Ignore the 400 points for a moment.

Throughout the OT, we have seen many different archetypes for fleet formation. From double ISD I at the shield gates to ISD, quadruple Raider and Arquittens in Thrawn. In the clone wars, the Republic had a standard: Each general commanded 3 Venators.

So in the OT, what is in your opinion the standard fleet archetype (Mostly considering imperials,since rebels are a mix-match of everything at all times)

I always pictured imperial fleets to be a centered around 3 to 6 ISDs and each ISD to be centered around a task force of 2 victories, 3 heavy cruisers, 4 escort carriers/frigates, 5 light cruisers, 6 corvettes, and various support ships as needed per the mission ( inderdictors, special communication ships, siege ships)

From the Imperial Handbook

The line is the smallest organisational unit used for space combat and is commanded by a Captain of the line.

Attack Line: 3 Heavy Cruisers or 6-8 Light Cruisers

Heavy Attack Line: 4-8 Medium or Heavy Cruisers possibly including a Victory Class Star Destroyer

Star Destroyer Line: A single Imperial Class Star Destroyer

Skirmish Line: 4-20 Corvette or similar sized well armed ships.

Pursuit Line: 4-10 Light Cruisers or Frigates with enough speed to pursue fleeing ships.

Troop Line: 2 Assault Transports and 2 Medium Cruisers. Used for ferrying troopers into battle.

Recon Line: 2-4 Light Cruisers outfitted with surveillance and community equipment.

Various lines make up a Squadron which is the standard unit assigned to a single star system and is commanded by an Admiral.

Eg. a Battle Squadron is made up of 2 Attacks Line's, 1 Pursuit Line and at least 1 Star Destroyer Line.

Multiple Squadrons make up a System Force.

Multiple System Forces make up a Fleet typically totalling up to 400 ships.

Eg. A Superiority Fleet is made up of 6 Star Destroyers and up to 400 support ships

Finally there is a Sector Group which is commanded by a High Admiral or Sector Moff. It represents all naval forces within a sector and includes at least 24 Imperial Class Star Destroyers and at least 2400 ships.

Larger naval forces can be assembled as Regional groups but are not part of the Standard Order Of Battle.

If you want me to go break down further let me know. This is just a basic summary. Haha.

I'd direct you to this thread about battle groups, wherein I provided various basic layouts for battle groups based on Wookiepedia info.

Personally I've always liked symmetry, E.G.:

1 ISD Flagship [F] flanked by:
2 ISDs [ISD] flanked by
3 ISDs
Said group is the Core

Core is flanked by:
2 VSDs [VSD] flanked by
2 VSDs flanked by
2 GSDs [GSD]

Between the VSDs is Fighter Support:
3 Quasars [Q] reverse-flanked by
6 Arquitens [ARQ]

The last Quasar is between:
2 Interdictors [INT]

In front of the core, mirroring it in formation, but loosely, are:
6 Gozantis [GOZ]

Edit: I forgot Raiders! 6 Raiders [R] aid in the screen.

GOZ
GOZ R R GOZ
GOZ R F R GOZ
R ISD ISD R
ISD ISD ISD
ARQ ARQ ARQ ARQ
VSD Q Q VSD
ARQ ARQ
VSD INT Q INT VSD
GSD GSD

Please note that the ARQs and Qs essentially share their line, with the ARQs being only half a hull length ahead of the Qs they're protecting.
Fighters for this Armada are:

72x6 [ISD] +
24x4 [VSD]+
24x2 [GSD]+
16x2 [INT]+
48x3 [Q(Legends)]+
4x6 [GOZ]+
7x6 [ARQ] = 818 fighter or 22.7 wings.

These wings are divided into:
10 wings of TIE Fighter [TIE/F]
5 wings of TIE Interceptors [TIE/I]
4 wings of TIE Bombers [TIE/B]
2 wings of TIE Escorts [TIE/E]
1 wing of TIE Defenders [TIE/D]
The remaining 26 starfighter models are likely to be shuttles and the like.

These wings are formed up in arrow formation:
Squad 1
Squad 2 Squad 3

in front of the leading vessels:
6 TIE/F wings in between the GOZs, 2 TIE/F and 2 TIE/I around the Flagship, and the remaining 5 fighter wings spread out around the row 3 ISDs/row 4 VSDs as needed. The TIE/D is kept around the bridge of the Flaghip, the TIE/Es protect the TIE/Bs. . .

I would imagine the rebels as something similar:
The INTs and Rs disappear,
GR-75s [GR] replace the GOZs,
Assault Frigates [AF] replace the QS,
MC80 Home One-class [F] replaces F,
MC80 Home One-class [H] replace next 2 ISDs,
MC80 Liberty-class [L] replace the last 3 ISDs,
4 MC30s [30] replace the GSDs
2 Neb-Bs replace the VSDs
6 Corvettes [C] replace the ARQ:

GR
GR GR
GR F GR
H H
L L L
C C C C
B AF AF B
C C
30 AF 30
30 30

Squadrons layout is similar, with 20 wings, likely. The rebels always had less, and 2 is nice and even:
10 wings of X-Wing instead of TIE Fighter [TIE/F]
5 wings of A-Wing instead of TIE Interceptors [TIE/I]
7 wings of Y-Wing instead of TIE Bombers [TIE/B]
3 wings of B-Wing of TIE Escorts [TIE/E]

This is all hypothetical, and obviously fleet deployment would change based on the battle plan, but that is how I like to make-up fleets. . .

5 minutes ago, SmurfWedge said:

From the Imperial Handbook

The line is the smallest organisational unit used for space combat and is commanded by a Captain of the line.

Attack Line: 3 Heavy Cruisers or 6-8 Light Cruisers

Heavy Attack Line: 4-8 Medium or Heavy Cruisers possibly including a Victory Class Star Destroyer

Star Destroyer Line: A single Imperial Class Star Destroyer

Skirmish Line: 4-20 Corvette or similar sized well armed ships.

Pursuit Line: 4-10 Light Cruisers or Frigates with enough speed to pursue fleeing ships.

Troop Line: 2 Assault Transports and 2 Medium Cruisers. Used for ferrying troopers into battle.

Recon Line: 2-4 Light Cruisers outfitted with surveillance and community equipment.

Various lines make up a Squadron which is the standard unit assigned to a single star system and is commanded by an Admiral.

Eg. a Battle Squadron is made up of 2 Attacks Line's, 1 Pursuit Line and at least 1 Star Destroyer Line.

Multiple Squadrons make up a System Force.

Multiple System Forces make up a Fleet typically totalling up to 400 ships.

Eg. A Superiority Fleet is made up of 6 Star Destroyers and up to 400 support ships

If you want me to go break down further let me know. Haha.

I used that (somewhat) as a basis for my 'analysis' of a battlegroup in the thread linked in my previous post, if you're interested in checking that out. I'd like to hear your opinions on how you'd change my results.

I'll check it out mate. Thanks.

Yours looks very in depth

12 minutes ago, GhostofNobodyInParticular said:

I'd direct you to this thread about battle groups, wherein I provided various basic layouts for battle groups based on Wookiepedia info.

Personally I've always liked symmetry, E.G.:

1 ISD Flagship [F] flanked by:
2 ISDs [ISD] flanked by
3 ISDs
Said group is the Core

Core is flanked by:
2 VSDs [VSD] flanked by
2 VSDs flanked by
2 GSDs [GSD]

Between the VSDs is Fighter Support:
3 Quasars [Q] reverse-flanked by
6 Arquitens [ARQ]

The last Quasar is between:
2 Interdictors [INT]

In front of the core, mirroring it in formation, but loosely, are:
6 Gozantis [GOZ]

Edit: I forgot Raiders! 6 Raiders [R] aid in the screen.

GOZ
GOZ R R GOZ
GOZ R F R GOZ
R ISD ISD R
ISD ISD ISD
ARQ ARQ ARQ ARQ
VSD Q Q VSD
ARQ ARQ
VSD INT Q INT VSD
GSD GSD

Please note that the ARQs and Qs essentially share their line, with the ARQs being only half a hull length ahead of the Qs they're protecting.
Fighters for this Armada are:

72x6 [ISD] +
24x4 [VSD]+
24x2 [GSD]+
16x2 [INT]+
48x3 [Q(Legends)]+
4x6 [GOZ]+
7x6 [ARQ] = 818 fighter or 22.7 wings.

These wings are divided into:
10 wings of TIE Fighter [TIE/F]
5 wings of TIE Interceptors [TIE/I]
4 wings of TIE Bombers [TIE/B]
2 wings of TIE Escorts [TIE/E]
1 wing of TIE Defenders [TIE/D]
The remaining 26 starfighter models are likely to be shuttles and the like.

These wings are formed up in arrow formation:
Squad 1
Squad 2 Squad 3

in front of the leading vessels:
6 TIE/F wings in between the GOZs, 2 TIE/F and 2 TIE/I around the Flagship, and the remaining 5 fighter wings spread out around the row 3 ISDs/row 4 VSDs as needed. The TIE/D is kept around the bridge of the Faghip, the TIE/Es protect the TIE/Bs. . .

I would imagine the rebels as something similar:
The INTs and Rs disappear,
GR-75s [GR] replace the GOZs,
Assault Frigates [AF] replace the QS,
MC80 Home One-class [F] replaces F,
MC80 Home One-class [H] replace next 2 ISDs,
MC80 Liberty-class [L] replace the last 3 ISDs,
4 MC30s [30] replace the GSDs
2 Neb-Bs replace the VSDs
6 Corvettes [C] replace the ARQ:

GR
GR GR
GR F GR
H H
L L L
C C C C
B AF AF B
C C
30 AF 30
30 30

Squadrons layout is similar, with 20 wings, likely. The rebels always had less, and 2 is nice and even:
10 wings of X-Wing instead of TIE Fighter [TIE/F]
5 wings of A-Wing instead of TIE Interceptors [TIE/I]
7 wings of Y-Wing instead of TIE Bombers [TIE/B]
3 wings of B-Wing of TIE Escorts [TIE/E]

This is all hypothetical, and obviously fleet deployment would change based on the battle plan, but that is how I like to make-up fleets. . .

Now that is straight up amazing, I'll check it up, thx

Since the game was announced, the fleet I have wanted to play was

1-2 ISDs

2 Vics

4-5 cruisers (Arquitens or Glads)

6-8 support ships (Raiders or Gozantis)

have been hugely disappointed in the game that a "standard" size game is less than a quarter of that.

11 minutes ago, SmurfWedge said:

I'll check it out mate. Thanks.

Yours looks very in depth

Thank you! If you are referring to the one in this post, I dunno how in-depth it is. . . but if you're referring to the other one, then yes, I'd say that's in depth. 3 hours (without counting additional edits) and some very prolonged analysis of several rather obscure Wookiepedia pages

But again, you be the judge, and please tell me your thoughts on it.

1 minute ago, Forgottenlore said:

Since the game was announced, the fleet I have wanted to play was

1-2 ISDs

2 Vics

4-5 cruisers (Arquitens or Glads)

6-8 support ships (Raiders or Gozantis)

have been hugely disappointed in the game that a "standard" size game is less than a quarter of that.

Play a 750-1000 point games mate. That will allow you to scratch this itch.

I've played 2 x 1000 point games and they are so awesome.

Just now, GhostofNobodyInParticular said:

Thank you/ If you are referring to the one in this post, I dunno how in-depth it is. . . but if you're referring to the other one, then yes, I'd say that's in depth. 3 hours (without counting additional edits) and some very prolonged analysis of several rather obscure Wookiepedia pages

But again, you be the judge, and please tell me your thoughts on it.

I find it VERY strategically in-depth. I am actually craving now to see one of those in action

Just now, SmurfWedge said:

Play a 750-1000 point games mate. That will allow you to scratch this itch.

I've played 2 x 1000 point games and they are so awesome.

Once ran a quadruple ISD double Interdictor + bomber screen 1000 pts, it was FUN

Just now, Visovics said:

I find it VERY strategically in-depth. I am actually craving now to see one of those in action

I know right? Me too! Which is probably why they seem to be the way they are: I've spent hours play-creating armies in my head. . .

11 minutes ago, GhostofNobodyInParticular said:

I know right? Me too! Which is probably why they seem to be the way they are: I've spent hours play-creating armies in my head. . .

All you need is a thrawn in the central ISD and you have THE best imperial composition

14 minutes ago, SmurfWedge said:

Play a 750-1000 point games mate. That will allow you to scratch this itch.

I've played 2 x 1000 point games and they are so awesome.

That requires finding someone else who wants to play mega games. Please note what I said "disappointed in the game that a "STANDARD" size game is less than a quarter of that".

Finding someone who will play a "default" size game is relatively easy, finding someone who is willing to play games 3 times that size is a LOT harder. I've been trying for 2 years to talk someone into a 600 point game. Have finally succeeded in getting a friend to give it a try. (And my 600 point list still only has 5 ships in it, so I'm not sure even a thousand points is going to hit the dozen mark I want).

people's opinions on what a fleet is i think vary depending on nation/culture.

example:

an american grew up being tought about world war II and even glorifying aircraft carriers in modern times. it is easy for him to accept the idea of a "carrier battlegroup".

in my country, in the balkans, we grew up reading about naval combats in ancient history (i.e. 500 AD) to, like, the 1800s. my country has never had a single aircraft carrier in its history and our history books dont even mention the battle of midway. when people think of naval combat, they imagine "big gunz" (peculiar, as we never had a battleship either, biggest ship we ever had would best be classified as a 10.000 tons light cruiser. )

Ghost, I like your groups, but I feel they are too weighted on the Capital ship end of things. Probably accurate to film & novels, but I prefer something on the line of the rule of X. For every ship of the largest class, have X of the next size down, and X^2 of the size below that.

Battleship/Heavy Cruiser/Light Combatant

For example, the Allied fleet at the battle of Leyte Gulf seems to have set X to be somewhere between 1.5 & 3, and 20 major combatants. So, the Imperial equivalent would be something like 20 ISDs, Gun/Carrier in about a 3/2 ratio, 32 Victories, Interdictors, or Quasars, then about 150 spread across everything from gladiators to Gozantis.

Not for tournament play, but occasional 600-1000 pt battles seem like a good way to spend a lazy weekend, if I had space to spread that out.

that said, the best way to be objective would be to watch the films.

in the films(not, say, cartoons; just the films), capital ships are next to worthless. almost everything is being accomplished by squadrons. the most spectacular moment was devastator dropping from hyperspace and episode III battle over coruscant with capital ships trading blows.

even episode VI, you must search REAL BAD for any scene where a ship actualy does something.

in that battle, did we see the SSD firing a single shot? the home 1? anything?

EDIT: for the capital ship lovers, a little challenge: find me a picture of the SSD and/or Home 1 firing a single shot. I hope i am mistaken but i believe we didnt see it.

22 hours ago, Baltanok said:

Ghost, I like your groups, but I feel they are too weighted on the Capital ship end of things. Probably accurate to film & novels, but I prefer something on the line of the rule of X. For every ship of the largest class, have X of the next size down, and X^2 of the size below that.

Battleship/Heavy Cruiser/Light Combatant

For example, the Allied fleet at the battle of Leyte Gulf seems to have set X to be somewhere between 1.5 & 3, and 20 major combatants. So, the Imperial equivalent would be something like 20 ISDs, Gun/Carrier in about a 3/2 ratio, 32 Victories, Interdictors, or Quasars, then about 150 spread across everything from gladiators to Gozantis.

Not for tournament play, but occasional 600-1000 pt battles seem like a good way to spend a lazy weekend, if I had space to spread that out.

Yep, I agree that my fleets are capital ship heavy. It's a result of the combination of my not wanting what seems like a ridiculous amount of ships and my like for capital ships. Perhaps the following is more like what you prefer:

1 ISD Flagship [F] flanked by:
2 ISDs [ISD] each flanked by
2 ISDs each flanked by:
2 VSDs [VSD] each flanked by
2 GSDs [GSD]

Between the VSDs is Fighter Support:
6 Quasars [Q] each reverse-flanked by
2 Arquitens [ARQ]

The last Quasar is between:
2 Interdictors [INT]each flanked by
2 Arquitens [ARQ]

In front of the core, mirroring it in formation, but loosely, are:
6 Gozantis [GOZ] flotillas each flanked by
2 Raiders [R]

GOZ
GOZ R R GOZ
GOZ R R F R R GOZ
R R ISD ISD R R
ISD ISD ISD ISD
VSD VSD VSD VSD VSD VSD VSD VSD
GSD GSD GSD GSD GSD GSD GSD GSD GSD GSD GSD GSD GSD GSD GSD GSD
ARQ ARQ ARQ ARQ ARQ ARQ ARQ ARQ ARQ ARQ
VSD Q Q Q Q Q VSD
GSD GSD ARQ ARQ ARQ ARQ ARQ ARQ GSD GSD
VSD INT Q INT VSD
GSD GSD GSD GSD

Please note that the ARQs and Qs essentially share their line, with the ARQs being only half a hull length ahead of the Qs they're protecting.
Gozanti flotillas are triangles of 3 craft:
GOZ
GOZ GOZ
This leads to a total of:
7 Heavy Battleships [ISDs]
12 Heavy Cruisers [VSDs]
24 Medium Cruisers [GSDs]
16 Light Cruisers [ARQs]
12 Corvettes [R]
6 Light Carriers [Q]
2 Experimentals [INT]
18 Fighter Support Ships [GOZ]

97 ships total. Still kinda heavy on heavy ships, but 20 light cruisers is I think a lot. Together the cruisers form up 52 ships, or over half. 18 Gozantis and 12 Raiders are I think a substantial amount, given the purpose of these vessels in the fleet as laid out above. . . What do you think?

Fighters for this Armada are:

72x7 [ISD] +
24x12 [VSD]+
24x24 [GSD]+
16x2 [INT]+
48x6 [Q(Legends)]+
4x18 [GOZ]+
7x16 [ARQ] = 1788 fighters, 49.6 wings.

These wings are divided into:
24 wings of TIE Fighter [TIE/F]
11 wings of TIE Interceptors [TIE/I]
8 wings of TIE Bombers [TIE/B]
4 wings of TIE Escorts [TIE/E]
2 wing of TIE Defenders [TIE/D]
21 Shuttles/Support craft

Each wing is formed up in arrow formation:
Squad 1
Squad 2 Squad 3

and each squad mirrors that layout:
Flight 1
Flight 2 Flight 3

in front of the leading vessels as mentioned above (but adjust for the additional number of wings).

I won't rewrite all the rebel stuff, just keep the original ship conversions above and replace them in formation, doubling the fighter wings.

NOTE: all squadrons calculations are based on assuming that there are 12 fighters in a squadron (4 per flight), and three squadrons per wing. I should have mentioned this earlier.

EDIT: ManI'm bad at math. 6 Quasars, not 4. The numbers have been updated.

1 hour ago, GhostofNobodyInParticular said:

Yep, I agree that my fleets are capital ship heavy. It's a result of the combination of my not wanting what seems like a ridiculous amount of ships and my like for capital ships. Perhaps the following is more like what you prefer:

This leads to a total of:
7 Heavy Battleships [ISDs]
12 Heavy Cruisers [VSDs]
24 Medium Cruisers [GSDs]
16 Light Cruisers [ARQs]
12 Corvettes [R]
4 Light Carriers [Q]
2 Experimentals [INT]
18 Fighter Support Ships [GOZ]

95 ships total. Still kinda heavy on heavy ships, but 20 light cruisers is I think a lot. Together the cruisers form up 52 ships, or over half. 18 Gozantis and 12 Raiders are I think a substantial amount, given the purpose of these vessels in the fleet as laid out above. . . What do you think?

NOTE: all squadrons calculations are based on assuming that there are 12 fighters in a squadron (4 per flight), and three squadrons per wing. I should have mentioned this earlier.

Looks good to me.

I could also see organizing the VSD's into their own formation, since their speed would otherwise slow down the whole shebang. But that depends on the mission & opposition. So, something like:

ISD wedge

GSD GSD line

ARQ VSD wedge ARQ line

Quasars & Interdictors attached to ISD & VSD, as needed, while raiders & gozantis could be anywhere depending on mission. Maybe still have some GSDs & ARQs mixed into the core formations, but having a mass of GSDs on either flank would be useful to sweep forward & threaten the opposition as contact is made. GSDs in the middle of the formation might find it too hard to get forward to bring their short range weapons to bear.

Or do you see the GSDs as something to hold back & hit the enemy MC30's that have tried to flank your core ships? Either is probably acceptable, just would be different battle plans, and thus dictate different formations/ship spacing/etc. Likewise, having your ISDs organized as

F

I I

I I I I

puts your flagship front & center. I'd probably instead fly:

I

I I

I F I

That front ISD would be a good one to load up defensively. It might even be the reason for the Tector-class variant of the ISD. It's job is to weather the storm while the rest of the wedge gets into shooting range. But that depends on your admiral's personality. I could see Tarkin hanging back to plan carefully, but Screed would want to get right in the thick of things and mix it up.

11 hours ago, Kikaze said:

that said, the best way to be objective would be to watch the films.

in the films(not, say, cartoons; just the films), capital ships are next to worthless. almost everything is being accomplished by squadrons. the most spectacular moment was devastator dropping from hyperspace and episode III battle over coruscant with capital ships trading blows.

even episode VI, you must search REAL BAD for any scene where a ship actualy does something.

in that battle, did we see the SSD firing a single shot? the home 1? anything?

EDIT: for the capital ship lovers, a little challenge: find me a picture of the SSD and/or Home 1 firing a single shot. I hope i am mistaken but i believe we didnt see it.

Clone Wars is perfect to watch for Capital ship lovers like me, the space fights are incredible

11 hours ago, Forgottenlore said:

That requires finding someone else who wants to play mega games. Please note what I said "disappointed in the game that a "STANDARD" size game is less than a quarter of that".

Finding someone who will play a "default" size game is relatively easy, finding someone who is willing to play games 3 times that size is a LOT harder. I've been trying for 2 years to talk someone into a 600 point game. Have finally succeeded in getting a friend to give it a try. (And my 600 point list still only has 5 ships in it, so I'm not sure even a thousand points is going to hit the dozen mark I want).

I am willing to try a Giant battle if you have Vassal, you call the points, but at least 1000

24 minutes ago, Visovics said:

Clone Wars is perfect to watch for Capital ship lovers like me, the space fights are incredible

yes, but history teaches us that non-film material "is canon until it isn't". films are much more than canon-they are considered the source material of the franchise.

in this "source material", capital ships are worthless. judging from the films, it seems like only carriers exist in star wars.

EDIT: at least in the current meta's carrier fleets, some rebel fleets have admonition and some imp fleets have ISD 1 supercarriers that can shoot at SOMETHING. in the films, it seems like the fleets have zero serious guns.

19 hours ago, Baltanok said:

Looks good to me.

I could also see organizing the VSD's into their own formation, since their speed would otherwise slow down the whole shebang. But that depends on the mission & opposition. So, something like:

ISD wedge

GSD GSD line

ARQ VSD wedge ARQ line

Quasars & Interdictors attached to ISD & VSD, as needed, while raiders & gozantis could be anywhere depending on mission. Maybe still have some GSDs & ARQs mixed into the core formations, but having a mass of GSDs on either flank would be useful to sweep forward & threaten the opposition as contact is made. GSDs in the middle of the formation might find it too hard to get forward to bring their short range weapons to bear.

Or do you see the GSDs as something to hold back & hit the enemy MC30's that have tried to flank your core ships? Either is probably acceptable, just would be different battle plans, and thus dictate different formations/ship spacing/etc. Likewise, having your ISDs organized as

F

I I

I I I I

puts your flagship front & center. I'd probably instead fly:

I

I I

I F I

That front ISD would be a good one to load up defensively. It might even be the reason for the Tector-class variant of the ISD. It's job is to weather the storm while the rest of the wedge gets into shooting range. But that depends on your admiral's personality. I could see Tarkin hanging back to plan carefully, but Screed would want to get right in the thick of things and mix it up.

I agree. . . I had a whole response typed up, but my phone acted up and deleted everything. . .

So: I agree that the flagship is exposed. Imagine my formation as a display. It's primary goal is to indicate the symmetry that inspired my ship choice.

I think your suggestion is sound. A wedge of ISDs, with the flaship behind center, flanked by either 4 wedges of 3 VSDs, or 2 wedges of 6. The Raiders and Gozantis stay as they are. The Arqs either protect the Qs and INTs, which are stationed between the VSD wedges, or are retasked to help the screen or act as strike craft with the GSDs. Speaking of which, the GSDs can, as the battle circumstances dictate, be used as either a first punch force used to hit key targets, or as a mobile reserve used to counter enemy movements.

I also forgot to mention that the reason I only have 4 Qs and 2 INTs is because I think they are specialized vessels, and hence are rarer.

EDIT: Actually, now that I can finally properly type out stuff (Gosh I hate texting) I'd like to point out that I don't think the VSDs in your set up are appropriately placed, since essentially they are being blocked by the ISDs. So I thought of something like:

GOZ/R Screen
CORE (ISD Wedge)
VSD Wedge(s) Q/INTs VSD Wedge(s)
GSD Wedge GSD Wedge

This way anything trying to get around the ISDs are forced to face the VSDs, and the Q/INT group is protected. The GSDs are also in a position to prevent flankers of the slow VSDs, or to swing around the edges if need be:
1)
GOZ/R Screen
CORE (ISD Wedge)
VSD Wedge(s) Q/INTs VSD Wedge(s)
GSD Wedge GSD Wedge

2)
GOZ/R Screen
CORE (ISD Wedge)
GSD Wedge VSD Wedge(s) Q/INTs VSD Wedge(s) GSD Wedge

3)
GOZ/R Screen
GSD Wedge CORE (ISD Wedge) GSD Wedge
VSD Wedge(s) VSD Wedge(s)
Q/INTs

And, if circumstances dictate:

4)
GOZ/R Screen
GSD Wedge GSD Wedge
VSD Wedge(s) VSD Wedge(s)
CORE (ISD Wedge)
Q/INTs

These steps can be combined in various ways, but I think it provides decent flexibility in positioning. Similarly, the ARQs, which are grouped with the Q/INT double line above, can move in to form a screen in front of the ISD wedge, or between the GSD Wedges.

Alternatively, a 'Roman' like formation could be formed:
GOZ/R Screen
VSD Line
GSD Wedge ISD Line GSD Wedge
Q/INT Double Line

Where the GOZ/R act as the Velites, and fall back once the battle lines 'meet' (i.e., are close enough to seriously threaten them), after which they take up positions on the flanks, from which they continue targeting weak or exposed ships. Once they fall back the VSDs take on the roll of Hastati, taking the brunt of the attack. Given their number, they should be able to fight most units but the big ones. The ISDs are the Principes, waiting to fill in gaps in the VSD line or to be positioned as needed, either flanking the VSDs and 'rolling' the enemy forces toward the center, or moving between the VSDs to target the important enemy vessels. Meanwhile, the Q/INT line is being protected and offering support. If they are ever in danger, it implies that the rest of the Imperial Forces are overrun ('We are down to the Triarii', or whatever the quote was). The GSDs act as the Equites, or cavalry. They attack the flanks of incoming enemy vessels and generally harass formations.

Granted, this last deployment method is odd, but I'm using it to point out the role of the various ships. GSDs either protect the flank (formation 1) as a flexible formation, which centers around the VSDs (as you may have noted, they didn't change position) or provide 'rapid response' units, staying on the side of the battle to rush in where needed and take pressure off threatened ships (formation 2). The Q/INT line is essentially non-combative in and of itself, with its main goal being to provide a bountiful source of fighters and whatever it is that INTs do in a battle, other than keep the enemy forces in-system. The ISDs are either the center of the line, taking the brunt of the attack and forming a rallying point, so to speak, or act as heavy support vessels when needed, if the VSDs are unable to deal with the enemy.

I also like the reverse wedge formation I indicated in step 4) of formation 1 above, which is reminiscent of Hannibal's move at Cannae. . . Given the mass of ships on the flank, they can hold (12 GSDs and 6 VSDs each), whilst the 6 central ISDs slowly move back, allowing the incoming enemy vessels to be pounded by more guns. I don't know if the physics works out, but still, if it's possible, I like the hypothetical rewards the maneuver has.

These are merely a couple of the myriad formations possible, and I chose them because I think they may hep me make my point. I'd be interested in seeing other formations you may come up with. . . perhaps a checkered formation:
GOZ/R/ARQ Screen
GSD Wedge (6 ships) GSD Wedge (6 ships) GSD Wedge (6 ships) GSD Wedge (6 ships)
VSD Wedge (3 ships) 2 ISDs VSD Wedge (3 ships)
VSD Wedge (3 ships) 2 ISDs 2 ISDs VSD Wedge (3 ships) 3 Qs/INT F 3 Qs/INT
That way, most of the ships can fire at the same time. . .

I would say something on a "playable" scale would look like...

1 ISD

2 VSD

1 Interdictor

2 Gladiators

3 Arquittens

5 Raiders

6 GozantI

Squads:

18 TIE Ln

4 TIE/In

4 TIE/sa

2 TIE/a

6 VT 49