I am trying to enjoy the gunboats, but my first list didn't fare well at all (Vader + Rho w/ Harpoon). I had trouble getting shots off with the gunboats. I was either out of arc or my weapons were disabled, or Range 1, etc. Probably didn't help I was playing against an Aces list, but the struggle was still real. I wanted to give the boats one more try (maybe Vader was a bad wingman) before placing them in "the box".

Please take a look and PEACH. Just keep in mind that I don't play at the LGS or at tournaments, so top-tier isn't a requirement (even though I own every expansion).

New list idea:

Rho Sham Boats

Rho Squadron Veteran (x2)
- Lightning Reflexes
- Harpoon Missiles
- XG-1 Assault Configuration
- Long-Range Scanners
- "Mangler" Cannon
- Linked Battery

Rho Squadron Veteran
- Deadeye
- Proton Torpedoes
- Ion Pulse Missiles
- Os-1 Arsenal Loadout
- Advanced SLAM

I am going with Deadeye on the third boat to assist with initial joust, even though it's a non-bo with the title. What about swapping it for Lightning Reflexes as well, and then just use Long-Range Scanners and that would give me points for Extra Munitions? Also loaded the third boat with Proton Torpedoes so I could trigger the Harpooned! condition and Ion Pulse Missiles to possibly keep a ship unable to move away from me and take them out from behind at my own pace.

If you were having trouble with gunboats, my first instinct is that you were probably flying them in formation?

If so, don't do that! Gunboats are not 'pure jousters'. You split them up and converge on your target from multiple directions. Its impossible for your opponent to dodge all their arcs or avoid all of your firepower. And the nice thing about gunboats is the high firepower means you aren't really going to be 'behind the damage curve' if one doesn't get to shoot (generally speaking----extreme dice variance can happen, of course).

If you weren't already flying them in formation, then I'm not sure why you'd have trouble with them, because they are quite strong for their cost. Possibly a case of need more practice?

Anyway, on to the builds you posted.

I think you are loading up those Rho's with far too much. Either go with missiles or cannons. There's no point in doing both unless its to take a cheap cannon to take advantage of the XG-1 title, but even then, its not always necessary.

Here are some 'good' gunboat builds that can 'slot in' at a variety of point ranges:

Nu with harpoon & LRS = 22

Nu w/ XG-1, linked, 'mangler' & LRS = 25

Nu w/ XG-1, harpoon, ion cannon (or flechette cannon) & LRS = 26 (or 25) *if you have points to spare, Linked Battery is good

Rho with crackshot, XG-1, HLC, linked & LRS = 32

Rho with crackshot, XG-1, harpoon, ion cannon, linked battery & LRS = 32

The last two builds are very similar in damage output, but the 2nd version gives you a control element (at the expense of being slightly harder to use effectively)

Hope that helps!

What about using Rho's with Deadeye and Chips? I've been thinking about this build for my 2 gunboat + Ace list:

Rho Squadron Veteran w/Deadeye, Harpoon Missiles, Guidance Chips (26 Points)

26 minutes ago, impspy said:

What about using Rho's with Deadeye and Chips? I've been thinking about this build for my 2 gunboat + Ace list:

Rho Squadron Veteran w/Deadeye, Harpoon Missiles, Guidance Chips (26 Points)

Its certainly not a bad idea. However, its 4 points more than Nu w/ harpoon + LRS. Same firepower, only real difference is +2 PS and you don't have to worry about opponents using black-one title and counter-measures. So if you see those a lot, then yeah, I think its worth using. If opponents aren't bothering with those things, then +4 points for only 2 higher PS is not really a good deal...

The problem I finally noticed (and was likely figured out by others long before I even started) is that all of the upgrades I want to use are fighting for upgrade slots. I think that's why a lot of people "gave up" and just slap HLC on them?

I liked " Rho with crackshot, XG-1, harpoon, ion cannon, linked battery & LRS = 32", but doesn't cannon only give 1 ion token? I was thinking it would just be better to get two ion tokens at once so a single ship could actually win against a Large ship at the end of the game if need be.

13 minutes ago, blade_mercurial said:

Its certainly not a bad idea. However, its 4 points more than Nu w/ harpoon + LRS. Same firepower, only real difference is +2 PS and you don't have to worry about opponents using black-one title and counter-measures. So if you see those a lot, then yeah, I think its worth using. If opponents aren't bothering with those things, then +4 points for only 2 higher PS is not really a good deal...

I've been using a pair of Nu's with an Upsilon carrying TS and Weapons Engineer. It's another way to bypass Black One/counter-measures since you can treat Attack TL as Attack. If both the Nu and Shuttle have a lock on the same ship, the ship can only discard one, and as long as you didn't SLAM that turn, you can fire a Harpoon and use the Shuttle's to modify.

54 minutes ago, impspy said:

What about using Rho's with Deadeye and Chips? I've been thinking about this build for my 2 gunboat + Ace list:

Rho Squadron Veteran w/Deadeye, Harpoon Missiles, Guidance Chips (26 Points)

I read a battle report onhere the other day with 3x Deadeye Rhos and a 22 point LRS Nu. They sound generally effective. A pair of Deadeye Rhos and a beefy ace would likely be solid.

5 hours ago, jwilliamson12 said:

I've been using a pair of Nu's with an Upsilon carrying TS and Weapons Engineer. It's another way to bypass Black One/counter-measures since you can treat Attack TL as Attack. If both the Nu and Shuttle have a lock on the same ship, the ship can only discard one, and as long as you didn't SLAM that turn, you can fire a Harpoon and use the Shuttle's to modify.

Sure, I've ran something similar and its okay. But I don't think that's the direction the OP wanted to take...

22 hours ago, blade_mercurial said:

Sure, I've ran something similar and its okay. But I don't think that's the direction the OP wanted to take...

Fair enough. I was just sharing my experience for the OP and anyone else reading up on how to use the gunboats.

I tried my list (first post) last night and barely won a game. It was against Brobots, though, so I don't consider it a great victory at all.

I loved Lightning Reflexes, even though I cracked it way too early on both ships (gambled on getting two harpoons off on the rear of one Bro, but he bumped instead of turning like I thought he would). Linked Battery was also amazing. If I hadn't had the Mangler Cannon, though, I likely would have been creamed.

I'm still upset that LRS and Advanced SLAM fight for the same spot. I really needed to SLAM often on my cannon boats and couldn't get a lock back for missiles.

I much preferred running three gunboats to having a wingman and only two boats. I'll look over the builds above and do some tweaking, but I'm likely keeping the cannon boats as they are, maybe just add a third and see how that does. Of course, I need to try the list against some ships that don't auto-evade and have 3 Agility to see if the Ion Pulse Missiles are actually useless or not.

12 minutes ago, Superstrength79 said:

I tried my list (first post) last night and barely won a game. It was against Brobots, though, so I don't consider it a great victory at all.

I loved Lightning Reflexes, even though I cracked it way too early on both ships (gambled on getting two harpoons off on the rear of one Bro, but he bumped instead of turning like I thought he would). Linked Battery was also amazing. If I hadn't had the Mangler Cannon, though, I likely would have been creamed.

I'm still upset that LRS and Advanced SLAM fight for the same spot. I really needed to SLAM often on my cannon boats and couldn't get a lock back for missiles.

I much preferred running three gunboats to having a wingman and only two boats. I'll look over the builds above and do some tweaking, but I'm likely keeping the cannon boats as they are, maybe just add a third and see how that does. Of course, I need to try the list against some ships that don't auto-evade and have 3 Agility to see if the Ion Pulse Missiles are actually useless or not.

One issue I had with the boats was being outmaneuvered but I like having Lightning Reflexes as a counter to that. I went 0-2 last night running 3x Nu-harpooners and Ryad with Lone Wolf because I need way more practice flying the Gunboats to keep them on target and disengaging as needed.

LRS is good but after last night I'm leaning more towards Deadeye w/Advanced Slam due to the lack of agency I felt with LRS; it was frustrating playing against an Aces list who were all high PS and knew when they were being targeted.

I think if you're having troubles with GUNBOATS, you might want to try a cannon-based build.

•Lieutenant Karsabi (35) - Alpha-class Star Wing
Crack Shot (1), XG-1 Assault Configuration (1), Long-Range Scanners (0), Linked Battery (2), Heavy Laser Cannon (7)

Rho Squadron Veteran (32) - Alpha-class Star Wing
Crack Shot (1), XG-1 Assault Configuration (1), Long-Range Scanners (0), Flechette Cannon (2), Heavy Laser Cannon (7)

Rho Squadron Veteran (32) - Alpha-class Star Wing
Crack Shot (1), XG-1 Assault Configuration (1), Long-Range Scanners (0), Flechette Cannon (2), Heavy Laser Cannon (7)

This has been one of my favorites. Basically, the HLC with rerolls, focus, and Crackshot is almost always more damaging than Harpoons, and Karsabi is there because you have the extra points. His whole thing is that when he SLAMs, instead of having to resort to the Flechette Cannon, he can take a stress to still fire his HLC.

What about a really jank-y Gunboat Build?

•Lieutenant Karsabi (39) - Alpha-class Star Wing
Predator (3), XG-1 Assault Configuration (1), Advanced SLAM (2), Heavy Laser Cannon (7), Linked Battery (2)

•Major Vynder (38) - Alpha-class Star Wing
Expertise (4), Harpoon Missiles (4), OS-1 Arsenal Loadout (2), Advanced SLAM (2)

Sienar Test Pilot (22) - TIE Adv. Prototype
Cruise Missiles (3), TIE/v1 (1), Autothrusters (2)

I agree that boats need to do one thing, and well.

I like OS-1 Rhos. PTL, Harpoons, Adv. SLAM, means they can always get their shots. Another option is XG-1 Rhos with Deadeye, Harpoons, Flechette Canon, Linked Battery, Adv. SLAM. You can fit 3 of the OS-1s in a list, or 2 of the XGs and one OS