Does anyone have any success stories they'd like to share about using Peltas? I've recently got my hands on one but I seem to fail to see how to properly utilise its strenghts. I've seen some discussions in the forums but those seem to have taken place close to the release of the ship.

It fits into a list with other unremarkable carriers. Pelta, Yavaris, several gr75, afm2 or second pelta, whatever you lose doesnt matter too much since even the gr75 with bwings can finish of that last ship to win the game. All fighters follow me or entrapment are both good, change speed while keeping the squad commands comming, or send ywings speed 4 across the board to a new target. And it can take fct and expanded hangars to push 4 bwings. For half the price of the mc80.

It never was the star of a game, but always contributed.

It's a subject I'd like to go into detail on later. But for now it's best to take a leaf out of Tau battle theory. I can't remember what it was called. Mont'Kau or something like that? Anyway, the Patient Hunter. So the fleet I use is two CR90's, an MC30 and a sprinkling of fighter, with the Pelta (entrapment formation) and a GR75. Not enough to kill much unless you can bring all your guns to bear on the same target at once.

The Pelta is the bait, simultaneously keeping your ships in position (often speed 1 or 0), as well as being a tempting target with it's low speed and fleet wide ability. With it's reasonable front shields and defence tokens it often survives the battle, and it throws some squads around in the mean time as well.

I also run a Pelta (shields to Maximum) in my CC campaign, using it as a squad pusher and shield generator as well as something for the enemy to aim for while my Neb flanks. But then, in CC you can get Veteran status, which does so help with a token/command thirst ship.

@BiggsIRL ran a Pelta fleet with some success in a Regional tournament. I won't dare speak for him, but the gist is that you'll use it as a cheaper carrier than an a AFmkII. You get reduced firepower in exchange for an equivalent squadron pusher. The Fleet Command slot isn't a mandatory take as you'll want to keep it lean so it's not a points bloat. But they can be useful.

It's a cheap 4 squad carrier with Expanded Hangars, FCTs, Flight Commander, and Adar Talon.

Use it with Yavaris and a huge bomber wing. You can make B-Wings effectively speed 5 or speed 3 with Yavaris double tap.

I used one reasonably successfully at an event a few months back. It was a carrier with Raymus and "all fighters follow me".

In nearly every game I slow rolled it forward at speed 1 (having 2 clicks to play with is quite handy) and it controlled a cloud of b-wings/x-wings. It typically avoided any ship-ship engagement until later in the game and it did quite well as the opponents were often softened up already by bombers. It also had the shields/tokens/hull to take at least one good round of shooting against it.

Haven't tried it as an attack boat though.

See @Parkdaddy for fun and profit......

I've tried using the Pelta in 2 roles. One as the support ship, and one as the main ship.

As the support ship, I took Sato, entrapment formation, scout MC30s, and kept it lean. It usually died, but I couldn't figure out how to get large enough MOVs to be top tier against skilled opponents with that style of play.

Entrapment really opened up lots of possibilities for the MC30s because they didn't have to maneuver every round, and CF dials were great for throwing 3 reroallable blacks at long range with APTs via Sato.

The trick is to keep proccing Entrapment every round so that your MC30s (or whatever other ship you're using) have that flexibility, and keeping the Pelta alive long enough to keep mattering. Without making the Pelta the focus of your fleet and including all the Christmas tree decorations, it loses commands, gets outmaneuvered, and dies fast. I may go back and visit this variant after worlds.

As the main ship, it's slippery nightmare if your opponent doesn't know how to deal with it. I'll try some necromancy.

1 hour ago, thecactusman17 said:

It's a cheap 4 squad carrier with Expanded Hangars, FCTs, Flight Commander, and Adar Talon.

Use it with Yavaris and a huge bomber wing. You can make B-Wings effectively speed 5 or speed 3 with Yavaris double tap.

Speed 5? You had to have 2 FCTs, right?

3 hours ago, Thraug said:

Speed 5? You had to have 2 FCTs, right?

They meant to say Effective-close-to-Speed 5.

- Distance 1 Move with FCT + Distance 2 Move + Adar Distance 2 Move.

Works with 1 B-Wing.

FC/FCT adds more speed than most consider, since Distance 1 (individually) is the longest of each of the bands.

The Pelta is a great support/carrier ship. And its tough enough to take a beating if it gets into trouble.
The fleet command are great for giving you the "edge" or flexibility in battle.
Depending on you're fleet composition, you should choose a fleet command which helps the most.
Shields to maximum is great if you play aggressive, or a great way to help ships regain shields without using engi commands. (Say if you have Salvation using concentrate fire commands, you can still regain its shields while firing extra red dice).
Entrapment for a list which has MC30s or fast and maneuverable ships.
All squadrons follow me, great way to boost the speed of B-wings and more importantly changes the engagement range of ALL squadrons.

To get the best use of Fleet command, either get Raymus. Or have Raymus on the Pelta and Tano on another ship within 1-5.
When you reveal a token (from raymus) just change it to another one using Tano.
Example.
1st Turn - Engi commands, gets an engi token from Raymus, change it to a nav using Tano. convert the Engi command to a Engi Token.
2nd Turn - Use shield to maximum. Squadron command, gain a squadron token from raymus. Change it to an engi with Tano.
This way you are still an effective carrier while using Shields to Max EVERY turn.
Just change the token to whichever Fleet command you choose and bingo!

39 minutes ago, Drasnighta said:

They meant to say Effective-close-to-Speed 5.

- Distance 1 Move with FCT + Distance 2 Move + Adar Distance 2 Move.

Works with 1 B-Wing.

FC/FCT adds more speed than most consider, since Distance 1 (individually) is the longest of each of the bands.

Actually, I meant to say that if you combine it with another source of FCT yeah they're speed 5. OK, technically more speed 4.5, but for B-wings that's a massive increase.

6 minutes ago, thecactusman17 said:

Actually, I meant to say that if you combine it with another source of FCT yeah they're speed 5. OK, technically more speed 4.5, but for B-wings that's a massive increase.

I will gleefully stand corrected

40 minutes ago, Sniperbon said:

The Pelta is a great support/carrier ship. And its tough enough to take a beating if it gets into trouble.
The fleet command are great for giving you the "edge" or flexibility in battle.
Depending on you're fleet composition, you should choose a fleet command which helps the most.
Shields to maximum is great if you play aggressive, or a great way to help ships regain shields without using engi commands. (Say if you have Salvation using concentrate fire commands, you can still regain its shields while firing extra red dice).
Entrapment for a list which has MC30s or fast and maneuverable ships.
All squadrons follow me, great way to boost the speed of B-wings and more importantly changes the engagement range of ALL squadrons.

To get the best use of Fleet command, either get Raymus. Or have Raymus on the Pelta and Tano on another ship within 1-5.
When you reveal a token (from raymus) just change it to another one using Tano.
Example.
1st Turn - Engi commands, gets an engi token from Raymus, change it to a nav using Tano. convert the Engi command to a Engi Token.
2nd Turn - Use shield to maximum. Squadron command, gain a squadron token from raymus. Change it to an engi with Tano.
This way you are still an effective carrier while using Shields to Max EVERY turn.
Just change the token to whichever Fleet command you choose and bingo!

hmmm I don't think what you just described 1st turn is a legal move...

edit: someone more versed in timings might come and confirm?

Is there any competitive use for them besides carriers? =(

Do they power creep out the AF2 for use? since it doesn't seem like the guns on the AF2 are being used relevantly anymore.

No, its Legal. Tano is Tricksy.

Essentially, written out longform, it goes like this:

1st Turn:

Reveal Engineering Command, Gain Token without spending the Dial due to Raymus Antilles.

- Immediately utilise Ahsoka Tano to discard Engineering Token and Gain Nav Token.

Spend Dial to gain Engineering Token.

2nd Turn:

Start of Ship Phase, discard Engineering Token to use Shields to Maximum.

Reveal Squadron Command. Gain Token without spending the Dial due to Raymus Antilles.

- Immedaitely use Ahsoka Tanto to discard Squadron Token and gain Engineering Token.

Spend Dial to utilise Squadron Command.

Essentially, the whole "Gain a Token, and then immediately discard it" mechanic has been vetted a while - as that is the means in which the "Tantilles-IV" operates to give out two Tokens. Its just in this case, its swapped around.

7 minutes ago, Blail Blerg said:

Is there any competitive use for them besides carriers? =(

Do they power creep out the AF2 for use? since it doesn't seem like the guns on the AF2 are being used relevantly anymore.

I still prefer the AF2 for the speed and their effectiveness with Ackbar

Yep and the ability to use Flight Controllers keeps them relevant as carriers

I'm warming to what I'm calling the "Lifeboat 2.0" with the theory that it could be really fun with External Racks come wave 6. It's the Assault Variant with Engine Techs, Veteran Captain, and whatever Fleet Command slot you want. You bank a token first turn and then navigate the rest of the game. You get three uses out of the Fleet Command (token+Vet Cap+discard) while maintaining a ton of manueverablity (5 clicks and effective speed 3). I generally slap the commander on it and keep it on the outskirts of a fight. It still needs to be IN the fight to make its points investment worthwhile, but it can disengage and still contribute via Fleet Command if things get a little too hot. Adding External Racks in wave 6 will give it a nice one-turn punch from the front.

It's great to see so many responses to this post! Thanks for the various inputs, they have really inspired me to try some different things with the Pelta

I made this account years ago but I never post, decided to post here because I love Peltas. I won the Newington regional with a Sato 2x pelta 2x nebulon list last February. I think the Pelta is really under rated, and people forget how multipurpose they can be on a budget. My personal MVP of the tournament was 'Entrapment Formation!', which prevented some really bad situations. I bank a token turn 1, then just discard the card the second time I need it, two uses over the entire round is enough IMO. It was my MC30 solution. My big regret is Solar Carona, I wouldn't bring that again, that was definitely a mistake. Peltas are cheap, its firepower is sufficient, and it can do *something* else really well, carrier, healing, blocker, ect. In this case I used a carrier and a blocker.

Sato x4
Author: Squash

Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 399/400

Commander: Commander Sato

Assault Objective: Station Assault
Defense Objective: Planetary Ion Cannon
Navigation Objective: Solar Corona

[ flagship ] Modified Pelta-class Command Ship (60 points)
- Commander Sato ( 32 points)
- Ahsoka Tano ( 2 points)
- Entrapment Formation! ( 5 points)
= 99 total ship cost

Modified Pelta-class Assault Ship (56 points)
- Assault Proton Torpedoes ( 5 points)
= 61 total ship cost

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57 points)
- Yavaris ( 5 points)
- Raymus Antilles ( 7 points)
= 69 total ship cost

Nebulon-B Support Refit (51 points)
- Salvation ( 7 points)
- Slaved Turrets ( 6 points)
= 64 total ship cost

3 E-Wing Squadrons ( 45 points)
3 VCX-100 Freighters ( 45 points)
1 Tycho Celchu ( 16 points)

Pelta is the trickiest Rebel ship so far because it's extremely potent if you use it right and very dull if you don't. Also because the Pelta in itself is rubbish. Awful speed, not too shabby weaponry... An Engine Techs is almost a must-have on a Pelta but that suddenly turns it into a neatly maneuverable ship, especially with Madine.

Bu this is only maneuvering and dice-verse the AFMK2 is way better and with ET they have almost the same cost. So to make the Pelta worth its price you must focus on its fleet-wide card. Never bring a Pelta without that special card because an AFMK2 is just better. So i you choose to bring a Pelta you must organize your whole fleet around it (otherwise you would drop it). With AFFM it will most likely be a Sato or Dodonna fleet with tons of bombers. If you choose Entrapment Formation most likely you will bring an MSU. So not much variety there. BUT! As I said a good player can capitalize on the Pelta's special ability and it may do wonders if you know how to use it. But it needs a looooot of playtesting and there is a very narrow margin of error, so keep that in mind.

Have a guy i play with that did well at the Connecticut regionals say he plays them like lightly armed Victory class destroyiers

Well the points difference between the two are 16 or 21 (cheapest to most expensive) so I would hope that the AFMK2 would be better
For the Pelta you're paying the points for a "Medium" Support ship. And that's exactly what you get. It's not a "Ship of the line", or a "Flanker"
It shouldn't be taking the brute of the enemy force, or trying to fly around the enemy lines. It should support your main battle group

2 hours ago, Drasnighta said:

No, its Legal. Tano is Tricksy.

Essentially, written out longform, it goes like this:

1st Turn:

Reveal Engineering Command, Gain Token without spending the Dial due to Raymus Antilles.

- Immediately utilise Ahsoka Tano to discard Engineering Token and Gain Nav Token.

Spend Dial to gain Engineering Token.

2nd Turn:

Start of Ship Phase, discard Engineering Token to use Shields to Maximum.

Reveal Squadron Command. Gain Token without spending the Dial due to Raymus Antilles.

- Immedaitely use Ahsoka Tanto to discard Squadron Token and gain Engineering Token.

Spend Dial to utilise Squadron Command.

Essentially, the whole "Gain a Token, and then immediately discard it" mechanic has been vetted a while - as that is the means in which the "Tantilles-IV" operates to give out two Tokens. Its just in this case, its swapped around.

Thank you for making it clearer, I was struggling to get it across