Speaking Objectively about my favorite Objective.
So with the new CC Objective being out for awhile now I have had an opportunity to play against or with almost all of the new objectives, some great others a little lack luster. I really fell in love with one of the objectives I just found it fun and also found it very useful as well, and with @ BiggsIRL challenge I opted to write an article on my new favorite objective Sensor Net. I do wish to apologize in advance for this article coming up so close to the end of the month, in short its been crazy and was hoping to upload pictures with examples, but time will not permit it. We will take a look at what fleets want to take it and why, how the objective can be utilized on the table and how it stacks up against other blue objectives.
Lets me just be frank a fleet that dose not have at least one strategic squadron dose not want this objective in there list period end of discussion; and I would highly recommend taking two strategic squadrons. If you are wondering why well lets look at the card text.
After Placing obstacles, the players alternate planing a total of 4 objective tokens in the setup area, starting with the first player. Each token must bee placed in the setup area beyond distance 5 of both player' edges and beyond distance 3 of all other objective tokens. When a ship reveals a command dial, if it is at distance 1 of at least 1 objective token its owner gains 1 victory token. The, its owner chooses 1 of those objective tokens. The opposing player must move that token. If he is the first player, he moves the token so it is at distance 1-2 of its current location. If he is the second player, he moves it so it is at distance 1-4 of its current location.
Because your opponent can move the tokens into a place that is at the very least awkward to get to having the strategic squadrons are super important they can effectively negate this, and are a must for any list running this objective. One of the things that makes this objective so much fun is how almost free form it is objective tokens are flying in every which way and how you move the objective tokens really has an impact on the game itself. You as second player have much more control over where the tokens get moved to as you can move them distance 1-4, after your opponent scores them and when your opponent moves the ones you score only distance 1-2 that is easily mitigated by your strategic squadrons as previously mentioned.
So what lists want to include this objective in there list. Well first off any list that wants to take fire lanes or contested outpost this is this is a strong blue choice. Why? Well both contested outpost and fire lanes force your opponent to engage where you want them to or give up vital points, and in most cases putting them in your most dangerous arch's. Sensor net helps you accomplish the same thing but uses a carrot on a stick type of method to get your opponent to go where you want them to, or sacrifice points.
The carrot on a stick tactic is fairly simple your opponent wants to get points objective tokens are worth points, but if you move them to force them to ether move into the front arch of your ISD or forfeit the points. There is more than just the get in my most dangers arch it has really great synergy with grav shift reroute. As after everything is set out on the table you can see where you want the carrot to go and now you have moved the rocks there your opponent will have to navigate thought them possibly hitting some making your job easier.
Another interesting way to use Sensor net is by trying to break the other players fleet in two. This is accomplished by moving the carrots completely out of the fight in the early rounds forcing your opponent to ether go after the tokens with a ship or two to help mitigate the 30 points you should be gaining every turn thanks to your strategic squadrons, or help in the upcoming fight ether way it's a win for you as you are ether facing less fire power, or you will rack up significantly more points than your opponent.
Sensor net has the possibility of being the most point lucrative blue objective in the game most other blue objectives, that give you points you will get 75-80 points max, while I have scored 210 points with this objective, and in all honesty its not to crazy to rack up that many points, but it all starts in the set up of the objective. When you set up the objective you want to place the two tokens as close to the center of your fleet as possible, and as close as you can so you can pull them into scoring range turn one. Fairly simple set up. The reason you want the tokens near the center of your fleet is that it limits where your opponent can move the token to keep you from scoring the token again. This objective loves medium and large ships as this makes it even more difficult to get the tokens away from your ships.
The next most important thing is selecting the token that will move. The objective reads “ When a ship reveals a command dial, if it is at distance 1 of at least 1 objective token its owner gains 1 victory token. The, its owner chooses 1 of those objective tokens. The opposing player must move that token. Picking the right token at the right time is so important with this objective as it will help maximize not only your point intake, but make the job of your strategic squadrons easier. You don't want to always be sending your strategic squadrons chasing down tokens you only have a limited amount of strategic squadrons, but there are 4 tokens on the board so use your strategic squadrons ability to movie them when they really need to repossession a token. that leads us to our next point moving the tokens.
When Moving the tokens around it is important for you to keep three things in mind.
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Move the token toward the middle of your fleet limiting the other players options for moving it when scored, placing it in a spot where no matter where the other player moves the token it will be scored again is ideal. Another good option is there are very few ways the other player could move it to keep you from scoring again making the movement of the token predictable. The worst option would be moving it just so you can score it one last time.
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Remember that denying the other player the ability to score a token is just as good as if you had already scored it. This is because for every token the other player scores that is one of your victory tokens not adding to your end game score. It is important to note that the other player will most likely score at lest 30 points, but this is easily mitigated by being able to score the tokens turn one as the other player will only be able to score them by turn 2. So on turn one you negate there scoring on turn 2 and from turn 2 on its up to you to prevent them from scoring more, and score as much as you can yourself.
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And lastly know when to let a token move out of scoring range. In my experience with this objective at least one token will eventually drift out of where the action is taking place and will not be scored. It is important to know when to let this happen and when not to, it is a decision that really can vary based on how the game looks, but I do have some general rules that apply in almost all situations. Never I repeat never let a token drift away on turn 1 and turn 2 don't let it happen. The same might be said of turn 3 but depended on board state generally if the other player is going to score a token it is better to prevent that score and move the token to a place where you will be able to score it latter, that round if possible, than to keep a token in the play area, because in a sense you are getting two tokens for the price of one by denying your opponent the opportunity to score the token then scoring it for yourself so you have a greater net gain in the end.
We have talked about using the carrot on the stick this whole article, but there is another option and I just wanted to touch on it briefly. You will only encounter this if your opponent refuses to play the objective, he will do this by placing the two tokens he gets to place on the opposite side of the board and deploying on the side where you put your objective tokens close to your deployment zone. In this scenario you will score the two tokens for as long as you can never letting one get away always using your two strategic squadrons to score them, and if you have a ship like a life boat flotilla you can send them after the other two tokens to score a few points, but even in the worst case scenario your scoring 90 points and should be able to keep your opponent from scoring anything making it still a better choice than most of the other point based objectives in the blue category.
There is one other thing I would like to touch on and unfortunately I don't have the experience to give an in depth analysis of this aspect but what if your opponent brings his own strategic squadrons? I have not as of yet run into this as strategic squadrons are not really a thing in my local area, but keeping them tied down is important and in an interesting twist going second may give you the advantage in this as he will activate his Strategic squadrons first then you can activate yours to counter that activation. You also have the edge of moving the tokens to distance 1-4 so that will help out alot I wanted to bring this up as it is a possibility to run into but as mentioned before I dont have the experience to give an in depth analysis.
Now that I have said how much I love the objective and how many points are possible to obtain with it lets talk about its down sides. One we already briefly addressed, you really need strategic squadrons if you don't have them don't take this objective. Another downside this objective works best with ships with a larger base, now don't get me wrong you can run it with lots of small ships, but I have found the larger base makes it harder for your opponent to move the token out of distance one of all of your ships. Another issue is you need to keep the strategic squadrons free to move around and manipulate the board as much as possible this can be difficult against list with lots of squadrons, but not impossible sources of Intel help with this a lot. Last downside if you are heavy squadrons superior possessions is a more point lucrative objective for you and easier to use. Sensor net also takes more practice than most objectives to play well.
When all is said and done despite the down sides and the higher learning curve of this objective it is one of my favorite objectives to play. why? Because it is just so fun to play. It is so rewarding looking at the board state and moving the right token at the right time. Its fun to have tokens flying everywhere and forcing the other player to make hard choices. You will also face some hard choices in the game as well in my opinion it makes for a very rewarding and fun experience when you play it.
In conclusion this is a strong objective for gaining points in the blue slot, it is best used in lists that have large and medium ships. The list also requires strategic squadrons, and because of that this is not an objective for all lists. If you are taking sensor net you need to build your list around it. With all that it is still one of the funnest objectives to play in the game and it is a great choice to fill the blue slot.
I want to leave everyone with two list ideas for using this objective.
Faction:
Galactic Empire
Points:
398/400
Commander: Moff Jerjerrod
Assault Objective:
Station Assault
Defense Objective:
Fire Lanes
Navigation Objective:
Sensor Net
[ flagship ]
Interdictor-class Suppression Refit
(90 points)
- Moff Jerjerrod ( 23 points)
- Ion Cannon Batteries ( 5 points)
- Grav Shift Reroute ( 2 points)
- G7-X Grav Well Projector ( 2 points)
=
122
total ship cost
Gozanti-class Cruisers
(23 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
=
27
total ship cost
Victory I-Class Star Destroyer
(73 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Spinal Armament ( 9 points)
=
89
total ship cost
Victory I-Class Star Destroyer
(73 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Spinal Armament ( 9 points)
=
89
total ship cost
2
Lamda-class Shuttles
( 30 points)
1
JumpMaster 5000
( 12 points)
1
Valen Rudor
( 13 points)
2
TIE Fighter Squadrons
( 16 points)
With this list you have the Interdictor to keep ships from closing in on the tokens this could keep your opponent from scoring the tokens until turn 3! and once the tokens get scored you move them into the lovely maze of rocks you made with Grav shift. You have a single jumpmaster to keep the Lamdas jumping around and moving the tokens, also a small bid for second, more may be needed depending on your local meta.
Commander: Admiral Ackbar
Assault Objective:
Targeting Beacons
Defense Objective:
Fire Lanes
Navigation Objective:
Sensor Net
Assault Frigate Mark II B
(72 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- X17 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
=
92
total ship cost
Assault Frigate Mark II B
(72 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- X17 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
=
92
total ship cost
Assault Frigate Mark II B
(72 points)
- Lando Calrissian ( 4 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- X17 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
=
89
total ship cost
[ flagship ]
GR-75 Medium Transports
(18 points)
- Admiral Ackbar ( 38 points)
-
Bright Hope
( 2 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
=
62
total ship cost
2
VCX-100 Freighters
( 30 points)
1
Shara Bey
( 17 points)
1
Tycho Celchu
( 16 points)
With this list we have the VCX's to move tokens and some strong ackbar arch's in this list we are mostly using Sensor Net to make the other player pick Targeting beacons so we can take XI7's and still have consistent damage. Undeadguy wrote an article for that objective here https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/248474-targeting-beacons-objectively-the…worst/
Thanks for reading!
Edited by xero989
