be good to revert to Most Wanted.

Fleet:

Unless you are a bomber list you will probally want to aim for 4 activations because 4-5 ship lists is about the average.

http://armadawarlords.hivelabs.solutions/view_list.php?token=27028

* A small bid of 5. You will win a few bids against maxed out lists and can choose to go first or second according to the situation. For example: against a three ship bomber list go first, that way your Demolisher can get into a good position using activations. Against bid lists fall back onto strong objectives.

* There was a rules change will Gunnery Team, you can't have it equipped and use Advanced Gunnery. Thus my version has no Gunnery Team. Use Demolisher + Avenger to combo a ship. It's a good exercise in focusing down one ship. Because one dead ship is better than two almost dead ships.

* Precison Strike is a really good objective with Screed and Assault Proton Torpedos. The problem is lots of players will happily pick this if they are first player! If you take Most Wanted name the Raider that will be less aggressive!

* Use the Raiders/Instigator/Ties to pin down and fire that bomber list. You will do more damage as first player because the Raiders can shoot before they die at the start of a new turn but Insitgator and Ties and distract the bombers a couple of turns.

I don't play as the Imps often, but my go-to squadron combo is fairly similar to the one you have here.

Dengar

Mauler Mithel

Soontir Fel

Darth Vader

Dengar and Mithel are great for ploppingg right into the middle of a bomber swarm. With a squadron activation command and Dengar's Intel, you can move Mithel, dealing 1 damage to everything and also attack. Or without it, you could just move Mithel around without attacking for guaranteed damage.

Darth Vader provides the escort protection for that combo, and his ability (all crits are a damage) gives him a 75% hit with the Counter-1 ability that Dengar gives him. Soontir Fel just keeps piling on the automatic damage when he's next to Vader due to his ability.

This setup also has an even number of squadrons, so it won't affect the deployments of the list you have here, and it only costs 1 point more. Granted, if your opponent manages to separate your squadrons or take out Vader early, then this'll fall apart relatively quickly. But darth Vader is survivable, and as long as you keep your fighters in a pack they aren't going to fall so easily.

I took a pretty similar list to Regionals; I had a similarly pimped out ISD, a similar Demolisher and similar squadron setup, so that the key difference was I took a second Glad over a Raider. In all but one game (which I won 9-1) I lost and lost badly. Hope I can give you a few insights from what I learnt.

Firstly my fighter setup proved problematic. I too had Howlrunner and Dengar at the core, and results were mixed. In my first game my opponent brought four A-wings, which I promptly tore out of the sky. But after that I came up against two colossal Rhymerballs, followed by one build with no squadrons, and then my setup proved useless. I found that the moment you split up the formation to pin down bombers, Howlrunner and Dengar lose their effectiveness. I watched as my ISD got torn apart, one tiny cut at a time.Then, against a fleet with no squadrons, my fighter setup was suddenly rendered completely impotent - I didn't have a single one with bomber, and only Dengar and my Advanced had a black anti-ship dice. Totally useless.

Essentially, it was as if I turned up to the fight with a scalpel - deadly if landed in the right place, but otherwise not the most useful of weapons. My response has been to switch my fighter setup to something more versatile - a fighter-bomber list if you will. You can be a little more relaxed, since you have the Raider, but if you plan on keeping the same fighters (and it's a decent list) I would find the points to kit it with some better anti-squadron abilities. Instigator + ordnance experts should do it.

Secondly, pick your moment with squadrons, and know what you're going to do with them when it comes. Don't do what I did and throw your fighters in too hastily - I thought I'd pre-empted the Rhymerball, and then watched as the other half of it zipped round the side. In addition, pick your targets carefully. If your opponent has any squadron with intel, then take it out as quickly as possible. Otherwise you'll carefully position yourself to tie them up, only for all your hard work to be undone. And if he has Rhymer, kill Rhymer. Just kill him.

(I'd recommend IG-88. His ability lets him ignore escort and counter, so that you can go straight after Rhymer or those intel squadrons, ignoring any escorts that are trying to get in your way. He's 5 speed, has Rogue, has four blue anti-squadron dice, has counter 2 and scatter. He's the ultimate hunter.)

Finally, just be wary with Demolisher. It's an awesome ability, but it can encourage lazy tactics, as I found to my cost. It's tempting to spot what looks like a sitting duck and jump in to pounce on it, but it can also lead to you isolating yourself and getting blown to bits. Plus it's surprisingly hard to get two arcs fired off, even with engine techs. He's best when he's held and then utilised to pin someone down at the crunch point in the match, when your ISD has it's guns trained on a tempting target.

I hope that helps. I'm still figuring it out myself, so let us know how you get on!

I'd suggest the following build.

ISD : Admiral Motti : Flight Controllers : Boosted Comms : ECM : X17 TL : Relentless

GSD : Intel Officer : Ordnance Experts : Engine Techs : ACM : Demolisher

Raider I : Ordnance Experts : APT

Vader

Mauler

Dengar

IG-88

392pts

Advanced Gunnery : FireLanes : Superior Positions

Your ISD, is the linchpin, there to activate your squadrons, the FC giving them an extra blue dice each, allows them to pump some real damage out each round, even though there is only 4 of them, it has ECM so it is not completely at the mercy of accuracy results. It can deal damage, and it can certainly take damage.

Your GSD is there as a ship killer, plain and simple, you should have player one, which means you can triple tap with it.

And lastly your Raider I is there as a deterrent for fast flankers, an extra activation, and the capability to either deal a huge whack to something, or finish something that has slipped past the other two.

Mauler+IG-88 is a nasty combo, Dengar gives them all counter 1, and the ability to move each round, Vader with the FC can deal up to 6 damage per round, and has a 75% chance of dealing 1 damage with the counter Dengar gives him, he also has Escort, making it tricky for people to get at Mauler/Dengar. I have yet to find a more damaging combo for 77pts(+6 for FC) plus they get 3 black dice+1 blue, for shooting ships once they have finished with your opposing squadrons, certainly good enough for Superior Positions VP tokens.