Screed blacksuicide

Looks pretty good! I’d still probably drop Insidious and get the bid up to 15 points, but if you really find it works for you, 12 points is probably fine 95% of the time.

Your entire list literally relies upon getting close range shots with black die bruisers. You need a bid. If you don’t have one in a list like this, what will very likely happen is you’ll spend 2-4 turns setting up the shot, scooting to just within close range at the end of a turn, and your opponent (who won the bid and wisely chose First Player), will activate your target ship first in the following round and step on the gas and just leave, and you’ll be back out to blue or even red range, and your whole plan will crumble.

When you build a list with black dice out to 400 points, you’re making it exponentially more difficult for yourself. To counter the sorts of scenarios I outlined above, you’ll have to do things like blocking an opponent’s escape route with one of your Raiders, so he can’t leave, or lay out your ships in a perfectly arrayed net which he has no choice but to move directly into, assuring you can get a single shot by using an entire fleet. That can be hard, even for a very good player.

When you build a black die-reliant fleet to say, 390, or 385, then anyone who used more points than you suddenly becomes easy prey. You can (as First Player) lie in wait until your opponent commits his ship to an area, then move in fast, dropping a ship right where it needs to be for a killing blow, and at the top of the turn, you activate the killer first, and unleash hell. It’s easy. Well, far easier than what you’re trying to do, in any event. You need a bid.

So that means cuts.

First off, I’m not a fan of the “my Raider will save me from squadrons!” plan. As someone pointed out above, there’s very little to stop a smart opponent from just jumping around the Raider and killing a different target. Impetuous is a supplemental insurance policy against squadrons, but with no help from your own fighters, it’s just not got a realistic shot at doing much. Turn it into another copy of Corvus (with no title). Your anti-fighter plan is to kill your opponent’s carrier ships as fast as possible.

Second... well, you’re gonna have to get tough with yourself here. A list like this is SO bid dependent that I would (if it were me), shoot for 15-18 points, probably come in at like 13, and call it okay. I like your individual ships (with the exception of Impetuous, try that ship in a different list), but you gotta make room. So I’d start by cutting some of the bloat from that Vic-I. Rapid Reload is not great on a Victory... to illustrate this to yourself, put your Victory on the table and measure out to range 1 from that narrow little side arc. THAT tiny area is the area you spent 8 points to get one more die from. On one of the most notoriously slow and clunky ships in the game (yes, even with Harrow and Engine Techs, you’re still pretty clunky). Harrow is good at jumping the opponent and putting a front arc on him. But you won’t be pulling off many double-arcing acrobatics. You’re far better off with External Racks, or (given that you’re running Screed), Assault Concussion Missiles or Assault Proton Torpedoes. So that buys you 3-4 points. Varnillian is great, but you need points, my friend. Ordnance Experts. That’s another 2 points. I love, love, love Linked Turbolaser Towers, but when it comes to the question of whether you want that Victory throwing better reds, or you want your whole fleet to work... I think you gotta cut the LTT’s. So we’re at what, 11 points? Me, I’d drop Insidious. Yes, it’s fine value for 3 points. But you need the bid, and it comes up, but not often enough to make you really miss it. 14 points is a very respectable bid (in my area).

Alternatively (and this is definitely controversial, but I’ve been toying with trying it myself), you could... drop Demolisher (*gasp*!). I know, I can’t believe I’m saying this either, but the recent change has made it slightly less necessary, and I think it might make your whole fleet work more smoothly. Ten points is a LOT. So that could be something like, drop Demolisher, drop Insidious, drop Varnillian and Rapid Reload. Keep Linked Turbolaser Towers (yay!). Add Ordnance Experts and ACM/APT’s to the Victory. That’s gonna work out to about 384, 385 points, which is right where you want to be.

Hope this helps!

Screed lists should max out on the Ship Crit weapons like ACMs, APTs, OL Pulse or HIEs. The VSD should go for ACMs.

The Anti Fighter Raider probably won't get you many kills alone as the enemy squads could just avoid it or kill it as soon as possible. They certainly wont bunch up in front of you for you to move in and lock them up. Another ACM raider-I would be good and just go to wipe out carriers. Alternatively drop some stuff from the VSD an take a Raider-II, HIE, D-Caps.

Any points left over, consider a second reroll by officer Vader then spread out SFOs or Titus/Ozzel.