I've got to admit, that out of all the characters from the new canon (with the possible exception of Iden Versio) Sloane stands as one of my favorite Imperial characters. So I was dismayed that when she was finally released for Armada, they religated Grand Admiral Rae Sloane, commander of the ISD Ultimatum, then the ISD Vigilance, then the SSD Ravager, and finally the SSD Eclipse, to a mere light carrier commander.

With the coming of the SSD and sector fleet rules, that is something that (thankfully) can finally be rectified. Here is my first test build for a proper Sloane build:

1194/1200 points

(Flagship) Executor II-class Star Dreadnaught "Ravager"
Admiral Sloane
Lira Wessex (Since there was no Adea Rite officer card)
Quad Laser Turrets
Boosted Comms
Quad Battery Turrets
"All Fighters, Follow Me!"

2x ISD II-class Star Destroyers
Quad Laser Turrets

2x VSD-class Star Destroyers
Assault Concussion Missiles

Interictor-class Suppression Refit "Interdictor"
G-8 Experimental Projector
Targeting Scrambler

Morna Kee (Sloane's personal pilot)
6x Tie Fighter Squadron
6x Tie Interceptor Squadron
5x Tie Bomber Squadron
2x Tie Defender Squadron

I guess the first question is: how heavily do you prioritize lore/flavor vs practicality? (e.g. 50/50, 70/30, 100/0.)

In any case, I would have a hard time not adding Ravager , 3 copies of Gunnery Team to the ISDs and SSD, Ordnance Experts for the VSDs, and changing out the G-8 for either of the remaining two retrofits. All of these feel reasonable lore and gameplay-wise.

Beyond that things get kind of murky. For gameplay ECMs and Leading Shots are generally basic ISD necessities, but EWS is an acceptable ECM substitute that literally shows an ISD bridge console. Morna (and TIE bombers, and to a slightly lesser degree generic Interceptors) almost certainly wouldn’t belong in a competitive Sloane fleet, but make perfect thematic sense. Brunson, Kallus, Tua, just about every Imperial TIE ace, Pryce and DCO wouldn’t fit lorewise, but are great in various places here. It depends what you’re going for.

I'm not really one for "competitive" play (as in tournaments) as I've always been a firm believer in there being no "right way" to play a game. Especially when most of the competitive builds I've seen don't even seem to touch the large ships... at that point you might as well be playing X-Wing.

The goal was simply to make a build for a "total annihilation" game centered around getting away from the Sloane/Carrier build and getting her into a proper command ship. I favored the Ravager over the Eclipse, though I suppose either way would work.

The design is pretty straight forward. Use Sloane's strength toward fighter squadrons (though it would have been more fitting to have her strength be in commanding multiple large ships) to absolutely decimate any enemy fighters and clear the way for the unrelenting firepower a fleet of Star Destroyers can bring to bear.

The real challenge now is designing a Ackbar fleet to put up against it. Given that a rebel "super ship" has yet to be revealed, I have a feeling I'll be needing more Mon Cals.

I'll definitely take your suggestions toward 'leading shots' under advisement, though I was also looking at Overload Pulse. I was also debating adding Howlrunner to take more of an advantage of the swarm tactics a SSD, 2 ISDs, and 2 VSDs allow, but decided against it in favor of more squadrons.

7 minutes ago, ElizLestrad said:

I'm not really one for "competitive" play (as in tournaments) as I've always been a firm believer in there being no "right way" to play a game. The goal was simply to make a build for a "total annihilation" game centered around getting away from the Sloane/Carrier build and getting her into a proper command ship. I favored the Ravager over the Eclipse, though I suppose either way would work.

The design is pretty straight forward. Use Sloane's strength toward fighter squadrons (though it would have been more fitting to have her strength be in commanding multiple large ships) to absolutely decimate any enemy fighters and clear the way for the unrelenting firepower a fleet of Star Destroyers can bring to bear.

The real challenge now is designing a Ackbar fleet to put up against it. Given that a rebel "super ship" has yet to be revealed, I have a feeling I'll be needing more Mon Cals.

Thematically I feel they did a good job with Sloane's ability, as she's shown to be adept at coordinating fighters and capital ships to make a cohesive strategy, and that's exactly what she does in-game. As a fellow fan of the Grand Admiral, I want her ability to stand out from the skill set of, say, Motti or Piett. The presence of the Quasar in Sloane builds more reflects the 400-point limit (and to some extent, how good Squall is) than a need for it specifically.

On topic: prioritization of lore. The bombers could go for even more TIEs; they're part of a "balanced" fighter wing or something, but we don't see a single one at Endor, our best on-screen example of a late GCW major engagement. Howlrunner would work wonders and was present at Endor; Soontir Fel and Saber Squadron would fit for similar reasons (though Ciena, Valen and Mauler not so much, sadly.) That about all I've got outside of my previous recommendations... maybe Veteran Captains would be nice for the Interdictor (engineering points) and SSD (to trigger Lira and AFFM?)