Thanks for the tips guys, I appreciate it.

Last night I tried something else as well. I placed my three ships where I wanted them to be for an alpha strike by turn 3, with the possibility of a delayed engagement 'till turn 4. I made sure their arcs overlapped, but that they were spread out about 1 inch into range 2 from each other. Then I reverse-engineered them all back to a starting position in the corner, one that is not too predicable to see where they are heading from setup. So basically, I have a pre-programmed and optimized flight pattern for my all ships if my opponent heads for the middle of the mat like most of my games go.

I know it's not foolproof, but it's a good start.

19 hours ago, Smutpedler said:

Step 1: learn how to fly in formation.

step 2: don’t do it.

How to make toast without making mess. Cook it til it smokes, then 30 seconds less.

For one of my current lists, it has 2 Scimitar Sq. Pilots with TLT Double Edge as a baby-sitter while Mommy VI Juno goes and destroys some face. I fly the Bombers in formation with DE to discourage too much flanking and for more continuous damage. I think your ships would do well with this tactic, just be ready to scatter your formation if you see Miranda or Nym. Practicing expanding and contracting your squad would be helpful for avoiding bombing runs.

Obviously I'm still a proponent of formation flying, so I say do it anyway. Just be ready to adjust when needed.

STAY IN ATTACK FORMATION

Thats more like it!

Um...

Oh wait, that’s right, never mind.

For my old school lists that were of the 4 rebel variant (XYAB was a favorite of mine for awhile), it's all about knowing when to engage what and where. The A wing doesn't want to engage at R3 - it's useless unless it's at R1 (one could argue that these days they're just useless). The Y wing with the ICT (hey, I said old school) wants to engage at R2, but is slow and lumbering. The B wing wants to engage at R3, and the X wing doesn't really care.

As such, I would often find myself running with the A on one flank, the X and Y up the center, and the B on the other flank. This would allow the B wing to roll slowly to maintain that R3 as the main force of the X/Y engage the enemy. Meanwhile, the A wing can zoom in on the other side and get behind the force, maintaining that R1 distance. The hardest part is knowing exactly what speed to do with the B and A wings - too fast on the A wing and they get free opening round shots at it, too slow and it's at R2 the next turn and kinda pointless (note, you'd rather be at R2 the next turn than R3 the previous turn, so if you're unsure, you're safer slow). The B wing on the other hand is a huge hammer with that long range HLC. If it doesn't get in the fight that first round, you're missing a huge opportunity for damage, so you'd rather over estimate its speed than under estimate. The X and Y can adjust accordingly, but know that they can't really go more than 2 speed (the B wing has to be able to go faster).

So, that's how I would suggest starting out. Learn what it's like to do it successfully, learn how to recognize that it's not working before it's too late, and learn how to adapt to recover. Then you can start doing fancy lists with bombs and whatnot.

Have a good asteroid placement and a plan.

Set up the asteroids in a way that supports a diverse approach and try to build a distinkt area where the battle should take place. Know where your ships can be in rotundan 2-3 with flying and repossitioning. Read Paul Heavers articles and watch Nand Tofts play.

No plan survives enemy contact and all that, but having that info is very usefull even when things do not work out as planned. Oh, and dont spread out too much against fast ships, then they may well end up in a 3 to 1 for a rund or two.

On 10/27/2017 at 8:20 AM, GrimmyV said:

STAY IN ATTACK FORMATION

Thats more like it!

Um...

Oh wait, that’s right, never mind.

You forgot something....

Try Juno,(adaptability, Tie/x1, Adv. Sen) Echo(VI, FCS, IntelAgent, Adv Cloak), and Ryad(Juke, Tie/X7, or sub lone Wolf for Juke).

.

Secondary weapons make formation flying a lot less necessary, because they dispense with the range bonuses. If you plan on flying that way you should get some ships equipped with cannons, TLT and lots of missiles that can be fired reliably. No matter how good you are, trying to fly in from multiple directions with ships that rely on a primary attack... chances are you might get murdered by harpoons.

I have a feeling harpoons might not be as bad as we think though. I mean it does require a lot of planning for the effect to go off and its capable of being defended against, i remember when they said similar things about assault missiles and you never see those things.

On 2017-10-27 at 9:20 AM, GrimmyV said:

STAY IN ATTACK FORMATION

Thats more like it!

Um...

Oh wait, that’s right, never mind.

...

i thought he said spinning was “a neat trick.”

10 hours ago, Drasnighta said:

...

i thought he said spinning was “a neat trick.”

It is, he ended up as the sole survivor of the DS.

13 minutes ago, GrimmyV said:

It is, he ended up as the sole survivor of the DS.

That is until Battlefront 2 comes out. The protagonist in the single player campaign also survived DS1's destruction.