When building a purely anti-squadron fighter screen, do you guys find it's better to take Ace squadrons (higher cost, but better survivability and special abilities) or swamp the enemy with generic squadrons (cheaper, but less effective and more vulnerable)?

Or is there a mix you find works best?

Also, I'm asking about both factions here. Thanks!

depends.

for "highly antisquadron", i think 70-ish points.

what i want to achieve is very good antisquadron damage per turn, to force enemy fighters to target my fighters rather than my ships. some aces excel at that, others do not. but i am not really concenred about staying power. all i want is to buy 1-2 turns of a dedicated bombing force being delayed. some fighters for such a screen: TIE interceptor, x-wing. some aces: Ciena Ree, Shara Bey, Mauler Mithel, Howlrunner, Ten Numb.

Can I activate them?

5 hours ago, Ginkapo said:

Can I activate them?

Ideally, yes

As Rebel only, I think I would usually include at least one Ace. Jan almost always goes, so she doesn't count.

Ten, Jan, Biggs, XWing (x4), and Dash is a pretty meaty AS layout, for example. But you could drop any one of the aces and still be ok with Jan and XWing spam.

I suppose it depends on what you're looking to do and how many points you've got to spare. As usual. ?

A very simple and effective AS list is Shara + 5 A-Wings. Relatively cheap, fast and deadly. Biggs and X-Wings are also nice but that's more like an AS/Bomber mix. I prefer A-Wings for dedicated squadron hunt.

As for the Empire there is nothing better than an Interceptor screen supported by Howlrunner and possibly Valen. The only trick is that you have to deal the first strike which may be tricky. Another nice one is to put in Soontir and an Advanced and make them fly in tandem. The enemy suffers one damage when he attacks the Advanced thanks to General Fel ;). And if you want a dedicated ace hunter, you only need Bossk. Alone. He is the worst nightmare of any unique-heavy list.

Dengar is always good for anti squadron and tying up enemy squadrons due to intel. Soontir, Tempest squadron (doubles as a bomber), and Dengar are usually my base three for this.

A decimator can be expensive but is practically a mini ship you can use to go after proper ships after enemy squadron screens.

On 3/10/2017 at 9:21 AM, Norell said:

A very simple and effective AS list is Shara + 5 A-Wings. Relatively cheap, fast and deadly. Biggs and X-Wings are also nice but that's more like an AS/Bomber mix. I prefer A-Wings for dedicated squadron hunt.

As for the Empire there is nothing better than an Interceptor screen supported by Howlrunner and possibly Valen. The only trick is that you have to deal the first strike which may be tricky. Another nice one is to put in Soontir and an Advanced and make them fly in tandem. The enemy suffers one damage when he attacks the Advanced thanks to General Fel ;). And if you want a dedicated ace hunter, you only need Bossk. Alone. He is the worst nightmare of any unique-heavy list.

New player question for you or anyone... Does a simple screen such as Shara + 5 A-Wings require activations to be effective? Obviously it would pay to have activations, but I was just wondering if people run this effectively without them? Thanks

It should have some activations, at least for the initial engagement. It's not a too significant screen so you don't want them to fall off the table too quickly. Therefor you'll need all the firepower they got. But if you focus on activation in turn 2 only that may be enough.

Imperials tend to go to either extreme around here. Either an autoball filled with Aces and some advanced, or a big pile of Generic TIEs backed by Howlrunner and Mauler.

Rebels are more freewheeling because of Jan. I've seen (and run) Jan+generics, and have seen some effective ace packages.

Required activations are a bit different depending on the list. Imperials running anti-squad screens need to activate just about the whole list. They don't have the HP to effectively absorb an alpha strike. Also, trying to use Soontir means you really want to be able to dictate squad positions for the brawl.

Rebels - especially with Jan or Biggs or both - can usually absorb an alpha strike with minimal losses. So activations are great but less critical. Activating half in a turn is probably effective enough.

Purely anti-squadron? Lots, and lots of As and Es

For the Empire I have always found a mix of aces and generic works best. The Imperial aces, other than Vader and Maarek, don't really have abilities that help directly against fighters unlike some of the rebel aces.

On the Rebel side Wedge and Dutch which can do extra damage against or stun lock enemy fighters but again a mix is always best.

Empire- Howlrunner, Dengar, 3 Interceptors activated off an ISD with flight controllers, Interceptors are rolling 6 attack and counter 4. Runs about 85 points.

Rebels have some good anti-squadron aces: Shara Bey, Ten Numb, Dutch and Wedge (AMAZING sinergy togheter)

I tried Valen, Soontir, Ciena, and Zertik the other day. They proved way more disruptive and resilient than I expected at only 63 points. Plus all can be activated by a VSD1 with Expanded Hangar Bays.

On 2017. 03. 20. at 0:24 AM, chr335 said:

For the Empire I have always found a mix of aces and generic works best. The Imperial aces, other than Vader and Maarek, don't really have abilities that help directly against fighters unlike some of the rebel aces.

On the Rebel side Wedge and Dutch which can do extra damage against or stun lock enemy fighters but again a mix is always best.

Cirena or a Vader+Soontir combo is pretty nasty

16 minutes ago, Norell said:

Cirena or a Vader+Soontir combo is pretty nasty

True but Soontir isn't direct against fighters and Cirena is a defensive ability. Still powerful Cirena is immune to counter one.

I sometimes send in Soontir with Vader and watch the enemies losing points while shooting at the Dark Lord. It works with an Advanced as well to some extent.

Dengar, Vader, Soontir make a devastating combo.