What's a general guideline for running the Imperial I over the Imperial II?

Upgrades and playstyle.

If intention is to use it as a battleship, the go with Ordnance Experts.

Other good upgrades are Intel officer, XI7, High capacity Ion turbines.

Drive it agressively (speed 3, navigates) to get into black range.

The other use is a cheaper carrier. Then the upgrades are boosted comms, expanded hangar bay.

ISD I goes great with Vader

ISD I goes great with Vader

I would disagree here. I did some testing and feel that Vader is better with ISD2 and ISD1 is better with Motti (so it survives longer).

EDIT: Although the presence of Interdictor with scramblers does change the equation significantly.

Well, here is 48 hull points worth of reasons.

Motti's Monsters

Author: Cynanbloodbane

Faction: Galactic Empire

Points: 400/400

Commander: Admiral Motti

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery

Defense Objective: Contested Outpost

Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

[ flagship ] Imperial I-Class Star Destroyer (110 points)

- Admiral Motti ( 24 points)

- Veteran Captain ( 3 points)

= 137 total ship cost

Imperial I-Class Star Destroyer (110 points)

- Veteran Captain ( 3 points)

= 113 total ship cost

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (73 points)

- Admiral Titus ( 2 points)

= 75 total ship cost

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (73 points)

- Captain Needa ( 2 points)

= 75 total ship cost

Well, here is 48 hull points worth of reasons.

Motti's Monsters

Author: Cynanbloodbane

Faction: Galactic Empire

Points: 400/400

Commander: Admiral Motti

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery

Defense Objective: Contested Outpost

Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

[ flagship ] Imperial I-Class Star Destroyer (110 points)

- Admiral Motti ( 24 points)

- Veteran Captain ( 3 points)

= 137 total ship cost

Imperial I-Class Star Destroyer (110 points)

- Veteran Captain ( 3 points)

= 113 total ship cost

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (73 points)

- Admiral Titus ( 2 points)

= 75 total ship cost

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (73 points)

- Captain Needa ( 2 points)

= 75 total ship cost

Several issues with this fleet:

1. It will be weak against squadrons.

2. Once Motti is dead, all his benefits are gone, so the fleet may end up having 7 HP less.

3. It's firepower isn't strong enough on all ranges except close range and Victories aren't fast or maneuverable enough to deliver it.

Boosted Comms, Expanded Hanger Bay, Flight Controllers or any other double retro offensive setup you want.

The other use is a cheaper carrier. Then the upgrades are boosted comms, expanded hangar bay.

What does this look like in practice? Chug along at speed one and hope that your bombers attrit the incoming ships enough that you'll win the exchange once medium/short range hits start coming?

The other use is a cheaper carrier. Then the upgrades are boosted comms, expanded hangar bay.

What does this look like in practice? Chug along at speed one and hope that your bombers attrit the incoming ships enough that you'll win the exchange once medium/short range hits start coming?

Works well especially if you add flight controllers to help take out enemy squadrons. I usually either keep it speed two or three and manuver it as normal either using the bombers to hit another ship while the ISD hits another or to follow up the bombing run on a larger ship

2 offensive retrofit for the expense of a defensive slot and less mid range firepower. But yes it does make for a great carrier because you can take expanded hanger bays with tractor beam or point defense.

But yeah you would go for the 2 in just about every match up. You don't see to many power combos for a 2x offensive slot.

However there is the 3 ISD list with Admiral Ozzel. That still leaves room for 6 TIE Fighter squadron with a couple of points to spare.

I like kitting mine out with Needa and Turbolaser reroute circuits. When you're sacrificing 1 red and two blue dice, the reliability of ensuring at least two damage at long range mitigates the loss, whilst the black dice at close quarters make it a great brawler.

ISD I can activate 6 squadrons a round at long range (Wulff, BC, EH), add flight controllers and you have unparalleled first strike capability in the squadron war.

It is also can dish some real pain at close range.

The other use is a cheaper carrier. Then the upgrades are boosted comms, expanded hangar bay.

What does this look like in practice? Chug along at speed one and hope that your bombers attrit the incoming ships enough that you'll win the exchange once medium/short range hits start coming?

As EasternKing pointed out, the ISD-i is the best kit you can get for bossing (and alpha-striking) huge squadron wings around. And with some speed management or guys like ozzel or (possibly) Jerjerod around, it is less of a pain to get and keep an ISD-i at close range than a VSD-i, so the reduced medium range output is less of a problem. Only real downside is the missing def retrofit, so plan ahead to engine command a tad more. But depending on your upgrade-meta the ISD-i is not necessarily that far behind the II..

If you haven't got ECM on your ISD-II then drop it to an ISD-I. ISDs are 17 points more expensive than ISD-Is because ECMs are almost mandatory.

I like the super carrier ISD-I with EX hangar, Flight Controllers, boosted Comms and Wulff (or Veteran Captain).

I also sometimes find myself upgrading a VSD too much and then saying "Hang on, if I drop that Tie fighter I could replace it with a vanilla ISD-I."

I havent tried the carrier ISD1 in a long time, and these days when I need squadron commanders I usually rely on Gozantis.

For me the ISD1s strength is if you run two of them as cheap as possible. Then you have two fast, tough ships that can box in and destroy most things. Basically some sort of reroll (ordnance experts or leading shots), maybe Xi7s or Intel officer. That's it. Motti as commander to offset the fact that you will never brace anything.

As an additional note, I found the other day that the IDS I worked really nicely with Tagge. It's already a pretty durable ship, but Tagge allows you to spend defense tokens more liberally as you close the gap to close range so that you can make the most of the black dice. Works particularly nicely if you throw in the upgrades like Needa/TRCs and Devastator.

*raises hand as (apparently) a strange person

I almost exclusively run ISD-1s. A pair of ISD-1s can throw around five squadrons each before tokens (almost always Expanded Hangar Bays and Boosted Comms; if it's only one, the other slot is unfilled to buy me points), are tough ships with good speed and reasonable agility (I have always played Imperials, and something with real HP that isn't the sedated cow of a Victory is a godsend to me), and they can brawl in close quarters. Rerolls I tend to either ditch or use Leading Shots for, since at least one ISD is running Flight Controllers to aid the space superiority wing. ISD-2s are less effective carriers, and in my experience, a blue battery like the ISD-2's is only useful for Ion Cannon crit shenanigans, usually with Gunnery Team, and that plus ECM is a lot. I rarely have had shots using an ISD-2's blue that wouldn't have been black on an ISD-1. The nature of a Speed 3 ship, usually cruising at Speed 2, with a forward arc battery means it is always closing with its target, and ends up at close range fairly quickly. VSDs are more cost effective carriers, but an ISD-1 is a more effective one overall, and has the ability to more easily double as a battleship to boot. Not sure how this compares to other local metas, but that is my gig.

Ok, controversial opinion incoming: I tried ISD1 with several upgrade combinations, and it never worked as intended. Of course this is a personal opinion not backed by any evidence, but still I don't think I'm flying an ISD 1 again in the next months.

ISD I is either the supercarrier or just cheaper raw close-quarter firepower.

On the other hand, the ISD II is only about 9% more expensive then the ISD I.

Whereas the VSD II is about 16,5% more expensive then the VSD I

Even for me the decision which ISD version to take is much harder then when it comes to VSD.

I havent used them much but signed up for the Dutch nationals with one. with the interdictor slowing them down and my ISD I charging in at speed 3 (with montifrat deflecting a die each turn) i'm sure those black dice are gonna hurt something.

ISD I is either the supercarrier or just cheaper raw close-quarter firepower.

On the other hand, the ISD II is only about 9% more expensive then the ISD I.

Whereas the VSD II is about 16,5% more expensive then the VSD I

Even for me the decision which ISD version to take is much harder then when it comes to VSD.

I only have experience with close-quarter firepower version of ISD1. And I can say that ISD1 is far superior to ISD2 as far as close range combat is concerned due to the higher damage output (so it has a potential to one-shot not only CR90/Raider, but M30/Gladiator/AFMK2 as well).

ISD I is either the supercarrier or just cheaper raw close-quarter firepower.

On the other hand, the ISD II is only about 9% more expensive then the ISD I.

Whereas the VSD II is about 16,5% more expensive then the VSD I

Even for me the decision which ISD version to take is much harder then when it comes to VSD.

I only have experience with close-quarter firepower version of ISD1. And I can say that ISD1 is far superior to ISD2 as far as close range combat is concerned due to the higher damage output (so it has a potential to one-shot not only CR90/Raider, but M30/Gladiator/AFMK2 as well).

I usually run a ISD 1 as my main carrier. Rymer Vader and 3 other bombers can really bring the pain where needed. I try to keep mine really cheep with Boosted Comms and Expanded Hangers with Avenger title.
Avenger just makes ppl think twice about how they spend there tokens on the bombers if Avenger is in range.

ISD I is either the supercarrier or just cheaper raw close-quarter firepower.

On the other hand, the ISD II is only about 9% more expensive then the ISD I.

Whereas the VSD II is about 16,5% more expensive then the VSD I

Even for me the decision which ISD version to take is much harder then when it comes to VSD.

I only have experience with close-quarter firepower version of ISD1. And I can say that ISD1 is far superior to ISD2 as far as close range combat is concerned due to the higher damage output (so it has a potential to one-shot not only CR90/Raider, but M30/Gladiator/AFMK2 as well).

It has the ability to one shot anything but another ISD (if they don't have defense tokens) even mc80s

A fresh one, realistically? Nope.

This assumes XI7s on ISD:

MC80 without ECM = 8 + 3 + 1 = 12 hits + 1 accuracy (needs 3 doubles on black, 2 doubles on red, 1 accuracy somewhere and no blanks)

Liberty (side) = 8 + 2 + 1 = 11 hits + 2 accuracies

VSD = 8 + 3 + 1 = 12 hits + 1 accuracy (needs 3 doubles on black, 1 double on red (or Structural), 1 accuracy somewhere and no blanks). More realistitic with some luck, but still hard.

Interdictor = 9 + 3 + 1 = 13 hits + 1 accuracy.

I didn't say it was likely or even realistic but there is the potential