Imperials: JJ + ISD/VSD/Glad/Raider

By Artifixprime, in Star Wars: Armada Fleet Builds

I've recently seen the light and abandoned the terrorist scum for the forces of galactic law and order :)

So far I've only got ships, and the fleet below sort of reflects it, but I've taken it as a challenge to see how well a nearly squadronless fleet can do and plan to take it to the next local event.

The fleet is built around Jerjerrod as he seems to add so much. Generally I alternate between Nav and Eng orders, with a few Conc Fire thrown in for good measure. Generally I'm able to make a "JJ Turn" and remedy any ill effects immediately.

The ISD is there to deal out damage and the VSD with Spinal makes a good show of itself. I've taken a Glad 2 for the AA dice and Insidious as it's a handy late game finisher. The Raider is the dedicated anti squad support and Jonus is there purely to provide accuracies. Jonus and the raider are typically held back for a turn or two until the other player commits squadrons - then The raider dives in and Jonus leapfrogs to the ships beyond to target lock them - works especially well with the Glad 2 :)

JJ with the ISD allows for some very interesting turn 1-2 maneuvers. It's possible to deploy to be apparently facing away from the main action, then make a JJ turn at speed 3 (with a Nav) and by in a position to cruise down the middle of the board by turn 1-2 (parallel to the long edge) and bring the big guns to bear on anything that comes across the bow. The VSD with a Nav order can pull a 90 degree turn and I was able to continue to lead my mate's CD90Bs while they were traveling at speed 4 with engine techs trying to circle me.

Anyway - the fleet: (opinions welcome as always)

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 398/400

Commander: Moff Jerjerrod

Assault Objective: Station Assault
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Minefields

Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Relentless ( 3 points)
- Skilled First Officer ( 1 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Reinforced Blast Doors ( 5 points)
= 136 total ship cost

[ flagship ] Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (85 points)
- Moff Jerjerrod ( 23 points)
- Spinal Armament ( 9 points)
= 117 total ship cost

Gladiator II-Class Star Destroyer (62 points)
- Insidious ( 3 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- Assault Proton Torpedoes ( 5 points)
= 74 total ship cost

Raider-I Class Corvette (44 points)
- Instigator ( 4 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- Flechette Torpedoes ( 3 points)
= 55 total ship cost

1 Captain Jonus ( 16 points)

Why the Insidious? I see you said it was as a late game finisher, but surely the Demo is an even better finisher. Also, setting aside a good portion of your fleet to come in later is asking for the opponent to jump them while they're out of position, or swarm your bigger ships before the glad can come to their aid.

That said, I like the raider, ISD and VSD. Maybe consider replacing the Glad with 2x Gozanti-IIs, with concentrate fire commands they can add 2 red dice per attack and they have decent flak to help the raider. They also give you more activations, which you'll need both in initial placement and during the game.

I like Jonus as a single squadron- he's likely to be underestimated and his targetings are always handy at range for finicky red dice.

Overall I like it for the variety of ships, though I feel that a few TIE fighters could add a lot to your anti-bomber setup in this age of b-wings and all fighters follow me. But as a squadronless list I think it's got good basics, though the objectives look a little weird. For Station Assault would you keep both close and try not to move? Spread them out and try to hit the enemy before they get to them? Contested Outpost would draw the enemy in and make the best of Jerry as you pivot around the outpost, but would also pin you down a bit. Minefields... I always end up hitting the dang things but it's a good fit for this list unless the other guy waits on the other side of them and just sends in squadrons.

Insidious is there because I like it and 'cos it's *not* Demolisher - I want to see what it can do really. I've seen it used well were it stays out of the way for a lot of the game and then cruises in from behind to deliver the fatal blow. Don't get me wrong, Demo *is* good, I just like Insidious as it's a bit sneakier.

Station Assault is there to try to get people to come at me. The fleet isn't the fastest, but with JJ it is nimble so I can turn to bring front arcs to bear quite easily if I get caught out by my opponent having more deployments. That's the theory anyway - nobody has wanted to pick that mission yet.

I've only played with Jonus, and both times against squadron light fleets - but he's such a pain in the rear for flotillas.