Hello all!

I know this sounds ridiculous, but I've been toying with the idea of running a quad Victory list with no squadrons. I'm not averse to the idea of squadrons, but four Vics don't exactly leave a ton of room. Obviously, I'd be super susceptible to heavy fighter/bomber lists. The goal would be to take out whoever is activating them first.

The idea is to use Konstantine to generally slow all of the ships down. That should mitigate one of the Vics major weaknesses... that low top speed of 2. I could also use him to mess with an opponent and speed them up to keep them from being able to arc dodge. Opponents will either take the slow down or lose their command dials to speeding back up. I'm happy either way. The flagship would hang out behind the other three and come in late game for a potential dual arc 5 red/6 black kill shot.

• Victory I-class Star Destroyer
  • Admiral Konstantine
  • Dual Turbolaser Turrets
  • Ordnance Experts
  • External Racks
• Victory II-class Star Destroyer
  • Disposable Capacitors
  • Dual Turbolaser Turrets
  • Leading Shots
• Victory II-class Star Destroyer
  • Disposable Capacitors
  • Dual Turbolaser Turrets
  • Leading Shots
• Victory II-class Star Destroyer
  • Disposable Capacitors
  • Dual Turbolaser Turrets
  • Leading Shots
• Objectives
  • Advanced Gunnery
  • Contested Outpost
  • Solar Corona

Getting rid of Dual Turbolaser Turrets and Leading Shots would recoup 32 points, but would make my shooting less consistent. The Vic-I currently weighs in at 85 points. I've also considered replacing it with the following ship, weighing in at 82 points. That recoups 3 points. Konstantine would probably move over to one of the Vic-II's.

• Gladiator I-class Star Destroyer
  • Minister Tua
  • Ordnance Experts
  • Assault Proton Torpedoes
  • Demolisher
  • Reinforced Blast Doors

Thoughts?

How about putting Quad Battery Turrets on the VSD-IIs instead of DTTs? It would save you 6 points, and would allow you to fire off the one blue die at long range needed for leading shots!

Also, why not Gunnery Teams? The front arc of the Vics are the primary weapon, and there is only one on each ship. Slap on Gunnery teams and you could be kicking out twice as many dice!

And what is the points total so far? I don't play Imps a lot so I don't know the point costs.

I like 4x Vic-II's w/ Leading Shots & Quad Battery Turrets commanded by Jerry. I'm thinking Station Assault, Contested Outpost, and Dangerous Territory.

You'd be super exposed against squadrons though. :/

1 hour ago, anonymousguy said:

How about putting Quad Battery Turrets on the VSD-IIs instead of DTTs? It would save you 6 points, and would allow you to fire off the one blue die at long range needed for leading shots!

Also, why not Gunnery Teams? The front arc of the Vics are the primary weapon, and there is only one on each ship. Slap on Gunnery teams and you could be kicking out twice as many dice!

And what is the points total so far? I don't play Imps a lot so I don't know the point costs.

The basic list is sitting at 400 points. I'm somewhat indifferent about being forced to be second player. I'd rather just plan for second and rejoice if someone gives me first.

I'm avoiding Quad Battery Turrets because the goal is to slow down other ships while keeping myself at speed 2 (maybe 1 later in the game). My goal is to use Konstantine to create a scenario where I'm not actually the slowest thing on the board. This has worked pretty well in other fleets using Konstantine. Quad Battery Turrets becomes useless in that scenario. Dual Turbolaser Turrets can pretty much always be used.

I'm avoiding Gunnery Teams because they cost 7 points each and would involve either dropping multiple other upgrades or knocking the list down from four to three Vics... which isn't necessarily a deal breaker.

I think leading shots is overkill. It is insurance against horrificly bad rolls, but does nothing for you if you blank 1 red because you don't want to typically trade a blue for a reroll with a blank chance. DTT is the opposite, and only gives you that single red reroll, which for the 85% of rolls where you get 1 blank or less is going to be enough. Albeit it is exhaust, and does nothing to fix that horrific roll, but still, if you go leading shots, ditch the DTT for something else.

I think the Demo switch is the right call. 4 vics is a lot of dice, but it is VERY VERY hard to manuever a vic gunline to get multiple arcs on a target that actively tries to flank you. Especially without Jerjerrod, it will become almost impossible. You will either ram your own ships a ton, or some of your vics may end up going the whole game without shooting a front arc shot.

Two VSD2s with GT, QBTs, LS, Capacitors.

Two VSD1s with ext racks, Boarding Troops or maybe OE.

Then add Konstantine or Moff JJ. 3-5 point bid or look for some skilled first officers.

VSD2s go in the centre with a VSD1 covering each flank with that potential 2 red + 4 black side volley through the side arc.

If you want to run 4 Vics, you really want JJ as the Admiral, that extra turning ability is just amazing. I would also make them all Vic I's set up as yours is and then add Engineering Captains. Spam movement commands then switch to Engineering as needed to repair.

You'll be surprised how fast you will close the gap.

You could drop DTT's for Xi-7's as well to make you damage stick.

This list might serve you well, it's one less Vic, but 5 activations and seven deployments.

Victory or Death
Author: Englishpete

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 398/400

Commander: Moff Jerjerrod

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Capture the VIP
Navigation Objective: Solar Corona

[ flagship ] Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (73 points)
- Moff Jerjerrod ( 23 points)
- Engineering Captain ( 6 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- X17 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
- External Racks ( 3 points)
= 115 total ship cost

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (73 points)
- Engineering Captain ( 6 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- Dual Turbolaser Turrets ( 5 points)
- External Racks ( 3 points)
= 91 total ship cost

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (73 points)
- Engineering Captain ( 6 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- X17 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
- External Racks ( 3 points)
= 92 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
= 23 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
= 23 total ship cost

2 TIE Defender Squadrons ( 32 points)
2 TIE Interceptor Squadrons ( 22 points)

I ended up flying this list against my buddy over the weekend. He's a very good Armada player and typically places in the top couple of players in most events he goes to. In other words, a solid opponent and a good test for the list.

He was flying an Avenger/Sloane list with a pimped out Avenger ISD, a Quasar and a Gozanti. He also had a TON of squadrons. Lots of TIE Interceptors and other small fighters.

I ended up flying a variation of the above list...

• Victory I-class Star Destroyer w/Admiral Konstantine, Minister Tua, Ordnance Experts, External Racks, Electronic Countermeasures
• 3x Victory II-class Star Destroyers w/Veteran Captain, Disposable Capacitors and Dual Turbolaser Turrets
• Advanced Gunnery, Contested Outpost, Solar Corona
• 400 points exactly

My opponent chose to be first player and chose Contested Outpost, which he almost immediately acknowledged was a mistake. He probably should have picked Solar Corona... especially with Sloane and Avenger.

First Round...

Just flying around. I got an objective token from the mission.

Second Round...

I one shotted the Gozanti at long range with a II-class Disposable Capacitors shot in the second round. That upgrade is no joke. One of my other II-class Vics got into long range of the ISD and took a Disposable Capacitors pot shot, stripping quite a bit of shielding. I got an objective token from the mission.

Third Round...

The Quasar took off to the side in a move that I believe was intended to split my force. It did not work. My plan was to ignore it and the squadrons and kill the ISD. My lead Vic took its shot, stripping off more shielding from the ISD before getting blown out of the sky. The ISD's limited maneuver options (thanks to being slowed down twice by Konstantine) left him square in the front arc of my I-class. Konstantine's ship fired a blast into the ISD, burning External Racks for a solid shot. This left the ISD with no shields and a couple of damage cards. I got an objective token from the mission.

Fourth Round...

The Quasar continued to fly off into the sunset and the squadrons continued to fire at my ships. My lead II-class got a dual arc shot against the ISD, taking it down to 'barely alive'. It then responded by killing my I-class. With two Vics down, my third Vic in line finished off the ISD. I got an objective token from the mission.

Fifth Round...

It became apparent that with perfect shooting, nothing else was going to die. I got an objective token from the mission in the fifth round, but could not have in the sixth.

The game ended with an 8-3 victory. The 100 objective points helped massively. It would still have been a win without those points, but not nearly as solid. If the squadrons had been Bombers, I would have had a REALLY hard time. As it was, they were annoying, but ignoring them worked fine. I'm not convinced that Sloane is all that great. My opponent spent A LOT of points to deal maybe 5 points of shield damage and forced me to spend redirect tokens I probably wouldn't have otherwise (because I knew the next squadron might have spent them for me). In all fairness, without the squadron support, the ISD would probably have only killed one Vic.

I'd probably drop Minister Tua and Electronic Countermeasures for something that helps with damage. ECM isn't very useful on an Victory with no shields and a spent brace. In other words... in the second half of the game. The Veteran Captains were great and gave me spare maneuver and concentrated fire tokens when I needed them. One Veteran Captain let me slow down and keep the Contested Outpost token with my 'last ship in line' in the 5th round. I'd already won at that point, but 3 upgrade points for a 20 point token is a good swap. I'm definitely keeping this list at a full 400 points.