I am going to be playing an 800pt battle on Tabletop Simulator, using an SSD and my opponent is bringing two Starhawks.

I haven't ever played with an SSD and would like a couple of suggestions for what complements it at 800pts. Should I be aiming for a cheap SSD and MSU or an Executor II? What works?

This is an interesting question...so in my limited experience of 800 pt games, (approx 20) the 2 big things that matter that are overlooked are deployment/activation advantage and supreme forward firepower - since a good deployment can limit the engagement to a relatively small field and then overwhelm a ship forced into the engagement early.

Since I dont know the exact list your opponent will be playing, I decided to start there, since I am a huge Starhawk fan, and basically built an 800pt list off of my preferred 400pt Unity/134 list. This yielded the following result:

Starhawk Battleship Mark I (140)
• Kyrsta Agate (20)
• Walex Blissex (5)
• Expert Shield Tech (5)
• Local Fire Control (4)
• Flag Bridge (0)
• Leading Shots (4)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
• Unity (10)
• Take Evasive Action! (6)
= 201 Points

Starhawk Battleship Mark I (140)
• Major Derlin (7)
• Expert Shield Tech (5)
• Local Fire Control (4)
• Leading Shots (4)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
• Amity (6)
= 173 Points

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Leia Organa (3)
• Comms Net (2)
= 23 Points

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Comms Net (2)
= 20 Points

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Slicer Tools (7)
• Quantum Storm (1)
= 26 Points

MC80 Battle Cruiser (103)
• Strategic Adviser (4)

• Auxiliary Shields Team (3)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Leading Shots (4)
• H9 Turbolasers (8)
• Quad Turbolaser Cannons (10)
= 136 Points

Nebulon-B Support Refit (51)
• Auxiliary Shields Team (3)
• Linked Turbolaser Towers (7)
• Vanguard (4)
= 65 Points

Squadrons:
• Shara Bey (17)
• Tycho Celchu (16)
• Dash Rendar (24)
• Ketsu Onyo (22)
• Lando Calrissian (23)
• 3 x YT-2400 (48)
= 150 Points

Total Points: 797

2 MK1s, 2 supporting combat ships, 3 auxiliaries for fleet support, 11 deployments, 8 activations, and a full squadron wing.

Based on this, lets look at some weaknesses...the Starhawk is slow, and while it has some redundant defense tokens cant have ECMs, so it's vulnerable to double accuracies or defense tokens being overwhelmed in multiple attacks...the MC80 and Neb-B are similarly vulnerable, but are also weaker and cant take the sustained fire the MK1s can absorb.

So how do we beat this?

More to follow next post...

here's my Imperial response ideas.

Lets start with the basics: I want the SSD to carry the fight and generate damage and double accuracies, so H9/QTC, Ravager, and IF! all get places....then I need to support it's survival, introduce other sources of damage, and stop the Rebel's squadrons...this leads to the following list.

7 Deployments, 6 Activations, 2 main combatants, and 3 Gozantis with 100pts of multi-role rogue squadrons (ideally Bossk, Marek Steele, and the Firespray get through the squad ball and get to bomb ships).

SSD Executor II (411)
• Moff Jerjerrod (23)
• Agent Kallus (3)
• Intel Officer (7)
• Captain Brunson (5)
• Tactical Expert (6)
• Intensify Firepower! (6)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Quad Laser Turrets (5)
• Leading Shots (4)
• H9 Turbolasers (8)
• Quad Turbolaser Cannons (10)
• Ravager (4)
= 499 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Darth Vader (1)
• Comms Net (2)
= 26 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Repair Crews (4)
= 27 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Slicer Tools (7)
• Suppressor (4)
= 34 Points

Interdictor Suppression Refit (90)
• Taskmaster Grint (5)
• Projection Experts (6)
• Disposable Capacitors (3)
• Targeting Scrambler (5)
• Grav Shift Reroute (2)
• SW-7 Ion Batteries (5)
• Interdictor (3)
= 119 Points

Squadrons:
• Bossk (23)
• Zertik Strom (15)
• Tel Trevura (17)
• Maarek Stele (21)
• Firespray-31 (18)
= 94 Points

Total Points: 799

Alternatively, I can distribute the firepower a bit more by using an Assault Proto:

9 Deployments, 8 Activations, more distributed firepower with the addition of the Cymoon and a bit better squadron ball since Jendon can double tap someone.

SSD Assault Prototype (250)
• Moff Jerjerrod (23)
• Agent Kallus (3)
• Intel Officer (7)
• Captain Brunson (5)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Quad Laser Turrets (5)
• Leading Shots (4)
• H9 Turbolasers (8)
• Quad Turbolaser Cannons (10)
• Ravager (4)
= 326 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Darth Vader (1)
• Comms Net (2)
= 26 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Repair Crews (4)
= 27 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Slicer Tools (7)
• Suppressor (4)
= 34 Points

Interdictor Suppression Refit (90)
• Taskmaster Grint (5)
• Projection Experts (6)
• Disposable Capacitors (3)
• Targeting Scrambler (5)
• Grav Shift Reroute (2)
• SW-7 Ion Batteries (5)
• Interdictor (3)
= 119 Points

ISD Cymoon 1 Refit (112)
• Strategic Adviser (4)
• Intensify Firepower! (6)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Quad Turbolaser Cannons (10)
• H9 Turbolasers (8)
• Avenger (5)
= 152 Points

Squadrons:
• Bossk (23)
• Zertik Strom (15)
• Tel Trevura (17)
• Maarek Stele (21)
• Firespray-31 (18)
• Colonel Jendon (20)
= 114 Points

Total Points: 798

Some really interesting thoughts there, thanks. I had been trying to build a fleet around the fleet commands, relying on maneuver dials and Take Evasive Action to provide me with the steering the SSD needs, but maybe Jerjerrod is the answer. I was trying to use Vader, Romodi or Thrawn. (Briefly Tarkin before I gave up).

Do you think the Interdictor is an essential inclusion? .I had been putting an Onager in.

The Onager will have better damage output, the Interdictor is mainly for shield repair in support of the SSD, and hangs back to block/finish flankers. So it depends on your priorities - higher initial damage, or longer survivability for the SSD or Cymoon.

As a note with the SSD, I would look to deploy it at an angle, where one of the side arcs can also get used in the initial round of shooting...also, I would aim for it to be the last activation of round 1.

If I ran SSD/Onager/Interdictor am I relying too heavily on the SSD to absorb the weight of the enemy attack?

You could go all ships to destroy their ships quickly:

SSD Assault Prototype (250)
• Moff Jerjerrod (23)
• Agent Kallus (3)
• Intel Officer (7)
• Captain Brunson (5)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Leading Shots (4)
• Quad Turbolaser Cannons (10)
• H9 Turbolasers (8)
• Ravager (4)
= 321 Points

Onager Testbed (96)
• Admiral Ozzel (2)
• Veteran Gunners (5)
• Ordnance Experts (4)
• Orbital Bombardment Particle Cannons (5)
• Cataclysm (5)
= 117 Points

Interdictor Suppression Refit (90)
• Taskmaster Grint (5)
• Projection Experts (6)
• Disposable Capacitors (3)
• Targeting Scrambler (5)
• Grav Shift Reroute (2)
• SW-7 Ion Batteries (5)
• Interdictor (3)
= 119 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Darth Vader (1)
• Comms Net (2)
= 26 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Hondo Ohnaka (2)
• Repair Crews (4)
= 29 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Admiral Titus (2)
• Slicer Tools (7)
• Suppressor (4)
= 36 Points

ISD Cymoon 1 Refit (112)
• Strategic Adviser (4)
• Intensify Firepower! (6)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Quad Turbolaser Cannons (10)
• H9 Turbolasers (8)
= 147 Points

Squadrons:
= 0 Points

Total Points: 795

I suggest:

Name: Untitled Fleet
Faction: Imperial
Commander: Moff Jerjerrod

Assault: Surprise Attack
Defense: Asteroid Tactics
Navigation: Dangerous Territory

SSD Executor I (381)
• Moff Jerjerrod (23)
• Agent Kallus (3)
• Damage Control Officer (5)
• Support Officer (4)
• Wulff Yularen (7)
• Intensify Firepower! (6)
• Shields to Maximum! (6)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Quad Laser Turrets (5)
• Leading Shots (4)
• XI7 Turbolasers (6)
• Ravager (4)
= 461 Points

Arquitens Command Cruiser (59)
• Projection Experts (6)
= 65 Points

Arquitens Command Cruiser (59)
• Projection Experts (6)
= 65 Points

Arquitens Command Cruiser (59)
• Projection Experts (6)
= 65 Points

Arquitens Command Cruiser (59)
• Projection Experts (6)
= 65 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Repair Crews (4)
= 27 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Repair Crews (4)
= 27 Points

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

Squadrons:
= 0 Points

Total Points: 800

It’s a great plan and nothing can go wrong.

I've played Armada sober and drunk, and I think I'd have as much success with that list drunk as sober.