Hi, in a week I will play at my first Armada tournament at my local store.

So to be blunt, I'm a srucb. I have only played against my brother so far and I always play as empire!

Currently we own A Core Set plus a ekstra Victory-class Star Destroyer, CR90 Corellian Corvette and Nebulon-B Frigate. We also own the Rebel and Imperial Fighter Squadrons pack..

With this my brother and I play 300 point games where I last went as:

Admiral Motti (24)

Victory II-class Star Destroyer (85)

Flight Controllers (6)

Expanded Hanger Bay (5)

Overload Pulse (8)

Enhanced Armament (10)

Victory I-class Star Destroyer (73)

Expanded Hanger Bay (5)

Assault Concussion Missiles (7)

Squadrons

TIE Interceptor Squadron (11*2)
TIE Fighter Squadron (8*4)
TIE Advanced Squadron (12)

Soontier fel (18)

Howlrunner (16)

Total: 299

So my questions are:

For a 400 point game what the things I own what should I add or change to optimize my fleet?

How do you place your ships as empire on the big map? I find it hard maybe because I only have 2 VCS.

What is the best way to use squadrons? I use them offensively and so far I have never lost a squadron fight, I always destroy all rebel squads first.

Please help me!

Teach me the ways of the empire!

I think you will need a third ship in a 400 point game. You can only spend 134 points on fighters and Motti on top of that (Tarkin is a waste with only 2 ships) would leave you spending 121 points on each VSD (assuming no bid) which is not efficient.

Buy a GSD Demolisher and you can tool them up to 80-90 points. Add 2 VSDs with moderate upgrades and a decent fighter force.

Screed or Motti 26 or 24

GSD Demolisher, ACM, Engine Techs, Wulff (or veteran captain) 88 or 84

VSD-1 Ex Hangar, Flight controllers 84

VSD-2 Ex Hangar, Gunnery Team 97

Rymer, Tie-B, Tie-I, Fel, Vader, Tie Adv, 2 Tie-F 102

I have tried to keep the options to one extra pack and a single imperial fighter box. If you take the most costly of the above options it gives you a 3 point bid so taking Screed and the Vet Captain options gets a 7 point bid which is quite decent.

Alternatively buy and interdictor with targeting scrambler and put Flight commander on the VSD-1 and loose a tie fighter (and therefore one expanded hangar too).

Unfortunately you are very limited in what you can build at 400 points with what you have. Essentially you need to use everything and then you still have a healthy bid for first player and have also included some possibly questionable upgrade (Dominator). I've ignored enhanced armaments but it might be a better option than Dominator. Other options might be to include the Warlord/H9 turbolasers combo which means you can turn one hit, crit or accuracy into a double hit but it's expensive for what it is. I've also assumed that you will have access to all the upgrade cards you possess and aren't trying to also field a rebel fleet.

The below fleet has more or less a carrier (thinking about it like that then maybe swap dominator for enhanced armaments or warlord/H9) and a gunboat. You will be relying on your fighters/bombers to carry the day while trying to keep your victories alive. Contested outpost would be your best bet for an objective to play and let the enemy come to you.

Victory

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 388/400

Commander: Admiral Motti

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

[ flagship ] Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (85 points)
- Admiral Motti ( 24 points)
- Intel Officer ( 7 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)
- X17 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
= 138 total ship cost

Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (85 points)
- Dominator ( 12 points)
- Flight Controllers ( 6 points)
- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)
- Overload Pulse ( 8 points)
= 116 total ship cost

1 TIE Bomber Squadron ( 9 points)
1 Major Rhymer ( 16 points)
1 "Howlrunner" ( 16 points)
1 "Mauler" Mithel ( 15 points)
1 Darth Vader ( 21 points)
1 TIE Advanced Squadron ( 12 points)
1 TIE Interceptor Squadron ( 11 points)
1 Soontir Fel ( 18 points)
2 TIE Fighter Squadrons ( 16 points)

Thanks a lot for the reply guys! It really helps a lot! But Vae do you think it is better to use all leaders when talking about squadrons instead of using a lot of TIE fighters?

Thanks a lot for the reply guys! It really helps a lot! But Vae do you think it is better to use all leaders when talking about squadrons instead of using a lot of TIE fighters?

You have 3 limitations with your fighters:

- Max 134 point spend

- Squadron Command of 8 (including 2 EHB)

- You only have 1 squadron pack so can only include 2 each of the non-fighter Ties

Howlrunner, Rhymer and Vader are auto-includes either due to their ability or (with Vader) because you don't have any more Advanced to include. Mauler and Soontir could be replaced with 4 ordinary Ties (but not by an interceptor and 3 fighters due to points and you want to stick to even numbers of fighters for deployments). You aren't going to get the best use out of Mauler without Intel. Soontir works well with Escorts but you only have 2 of them. However with Howlrunner he also has Counter 3 which makes shooting him painful. If you did swap these out you'd have 12 squadrons but only 8 command. That's not a disaster as you will lose some fighters and can use the 2 bombers (and later all squadrons after you have eliminated their squadrons) at Medium range without squadron commands. Your weakness is going to be anti-squadron fire as the majority of your squadrons are 3 hull.

Essentially Mad Cat is correct - you really need another ship (and maybe Rogues/Villains) for 400 points. Gladiator makes most sense (Demolisher being an auto-include) and is cheapest but equally ISD or Interdictor would work but both would prefer a better squadron make-up.

That makes sense, thanks so much for advice guys!

That list by Vae is pretty good for you. Just hope you get to fight a bunch of people trying out the new BCC.

Maybe ask around if anyone has a single Dengar you can borrow/buy (like if they are a rebel Player and never use it). That INTEL would make your squadrons pretty much guarantee a win against anyone else's (and you could be be dubbed the Bomber Command Crusher list). Besides, it is fun watching people decide to either shoot a COUNTER 4 Soontir or just take an auto 1 damage after they have already taken the Mauler 1.

Thanks for all the advice guys! It is really helpful!

Thanks a lot for the reply guys! It really helps a lot! But Vae do you think it is better to use all leaders when talking about squadrons instead of using a lot of TIE fighters?

In my experience, Leaders with scatter are almost always worth the extra points due to increased survivability (plus it keeps needed squadron activation number down).