Vassal Corellian Conflict: Campaign blog, part 2 (the fleets)

Darth Vader, the boarding party version

So now that we've placed our bases and outposts, it's time to reveal our fleets. Prior to this we've discussed a lot of possible fleets, and I'm sure the rebels have too. Be aware that we have an agreement that we won't spam flotillas or otherwise try to abuse activation advantage. Generally speaking we're trying to build fleets that are fun, and maybe a little different, rather than trying to go max competitive. We're not building BAD fleets of course, but we don aim to be different. A little at least.

Imperial Fleets, start of round 1

We individually submitted out ideas. Stuff with Interdictors even. Crazy stuff. Then we talked about them some. After a little back and forth I settled on Vader (initially with Arqs instead of Raiders), Broba ditched boring Motti for Sloane (otherwise I'd taken her) and Ghost... he knew Thrawn was his man all along, but had a couple different ideas.

BrobaFett (GA)

Broba has some different ideas, including one with Motti and a Dictor. Very tanky, but looked boring to me. When I insisted we needed at least one fleet with some squads, and offered to swap to Sloane, Broba stepped up and shouldered the burden. Many aces from the start, which we hope is OK, as he will diversify more later. It is only 7 squads from start, and Dengar is black, so the "Sloane-effect" is somewhat limited. Still, we all know what Slaone can do if left unhindered, so Rebs gotta have a plan for that. That probably means more squads, which will hurt me an Ghost further down the line - we already have poor squads, and I'm sure it will get worse. If it goes south, we'll totally blame it all on our Grand Admiral!

Faction: Galactic Empire 

Points: 399/400

Commander: Admiral Sloane

[ flagship ] Imperial Star Destroyer Kuat Refit (112 points)

-  Admiral Sloane  ( 24  points)

-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points)

= 143 total ship cost

Quasar Fire I-class Cruiser-Carrier (54 points)

-  Flight Controllers  ( 6  points)

= 60 total ship cost

Raider-I Class Corvette (44 points)

-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points)

= 48 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)

-  Comms Net  ( 2  points)

= 25 total ship cost

1 Whisper ( 20 points)

1 Dengar ( 20 points)

1 Maarek Steele ( 21 points)

1 Colonel Jendon ( 20 points)

1 Soontir Fel ( 18 points)

1 "Mauler" Mithel ( 15 points)

1 Black Squadron ( 9 points)

GhostofNobodyInParticular

Ghost was sure about Thrawn from the beginning. He just wasn't sure exactly why fleet. There were some proposals, including a 3x ISD one. Didn't feel that suited the spirit of the campaign well. Once the ISD and GLads get some bling, it can be a good fleet. Very flexible with Thrawn's commands. And with the ISD providing a lot of board control, and very agile Glads. Not sure about squads tho. Ints die so easy, and then you bleed pts or start with onyl 2 hp next game. Meh.

Faction: Galactic Empire
Points: 397/400

Commander: Grand Admiral Thrawn

[ flagship ] Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer (120 points)
-  Grand Admiral Thrawn  ( 32  points)
-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points)
= 159 total ship cost

Gladiator I-Class Star Destroyer (56 points)
-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points)
= 60 total ship cost

Gladiator I-Class Star Destroyer (56 points)
-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points)
= 60 total ship cost

Gladiator I-Class Star Destroyer (56 points)
-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points)
= 60 total ship cost

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

3 TIE Interceptor Squadrons ( 33 points)

Green Knight

Vader. Loved the guy since w2. Took him to regionals back in 2016 (w 3+4). Rerolls failed me miserably, and bloody Aceholes beat me at the top table. I've had that alt art Vader in my shame box ever since. There he has languished... until now. OK, that's a gross exaggeration. I've used him in CC before. At 500 pts he a nice commander. I also placed 2nd in the Vassal WC last year, so he's decent at 400 too. But now, the CYMOON. Or the Devastator Cymoon to be precise. Lovely stuff. Match made in heaven.

So I based the fleet on my Vassal WC 2018 list, but took out the worst cheese. Five activations - total. Only 1 Goz. Some squads. Raiders. A Glad 2. No Intel Officers. It's still going to be a fun list to play, and effective, but it's no longer abusive.

The plan is to pimp the ISD and Demo. Use the raiders for support. Squads are light, but includes Jonus, which should cause quite some threat until he pounces. Probably a good assaulting fleet, but Demo is good on the defense too, and so is the raider 2.

Name: VCC New Vader 400

Faction: Imperial

Commander: Darth Vader

ISD Cymoon 1 Refit (112)

• Darth Vader (36)

• Gunnery Team (7)

= 155 Points

Gladiator II (62)

• Demolisher (10)

= 72 Points

Raider II (48)

• Heavy Ion Emplacements (9)

= 57 Points

Raider I (44)

• External Racks (3)

= 47 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23)

• Comms Net (2)

= 25 Points

Squadrons:

• Lambda Shuttle (15)

• Captain Jonus (16)

• Valen Rudor (13)

= 44 Points

Total Points: 400

Rebel Fleets, start of round 1

Vader's spies have told me the Rebels too went through many different lists before landing on the ones below. Exactly what the alternatives were I don't know. Probably something with Dodonna and Angry Bees and Yavaris. Glad that's not the case :-)

One thing I've noticed is that YT-2400 is suddenly back in numbers. The moment we agree that flotillas are not kosher, the old transport suddenly become the no. 1 Rebel squadron. It really is very, very good still. Interesting to see how a small change can change the "meta" so quickly. VCX is, no surprise really, much more popular than Lambda. In all Rebels have avoided stuff like Biggsball, but have gone with plenty of rogues, strategic, and oc scatter A-wings.

Tokra (GA)

Ackbar Home One. Not a lot of ships you use H1 yet, but 2 TRC platforms should be enough at the start. He probably plans to add another ship. An assault frigate (maybe even Gallant Haven?) or MC30 Scout is my bet. The combination of Ackbar H1, long range TRC and close-in black is pretty devastation to non-ECM ships. Squads are plenty, 110+ points, with lots of rogues. Corran is so cool to see, and with Jan his rogues are plenty tough. This could prove a difficult fleet for all of use, Sloane included.

Faction: Rebel Alliance

Points: 400/400

Commander: Admiral Ackbar

MC30c Scout Frigate (69 points)

-  Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points) 

= 76 total ship cost

[ flagship ] MC80 Command Cruiser (106 points)

-  Admiral Ackbar ( 38 points) 

-  Home One ( 7 points) 

= 151 total ship cost

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)

-  Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points) 

= 51 total ship cost

1 Corran Horn ( 22 points) 

1 Jan Ors ( 19 points) 

4 YT-2400s ( 64 points) 

1 Shara Bey ( 17 points) 

Dr Alex

Like Broba Dr Alex doesn't look like he has a very special fleet. It's a pretty meta-standard Mon Mothma MC30 spam and TRC spam. Only one flotilla, but since the rest of use are activation light, he'll still last-first everyone. But with squishy shrimps he may need to do just that to have a decent fleet - he's facing a lot of black dice, XI7 and/or squadrons. I think that without 6 activations this would be a very sad fleet. Squads are very light ATM. He may have to add some more later. This fleet will be very difficult for us, since we have no fleet with this many activations. We all know how dangerous MC30 are when there are many of them, and last/first.

Faction: Rebel Alliance

Points: 400/400

Commander: Mon Mothma

[ flagship ] MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63 points)

-  Mon Mothma ( 30 points) 

-  Ordnance Experts ( 4 points) 

= 97 total ship cost

MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63 points)

-  Ordnance Experts ( 4 points) 

= 67 total ship cost

MC30c Torpedo Frigate (63 points)

-  Ordnance Experts ( 4 points) 

= 67 total ship cost

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)

-  Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points) 

= 51 total ship cost

CR90 Corvette A (44 points)

-  Turbolaser Reroute Circuits ( 7 points) 

= 51 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)

-  Expanded Hangar Bay ( 5 points) 

= 23 total ship cost

2 VCX-100 Freighters ( 30 points)
2 Z-95 Headhunter Squadrons ( 14 points) 

DarthVeggie

Sato. You don't see him often, so I'm happy he's in the lineup. At 500 pts and with the Ordnance Cruiser he should be very good. And Hammerheads. Love those things. Very nice starting lineup, the MC75 Ord, Salvation, 2 HH and flotilla. Nice selection of squadrons, although 3 VCX is overdoing it more than a little. Probably means a lot of strategic missions. I bet this is going to be a base defense fleet, using the Ion Cannon mission. There is absolutely no use for them, AFAIK, other than good hull. But Y-wings have that too. He could also go Wide Area Barrage, which will cause many problems for us, Sloane especially.

Faction: Rebel Alliance

Points: 400/400

Commander: Commander Sato

[ flagship ] MC75 Ordnance Cruiser (100 points)

-  Commander Sato  ( 32  points) 

= 132 total ship cost

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette (36 points)

-  Task Force Organa  ( 1  points) 

= 37 total ship cost

Nebulon-B Support Refit (51 points)

-  Salvation  ( 7  points) 

= 58 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)

= 18 total ship cost

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette (36 points)

= 36 total ship cost

1 Han Solo ( 26 points) 

1 Tycho Celchu ( 16 points) 

2 YT-2400s ( 32 points)

3 VCX-100 Freighters ( 45 points) 

All in all we have some interesting fleets. Quite varied, and very little cheese. Ackbar is Ackbar and will be boss of red dice. Vader will combine Cymoon reds with close-in attacks. Sloane will clear out enemy squads then hurt things. Mothma's fleet will cut things with TRC, then dash in and blow shit up. Sato will... blow shit up, looking cool and black doing it. Thrawn I think will prove surprisingly good, if he can get his squad game right.

That's all for now scrubs. Stay tuned!