I was reading the thread about the IF Sato list, and got to thinking about a list I played once upon a time, and tried to tweak it a bit.

I really like the concept of WAB. On a good hit you can kill or cripple nearly any small ship in the game, or wipe out/cripple an annoying ace (Moralo anyone?). Anyway, what do you all think is the viability of this list:

Name: Sato DCWAB
Faction: Rebel
Commander: Commander Sato

Assault: Advanced Gunnery
Defense: Rift Ambush
Navigation: Solar Corona

MC75 Ordnance Cruiser (100)
• Commander Sato (32)
• Bail Organa (7)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Hardend Bulkheads (5)
• Electronic Countermeasures (7)
• Expanded Launchers (13)
• Wide-Area Barrage (2)
• Aspiration (3)
= 173 Points

x3: Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette (36)
• Disposable Capacitors (3)
• Assault Proton Torpedoes (5)
• Task Force Organa (1)
= 135 Points

Squadrons:
• Tycho Celchu (16)
• Shara Bey (17)
• Kanan Jarrus (19)
• Hera Syndulla (28)
• A-wing Squadron (11)
= 91 Points

Total Points: 399

Personally I like ACMs on my Sato lists. I'd swap expanded launchers for external racks to save points and either add an A-wing or drop the one you have for a GR-75 but either way run even numbers of squads. Running without escorts is risky but can be done just don't let them kill Tycho he's the lynchpin of just about any Sato list.

I would like WAB better if it couldn’t be dodged; for example, a self-respecting squadron player will just never put Moralo/Maarek/etc in WAB range.

Otherwise it’s a pretty solid Sato list; Ordnance Experts will carry a lower opportunity cost than TFO, because you’re more likely to have multiple ranged attacks in the same round.

And an SSD is going to cause problems, like most Sato fleets.

I played a somewhat similar fleet, with expanded launchers and WAB, and my experience is that the expanded launchers just don't worth it. I played two games, and haven't been able to fire from my front arc, not once. The enemy did every trick to avoid that front arc. I'd swap it to ex racks, because it gives more flexibility at the cost of less consistent bow section fire and WAB damage.

I played several games since I swapped the expanded launchers, and I haven't regretted it.

On 12/5/2019 at 11:59 PM, sasska said:

I played a somewhat similar fleet, with expanded launchers and WAB, and my experience is that the expanded launchers just don't worth it. I played two games, and haven't been able to fire from my front arc, not once. The enemy did every trick to avoid that front arc. I'd swap it to ex racks, because it gives more flexibility at the cost of less consistent bow section fire and WAB damage.

I played several games since I swapped the expanded launchers, and I haven't regretted it.

I find I average about 1.3-1.75 shots from my front per game, front arc with a MC75 build. I've played a variant of this list in the past and didn't feel like the expanded launchers were a drag over the points I save by doing XRacks. Those times you pull off the second front arc are great, killing two ships in a turn often. But feelings aren't math, so I could be over-estimating the value of that one-in-two to on-in-three games second shot.

On 12/4/2019 at 1:38 PM, The Jabbawookie said:

And an SSD is going to cause problems, like most Sato fleets.

Yeah, SSD is a big problem, but it also casts a very long close-range shadow for WAB, so their transports, likely sticking close for token or repair dispensing, will be toast. I could be reading it wrong, and some things could hurt an SSD better, but I want to be able to hurt all list types equally.

And thanks all for the feedback.

I'm torn between this list, an MC80AC bomber list, and triple-moon JJ list with IF and TEA as my go to list this tournament season.

2 minutes ago, Admiral Theia said:

Yeah, SSD is a big problem, but it also casts a very long close-range shadow for WAB, so their transports, likely sticking close for token or repair dispensing, will be toast. I could be reading it wrong, and some things could hurt an SSD better, but I want to be able to hurt all list types equally.

More triggering it in the first place against DCO that causes problems. Of course, if you can get enough crits in one round and they've decided to pack close together, 2 contains isn't a huge problem; they'll just be able to choose whether to allow a flotilla deletion or APT hits over the course of a round. The con is that repair crews, the build most likely to allow for WAB, encourages them to focus on containing the WAB and healing the faceups off.

(And if they don't have DCO, they're dead meat and deserve what they get. )

Well i put up a similiar list but with 5 activations (additional flotilla and strategic advisor) and different squadron build now i just need to test it. DCO on SSD will quickly burn himself out so no problem with that. I added 2x VCX for strategic and choosen different objectives. The problems i see for the list are the MSU lists since enemy ships will have evades to cancel your dice 😕