Hello,

I have a big match with a seasoned player in two days, I usually play with my friends with our games being a bit amateurish so I am a bit nervous playing with him.

I tried to make a list both creative and strong. Usually he does not play squadron heavy so I have minimal amount of squadrons that will perfom CAP flights if needed. He usually plays with a MC80 with MC30 and 2 Corvettes so I figured I have a strong central ISD Kuat with Intredictor slowing the playing field and Raider dealing with at least one of the Corvettes or squadrons if needed. I know Intredictor is not much of a favorite these days but I am hoping he will share some tips with me on how to use it properly so that is why I included in the list.

I am open to all suggestions ( if you are going to suggest other ships I have a Gladiator, a Quasar and another ISD but no Arquitens or Gozantis )

Name: Kuat Supression
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Grand Admiral Thrawn

Assault: Opening Salvo
Defense: Fleet Ambush
Navigation: Intel Sweep

ISD Kuat Refit (112)
• Grand Admiral Thrawn (32)
• Chart Officer (2)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Hardend Bulkheads (5)
• Early Warning System (7)
• Expanded Launchers (13)
= 175 Points

Interdictor Suppression Refit (90)
• G-8 Experimental Projector (8)
• G7-X Grav Well Projector (2)
• High-Capacity Ion Turbines (8)
= 108 Points

Raider II (48)
• Quad Laser Turrets (5)
• Impetuous (4)
= 57 Points

Squadrons:
• 3 x TIE Interceptor Squadron (33)
• Saber Squadron (12)
• YV-666 (15)
= 60 Points

Total Points: 400

3 hours ago, LostFleet said:

Hello,

I have a big match with a seasoned player in two days, I usually play with my friends with our games being a bit amateurish so I am a bit nervous playing with him.

I hope you will learn a lot.

3 hours ago, LostFleet said:

I tried to make a list both creative and strong. Usually he does not play squadron heavy so I have minimal amount of squadrons that will perfom CAP flights if needed. He usually plays with a MC80 with MC30 and 2 Corvettes so I figured I have a strong central ISD Kuat with Intredictor slowing the playing field and Raider dealing with at least one of the Corvettes or squadrons if needed. I know Intredictor is not much of a favorite these days but I am hoping he will share some tips with me on how to use it properly so that is why I included in the list.

Be careful! Ben is out there ?

3 hours ago, LostFleet said:

I am open to all suggestions ( if you are going to suggest other ships I have a Gladiator, a Quasar and another ISD but no Arquitens or Gozantis )

Name: Kuat Supression
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Grand Admiral Thrawn

Assault: Opening Salvo
Defense: Fleet Ambush
Navigation: Intel Sweep

ISD Kuat Refit (112)
• Grand Admiral Thrawn (32)
• Chart Officer (2)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Hardend Bulkheads (5)
• Early Warning System (7)
• Expanded Launchers (13)
= 175 Points

Interdictor Suppression Refit (90)
• G-8 Experimental Projector (8)
• G7-X Grav Well Projector (2)
• High-Capacity Ion Turbines (8)
= 108 Points

Raider II (48)
• Quad Laser Turrets (5)
• Impetuous (4)
= 57 Points

Squadrons:
• 3 x TIE Interceptor Squadron (33)
• Saber Squadron (12)
• YV-666 (15)
= 60 Points

Total Points: 400

Let's suggest things:

1. Remove chart officer. Hardend Bulkheads is good enough overlapping smaller ships, and any other big has more hull than you. I mean, she is not useless but two points will help you with initiative... maybe.

2. If you don't expect too many squadrons, swap EWS for ECM. It works better for big pools like those from mc30 and mc80.

3. Expanded Launchers are a bit pricey. I hope they work for you though. Leading shots are another good option, and far cheaper. I guess if Rapid reload would have an use on a Kuat. Whatever, if you look for more damage output, ACMs and APTs will work fine, actually better than expanded launchers.

4. G-8 are really hard to get benefit from. I suggest Targetting Scramblers + Grav Shift Reroute/G7-X. Grav Shift Reroute is really good, specially with Brunsom.

5. Disposable Capacitors and Ion Cannon Batteries or Heavy Ion Emplacement are better than High-Capacity Ion Turbines.

6. If you want an AA Raider, maybe Raider I with OE is cheaper and better I think.

7. I love YV but Rudor, Ciena or Howl will do a better job.

8. Fleet Ambush IS DANGEROUS as second player. I would go with Station Assault, Contested Outpost and Solar Corona.

Ovino’s given good advice (except for the bit about Rapid Reload. Don’t... don’t bring that. ?) First off: the Interdictor is good now. Targeting Scramblers, Brunson and the Interdictor title make it super tanky (scramble a roll, then remove whatever die is nicest, then spend defense tokens if you can, then refresh either upgrade later with the title, then heal on your activation) and it can even help out friends. As a result, I would absolutely ditch the G-8. The G7 is great vs Raddus (to make a huge no-drop zone) or the Grav Shift Reroute is good enough to pick an objective suite based around it (e.g. Salvage Run [push everything in their way, grab tokens, profit,] Contested Outpost [pull the outpost your way, slow down and sit on it,] Most Wanted [because it’s good.]). For the ion slot, Heavy Ion Emplacements is great for making a shot potentially hurt. Disposable Capacitors makes it hurt from farther away.

Onwards to the Kuat: looks good. I’d personally go for External Racks for side shot capability and to save 10 points, but it really depends on how many front arc shots you expect to get, and whether those extra dice matter on the follow-up. Like Ovino said, ECM if you expect heavy hitters, EWS versus a swarm/bombers. Consider swapping Chart Officer for Strategic Adviser, which forces your opponent to tip his hand a bit more early game.

The other stuff: I’d make it 8 TIEs and 2 Comms Net Gozantis. More activations, more deployments and more blue squad dice. You can always Thrawn up a squadron dial and command every TIE while doing other stuff too.

These modifications would look like this:

Thrawn’s Interdiction Force

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 400/400

Commander: Grand Admiral Thrawn

Assault Objective: Most Wanted
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Salvage Run

[ flagship ] Imperial Star Destroyer Kuat Refit (112 points)
- Grand Admiral Thrawn ( 32 points)
- Strategic Adviser ( 4 points)
- Ordnance Experts ( 4 points)
- Hardened Bulkheads ( 5 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- Leading Shots* ( 4 points)
- External Racks ( 3 points)
= 171 total ship cost

Interdictor-class Suppression Refit (90 points)
- Interdictor ( 3 points)
- Captain Brunson ( 5 points)
- Disposable Capacitors ( 3 points)
- Heavy Ion Emplacements ( 9 points)
- Targeting Scrambler ( 5 points)
- Grav Shift Reroute ( 2 points)
= 117 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
- Comms Net ( 2 points)
= 25 total ship cost

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

8 TIE Fighter Squadrons ( 64 points)
= 64 total squadron cost

*2 rerolls = better results, but this could be a bid instead.

Good luck, hope this helps!

3 hours ago, The Jabbawookie said:

Ovino’s given good advice (except for the bit about Rapid Reload. Don’t... don’t bring that. ?)

I was just wondering about it. I didn't suggest it.?

5 hours ago, ovinomanc3r said:

I hope you will learn a lot.

Thank you, it will be a good entrance to the big league. Thank you for your suggestions

I was thinking of chart officer to blast my way through astreoids but hardened bulkhead makes more sense as I will bump into ships as well. I noted other points, have to re-amp my fleet accordingly but again thank you for your advice

4 hours ago, The Jabbawookie said:

Gozanti-cl*** Cruisers (23 points)
- Comms Net ( 2 points)
= 25 total ship cost

Unfortunately I have no Gozantis in my fleet so have to either stick with the Raider, or instead have a Quasar or Gladiator as the third ship. Thanks for your comments, they are very helpful

I will let you know both about the end result,

On 6/19/2018 at 6:52 PM, ovinomanc3r said:

I hope you will learn a lot.

On 6/19/2018 at 7:42 PM, The Jabbawookie said:

Good luck, hope this helps!

Thank you guys for your advice the other day, I modified my fleet accordingly and it was a fun night. As I told earlier my opponent was more experienced playing with proper rules and it was more of an educational run for me.

This was my fleet after modifying,

Kuat Supression (400/400)
Empire

Commander: Grand Admiral Thrawn

[flagship] Imperial Star Destroyer Kuat Refit (112)
- Grand Admiral Thrawn (32)
- Electronic Counter Measures (7)
- Hardened Bulkheads (5)
- Strategic Adviser (4)
- Assault Concussion Missiles (7)
- Ordnance Experts (4)
= 171 total points

Interdictor Suppression Refit (90)
- Targeting Scrambler (5)
- G7-X Grav Well Projector (2)
- Heavy Ion Emplacements (9)
- Disposable Capacitors (3)
- Captain Brunson (5)
= 114 total points

Raider I-class Corvette (44)
- Impetuous (4)
- Rapid Reload (8)
= 56 total points

Squadrons (59/134):
1x Black Squadron TIE Fighter Squadron (9)
1x Ciena Ree TIE Interceptor Squadron (17)
3x Tie Interceptor Squadron (33)

he had a MC80 with Ackbar, MC30, 2 Corvettes and 2 A-Wings with 2 Y-Wings,

we did not play with objectives as this was our first game and more of a warming up game. I am actually happy about that because I was already bust tracking what cards I have and how to use them.

One rookie mistake I have done in the beginning is coming with my ISD too fast as I thought since it had good short range arsenal, quicker I come to the sides of MC80 the better. Of course the moment I made that decision I came to a quick realization that I did not set up a Nav command at either on ISD command deck or Thrawns additional dials. So instead of going after the MC80, my first three rounds with ISD was trying to make a grand U turn.

Also one other misconception I had was with Interdictors G7. I thought token was slowing down any ship that passed near it all game long, instead it was slowing down ships that were deployed. Since he was not using Raddus, it was useful only at the beginning of the game.

Throughout the game, there skirmishes between Interdictor, Raider and the corvettes and Mc-30 which I lost the Raider.

At some point Mc-30 made a run against my ISD, strategic advisor came very handy at this moment where it had to come closer than he expected and I had few good hits on Mc-30.

Mc-80 and Isd had only one shot against each other, after that Isd was making its grand turn.

Ciena really proved herself as with other interceptors they made a really good screen against A-Wings and Y-Wings. ( at the end destroyed all of them)

Targeting Scrambler, Brunson, Heavy Ions, Disposable Capacitors really helped Interdictor, at the she lost only a few shields after giving much harder time to Corvettes and Mc-30

I wish I put more defensive retrofit to Raider, maybe she would have survived the game.

At the end of the game, my ISD was hanging by himself at one side of the table while Mc-80 was trying to catch up with the main battle.

I lost the Raider with 2 interceptors and the Black Squadron while the only loss of my opponent was 4 squadrons. Still I am happy with the results, I almost lost my ISD with the grand U-turn ( I think I made it by a few mms)

Anyway thanks again for the help,

I will post photos once I shrink them,

Here are some photos from the game

Don't waste defensive retrofit on your raider unless you have something really important to do with it. Just replace Rapid Reload for external racks or just ordnance experts and it won't hurt that much. Raiders are tricky to use though.

Also my mistake I thought you already had played more games. I would have suggested a light upgrade fleet to help you drive your fleet easily and not get buried under timings and text.

I had only one OE so I used that on ISD but will try External Racks next time.

I played a lot of games but most complicated ones were with a few card expansion rather than almost all of the rack. The people I played were either at the same level with me or first time players. Yes, I was bit drowned in the cards but it was kind of cool to have few cards up in my sleeve that suprised my opponent, of course thanks to your suggestions