Been tinkering around with this list lately and looking for more thoughts. Trying to see what can be done with the SCBT upgrade as most seem to be ignoring it. Thanks in advance.

I think the onager would be better off with the other superweapon upgrade.

The other one has longer range and a better crit effect (the extra damage from the crit effect on the composite beam turbo lasers can be taken on whichever hull zone(s) the defender chooses, and basically legitimises the shields in other hull zones that your xi7's have paid good points to bypass), and is cheaper.

I wouldn't tell you to remove the xi7's (why would I?: xi7's are great), but as long as you're using them you might as well use the "orbital bombardment particle beam cannons"? I think... still struggling to remember precise card names on some of this new stuff.

Other than that, no complaints - it's double cymoon, except one of them is an onager. Looks strong.

3 hours ago, namdoolb said:

I think the onager would be better off with the other superweapon upgrade.

The other one has longer range and a better crit effect (the extra damage from the crit effect on the composite beam turbo lasers can be taken on whichever hull zone(s) the defender chooses, and basically legitimises the shields in other hull zones that your xi7's have paid good points to bypass), and is cheaper.

I wouldn't tell you to remove the xi7's (why would I?: xi7's are great), but as long as you're using them you might as well use the "orbital bombardment particle beam cannons"? I think... still struggling to remember precise card names on some of this new stuff.

Other than that, no complaints - it's double cymoon, except one of them is an onager. Looks strong.

I totally misread SCBT and didnt realize that it worked that way. So thanks for pointing that out, in which case switching to the other like you pointed out is one option. I was also considering perhaps removing Xi7's from the onager in order to put on XX-9s (which could for once be interesting) or alternatively H9's.

On 2/12/2020 at 4:35 AM, theprism09 said:

I totally misread SCBT and didnt realize that it worked that way. So thanks for pointing that out, in which case switching to the other like you pointed out is one option. I was also considering perhaps removing Xi7's from the onager in order to put on XX-9s (which could for once be interesting) or alternatively

You already have Gunnery Chief Varnillian for "that accuracy" and, in my opinion, the Critics of the Super Weapons are the best option, I would prefer X17.

Also, I would replace Sunder with Cataclysm, and put Hondo on the Gozanti for turn One shot.

I've also created a Vader Onager list, but I ditched squadrons entirely and added a Gozanti with Slicer Tools for the extra activation and to mess with my opponent's command dials -- especially useful against the Starhawk or SSD.

@theprism09 I understand why you chose the Ciena Rae and Valen Rudor squadron duo. If you're only taking 2 squadrons, those two together have the greatest survivability. Kudos! However, I saw that you equipped Strategic Adviser on the Onager, therefore you obviously care about your activations. So why not take a second flotilla instead for the extra activation? You're more likely to be able to last-first with the Onager's special arc with 5 activations than 4, especially if you're facing a Starhawk build.

Also, Fire-Control Team isn't worthwhile IMO. I know it will allow you to resolve crits for both Sunder and SCBTs during the same attack, but Sunder must be discarded, which will also make FCT be a single-use card.

IMO Gunnery Team is a better choice for the Onager Star Destroyer. You'll also probably get more usage of Gunnery Chief Varnillion with Gunnery Team because, in case you didn't know, the Onager's special arc counts as a front arc shot, so your second attack can't target a ship in your front arc unless you use Gunnery Team. The Onager's front arc is so wide that it's more likely you'll need to fire from the front arc with your second shot than the sides.

Keep in mind that both superweapons can affect a hull zone of the defender’s choosing, making the combo with XI7s lackluster (though I don’t believe in building too hard around either crit anyway.)

QBTs or for once even HTTs might be worth a look, either for more damage or to force tough choices from that large attack pool (does a Neb evade at extreme range or brace? Should an SSD contain? Etc.)

1 hour ago, Reavern said:

I've also created a Vader Onager list, but I ditched squadrons entirely and added a Gozanti with Slicer Tools for the extra activation and to mess with my opponent's command dials -- especially useful against the Starhawk or SSD.

@theprism09 I understand why you chose the Ciena Rae and Valen Rudor squadron duo. If you're only taking 2 squadrons, those two together have the greatest survivability. Kudos! However, I saw that you equipped Strategic Adviser on the Onager, therefore you obviously care about your activations. So why not take a second flotilla instead for the extra activation? You're more likely to be able to last-first with the Onager's special arc with 5 activations than 4, especially if you're facing a Starhawk build.

Also, Fire-Control Team isn't worthwhile IMO. I know it will allow you to resolve crits for both Sunder and SCBTs during the same attack, but Sunder must be discarded, which will also make FCT be a single-use card.

IMO Gunnery Team is a better choice for the Onager Star Destroyer. You'll also probably get more usage of Gunnery Chief Varnillion with Gunnery Team because, in case you didn't know, the Onager's special arc counts as a front arc shot, so your second attack can't target a ship in your front arc unless you use Gunnery Team. The Onager's front arc is so wide that it's more likely you'll need to fire from the front arc with your second shot than the sides.

I was actually aware of the interaction with the Gunnery Teams, and had been going back and forth on if I want them or not. Ive found that the front arcs shot is rather lackluster as well and you cant get the double ignition anyway. I like The FCT due to just how cheap it is, as well as not only the Sunder plus SCBT activation but also later allowing the standard crit effect to trigger as well but I can see your point. I had also been going back and forth on if I should just take the extra activation with the Gozanti and seeing as it seems like you have some experience with it its likely Ill do exactly that.

52 minutes ago, The Jabbawookie said:

Keep in mind that both superweapons can affect a hull zone of the defender’s choosing, making the combo with XI7s lackluster (though I don’t believe in building too hard around either crit anyway.)

QBTs or for once even HTTs might be worth a look, either for more damage or to force tough choices from that large attack pool (does a Neb evade at extreme range or brace? Should an SSD contain? Etc.)

I had given that some thought recently as well, and actually had made a version of the list that includes HTTs. Taking everything everyone has said into account, as well as a ton of tinkering around on my point the last has changed quite a bit.

Points: 398/400

Commander: Darth Vader (com)

Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Contested Outpost
Navigation Objective: Doomed Station

Onager-class Star Destroyer (110 points)
- Sunder ( 10 points)
- Minister Tua ( 2 points)
- Gunnery Chief Varnillian ( 6 points)
- Weapons Battery Techs ( 5 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- Heavy Turbolaser Turrets ( 6 points)
- Superheavy Composite Beam Turbolasers ( 7 points)
= 153 total ship cost

[ flagship ] Imperial Star Destroyer Cymoon 1 Refit (112 points)
- Darth Vader (com) ( 36 points)
- Avenger ( 5 points)
- Reeva Demesne ( 4 points)
- Local Fire Control ( 4 points)
- Proximity Mines ( 4 points)
- Spinal Armament ( 9 points)
- XI7 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
- Intensify Firepower! ( 6 points)
= 186 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
- Comms Net ( 2 points)
= 25 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
- Suppressor ( 4 points)
- Slicer Tools ( 7 points)
= 34 total ship cost

2 hours ago, theprism09 said:

[ flagship ] Imperial Star Destroyer Cymoon 1 Refit (112 points)
- Darth Vader (com) ( 36 points)
- Avenger ( 5 points)
- Reeva Demesne ( 4 points)
- Local Fire Control ( 4 points)
- Proximity Mines ( 4 points)
- Spinal Armament ( 9 points)
- XI7 Turbolasers ( 6 points)
- Intensify Firepower! ( 6 points)
= 186 total ship cost

I'm pleased that someone else sees the value of putting Reeva Demesne on an ISD when paired with an Onager. IMO she's better than Kyrsta Agate (Officer) because she triggers every time the ship is targeted for an attack (as long as that hull zone has shields), so she's ideal for defending against squadron spam.

You might want to consider Shields to Maximum instead of Intensify Firepower so you can use Reeva Demesne again, because with just 1 shield is enough to keep Redirecting damage and readying with Reeva. And/or queue up Repair commands for rounds 4-6.

I'm surprised that you dropped Strategic Adviser and chose Tua instead, because by dropping your squadrons for another Goz you gained an extra activation but you're back to 4 without SA. If your goal is to last-first with the Onager, I definitely think you need 5 activations. It's very difficult to get more than 4 activations AND have a competitive initiative bid with the Starhawk, so you have a great chance to last-first with 5 activations. And a 4 activation Starhawk build will probably have few, if any, squadrons, which is why I omitted squadrons from my Vader Onager build.

If Vader is your Commander, I don't think it's necessary to equip the Onager SD with Varnillian AND Weapons Battery Techs. You'd have to roll terribly twice (or more) to need to use Varnillian and WBTs. The odds of needing WBTs are fairly low IMO because there's only a 1/8th chance for a red Accuracy; the odds of rolling blue Accuracy's are the same as blue Crits (1/4); you're most likely the roll blue Hits (1/2) so WBTs won't help; WBTs are useless for black dice; and you probably want one Accuracy anyway to stop a Redirect, Evade, or Scatter.

Consider this: As 1st player, you have to set a red die to a blank face on Varnillian's card at the start, so she's no help for your first attack if you choose to use SCBTs' Crit ability. However, you're most likely going to choose Sunder for your first attack (against a ship), and Sunder's ability is triggered by blue or black Crits, so Varnillian doesn't help anyway. If you happen to roll a red Crit for your Sunder attack, you should swap it for Varnillian's red blank so you can use that red Crit for your next Ignition attack.

With SCBTs, you need a red Crit to initiate the Crit chain and Varnillian is the best help you can get for that. Vader is a close second, and as your 36-point Commander you'd better use him. And the Goz with Comms Net can give the Onager a CF token for a single reroll. Odds are that WBTs will provide little value to you. If you weren't using Vader, then I'd say take WBTs.

However, Screed is the best choice for both of the Onager's super weapons and both versions of the Onager because you'll roll 3-4 red dice and Screed can spend one to change another to a red Crit and trigger SCBTs' Crit chain effect. Only rare combinations of obstructed shots, Evades, and Mon Mothma's (Commander) ability could thwart Creed's crit ability with the Onager SD. That's why I've created a few Screed Onager builds -- although I haven't had the opportunity to test them yet.

14 minutes ago, Reavern said:

If Vader is your Commander, I don't think it's necessary to equip the Onager SD with Varnillian AND Weapons Battery Techs. You'd have to roll terribly twice (or more) to need to use Varnillian and WBTs. The odds of needing WBTs are fairly low IMO because there's only a 1/8th chance for a red Accuracy; the odds of rolling blue Accuracy's are the same as blue Crits (1/4); you're most likely the roll blue Hits (1/2) so WBTs won't help; WBTs are useless for black dice; and you probably want one Accuracy anyway to stop a Redirect, Evade, or Scatter.

Wbt's are probably a step too far, but varnillian/Vader is just too good not to run.

Vader's reroll means you have an almost unprecedented ability to make blanks on velma simply disappear with little to no opportunity cost in terms of damage. Plus her actual dice fixing is really powerful. You can use her to drop a black dice into the pool, before you add the confire dial, then reroll with Vader to smooth out the results, even on shots where you'd normally just be rolling reds. & that's if you aren't using her to smooth out your number of accuracies (also obscenely good at).

Tldr: Vader doesn't obsolete her, he complements her almost perfectly

29 minutes ago, namdoolb said:

Wbt's are probably a step too far, but varnillian/Vader is just too good not to run.

Vader's reroll means you have an almost unprecedented ability to make blanks on velma simply disappear with little to no opportunity cost in terms of damage. Plus her actual dice fixing is really powerful. You can use her to drop a black dice into the pool, before you add the confire dial, then reroll with Vader to smooth out the results, even on shots where you'd normally just be rolling reds. & that's if you aren't using her to smooth out your number of accuracies (also obscenely good at).

Tldr: Vader doesn't obsolete her, he complements her almost perfectly

I thought I was clear that the WBTs were the unnecessary third wheel. Vader and Varnillian are the best power couple in Armada.

I actually dropped SA as in my local meta being at 5 activations is usually a weird spot. Most people are 4 or below, or at 6 or more through msu. What would you suggest running besides WBT? Furthermore I've also noticed how crazy Reeva can get and she goes great with Vader, I love the idea of switching to shields to maximum.

3 hours ago, theprism09 said:

I actually dropped SA as in my local meta being at 5 activations is usually a weird spot. Most people are 4 or below, or at 6 or more through msu. What would you suggest running besides WBT? Furthermore I've also noticed how crazy Reeva can get and she goes great with Vader, I love the idea of switching to shields to maximum.

Ok, you know your local META better than I do. I designed my Onager builds with 5 activations because, since Wave 8 was released, my friends and opponents have been using Starhawks, SSDs, and Onagers with 4 or less activations.

As I recc'd earlier, I'd suggest Gunnery Team for your 2nd Weapons Team slot instead of WBT because the Onager's front arc is so wide, odds are you'll want to shoot twice from the front, possibly at incoming squadrons.

I see you changed to Advanced Gunnery as your Assault obj, but if you're going for 1st player you'd be choosing from your opponent's 3 obj cards. If you equip GT then Adv'd Gunnery is no help because your GT will override its effect -- but AG would help your ISD-CR since you chose Local Fire Control.

If you don't want GT because you want to gamble on getting Adv'd Gunnery then I suggest you put Fire-Control Team back on, because you were right before: With FCT you can resolve SCBTs' Crit ability and the standard face-up damage card. And FCT will allow Sunder and SCBT to be used during the same attack.

For some of my Vader Onager builds, I don't bother with a 2nd Weapons Team because Vader and Varnillian have it covered; and I'm gambling being able to choose Adv'd Gunnery because, recently, opponents want Adv'd Gunnery too.

9 hours ago, Reavern said:

I thought I was clear that the WBTs were the unnecessary third wheel. Vader and Varnillian are the best power couple in Armada.

Move over, Padamame or Panda Bear or whatever her name was.

I did debate about posting this up here (rather than in it's own topic), but decided at the end of the day that it's close enough to the OP's list that it probably doesn't belong in it's own topic. It was in development before theprism09 posted his list up, but he beat me to the punch with the finished list...

Commence primary ignition (30/387/400)

======================================
Imperial II-class Star Destroyer (120 + 69: 189)
+ Darth Vader (36)
+ Strategic Adviser (4)
+ Gunnery Team (7)
+ Electronic Countermeasures (7)
+ Quad Battery Turrets (5)
+ Chimaera (4)
+ Intensify Firepower! (6)
Onager-class Star Destroyer (110 + 31: 141)
+ Intel Officer (7)
+ Gunnery Chief Varnillian (6)
+ H9 Turbolasers (8)
+ Orbital Bombardment Particle Cannons (5)
+ Cataclysm (5)
Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 + 4: 27)
+ Hondo Ohnaka (2)
+ Comms Net (2)
Ciena Ree (17)
Valen Rudor (13)

Opening Salvo

Contested outpost

Volatile Deposits

Very similar M.O. to theprism's list: Onager picks the enemy apart at long range, ISD murders anything that tries to rush the onager.

Did manage to get a game in with it yesterday - very positive result, but will need to send it in against a more seasoned opponent to test it properly:

My opponent for the day knew they were facing some kind of an onager list (I haven't exactly been quiet about wanting to test its full capabilities) and brought Rebel Msu (only 4 ships though) with moderate/heavy squadron backup.
There was a Pelta, with Dodonna, a CR90, a Neb, and an MC30. don't remember the specific upgrades, but a lot of it was crit-focussed. Squads were Hera, Shara, Luke & a YT2400.

I won the bid & chose 2nd player, opponent chose my opening salvo objective.

First deployment was the CR90, way out on my left flank at speed 3. I dropped the ISD at speed 1. Front & slightly to the left of center.

Second down was the Pelta; also off to my left but not quite as far. far enough though that the ISD would have trouble catching it. So I dropped the Onager opposite the Pelta at speed 1.

This made my opponent revise his deployment plans, and the MC30 & the Neb went down on my far right at high speed. I deployed the Gozanti's on the right flank of the ISD.

His fighters went down as a screen in front of the Pelta, and mine deployed more or less opposite them.

Turn 1 was mostly positioning, with only 1 shot. Start of ship phase I used Hondo to claim a CF token for Onager & Nav for my ISD. Then used Cataclysm to drop my targeting beacon.

CR90 sped off on a wide arc around my left flank, Neb & MC30 charged straight at my right flank, Pelta tried to avoid my targeting beacon, but couldn't help blundering into long range of it. ISD & gozanti turned right to face the Neb & MC30.

Onager opened up on the Pelta. Between the opening Salvo adding black and the other dice mods, we ended up with 7 damage & 1 accuracy. accuracy locked down the evade, and intel officer targeted the brace. He chose to spend the brace to avoid a face up card, and I applied the superweapon crit, splashing 1 damage onto luke (the only target in range 1). Severely depleted shields, but nothing through to hull. Onager continued at speed 1, turned to lead it's target & dropped a new beacon; this time a lot closer.

Turn 2 Still no major combat; Neb & MC30 continue to advance on the right (MC30 caught at long range of the ISD, takes a good shot but advanced projectors spreads all the damage around). CR90 continues it's flank (opponent realises he may have sent it a little too wide) Pelta gets caught at medium range of the beacon & suffers major damage, escaping death by only a single damage point. Squadrons get into combat. Cienna/Valen are no match for the rebel squads, but do a good job of delaying them.

Turn 3 Opponent activates Pelta first: Takes an inconsequential shot at the front of the Onager, then slips past it's superweapon arc. Next activation was Gozanti (started the turn in kill range of the MC30); took it's shot, did some decent shield damage, didn't get clear. CR90 goes next, still not in the fight. SA next, forcing the MC30 to act.

MC30 obliterates the Gozanti, drops some shield damage on the ISD, then parks itself in ISD's side arc at close range (didn't really have anywhere else to go)

Onager goes next, Finishing the Pelta with it's front arc & making a long range side shot onto the MC30 (evaded) before turning back towards the center (CR90 is not catchable at this point)

Next is Neb, which shoots into ISD front arc, forcing me to redirect & drain the side shields.

ISD retaliates, Finishing off the MC30, and weakening the Neb

The Rebel squadrons finish off mine, and set up shop in the ISD's side arc, causing some minor damage.

Turn 4

Neb activates first, and unloads into the ISD's front. We're able to tank the damage and redirect it off to the other side.

ISD goes next, Finishing the Neb, and flaking the squads (nothing killed, but we were getting close after the damage done in the squadron fight).

CR90 is still not in range to shoot anything, but moves up all the same.

Onager takes a shot at CR90 from the side & rear arcs, and heavily depletes its shields before moving out of range.

Squads do a little more damage to the ISD, but it's not in any danger.

We called the game at this point, as the CR90 couldn't really engage either ship on it's own & the rebel squads were suffering some quite heavy damage at this point; they were more likely to die to flak than finish off the ISD.

We didn't tally points at this time, but the rebel player took about 140ish points off me (objective gives him half on the ISD because he put damage cards on it) VS 250~275(ish) as my score (as of turn 4; had we played the last two turns I would have scored a few more points)

@namdoolb

Good to hear I'm not alone, I'm curious as to if you found the Squadrons to be worth the investment in the end as its something I've gone back and forth on. I was also curious as to if you ended up being happy with having the bombardment cannon over SCBTs. Thanks for the bat rep though as its info like that which helps shape lists.

I have gone back & forth on the bombardment cannons vs SCBT's a few times in list building. I'm actually running an Onager with SCBT's in a RITR campaign I'm doing at the moment.

My current feeling on them is that neither crit effect is particularly powerful: You very rarely catch much in range of the bombardment cannons, & the extra damage from the SCBT's is pretty much mitigated by the opponent being able to spread it around whichever hull zones they choose. With the crit effects removed, all that remains is the ignition range; which makes it an easy choice for me.
Maybe someone will figure a build that can get enough damage out of SCBT's to make them worth it, but I haven't found one yet.

I've not tried it without squadrons, to be honest I'd be a little afraid to go completely squadronless. If I wasn't running Squadrons, then I'd probably have a 2nd gozanti, maybe with slicer tools. Might give that a try when I have chance. If I do I'll report back.

I'll be trying out Squadronless with a slicer tools gozanti in a night or two so I'll make sure to report in.

On the topic of SCBTs their is an argument that the extra damage although spread can make a huge difference against some targets and weakens enemy redirects over the course of the game. I guess the trade off is the extra shots you might due to range, or if you can just get more value/damage out of the harder hitting weapon.

I recently tested out my Vader Onager build against 3 of my friends' Wave 8 builds.

FYI: We agreed beforehand that we had to include at least one Wave 8 ship in our fleet builds, because we wanted to gain experience with them, so I knew I'd be dealing with a Starhawk or Onager.

Vader ISD2-Devastator & OnagerSD-Cataclysm-SCBT

Imperial II (120)
• Darth Vader (36)
• Reeva Demesne (4)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams (6)
• Electronic Countermeasures (7)
• Ion Cannon Batteries (5)
• Heavy Fire Zone (4)
• Devastator (10)
= 199 Points

Onager Star Destroyer (110)
• Strategic Adviser (4)
• Gunnery Chief Varnillian (6)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
• Superheavy Composite Beam Turbolasers (7)
• Cataclysm (5)
= 139 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Slicer Tools (7)
= 30 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Comms Net (2)
= 25 Points

Squadrons:
= 0 Points

Total Points: 393

Assault: Rift Assault
Defense: Rift Ambush
Navigation: Infested Fields

----------------------------------------------

My build's strategy is that Vader provides rerolls, the ISD2 tanks with ECM and deals extra damage with Devastator, the Onager uses Cataclysm to aim and fire SCTB every turn, and the two Gozanti's provide support and activation advantage.

Admittedly, this build is intended to be competitive against a Wave 8 build and wouldn't be as effective against old school builds, especially squadron-heavy builds.

The ISD2's ECM protects its Brace and Reeva Demesne readies it for a second use each round. Ion Cannon Batteries are intended to discard a Starhawk's Nav token or an Onager's CF or Nav tokens. ICB and Slicer Tools are intended to counter a Starhawk's MCTBA super weapon by forcing it to discard a Nav token or changing a Nav dial to prevent it from changing speed. This can be used to: a) Prevent a Starhawk from dropping to speed 0 and using its MCTBA to freeze one of my ships; or b) Trap a Starhawk at speed 0 by changing its Nav dial and forcing it to discard Nav tokens. ICB and Slicer Tools are also effective against an Onager with the Rakehell title: ST can change its Nav dial to spoil its 0-speed maneuver and ICB can discard a Nav token to prevent it from speeding up from 0.

With 5 activations and a competitive initiative bid (for a Wave 8 build), I have a good chance of being 1st player and to last-first with my Onager or flagship. This should allow me to move at least 1 ship away from an opposing Onager's Ignition token. If Concord freezes one of my ships, I can use a Nav token to speed up to 1 either on my 5th activation or 1st activation of the next round. The combination of ICB and Slicer Tools should trap the Concord at speed 0, which will prevent it from readying MCTBA. Since the Starhawk is a 4 Command ship, it could potentially be trapped at speed 0 for the remainder of the match.

----------------------------------------------

Bat Rep 1: Agate Amity Yavaris Bombers build.

Starhawk Battleship Mark I (140)
• Kyrsta Agate (20)
• Walex Blissex (5)
• Strategic Adviser (4)
• Caitken and Shollan (6)
• Heavy Ion Emplacements (9)
• Spinal Armament (9)
• Amity (6)
= 199 Points

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57)
• Wedge Antilles (4)
• Auxiliary Shields Team (3)
• Heavy Fire Zone (4)
• Yavaris (5)
= 73 Points

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Toryn Farr (7)
• Bomber Command Center (8)
• Bright Hope (2)
= 35 Points

Squadrons:
• Luke Skywalker (20)
• Jan Ors (19)
• 2 x B-wing Squadron (28)
• 2 x X-wing Squadron (26)
= 93 Points

Total Points: 400

Assault: Precision Strike
Defense: Fighter Ambush
Navigation: Superior Positions

I was 1st player and chose Precision Strike. I used Onager to bombard Starhawk 1st turn, then switched target to Yavaris and destroyed it during Round 3. I used flagship's Phylon Q7 Tractor Beam to slow Amity, but only delayed ram until Round 4. I originally tried to evade with flagship but would've been rammed on side and couldn't use Devastator, so I turned back in and took it head-on. Devastator and Cataclysm destroyed Amity beginning of Round 5. GR-75 didn't matter because Opponent was tabled before bombers could inflict significant damage. VICTORY.

----------------------------------------------

Bat Rep 2: Romodi Rakehell Interdictor build.

Onager Testbed (96)
• General Romodi (20)
• Director Krennic (8)
• Gunnery Chief Varnillian (6)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Orbital Bombardment Particle Cannons (5)
• Rakehell (4)
= 143 Points

Interdictor Suppression Refit (90)
• Reeva Demesne (4)
• Disposable Capacitors (3)
• G-8 Experimental Projector (8)
• G7-X Grav Well Projector (2)
• Heavy Ion Emplacements (9)
• Interdictor (3)
= 119 Points

Arquitens Light Cruiser (54)
• Intel Officer (7)
• Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
= 68 Points

Arquitens Light Cruiser (54)
• Intel Officer (7)
• Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
= 68 Points

Total Points: 398

Assault: Advanced Gunnery
Defense: Asteroid Tactics
Navigation: Infested Fields

I was 1st player and chose Advanced Gunnery rather than chose an Objective that gave Romodi an obvious advantage -- which was Opponent's plan to get Advanced Gunnery as 2nd player. Opp placed grav well token on left side of DZ, opposite of where Rakehell would be deployed. Opp deployed Arqs on right side. I deployed flagship on right side at speed 3 and had just enough room to deploy Cataclysm on rear-left of DZ by angling ship to avoid the grav well token. Opp deployed Onager TB last, speed 0, and aimed at my Onager SD.

I started by turning Cataclysm at speed 2 toward OTB. Fortunately, Rakehell couldn't fire on Round 1. Instead of rushing through the obstacles to attack the Interdictor head-on, I turned my flagship right on Round 1 and then made a wide left turn Rounds 2-3 to avoid obstacles and approached Rakehell through Opp's DZ. I used Phylon Q7 to slow down one Arq and destroyed it on 1st activation of Round 3. Opp's second Arq depleted my flagship's right and rear shields, but it couldn't turn around to pursue ISD2 because of poor maneuverability. Opp's Interdictor used G-8 to slow my flagship and Disposable Capacitors and HIE during Round 3. Interdictor nearly one-shoted my Goz-ST with DC, but it Evaded 1 blue hit and survived. Goz-ST changed Rakehell's next top dial (for Round 4) to Squadron Command to prevent speed-0 turn or increasing speed. Opp's OTB bombarded my OSD Rounds 2-3 and depleted its front shields and inflicted 2 damage; suffered Injured Crew and discarded Redirect token. The OTB was a stationary target so I didn't need to use CF token to re-position Ignition token during Round 3; bombarded OTB at long range and reduced its front shields to 2. Start of Round 4, Cataclysm used CF token to bombard OTB at medium range, depleted its front shields, and dealt 3 face-down damage cards. My OSD turned at speed 2 to escape the OTB's Special Battery arc and aimed at Interdictor. My flagship used tractor beam to slow Int to speed 1, exchanged long range fire, and was slowed again by G-8. Opp's Arq was out-of-range of flagship, collided with asteroid field while turning, and suffered face-up damage card: Ruptured Engine. Rakehell attacked Goz-ST with 2 red dice from side arc, but Scattered; Rakehell couldn't move. Goz-ST changed OTB's next dial to SC again; I didn't dare attack the OTB because of its Salvo so I the moved Goz-ST into its rear arc. In Round 5, Rakehell rolled a blue Accuracy (twice!) to block Scatter and destroyed Goz-ST with a red hit. During Rounds 5 & 6, my OSD bombarded Interdictor and destroyed it, and my flagship attacked Rakehell and destroyed it. Opp's Arq suffered 1 damage per round from of Ruptured Engine and ended with 2 hull remaining. VICTORY.

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Battle Rep 3: Dodonna Concord Squadrons build.

Starhawk Battleship Mark I (140)
• General Dodonna (20)
• Kyrsta Agate (5)
• Strategic Adviser (4)
• Caitken and Shollan (6)
• Heavy Ion Emplacements (9)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
• Magnite Crystal Tractor Beam Array (10)
• Concord (12)
= 213 Points

MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63)
• Intel Officer (7)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Assault Concussion Missiles (7)
• Turbolaser Reroute Circuits (7)
• Foresight (8)
= 96 Points

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Toryn Farr (7)
• Bomber Command Center (8)
• Expanded Hangar Bay (5)
• Bright Hope (2)
= 40 Points

Squadrons:
• Luke Skywalker (20)
• Norra Wexley (17)
• Gold Squadron (12)
= 49 Points

Total Points: 398

Assault: Surprise Attack
Defense: Fleet Ambush
Navigation: Superior Positions

I chose 1st player and I selected Fleet Ambush. I deployed my Gozanti's in the ambush zone, my flagship slightly right of middle, and Onager on right side flagship, aimed diagonally left toward middle of enemy's DZ. My opponent deployed GR-75 middle, Starhawk opposite my flagship, and MC30 far left.

During my first two activations, I got both Gozanti's out of harm's way and Scattered a long range shot from the Starhawk. I used a CF token to fire Cataclysm's SCBT at long range of Starhawk: Vader's rerolls only provided a red Accuracy and a red Hit; since blocking Brace was pointless, I chose to swap the Accuracy for Varnillian's red Blank. At the end of Cataclysm's activation, I placed the Ignition token to the Starhawk's front-left.

During Round 2, after I activated Goz-CN and passed CF token to Cataclysm, my Opp made a critical mistake by activating his MC30 next. I activated Cataclysm, moved the Ignition token, and took an opportunistic Special Battery shot on the GR-75 at medium range. With Vader rerolls and Varnillian's red Accuracy, I blocked both defense tokens and inflicted 6 damage to one-shot the GR-75. (My opponent admitted that my ploy of placing the Ignition Token next to the Starhawk worked: He assumed that I would continue targeting his Starhawk.) After that, the big ships exchanged fire each Round until the Starhawk was destroyed in Round 4 by a close range Ignition attack from Cataclysm. The Opp's MC30 flanked my flagship and broadsided its rear arc in Round 4; IO'd my Brace and ACM took 3 shields. I chose to Brace anyway to reduce to 3 Hits, Redirected 1, and suffered 2 face-down damage cards. My Goz-CN Scattered the MC30's front arc attack. The Opp's squadrons were minimally effective without the GR-75 to activate them. I used my flagship's Heavy Fire Zone and OSD's Linked Turbolaser Towers to kill Gold Squadron and nearly killed Luke and Norra Wexley. The MC30 was travelling too fast to turn and attacked my OSD's rear arc at medium range; IO’d Brace, Redirected 1, rear shield depleted, no hull damage. I Salvo-ed but inflicted little damage because of Foresight. At the end of Round 5, we called the game because his MC30 was speeding out of range of my ships and his squadrons would probably die during Round 6. VICTORY.

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In conclusion, I was very pleased with my Vader Onager fleet build's performance. The Onager Star Destroyer with Superheavy Composite Beam Turbolasers is incredibly powerful at close-med range and Cataclysm is a must for "shooting from the hip". Vader was the MVP thanks to his rerolls, and Varnillian was runner-up with superb dice swaps during pivotal attacks. Reeva Demesne helped against bomber spam, but she didn't "save the day" like I hoped she would. My flagship was rarely attacked by a ship more than once per Round and needed to Brace twice. I believe adding the Phylon Q7 Tractor Beam to my ISD2 was a wise choice because it disrupted my opponents' ship speeds, especially when the Starhawks tried to charge in at speed 2. (I had a mini-debate with my friends about how the ISD2 shouldn't be able to use Tractor Beam against a Starhawk because the battleship is larger than an ISD -- but they're both large ships, so the ISD can.)

I realized that my 0-squadron build was vulnerable to squadron spam, but the Onager's Special Battery attacks are deadly to squadron-pushing small ships, like the GR-75 and Yavaris, which stranded the squadrons without Squadron Commands. With an Onager on the table, squadron-heavy builds need a large ship to serve as a squadron-activating heavy carrier. The Starhawk looks intimidating, but its non-combat "super weapon" is ineffective and the battleship can be double-teamed by two large ships, especially if one is an Onager.

Since I wasn't defeated, I plan on letting my friends design new lists and test how my Vader Onager build fares when my opponents know what to expect, and they aren't obligated to bring a Wave 8 ship next time.

On 2/16/2020 at 5:14 AM, Reavern said:

I'm pleased that someone else sees the value of putting Reeva Demesne on an ISD when paired with an Onager. IMO she's better than Kyrsta Agate (Officer) because she triggers every time the ship is targeted for an attack (as long as that hull zone has shields), so she's ideal for defending against squadron spam.

You might want to consider Shields to Maximum instead of Intensify Firepower so you can use Reeva Demesne again, because with just 1 shield is enough to keep Redirecting damage and readying with Reeva. And/or queue up Repair commands

I would like Reeva more of she didn't exhaust.

1 minute ago, ThatAsianKid1 said:

I would like Reeva more of she didn't exhaust.

Yes, I originally overlooked that Reeva exhausted, so I wrongly over-hyped her power.

Admittedly, I overlooked that Kyrsta Agate (officer) exhausts too.

The "exhaust" qualifier often gets me.

9 minutes ago, Reavern said:

Yes, I originally overlooked that Reeva exhausted, so I wrongly over-hyped her power.

Admittedly, I overlooked that Kyrsta Agate (officer) exhausts too.

The "exhaust" qualifier often gets me.

I still like Reeva though. I had fun using her to squeeze in some extra salvo shots or TRC goodness.