Hi everyone!
I'm Simone from Italy!
So we start a new private seven player tournament, and for this one i wanna try something new!
As you can see, the base of my list is Rhymer and 7 TIE bombers, with Boba Fett and some escort, but rather than building capital ships devoted to operate squadrons, I imagnined a different solution.
The Suppression Interdictor will disrupt deployment, and/or enemy movement, possibly forcing the enemy to split his forces in two separate groups, while the Victory will throw groups of bomber forward to attack large targets, slowly getting in range of his armament.
The Gozanti will be usefull as forward support for the attacking squadrons, and as third activation, that wich can be important.
Moff Jerry, in this list, is only a cheap admiral, but can be usefull for both the Victory and the Interdictor's, slow and limited maneuver capacities.
What do you think?
Share your thoughts!

Thanks!!

"Rhymerball" Mk IV (VSD-INT-GOZ-11 SQDs)
Author: keyran rexer

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 398/400

Commander: Moff Jerjerrod

Assault Objective: Precision Strike
Defense Objective: Fighter Ambush
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

[ flagship ] Interdictor-class Suppression Refit (90 points)
- Moff Jerjerrod ( 23 points)
- Interdictor ( 3 points)
- G-8 Experiemental Projector ( 8 points)
- G7-X Grav Well Projector ( 2 points)
= 126 total ship cost

Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (85 points)
- Corrupter ( 5 points)
- Intel Officer ( 7 points)
- X17 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
= 103 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)
- Bomber Command Center ( 8 points)
= 36 total ship cost

1 Tempest Squadron ( 13 points)
1 Major Rhymer ( 16 points)
7 TIE Bomber Squadrons ( 63 points)
1 Boba Fett ( 26 points)
1 Zertik Strom ( 15 points)

Just a thought, I don't run Imperials, but usually with the bombers you're going to want some sort of intel to keep them free from being pinned down. You'll want to keep the ball together obviously or the bombers will get destroyed so you'll have to be careful how you fling them forward. I'll leave ideas on the capital ships to others.

Yes, you're right, mobility is very important, but as I have already tried, Dengar alone never solved the problem to keep all my bombers completely free of moving and attacking during the previous matches.
Some Escorts can make the difference for saving more Bombers. Just an Idea...
I think that deployment will be the key for this list, with G-7 most of the time, I forced the opposer to split his ships in two different groups,chosing wich group will be supported by squadrons, the alternative is to set up, maybe, a ship with speed 0, wich means the possibility to me at the first round to attacck with some bombers against an unprotected target....if I goes first.
Do you think I'm too bold?

18 minutes ago, Kieran Rexer said:

Yes, you're right, mobility is very important, but as I have already tried, Dengar alone never solved the problem to keep all my bombers completely free of moving and attacking during the previous matches.
Some Escorts can make the difference for saving more Bombers. Just an Idea...
I think that deployment will be the key for this list, with G-7 most of the time, I forced the opposer to split his ships in two different groups,chosing wich group will be supported by squadrons, the alternative is to set up, maybe, a ship with speed 0, wich means the possibility to me at the first round to attacck with some bombers against an unprotected target....if I goes first.
Do you think I'm too bold?

I just don't know enough about the Interdictor and how it plays to make a judgement one way or the other on how I feel that strategy will work. I do know that if it is played right it can really change how the opponent has to do things. I would just be worried about my bombers without intel. I'll admit, it is tricky to keep everyone free and flying with just one intel squad but it can be done. If you're doing it right you can get 2 intel bubbles per turn from one squad.. one before he moves and one after.. which frees up 2 groups of your other squads if you need them to move somewhere else or shoot at ships. It could be a generic jumpmaster too instead of Dengar and save some points. You have to then worry about escorting it so it doesn't die and you have less points for bombers but it's a thought. You do have 11 squads and most people seem to feel it's better to spend points to get an even number for deployment.

Dengar does give all those bombers etc. counter which can be nice and has scatter so he's harder to kill.

But again, someone who's played the Interdictor a bunch would have to chime in on how well it's shenanigans will work with a Rhymerball without intel.

Yes, I see your point, I agree that Intel is very important to keep the ball running and shooting, but in the last games wasn't enough....after a couple of good round, my bombers

Yes, I see your point, I agree that Intel is very important to keep the ball running and shooting, but in the last games wasn't enough....after a couple of good rounds and the destruction of Dengar, my bombers get pinned into a soup of X-Wings, and Counter 1 couldn't save them....so they lost their effectiveness, and with only capital ships loaded to support Squadrons, I wasn't able to finish the work.

With the Interdictor I mean to add something to be worried about, in addition to all those bombers.

Don't go with Dengar. If you are tilting into generic bombers you are committing to hitting ships, but there is no way one intel can keep them covered. You need 2 generic jumps. Take out Boba Fet, replace with 2 jumpmasters and you are ready to lay on the pain.

With no relay do not take fighter ambush, your fighters are going to get alpha'd hard and crippled before you can get commands to them. Swapping in contested outpost means you can do what you want to do - turtle and park your bomber ball out in front of your ships and force them to take PAIN if they want to come get the station.

Also, with 134 points in bombers your ships nav paths aren't all that critical, and the Interdictor is prickly all around, so JJ seems like a waste for commander. Your risk of getting tabled with 3 activations, however, is huge. Especially against a Demolisher. I would strip the VSD down to Veteran Gunners and Expanded Hangers, (Corrupter is fun, but with Rhymer you rarely need to move more than 1-2, IMO they are an either/or addition to a list) run a more stacked loadout on the Interdictor which gives it the CHANCE if you have first player between Fighter Coordination Teams and Flight Commander to hit a speed 0 ship with no defense tokens turn 1. I would park Rhymer, Tempest, and and a bomber max range out from the Interdictor, shuffle forward with FCT, activate with FC, bomb at mid range against no tokens. This is gimmik is essentially the only reason to take an Interdictor in a bomber fleet, because 3 black dice against a ship with no tokens will kill a small ship or push crits to hull on even a large ship. That is a strong turn 1 advantage.

Suggestion

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 392/400

Commander: Admiral Motti

Assault Objective: Precision Strike
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (85 points)
- Veteran Gunners ( 5 points)
- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)
= 95 total ship cost

[ flagship ] Interdictor-class Suppression Refit (90 points)
- Admiral Motti ( 24 points)
- Interdictor ( 3 points)
- Flight Commander ( 3 points)
- Fighter Coordination Team ( 3 points)
- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)
- Targeting Scrambler ( 5 points)
- G7-X Grav Well Projector ( 2 points)
= 135 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
- Bomber Command Center ( 8 points)
= 31 total ship cost

7 TIE Bomber Squadrons ( 63 points)
2 JumpMaster 5000s ( 24 points)
1 Major Rhymer ( 16 points)
1 Tempest Squadron ( 13 points)
1 Zertik Strom ( 15 points)

Hello!

I took some time to study your proposal directly on the table ... it sounds good! The bomber ball seems to be more effective in this way. I'll try a couple of test games before the tournament to get some feedback.

Thanks for your Advice!

I couldn't wait for the first test...this is the definitive list at the start of the game:

"Rhymerball" Mk IV (☆Motti☆ INT-VIC-GOZ-10 SQDs)
Author: keyran rexer

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 396/400

Commander: Admiral Motti

Assault Objective: Precision Strike
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

[ flagship ] Interdictor-class Suppression Refit (90 points)
- Admiral Motti ( 24 points)
- Interdictor ( 3 points)
- Flight Commander ( 3 points)
- Fighter Coordination Team ( 3 points)
- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)
- Targeting Scrambler ( 5 points)
- G7-X Grav Well Projector ( 2 points)
= 135 total ship cost

Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (85 points)
- Corrupter ( 5 points)
- Intel Officer ( 7 points)
- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)
- X17 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
= 108 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
- Bomber Command Center ( 8 points)
= 31 total ship cost

1 Tempest Squadron ( 13 points)
6 TIE Bomber Squadrons ( 54 points)
1 Major Rhymer ( 16 points)
2 JumpMaster 5000s ( 24 points)
1 Zertik Strom ( 15 points)

I implemented most of the modifications that You have suggested, I've only kept the Victory as I loaded in origin, and maybe the Force was with Me....

The Rebel played with Garm Bel Iblis, an MC80 Assault Cruiser, a Liberty, a CR90, Medium Transports and some X-wings as coverage. The heart of his fleet was the MC80 full loaded for heavy combat.

I went for first, Precision Strike was the objective.
As I tought, G7 caused some deployment issue, so he decide to place the Liberty right in front of the Corrupter at speed 0, then he placed the remaining ships on his right side, with the X-Wings surrounding the lone Liberty....my first round was devastating, I activated the Corrupter to push Rhymer, Zertik, a Jumpmaster and a Bomber in range and attack, I scored 5 hit!!
Then, he activated the Liberty with an Activate Squadrons Command to launch 3 X-Wings against my group, after that he played a Navigate Token to move the ship.
My second activation was the Gozanti that launched Tempest Squadron and one more bomber in the skirmish, then the Interdictor with three more squadrons.
At the end of the round I got three more hit on the Liberty's front arc without shields, and since it has only one Redirect DT, was painful...2 Hull Points lost.
In the second round I completed the work, I was able to activate/move/attack with most of the Bombers, while the Advanceds/jumpmasters kept busy enemy fighters, and thanks to the BCC on the Gozanti, I scored 6 more hits with 2 Crits...and the Liberty gone.
The Rebel Player was frustrated by the situation and got nervous, playing very bad the remainder of the game.
Anyway, in the next two rounds I was able to destroy the CR90 with my bombers, after his MC80 turned into rubble the Corrupter.
Interdictor ended the game without a scratch, and my Escorts were still in play...

I won this first test and this make me happy! Need to play again soon!!

Interesting list you got there. That's what I did back in the early days but my Rhymer ball got decimated.

I'm rather uncomfortable with the lack of fighter cover. Try this -

-131 pts-

2 Firespray

1 Lambda

5 TIE D

(My alternate air group for my replacement Correlian Defence Fleet)

Alternatively,

-133 pts-

Jendon

5 TIE D

Steele

1 TIE Adv

(Or replace 1 generic TIE D with Rhymer)

Both list may cause extreme headache and/or exponential increased salt levels in your opponent.

With the TIE Ds, you can potentially one shot or cripple the enemy air group. The Firesprays and Rhymer are there to force you opponent to make a decision. Focus on the fighter battle or split them. Either way, if the enemy doesn't have enough air cover, TIE Ds will tear them apart. If they choose to go after your bombers, TIE Ds will switch over to bomber role. The choice is his.

I won't comment much on ships as when I run the Interdictor, it's combat refit, G8 and few others, together with 1/2 GSD and squadrons.

Anyway, the TIE D is the one that I've been waiting for.

So why not flood the playing field with it!?

If cab flood with 8 TIE Ds, that'll be awesome man... 2 full fighter wings.

Your variant could be interesting...even more with the new Light Carrier (....FF I'm stil waiting?) and Admiral Sloane....could be devastating.

I'll study a new list for them, but with Interdictor too.

I love TIE Defenders, since the times of Lucas Arts TIE Fighter series, but I have only two of them right now.....I need some more?

You can proxy them while you test it out.

I got 8 TIE Ds organised into 2 fighter wing

Anyway, my ADVs performed very well in this game, Tempest pair with Rhymer perfectly, and Strom...well, nothing can make you feel the power than rolling 6 hits with those reds.
Both were still on the table at the end of the sixth round, but I admit that enemy fighter cover was limited.

For me, I'm partially obsessed woth unit uniformity when I field them. Makes remembering attacks easier. That's why my CAG is as such.

Speaking of which, I like it that Armada now is somewhat like a 4.5 Generation force

Great reveiw of the first game! That is the power of having a plan and sticking to it in Armada. Glad the fleet worked well!

Tie defenders are great, and with sloan they may end up edging out generic bombers for usefulness, but the inability to hit/crit is a huge drawback. Just means you have to adapt your plan to go from relying on the bombers almost exclusively for ship damage to relying more on your ships becaise defenders are going to want to target squadrons first and bomb as an afterthought, like Xwings.

Amazing thread. New guy here soaking up the information and learning a lot so thank you to all for the comments so far.

Looking forward to seeing more reports come through @Kieran Rexer, I'm also a big fan of the TIE Defenders so can't wait to see what you brew up with them included.

Thanks guys! Is always good receiving appreciations from experienced players!
I'm planning up the next match right now, probably I'll play in the next week against one member of my domestic play group, who plays with Rebels very effectively.
I want to test the list versus a careful planner.
I'm also studying to replace an upgrade on the Corrupter to gain one more Bomber....this can make my Squadrons Phase even stronger, and at the same time, will make Corrupter cheaper to lose.

Just as an aside, if you want to go full rhymerball, Chiraneau+Corruptor is a beautiful combo especially with defenders as it lets them snake in and out of the engagement ball to target damaged and important fighters outside of escort or to bomb ships. Relay or boosted comms is pretty much necessary though.

I had considered Chiraneau the first time I wrote the list, but how do you say, without being sure of having the bombers in the activation range, I reflected on the fact that maybe 10 points were to much, and the dual Intel proved to be more than enough to keep the ball in constant motion. In fact my original intention was to find an ideal point from which to stick with Rhymer, throw in Rhymer himself and other bombers at speed 5 and not have to move them for a couple of round, or at least as long as I can stay in medium range for attack. Meanwhile, the Corrupter and the Gozanti have time to return in command coverage.

With Defenders, perhaps, can be an option, I'm studying the "Mk V" version with Defs right now, but still my intention is to maintan the corrupter as cheap as i can....where are those light carriers!!

So, here we go, the next game has been scheduled for tomorrow evening at 21:00, italian hours, and I must admit, I'm excited!
I will re-fly the same list above, without changes, I need to confirm a couple of things about the capital ships...if successful, I'll play the upcoming six-players CC Advanced Campaign with this list, I only need to know wich starting upgrades combination can be more suitable.

Best of luck! Look forward to hearing how it went.

Yeah best of luck! Let us know how it goes.

Here we go!
We did it, it was a long game, but really fun.
We both spent a lot of time in considering deployment and maneuvers, and it was very challenging.

Thi was the opposing Fleet:

Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 392/400

Commander: Garm Bel Iblis

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Jamming Barrier
Navigation Objective: Intel Sweep

[ flagship ] MC80 Assault Cruiser (114 points)
- Garm Bel Iblis ( 25 points)
- Defiance ( 5 points)
- Intel Officer ( 7 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- X17 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
= 168 total ship cost

Modified Pelta-class Command Ship (60 points)
- Flight Commander ( 3 points)
- Fighter Coordination Team ( 3 points)
- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)
- All Fighters, Follow Me! ( 5 points)
= 76 total ship cost

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)
- X17 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
= 50 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)
- Repair Crews ( 4 points)
= 22 total ship cost

1 Shara Bey ( 17 points)
3 A-Wing Squadrons ( 33 points)
2 X-Wing Squadrons ( 26 points)

This time i was second and my opposer had to choose wich objective to be played, after a while he made a curious choiche, Contested Outpost....so I placed the station just right of my deployment zone, then I put the G7 gravity well token right to cover all the opposing deployment area on the side towards the station, in this way he had to consider about deploying there at speed 0, or deploy his force far away from the objective...deployment took so much time!

At the end he placed all ships in the "speed 0 area" with the Corvette on the edge of the deployment zone, while I deployed the Interdictor pointing at the station, with the Corrupter and the Gozanti facing the MC80 and the Pelta. His first activation was the MC80 with a Navigate Command + Token, then my first with the Corrupter.

My final decision was to attack with Tempest, Strom, Rhymer and a Bomber the Pelta at speed 0, and I think it was right for the situation...with only one miss I got 5 Hits! Wonderful!
Two hits went in the hull, becaming 3 when he turned up the card of the catastrofic! Then He activated the Pelta before it was too late, he moved the ship with a token and launched 4 squadrons against mine, I lost Tempest. After that was the time for the Interdictor to activate, so I moved three more Bombers to attack the Pelta, two more single hits that he redirected, sacrifacing the Redirect DT....then Interdictor started his "Run for the Station".

Both flottillas got in to action, activating squadrons, with the last two Bombers I killed the Pelta, then he launched the CR90 toward the station, in an obvious attempt to gain some Victory tokens.
At the end I placed the two Jumpmaster well enough to make free Rhymer and and two other bombers to move the next round....

In the second round the fighter skirmish in the center of the table kept busy almost all squadrons, I killed an X-Wing with Strom rolling 5 hits! Great! Then another one with the Jumpmasters+bombers and some flak fire from the Gozanti
Capital ships now got in range and started exchanging some long range fire, withe the Corrupter giving protection to the Interdictor.
On the three successive rounds, my squadrons were decimated by the enemy fighters with only two damaged bombers left to attack the MC80, but I was able to destroy the last X-Wing, an A-Wing and the GR-75, the surviving A-Wings escaped from the area.

The Corvette reached the station, but was destroyed by the Interdictor, wich gained at the end of the game three victory tokens, in the meantime, the MC80 blasted the Corrupter....but with some "problems"...at the end of the game the score difference was minimal, but I got a great victory!
Sorry...this post is more like a battle report

Now guys, You can share your considerations!

Now that sounds like a game where your tactical plan certainly came through from deployment to the end. Congratulations!

You played a tough fleet and won! Props man, that sounds like it was a fun game!