5 hours ago, TallGiraffe said:

Yea but you can’t use Brunson more than once. I think EST is a good option.

You can use Brunson in addition to a regular redirect, though. EST is one or the other.

EST isn't a bad officer, mind you. I just didn't want to talk him up too much before @geek19 adds him to the generic officers. I also prefer him on longer ranged redirect ships like Arquitens where the damage reduction is usually a larger percentage of the incoming total. I'll want more table time with him before adding him to the various ship articles I'm responsible for.

I've been informed that the GenCon data needs to be updated as formulae weren't reading right. I'll have an update by the end of the weekend, AND I'll get everyone who wants to see it a link to the data itself. It's late though, and I just got back from a run, but I'll do everything in my power to get it fixed before Monday morning, so.... check back then!

Also I'll get to a Rebellion in the Rim article soon, too. SOMEONE is making me look like a lazy loaf.

(eats more ice cream, turns on Hilda on Netflix)

I just started, no spoilers please! But I'm working on stuff I swear!

Thanks to Truthiness for fixing the data to grab things correctly. Luckily, there wasn't too much that actually needed fixing. No idea why some of it was running weird, but it's all updated in the article (Toryn and MC75 Ordnances showed up more than I initially thought. No real changes to the article were made).

If anyone wants to SEE the data, here's the link to it all.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1v-Pl_S7CwnUGaImSWViRXSieAMn1CdhJ4vBdJiom9CM/edit?usp=sharing

Now, onwards to some Rebellion in the Rim articles....

First up....

Looking at the data, it seems like two-ship, as a fleet archetype, has been extremely overrated. 9 of the 45 competitors flew two-ship, yet only 1 of them made it into the top 25%.

Rieekan yavaris aces still performing at a high level. Imagine. my. shock.

Honestly two ship heavy squad wings has only become as prominent as it has as an attempt to be an answer to Rieekan yavaris squad balls imo. And as the data shows, still isn’t a match.

The increased usage of rouges is kinda neat though. And it’s nice to see the pelta and interdictor have their moment in the sun.

2-ship SEEMS overrated because everyone who showed up and did well had a plan to fight it. Then many of them got stuck in the mid tables fighting each other.

1 hour ago, geek19 said:

2-ship SEEMS overrated because everyone who showed up and did well had a plan to fight it. Then many of them got stuck in the mid tables fighting each other.

That's just it, though - if all you need to do to beat two is "have a plan" (i.e. "git gud"), then I don't see what all the fuss was about in the first place. There have been no structural changes to the game since two-ship was ascendant; everyone had the same tools back then that they had at GenCon. All of the wailing and gnashing of teeth was due to players not being willing to *adapt* to something new.

6 minutes ago, scipio83 said:

That's just it, though - if all you need to do to beat two is "have a plan" (i.e. "git gud"), then I don't see what all the fuss was about in the first place. There have been no structural changes to the game since two-ship was ascendant; everyone had the same tools back then that they had at GenCon. All of the wailing and gnashing of teeth was due to players not being willing to *adapt* to something new.

There hadn't been structural changes before it was ascendant either, amusingly enough. Some people used to think Pryce was meh. It's a good lesson in humility.

And now, the age of the Garm Pelta looms...

12 minutes ago, scipio83 said:

That's just it, though - if all you need to do to beat two is "have a plan" (i.e. "git gud"), then I don't see what all the fuss was about in the first place. There have been no structural changes to the game since two-ship was ascendant; everyone had the same tools back then that they had at GenCon. All of the wailing and gnashing of teeth was due to players not being willing to *adapt* to something new.

"Having a plan" means generally having a build that gives you the tools to actually execute a meaningful plan. That usually means more squadrons, Rogue squadrons, and/or commanders that help keep those squadrons meaningful to punch back against 2-ship. 2-ship excels at going after fleets with few to no squadrons and we're seeing less of those competitively in part for that reason. Sloane and properly-configured Rieekan aceholes can stop 2-ship fairly well and we're seeing even more of those than we used to. 2-ship is basically a hurdle other fleets need to be able to jump over to make it to the top tables but that means it's a sifter that removes a good number of other fleet archetypes from consideration competitively.

Whether this remains post-SSD and post-RitR, I guess we'll see. But 2-ship in general isn't just a matter of "git gud." It's a matter of "bring a fleet this popular archetype doesn't smash or else don't have a chance, I guess."

4 hours ago, Snipafist said:

"Having a plan" means generally having a build that gives you the tools to actually execute a meaningful plan. That usually means more squadrons, Rogue squadrons, and/or commanders that help keep those squadrons meaningful to punch back against 2-ship. 2-ship excels at going after fleets with few to no squadrons and we're seeing less of those competitively in part for that reason. Sloane and properly-configured Rieekan aceholes can stop 2-ship fairly well and we're seeing even more of those than we used to. 2-ship is basically a hurdle other fleets need to be able to jump over to make it to the top tables but that means it's a sifter that removes a good number of other fleet archetypes from consideration competitively.

Whether this remains post-SSD and post-RitR, I guess we'll see. But 2-ship in general isn't just a matter of "git gud." It's a matter of "bring a fleet this popular archetype doesn't smash or else don't have a chance, I guess."

I would like to repeat this for emphasis. The only “gitting” of “gud” two ship creates a need for happens in the fleetbuilding stage, and it’s not even any “gud”. It’s entirely “Do I crumple if it hit at D5* by the most efficient squadrons in the game, continuously, while the other guy runs away at speed 3? If yes, scrap it and try again”. That’s not healthy, that’s just list gate-keeping. Aceholes had the same effect. That’s not good.

37 minutes ago, GiledPallaeon said:

I would like to repeat this for emphasis. The only “gitting” of “gud” two ship creates a need for happens in the fleetbuilding stage, and it’s not even any “gud”. It’s entirely “Do I crumple if it hit at D5* by the most efficient squadrons in the game, continuously, while the other guy runs away at speed 3? If yes, scrap it and try again”. That’s not healthy, that’s just list gate-keeping. Aceholes had the same effect. That’s not good.

Repeated testing against 2 ship and similar full imperial squad builds is why my fleet ended up where it was. I stripped out many other options to get the Biggs ball in that I needed to survive.

Once that was settled the Dumpster Fire was more or less able to do its thing.

6 minutes ago, shmitty said:

Repeated testing against 2 ship and similar full imperial squad builds is why my fleet ended up where it was. I stripped out many other options to get the Biggs ball in that I needed to survive.

Once that was settled the Dumpster Fire was more or less able to do its thing.

Can attest, in our practice games I was playing heavy Empire squads (2 ship, or Tokras fleet) and giving constructive feedback so he could build a mitigation to what those fleets excels at.
Our final game before GenCon was where he finally was leveraging the power of his fleet and was swinging back at me and beating me.

Ah HA! Finally! The evidence of collusion we all never bothered to consider might be there!

Dammit!

*packs bags*

I've been discovered, time to assume my new identity as *checks card*

Evan Ross?

The Talented Mr. Karneck

"The creature is wanted for a murder he didn't commit. Karneck is believed to be dead. And he must let the world think that he is dead, until he can find a way to control the raging spirit that dwells within him."

https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2019/08/super-star-destroyerstar-dreadnought.html

Come for the lengthy SSD discussion, stay for the space van that saved the Rebellion.

1 hour ago, Snipafist said:

https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2019/08/super-star-destroyerstar-dreadnought.html

Come for the lengthy SSD discussion, stay for the space van that saved the Rebellion.

Thanks, great article!

"Now generally I think ECMs are overhyped as the be-all end-all defensive retrofit (and let me tell you, that is not a popular opinion and that may be an article one day like my similarly contentious opinion that XI7s are not the world's most amazing turbolasers"

What? John did a thing?

https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2019/08/generic-officer-updates.html

1 hour ago, geek19 said:

What? John did a thing?

https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2019/08/generic-officer-updates.html

https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2019/08/john-did-more-updates.html

Can't stop won't stop, Rebel Officers here

32 minutes ago, geek19 said:

https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2019/08/john-did-more-updates.html

Can't stop won't stop, Rebel Officers here

https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2019/08/johns-dropping-articles-like-taylor.html

A third article in one night WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT

11 hours ago, geek19 said:

What? John did a thing?

https://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2019/08/generic-officer-updates.html

"He's pretty phenomenal, especially on anything with a double redirect."

Does this mean his effect and a standard redirect can be used on the same attack? I wasn't assuming so, but then why the above?

14 minutes ago, GhostofNobodyInParticular said:

"He's pretty phenomenal, especially on anything with a double redirect."

Does this mean his effect and a standard redirect can be used on the same attack? I wasn't assuming so, but then why the above?

1. More difficult to pin down two redirects with accuracies

2. You'll use his ability more per game (assuming your ship gets attacked several times per round, such as squadron attacks).

4 hours ago, GhostofNobodyInParticular said:

"He's pretty phenomenal, especially on anything with a double redirect."

Does this mean his effect and a standard redirect can be used on the same attack? I wasn't assuming so, but then why the above?

@Bertie Wooster already covered it, but backing him up: Expert Shield Tech replaces the standard redirect effect (optionally) with his own, but he much prefers double redirects because you can get more total use out of him and it's harder to shut down his redirects. You can't spend one redirect for his effect and another redirect for the regular effect.

I personally think he's ideal on MC30s and Arquitens because that damage mitigation gets great at longer ranges where dice pools are smaller, especially when you've already got an evade. Being able to drop one die altogether and then reduce damage by 1 can result in taking no damage whatsoever (even more annoying with Foresight or Admonition, but you need to decide if it's worth it over Lando). VSDs also love him because they lose out on access to Strat Ad and often some other ship is camping Bruson (extra fun when stacked with 7th Fleet, but that's more a thing for larger games). I don't think it's really worth the cost there, but Hammerheads can often only redirect for 1 damage (as the attack targets the front and the side shields or rear shield are all 1), so he effectively gives you the same benefit there as normal only you don't actually lose any shields.