I'm almost exclusively a Rebel player, but I do own almost everything. (no punnisher, no YV666) and we got an epic tournament series coming up here and I've been theory-crafting to take my Raider into the field instead of the CR90 (which I've flown a handful of times).

I got two builds I'm toying with, but when it comes to the support I'm completely lost... mostly because I never fly imperials.

Artillery class:

More of a direct assault variant with Jonus there to help out with the damage. Hiding behind the Raider using trick shot to deal damage while getting the defensive bonuses and giving out extra target locks.

So I have a problem with what I want to fly with them....

I love Maarek for epic as my main huge ship hunter. Being able to choose which card gets dealt can be very fun (oh look, no more energy)

Then I feel a second Defender, maybe Countess or a Glaive, would be good to fly them in tandem.

That doesn't leave me with a lot to work with.... 4 base interceptors? seems fragile.

Tie swarm with howl runner?

Decimator?

I'd love to fly against your build in Epic. This summer we had an Epic league and after first 2-3 games I realized that although the Epic ships are fun to fly, they definitely are not easy to win with. Having 12 Tempests with cluster missiles, AC and chips is so much fun to fly Facing point overloaded Epic ships is always good news for your opponent, and it all goes down to whether you want to have fun flying a build, or to have fun winning games. If you still like the Raider place tubes and proton torps and keep Captain Jonus next to it. On the other side of Jonus shuttle fly 4 Gamma Vets with Deadeye, chips and any ordinance that suit better for the remaining points. You should still have some points to add 2 finishers like Whisper, Vessery or Ryad.
Multiple ships are better than single ships, so my advice is dont add decimators, in fact a Gozanti will have similar points with more options and regen option. Fragile ships like Interceptors are not good idea cause they just dont have room to go out of arc and their 3 hull points are always not enough. Keep the Epic ship with less points cause they will be the first to die, and regardless the points they still shoot only once (almost).
I flew this with a lot of success
Whisper PS9 - ACD, VI, FCS
Carnor PS8- PTL, title, AT, SD ( I used him only for finisher, so I kept those two on the far end of the field)
Captain Jonus PS6 Wingman (or Adaptability to have PS equal with the Vets) , TIE shuttle, Fleet Officer, System Officer, Twin Ion Engine
4x Gamma Vets PS5 - with Deadeye, chips, Plasma Torps, Assault Missiles, Cluster Missiles (you have all ranges 1-3 covered), XXTracers, Extra Munitions
4x Storm Squadron Pilots PS 4- with title and Accuracy Correctors.
Just think how you're gonna approach such list with your Raider PS4, and you will have better understanding of how to load your ship.

You could do with Weapons Enginneer and Sensor Team would be useful on your ordnance Raider. If your opponent fields Toryn Farr she is a nuisance... you have been warned! Jones could do with Twin Ion Engine Mk II, more green choices for Systems Officer (might not be an issue in formation with the Raider though).

TIE Advanced with AC will melt epic ships go for the PS4 Storm Squadron and make an initiative bid - that way you will fire before an enemy Epic ship. I find Interceptors are too weak in Epic. The Advanced are more durable, with AC as you'll be taking evade actions plus the two shields for a similar price. Personally I wouldn't bother with Clusters on them (I tangled with Toryn Farr again). Then of course x7 defenders Ryad or better for that PS advantage. Never underestimate the psychology of your opponents epic ship taking damage before it can even fire. I have never taken large ships, the thought of an epic ships bumping them sends shudders down my spine!

Have fun!

Problem I'm having with this is that I don't I own a Punnisher, only have 2 bombers, 2 defenders, 2 phantoms, and 2 Tie Advanced. So I'm limited with my "swarm" builds.

How does this look keeping that in mind?

Your defenders seem a bit squishy. Marksmanship means you won't even have a focus for defence - you'll probably out of range of Jonus' Fleet Officer quite quickly. I would consider x7 instead if you're keeping Marksmanship (Maarek's ability wouldn't work with the Ion Cannon anyway) or if you want to keep the double tap change to Predator (this might be good for the Glaive as it's likely then to take damage away from Maarek or at least give your opportunity thoughts about which to target). Personally I'd be x7 all the way. Alternatively consider Grand Moff Tarkin to give a Defender a focus token for defence. But he's another 6 points on your Raider.

Regarding Jonus if he's following the Raider to give it free target locks and ordnance re-rolls you're not likely to need Fleet Officer. The Raider can't take focus tokens and you're other ships will likely be out of range. Nice idea of Trick Shot as he could be firing through the Raider.

If you want to take more ships you could consider TIE Fighters. They're OK with a focus action to boost their offensive strength and they're cheap so who cares if they are blown away. Of course what you're finding is the Raider soaks up a lot of points but then again you are paying for the AWESOMENESS of a mini Star Destroyer on the board!

Thank you for the input. I made some more adjustments based on the recommendations. It does make the Raider a little less tanky with the removal of shield tech.

I'm not sure if 4 ties are better than 2 Storm pilots... the PS would be lower, and the damage not as consistent. So I did some more adjustments and upgraded them to Vader and Juno.

I changed the defender builds up a bit as well, especially now that someone is lending me the MKII engines to use for the match.

In theory this should give me a strong PS advantage over the Rebel Scum.

Raider-class Corvette (Fore) (50)
Ion Torpedoes (5)
Sensor Team (4)

Raider-class Corvette (Aft) (50)
Grand Moff Tarkin (6)
Weapons Engineer (3)
Ion Torpedoes (5)
Single Turbolasers (8)
Gunnery Team (4)
Ordnance Experts (5)
Ordnance Tubes (5)

Captain Jonus (22)
Trick Shot (0)
Systems Officer (2)
TIE Shuttle (0)

Darth Vader (29)
Adaptability (0)
Accuracy Corrector (0)
TIE/x1 (0)

Juno Eclipse (28)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Accuracy Corrector (0)
TIE/x1 (0)

Maarek Stele (TIE Defender) (35)
Predator (3)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Glaive Squadron Pilot (34)
Predator (3)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Total: 300

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Thank you for the input. I made some more adjustments based on the recommendations. It does make the Raider a little less tanky with the removal of shield tech.

I'm not sure if 4 ties are better than 2 Storm pilots... the PS would be lower, and the damage not as consistent. So I did some more adjustments and upgraded them to Vader and Juno.

I changed the defender builds up a bit as well, especially now that someone is lending me the MKII engines to use for the match.

In theory this should give me a strong PS advantage over the Rebel Scum.

Raider-class Corvette (Fore) (50)
Ion Torpedoes (5)
Sensor Team (4)

Raider-class Corvette (Aft) (50)
Grand Moff Tarkin (6)
Weapons Engineer (3)
Ion Torpedoes (5)
Single Turbolasers (8)
Gunnery Team (4)
Ordnance Experts (5)
Ordnance Tubes (5)

Captain Jonus (22)
Trick Shot (0)
Systems Officer (2)
TIE Shuttle (0)

Darth Vader (29)
Adaptability (0)
Accuracy Corrector (0)
TIE/x1 (0)

Juno Eclipse (28)
Veteran Instincts (1)
Accuracy Corrector (0)
TIE/x1 (0)

Maarek Stele (TIE Defender) (35)
Predator (3)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Glaive Squadron Pilot (34)
Predator (3)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Total: 300

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Let us know how you get on. Especially interested in Juno and Vader with AC. I field them with ATCs and Juno with PTL as with two actions they get their target lock (and so add a critical to their attack) and a focus.

gotta find four more points to do that tho

Raider-class Corvette (Fore) (50)
Ion Torpedoes (5)
Sensor Team (4)

Raider-class Corvette (Aft) (50)
Grand Moff Tarkin (6)
Weapons Engineer (3)
Ion Torpedoes (5)
Single Turbolasers (8)
Gunnery Team (4)
Ordnance Experts (5)
Ordnance Tubes (5)

Captain Jonus (22)
Trick Shot (0)
Systems Officer (2)
TIE Shuttle (0)

Darth Vader (29)
Crack Shot (1)
Advanced Targeting Computer (1)
TIE/x1 (0)

Juno Eclipse (28)
Push the Limit (3)
Advanced Targeting Computer (1)
TIE/x1 (0)

Maarek Stele (TIE Defender) (35)
Veteran Instincts (1)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Glaive Squadron Pilot (34)
Juke (2)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Total: 300

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

that gives the Tie/Av the double action and more crit penetration (always juicy on huge ships), but takes away from the Defenders. Maarek will shoot earlier which is nice.... Or, I can swap up the Defenders like so:

Maarek Stele (TIE Defender) (35)
Marksmanship (3)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Countess Ryad (34)
Adaptability (0)
TIE/x7 (-2)

still doesn't dash around like they would with MKII engines, but here is my thought process.... Ryad will still be PS6 like the Glaive. Maarek will almost be guaranteed a critical hit with Marksmanship.

OR! Keep the rest of the build the same, drop the Tie/Av back down to Stormies/AC build and add Epsilon Ace. yay 1 more ship, with a 12 PS

god I hate building for epic... its worse than 100pt

Game is in 2 days...Just when I thought I had it figured out.... tonight I was practicing deployments and positioning within the first 4 turns. I have a pretty good handle on how I want to set this up for the first engagement. Not only does my opening strategy end up putting my Raider in a position where it can see most of the board, and the main gun/turoblazser should cover upto range 2 of my lead fighter to assist in the engagement. (in theory should happen around turns 3/4)

Some theories...

Is Ordanance Experts and Gunnery team redundant with Jonus? I figure with Jonus hanging around out back of the raider I should be able to replace both teams with something more effective (unless I become the blank machine again). 9 points is a lot that can be spent elsewhere... I also feel 6 points for what Tarkin provides is a little steep.

I feel like 2 Defenders and 2 TIE/Av are not going to cut it for my task force. We can't count Jonus as an attacker here, he's an expensive additional support for the Raider....

Raider-class Corvette (Fore) (50)
Ion Torpedoes (5)
Sensor Team (4)

Raider-class Corvette (Aft) (50)
Captain Needa (2)
Weapons Engineer (3)
Ion Torpedoes (5)
Single Turbolasers (8)
Ordnance Tubes (5)
Assailer (2)

Captain Jonus (22)
Trick Shot (0)
Systems Officer (2)
TIE Shuttle (0)

Storm Squadron Pilot (23)
Accuracy Corrector (0)
TIE/x1 (0)

Storm Squadron Pilot (23)
Accuracy Corrector (0)
TIE/x1 (0)

Maarek Stele (TIE Defender) (35)
Marksmanship (3)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Countess Ryad (34)
Adaptability (0)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Omega Specialist (25)
Adaptability (0)
Collision Detector (0)
Lightweight Frame (2)
Special Ops Training (0)

Total: 299

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Omega Specialist is essentially fills in for a third makeshift Defender. Sure it doesn't have as nice a dial as the Defender, but it can keep up and still be able to put on some heat. Storm pilots with AC will still be dangerous against the enemy epic ship.

Dropping Tarkin for Needa gives me a little more room to maneuver with the Raider. I plan on only taking tiny rocks/debris clouds... but I would rather not have to worry about them AS much. Swapping in Assailer to give the Raider a bit more tankiness will be nice too.

The big fallback here will be against Rebel Aces if my opponent chooses to field them. My opponents have proven to be pretty creative with the lists building locally finding some interesting synergies. I feel if I see a flight of X's or B's I should be fine...