So does anyone have suggestions on how to best use Dodonna in terms of Fleet Build? The Rebels do not have much (until Wave 3 comes out) to help fish for criticals so it seems to be mainly luck based... A few work well such as Assault Proton Torps, Dash and Luke... but the list cannot end there surely?

Depends on how you want him to fly. Squadron heavy can be done different ways, ship heavy results in something close to Ardaedhel or my own builds (I shoot, you run and Dodonna the Oppressor)

Build a list and we can go from there. In Armada it will come down to your experience so play and test as much as possible

Ok well going down the Carrier path to start off...

Clone Wars Carriers

Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 400/400

Commander: General Dodonna

Assault Objective: Precision Strike
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

MC80 Command Cruiser (106 points)
- Raymus Antilles ( 7 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- XI7 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
= 130 total ship cost

[ flagship ] MC80 Assault Cruiser (114 points)
- General Dodonna ( 20 points)
- Engineering Captain ( 6 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- Redundant Shields ( 8 points)
- XI7 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
= 161 total ship cost

2 Scurrg H-6 Bombers ( 32 points)
1 Dash Rendar ( 24 points)
2 Y-Wing Squadrons ( 20 points)
3 A-Wing Squadrons ( 33 points)

Dodonna's Pride is another option.

As is playing scenarios like Dangerous Territory, Minefields and to a lesser extent Precision Strike.

I mainly like Dodonna though because he is 10 points cheaper than Rieekan or Mothma.

This is my favorite Dodonna list that I've come up with. Works best with hit and run tactics, and fishing for that perfect crit can be sooo nice. I've one shotted AF by pulling projector misaligned in the front, getting that structural for the last point of damage, it's a good time haha.

Fleet Summary Page (382 of 400 pts) Faction: Rebel Alliance Commander: General Dodonna (20 pts)

Flagship: (39 pts) CR90 Corvette B (39 pts)

Fleet Ship 1: (87 pts)MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63 pts) Admonition (8 pts) Intel Officer (7 pts) Ordnance Experts (4 pts) Assault Proton Torpedoes (5 pts)

Fleet Ship 2: (76 pts) MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63 pts) Lando Carissian (4 pts) Ordnance Experts (4 pts) Assault Proton Torpedoes (5 pts)

Fleet Ship 3: (100 pts) MC30c Scout Frigate (69 pts) Foresight (8 pts) Intel Officer (7 pts) Ordnance Experts (4 pts) Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7 pts) Assault Proton Torpedoes (5 pts

) Fleet Ship 4: (60 pts) CR90 Corvette A (44 pts) Jaina's Light (2 pts) Intel Officer (7 pts) Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7 pts)

The only issue with your squadron selection is that your primary bombers can be easily tied up, and they may as well not have AS capabilities. You may want to upgrade one of those A wings into a plain HWK or Jan, but the bomber swarm is a great way to get a lot of crits in there.

But in keeping with intent of the post, XX9s could be amazing with Dodonna. The issue is finding a rebel ship capable of dishing enough damage with a guaranteed crit, while also not being able to take another Turbolaser upgrade. Ordnance experts on the MC30 basically guarantees a crit at close range, but then you're normally better off with APTs anyways.

I think the most critical aspect of crits with the Rebs is getting ships with TRCs in there (because it can flip to double or crit), or ordnance experts with APTs on MC30s (see Moose's fleet). Bomber swarms are certainly great choices as well.

I've been playing with the idea of XX-9's on AF2 carriers in a squadron-heavy Dodonna fleet.

You're likely activating squadrons right before shooting. Having Dodonna XX-9's on that broadside facing your opponent is going to put some serious pressure on his defenses through the squadron attack, because he faces the awful conundrum of A) burn defense tokens on squadron attacks to keep shields up on that hull zone, or B) suck a pair of delicious Dodonna XX-9 crits once the AF2 cuts loose.

The only thing worse than a Dodonna crit is two Dodonna crits.

I've been playing with the idea of XX-9's on AF2 carriers in a squadron-heavy Dodonna fleet.

You're likely activating squadrons right before shooting. Having Dodonna XX-9's on that broadside facing your opponent is going to put some serious pressure on his defenses through the squadron attack, because he faces the awful conundrum of A) burn defense tokens on squadron attacks to keep shields up on that hull zone, or B) suck a pair of delicious Dodonna XX-9 crits once the AF2 cuts loose.

The only thing worse than a Dodonna crit is two Dodonna crits.

Maybe using an MC80 carrier with XX9s and leading shots gives a much better chance of getting that double crit. I think that would be a very viable use for Dodonna

Edit: make it into Defiance, attack an already activated ship at long range to add a blue die. With leading shots, this is money.

Good idea, I like it!

Remember. You have to be dealing 2 points of damage to the hull to make XX-9's work. Which is why I might take them on a Liberty

I love the scout build mentioned above, "Fleet Ship 3: (100 pts) MC30c Scout Frigate (69 pts) Foresight (8 pts) Intel Officer (7 pts) Ordnance Experts (4 pts) Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7 pts) Assault Proton Torpedoes (5 pts)"

Because I'd run B wings or Scurrgs, I'd probably drop TRC so that I can fit more bombers on. The ability to get crits moving onto the other ship is maximized by more black dice.

I ran a similar build + a frigate w/ B-wings and found them to hit quite a few crits and do the damage I wanted. For 400 points, I love the flexibility of some B's or Scurrgs + a HWK / Jan Orrs to keep your squadrons firing at ships.

As a fan of MC80s, Defiance/Leading shots/Assault Cruiser is one of the best builds out there. You want to be able to pile on tons of damage in one go. The only key from here might be to have your TRC90s drop the shields on the hull zone you want to use your MC80 on. You pick up the synergy of the MC80 firing with XX9 and the TRC90s being able to flip crits if needed. Even with an Assault, I'd still look at picking up some squadrons and activating them from it. At a minimum, it will tie up and distract enemy squadrons and may even help pop that exposed hull zone further.

Now, I'm having a rush of inspiration.

Ok, Here's a battleship style build:

398 points

Advanced Gunnery

Contested Outpost

Intel Sweep

MC80 Assault Cruiser

Dodonna

XX-9

Leading shots

Defiance

ECM

Advanced Projectors

Engine Techs

Raymus Antilles

Corvette-A/TRC/Jaina's

Corvette-A/TRC x 2

Wedge/Dutch/Jan/X-wing

I've built the list around IceQube's idea of "tempo." The central question is, "does your build force the opponent to take action?" Contested Outpost and Intel Sweep both do this. Advanced Gunnery on an Engine Teched Assault Cruiser does this as well. For that matter, if you do get stuck with first player, Engine Techs helps create forcing action. One of the hardest games I've played with a fleet like this came when I was given first player on my Rieekan fleet. My MC80 just couldn't get where it needed to go, and those engine techs would certainly have made a difference. The Assault Cruiser variant is there to have more reds that you can reroll with leading shots. You don't want to lose a ship this important, so both ECM and Advanced Projectors protect it. Redundant Shields can also be worth it, it just depends upon how you plan on flying your ship and what the meta is like. Advanced Projectors is definitely better against Demolisher and MC30 heavy metas. Redundant Shields is going to be better against long range chipping.

I'm usually a big fan of A-wings, but since we're running Dodonna, I wanted to go with bombers. Since we're limited on squadron activations, named squadrons pack more punch. This is the only part of the list that isn't fully optimized, but it will have to do for now. If you're just worried about the anti-squadron game, then 6x A-wings comes to 399 points. Or if you're really worried about your dials requiring too many different commands, 4x YT2400 fits the points and increases your bid.

Raymus provides an enormous amount of flexibility.

In all my Rieekan builds, I rarely lost my MC80. The spare points from taking Dodonna instead have increased its defensive capabilities.

Contrast a build like this with the 2xMC30 and 3xTRC90 builds. Basically, the MC30 points have collapsed into the MC80. You've got one ship instead of two, but you've got quite a bit more staying power. You want to fly differently and you're wanting to fly at less vulnerable distances, which damage gets spread out over time. More importantly, you've improved your squadron game by activating them from the MC80. There are just too many squadrons in the meta to have none yourself, and the flexibility for placement is fairly important.

One thing I'd absolutely love to try is a Dodonna's Pride CR90B with Leading shots. If you don't get the crit, Leading shots extends your chances to about 77%, and Dodonna himself helps in crit fishing. B's are much more vulnerable, of course, but with good maneuvability, you can swing into a rear arc and pluck away with concentrated fire double-arc shots.

I've been playing with the idea of XX-9's on AF2 carriers in a squadron-heavy Dodonna fleet.

You're likely activating squadrons right before shooting. Having Dodonna XX-9's on that broadside facing your opponent is going to put some serious pressure on his defenses through the squadron attack, because he faces the awful conundrum of A) burn defense tokens on squadron attacks to keep shields up on that hull zone, or B) suck a pair of delicious Dodonna XX-9 crits once the AF2 cuts loose.

The only thing worse than a Dodonna crit is two Dodonna crits.

I do suppose that dishing out damage with bombers first is an excellent way to get that double crit. But the issue remains that you still can't guarantee a crit on AFs without TRCs. Perhaps having banked a CF token would help but is still sketchy. Veteran gunners could also really help with this (running an Advanced Gunnery Objective would help to ease the pain of not taking gunnery teams on this one).

Maybe using an MC80 carrier with XX9s and leading shots gives a much better chance of getting that double crit. I think that would be a very viable use for Dodonna

Edit: make it into Defiance, attack an already activated ship at long range to add a blue die. With leading shots, this is money.

Silly question but with XX-9 turbolasers, do I get to choose both face up damage cards? So I get 4, choose 1 and discard the rest... twice?

I've been playing with the idea of XX-9's on AF2 carriers in a squadron-heavy Dodonna fleet.

You're likely activating squadrons right before shooting. Having Dodonna XX-9's on that broadside facing your opponent is going to put some serious pressure on his defenses through the squadron attack, because he faces the awful conundrum of A) burn defense tokens on squadron attacks to keep shields up on that hull zone, or B) suck a pair of delicious Dodonna XX-9 crits once the AF2 cuts loose.

The only thing worse than a Dodonna crit is two Dodonna crits.

I do suppose that dishing out damage with bombers first is an excellent way to get that double crit. But the issue remains that you still can't guarantee a crit on AFs without TRCs. Perhaps having banked a CF token would help but is still sketchy. Veteran gunners could also really help with this (running an Advanced Gunnery Objective would help to ease the pain of not taking gunnery teams on this one).

Maybe using an MC80 carrier with XX9s and leading shots gives a much better chance of getting that double crit. I think that would be a very viable use for Dodonna

Edit: make it into Defiance, attack an already activated ship at long range to add a blue die. With leading shots, this is money.

Silly question but with XX-9 turbolasers, do I get to choose both face up damage cards? So I get 4, choose 1 and discard the rest... twice?

That is correct. Remember though, you have to be dealing 2 cards worth of damage.

I've been playing with the idea of XX-9's on AF2 carriers in a squadron-heavy Dodonna fleet.

You're likely activating squadrons right before shooting. Having Dodonna XX-9's on that broadside facing your opponent is going to put some serious pressure on his defenses through the squadron attack, because he faces the awful conundrum of A) burn defense tokens on squadron attacks to keep shields up on that hull zone, or B) suck a pair of delicious Dodonna XX-9 crits once the AF2 cuts loose.

The only thing worse than a Dodonna crit is two Dodonna crits.

I do suppose that dishing out damage with bombers first is an excellent way to get that double crit. But the issue remains that you still can't guarantee a crit on AFs without TRCs. Perhaps having banked a CF token would help but is still sketchy. Veteran gunners could also really help with this (running an Advanced Gunnery Objective would help to ease the pain of not taking gunnery teams on this one).

Maybe using an MC80 carrier with XX9s and leading shots gives a much better chance of getting that double crit. I think that would be a very viable use for Dodonna

Edit: make it into Defiance, attack an already activated ship at long range to add a blue die. With leading shots, this is money.

Silly question but with XX-9 turbolasers, do I get to choose both face up damage cards? So I get 4, choose 1 and discard the rest... twice?

That is correct. Remember though, you have to be dealing 2 cards worth of damage.

Well it is the first two so can counter the Contain Defence Token.

I may try the Defiance-Leading Shots combo. I will tinker with my list...

Ok, Here's a battleship style build:

398 points

Advanced Gunnery

Contested Outpost

Intel Sweep

MC80 Assault Cruiser

Dodonna

XX-9

Leading shots

Defiance

ECM

Advanced Projectors

Engine Techs

Raymus Antilles

Corvette-A/TRC/Jaina's

Corvette-A/TRC x 2

Wedge/Dutch/Jan/X-wing

Since you've got 3 aces in there anyways, you may as well drop Jan to a HWK and upgrade the other X to Luke. More Dodonna synergy that way.

Dodonna's pride is great, especially if you can get that double arc. My preference is SW7s over Leading Shots, as I have found that I typically get enough damage to punch through the shields by the time that he's pounding away. Leading shots really just tempts you to throw away dice, when you could just salvage your attack with SW7, but that's just my take on it.

Last thing I would consider is changing the flagship to Jainas light. I feel like your opponent will be much less hesitant to attack the cruiser without Rieekan. That's a big juicy target that does not get to strike back if it goes down.

Edit: I should also say that I really do like the list. I may give it a whirl

Made a few changes for my personal taste, and decided to keep the MC80 as the flagship. The bid is there to give you a better chance at choosing to go second over other players that also want to go second

Basically put in Tantive, 2 Veteran Captains, and an engineering team instead of Engine techs in order to give Defiance 2 freebie critical damage discards (this is also why I decided to keep Dodonna on Defiance). I view this as very important to free up your command dials for actions other than Engineering. Also, you pointed out that the list is intended to make your opponent move according to your tempo, so I didn't view the ETs as being all that necessary. You want them to come to you, and you only need to camp.

Leading shots could be traded in for SW7s on Dodonna's pride easily enough (giving another point of bid), but that's my personal preference.

The objectives were perfect, though a truly Dodonna-synergizing list would play Minefields

Dodonna's Synergetic Dream

Author: Parkdaddy

Faction: Rebel Alliance

Points: 396/400

Commander: General Dodonna

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery

Defense Objective: Contested Outpost

Navigation Objective: Intel Sweep

[ flagship ] MC80 Assault Cruiser (114 points)

- General Dodonna ( 20 points)

- Defiance ( 5 points)

- Veteran Captain ( 3 points)

- Engineering Team ( 5 points)

- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)

- Advanced Projectors ( 6 points)

- XX-9 Turbolasers ( 5 points)

- Leading Shots ( 4 points)

= 169 total ship cost

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)

- Jainas Light ( 2 points)

- Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points)

= 53 total ship cost

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)

- Tantive IV ( 3 points)

- Veteran Captain ( 3 points)

- Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points)

= 57 total ship cost

CR90 Corvette B (39 points)

- Dodonnas Pride ( 6 points)

- SW 7 Ion Batteries ( 5 points)

= 50 total ship cost

1 "Dutch" Vander ( 16 points)

1 Luke Skywalker ( 20 points)

1 Wedge Antilles ( 19 points)

1 HWK-290 ( 12 points)

I like it. I suppose I should experiment with Tantive IV more. I'm reluctant to add more points to a ship that stands to be a target. You're right about it really just wanting to camp when you go second. With engine techs, I was thinking about those times when you're absolutely forced to go first. Of course, by increasing the bid, you're creating far more situations in which you will be able to select going second. Once you start getting to 394 or under, a lot of those bids really are to go first.

I'll probably just have to experiment with the Dodonna's Pride. Sw-7 lets it be a jack of all trade that can rattle off lots of damage or deliver damage straight to the hull depending upon the context. Leading shots doubles down on getting D's Pride to trigger.