so ive got afew games under my belt, gone crazy and bought a bunch of new ships to expand on my collection and now keen to get into 400 point games. most of the time these fleets are gonna be played between me and my partner so theme has been a driving force but im abit slow when it comes to upgrades. for both fleets ive tried to use everything in my collection bar the victory from the starter, i love the idea of big groups of squadrons zooming around and have been trying to make the fleets balance.

Name: Imperial Fleet
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Moff Jerjerrod

Assault:
Defense:
Navigation:

Arquitens Command Cruiser (59)
• Fighter Coordination Team (3)
• Centicore (3)
= 65 Points

Gladiator I (56)
• Assault Concussion Missiles (7)
• Demolisher (10)
= 73 Points

Imperial II (120)
• Moff Jerjerrod (23)
• Weapons Liaison (3)
• Sensor Team (5)
• Electronic Countermeasures (7)
• Leading Shots (4)
• XX-9 Turbolasers (5)
• Relentless (3)
= 170 Points

Squadrons:
• Howlrunner (16)
• 2 x TIE Fighter Squadron (16)
• Major Rhymer (16)
• TIE Bomber Squadron (9)
• TIE Advanced Squadron (12)
• 2 x TIE Interceptor Squadron (22)
= 91 Points

The imperial fleet was harder to fit everything in , alot of expensive ships

Total Points: 399

Name: Rebel Fleet
Faction: Rebel
Commander: General Dodonna

Assault:
Defense:
Navigation:

CR90 Corvette A (44)
• H9 Turbolasers (8)
• Dodonna's Pride (6)
= 58 Points

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Comms Net (2)
• Boosted Comms (4)
= 24 Points

Nebulon-B Support Refit (51)
• Nav Team (4)
• Slaved Turrets (6)
= 61 Points

MC80 Command Cruiser (106)
• General Dodonna (20)
• Engine Techs (8)
• Redundant Shields (8)
• SW-7 Ion Batteries (5)
• Defiance (5)
= 152 Points

Squadrons:
• Wedge Antilles (19)
• X-wing Squadron (13)
• Tycho Celchu (16)
• A-wing Squadron (11)
• Dutch Vander (16)
• B-wing Squadron (14)
• YT-2400 (16)
= 105 Points

Total Points: 400

the rebels were easier despite having 4 ships. upgrades have never been my strong suit, even in x-wing so any help would be great!

Welcome to 400 point games!

So an important part of making a carrier list is ensuring you have enough ships to command the squadrons you brought. For the Imperial list, the Arquitens and Gladiator are going to want other commands (mainly CF with the occasional repair for the Arq, Nav/CF for the Glad.) Gunnery Team will serve you better than Sensor Team; with eight non-black dice and Leading Shots, generating accuracies and blanks you can't fix are not problems you'll often have (not past long range, anyway.). Maneuvering in for two front arc shots or one plus front arc flak is one of the best parts of running a medium-long range ISD. Rerolls are crucial in this game, and the Gladiator wants Ordnance Experts and ideally Engine Techs, though the MC80 might be using your only copy; I'd pay for at least the OEs by removing the bombers from your wing so it can serve as more of a screen. With no Intel they can't hit ships reliably anyway, but you could add Dengar if you have space. And if you're into carrier fleets, a Quasar and a squadrons II pack are ideal next purchases.

For the Rebel list, H9 Turbolasers may come with the CR90 but they aren't effective on it. You don't do sufficient damage for that accuracy to count for much. Turbolaser Reroute Circuits are ideal, but if you don't have them Dual Turbolaser Turrets work fine (the Arquitens loves them too.) Dodonna's pride works well on a CR90B, which actually wants to close to medium range and is much more likely to trigger the crit. The MC80 would like ECM to put it closer to even footing with the ISD; it's going to be hard to win a straight up fight otherwise. As your main carrier, I would also move the Boosted Comms there, as they get more value. That way the GR75 can feed it nav tokens to trigger Engine Techs with. That one B-wing with no speed buffs is awkward; I would use the points saved so far to upgrade to Jan Ors, who is one of the best squadrons in the game when escorted.

Lastly, you'll want objectives. They balance out the game, as a straight up deathmatch swings in the favor of the first player. Assuming you don't have the Corellian Conflict objectives I'd recommend Opening Salvo, Hyperspace Assault and Intel Sweep for the Empire and Advanced Gunnery, Contested Outpost and Superior Positions for the Rebels. They're far from perfect options, but they'll work. Advise whoever's playing Rebels to fly sideways and avoid being nose to nose with that ISD at all costs.

Good luck, Admiral.

To bounce off what Jabbawookie said but also provide my own take. I try to take only so many squadrons as I have total squadron value. So a Quasar with Expanded Hanger Bays you can have 5 squadrons. But, I wouldnt shy away from an Arquitens because its a solid flank ship, and what I mean by that is you can either use it to provide a good solid ship to either cover a flank or push forward and fire upon an enemy flank. You could also use the Command Crusier varient with Centicore to push 2 squadrons with the ship itself and another 2 through another ship. So you could have a nifty little squadron pusher if you wanted, its not the most optimal, but it does work.