Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Vader's Kite Club

If you've been reading this blog long you know that I prefer to not fly directly at my opponent.  More than anything, that is why I tend to play more Rebels than Imperials.  Unitl recently, the Rebels just had more ships where the primary firepower wasn't pointed straight ahead.  However, the release of the Arquitens really changes that.  The Imperials have some fun new options, so it's time to build a fleet to use them.  Let's see how well Vader can fly a kite.




The Arquitens is really a first for the Imperials, a ship with its best firepower as a broadside.  This opens up some cool new tactical opportunities for the Empire.  

Core Ships

Obviously, the Arquitens will be an important ship in this fleet.  I will initially try it with a pair of them.  The Interdictor should work fine as well.  Its firepower is so evenly spread it really doesn't matter where the enemy is.  So, a core of an Interdictor and 2 Arquitens seems solid.

Admiral

With each of my core ships having 4 defense tokens and red dice I am pretty sure Vader is the admiral of choice.  Jerjerrod could work as well, but I think firepower boost from Vader will be welcome.

Support Ships

Two Arquitens and an Interdictor run 198 points, which leaves plenty of room for a support ship or two.  2 Gozantis seems ideal, but I only own one currently.  A Raider would also work.  It doesn't mind kiting too much if used in the AA role.  Let's see if I can make a Raider and a Gozanti work.  It's a bit more than I usually want to spend on ships, but I like the idea of 5 activations.

Upgrades

The first thing I want to look at would be the Arquitens.  Using them to kite makes me think Slaved Turrets will be the way to go.  More red dice for Vader to re-roll.  I really like the Hand of Justice title so one will get that.  Only getting one attack is too bad, but I don't expect to do much double arcing. Ion Cannon Batteries have been awesome on the Interdictor.  For Experimental Upgrades I love Grav Shifts and have to bring those.  Targeting Scramblers may not come up, so maybe try the G8 Projectors and the Interdictor title to see if I can keep ships from closing.

Squadrons 

Captain Jonus would really help out the Arquitens long range shooting.  He wants a Jumpmaster and an escort to do his job.  3 basic TIEs will round that out the squadron compliment.  If I ever get a second Gozanti I can downgrade the Raider to add in more squadrons.

Objectives 

Most Wanted is a no-brainer in a fleet with a naked Gozanti.  The Grav Shift makes Dangerous Territory an easy choice as well.  Planetary Ion Cannon would actually be pretty strong combined with my long range shooting.

Fleet List

Interdictor Supression Refit
  • Darth Vader
  • Interdictor
  • Ion Cannon Batteries
  • Grav Shift Reroute
  • G-8 Experimental Projector

Arquitens Light Cruiser
  • Hand of Justice
  • Slaved Turrets

Arquitens Light Cruiser
  • Slaved Turrets

Raider I

Gozanti 

Captain Jonus
Tie Advanced
Jumpmaster
3x TIE Fighter

Seems solid enough, although the squadron compliment is pretty light.  I imagine after giving it a try I will want to do some tweaking.  What do you think?      

4 comments:

  1. I know the Interdictor fits a theme, but it's slow speed will likely hinder this fleet a lot. The rest of the fleet can pour on speed and recover from a poor deployment, or unforeseen battlefield change, but the Interdictor cannot. I fear this will lead to a very predictable fleet. A Gladiator would be better I think, or a cheap ISD in the place of the Raider and Interdictor. Speed and concentration of fire win games, Interdictors have a hard time contributing in either department.

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    Replies
    1. If you want to keep the theme, engine techs on the Interdictor could really help get it where it needs to be.

      Finding points for Flechette's on the Raider might help with squadrons as well.

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  2. Instigator on the Raider might be useful until you can sub in another Gozanti.

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  3. From a formation stand point how are you intending to fly this fleet?

    ReplyDelete