So the GSD II has not been a very appealing ship variant to me, while there have been “cute” things to do with it like generating accuracy with sensor teams flexible flack with Kallus etc. Nothing that really stood out to me. Then I saw the lists from the Vassal world cup and both the finalist had a GSD-II, so I decided it was time to reevaluate the ship.

First off lets get the obvious out of the way it has better flack period. Two dice is better than one end of story so the ship is just flat out better in that regard and with squadrons on the rise might not be a bad idea to take them for that, but for me the GSD has always been a ship killer, but the extra flack die will be very nice when a ship is not in rage, but squadrons are.

The only other thing that is that is different is that red die out the side arch. This to me has always been a down grade from the 4 black you still have the possibility of a max of 8 damage, but is less likely you do have a 1/8 ^th chance of rolling and accuracy, but that is unlikely.

From what I understand the winning list had a new addition added in CC, Captain Jonus. This dose change things a bit. It helps you gain that accuracy while Home One on the rebels is much more reliable, captain Jonus is only a 16 point squadron and not 100+ point ship.

Again looking at max damage on both GSD-I and GSD-II with captain Jonus against a ship with brace and no ECM on that ship the GSD-I hits for 8, but has it braced down to 4. then the GSD-II hits for 6 locks the brace down and hits for 6 that makes it hit harder than the GSD-I. This also makes the GSD-II good at killing Flotillas.

I have an internist in experimenting more with the GSD-II this was just a simple breakdown, but I'm ready to dust of my alt art GSD-II card give it a try. If anyone has any success stories or suggestions in running a GSD-II please post it below.

This may not be the most optimal Gladiator-II Build but its served me well in many battles.

Gladiator II

• Demolisher
• Minister Tua
• Blast Doors
• Ordnance Experts
• Expanded Launchers

Essentially my gladiator build is the Defiant from DS9. If you don't know the reference then just think tanky assault ship. It along with two Motti Imperial II Star Destroyers can make for a rather imposing spectacle for the opposing player.

Its main role in my fleet's strategy is two fold, inflict as much damage as possible on the weak sides of larger capital ships and sending the enemy scrambling either away or towards it. The Star Destroyers are rather predictable juggernauts pushing towards the enemy while the gladiator is an outlier threat that is flexible in what I want to do. My hope often is to get the enemy to concentrate on maneuvering around the Gladiator's movements that my ISD's can pound them into dust.

If you find yourself playing Corellian Conflict then you definitely want a Gladiator II for sure.

6 hours ago, xero989 said:

So the GSD II has not been a very appealing ship variant to me, while there have been “cute” things to do with it like generating accuracy with sensor teams flexible flack with Kallus etc. Nothing that really stood out to me. Then I saw the lists from the Vassal world cup and both the finalist had a GSD-II, so I decided it was time to reevaluate the ship.

First off lets get the obvious out of the way it has better flack period. Two dice is better than one end of story so the ship is just flat out better in that regard and with squadrons on the rise might not be a bad idea to take them for that, but for me the GSD has always been a ship killer, but the extra flack die will be very nice when a ship is not in rage, but squadrons are.

The only other thing that is that is different is that red die out the side arch. This to me has always been a down grade from the 4 black you still have the possibility of a max of 8 damage, but is less likely you do have a 1/8 ^th chance of rolling and accuracy, but that is unlikely.

From what I understand the winning list had a new addition added in CC, Captain Jonus. This dose change things a bit. It helps you gain that accuracy while Home One on the rebels is much more reliable, captain Jonus is only a 16 point squadron and not 100+ point ship.

Again looking at max damage on both GSD-I and GSD-II with captain Jonus against a ship with brace and no ECM on that ship the GSD-I hits for 8, but has it braced down to 4. then the GSD-II hits for 6 locks the brace down and hits for 6 that makes it hit harder than the GSD-I. This also makes the GSD-II good at killing Flotillas.

I have an internist in experimenting more with the GSD-II this was just a simple breakdown, but I'm ready to dust of my alt art GSD-II card give it a try. If anyone has any success stories or suggestions in running a GSD-II please post it below.

In my WC list GSD-2 is there primarily to provide flak support.

More specifically a GSD-2 with Demo can put out a credible amount of flak. Used together with an ISD-2 w/GT and Kallus, a Raider-I Instigator & Ciena/Valen w/supporting Gozanti, this was sufficient to deal with a variety of squad threats. Well, a little on the weak side, in fact, but still credible (actually I would not recommend doing this - one wrong move and it all comes crashing down on you). Downgrade Demo to GSD-1 and it goes from almost sufficient to no point at all. So there was a very good reason it was a GSD-2.

As a bonus you can shoot out the sides at long range. With a CF and Vader that's not to be ignored. Hardly game-changing, but definitely useful.

As for JJ he had Jonus. GSD-2 and Jonus is just amazing. I don't think I need to elaborate on that on.