Ani wasn't too keen on Tusken Raiders - some players feel the same way against massed squads (and I don't blame them)
I like squads, especially fast, Squall-boosted Imp squads (not a Mona guy), but I've dabbled in Rieekan aces as well.
For example, I've abused this (Green squad) combo many times with Sloane (first with ISD+4, then other configurations):
Squadrons:
• Maarek Stele (21)
• Colonel Jendon (20)
• Dengar (20)
• Ciena Ree (17)
• Howlrunner (16)
• Mauler Mithel (15)
• Valen Rudor (13)
• Saber Squadron (12)
= 134 Points
And my version of Thrawn 2-ship has generally been this (with ISD-II and Squall oc):
Squadrons:
• Colonel Jendon (20)
• Maarek Stele (21)
• TIE Defender Squadron (16)
• Dengar (20)
• Mauler Mithel (15)
• Valen Rudor (13)
• Captain Jonus (16)
• Tempest Squadron (13)
= 134 Points
But for some reason, not everyone enjoys playing these builds. And at the same time they are very tired of running worthless little screens and/or squadless, and getting clubbed by the superior power and flexibility of max imp MJJ-cheese or max rebel zombie aceholes cheese.
But do not despair! Salvation is nigh!
I present to you, the ultimate anti-squad platform: The SSD Assault with the Annihilator title!
SSD Assault Prototype (250)
• Moff Jerjerrod (23)
• Agent Kallus (3)
• Damage Control Officer (5)
• Intel Officer (7)
• Gunnery Team (7)
• Quad Laser Turrets (5)
• Point-Defense Reroute (5)
• Heavy Ion Emplacements (9)
• Leading Shots (4)
• H9 Turbolasers (8)
• Quad Battery Turrets (5)
• Annihilator (8)
= 339 Points
The ASSAULT SSD is costly, but it has Red-Blue anti-squad, which lets it reach out across the board and punish squadrons before they get close (don't get over exited at this point - there are ways to counter it, as anyone who has tried to use a Quasar-II knows). With ANNIHILATOR title you get to reroll 1 die on every fucking anti-squad attack. A die of any color, even the red one at long range. The red is fickle, yes, but the reroll increases average damage from just 0.5 to 0.815.
Just make sure you take obstacles into account. Obstruction will kill that 1 red die, so you want to avoid cluttering up your fields of fire. I was alluding to this above, but I can't stress it enough. 1 red die minus 1 is 0 die and a cancelled attack. The opponent can also shield his squads with his own ships, works just as well, but this isn't without risk when facing an Assault SSD...
Relatedly, try to avoid objectives where the opponent can heal their squads on the station. At the very least make sure it's down in an irrelevant corner. DO NOT LET THE OPPONENT REPEATEDLY HEAL HIS SQUADS ON THE STATION - OR I WILL COME HAUNT YOU!!!
Fast Squall squadrons can oc jump in from beyond red range, but slower rebel squads in particular are susceptible. However, even fast imperial squads will find it hard to evade the flak bubble once they've decided to engage the SSD: It's so tough they have to keep hammering it over several turns to have any hope of breaking it.
The SSD has THREE attacks, and with GUNNERY TEAMS you can always shoot at squads from at least 1 arc, maybe more if you really need to, and still attack enemy ship(s). That's way better than even an ISD-II with Gunnery Teams, which has to give up 50% of anti-ship firepower to shoot at squads. For SSD it's just 33% and it rarely has 3 good ship-shots anyway.
At medium and shorter range, the Red-Blue really shines with the Annihilator title. Even obstruction lets you roll 1 die. If you want to go high-risk red or keep the blue I leave up to you, but with 1 reroll and 1 die, the red has a very slight advantage in average damage (0.75 for the blue, 0.8125 for the red, due to how the hit icons are distributed).
For attacks with both dice, you have LEADING SHOTS as a backup. Roll Red-Blue. Reroll with Annihilator. If dmg still zero, spend the blue to reroll the red again. It is a VERY rare occasion when Annihilator Assault SSD doesn't get at least 1 damage, and it will often get 2, at medium range, and close to 1 on average at long range (if obstruction is avoided).
Which brings us over to QUAD LASER TURRETS. Counter 1 isn't amazing, and is usually run with AGENT KALLUS for extra dice vs squadrons. Let's leave That Guy out of the equation for a moment. Annihilator works on this attack too, making every QLT shot the equivalent of a Toryn-boosted QLT shot. Average damage is up to 0.75 for each counter.
Enter the card I maybe hate the most: POINT-DEFENSE REROUTE. This is hot garbage. Except, possibly, in this build. It works ONLY on CLOSE range, but all squad attacks are now at close range (Rhymer nerf), so not a huge problem. It pushes average counter damage up even more, by letting you reroll the blue crit. If it's an acc, use Annihilator on it first. If it's a crit, use PD Reroute first. It's not quite 0.875 on average, but pretty close if you do it in this order. That's incredibly good for 1 blue die.
PD Reroute also works on your own attacks, so shooting Red-Blue at close, with this and Annihilator... average damage getting dangerously close to 2, without having to spend a die to use Leading shots (only use as insurance in the event you still have 0 damage).
Add expected counter damage to this, and you can expect to have destroyed most generic squadrons after 2-3 attacks mixed with 2-3 counters, depending on their hull (2 attacks + 2 counters is max 8, more commonly 5-6, sometimes just 4, VERY rarely less). Stuff like Y-wings and Decimators can hang in there a bit, but B-wings and X-wings just melt, for example.
This has always been possible, kind of, with other ships. They do not, however, have the toughness required to tank squadrons long enough to wipe them out, nor had access to the quite frankly insanely scary SSD title. And apart from the ISD-I (sucky sucky) do not have 2 Offensive Retrofits. Without Annihilator + PD Reroute, not possible to get consistent damage, and without Red+Blue not good enough "reach". It's too easy to hide from Blue+Black.
Oh, and Yavaris. We hates her forever. She's still a real danger for a SSD, but at least now those B-wings are gone in like a round and half. Gone, without any chance of retreat. Ah, sweet, sweet revenge!
Enter aces: Aces can just go fuck themselves!!!
(there is a REAL chance this SSD could be meta-changing)
With Kallus, if you didn't screw up obstacle placement, you can start ripping them a new one at long range. What color you want to add will vary with your initial roll, but often a blue. It enables Leading Shots - and guarantees that H9 TURBOLASERS can trigger (no scatter for those scatter aces, lol). All the while Annihilator is generating rerolls, so even with just 1 red and a blue, you have good chances of fucking with scatters AND pushing damage through. Every. Single. Round.
Expect squadrons to be hiding behind obstacles/friendly ships until they are ready to attack you... but if that delays their attack even 1 round, you're still ahead. And if a ship is screening squads, chances are its in gunnery range of SSD. Also acceptable.
Once aces get to medium range, it just breaks. With Kallus you do 1 red, 1 blue - and lets say a black. Or maybe another blue. Depends on target and initial roll. With the mix of Annihilator and Leading shots, H9s and INTEL OFFICER, you are equipped to punish any ace, even Ciena Ree.
As they get to attack range, PD Reroute kicks in oc, as does Quad Lasers. Aces that try to attack you, and especially scatter aces, will die in maybe just 1 round of counter/your attacks, or at most 2 attacks and 1 counter, or vice versa. It's just disgusting.
I've put some other upgrades on the SSD as well. They are not anti-squad, but they turn the SSD into an effective anti-ship platform as well. And that's the trick: You're not giving up any ship-killing power. Only Annihilator, Kallus, QLT and PD (21 points). Reroute are anti-squad. The rest works just as well vs ships. Builds that take away combat power for anti-squad have always been a dodgy prospect. The Assault SSD can do both things.
DCO could also stop Norra, I suppose, and Nym, so there is that. IO works just as well on squads as ships. But HIE and Quad Battery is there as anti-ship tech. Jerry can oc be replaced with another commander if you please, but for 23 he's a bargain on the SSD.
For all this power, I think anti-squad is too weak to work 100% on its own. Therefor I would add two squads, for example these two:
Squadrons:
• Ciena Ree (17)
• Mauler Mithel (15)
= 32 Points
Keep them in reserve until needed, then lock down a few squads with Ciena, and have Mauler clean up a blob of damaged squads. If there are no squads, fine, you've used 53 points to ensure your SSD is "safe" from squadrons, and that's acceptable, as you haven't weakened it's anti-ship power.
This even leaves room for this and a 2 point bid (or you can put Vader officer on the Gozanti, works too).
Gozanti Cruisers (23)
• Hondo Ohnaka (2)
• Comms Net (2)
= 27 Points
Of course, now that you are "immune" to squadrons, there is another problem: How does this list WIN GAMES, CONSISTENTLY AND WITH GOOD MOV!?
That's for you to find out. I only know that Ani hates them, and wants to kill em all. And now you can too!
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