Jammers Nonsense and Fleet Building Emporium

Element games Action Over Alderaan Flee:

Hello all, it's been two weeks since I returned from the big event held element games where I got the chance to meet many of the new and old players in our community since the pandemic began. It was an utter delight to see everyone again and to make new friends.

I am fortunate that my character is so amiable given the list that I was flying was "frustrating". Double oranges are formidable. Particularly when combined with sufficient deployment advantage to avoid unnecessary danger and optimum tactical advantage.

This list went undefeated winning all five games with big margins.

Day one:

R1: 8/3 - my opponent also had a 12 point bid, won the coin toss, and chose to go second. I picked advanced gunnery. I lost two transports and my flagship.

R2: 10/1 - I won the bid and we played infested fields. I tabled my opponents without losing any ships.

R3: 10/1 - I won the bid and we played astroid tactics. I tabled my opponents without losing any ships.

I placed first with 28 strong points and the margin of 901. I only ships in my first game.

Day two top cut:

R1: 10/1 my opponent did not get s chance to attack my ships.

R2: 10/1 I lost one transport and cataclysm, though I tabled my opponent and scored 90 points from ion storm.

Onagers have certainly changed the matter in the community. Some say for worse, some say for the better. I happen to think it's neither, Onagers are good ships, but not the best. Crucially, they are only as good as the players using them. The only list that could rise to the level of 'toxic' is 'Slonagger', in my opinion, though it is beatable. Below is the list I've included the list below as well as reflections on how to beat it.

Name: MCRN Donnager Faction: Imperial Commander: General Romodi

Assault: Ion Storm Defense: Asteroid Tactics Navigation: Infested Fields

Gozanti Cruisers (23) • Hondo Ohnaka (2) • Comms Net (2) = 27 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23) • Darth Vader (1) • Munitions Resupply (3) = 27 Points

Onager Testbed (96) • General Romodi (20) • Admiral Titus (2) • Veteran Gunners (5) • Ordnance Experts (4) • Orbital Bombardment Particle Cannons (5) • Rakehell (4) = 136 Points

Onager Testbed (96) • Intel Officer (7) • Gunnery Chief Varnillian (6) • Veteran Gunners (5) • Orbital Bombardment Particle Cannons (5) • Cataclysm (5) = 124 Points

Squadrons: • 5 x TIE Bomber Squadron (45) • Valen Rudor (13) • 2 x TIE Fighter Squadron (16) = 74 Points

Total Points: 388

Reflections:

Onagers are easily beatable. In round one, my opponent bit the bullet and charged in headfirst. It is unfortunate that advanced gunnery was in his objectives because that helped me enormously.

All of my other opponents reacted to cataclysm by slowing, turning away or deploying in suboptimal positions.

My single biggest piece of advice is this: Deploy As You Would Normally and Fly Headfirst In!

Once you close the distance an Onager will collapse. Its damage mitigation defence suite is one brace and one redirect without ECM (unless Tua is onboard, but that's suboptimal, Onagers live because other ships are dead, not due to good use of its brace. If Tua is on board, then Intel officer/Grint/Vanto et cet are not. Almost any other officer is better at helping you destroy enemy ships. You can easily overload it in one attack, or if you have some mechanism to guarantee an accuracy, then even better. Either way the Onager will likely fold in two turns.

If you have MSU, don't mess around trying to avoid the shots. Lose two of your ships and let the others get close. Any good Onager player bids for second for two reasons:

First; they normally run Romodi or Slone. These admirals are heavily objective-based. Romodi needs to gain the benefit of obstruction (hence why I can place all the obstacles in two of my objectives and control the movement of them in the other as well as the ability to place additional obstacles [exogorths])

Sloan wants your ships to close or for you to launch the Alpha strike against their fighters so they can counter-attack and win the battle. In my experience, it is not the player who Alpha strikes with fighters who wins the squad battle. Once the Alpha goes in, a good player waiting for it will have their fighters covered by the Flack bubble from their ships and/or have their best pieces waiting to jump (i.e. Mauler/Wedge/Anakin/CIS have terrible fighters). If you are flying squadless, Sloan wants your ships to get closer to overload the tokens and cause maximum damage from the Onager.

Second: Onagers like to set traps. It's better to have overlapping fields of fire whilst forcing your opponents to make tough choices. More often than not, my opponents made the wrong choice, they turned away and tried to avoid my firing arcs. If you're running a speed two big ship (i.e. Starhawk/MC80) then it has to grit its teeth and weather the storm. If you're running a speed three big ship, then you will take one shot but avoid most, if not all of the others. I recommend Plotting Nav commands for turns 1&2 (possible 3, context matters) then confire/squads once you close to distance 1/outflank them.

I hope this helps because a number of players are anxious when it comes to fighting Onagers. However, and I cannot stress this enough, they are only as good as the players using them, the same is true of your ships.

I like the look of the second list, more probably because I only have one Assault Frigate. I’d fell out of love with the Starhawk after getting my Separatists but might dust it off again based on this list

Salvo Lark 3

Okay I kind of completely forgot this website existed, but now I'm back.

Since I last posted I have experimented with my salvo themed fleets. What I have found is that hawk and two potatoes is surprisingly durable, though removing flak guns and adding LTT's was extremely important. What will follow will be two lists based around that idea with a brief description about how they work.

First list is to Assault Frigate MK2 and Hawk Battleship. I have intentionally omitted the objectives because I intend to take this list to a few tournaments. Though experienced players will probably be able to hazard a guess at what those objectives are.

Assault Frigate Mk2 A (81) • General Draven (3) • Reactive Gunnery (4) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) = 95 Points

Assault Frigate Mk2 A (81) • Ezra Bridger (3) • Reactive Gunnery (4) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) = 95 Points

Starhawk Battleship Mark II (150) • Kyrsta Agate (20) • Expert Shield Tech (5) • Chart Officer (2) • Local Fire Control (4) • Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams (6) • Leading Shots (6) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • Unity (10) = 210 Points

This list has been surprisingly effective against Sloane and Slonnager. The combination of LTT and Draven tends to do an average of 2 to 3 pointer damage per interceptor. I have yet to stress-test against a fleet with TIE phantoms, though the combined flak from all three ships coupled with salvos should be enough to take the sting out of any fighter ball. I would like to have Walex to gain an extra token, though I am aware Sam S's double interdictor and Onager list is out there. So Chart officer and Ezra take the sting out of that list. Also, chart officer can be crucial when the star hawk needs to flee or take up an offensive position on top of an obstacle(s). My next list is far deadlier in my opinion. It is one Assault Frigate, one Starhawk and a Pelta. though I do miss having a second fast attack ship.

Assault Frigate Mk2 A (81) • General Draven (3) • Ordnance Experts (4) • Quad Laser Turrets (5) • Reactive Gunnery (4) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • Paragon (5) = 109 Points

Starhawk Battleship Mark II (150) • Kyrsta Agate (20) • Walex Blissex (5) • Chart Officer (2) • Local Fire Control (4) • Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams (6) • Leading Shots (6) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • Unity (10) = 210 Points

Pelta Assault Ship (56) • Toryn Farr (7) • Medical Team (1) • Intensify Firepower! (6) • External Racks (4) • Phoenix Home (3) • Ezra Bridger (3) = 80 Points

Squadrons: = 0 Points

Total Points: 399

I have only flown this list once against Leia MSU with slicers, X 5 A-wings (including Tycho and Shara) and Lando. Walex was a blessing, he let me recover my salvo which enabled me to keep gunning ships down on the approach. Paragon was also extremely helpful because it acted as a deterrence. My opponents didn't want to risk triggering paragon through allowing me to salvo. I feel the combination of Quad Laser Turrets and Draven also dissuades opportunistic players from going for a cheap and easy kill and ignoring the Hawk.

I would love to hear your comments on these lists and let me know if you choose to use them!

If you left Flak Guns off, would Toryn Farr work better on your blue flak? I know it would reduce your main battery but how many long range return fire shots do you envisage?

Similar to my first list, though I have swapped out the Hawk for a MC80 Command Variant and added one combat Flotilla for token distribution. Additionally, I have added Draven and LTT on all ships for better general anti-ship/fighter ability.

Same Battle Plan

Step1: Fly at Enemy

Step 2: Salvo

Step 3: Profit

Name: Salvo Lark 2 Command Boogaloo Faction: Rebel Commander: Kyrsta Agate

Assault: Targeting Beacons Defense: Planetary Ion Cannon Navigation: Solar Corona

Assault Frigate Mk2 A (81) • Ezra Bridger (3) • Local Fire Control (4) • Flak Guns (3) • Reactive Gunnery (4) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) = 102 Points

Assault Frigate Mk2 A (81) • General Draven (3) • Local Fire Control (4) • Flak Guns (3) • Reactive Gunnery (4) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) = 102 Points

MC80 Command Cruiser (106) • Kyrsta Agate (20) • Walex Blissex (5) • Engine Techs (8) • Flak Guns (3) • Reactive Gunnery (4) • Point Defense Ion Cannons (4) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • Defiance (5) = 162 Points

GR-75 Combat Retrofits (24) • Toryn Farr (7) • Comms Net (2) = 33 Points

Squadrons: = 0 Points

Total Points: 399

Following from my love of refreshing defence tokens, charging in and salvo, here is a Luminara list that flies directly at the enemy, spends fewer tokens, and causes a bad day for fighter lists without any fighters of its own. Its major downside is the lack of any Dice mitigation on the Clams. Any suggestions most welcome!

Name: Refresh and Reverie Faction: Republic Commander: Luminara Unduli

Assault: Targeting Beacons Defense: Planetary Ion Cannon Navigation: Doomed Station

Acclamator II (71) • Expert Shield Tech (5) • Ordnance Experts (4) • Early Warning System (7) • Assault Proton Torpedoes (4) • Swivel-Mount Batteries (8) = 99 Points

Acclamator II (71) • Expert Shield Tech (5) • Ordnance Experts (4) • Early Warning System (7) • Assault Proton Torpedoes (4) • Swivel-Mount Batteries (8) = 99 Points

Consular Armed Cruiser (37) • Radiant VII (1) • Comms Net (2) = 40 Points

Venator II (100) • Luminara Unduli (25) • Expert Shield Tech (5) • Veteran Gunners (5) • SPHA-T (7) • Early Warning System (7) • Assault Proton Torpedoes (4) • XI7 Turbolasers (6) • Tranquility (3) = 162 Points

Squadrons: = 0 Points

Total Points: 400

I am going to start this thread with a controversial take. I LOVE GENERAL TAGGE!

No, seriously. He is one of my top ten commanders in the game. In V.1 Tagge synergised with my love of charging at the enemy and burning tokens in round two. Only Tagge let's me those sweet, sweet tokens back at the start of round three. To that end, I built a list which enables me to charge at the enemy and smack them about with Salvo.

However, I am not 100% sold on this list. I think it pulls in too many directions. So what do you think of the following list? It the goldilocks of fleets, pulling just enough in all direction? or is it the master of nothing in particular?

Assault: Advanced Gunnery Defense: Asteroid Tactics Navigation: Infested Fields

ISD Kuat Refit (112) • General Tagge (25) • Captain Brunson (9) • Local Fire Control (4) • Flag Bridge (0) • Early Warning System (7) • Leading Shots (6) • Assault Proton Torpedoes (4) • Seventh Fleet Star Destroyer (5) • Entrapment Formation! (5) = 177 Points

Onager Star Destroyer (110) • Intel Officer (7) • Weapons Battery Techs (5) • Ordnance Experts (4) • Linked Turbolaser Towers (7) • Superheavy Composite Beam Turbolasers (7) • Seventh Fleet Star Destroyer (5) = 145 Points

Gozanti Cruisers (23) • Comms Net (2) = 25 Points

Squadrons: • Captain Jonus (16) • 2 x TIE Bomber Squadron (18) • Valen Rudor (13) = 47 Points

Total Points: 394