Played @Hetzen last night.
I took the following:
ISD Kuat, Screed, Strategic Advisor, Gunnery Team (swapped from Ord Experts), ECM, Leading Shots, ACM
GSD1, Intel Officer, Ord Experts, Engine Techs, ACM, Demolisher
GSD1, Intel Officer, Ord Experts, Engine Techs, ACM, Insidious
Gozanti, comms net
Gozanti, comms net
394 points
He had the following (I can't recall all the upgrade cards)
Raider, Sloane, ...
Quasar, .....
Arquitens, Brunson....
Gozanti, Comms Net
Goazanti, Comms Net
Squadrons:
Jendon, Mauler Mithel, Ciena Ree, Marek Steele, Howlrunner, one or two more aces I think and a couple of ordinary tie fighters (maxed out on squadrons!)
Total 397
I chose 1st player and Most Wanted. These ships being my ISD and one of his Gozantis. Hhhhmmmmm....
When I saw Jons fleet I saw perhaps my worst fear - Squadrons, as far as the eye can see, squadrons.
We both deployed quite centrally, my ISD in the middle, flanked by the GSDs with the Gozantis a little behind.
Jon had his Quasar the right of his deployment, Raider behind it heading to his right, a Gozanti, the Squadrons a bit ahead, the Arquitens, with the last Gozanti (and objective ship) behind that heading to his left.
I placed obstacles in the corners, he placed his towards my side of the board.
My combat ships were Speed 3, Gozantis Speed 2 - I need to get up close and personal!
His all were Speed 1. It felt like this was going to be a long hard slog as it would take me a minimum of two turns moving to be able to fire at the ships, but would likely take plenty of shots from the squadrons before that.
And so it proved.
I was able to deal some damage to the Arquitens and cripple the Quasar from the ISD before it died a death from a thousand cuts (the killing blow coming from a Gozanti - Oh the shame LOL!) in turn 3/4 think (if this had been a video game, that would be called kill stealing!)
Fortunately my two GSDs were virtually untouched, and in good positions for Insidious to get a broad side attack on the Arq and close range front arc shot on the MW Gozanti, Demolisher was able to shoot at the Quasar and follow up and fire at the Raider with its second shot after moving.
Upshot was that in the space of a max of 2 turns, the ISD died, but so did the Most Wanted Gozanti (thanks to a very lucky structural damage when Jon decided not to burn an Intel Officered Scatter. The killing blow coming from a GSD bump though!), the Quasar from Demolisher and then the Raider was one shotted with Demolishers second shot after moving. I got the final hull point on the arq with a concentrate fire shot from one of my Gozantis. First shot missed. Second hit. Re-roll it due to Evade, rolled a hit again.
It was then we realised that all that he had left were squadrons and one Gozanti. Game over.
Final score was 423 v 279
In this game luck was very much on my side:
1. I got exactly what I needed to one shot the Raider
2. He was very unlucky getting the structural damage crit effect
3. Even with the benefit of Sloane, and one or two other upgrade cards, there were a couple of bombing runs which should/could have done more damage, so killing the ISD sooner. If it had been killed sooner, then its unlikely I would have got either the Quasar or the Arquitens, as his squadrons would have been all over the GSDs.
4. Getting a hit on a re-roll to kill the arquitens.
@Hetzen was a great oppo to play against and look forward to him playing again, although I suspect karma might be biting me in the backside next time!
The swap from my initial Ord Experts to Gunnery Teams on the ISD also helped in my opinion. I'll keep this tweak even though it reduces the bid.
Played three, won three (even if one was by only 11 points!) with this list. It might be a bit one dimensional (fly fast, get close) but it suits my simplistic mind/style and with no squadrons, my choice of orders on the dials is reduced by 25%.
My son (18) wants to play against this list with a squadron heavy rebel list he has. His bombers could inflict serious damage, but he only has two ships (plus two GR75 flotillas) - A pelta and Assault Frigate, so I need to close quickly. His objectives though are truly awful for my squadronless fleet - Precision Strike (nope), Fighter Ambush (definitely nope), Superior Positions (again nope)....ahhhh..................