I am looking to play epic locally. I have one of each Epic ship as well as everything listed in my signature. I am looking for a good starting squad that I can learn the rules with and try to hold my own. Any suggestions?

I have a $60 store credit with 15% of on leagues night that I am willing to invest in my starting squad. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Also, what are some standard builds that I might see? I have heard of Super Biggs, but don't know what that is.

Starting tips:

- Don't take too many aces/complicated upgrades on your fighters. You'll forget them in the cloud of ships.

- fly escorts you are comfortable with to start.

- don't put too many points in one place... You'll regret it if that ship blows up early

- epic ship actions are different. Learn to love reinforcing your shields and sweating as you replenish shields

- corvette and raider get two actions by default... One for each card, starting with the fore section

Really, just go out and have fun with it. There's no meta so people try wild crazy stuff and it can work.

If you're feeling timid about the big ships, take the rebel transport or the Gozanti. Toryn Farr is awesome. Remember that. Comms Relays are wonderful cargo mods. Take two if you can afford it. Tarkin can be as big a jerk as Palpatine at times...

We are playing 300 point squads with 1 Epic point mandatory. I am toying with this as a starting point:

Gozanti-class Cruiser (65) - Gozanti-class Cruiser

Grand Moff Tarkin (6), Fleet Officer (3), Dual Laser Turret (5), Ordnance Experts (5), Comms Booster (4), Docking Clamps (0), Vector (2)

Captain Jonus (25) - TIE Bomber

Adaptability (0)

Gamma Squadron Veteran (27) - TIE Bomber

Deadeye (1), Assault Missiles (5), Extra Munitions (2), Guidance Chips (0)

Gamma Squadron Veteran (26) - TIE Bomber

Deadeye (1), Concussion Missiles (4), Extra Munitions (2), Guidance Chips (0)

Gamma Squadron Veteran (25) - TIE Bomber

Deadeye (1), Extra Munitions (2), Plasma Torpedoes (3), Guidance Chips (0)

The idea is that all four bombers deploy at the same time at the same pilot skill. They each can have two focus tokens, so they can launch their munitions and modify dice. I may convert Jonus into a shuttle that is not docked since his ability does not work on himself.

I'd go with Fleet Officer and Systems Officer on Jonus instead of comms booster and Fleet officer on the Gozanti. It has the dual purpose of spreading your points out a lot more and also freeing up some slots on your Gozanti. I'd also add cluster missiles to each Gamma, to boost their close-range combat potential.

This is that 'deploy 4 fighters on a bank' trick someone posted up?

In which case, one of those bombers doesn't need Deadeye; you deploy from the Vector at Huge Ship PS4 - so after any target other than another huge ship.

Twin Ion Engines MkII, TIE Shuttle, and Fleet & Systems Officer on Jonus is great.

The first two bombers bank 3 out, barrel roll left and right respectively. The third doesn't, and focuses.

Jonus launches with a bank 1 (green) passing the middle guy a target lock, and for his action passes the other two focus tokens with fleet officer. Everyone fires all the missiles.

Deadeye is still nice - but the middile guy could swap it for crack shot to help punch the plasmas or assault missiles through.

I'd suggest Cool Hand for Jonus rather than Adaptability. PS7 doesn't really matter, but getting an evade token might make the difference between him still being alive to contribute rerolls or not being; and might dissuade people from shooting at him in the first place.

Ordnance Experts on the carrier is nice - by the time you've used guidance chips and jonus you shouldn't really be missing - but I'm not convinced about Tarkin. He might be good for messing with jumpmasters and aces, though. I'm not sure what else I'd use the other crew slot for.

Agreed with the TIE shuttle on Jonus bit.

Tarkin is rather potent - whether you're facing Jumpmasters or not. Giving one of your ships a focus can be just as big, particularly with the late arriving bombers trick. It's also useful for limiting the defensive modifiers on your targets. If I have the points for him, he's coming along for the ride. Points being key - of course.

What's the rest of the force look like anyway? That's not 300 points yet...

Agreed with the TIE shuttle on Jonus bit.

Tarkin is rather potent - whether you're facing Jumpmasters or not. Giving one of your ships a focus can be just as big, particularly with the late arriving bombers trick. It's also useful for limiting the defensive modifiers on your targets. If I have the points for him, he's coming along for the ride. Points being key - of course.

What's the rest of the force look like anyway? That's not 300 points yet...

I don't know, I have never played epic. This was me just trying something that sounded fun. Any suggestions on how to finishe the fleet our?

Something to protect or draw fire while you set up your bomber drop. While I like to cram generic TIE fighter spam to block and force opponents to break off attacks, some people prefer quality over quantity. Whichever approach I'd suggest some sort of fighters. A pair of x7 Defenders are nice if you can add a few other cheaper fighters still to prevent them getting focused down too quick.