I swear they'll find a way to make Paragon usable with one of these waves. Until they do, I'm going to keep trying it at the beginning of every one. :/

My plan with this fleet is pretty simple: strip tokens at range with Paragon and Salvation while drawing my quarry into shrimp range. Feed A-wings into the machine, hopefully keeping them alive a little longer with JF, and keeping them mobile with the HWK. Tycho does Tycho things. Comm Net to keep squadron tokens fed to the ships as much as possible.

It's got a lot of potential weaknesses, so please tear it apart. I don't have an efficient answer for flotillas, I don't have a safe place for Sato to live, and I don't have XI7 on everything. I could find myself facing a Sophie's choice of using my squadrons for offense or defense against heavy bomber wings. And I'm using Paragon...

Sato Ideas (399/400)

===================

Assault Frigate Mk.II A (81 + 23)

+ Intel Officer (7)

+ Ordnance Experts (4)

+ Electronic Countermeasures (7)

+ Paragon (5)

Nebulon-B Support Refit (51 + 53)

+ Commander Sato (32)

+ Intel Officer (7)

+ Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)

+ Salvation (7)

MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63 + 16)

+ Skilled First Officer (1)

+ Ordnance Experts (4)

+ Assault Proton Torpedoes (5)

+ XI7 Turbolasers (6)

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 + 2)

+ Jamming Field (2)

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 + 2)

+ Comms Net (2)

Tycho Celchu (16)

HWK-290 (12)

4 x A-wing Squadron (11)

Most Wanted

Hyperspace assault

Solar Corona

I really like it. First attack with 2 rerollable blacks, second with 4 (CF+Paragon). Though I think an AF B with Spinal would be better than the AF A. Same cost, more dice at range.

Though I think that TRC starts to lose value on Salvation the fewer reds it has (less chance of a blank). Perhaps spinal would be better. And because you'll be switching out for blacks, perhaps Raymus would help more so than IO. Or another Comms net instead of jamming field.

Hmm. I see lightely upgraded mc30s. No need for h9s, just add more blues to the mix. So i am unsure about oe or apts here.

I am sure the scout version exists, but havent seen it in a long time.

To many As, not enough hwk, not enough toryn counter.

Toryn bright hope every list

Toryn for Jamming Fielded A-wings? Nah. Not every list needs TF, dudes.

The A-wings really aren't there to kill fighters, they're there to kill ships. They're disposable. You feed them into combat one at a time, with tokens passed to the attacking ships by Comms Net so they can't be killed or evaded before the Sato shot.

I do really want BH on that JF flotilla though--it was the last thing I cut, couldn't find the points.

Park, you're right about the TRC on Salvation. Not sure if it would be better as an XI7 or if I should take the points off Salvation to buy BH on my JF boat. Or I could drop TRC, put an IO on the MC30, and have 2 points left over for either BH or a bid. Hmm... I kind of like that. Helps with the flotilla problem, and will keep JF up a bit longer...

Good point about the A-wing strategy. My initial reaction was to suggest dropping something to get Jan in there (my normal fighter screen is Jan and As). Jamming field seems like it'd work better with your strategy.

But I also sensed that you were perplexed about your choice for a flagship. They're all pretty fragile as is, with the exception of Paragon. Using the same mold, I toyed around with the idea of using a Foresight scout MC30. Black crits at long range, and increased survivability with redundant tokens that don't get used in attacks. Most of the ships that can evade away a black crit are ships that you can pretty comfortably charge into (minus Demo and a Needa ISD/VSD).

I know the cost ramps up, but you wouldn't have a 100 point Salvation. And then you get back your very good option of taking Salvation for Hyperspace Assault.

Not every list needs TF, dudes.

Well thats just rubbish.

JF: very skeptical. How useful will it be on the offense? Or is it a defensive ploy? If so, it's taking away from your counter.

BH; your lack of BH disturbs me.

AF2A: w/o GT and TF not sure AF2A is worth it, just for 1 more blue out the front.

(but interesting concept)

WIll 4 A-Wings be enough to abuse Sato? Sure, it is for the first round of attacks, but then...? That's what makes you think about Sato so much recently: You'll have to invest a lot in fighters to assure you have one at distance 1 of a ship at all time.

To take the A-wing issue even further, would you sub out one or two more A-wings for HWK's? Their Intel guarantees they can get into position, though you lose a blue offensive die and it's speed 3 instead of 5. But Sato shenanigans I've long thought HWK's are the way to go.

WIll 4 A-Wings be enough to abuse Sato? Sure, it is for the first round of attacks, but then...? That's what makes you think about Sato so much recently: You'll have to invest a lot in fighters to assure you have one at distance 1 of a ship at all time.

To take the A-wing issue even further, would you sub out one or two more A-wings for HWK's? Their Intel guarantees they can get into position, though you lose a blue offensive die and it's speed 3 instead of 5. But Sato shenanigans I've long thought HWK's are the way to go.

I had the HWK spam idea, too, but I think the A-wings' speed will be a huge asset both defensively and offensively. Effective Sato squadron flying will look very different from anything we've seen yet, and I'm super excited to get to trying it out...

Points: 391/400

Opening Salvo

Hyperspace assault

Navigational Hazards

MC30c Scout Frigate (69 points)

- Foresight ( 8 points)

- Skilled First Officer ( 1 points)

- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)

- Assault Proton Torpedoes ( 5 points)

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)

- Dodonnas Pride ( 6 points)

- Toryn Farr ( 7 points)

= 57 total ship cost

[ flagship ] GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)

- Commander Sato ( 32 points)

- Bright Hope ( 2 points)

- Adar Tallon ( 10 points)

- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)

= 66 total ship cost

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)

- Jainas Light ( 2 points)

= 46 total ship cost

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)

= 44 total ship cost

1 Tycho Celchu ( 16 points)

1 Shara Bey ( 17 points)

2 YT-2400s ( 32 points)

2 YT-1300s ( 26 points)

I found the 1300's paired with Adar can wade into battle with some staying power. Shara and Tycho can be held back until needing insertion. The 2400's can rogue around and peck as needed. A kind of short, medium, long range fighter options to keep sato consistently used.

Dodonna's pride with TF rerolls is a cheap apt alternative. The fleet just needs better maneuvering and practuce on my part. Any thoughts?