Hey Guys,

My favorite Armada buddy and I have been debating back and forth on whether a (smaller) Rhymer Ball is better than taking a dedicated Anti-Squadron screen.

To compare, I have a Rhymer Ball consisting of:

Dengar
Lambda Shuttle
Strom
Jonus
Rhymer
Steele
Mithel

His Anti-Squadron Screen consists of:
Mithel
Fel
2 Tie Advanceds
Lambda Shuttle

He then uses Relay + Chirneau to be able to have Mithel Shotgun multiple times, while letting Fel dole out free damage. It seems pretty effective at cutting through squadron hull, including the aforementioned Rhymer Ball when head to head.

I guess I'm asking, which would you rather have? Perhaps elaborate as to why as well.

That mithel ball would die the round it engaged, easy. So I'd take the bomber ball, clean it off the earth, move on with life.

Park your bomber ball in a side arc for AA.

The MithelBall is too small to survive for multiple rounds of Maul-ing.

Throw in Zertek and another TIE Advanced or two.

rhymer, howlrunner, dengar, interceptors ties

you can still long range bomb at 50% chance to damage and you will win squadron fights even against aces with 5 blue dice and counter 4. flight controllers for 6 blue dice.

Appreciate the quick replies!

What would you guys do against a Rieekan Zombie Blob? Speaking specifically of the comp below:

Rieekan + Gallant Haven
Wexley
Skywalker
Wedge
Gold Squadron
Y-Wing
Jan Orrs
Dagger Squadron

+ another 2 squads I can't remember. I've been trying for the last couple of days to come up with some sort of answer to this and its just beyond my reckoning without dedicating my entire fighter screen to destroying it. My Rhymer ball would just get flattened by Firepower of that magnitude.

Maybe Rhymer + 5 defender and get the best of both worlds.

First kill everything that could bother your bombing time then bomb with Jake and Finn.

3 minutes ago, n00bzilla99 said:

Appreciate the quick replies!

What would you guys do against a Rieekan Zombie Blob? Speaking specifically of the comp below:

Rieekan + Gallant Haven
Wexley
Skywalker
Wedge
Gold Squadron
Y-Wing
Jan Orrs
Dagger Squadron

+ another 2 squads I can't remember. I've been trying for the last couple of days to come up with some sort of answer to this and its just beyond my reckoning without dedicating my entire fighter screen to destroying it. My Rhymer ball would just get flattened by Firepower of that magnitude.

rhymer is the direct counter to gallant haven.

You pre-measure stick at medium range which is outside of the fights range and harass that ship. eventually they need to pick: Do I keep getting bombarded or do I leave my safe space and deal with this? One again Direct counter. Use the ability to premeasure and just keep pelting it with dice until it either dies or they come and engage.

40 minutes ago, BergerFett said:

rhymer is the direct counter to gallant haven.

You pre-measure stick at medium range which is outside of the fights range and harass that ship. eventually they need to pick: Do I keep getting bombarded or do I leave my safe space and deal with this? One again Direct counter. Use the ability to premeasure and just keep pelting it with dice until it either dies or they come and engage.

Once I do however, I get a single turn of bombing before their Squadrons come in and tear mine apart, leaving me with no fighter cover for their massive blob.

Can anyone recommend the ideal Rhymer Ball?

Currently, I'm liking my first list with a Rhymerball. In general, I hug my own AA zones to force a decision: engage the bombers on my turf, or ignore 6-8 rerollable black dice from blue range. It can be tactically countered, but it keeps their fighters busy and works against lists without squads. Spice it up with Ruthless strategists on your AA ships if you are that kind of admiral.

Also, if you can get an OE Flechette Raider near the melee without getting it destroyed, it drastically changes the situation for your pilots.

My point is that you should not forget your AA when planning your fighter screen.

Having an intel ship to send in AFTER the battle is joined will get that 2nd or 3rd bombing run before lock down. Then turn your bombers and AA toward trying to harvest squadron points.

I like to bring a fighter screen, (Fighters, interceptors, and Dengar, usually) and what I'm calling "Major Rhymer's Flying Side-Show," consisting of Rhymer, a Bomber, and Storm Squadron. It's not a huge points investment, and the enemy has to respect the threat. If they only brought a fighter screen, my own fighters defend the sideshow, and if they brought bombers of their own, they have to either leave them uncovered, or split their screen.

Not sure how well it will work in practice; I've not been able to get in any table-time lately.

1 hour ago, n00bzilla99 said:

Can anyone recommend the idea Rhymer Ball?

My current Rhymer Ball setup:

Jonus (16)

Rhymer(16)

Lambda(15)

Tempest(13)

Jumpmaster(12)

Gamma(10)

Black(9)

TIE Bomber(9)

Total (100pts.)

The answer to all of these, is IG88.

12 minutes ago, Ginkapo said:

The answer to all of these, is IG88.

Even against Rieekan Zombies?

6 minutes ago, n00bzilla99 said:

Even against Rieekan Zombies?

No longer stuck continuing to shoot wedges lifeless body.

57 minutes ago, Ginkapo said:

No longer stuck continuing to shoot wedges lifeless body.

Double Tap. You know, for good measure...

1 hour ago, n00bzilla99 said:

Double Tap. You know, for good measure...

Sorry, double taps were decided to be cruel and inhumane. It's now "utilizing controlled pairs."

6 hours ago, n00bzilla99 said:

Can anyone recommend the ideal Rhymer Ball?

Yours is a little bit to less for enough pressure on the enemy ships. A bit to many uniques.

And not full points (only 118).

I use a pre Wave 5 (we still have to do the regionals without CC and wave 5, so there was no need to test anything with wave 5 so far) full Rhymer ball.

Rhymer, 6 Tie Bomber, Dengar, 1 Jumpmaster, 4 Tie Fighter (134 points). The bombers are doing a great job on the enemy ships, and the Fighters enable the bombers to do the job. First i was afraid of full any squadron lists, but i found out, that they are doing quite well against these (even the most scary ones).

This list will not working anymore with Wave 5 (i guess), but it is a great first concept. But you need enough squadron command on the ships for this list. 13 squadrons are not really easy to handle.

But if you want to go for squadrons, do it with everything you can. As close to 134 points as you can.

I got tired of trying to guess if I'd be facing a bomber wing, a fighter wing, a mixed wing, or no wing so everything but the Moldy Crow is a bomber, most of which that can fight squadrons if need be.

10 hours ago, n00bzilla99 said:

Can anyone recommend the ideal Rhymer Ball?

A rather disgusting one I cannot take credit for

Rhymer
Maarek
Dengar
Morna Kee
Decimator/Whisper
Jendon

Doesn't look like much, but it is right nasty. Whisper is my own addition as I like casino games on occasion... Hasn't worked out yet.