Your shuttle is ready and Colonel Jendon is waiting for you, Admiral Sloane.
When I play competitive I get very... competitive. I need to have THE perfect list, so I fret endlessly before settling on something. In the past this has usually meant I don't settle on ANYTHING before the VERY LAST MINUTE. Ending up with something that looks good on paper, but hasn't been playtested properly. I know I'm not alone in doing this.
Last year, however, I actually managed to settle on a list a long time before nationals, play it more than once, and refine both the list and my tactics. I got my inspiration from Tokra (2x German champ) and his Sloane 1+4 list (eventually also German winner list 2017). 1+4 meaning 1 ISD and 4 Gozanti if you didn't know.
My list went through several iterations. Special thanks to rasproteus on the FFG forum/Vassal who suffered more at the hands of Sloane than any other player in history. Here is what I settled on:
Last year, however, I actually managed to settle on a list a long time before nationals, play it more than once, and refine both the list and my tactics. I got my inspiration from Tokra (2x German champ) and his Sloane 1+4 list (eventually also German winner list 2017). 1+4 meaning 1 ISD and 4 Gozanti if you didn't know.
My list went through several iterations. Special thanks to rasproteus on the FFG forum/Vassal who suffered more at the hands of Sloane than any other player in history. Here is what I settled on:
Sloane ISD-2 w/SFO+ECM 8-squad (Nordics 2017)
Author: Green Knight
Faction: Galactic Empire
Fun fact: I went 1st in 3 of 4 games with a 1 pt bid. Twice by die roll (1 would have given me 1st anyway), one was a 400 pt list, and the last guy regretted not giving me 1st :-)
Points: 399/400
Commander: Admiral Sloane
Most Wanted is hands down the best Red objective. Probably still is in w7. Definitely in w6. You pick an exposed enemy ship (or Demo/Admo), then pick it apart with squads for twice the pts.
Fire Lanes might seem risky, but with so much anti-squad no enemy squads will steal your tokens. So it forces the enemy to come to you, or lose. Badly.
Sup Positions gives perfect setup for your ISD. Squad light fleets won't take it. If you meet another squad heavy, they might, in which case you don't usually get tons of points, but still get the better setup.
Fire Lanes might seem risky, but with so much anti-squad no enemy squads will steal your tokens. So it forces the enemy to come to you, or lose. Badly.
Sup Positions gives perfect setup for your ISD. Squad light fleets won't take it. If you meet another squad heavy, they might, in which case you don't usually get tons of points, but still get the better setup.
Assault Objective: Most Wanted
Defense Objective: Fire Lanes
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions
Defense Objective: Fire Lanes
Navigation Objective: Superior Positions
Tokra ran the ISD-I, but I felt the need to go ISD-2 to get that ECM. I also found points for Leading Shots - very useful for making the key shots count - and SFO. The SFO is always useful. Great Slicer protection, but also great flexibility in commands for just 1 point. You can put an Eng or Nav in there between your Squad commands, and either pull it up fast or skip it if you didn't need it. How good is that for 1 pt?
In hindsight I would probably be better served with Gunnery Teams than Flight Controllers. In those matchups I did get at least. There were plenty of times where I had more targets in my front arc than I could shoot at, while getting only 1 or 2 FC strikes with my squadrons. But I guess if I had swapped, then I'd feel the other way around :-)
In hindsight I would probably be better served with Gunnery Teams than Flight Controllers. In those matchups I did get at least. There were plenty of times where I had more targets in my front arc than I could shoot at, while getting only 1 or 2 FC strikes with my squadrons. But I guess if I had swapped, then I'd feel the other way around :-)
[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
- Admiral Sloane ( 24 points)
- Avenger ( 5 points)
- Skilled First Officer ( 1 points)
- Flight Controllers ( 6 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
= 171 total ship cost
- Admiral Sloane ( 24 points)
- Avenger ( 5 points)
- Skilled First Officer ( 1 points)
- Flight Controllers ( 6 points)
- Boosted Comms ( 4 points)
- Electronic Countermeasures ( 7 points)
- Leading Shots ( 4 points)
= 171 total ship cost
You can see my Gozanti are really lean - I'd like a 2nd Comms Net and 1-2 jamming Fields, but alas, no points left over. Could have dropped the SFO and LS on the ISD, but I felt it wasn't worth it.
Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
- Comms Net ( 2 points)
= 25 total ship cost
= 25 total ship cost
Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
= 23 total ship cost
= 23 total ship cost
Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
= 23 total ship cost
= 23 total ship cost
Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
= 23 total ship cost
= 23 total ship cost
My squad mix is 8 ace squadrons. Tokra's list had 10 squads, including 4 TIEs, but no Dengar or Saber. Without an Exp hangar ISD-1 I can't really control that many squads, so I opted for quality over quantity (with Sloane you really want as many blue anti-ship dice as possible, so this was a hard choice). With the ISD-2 I also couldn't afford Chiraneau, so I had to take Dengar, further reducing my blue dice.
The pro Dengar has over Chirry is that you can move full speed, rather than speed 2. And that Intel lets you shoot AT SHIPS, rather then just move around. If you get in close with Avenger and really need to take out an enemy ship despite a screen, that's really important.
The Jendon/Maarek double tap is well known by now. But Jendon pairs so well with Saber and/or Valen for cleaning up enemy squads. Nothing better than killing Shara without her every shooting back. Howl is good here - it’s just at the limit of where she's no longer useful, but between the Swarm squads and the Counter engine, she's still gold.
The weak link is JENDON. If he dies, relay goes away, and only the ISD can effectively control squads (and late game you often want the Gozanti to be doing that). And the list has NO ESCORT! WTF!? The trick is to keep Jendon safely back, while also presenting all the other juicy targets...
Who will you kill first? Jendon, exposing yourself HORRIBLY to even have a shot at it? Maarek, hiding on a rock? Howl and her extra blue dice? Mithel surely, you MUST kill him first? And Dengar must die NOW! Saber too... the only quick kill you can hope for.
The pro Dengar has over Chirry is that you can move full speed, rather than speed 2. And that Intel lets you shoot AT SHIPS, rather then just move around. If you get in close with Avenger and really need to take out an enemy ship despite a screen, that's really important.
The Jendon/Maarek double tap is well known by now. But Jendon pairs so well with Saber and/or Valen for cleaning up enemy squads. Nothing better than killing Shara without her every shooting back. Howl is good here - it’s just at the limit of where she's no longer useful, but between the Swarm squads and the Counter engine, she's still gold.
The weak link is JENDON. If he dies, relay goes away, and only the ISD can effectively control squads (and late game you often want the Gozanti to be doing that). And the list has NO ESCORT! WTF!? The trick is to keep Jendon safely back, while also presenting all the other juicy targets...
Who will you kill first? Jendon, exposing yourself HORRIBLY to even have a shot at it? Maarek, hiding on a rock? Howl and her extra blue dice? Mithel surely, you MUST kill him first? And Dengar must die NOW! Saber too... the only quick kill you can hope for.
1 Colonel Jendon ( 20 points)
1 Maarek Steele ( 21 points)
1 "Howlrunner" ( 16 points)
1 "Mauler" Mithel ( 15 points)
1 Valen Rudor ( 13 points)
1 Ciena Ree ( 17 points)
1 Saber Squadron ( 12 points)
1 Dengar ( 20 points)
1 Maarek Steele ( 21 points)
1 "Howlrunner" ( 16 points)
1 "Mauler" Mithel ( 15 points)
1 Valen Rudor ( 13 points)
1 Ciena Ree ( 17 points)
1 Saber Squadron ( 12 points)
1 Dengar ( 20 points)
Card view link
Fleet created with Armada Warlords
In the end the list did win Nordics, going 4-0 and placing well ahead in points to 2nd place. This final iteration is also undefeated in all other games, both IRL and Vassal.
Looking - and feeling - like shit, but happy!
I'm not claiming it's unbeatable, and w7 may have added some new counters, but it is a very strong list. It has the deployments, the activations, the means to win the squad fight AND bomb the shit out out the opposition, a "stiff spine" in the ISD, and hard-to kill Gozanti that can either fly along the board edges or be blockers as needed.
It's also fun to note that this EXACT squad mix now seems the preferred loadout for many Sloane players, including the Aussie National champ, who ran it with ISD+5 not too long ago.
I think it could continue to do well in w7 too. Unless FFG does something to nerf flots and/or relay there is no reason to suppose otherwise.
It's also fun to note that this EXACT squad mix now seems the preferred loadout for many Sloane players, including the Aussie National champ, who ran it with ISD+5 not too long ago.
I think it could continue to do well in w7 too. Unless FFG does something to nerf flots and/or relay there is no reason to suppose otherwise.
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