Hi all. I've had a hard time finding people to play this game with but found out there's a regional near me (less than 5 hours) in January. I probably shouldn't fly anything too finicky but like Star Destroyers and the big Mon Cals. If I can at least give a couple people a run for their money I'll be happy. So I have two ideas here, that depend on some other questions being answered.

First, this one would basically let me reshape the field a bit so I could distract from my own lack of a plan by messing with the other guy's. But, how does grav-shift reroute work with objectives? Can I move a station too? Would this be enough of a bid?

Name: Heavy Lifters
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Grand Admiral Thrawn

Assault: Station Assault
Defense: Fighter Ambush
Navigation:

ISD Cymoon 1 Refit (112)
• Grand Admiral Thrawn (32)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Avenger (5)
= 156 Points

Interdictor Suppression Refit (90)
• G7-X Grav Well Projector (2)
• Grav Shift Reroute (2)
• Overload Pulse (8)
= 102 Points

Quasar Fire I (54)
• Flight Commander (3)
• Stronghold (5)
= 62 Points

Squadrons:
• Howlrunner (16)
• Lambda Shuttle (15)
• 4 x TIE Fighter Squadron (32)
• Black Squadron (9)
= 72 Points

Total Points: 392

The second fleet is just trying to capitalize on Ackbar with 3 elite squadrons whose goal is just to pin down any bombers that might catch me. Ackbar swings around while the MC75 goes in a little more directly.

Name: Untitled Fleet
Faction: Rebel
Commander: Admiral Ackbar

Assault:
Defense:
Navigation:

MC80 Command Cruiser (106)
• Admiral Ackbar (38)
• SW-7 Ion Batteries (5)
= 149 Points

MC75 Armored Cruiser (104)
• Chart Officer (2)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Leading Shots (4)
• Aspiration (3)
= 120 Points

MC30c Scout Frigate (69)
= 69 Points

Squadrons:
• Hera Syndulla (28)
• Shara Bey (17)
• Tycho Celchu (16)
= 61 Points

Total Points: 399

Do any of these have potential? Thanks!

What your bid is depends heavily on your meta. In mine 10 points is enough to be reliable, whereas in others 15 still isn’t.

For the Imperial list:

Fighter Ambush is a poor choice for a pretty small squad ball that doesn’t hit ships reliably even if it survives. On the other side of the spectrum, a carrier list will quickly kill your squads and then score points off it. The real reason to bring a Lambda is Strategic, which lets you abuse Fire Lanes. Less tempting but still very good is Contested Outpost; the Interdictor can drag the station close (yep, always legal) and score points round one. The Quasar is a bit of an over investment for what you’re fielding. Those points would be better spent on two Gozantis and desperately needed rerolls for the Cymoon. Pulsetap (OLP plus Avenger) can work but it’s a somewhat gimmicky and fragile combo. I’d recommend swapping those 13 points into upgrades that just kill them (DCaps and HIEs for the Interdictor, perhaps.). @Darth Sanguis could judge the value of that combo a little better though.

For the Rebel list:

Ditch the MC30 to improve everything else. ECM on the larges, GR75s to pass tokens, etc. In particular, upgrading the Command Cruiser to the much, much angrier Assault Cruiser (for bonus RBD/EWS, Leading Shots to reroll six reds when combo’d with Defiance, XI7s/QBTs, Engine Techs) gives you a perfect reason to bring Advanced Gunnery. If you’re having trouble fitting stuff, say goodbye to Hera. She’s expensive and you can just make a point of throwing Tycho and Shara in at the right time, or commit a flotilla to doing it. If you have extra room, a TRC90 is great with Ackbar. Cheap and throws four red out the sides. For objectives, Fire Lanes or Contested Outpost happen to work well here. Solar Corona is a good, safe choice too.

Good luck!

Thanks this helps a lot! I'd be going to one near San Francisco. Anyway, does one list seem better? With X-wing as my main game, I'm a little afraid of loading up too much on upgrades over getting more ships on the board. If I went for Gozantis, am I taking Comms Net to just pass a couple more concentrate fire tokens to Thrawn? That seems like it's doing less than a ship that can still shoot with a few dice. And just what counts as a small fighter screen? I've got one of everything, doubles of a few ships, and can scare up second flotilla if need be. So maybe go to Imperial 2 with XI7 and drop a Tie to keep the bid?

Name: Untitled Fleet
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Grand Admiral Thrawn

Assault: Station Assault
Defense: Contested Outpost
Navigation: Salvage Run

Imperial II (120)
• Grand Admiral Thrawn (32)
• Taskmaster Grint (5)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• XI7 Turbolasers (6)
• Avenger (5)
= 175 Points

Interdictor Suppression Refit (90)
• G7-X Grav Well Projector (2)
• Grav Shift Reroute (2)
= 94 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Comms Net (2)
• Suppressor (4)
= 29 Points

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

Squadrons:
• Howlrunner (16)
• Lambda Shuttle (15)
• 3 x TIE Fighter Squadron (24)
• Black Squadron (9)
= 64 Points

Total Points: 387

For Rebels, in the one game I did manage to scare up, Hera letting the A-wings get Rogue helped me keep the fighters away from my ships. Similarly, two GR-75s to just pass tokens then and maybe take a generic YT to add another counter to my A-wings? For this one I'm assuming I'll just be First Player on the other fellow's objectives, but I guess I could drop one GR-75 for a crazy bid?

Name: Untitled Fleet
Faction: Rebel
Commander: Admiral Ackbar

Assault: Advanced Gunnery
Defense: Contested Outpost
Navigation: Dangerous Territory

MC80 Assault Cruiser (114)
• Admiral Ackbar (38)
• Strategic Adviser (4)
• Engine Techs (8)
• Electronic Countermeasures (7)
• Ion Cannon Batteries (5)
• XI7 Turbolasers (6)
• Defiance (5)
= 187 Points

MC75 Armored Cruiser (104)
• Chart Officer (2)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Quad Laser Turrets (5)
• Leading Shots (4)
• Aspiration (3)
= 125 Points

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Comms Net (2)
• Bright Hope (2)
= 22 Points

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Comms Net (2)
= 20 Points

Squadrons:
• Shara Bey (17)
• Tycho Celchu (16)
• YT-1300 (13)
= 46 Points

Total Points: 400

Both fleets are headed in a good direction. The Gozantis are there to command the TIEs (they’re one of the most cost-efficient carriers in the game.) The 2 is a smart choice and a little easier to work with than the Cymoon, which needs to be built around.

I like Hera, she’s just very expensive and better with a strong central game plan to get use out of her (e.g. a Sato wing or a crazy rogue murder ball.)

The MC75 and ISD both want ECM, which makes the difference between winning a slugging match between larges and losing it. Few things hurt worse than a foe locking the 75’s single redirect and brace with only two accuracies. The ISD and MC80 both want Leading Shots; only 5 of 8 sides on a red die do damage and they will eventually fail you otherwise. LS also fixes unwanted accuracies on blues.

The GR75s are there to feed the MC80 nav tokens for Engine Techs and repair tokens to boost staying power (ideally with a repair command or two as well.) They’re also a cheap way to push Tycho and Shara.

YTs are a great tar pit if you can keep them where they need to be. Their one flaw is speed.

When you lose the bid, you’ll almost always go second. I don’t know the bid meta in San Francisco, you’ll probably have to get a feel for it over time.

For your imperial list I’d like to see another fighter with swarm to help bring howl runner to full value. I like the escort to protect her as well, but wish it was a bit more survivable. Do you truly want 1st player? As a new player myself I find it easier to have objectives I’m comfortable with as opposed to picking the wrong one for ,y opponent.

Just some inqueries:

1.) Why Black Squadron? It does not benefit from Howly. It has no tokens do defend and only 3 Hull. Let's go through the likely scenarios:

Enemy is squadless: Black Squadron has no advantage over generic TIE.

Enemy has token squadfroce of 2 aces or 3 to 4 generics w/o intel: Black Squadron dies -> either Howlrunner dies or your TIEs die (depending on positioning). Worst case, Black Squadron, Howly and another TIE die in a single activation.

Enemy has token squadforce with intel: Enemy positions his squads outside Black Squadron range 1, inside Howly range 1: Howly dies, no benefit from Black Squadron here and no benefit from Howly for the rest of the engagement.

Enemy has a significant squadforce: Your Squads are just speedbumps. Pray you get some of his before he anihilates yours. If he goes first, he will probably mop them all up first engagement turn.

2.) Why the Lambda? Solely for Strategic for Salvage Run?

You shouldn't split up your small squadforce, so the need of relay comes up in the first place.

My Suggestions for the Squads are:

Go Solar Corona and drop Black Squadron and the Lambda. That frees up 24 points. Enough for 2 Interceptors and +2 on your bid or 3 TIEs even.
Could also just go 2 TIEs and use the remaining 8 points to kit out the dictor with dCaps and Leading Shots.

7 hours ago, The Jabbawookie said:

Pulsetap (OLP plus Avenger) can work but it’s a somewhat gimmicky and fragile combo. I’d recommend swapping those 13 points into upgrades that just kill them (DCaps and HIEs for the Interdictor, perhaps.).

Honestly, I really can't recommend this combo anymore. Pulsetapping had it's merits up to a couple of waves ago, but now, for as difficult as it is to perform, it just doesn't have the punch required to do the job. Too many upgrades that effect activation order, too many upgrades that cancel hits or force rerolls. Especially with the Avenger title nerfed.

I agree with Jabbawookie's assessment, HIEs, D-caps, those will make the interdictor sting.

I just switched it around in my head. The bid is so that I can use my own objectives. So my basic worry is whether one ISD II can kill enough ships, since the Interdictor will get in there, but isn't going to be doing as much shooting, though the capacitors will help.