So totally the opposite to how things began in my local meta, there are now more rebel players than Imperials, which means for an upcoming CC game I've chosen to be Imperial on my three person team. The problem would be that I have never played Imperials before at all except with the Core Set, and two of our rebel opponents have already stated they'll be using TRC90s.

So I could really use some advice on fleet building. I have essentially access to all the Imperial minis thanks to a collector friend so my options are pretty wide. What should I start with? I mean, I want to play with an ISD because I never have before. I've also been thinking about using Raider IIs with MS1 Ion cannons to lock down TRCs (and maybe some ECM as the game wears on), and possibly picking up an Imperial Fighter Pack 2 of my own to have TIE Defenders and Decimators to field.

Anyway, please, advise me. What is a good fleet to begin with for an Imperial beginner (But Rebel vet) for Corellian Conflict?

As much as i hate giving advice to a imp....

Glads (demo) are a nice counter to trc90, especially ET glads.

Large base ships are gonna be a target (more so than usual). As a rebel this is easy to say but go for some smaller ships. 2 glads 2 Arqs 2 flotillas and some sqds (400pt start) then expand to a VSD maybe or swap it around, maybe another 2 Arqs instead, etc. Long range arqs short range glads using flotillas to command your sqds and comms net/repair crews.

Ill draw up a basic list, see actual imp lists for better help hahaha, maybe this will get you started. Maybe itll be helpful?..... yeah right.

Literally threw this together. You'll have to edit to your liking of course *or* hope someone else comments with a much better list hahaha

Fleet 3700 (394/400)
===================
Arquitens-class Command Cruiser (59 + 40)
+ Darth Vader (36)
+ Nav Team (4)
Gladiator II-class Star Destroyer (62 + 10)
+ Demolisher (10)
Gladiator II-class Star Destroyer (62 + 8)
+ Engine Techs (8)
Arquitens-class Command Cruiser (59 + 4)
+ Hand of Justice (4)
Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 + 2)
+ Comms Net (2)
Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 + 2)
+ Comms Net (2)
5 x Tie Fighter Squadron (8)

Just say "No!" to MS-1 Ion cannons.

*ahem* Dated and ineffectual anti-drug campaigns aside, seriously, don't use MS-1s. To get them to work you have to mess with your activations and get a lucky crit and... Just let them stay in your binder.

So, with the PSA out of the way, the first question for any CC fleet is who is your admiral? While the Empire does have two plug-and-play admirals unlike the Rebellion (Motti and Jerrjerod are good with everything, and cheap to boot), you should still keep that admiral in mind when building your list. Plus, odds are one of your teammates has their eyes on at least one of those commanders. Other solid Imperial commanders for CC are Sloane and Vader, but they require more building around. In general, It's important to coordinate builds with your team to avoid certain archetypes being split between two players (The rebels in the CC campaign I'm playing in seriously screwed themselves over when everyone's fighter screens ended up hodge-podge and the Yavaris ended up in a different list from the bomber wing, plus everybody wanted an MC30 which led to the unique defensive upgrades being very tightly spread between them). One of the reasons the Empire has had more initial success is the only conflicts we've had are over Tua and Motti, and both were pretty easily resolved.

The Grand Admiral is JJ with an eye towards search and destroy, the second player is thinking Konstantin with Interdictor. I'm eyeing up Screed for the guranteed crits, but with Mon Mothma almost certain to be in the opposition I'm not sure it's worth it.

I put this together for an emphasis on Squadrons. I find Decimators, Defenders and Phantoms can run down and murder things like CR90s.

CC Test #2
Author: Cuthawolf

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 400/400

Commander: Darth Vader

Assault Objective: Most Wanted
Defense Objective: Jamming Barrier
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Darth Vader ( 36 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
= 163 total ship cost

Victory I-Class Star Destroyer (73 points)
= 73 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Assault Carriers (28 points)
- Comms Net ( 2 points)
= 30 total ship cost

1 Morna Kee ( 27 points)
1 VT-49 Decimator ( 22 points)
2 TIE Defender Squadrons ( 32 points)
2 TIE Phantom Squadrons ( 28 points)
1 Tempest Squadron ( 13 points)
1 JumpMaster 5000 ( 12 points)

I just finished out a CC Campaign as an Imperial admiral.
I played Vader. To me he is very thematic and I love his in game mechanic of being able to reroll ship attacks against other ships.

My fleet consisted of:
ISD-II w/Relentless(best 3 points I spent on my fleet)
Interdictor Combat Refit
Couple of Raider Is
Fighter coverage

Biggest advice I have is, remember your ships and squads don't magically come back every battle for free if they get blown up.
I found myself playing more conservatively with my fleet with that in mind, which actually went well, as the Imperials went on a bit of a rampage after round I.
I don't know if you've played CC before, but as an Imperial, Show of Force special assault is your friend a lot of the time.

Looking over your fleet, here are some thoughts.

1: On your ISD-II, drop the GT and take ECM to start Turn I. You can add on GT later and you really REALLY do not want the ISD getting blown up turn 1 and have to repair it or risk the scarring.

2: Drop the VSD-I. The front arc *CAN BE* nasty. Odds are you won't get the shot, especially if your opponents know about it, because the thing maneuvers like Shamu the whale in a vat of maple syrup.
If you want black dice, I'd HIGHLY recommend a Gladiator I with either the Demolisher title(super good early on in the campaign) or External Racks or APTs or Ordnance Experts(double rerolls FTW!).

If you want another solid capital ship, an Interdictor is another good choice. Scrap some points from your squads and either get an Interdictor Suppression with Disposable Capacitors or a Combat Refit will give you a nice "heavy cruiser" with good all around characteristics. Very forgiving for a Rookie Imp Admiral.

3. Gozanti. Drop it down to the Cruiser variant. The black AA die will be better and it saves you some points for other things. The single red die on the Assault is very fickle, even allowing for Vader reroll.

4. Squads: Personal preference again but drop the Phantoms, VT, Morna, Tempest and the base Jump Master.
I'd recommend the following, flavored to your taste:

2X TIE Defender(Good fighters, and decent bombers, look at Jendon and Maarek Steele, especially later if you can swing it, real nasty combo)
2X TIE Advanced(Decent fighters, Escort keeps the Defenders alive longer, and throw black dice at ships. No bomber, but still nasty, and CHEAP at 12 pts a piece)
2X TIE Interceptor or Soontir Fel and Ciena Ree(Paired with Dengar and Escorting TIE Adv become great at Anti-sqd work)
1X Dengar(If you can. Great, Great combat support squadron that will help your squads)

Well, if Motti is available, why not go balls to the wall, assuming your collector can cover it. Take 3 ISDs, just add more squads as you go.

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 399/400

Commander: Admiral Motti

Assault Objective: Custom Objective
Defense Objective: Custom Objective
Navigation Objective: Custom Objective

[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Admiral Motti ( 24 points)
- Reinforced Blast Doors ( 5 points)
= 149 total ship cost

Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Reinforced Blast Doors ( 5 points)
= 125 total ship cost

Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Reinforced Blast Doors ( 5 points)
= 125 total ship cost

“Pointy end towards enemy” (A “My First Imperial Fleet List”)

ISD-I w/Motti

VSD-I

VSD-I

GSD-I

GSD-I

That leaves you 8 points rhat you probably shouldn’t use for a TIE fighter.

(This is a joke, don’t take this.)

Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it

We had a particularly nasty TRC90 + rogues list that was plaguing our sector ( @SkyCake ). His list was very effective and a nightmare to face.

Your grand admiral can accomplish A LOT by predicting and lining up favorable fleet/objective match-ups. That was fun, but took a Thrawn-like talent to do well ( @Rekkon ). Consider using a tool or spreadsheet to track what you know about yours and Rebel fleets. Look for ways to mitigate bad match-ups through battling with the right objectives.

Against the TRC90s, I had to focus on objective play and strategically inflicting and minimizing loses (I ran Glad2's with ruthless strats and a large TIE-b wing). When my bombers got going, can med/large rebel ships melted. It took a lot of finesse to fly, and was useless against MSU swarms.

For example, my run against the TRC90's was a station supply raid. I hit the stations and hypered out ASAP with supplies earned to minimize my loss. Our big ship & no squad guy turtled on a defensive objective (Ion Cannon Base defense is a beast to crack anyway) to handle the pests.

That campaign was a blast and my biggest advice is PICK A FLEET YOU ENJOY FLYING. You will be stuck with it for a few games. We had one guy, a talented player, try something wild (and a really fun 500 pt list) that wasn't his usual style and he seemed a bit burned out by the end.

18 hours ago, cynanbloodbane said:

Well, if Motti is available, why not go balls to the wall, assuming your collector can cover it. Take 3 ISDs, just add more squads as you go.

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 399/400

Commander: Admiral Motti

Yeah, if Motti is available, 3x ISD-II is not a bad build. I'd slap ECM on one of them and make that the flagship, start with 'leading shots' as the initial upgrade on the other two (red dice are fickle).

The thing with the campaign is that losing anything really sucks . You definitely want to play defensively, so pick objectives that let you play for points and points-fortress your list, rather than trying to out-fight the enemy. You just... really don't want to find yourself having to re-buy anything destroyed along the way, it's super difficult to come back from that.

Demo is fun and all, but it's also fragile - especially once the battles start getting up into the 500-pt range. And Arquitens...fun ships, but you're definitely going to lose at least one a game, and so again...spending points to 'buy back' (even if just repairing from scarred status) ships you already bought.

19 hours ago, Squark said:

In general, It's important to coordinate builds with your team to avoid certain archetypes being split between two players (The rebels in the CC campaign I'm playing in seriously screwed themselves over when everyone's fighter screens ended up hodge-podge and the Yavaris ended up in a different list from the bomber wing, plus everybody wanted an MC30 which led to the unique defensive upgrades being very tightly spread between them).

QFT, though I'd like to expand on it.

You need to have a fleet that can counter the things that your opponents' fleets are going to be bringing. For example, if they have a bomber-heavy fleet, or even just a squadron-heavy one, then your team needs to have a squadron-heavier fleet. That would be a great place to have Sloane. If they're going to have some Ackbar conga-line fleet, then your team needs to have a fast MSU w/ordnance fleet that can get in front of the line and pound it with black dice. Someone should also bring a highly defensive fleet that can protect your critical systems.

Obviously, you cannot tell, definitively, what they're going to bring, but you can think about what sorts of fleets your opponents like to play, and build accordingly.