43 minutes ago, ImpStarDeuces said:

Just a general query for Gencon perceptions. Is an Ackbar MC80 a bad idea in era of Raddus? I know one of the tops fleets used Ackbar but I was more curious about the general use of him in the field.

Ackbar is still in an all right place overall given MSU is much rarer than it used to be; but you're right that the Raddus matchup is always going to be problematic because they can not only get a ship to the head of your formation but that ship is likely the biggest meanest thing in their fleet. Good piloting can address that to an extent, but it's still going to be rough. Our best local Ackbar player has gotten quite skilled at converting the boring predictable 3-ship conga line into a T shape by having the middle ship peel out, creating some kill boxes for ships going for the front or rear of the line, and that can help but your forward ship is still almost assuredly going to die.

You can combat that slightly with the right objective selection and/or with an MC75 that can still pack a punch out the front to head your line. The good news for Ackbar HMC80 is your "no duh" red objective, Advanced Gunnery, can't be applied to the Raddus hyperspace ship (unless the Raddus player wants to swap out which ship he puts in hyperspace, mind you), which helps ensure it won't usually be chosen by Raddus.

This was my first Gen Con tournament (having played in a couple of store tournaments + Adepticon). Finished 6th and then a scoring error bumped me up to 5th (for whatever it’s worth). To be sure, the points were so tight that in this group that you could move from 5th to 9th based on running into a less prepared opponent in one of the early rounds (as I did).

I wanted to try something different so I chose Thrawn with bombers. There’s certainly some lists that I wouldn’t have dealt well with, but the meta is so large, you simply can’t plan for every contingency. My view is to try and do what you can to your opponent before he can do it to you. This list has a lot of flexibility. I can describe how I play it if anyone’s interested.

Admiral Thrawn (398/400)

• ISD-II
  • Grand Admiral Thrawn
  • Avenger
  • Strategic Adviser
  • Gunnery Team
  • Boosted Comms
  • Electronic Countermeasures
  • Leading Shots
  • Quad Turbolaser Cannons
• Gladiator-I
  • Demolisher
  • Minister Tua
  • Electronic Countermeasures
  • Ordinance Experts
  • External Racks
• Gozanti Cruisers
  • Comms Net
• Gozanti Cruisers
  • Comms Net
• Captain Jonus
• Dengar
• 4 x TIE Bomber

Missions:

• Most Wanted
• Planetary Ion Cannon
• Superior Positions

Biggest mistake I made in the tourney was not taking initiative vs. Eric (who if you haven’t met him is one of the most gracious people I’ve met). Second biggest mistake was choosing my opponent’s Fire Lanes rather than Sensor Net.

I’d like to complain about my dice, but they were all over the place that day, so call it a wash overshadowed by my tactial errors. I’ve learned a ton from the very knowledgeable and kind group at Fair Games and my results are a reflection of that.

22 hours ago, sarumanthewhite said:

This was my first Gen Con tournament (having played in a couple of store tournaments + Adepticon). Finished 6th and then a scoring error bumped me up to 5th (for whatever it’s worth). To be sure, the points were so tight that in this group that you could move from 5th to 9th based on running into a less prepared opponent in one of the early rounds (as I did).

I wanted to try something different so I chose Thrawn with bombers. There’s certainly some lists that I wouldn’t have dealt well with, but the meta is so large, you simply can’t plan for every contingency. My view is to try and do what you can to your opponent before he can do it to you. This list has a lot of flexibility. I can describe how I play it if anyone’s interested.

Admiral Thrawn (398/400)

• ISD-II
  • Grand Admiral Thrawn
  • Avenger
  • Strategic Adviser
  • Gunnery Team
  • Boosted Comms
  • Electronic Countermeasures
  • Leading Shots
  • Quad Turbolaser Cannons
• Gladiator-I
  • Demolisher
  • Minister Tua
  • Electronic Countermeasures
  • Ordinance Experts
  • External Racks
• Gozanti Cruisers
  • Comms Net
• Gozanti Cruisers
  • Comms Net
• Captain Jonus
• Dengar
• 4 x TIE Bomber

Missions:

• Most Wanted
• Planetary Ion Cannon
• Superior Positions

Biggest mistake I made in the tourney was not taking initiative vs. Eric (who if you haven’t met him is one of the most gracious people I’ve met). Second biggest mistake was choosing my opponent’s Fire Lanes rather than Sensor Net.

I’d like to complain about my dice, but they were all over the place that day, so call it a wash overshadowed by my tactial errors. I’ve learned a ton from the very knowledgeable and kind group at Fair Games and my results are a reflection of that.

Fire lanes and sensor Net is a deadly combination... no real good option there.

7 hours ago, themightyhedgehog said:

Fire lanes and sensor Net is a deadly combination... no real good option there.

I feel like you have at least the chance to influence the game with sensor net.

Exactly. Sensor Net is a winnable mission.

With initiative, I had his fleet on the ropes (I scored around 200 points). I wiped out all but one of his ships (except Ackbar) by turn 3. That means only 1 objective token per turn with Sensor Net. I should be able to get at least one token giving me parity. From there, it’s about who can take out more of the other guys ships. I failed to appreciate how the VCX’s could throw the Fire Lane tokens underneath me giving him 45 points per turn even with one ship.

Again, no sour grapes on my part. I made a poor decision based on lack of experience. My opponent was an exceptionally skilled player (and a gentleman to play against).

Good learning experience...

@JJs Juggernaut

Just trying to figure out the Raddus side of things: what helped you determine whether to Put the 75 aside vs the 30? I saw in one of your posts that that was a key decision for the list match to match.

19 hours ago, sweeper678 said:

@JJs Juggernaut

Just trying to figure out the Raddus side of things: what helped you determine whether to Put the 75 aside vs the 30? I saw in one of your posts that that was a key decision for the list match to match.

If I felt the edge in activations from Strategic Adviser would allow me to dictate the flow of the match I would set aside the MC30. At that point, I can set the MC30 in a safer raddus drop position and make my opponent move into it. If I already had activations advantage or was worried about the MC75 getting cornered I would Raddus it. If I had activation advantage that lets Admo get in and threaten targets as well.

On 8/17/2018 at 6:33 PM, sarumanthewhite said:

Exactly. Sensor Net is a winnable mission.

With initiative, I had his fleet on the ropes (I scored around 200 points). I wiped out all but one of his ships (except Ackbar) by turn 3. That means only 1 objective token per turn with Sensor Net. I should be able to get at least one token giving me parity. From there, it’s about who can take out more of the other guys ships. I failed to appreciate how the VCX’s could throw the Fire Lane tokens underneath me giving him 45 points per turn even with one ship.

Again, no sour grapes on my part. I made a poor decision based on lack of experience. My opponent was an exceptionally skilled player (and a gentleman to play against).

Good learning experience...

I made the same mistake against Yick in round 1 of Canadian Nationals this year and learned the same lesson, never choose fire lanes if they have strategic (and I don't think anyone chooses it for their objectives if they don't).