Hey all! Just thought I'd throw this one into the ether to see what people think. Feel free to leave constructive criticism and suggestions, thanks!

Name: TARKIN BOMBERS 5.2
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Grand Moff Tarkin

Assault:
Defense:
Navigation:

Imperial I (110)
• Grand Moff Tarkin (38)
• Strategic Adviser (4)
• Reserve Hangar Deck (3)
• Sovereign (4)
= 159 Points

Arquitens Light Cruiser (54)
• Centicore (3)
= 57 Points

Arquitens Light Cruiser (54)
= 54 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Bomber Command Center (8)
= 31 Points

Squadrons:
• Gamma Squadron (10)
• Major Rhymer (16)
• Tempest Squadron (13)
• 2 x Lambda Shuttle (30)
• 2 x TIE Bomber Squadron (18)
• JumpMaster 5000 (12)
= 99 Points

Total Points: 400

Hey there!

I'm so happy to see Tarkin getting some love! That said, here's where I'm at: I think that Tarkin is the wrong commander for this particular build. I've got a couple of thoughts to share in no particular order (beyond starting with why that's my assessment of Tarkin's fit into this fleet), but please take them all with a grain of salt! I say this because I've only had so much success competitively, plus, you should fly what you want! First and foremost, always, you should fly what you want. Winning is fun, but I know I personally have no interest in competing in a game with a fleet that I don't enjoy flying.

• I adore Tarkin. He's my commander of choice for this particular tournament cycle. But his expense is bonkers, so you really need to be able to maximize his ability in order for his 38 points to be worth it. So why have you chosen Tarkin? By my count, you have enough squadron command ability without handing out squadron tokens, right? So he doesn't help you push squads any better, despite squads being your focus. Here are two really good reads, in my opinion, as to why you do or do not choose Tarkin:
  • http://cannotgetyourshipout.blogspot.com/2017/02/imperial-commander-review-grand-moff.html (maximize those tokens! If you waste beyond a certain threshold, then you'd have been better off with a different commander)
  • http://www.steelstrategy.com/2019/08/how-to-build-dumpster-fire-ballad-of.html (big takeaway: shmitty knew exactly what each of Garm's tokens were going to do on each ship every. time. It's applicable to Tarkin because you need to know which Tarkin tokens you're handing out, and why)
  • Bottom line? If you're going to splurge on a commander, I think you should do it for a specific reason. If it's because you love Tarkin, then great! Go for it! But you mention going into tourneys with this fleet, which is why I stress this point.
• Based on what you've posted, I'd be very worried about being at the mercy of your red and black dice. If they're hot, then you're in great shape! If they're cold, then you're in a ton of trouble! If they're average then...you're fine? Maybe? But if I saw an Imp I and two Arqs without any dice control, I would not be afraid of running at those ships at all, and I'd do my best to torch all of them. Also, the Arqs don't really contribute to pushing squadrons, so if they close at all in order to help push those bombers, they're super vulnerable. So I'd either look at investing in dice control for your ships, or consider changing up your ship choices.
• I'm all about using Tarkin to throw bombers, but I'm worried that those bombers are going to get locked down by squadrons and very slowly be torn apart. You've got one source of Intel to make enemy squadrons Heavy, but no Escort beyond Tempest (who I love! But will die quickly to sustained squadron fire). So once I torch the 4 hull points of the Jumpmaster and 5 hull points of Tempest (neither of which have defense tokens with which to protect themselves), your bombers are all forced to dogfight, and none of them are good at it. If you're going to build a bomber ball, I think you'll need balance between your bombers and the squadrons that will escort them in. This is another situation wherein I think it's worth checking out CannotGetYourShip and SteelStrategy out in order to see some good ideas for how to build an effective Imperial bomber ball. I've never flown an Imperial bomber ball (my Tarkin squadron game currently consists only of IG-88 and Hondo!), so I don't have a lot of great insight here. Just some theories, but no experience or experimentation.

I'm thrilled you're a fellow Tarkin enthusiast, and I hope you keep flying him! If some of my thoughts were helpful, then great! If they weren't, but inspired you to think of some other notions, great! If they weren't helpful at all, then feel free to ignore them Good luck with whatever tournaments you decide to attend!