Having recently returned to Armada (drifted away just before Wave 3/4 hit) and also having decided to consciously try a different play style (I previously ran Rebel MSU lists) I've come up with a Fleet List inspired by Shmitty's recent YouTube video on Gunlines and his blog article on 'Trailing' ships. I'm new to flying this kind of fleet and would appreciate some input... In particular My choice of Flotilla. Originally I had the standard 'Bright Hope' with Toryn Farr to give re-rolls on the Assault Frigates Blue Dice and to boost the X-Wing fighter screen. It's the same price as the Leia/Repair Crews set up so I think it's going to be a case of trying both in upcoming games but i wondered if anyone had tried Leia/Repair Crews and had had any sucess with it?

Ackbar Trailer Gunline
Author: HoundsTooth

Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 400/400

Commander: Admiral Ackbar

Assault Objective: Most Wanted
Defense Objective: Planetary Ion Cannon
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

Assault Frigate Mark II B (72 points)
- Gallant Haven ( 8 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
= 94 total ship cost

Assault Frigate Mark II B (72 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
= 86 total ship cost

[ flagship ] Nebulon-B Support Refit (51 points)
- Admiral Ackbar ( 38 points)
- Salvation ( 7 points)
- Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points)
= 103 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)
- Bright Hope ( 2 points)
- Leia Organa ( 3 points)
- Repair Crews ( 4 points)
= 27 total ship cost

1 Jan Ors ( 19 points)
1 Biggs Darklighter ( 19 points)
4 X-Wing Squadrons ( 52 points)

Fleet created with Armada Warlords

As briefly touched upon above, X-Wings run as a fighter screen for the Assault Frigate 'Gunline' (unless my opponent neglected to bring squadrons of their own! ) whilst the Neb-B hangs tight until the opponents ships have broken through). The Transport hides behind the main Gunline spamming Repair Commands when needed.

Oh, and Objectives are also 'changeable' I'm currently also considering Fire Lanes and possibly Solar Corona as the yellow and blue.

Looks good. I'd hesitate putting Acky on Salvation, but the flotilla is the next best choice. Both risky, but one can afford to stay out of the fray.

schmitty inspired me as well and I ran a variant with the A frigates for added AS firepower and dropped the screen to Tycho, Shara and 2 2400s so that I could spam navigate/engineering on the Guppies.

either way, I found it a fun way to fly. It fits the rebels skirt and scoot broadside style well.

9 hours ago, RogueCommander said:

I'd hesitate putting Acky on Salvation, but the flotilla is the next best choice. Both risky, but one can afford to stay out of the fray.

In Shmitty's article he talks about the 'trailer' ship, in this case Salvation, coming into the fight late on (turn four onwards... Maybe turns five and six). My thinking on putting Ackbar on there was that my opponent is going to have to dedicate a lot of resources to get to him, potentially breaking through the Assault Frigate line, and that if it goes down in the late game I would have already had at least four turns of Ackbar goodness to justify his inclusion. I think putting him on the Flotilla might make him more vulnerable as either build is going to be sitting behind the Frigates, possibly taking shots. I have run my Admirals on 'pleasure cruisers' before, running them along a board edge out of harms way, and if I could find the points I'd run one in this list. But points are a little tight and I'm not sure what I'd drop to fit it in!

I've also been looking at the Assault Frigate A. Might have to consider the A-Wing screen again!

Fair points on where to put Ackbar, see how it goes.

Here's how I did it with A's and AWings.

Fun Line
Faction: Rebel Alliance Points: 400/400
Commander: Admiral Ackbar
Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery Defense Objective: Custom Objective Navigation Objective: Solar Corona

Assault Frigate Mark II A (81 points) - Gunnery Team ( 7 points) - Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points) - Spinal Armament ( 9 points) = 104 total ship cost

Assault Frigate Mark II A (81 points) - Gunnery Team ( 7 points) - Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points) - X17 Turbolasers ( 6 points) = 101 total ship cost

Nebulon-B Support Refit (51 points) - Salvation ( 7 points) - Intel Officer ( 7 points) - Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points) = 72 total ship cost

[ flagship ] GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points) - Admiral Ackbar ( 38 points) - Comms Net ( 2 points) = 58 total ship cost

1 Tycho Celchu ( 16 points)
1 Shara Bae (17 points) 2 YT-2400s ( 48 points)

I like the look of your list, though there's an upgrade (Spinal Armament) that I don't have yet. I really like Intel Officer on Salvation. I may also try dropping the Gallant Haven title from one of the Frigates to fit it in. Intel Officer turns Salvation into a proper 'sniper'! I also don't have a second YT-2400 at the moment (**** you Rogues and Villains! ), but I do like the freedom that Rogue gives you on a generic ship.

Why on Earth would you take Salvation with a gunline???

Salvation acts as a trailing ship and isn't part of the gunline itself. It starts away from the main force. It sits in the backfield slowly approaching the battle from one corner, then late in the game cuts across the gunline and picks off weakened targets. Or your opponent diverts resources to attacking it and splits his force (divide and conquer!). This is why I'm keen to try the Leia/Repair Crews Flotilla as I hope it will help the two Assault Frigates weather the storm.

18 minutes ago, HoundsTooth said:

Salvation acts as a trailing ship and isn't part of the gunline itself. It starts away from the main force. It sits in the backfield slowly approaching the battle from one corner, then late in the game cuts across the gunline and picks off weakened targets. Or your opponent diverts resources to attacking it and splits his force (divide and conquer!). This is why I'm keen to try the Leia/Repair Crews Flotilla as I hope it will help the two Assault Frigates weather the storm.

That is true.

It's also true that you've spent 36 pts to have Ackbar provide his bonus for 2 ships, in a 4-activation fleet. That's not really value for money.

1 hour ago, Green Knight said:

That is true.

It's also true that you've spent 36 pts to have Ackbar provide his bonus for 2 ships, in a 4-activation fleet. That's not really value for money.

I read your replay Green Knight and I thought to myself, "You know what? He might be right. I only really took Ackbar because I've never used him before and thought it would make a change from taking Mothma or Rieekan." Then I realised that Ackbar is actually 38pts, not 36 and by taking Rieekan instead it would free up enough points for an Intel Officer on Salvation! You sir are a genius!

If only I could count

But really, Ackbar is so costly you MUST max your benefit from him.

Actually, I really like your Ackbar list, a lot. I think it can deal with the bomber lists we've been seeing running rampant. Those 3-Flotilla/2-threat lists won't hold up too well against repeated 5-dice salvos, and your squadron compliment is significant enough to delay bomber hurt or take the pain to the enemy.

The only things I would change is choosing a different flagship, taking TRCs off of Salvation, and trading 2 Xs for 2 VCXs. That gives a 3 point bid for first (or you could take skilled first officers), and the VCXs give you massive flexibility in dealing with objectives. Fire lanes become a very potent choice for you, as do minefields.

As far as where to put Acbar, I would suggest dropping the repair crew and put Acbar on one of the AF and add Lando to help keep it alive.