So I've had the opportunity to see Sloane in action a few times now. (played 3 games against, watched 3 games)

Is it just me, or is the quasar more responsible for the success of Sloane fleets than the commander herself?

Having an enemy ship stripped of tokens can certainly be advantageous , but it seems to carry the detriment of losing those fighters. I've found that while Sloane fleets have the ability to shred the things they attack, they seem particularly more useful against squadrons as they can often shred those squads and move to safety.

Which makes me think, is this really Sloane's doing or is it the new mass carrier?

All the Sloane fleets I've experienced have been using the Quasar to alpha their ties 6 at a time. Is the power we're seeing from sloane? Or more from the inherent power of a Howlrunner +FCs Alpha?

Has anyone tried the quasar without Sloane and not missed her in particular?

I'll be trying the supercarrier Quasar (FC+EHB+BC) without Sloane, I'll be running Ciena, Whisper, Howl, Saber, and a generic phantom. Here be the list:

VGQR
Author: ianediger

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 400/400

Commander: Admiral Ozzel

Assault Objective: Close-Range Intel Scan
Defense Objective: Jamming Barrier
Navigation Objective: Minefields

[ flagship ] Victory II-Class Star Destroyer (85 points)
- Admiral Ozzel ( 20 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Disposable Capacitors ( 3 points)
- Quad Battery Turrets ( 5 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
= 124 total ship cost

Gladiator I-Class Star Destroyer (56 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- Engine Techs ( 8 points)
- Assault Concussion Missiles ( 7 points)
= 75 total ship cost

Quasar Fire I-class Cruiser-Carrier (54 points)
- Flight Controllers ( 6 points)
- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
= 69 total ship cost

Raider-I Class Corvette (44 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- Assault Proton Torpedoes ( 5 points)
= 53 total ship cost

1 "Howlrunner" ( 16 points)
1 Ciena Ree ( 17 points)
1 Saber Squadron ( 12 points)
1 TIE Phantom Squadron ( 14 points)
1 Whisper ( 20 points)

The quasar is just super effective for getting 5 powerful activations at a much cheaper cost than a Vic 1 That I used before. I've played it twice, once with Sloane and once without. Both times I won the squad game against a medium squad list within the first couple turns.

9 minutes ago, ianediger said:

I'll be trying the supercarrier Quasar (FC+EHB+BC) without Sloane, I'll be running Ciena, Whisper, Howl, Saber, and a generic phantom. Here be the list:

I'll be interested to see how it turns out.

31 minutes ago, Darth Sanguis said:

So I've had the opportunity to see Sloane in action a few times now. (played 3 games against, watched 3 games)

....

Has anyone tried the quasar without Sloane and not missed her in particular?

My friend runs a Double Victory list with a Quasar, and he has been running Howlrunner and 4 Interceptors, and let me say that those 28 blue dice Alpha strike are nothing to sneeze at. It's very good at chewing through anything (or at least crippling anything) that isn't under the protection of Gallant Haven .

So, that said, I think that a lot of "Sloane's Success" can be chalked up to the Quasar alpha strike.

1 minute ago, n00bzilla99 said:

My friend runs a Double Victory list with a Quasar, and he has been running Howlrunner and 4 Interceptors, and let me say that those 28 blue dice Alpha strike are nothing to sneeze at. It's very good at chewing through anything (or at least crippling anything) that isn't under the protection of Gallant Haven .

So, that said, I think that a lot of "Sloane's Success" can be chalked up to the Quasar alpha strike.

This was the impression that I was getting. Sloane's actual ability VS Ships feels almost Janky, as it puts the most efficient squads (ties/intercetpors/phantoms/ JM5Ks) at risk or costs a quite a lot and doesn't always work (defenders)....

I have had a lot of success without an Alpha strike and no Quasar with Sloan.

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 400/400

Commander: Admiral Sloane

Assault Objective: Most Wanted
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Solar Corona

[ flagship ] Imperial I-Class Star Destroyer (110 points)
- Admiral Sloane ( 24 points)
- Avenger ( 5 points)
- Boarding Troopers ( 3 points)
- Quad Battery Turrets ( 5 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
= 151 total ship cost

Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (54 points)
- Quad Battery Turrets ( 5 points)
= 59 total ship cost

Arquitens-class Light Cruiser (54 points)
- Quad Battery Turrets ( 5 points)
= 59 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
- Comms Net ( 2 points)
= 25 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
- Comms Net ( 2 points)
= 25 total ship cost

6 TIE Fighter Squadrons ( 48 points)
1 "Howlrunner" ( 16 points)
1 Ciena Ree ( 17 points)

I don't think she needs the quasar to be good and in my opinion the quasar is good, but not OP. It is a great carrier but it can really cut into your points and make it more difficult to field other combat ships. And I feel like in order to make Sloane shine you really need the combat ships. Because you need a way to either hit the ships before the ties hit so the defense tokens are exhausted and you strip them, or have the ties hit the ship's first exhaust a few tokens and then make the ship make tough choices when your combat ships hit. From my experience Sloane works best in a balanced Fleet you're still going to want a lot of squadrons but because you're the Empire you can do this at a much cheaper price and still fit the combat ships you want.

Of course it is, and the moment players acknowledge that it all becomes a lot easier.

So either you have a sizeable squadron wing in which case a Quasar alpha strike should be absorbable in some way.

Or you have little to no squads, where there is a kicker. If you are running the usual small fast ships with little to no squads you will be fine. This is simply because small fast ships can get to and take out the 6 Hull flimsy quasar rather quickly. If you are running ISD's with no squad cover you have a problem, whilst an MC30 doesnt really care if it loses a redirect, the loss of a brace on an ISD is nothing to sniff at.

And if you are running a dual ISD list then create a post about quitting cause of Sloane. You ran a dual ISD list, its the logical conclusion, nothing to do with the dual ISD's and nothing else.

10 minutes ago, Ginkapo said:

And if you are running a dual ISD list then create a post about quitting cause of Sloane. You ran a dual ISD list, its the logical conclusion, nothing to do with the dual ISD's and nothing else.

It's actually interesting you mention it, one of the matches I watched was dual ISDs and a couple Gozantis vs a sloane Demo & Insidious with a quasar and a swarm tie aces...

The ISDs lost the braces, shields, and a ton of HP but they also managed to gun down the ties and the quasar.... by 5th or 6th turn demo was too damaged to salvage the match, it managed to sink one ISD before suffering a severe death from the other. Win went to the ISD player.

Which is why I'm thinking Sloane may not be as hot as everyone thinks.

4 minutes ago, Darth Sanguis said:

It's actually interesting you mention it, one of the matches I watched was dual ISDs and a couple Gozantis vs a sloane Demo & Insidious with a quasar and a swarm tie aces...

The ISDs lost the braces, shields, and a ton of HP but they also managed to gun down the ties and the quasar.... by 5th or 6th turn demo was too damaged to salvage the match, it managed to sink one ISD before suffering a severe death from the other. Win went to the ISD player.

Which is why I'm thinking Sloane may not be as hot as everyone thinks.

I mean dual ISDs without Gozanti.

8 hours ago, Ginkapo said:

I mean dual ISDs without Gozanti.

As one of the last holdouts in this arena, dual ISDs with no other ships is the definition of a terrible idea. Double ISD in any other configuration (my dreadnought list with Interdictor control, Gozanti swarm, whatever) better have a foolproof plan to stand a chance. (That fool by the way is you, the nitwit with two ISDs. Or more often, me, with two ISDs.)

In most of the lists I've seen so far, it has been the Quasar, and not Sloan that has been the biggest contributor. The Quasar significantly encourages people to take FC.

I played a Jerry Quasar on Saturday, and I thought that was a better concept than most of the Sloan lists. Jerry almost let that Quasar completely escape if not for a fairly lucky roll at long range from my MC80. I'm not sure what that list would have done against my Madine list, where I'd have had last/first and two ships that completely destroy both of his combat ships, but the list held up over the course of the tournament and took 4th.

Some of the Sloan problem is there is not much thought as to what comes after Sloan, or how to play the Sloan squadron game itself. If you're not taking Sloan's ability to significantly improve your anti-ship, then you're not leveraging everything about her.

11 hours ago, Ginkapo said:

Of course it is, and the moment players acknowledge that it all becomes a lot easier.

So either you have a sizeable squadron wing in which case a Quasar alpha strike should be absorbable in some way.

Or you have little to no squads, where there is a kicker. If you are running the usual small fast ships with little to no squads you will be fine. This is simply because small fast ships can get to and take out the 6 Hull flimsy quasar rather quickly. If you are running ISD's with no squad cover you have a problem, whilst an MC30 doesnt really care if it loses a redirect, the loss of a brace on an ISD is nothing to sniff at.

And if you are running a dual ISD list then create a post about quitting cause of Sloane. You ran a dual ISD list, its the logical conclusion, nothing to do with the dual ISD's and nothing else.

I won the Store Championships (8 players) at Dark Sphere (London) on Saturday with a Motti Dual ISD list beating 2 Sloane lists (1 ace based, 1 ace/generic) in the process... Admittedly they run Gunnery teams, Quad laser batteries, Kallus and then 2 Gozanti's and Mauler/Jumpmaster so have a fair amount of AA built-in. (It's virtually @TheCallum 's list). I took it as a counter to the expected prevalence of Avenger/BT with Sloane but the 2 Sloane lists I played were Quasar/Demo/Arq and Quasar/Demo/Glad, and (with RBD) they were unable to take an ISD down. They did do a good job on the defence tokens though. First 5 shots in game 1 from squadrons were 4 accuracy's killing the Scatter on a Gozanti and the brace on the Flagship ISD

Dual ISDs can, and often should, come on top when facing a list built around maximizing Sloane's ability, especially if it has a Raider in the mix. That kind of flak is absolutely brutal against TIE swarms. Could even go as far as equipping the laughable QLTs and watch the attrition pile up on the Sloane list as TIEs drop like flies trying to burn defense tokens. Not saying she's a bad commander, but she's better for tackling Rieekan aces/Imp Aces than double ISD.

I think it is three parts, not two. From least significant to most:

-Sloane herself is an okay commander. Her ability vs ships is craphazard but potent. Her text vs squads helps when you roll garbage. Her abilities encourage the last reason though.

-The Quasar matters a bit more than Sloane. The Quasar is allowing cheap mass alpha strkes. The downside is that ship is awful in combat. The abilities for 6 activations on the cheap-ish encourages the last point.

-The resurgence in the mentality that Imperials are going to win the squad game with squads. It seemed for a while like Imps were just running defensive screens. Lists like Rudor/Ree/Saber/IG that are designed to kill intel or area buffs and then just buy time. Now, Imps are rolling out squad balls intended not to buy time but to win the squad game decisively. This shift in intentions seems to be doing more than anything else to see a resurgence in Imp screens wiping out squadrons.

21 minutes ago, Church14 said:

I think it is three parts, not two. From least significant to most:

-Sloane herself is an okay commander. Her ability vs ships is craphazard but potent. Her text vs squads helps when you roll garbage. Her abilities encourage the last reason though.

-The Quasar matters a bit more than Sloane. The Quasar is allowing cheap mass alpha strkes. The downside is that ship is awful in combat. The abilities for 6 activations on the cheap-ish encourages the last point.

-The resurgence in the mentality that Imperials are going to win the squad game with squads. It seemed for a while like Imps were just running defensive screens. Lists like Rudor/Ree/Saber/IG that are designed to kill intel or area buffs and then just buy time. Now, Imps are rolling out squad balls intended not to buy time but to win the squad game decisively. This shift in intentions seems to be doing more than anything else to see a resurgence in Imp screens wiping out squadrons.

An interesting point. I had not considered the mindset aspect of it myself.