I've been playing more Taskforce (200 pt) games lately, and had a 3-4 mo break from Armada due to work, travel, summer, life. :) But I finally got to build and play a full 400pt Sloane fleet today. It went ok; I eked out the victory by 4 points; it could have gone either way with a different dice roll at several points. Having played the fleet, I'm appreciate feedback to iterate and try to improve my Sloane game.

https://armada.ryankingston.com/fleet/27446/

Name: Cymoon Sloane Aces + Quasar + 2
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Admiral Sloane

Assault: Advanced Gunnery
Defense: Planetary Ion Cannon
Navigation: Superior Positions

ISD Cymoon 1 Refit (112)
• Admiral Sloane (24)
• Hardend Bulkheads (5)
• H9 Turbolasers (8)
• Quad Turbolaser Cannons (10)
• Relentless (3)
= 162 Points

Quasar Fire I (54)
• Flight Commander (3)
• Boosted Comms (4)
• Expanded Hangar Bay (5)
• Pursuant (2)
= 68 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Comms Net (2)
= 25 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Comms Net (2)
= 25 Points

Squadrons:
• Ciena Ree (17)
• Howlrunner (16)
• Maarek Stele (21)
• Soontir Fel (18)
• Valen Rudor (13)
• VT-49 Decimator (22)
• JumpMaster 5000 (12)
= 119 Points

Total Points: 399

The Decimator is slow, heavy and completely unaffected by Sloane. Swap it for Jendon: he's basically a second Maarek Stele and gives relay support to boot. Expanded Hangar Bays isn't needed; you have more than enough total squadron value with the Gozantis. At least one should push squads if needed. Accuracy generation tech (H9s, HTTs) with Sloane is inefficient; the whole reason she's there is to burn through your opponent's defense tokens. The 25 points saved currently would be well spent towards Tua, ECM and any form of dice control for the Cymoon ( probably IF! or DTT) or a straight upgrade to an ISD-2 with access to Leading Shots and ECM. Lastly and most importantly, Avenger. Always Avenger. There's no competition for a different title under Sloane, it halves the amount of work you need to do and makes her reliable against ships. A non-Avenger Sloane ISD is

Good luck with the fleet, hope this helps. ?

Thanks for the tips. I need to think through it and see how it looks.

13 hours ago, The Jabbawookie said:

Accuracy generation tech (H9s, HTTs) with Sloane is inefficient; the whole reason she's there is to burn through your opponent's defense tokens.

That's what I said after the game also. LOL!

I revised the fleet per suggestions, tweaked the support ships, and changed out the squadrons to try an experiment I've been wondering about.

https://armada.ryankingston.com/fleet/28139/

Name: ISDII Sloane Defenders + Quasar + 2
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Admiral Sloane

Assault: Advanced Gunnery
Defense: Planetary Ion Cannon
Navigation: Superior Positions

Imperial II (120)
• Admiral Sloane (24)
• Electronic Countermeasures (7)
• Leading Shots (4)
• Avenger (5)
= 160 Points

Quasar Fire I (54)
• Taskmaster Grint (5)
• Boosted Comms (4)
• Pursuant (2)
= 65 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Bomber Command Center (8)
= 31 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Comms Net (2)
= 25 Points

Squadrons:
• JumpMaster 5000 (12)
• Maarek Stele (21)
• 5 x TIE Defender Squadron (80)
= 113 Points

Total Points: 394

So a few comments on your most recent one... With the Quasar setup as it is, it doesn't do anything besides push squadrons. And by switching to an ISD-II, you don't need as many squadrons pushed. One of the things that makes the Quasar great for squads is all of the anti-squad tech you can load on it (and still have it be cheaper than other ships that you can do the same thing to). But if you're not going with that, and you have another pusher, then what's the point?

If we drop the Quasar for a second, you have a 4 squadron ISD-II, and two 2 squadron Gozantis to push 7 squads, and (without touching any other upgrades) 71 points to play with. But as it is, you can add EHB and Grint to your ISD-II and have it push 6 squadrons then. This leaves you with 61 remaining points, which would be enough for a Raider-II or an Arquitens... Or you can further upgrade your ISD-II and/or squadron complement. If we look at upgrading the ISD, we'd add Gunnery Teams or Flight Controllers - it depends on whether you want to make your squadron game more effective or your ISD more effective. I would argue for the Gunnery Teams since your ISD is the only ship shooting. And to that point, I would look at adding XI7 as well. This leaves you with 48 points. With those, I would either add a second JM5K or Jendon. With the second JM5K (for redundant heavy) you have 34 points remaining. That's not enough for another ship, and you're pretty much maxed out as is. So you're left deciding to either drop Comms Net (which means your ISD will be very predictable knowing that it will be pushing squadrons for turn 3/4) or drop some upgrades from the squads/ISDs to add in a ship. I would probably lose the Comms Net Gozanti, and with 61 points add in a (HIE/Dcap) Raider-II (though again, you could do an Arquitens (w/ DTT) if you like those more). Depending on how you play those ships, you might want to consider putting Sloane on that, knowing that you can GTFO without losing everything if your ISD goes down.

But if you wanted to keep the Quasar, I would recommend upping the ante a bit by adding Flight Controllers to it. I would also recommend EHB instead of Grint. With EHB, your squadron value is 5, and you can add a token to activate 6. With Grint, you're still at 4 but you always have a token to make it 5. The difference? Well, the first turn you can stock pile a token, and you have a Comms Net Gozanti who can pass you a token, so you're capable of sustaining 6 that way. I would also put Sloane on the Pursuant instead of the Avenger. Again, your ISD is going to be the main ship presenting itself to get shot while the Pursuant is hanging out in the back, so it's more likely to live.

Defenders are inferior to imperial scatter aces in a Sloane build.

4 hours ago, Khyros said:

If we drop the Quasar for a second, you have a 4 squadron ISD-II, and two 2 squadron Gozantis to push 7 squads, and (without touching any other upgrades) 71 points to play with. But as it is, you can add EHB and Grint to your ISD-II and have it push 6 squadrons then. This leaves you with 61 remaining points, which would be enough for a Raider-II or an Arquitens... Or you can further upgrade your ISD-II and/or squadron complement. If we look at upgrading the ISD, we'd add Gunnery Teams or Flight Controllers - it depends on whether you want to make your squadron game more effective or your ISD more effective.

Or you could drop BCC to fit Gunnery Team and a barebones Demolisher. I wouldn’t put Sloane on Pursuant, because the Quasar dies (and it’s difficult to hang out in the back when you have only one combat ship.) The ISD already needs to be kept alive. Time engagement. Time disengagement. Deploy last and facing only what you can handle. But if I lose a ship as Sloane, it’s usually the Quasar getting nuked down by a couple of Torpedo Hammerheads or TRC90s while the ISD is busy.

4 hours ago, Green Knight said:

Defenders are inferior to imperial scatter aces in a Sloane build.

This is true, but he did say it was an experiment.

12 minutes ago, The Jabbawookie said:

Or you could drop BCC to fit Gunnery Team and a barebones Demolisher. I wouldn’t put Sloane on Pursuant, because the Quasar dies (and it’s difficult to hang out in the back when you have only one combat ship.) The ISD already needs to be kept alive. Time engagement. Time disengagement. Deploy last and facing only what you can handle. But if I lose a ship as Sloane, it’s usually the Quasar getting nuked down by a couple of Torpedo Hammerheads or TRC90s while the ISD is busy.

This is true, but he did say it was an experiment.

I did the same experiment - it was ok, but not as good ?

Tried an ISD Quasar Sloane list at a store champs in Cardiff earlier this year, got tabled 3 times. Only 2 ships to kill and the Quasar is not hard to kill. Personally, I would swap out the 2 Gozantis for a Raider 1 Lifeboat, but that's just my take.

Thanks for the feedback! I’ve been traveling for two weeks and haven’t had time to read or think over the discussion. Hopefully this weekend I can mull over Sloane some more.

On 9/18/2018 at 8:37 AM, Green Knight said:

Defenders are inferior to imperial scatter aces in a Sloane build.

Not if your opponent doesn’t fly squadrons, I don’t think. In that case, scatter and anti-squad don’t matter; 6 Hull keep them alive; and every face of a bomber die does something useful.

On 9/20/2018 at 9:04 AM, Phil B said:

Tried an ISD Quasar Sloane list at a store champs in Cardiff earlier this year, got tabled 3 times. Only 2 ships to kill and the Quasar is not hard to kill. Personally, I would swap out the 2 Gozantis for a Raider 1 Lifeboat, but that's just my take.

This is what happened last game: lean four ship fleet killed my two ships and tabled me. Under previous flotilla rules, I think I could win with this fleet. With new flotilla tabling rules, not sure it’s viable.

1 hour ago, ShoutingMan said:

Not if your opponent doesn’t fly squadrons, I don’t think. In that case, scatter and anti-squad don’t matter; 6 Hull keep them alive; and every face of a bomber die does something useful.

Scatter matters; it keeps aces alive about as well in most squadless circumstances. The defender has slightly higher average damage, but doesn’t really do much more to ships. If you’re in a meta where you often face squadless foes, try squeezing in a Phantom or two. They’re fragile, but the best “bomber” (in role, not keyword) Sloane has and man are they fun.

2 hours ago, ShoutingMan said:

This is what happened last game: lean four ship fleet killed my two ships and tabled me. Under previous flotilla rules, I think I could win with this fleet. With new flotilla tabling rules, not sure it’s viable.

Its why I always look to put a Raider Lifeboat in most lists now.

2 hours ago, ShoutingMan said:

Not if your opponent doesn’t fly squadrons, I don’t think. In that case, scatter and anti-squad don’t matter; 6 Hull keep them alive; and every face of a bomber die does something useful.

If u can guarantee no enemy squads, I'd rather do heavy bomber Thrawn ?

Defenders are ok, but after 50+ games with Sloane I'm solidly in the scatter aces camp.

That's basically what i was seeing: With a fleet of Defenders, it was feeling like I could have gone with a non-Sloane (be it Moff JJ or Thrawn or whomever) to help the shooty-ships and then used the bombers as bombers, maybe with Rhymer (who I haven't really adjusted to since his nerfing).

Against an unknown opponent, I very much like the Aces to stay alive and extricate themselves from other squadrons. But I also hoped the simplicity of Defenders would compensate for the the loss of Ace-ability: managing the special abilities and related placement needs of an ensemble of Aces is a lot more fussiness in the gameplay compared to a handful of identical Defenders.

Raider Lifeboat: I've got two Raiders and want to love them, but their effective use still eludes me. Similarly the Arquiten. That's a separate thread.

I want to play more Sloane; I really enjoy chewing on big ships with little squadrons. But I'm starting to feel that maybe I missed Sloane before I hardly got started with her, because of the Flotilla-tabling FAQ revision.

I confess to often building fleets around wanting to fly a ship versus trying to find the optimal fleet. I bought these toys and I want to play with them. It sort of offends my sensibility that the Quasar might be relegated to the bottom of the toy box because of FFG's struggles with game balance.

But helpful recommendations thoughts. I now want to look at a Sloane revision with Aces and swapping the flotillas for a Raider or Arquiten. I liked using the Quasar with Boosted Comms, but I should re-examine using the ISD as squadron pusher.

On 9/18/2018 at 11:16 AM, Khyros said:

But if you wanted to keep the Quasar, I would recommend upping the ante a bit by adding Flight Controllers to it.

This is where I am with Quasars. If I am taking a Quasar, I am taking Flight Controllers and Expanded Hangars Bays. Being able to activate 5 squadrons with an extra blue die on the attack is just great. You can blow away those that oppose you and then those squadrons can help you gang up on ships.

On 9/29/2018 at 3:44 AM, ShoutingMan said:

Raider Lifeboat: I've got two Raiders and want to love them, but their effective use still eludes me. Similarly the Arquiten. That's a separate thread.

If you have a large portion of your points tied up in Sqns, but just 2 big targets to kill the 46 + points in the 2 Gozantis are good for activation padding, but with the last change, a tabling is a real possibility. Stick Sloane on the cheapest non-flotilla ship and run her away to stay alive, not much catches a speed 4 Raider1 running away.

Even if you lose the Quasar and ISD you can still win or at keeping the loss to a manageable one 5-6 or 4-7 rather than a 1-10 to try to claw back from.

Just my opinion, I have found it to work.

1 hour ago, Phil B said:

If you have a large portion of your points tied up in Sqns, but just 2 big targets to kill the 46 + points in the 2 Gozantis are good for activation padding, but with the last change, a tabling is a real possibility. Stick Sloane on the cheapest non-flotilla ship and run her away to stay alive, not much catches a speed 4 Raider1 running away.

Even if you lose the Quasar and ISD you can still win or at keeping the loss to a manageable one 5-6 or 4-7 rather than a 1-10 to try to claw back from.

Just my opinion, I have found it to work.

I’m not a huge fan of this. It’s spending 44 points somehow freed up in a Sloane fleet, which leads to the question: what are you running? There’s no good way I’ve found to get those points without sacrificing real combat ability, which means while it’s a lot harder to 10-1 you, you’re gonna get 8-3ed more.

16 hours ago, The Jabbawookie said:

I’m not a huge fan of this. It’s spending 44 points somehow freed up in a Sloane fleet, which leads to the question: what are you running? There’s no good way I’ve found to get those points without sacrificing real combat ability, which means while it’s a lot harder to 10-1 you, you’re gonna get 8-3ed more.

I can see it from both sides, yes it's 44 points you could spend on offence, but if you are spending 110+ points on Sqns and 24 on Sloane, even if your 2 big ships die, and Quasars die easily, you still have 68 points on the Raider with Sloane and whatever Sqns are still alive vs what you managed to kill.

Like I said it's my opinion, but it has worked for me, where adding 2 Gozantis for Sqns and padding has been tabled, a lot.

I have brought the Raider around the back to finish off some stragglers as well.

Sloanes Less risk raider
Author: Tackleberry

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 399/400

Commander: Admiral Sloane

Assault Objective: Blockade Run
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions

Quasar Fire I-class Cruiser-Carrier (54 points)
- Flight Commander ( 3 points)
- Flight Controllers ( 6 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
- Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points)
= 72 total ship cost

Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Gunnery Team ( 7 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- X17 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
= 148 total ship cost

[ flagship ] Raider I-Class Corvette (44 points)
- Admiral Sloane ( 24 points)
= 68 total ship cost

1 Colonel Jendon ( 20 points)
1 Maarek Steele ( 21 points)
1 Dengar ( 20 points)
1 Valen Rudor ( 13 points)
1 Ciena Ree ( 17 points)
1 Whisper ( 20 points)
= 111 total squadron cost