Neb B pilot school...

By Jamborinio, in Star Wars: Armada

I just can't [successfully] fly these suckers! I've been assured that the pilots I'm getting are the cream of the crop, but each time I send them out to defend or attack sectors in the Corellian Conflict they fail miserably and return with costly smashed up ships. Only when I fly my scarred Yavaris to avoid all conflict and relay through VCXs can I get some semblance of reliability with a Neb B. So:

1. Do you tend to fly them fast or slow?

2. Do you use navigate a lot with Salvation? Yavaris is going to use squad commands all day long, so speed will be relatively fixed.

3. How do you avoid those perilous side arcs? If it's not hunted down by a speedy Arq or ISD, they go down quick to an alpha bomber strike.

4. Do you fly them 'rogue' style separate from the rest of your fleet, or do you keep them tight together with the rest? Risk if you do to opponent's gunnery team...

So, what to do with these suckers ships? I still have the contract receipt, so I could scrap the fleet and put these 'cream of the crop' pilots to better use.

With a double brace Nebulons can take a big hit in the front, usually. 3 shields and 5 hull means 15 damage required, so unless there are double accuracies you can survive. In the side however this goes down to 11 damage for a kill. If playing against Imperials or front focussed Rebels then slowly plodding in with the rest of your fleet can work but try and take fire on the front which is where your 3 red dice are so you aren't sacrificing firepower to do so. Watch your activation order and maybe point to where you think he will be when the large damage comes your way. Your evade means you can often take a long range volley on the side arc without too much harm. A single repair token or command can then bring your rear shields onto the front to make a second volley hopefully less than fatal.

Another option is the large flanking manoeuvre to get out of the big arcs of the enemy. For this you will need speed, nav commands and maybe even engine techs. The natural double yaw at speed 3 is great for these left hooks and they can also be done to pin large flank shooting MC80s by blocking them from their front arcs.

I like sandwiching mine between a pair of flotillas, especially if facing enemy bombers. It's not the end all be all, but it helps. If I can afford it, I really like having Entrapment Formation in the same fleet with Yavaris. Being able to adjust speed is probably one of the most important aspects of flying a Neb. I go without it at 400 points, but in CC, you have the luxury.

Squadron wall protecting the flanks on the way in from erent mc30s or glads...

Nav token saved turn 1 to boost later from front facing to rear facing.

8 hours ago, Mad Cat said:

With a double brace Nebulons can take a big hit in the front, usually. 3 shields and 5 hull means 15 damage required, so unless there are double accuracies you can survive. In the side however this goes down to 11 damage for a kill. If playing against Imperials or front focussed Rebels then slowly plodding in with the rest of your fleet can work but try and take fire on the front which is where your 3 red dice are so you aren't sacrificing firepower to do so. Watch your activation order and maybe point to where you think he will be when the large damage comes your way. Your evade means you can often take a long range volley on the side arc without too much harm. A single repair token or command can then bring your rear shields onto the front to make a second volley hopefully less than fatal.

Another option is the large flanking manoeuvre to get out of the big arcs of the enemy. For this you will need speed, nav commands and maybe even engine techs. The natural double yaw at speed 3 is great for these left hooks and they can also be done to pin large flank shooting MC80s by blocking them from their front arcs.

Mm. They're pretty resilient to large swaths unless you can get TWO acc.
Might be easier to take down with a bunch of smaller attacks. Preferably to the side. Though, the front is only 2 more hits to do.

I might have to try a salvation Neb-B flanked by Rapid Reload MC-30's and whatever else i can get away with.

I've been having good luck with Salvation and -- of all things -- Slaved Turrets, just as way of paying out bargain-basement points to put out pretty solid damage. 5 reds with a command, double damage on crits, can add up awfully fast. I run it as a flanker/chaser ship, speed 3 and away it goes, somewhere off to one side of my main body.

I'm looking forward to hitting things with it when I've got Sato, too. Swapping out some reds for blacks, and doing (potentially) three damage from a single die? I figure it's worth a try.

Neb B E - no upgrades, is a perfectly respectable ship in the current game environment. Fighters hate it, especially if toryn is nearby.

Just remember its an Escort frigate. Not an Assault frigate. Not a line of battle ship!

5 hours ago, Ophion said:

Neb B E - no upgrades, is a perfectly respectable ship in the current game environment. Fighters hate it, especially if toryn is nearby.

Just remember its an Escort frigate. Not an Assault frigate. Not a line of battle ship!

This is a key point! Its a two command ship that with just a SFO can really help your main threats get past damage past defence tokens.

6 hours ago, Ophion said:

Neb B E - no upgrades, is a perfectly respectable ship in the current game environment. Fighters hate it, especially if toryn is nearby.

Just remember its an Escort frigate. Not an Assault frigate. Not a line of battle ship!

This cannot be stressed enough. The AA shots from my Yavaris with Toryn nearby are extremely dangerous. I find myself frequently forgoing ship shots in favor of mass double blue anti-squad.

Neb's are in a pretty rough spot at the moment compared to Wave 1/2.

There are so many options now for both Rebel's and Imperials to get around to the Neb's flanks and kill it very quickly - the tiny front arc/massive side arcs do not help. - This is why people are loving the Light Cruiser for Imps atm, as it has good side arcs and good defense tokens for staying at range and due to it's shield arrangement can pretty much survive a round or two on its own that and there are usually a lot more dangerous things to shoot at ISD/Demolisher/etc.

It is also weird to fly as if you want to make the best of its best arc you have to fly directly at the enemy be it jousting or from a flank with Engine tech - however running it on a flank leaves it open to enemy Squadrons - 2x Deci's and a Jumpmaster for Intel can make pretty quick work of it on their own.

I find it better to hold it a little back from everything else going in - especially if it is Salvation as it can be the main cannon of your fleet, even more so when paired with Sato.

Yavaris can be kept safer if you use 30 points for 2 VCX's so you can relay its double tap's.

Before the current wave I used to be able to run, Salvation, Yavaris, MC30 and a transport and rip most other fleets apart, now due to the light cruisers, Deci's and Relay a light fleet like that gets ripped to shreds pretty hard and cannot get it's best arcs on target most of the time or get flanked by the cruisers/fighters while taking down a single ISD.

39 minutes ago, KovuTalli said:

Neb's are in a pretty rough spot at the moment compared to Wave 1/2.

There are so many options now for both Rebel's and Imperials to get around to the Neb's flanks and kill it very quickly - the tiny front arc/massive side arcs do not help. - This is why people are loving the Light Cruiser for Imps atm, as it has good side arcs and good defense tokens for staying at range and due to it's shield arrangement can pretty much survive a round or two on its own that and there are usually a lot more dangerous things to shoot at ISD/Demolisher/etc.

It is also weird to fly as if you want to make the best of its best arc you have to fly directly at the enemy be it jousting or from a flank with Engine tech - however running it on a flank leaves it open to enemy Squadrons - 2x Deci's and a Jumpmaster for Intel can make pretty quick work of it on their own.

I find it better to hold it a little back from everything else going in - especially if it is Salvation as it can be the main cannon of your fleet, even more so when paired with Sato.

Yavaris can be kept safer if you use 30 points for 2 VCX's so you can relay its double tap's.

Before the current wave I used to be able to run, Salvation, Yavaris, MC30 and a transport and rip most other fleets apart, now due to the light cruisers, Deci's and Relay a light fleet like that gets ripped to shreds pretty hard and cannot get it's best arcs on target most of the time or get flanked by the cruisers/fighters while taking down a single ISD.

Pretty much my experience! Yavaris can try to avoid the battle with its double taps more than making up for its lack of involvement. Salvation on the other hand just seems to get spanked quick. The Arqs seem to be a direct counter to a Neb B having significant arc advantage to the over-exposed side arcs of the Neb B, or, failing that, an alpha Rhymer strike can see it taken apart in a single turn.

For Yavaris: Speed 1-0 and hanging at the back with a couple of BCC-holding flotillas along the flanks. Let your fighters lead at long range. Activate the flotillas first to delay and maybe to lead to block rushers. Pummel anything that approaches with Yavaris.