Yup, meant H9s

What I'm seeing in my games is two "big hitter" ships with flotillas to boost activation numbers and a strong squadron set seems to be the most popular archetype.

As people get better at the game across the board it is getting much harder to engage and get good shots with 3 or 4 bigger ships at a time, and even if you do, activation order will mean most of those shots will slip away before they have a chance to fire.

But something like ISD+Demo or Mon karren + Admo or AF2 + Admo means you can work on getting that one good threat into position while your other ships play support and you position your second hitter to follow up.

What I'm seeing in my games is two "big hitter" ships with flotillas to boost activation numbers and a strong squadron set seems to be the most popular archetype.

As people get better at the game across the board it is getting much harder to engage and get good shots with 3 or 4 bigger ships at a time, and even if you do, activation order will mean most of those shots will slip away before they have a chance to fire.

But something like ISD+Demo or Mon karren + Admo or AF2 + Admo means you can work on getting that one good threat into position while your other ships play support and you position your second hitter to follow up.

This doesnt describe what JJ achieved very well, and I hope he writes a fleet tactics article for us with all the logic behind it.

Well no, and wasnt trying to say thats how he did it. I'm interested in JJs thoughts as much as everyone!

But more generally in my games, thats what I have been seeing of late.

Did Hero actually get paid for that

Wasn't Hero actually.

I had to do a double take because it read a lot like HERO and then lo and behold you are correct. I was surprised.

Ha. I get that a lot. I still like my fishman, but this current meta is nothing but squadron and flotillas so far! Not my favorite ATM, I've been going back to X-Wing and IA for the time being.

Still haven't seen jack shh about Phoenix Home..

Did Hero actually get paid for that

Wasn't Hero actually.

I had to do a double take because it read a lot like HERO and then lo and behold you are correct. I was surprised.

Ha. I get that a lot. I still like my fishman, but this current meta is nothing but squadron and flotillas so far! Not my favorite ATM, I've been going back to X-Wing and IA for the time being.

Still haven't seen jack shh about Phoenix Home..

I had quite a bit of success with Acky and his Giant Space Cucumber of late. Mostly just to be contrary - and to kill as many bloody flotillas as I possibly can!!!!

I kinda wonder how well Home One might do in our current setting with all the flotillas.

I kinda wonder how well Home One might do in our current setting with all the flotillas.

There is a bigger question in there. How to build a low activation fleet in a flotilla meta?

I kinda wonder how well Home One might do in our current setting with all the flotillas.

There is a bigger question in there. How to build a low activation fleet in a flotilla meta?

What is considered low in this meta? There was a double AF fleet in the top tables on Day 1 at Worlds. It essentially flew along the outside edges of the board with squadrons in between to do the fighting. I think H9 and similar combos will keep flotillas from going completely out of control. If you have more than 2, I don't think you can protect them all assuming they are pushing squads or passing tokens.

I kinda wonder how well Home One might do in our current setting with all the flotillas.

There is a bigger question in there. How to build a low activation fleet in a flotilla meta?

What is considered low in this meta? There was a double AF fleet in the top tables on Day 1 at Worlds. It essentially flew along the outside edges of the board with squadrons in between to do the fighting. I think H9 and similar combos will keep flotillas from going completely out of control. If you have more than 2, I don't think you can protect them all assuming they are pushing squads or passing tokens.

I don't think anybody who's pushing 3+ flotillas is too worried about losing a couple here or there.

It does seem like Squadrons now play a heavy role in the meta. So Assault Squadrons lists but the thing is you need good escorts to keep your bombers from getting all tied up by the fighter screen. Imperials might have the best Bombers but Rebels have the best escorts .

It does seem like Squadrons now play a heavy role in the meta. So Assault Squadrons lists but the thing is you need good escorts to keep your bombers from getting all tied up by the fighter screen. Imperials might have the best Bombers but Rebels have the best escorts .

Never fear, Black squadron is here! (For one turn)

It does seem like Squadrons now play a heavy role in the meta. So Assault Squadrons lists but the thing is you need good escorts to keep your bombers from getting all tied up by the fighter screen. Imperials might have the best Bombers but Rebels have the best escorts .

thats utter rubbish.

if you ignore speed, rebel squads outclass imperials. but you cannot ignore speed.

Ironically I think HERO's big dumb Home One gunline might ironically be a decent counter-meta right now.

WTF. ACKBAR MC30's

WHERE ARE THEY?

They certainly showed up at the team tourney (admittedly a more low key affair). Our first game there were a total of 5 MC30's...along with 4 TRC90's, 8 flotillas, and a Liberty. And a squadron total of four x-wings.

Ironically I think HERO's big dumb Home One gunline might ironically be a decent counter-meta right now.

Except it gets eaten by squads.

I havent tested this against squads, but i have tested this against swarm fleets and it is mean. You're playing with a LOT of fire, though.

Hard Mode
Author: geek19

Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 400/400

Commander: General Madine

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Fire Lanes
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

MC80 Star Cruiser (96 points)
- Skilled First Officer ( 1 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Engine Techs ( 8 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
= 116 total ship cost

MC80 Star Cruiser (96 points)
- Skilled First Officer ( 1 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Engine Techs ( 8 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
= 116 total ship cost

[ flagship ] MC80 Command Cruiser (106 points)
- General Madine ( 30 points)
- Home One ( 7 points)
- Skilled First Officer ( 1 points)
- Engine Techs ( 8 points)
= 152 total ship cost

1 Tycho Celchu ( 16 points)

Our meta has been seeing a lot of swarm fleets recently, so this is an attempt to counter it. It can live through a few things, but you gotta be CAREFUL, and you gotta know your fleet and how the objectives are placed. I have to believe against bombers i'm in a lot of trouble, but i might be able to weather the storm if i can get up there fast enough and keep popping the bomber commanders. Against a rhymerball? Probably dead, but heck, ill see what i can do. Engine Techs on those LMC80s lets you get FAR. This fleet loves ramming things to death (flotillas, a gladiator yesterday), but i found i NEEDED the Home One title to wreck the lives of Raiders, CR90s, and flotillas. If i can roll 6 damage, that one accuracy means those ships are all dead (assuming that the rerolled dice from the evade token works in my favor. If it doesnt, Engine Techs. You've got 8 health!)

It does seem like Squadrons now play a heavy role in the meta. So Assault Squadrons lists but the thing is you need good escorts to keep your bombers from getting all tied up by the fighter screen. Imperials might have the best Bombers but Rebels have the best escorts.

thats utter rubbish.

if you ignore speed, rebel squads outclass imperials. but you cannot ignore speed.

I was taking a look more at squadron builds. The Rhymer Ball is possibly the best assault formation for attacking ships because of speed and range which gives squadrons their reach. Squadrons almost have to touch the ship in order to attack without a squadron command. More like they just get in the way of their intended target then when the ship runs into them they position themselves on a weak side.

But if you want to look at bombers one by one well Rebels have 4 Bombers while Imperials only have 2.

Rebels have

• Y-wing (Cheapest Bomber average speed, but good hull)
• B-wing (Slow but has the blue-black bomber anti-ship)
• Scurrg H-6 (Doesn't need escorts, has the blue-black bomber, but most expensive rebel bomber)
• X-wing (Not a dedicated bomber, has the red anti-ship)

Imperials have

• Firespray (Independent Bomber, has double blue bomber instead of blue-black, more expensive than H-6)
• TIE Bomber (fast speed bomber, has the same cost and power as a Y-wing, has the best character)

So rebels have more dice but are slower when it comes to bombers. Which means they need more squadron commands. Imperials are faster but tend to have less dice. but with a rouge bomber and rhymer range they can reach ships faster provided they don't get intercepted.

It does seem like Squadrons now play a heavy role in the meta. So Assault Squadrons lists but the thing is you need good escorts to keep your bombers from getting all tied up by the fighter screen. Imperials might have the best Bombers but Rebels have the best escorts.

thats utter rubbish.

if you ignore speed, rebel squads outclass imperials. but you cannot ignore speed.

I think that both sides have a clear capacity to make awesome squadron builds and more than anything it comes down to how you play it. If imps have an advantage it's purely rhymer who allows you so many more tactical options because you can limit the amount of flak you expose yourself to by being further away

Ironically I think HERO's big dumb Home One gunline might ironically be a decent counter-meta right now.

My current list looks something like this:

same ol Ackbar MC80 in Home One

MKII with the standard stuff

Comms net floater

7x Awings and Tycho

Currently, I'm 4-0 in practice tournament-style games vs. Rieekan, Dodonna and a random Rhymer ball using Gozantis, all with lots of squadrons. The games are by no means easy sweepings though. The strategy from me has been kinda brain-dead, since I drive straight into as many floatillas as I can and slash/ram as many as I can. It becomes a pure damage race before their squadrons kill the MC80 or I win.

I just launch myself into the fray and spam the F out of squadron orders from everything. No need to do anything else because you're sure to be blocked by floats so you might as well keep ramming while slashing, and you're going to be running initiative anyway because most squadron lists are running 393-4+ for points. Comms net floater is a good random blocker and ensures that the Home One throws out 5 A-Wings every round.

I think I hinted a while back that Home One is going to be a pretty good counter to the floaters.. but what I didn't mention is that I had to sacrifice a lot to ensure that I'm up to date with the meta (which is dropping Jaina's Light to a floater and running a crap ton more squadrons). I tried 4x YTs, 5x, a mix of both, and frankly, it just wasn't enough: It's a slippery slope because when you have less squadrons, your alpha is smaller, your threat is lower, and you deal less damage overall. Then he overpowers you with sheer weight of numbers and it escalates quickly in their favor as you bleed wayyyy too much damage. I said it once and I'll say it again: You can't out-race BCC in this meta if he has a crapton of bombers.. you just don't. The only way to fight it is by flaking him to death or by bringing in your own squadrons.

Oh, and I should mention that a crap ton of A-Wings around Home One just looks cool on the table.

PS -- I should be playing against JJ's list a lot in the near future. I'm not too scared of it frankly since I just had a game against 2x X-Wing, Jan and a epic crap ton of Y-Wings and won pretty decisively. Speaking of which, @JJ we should play after you rest up. Grats on the win bud!

PS -- I should be playing against JJ's list a lot in the near future. I'm not too scared of it frankly since I just had a game against 2x X-Wing, Jan and a epic crap ton of Y-Wings and won pretty decisively. Speaking of which, @JJ we should play after you rest up. Grats on the win bud!

Now be careful...not all Y-wing spam is equal. The list your you played doesn't sound like JJ's at all actually...and little changes make huge differences. Just putting that out there, now that Y-wing spam is sure to see an increase.

PS -- I should be playing against JJ's list a lot in the near future. I'm not too scared of it frankly since I just had a game against 2x X-Wing, Jan and a epic crap ton of Y-Wings and won pretty decisively. Speaking of which, @JJ we should play after you rest up. Grats on the win bud!

Now be careful...not all Y-wing spam is equal. The list your you played doesn't sound like JJ's at all actually...and little changes make huge differences. Just putting that out there, now that Y-wing spam is sure to see an increase.

This just in: Lists are different. News at 11.

I should be fighting at least 2-3 of almost the same exact lists with very minor tweaks in the next couple of weeks as more people catch on. Think of it like Demolisher variants.

On a semi-related note, add my "Size Matters" Vader list to the retired shelf. Time to get back on the cutting edge in time for Regionals I can actually attend! (February)

PS -- I should be playing against JJ's list a lot in the near future. I'm not too scared of it frankly since I just had a game against 2x X-Wing, Jan and a epic crap ton of Y-Wings and won pretty decisively. Speaking of which, @JJ we should play after you rest up. Grats on the win bud!

Now be careful...not all Y-wing spam is equal. The list your you played doesn't sound like JJ's at all actually...and little changes make huge differences. Just putting that out there, now that Y-wing spam is sure to see an increase.

This just in: Lists are different. News at 11.

I should be fighting at least 2-3 of almost the same exact lists with very minor tweaks in the next couple of weeks as more people catch on. Think of it like Demolisher variants.

Ah, its good to have you back, Hero......not being sarcastic, but without Lyr, we needed another blunt instrument in the forums. Ginkapo was getting tired....

And I expect the meta to shift for other reasons. It's telling that there were no Imperials on those 2 final tables. I, as a rebel player (and a rebel at heart, really) plan to jump ship to imperials and figure out why. Call it the tinkerer in me......

And I expect the meta to shift for other reasons. It's telling that there were no Imperials on those 2 final tables. I, as a rebel player (and a rebel at heart, really) plan to jump ship to imperials and figure out why. Call it the tinkerer in me......

I loved that too (even as an Imp player). Sadly, even though rebels have taken the last two Worlds, in two weeks some clown will post "Demo and Rhymer are OP! What can a rebel player do?"