JM5Ks have been given a lot of praise recently, and with good reason. They're tanky, have a turret primary weapon and an incredible dial. But the univerally accepted 'best' part of them is their munitions alpha strike. Normally taking the form of 3 proton/plasma torpedoes with focus + guidance chips, they approach 4 guaranteed hits per shot. This blistering strike leaves many ships in ruins, giving the remaining JM5Ks a significant edge throughout the rest of the round.
With this in mind, I searched for the best possible Alpha strike list, emphasising only the first strike at the expense of all other list attributes. Here's what I found:
2 x Green Squadron Pilot (19)
Homing Missiles (5)
Guidance Chips (0)
A-wing Test Pilot (0)
Adaptability (0)
Crack Shot (1)
2 x Green Squadron Pilot (19)
Homing Missiles (5)
Guidance Chips (0)
A-wing Test Pilot (0)
Adaptability (0)
Deadeye (1)
A homing missile with target lock + guidance chips has the same offensive power as a proton/plasma torpedo with focus + guidance chips, but the added flexibility of a target lock over focus means you can either keep it for the next round or spend it for maximum damage. It averages 4 hits exactly. What makes this list superior as an alpha strike is:
1. The higher PS - 4 is vastly superior to 3.
2. 4 missiles instead of 3, so 16 damage instead of 12 rolled.
3. Homing missiles do not leave the attacker stressed next turn (like overclocked R4 does).
4. Two crack shot attacks can punch through additional damage.
You could go with 4 crack shot A-wings, but then you run the risk of wasting a target lock on over-committing to a target.
In a direct match against 3 JM5Ks, the A-wings will each do 32/8 (4) damage, and assuming the defending jumpmasters use overclocked R4 and focus (thereby getting another stress), they will suffer a total of 22/8 damage from each shot, with crack shot pushing through an additional 2 damage. The end result is that the average amount of damage expected against a jumpmaster that uses focus on every defending roll is 104/8, which is equal to 13 damage. In other words, 1 jumpmaster would be taken off the board before shooting. Every time.
The remaining JM5Ks would on average then kill 1 A-wing with their return strike, and then the match is really on.
So, that's as far as I could push an alpha strike. It's worth noting that 3 homing missile shots would deal 10 damage to a JM5K, so the 4th could probably be used on a second JM5K, further dealing damage on the crucial first round. I'm not sure how well 3 full health A-wings would fare against 1 healthy and 1 damaged JM5K. What do you think?