I was wondering how often people out there, either those who only play imperial or people who do this when playing imperial, build squads that come in at under 100 points? I do it…. well pretty much all the time. It doesn't seem to impact me negatively either because I've won more games than I've lost, even if the build s only 95-96 points. Anyone else out there do this, or am I the only one who absolutely hates not having Initiative?

You'll see a lot of people around who will "leave points off the table" in a bid to ensure they get initiative. It certainly happens more with Imperial builds although I believe that is because they often have less things to spend a few points on when then have an overwhelming number of ships.

On the flip side of this you will see some player who think that having initiative is a HORRIBLE thing and which that when they have it they could just give it away. Whether you want initiative or not can depend a lot on your skill level and what kind of squadron you are flying. I mean if you have some kind of "mirror match" where you want to unleash a bunch of TL requiring ordnance at R3 you do NOT want initiative because having it means you move up with nothing to lock onto then they move u p and lock onto your ships; oh, you may also get to shoot first but then they get to respond with all of those missiles and torpedoes which are still sitting on your ships as they now start blowing up.

Even if you're playing the Empire I'd caution you about leaving too many points off the table. At 95 points you may be giving up an upgrade that could improve things and still give initiative against most other squad. It is a bit funny how some people stop at 99 points to "win initiative" only get get beat out by those who go with 98 or even 97 points. There does get to be a point when fighting for that initiative is no longer worth the sacrifice you'll take against someone who actually wants to LOSE initiative and thus has his squad filled out to its optimum 100 points.

But that's the thing! True, I'll admit that this sample number isn't enough to offer as real proof, but I've played with a 95 point squad 4 times. I've not yet lost any of those matches. In fact, those ones were usually the games where I "rebeled" it and went with only a few very good ships. Not only have I failed to lose any of those matches, but usually I clean up. Hell, two of the four 95ers were shut-outs. My average build is 97. I was feeling a bit incredulous at these numbers, which is why I decided to poll the audience so to speak.