On 1/11/2018 at 8:33 AM, Church14 said:

-GR75/Gozanti Combat Refit

-Raider 2

-Interdictor combat variant

-GSD2

Does anyone have:

A) Builds for these variants that have worked?

B) There own specific ship variants they just don’t find a use for and would like to see a loadout for?

My take on these Imperial ships:

Combat Gozanti - I used it at some point and found it being a good value in a Vader fleet. Otherwise hardly worth the points. (GR75 is different as getting combat version helps with Fire Lanes)

Raider2 - A good Ruthless Strategists platform. In the current wave DC/SW7 is also nice (I feel that SW7 is better than Gunnery team here)

Combat Interdictor - My preferred variant. Extra reach, more flak. I found it being a good Admiral's boat in a Vader fleet. Deadly as Adv Gunnery ship.

GSD2 - my favorite GSD. A lot of flak (who needs squadrons anymore nowadays? ). GSD2/SFO/PE is only 69 points and can do a lot of different things for those points.

Currently the only ship that I can't find a good use for is Scout Hammerhead, but I didn't look hard enough

ISD I

ISD II

What does this ship actually do better than another?

16 hours ago, Salted Diamond said:

I can't seem to find a place where I like hammerheads (either). They don't seem to pull their weight to me, would rather a CR90B w/ SW7 everytime I try them. Always seems to end just out of black range or I roll bad, and I don't want to add OE for like 1 round when I pop External racks.

Agreed. It seems like every time I run a fleet with 3-4 of them, I end up with 2-3 that don't manage to survive getting into close range to use the External Racks. They're just really squishy and speed 3 seems insufficient. With the crummy shields they have, they really need a Brace to be useful in their role. Give me an Evade and a Brace and I think I'd be a lot happier with them.

14 minutes ago, JauntyChapeau said:

Agreed. It seems like every time I run a fleet with 3-4 of them, I end up with 2-3 that don't manage to survive getting into close range to use the External Racks. They're just really squishy and speed 3 seems insufficient. With the crummy shields they have, they really need a Brace to be useful in their role. Give me an Evade and a Brace and I think I'd be a lot happier with them.

They're bargain bin Raiders. Catch your opponent's ships with them and then run away. Or ram away, either or. They can get work done, just be very cautious on the approach, basically.

3 minutes ago, geek19 said:

They're bargain bin Raiders. Catch your opponent's ships with them and then run away. Or ram away, either or. They can get work done, just be very cautious on the approach, basically.

I agree with this, but I also echo the sentiment of a few others in the thread that I'd rather just have a TRC90 for (roughly) the same points. I will say that I may need to test fleets with the Scout variant. Rieekan + Slaved Turrets and then a ram or two might be worth attempting.

1 hour ago, Ginkapo said:

ISD I

ISD II

What does this ship actually do better than another?

And you wondered why you were not invited to join the Imperial Naval Academy...

1 hour ago, JauntyChapeau said:

I agree with this, but I also echo the sentiment of a few others in the thread that I'd rather just have a TRC90 for (roughly) the same points. I will say that I may need to test fleets with the Scout variant. Rieekan + Slaved Turrets and then a ram or two might be worth attempting.

I think it's important to distinguish that CR90s are more proactive - they like provoking the enemy through maneuvering and lining up double arcs (both As and Bs). Hammerheads are reactive - they like to "catch" enemies like Raiders do and can do a lot of burst damage (with External Racks) when they are successful in that regard. You can make a good fleet with both in it, but it really depends on what you want your small cheap ships to do.

24 minutes ago, Snipafist said:

I think it's important to distinguish that CR90s are more proactive - they like provoking the enemy through maneuvering and lining up double arcs (both As and Bs). Hammerheads are reactive - they like to "catch" enemies like Raiders do and can do a lot of burst damage (with External Racks) when they are successful in that regard. You can make a good fleet with both in it, but it really depends on what you want your small cheap ships to do.

This is true for torpedo hammerheads only though. (Scout version can't have External Racks, so the only thing I can think of is a cheap TRC/Ruthless Strategists platform)

Just now, PT106 said:

This is true for torpedo hammerheads only though. (Scout version can't have External Racks, so the only thing I can think of is a cheap TRC/Ruthless Strategists platform)

That is true. The Scout Hammerhead seems largely to be worth considering over a CR90A due to its weapon team slot (at the moment, anyways). That usually means one of two things:
1) A Gunnery Team spray and pray module (which I have seen used well by @geek19 with two Torp Hammerhead buddies), which seems like it will be getting more attractive with Intensify Firepower come wave 7.
2) Some place to put a boarding team when used in tandem with Torp Hammerheads using Ordnance Experts and Task Force Antilles.

That's about all I have there, I'm afraid.

3 hours ago, Ginkapo said:

ISD I

ISD II

What does this ship actually do better than another?

Weather punishment then return it a shovelful at a time

11 minutes ago, GiledPallaeon said:

Weather punishment then return it a shovelful at a time

VSD does that better

11 minutes ago, Ginkapo said:

VSD does that better

More points-efficiently maybe. But as far as raw amount is concerned, the ISD is still king. Unlike the VSD, it's also able to catch something whether the thing wants to be caught or not.

6 minutes ago, GiledPallaeon said:

More points-efficiently maybe. But as far as raw amount is concerned, the ISD is still king. Unlike the VSD, it's also able to catch something whether the thing wants to be caught or not.

I know its just me, but all I see in that statement is compromise

4 minutes ago, Ginkapo said:

I know its just me, but all I see in that statement is compromise

I speak the truth as it is apparent to me. And it is apparent to me that the truth is rarely black and white, but a measure of intersecting facts that often hedge each other, as they do here.

Also there's no disputing ISDs are cooler anyway.

3 hours ago, Ginkapo said:

What does this ship actually do better than another?

Place in Top 4 of Regional competitions more than most other ships on the Imperial side? Okay, so there are more Gozantis and Gladiators, but those usually come alongside an ISD.

2 minutes ago, Mikael Hasselstein said:

Place in Top 4 of Regional competitions more than most other ships on the Imperial side? Okay, so there are more Gozantis and Gladiators, but those usually come alongside an ISD.

So it doesnt do that BEST then....

Just now, Ginkapo said:

So it doesnt do that BEST then....

Sure it does. With a little help from its friends.

It's nonsense to compare an ISD to a Gozanti.

But if you want to rules-lawyer the conversation, I can play: "Serve as the main battleship of an Imperial fleet" Of the 10 Top 4 Imperial fleets placing at Regionals (at my last count, which was a couple of weeks ago), 7 had at least 1 ISD (2 had 2).

I just slap Quad Battery Turrets or Dual Turbolaser Turrets on a scout and slow roll it. It is pretty maneuverable at 2.

56 minutes ago, Ginkapo said:

VSD does that better

How?

10 minutes ago, RobertK said:

How?

It doesn't, he's just being Gink.

Specifically, the ISD is better at having a large buffer of survivability before its ability to return fire is diminished.

Yes, a VSD and a GSD or whatever you're spending those 120 points on are overall more survivable than that ISD, but an alpha strike that kills one of those halves your ability to return fire. Whereas that ISD is nearly always going to get to shoot back at full strength