I'm looking to move up the board in competitive play.

It seems to come down to those big wins, related to either racking up points on objectives, or by atomizing the opposing Fleet, or outlasting due to healing/hull.

Excluding Rieekan and MSUs, I've been working on fleets that'll get those big wins. There's the Dodonna Token Grabber as one possibility, and then there is this heavy bomber list.

One issue seems to be that I know I'll be sacrificing along the way, which is probably unavoidable, but also costly. For example, with the fleet below, I know Yavaris and Bright Hope will probably die (that's about 100 points).

I'm interested in any feedback from the board. Besides struggling with high activations, the typical MSU, Rieekan, Aceholes, and dedicated AS lists - where is this list deficient? I feel like it has the chops to hit hard on 2 fronts, at least.

Crits! Points! Action!
Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 400/400

Commander: General Dodonna

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

[ flagship ] Modified Pelta-class Command Ship (60 points)
- General Dodonna ( 20 points)
- Raymus Antilles ( 7 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
- All Fighters, Follow Me! ( 5 points)
= 96 total ship cost

MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63 points)
- Admonition ( 8 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- H9 Turbolasers ( 8 points)
- Assault Proton Torpedoes ( 5 points)
= 88 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)
- Bright Hope ( 2 points)
- Toryn Farr ( 7 points)
- Bomber Command Center ( 8 points)
= 35 total ship cost

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57 points)
- Yavaris ( 5 points)
- Flight Commander ( 3 points)
= 65 total ship cost

1 Jan Ors ( 19 points)
2 YT-1300s ( 26 points)
1 Norra Wexley ( 17 points)
3 B-Wing Squadrons ( 42 points)
1 Gold Squadron ( 12 points)

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Fleet created with Armada Warlords

Looks like a solid list..

Not sure about the following:

1. Norra

I've never put her on the table, but just running through a typical bombing run it seems her ability is ok against 4 plus shields, and kinda overkill/meh against 3 or less shields. A point of extra damage can make the difference though, so she's not horrible by any stretch. You might try dagger instead, or switching yt to x keeping norra, or an e wing for double snipe against Intel via yvaris. Lots of ways to go here.

2. AFFM/yvaris/fct

Yvaris wants the squads to stand still, and AFFM benefits you only if you move em with a ship. I think they are sort of at odds, and fct would be a better inclusion here, at least for yvaris. If you ditch AFFM, consider entrapment formation as the added flexibility maneuvering admo might be worth it. Or if that doesn't tickle your fancy, just go get jainas and be done with pelta.

Good luck out there.

9 minutes ago, SkyCake said:

Looks like a solid list..

Not sure about the following:

1. Norra

I've never put her on the table, but just running through a typical bombing run it seems her ability is ok against 4 plus shields, and kinda overkill/meh against 3 or less shields. A point of extra damage can make the difference though, so she's not horrible by any stretch. You might try dagger instead, or switching yt to x keeping norra, or an e wing for double snipe against Intel via yvaris. Lots of ways to go here.

2. AFFM/yvaris/fct

Yvaris wants the squads to stand still, and AFFM benefits you only if you move em with a ship. I think they are sort of at odds, and fct would be a better inclusion here, at least for yvaris. If you ditch AFFM, consider entrapment formation as the added flexibility maneuvering admo might be worth it. Or if that doesn't tickle your fancy, just go get jainas and be done with pelta.

Good luck out there.

Even on the worst day of Norra's life, she's still a 6 hull, double brace, speed 3 squadron with a respectable anti-squadron, standard bomber anti-ship and doesn't have heavy allowing her to tie down enemy bombers. While it's probably not the best value, she's still decent for her points even with that, but I've had the most luck using her with Keyan mostly because they either redirect to keep shields up and take extra damage or let them drop to stop the extra damage and Keyan gets a re-roll bonanza. you're basically punishing them for trying to not die.

As for point 2, the list needs more Adar Tallon...if you've got Yavaris, that guy is like cowbell in that you always need more.

Skycake has great points, listen to him.

For myself, I've never had a tanking fleet that did well, at least as an Imperial, because they tend to sacrifice a lot of stopping power to be unstoppable themselves. That dynamic may not be present for the Rebellion, but the closest I've ever come is the Motti's Dreadnoughts list, which cheats by throwing squadrons (and wisdom) to the wind. It has a nasty habit of either tabling the enemy or getting tabled itself. (It almost always wins the objective, but has yet to square off against a true objective focused list.)

For this list specifically, I would trade out the YTs for X's, and give up the HP for more Norra procs and a better anti-squad output. Between them and the B-wings, you have respectable ability to fight your way to the target, and then bomb it into oblivion. I don't think you'll get much out of Boosted Comms, since Speed 3 for squads is pretty near Speed 2 for ships, and your real punch the ships need to hang around are the B-wings. Toryn and BCC are always a solid combo. Ordinarily I'd agree with MasterShake and say find Adar, but I'm not sure what I would drop (with one exception) to get him. Definitely experiment with the MC30, I'm not sure you'll get a lot of mileage out of the H-9s versus their price, when you can just hammer away with bombers. Those are my thoughts.

Personally, I like the list (maybe with a change or two mentioned here), and may have to stea....er, borrow it for some games in the near future. :-)

Based on the comments (thanks for all the feedback, btw) I've made the following mods. I'll run both variants and see how they compare.

Dropped a Bwing to add some more offensive power in squads. Dropped H9s to make room for Adar, dropped Raymus thinking I'd bank a token in round 1, for one use of AFFM and blow the card for a 2nd use.

Crits!
Author: Nictx

Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 399/400

Commander: General Dodonna

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

[ flagship ] Modified Pelta-class Command Ship (60 points)
- General Dodonna ( 20 points)
- Adar Tallon ( 10 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
- All Fighters, Follow Me! ( 5 points)
= 99 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)
- Bright Hope ( 2 points)
- Toryn Farr ( 7 points)
- Bomber Command Center ( 8 points)
= 35 total ship cost

MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63 points)
- Admonition ( 8 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- XX-9 Turbolasers ( 5 points)
- Assault Proton Torpedoes ( 5 points)
= 85 total ship cost

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57 points)
- Yavaris ( 5 points)
- Flight Commander ( 3 points)
= 65 total ship cost

1 Jan Ors ( 19 points)
1 Norra Wexley ( 17 points)
2 B-Wing Squadrons ( 28 points)
1 Gold Squadron ( 12 points)
3 X-Wing Squadrons ( 39 points)

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Fleet created with Armada Warlords

Still got that nasty AFFM/Yavaris conflict.

Honestly, the ONLY time I would ever consider adding a Pelta would be for the inclusion of Rapid Launch Bays. Since you are leaning on speed 2 bombers (and only a couple of them at that) AND do not have any Fighter Coordination Teams to get them into position, I think this fleet is a strong contender for RLB instead of AFFM. You can drive the Pelta into the fleet, spew the BWings and Jan, attack with them, untap one with Adar, then Yavaris double tap it and Gold Squad (who in this hypothetical situation also happens to conveniently be right there because this is obviously best case scenario).

49 minutes ago, BrobaFett said:

Still got that nasty AFFM/Yavaris conflict.

Honestly, the ONLY time I would ever consider adding a Pelta would be for the inclusion of Rapid Launch Bays. Since you are leaning on speed 2 bombers (and only a couple of them at that) AND do not have any Fighter Coordination Teams to get them into position, I think this fleet is a strong contender for RLB instead of AFFM. You can drive the Pelta into the fleet, spew the BWings and Jan, attack with them, untap one with Adar, then Yavaris double tap it and Gold Squad (who in this hypothetical situation also happens to conveniently be right there because this is obviously best case scenario).

This is a reasonable tactic, just be careful what you drive said Pelta towards. I've nearly doubled the value of dead Peltas that played with an ISD's front arc, and got nailed before they dropped their payload. I also note that XX-9s do not stack with APTs, so you need to change/drop one. I'd turn the XX-9 into XI7s, but that's a meta call. That or OE into Fire Control Team, which is not worth it on a solid five levels.

30 minutes ago, GiledPallaeon said:

I also note that XX-9s do not stack with APTs, so you need to change/drop one.

Didn't catch that one! I saw MC30 with something something-9 and assumed it was H-9 like every other MC30 out there. Yeah, that will need to be a change up!

Whoops! Yeah, I think XI7s instead...

Double post

I had to do the unthinkable (odd # of squads), but what if I just drop the Pelta altogether....?

with only 2 Bs, FCT can keep them moving along with the others

Crits! v3

Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 398/400

Commander: General Dodonna

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

[ flagship ] Assault Frigate Mark II B (72 points)
- General Dodonna ( 20 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
= 99 total ship cost

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57 points)
- Yavaris ( 5 points)
- Adar Tallon ( 10 points)
- Fighter Coordination Team ( 3 points)
= 75 total ship cost

MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63 points)
- Admonition ( 8 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- Assault Proton Torpedoes ( 5 points)
= 80 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)
- Bright Hope ( 2 points)
- Toryn Farr ( 7 points)
- Bomber Command Center ( 8 points)
= 35 total ship cost

1 Keyan Farlander ( 20 points)
1 Dagger Squadron ( 15 points)
1 Norra Wexley ( 17 points)
1 Gold Squadron ( 12 points)
1 Jan Ors ( 19 points)
2 X-Wing Squadrons ( 26 points)

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Fleet created with Armada Warlords

Yeah I think cutting the squads is the wrong path. Adding FCT with B's can only help you.