Now that the community has had some time to work with the new 1.5 ruleset and experiment with some builds, how has the squadron game shifted in your local meta? I know most game shops have yet to open their doors completely so any meta changes will be slow to propagate, but with the popularity of Vassal tournaments and some in-house matches I think we might be able to determine some early observations.
Prior to 1.5, many people debated that an Ace-Cap would either increase or decrease the variety of aces brought to the field. Others predicted an increase in MFC groups, as opposed to either SFC or LFC. Has anyone observed these trends beginning to form, or do you think the squadron game has evolved in an unforeseen direction?
Now that the VWC final four is nailed down, we can compare this year's top eight to last year's top eight. I'll compare numbers of squads, since many of last year's squad balls would be illegal this year.
2020:
BrobaFett: 134 points of squadrons MandalorianMoose: 133 points jp82729: 30 points Aresius: 134 points
Tokra: 134 points
RealVeers: 94 points
Green Knight: 48 points
Antisocialmunkey: 97 points
2021:
GiledPallaeon: 0 points RealVeers: 134 points Angry_Ewok: 105 points Truthiness: 104 points Aresius: 112 points Roald: 108 points Roquax: 134 points
MandalorianMoose: 128 points
2020 may look more diverse by looking at squad numbers alone, but half the lists were in the 121-134 range, and the other half were Onager lists. 7/8 Imps and 1 Rebel.
This year, three lists were in the 121-134 range, four lists were in the 101-120 range, and GP stands alone on top of the Swiss rankings with 0 squadrons (but has to face RealVeer's Moralo list in the elimination round). 3/8 Imps, 4 Rebel, 1 CIS.
I've looked at a dual FC Republic list, but the problem was that it ends up spending so much on fighter superiority that it's very weak against squadronless fleets. :-(
Might work better with an Imperial Sloane fleet, if there are no enemy fighters at least most of your fighters can be effective against the enemy ships.
I have started looking at double Flight Controllers lists when I have near 134 point squadron lists. With the new Intel rule I think winning the fighter battle early against strong fighter opposition is necessary. Double FC means 6-9 extra blue dice a turn to help tip things my way.
Personally, I'm more concerned with diversity of squadron investment than diversity of Aces at the moment. One can be fixed easier than the other. The 1.5 adjustments have given medium squadron wings space to have an impact. It no longer feels like an all or nothing proposition. I've been pretty comfortable with my 100 point investment in the VWC, and could see going smaller or larger in different styles of fleets. That is something we haven't really had to this point. Since the introduction of Intel, the squadron game has been a "go big or go home" dynamic. If we've fixed that in 1.5, and signs seem to be pointing toward the hopeful end, then I think we're headed in a good direction.
That is not to dismiss the diversity of Aces issue. Shara in a 1.5 world is about as much of an auto include for Rebels as Maarek is for Imperials: she's incredibly good for her value. Lando is a pretty close second, though I find he's a bit easier to deal with. He melts fast after even one use of his ability. Luckily, the diversity of Aces can come down points adjustments. FFG I think opted not to do that for squadrons in 1.5 because we needed to see how the meta shook out. There was already so much change happening, they likely erred on the side of caution with squadron costs.
We'll obviously see how AMG handles things, but it is a simple enough proposition to adjust points to make Ace diversity better. I would rather not see too many increases (Shara and Maarek are the only two I think deserving of 2-3 point increases). I'd rather see a lot of decreases to make things more interesting. For example, Han Solo dropping down to Lando level of points makes him an interesting choice. Imperial squadrons have a whole mess of squadrons and Aces that could come down in cost without issue. If they really want to get radical, I'd love to see generic TIE Bombers and Y-Wings gain Grit to really shake things up.
My local meta, as far as I know, is still inactive due to pandemic. I should probably check that though.
In the Vassal World Cup, out of 72 lists, here are the squad balls of the top 10 lists as of the end of Swiss round 3 (round 4 will be over in a few days):
Angry_Ewok:
Squadrons:
• Tycho Celchu (16)
• Shara Bey (17)
• Hera Syndulla (28)
• Ketsu Onyo (22)
• 2 x A-wing Squadron (22)
= 105 Points
Truthiness:
Lando Calrissian (23)
Shara Bey (17)
4 x YT-2400 (64)
= 104 points
RealVeers:
Squadrons:
• Colonel Jendon (20)
• Maarek Stele (21)
• Mauler Mithel (15)
• Moralo Eval (22)
• Saber Squadron (12)
• 2 x Lambda Shuttle (30)
• TIE Phantom Squadron (14)
= 134 Points
Aresius:
1 Tycho Celchu ( 16 points)
1 Shara Bey ( 17 points)
1 Lando Calrissian ( 23 points)
1 Hera Syndulla ( 28 points)
1 Gold Squadron ( 12 points)
1 Scurrg H-6 Bomber ( 16 points)
= 112 total squadron cost
Roald:
Squadrons:
• DBS-404 (17)
• 2 x Droid Tri-fighter Squadron (22)
• Phlac-Arphocc Prototypes (19)
• 3 x Hyena Droid Bomber Squadron (33)
• DIS-T81 (17)
= 108 Points
GiledPallaeon:
Squadrons: 0
Roquax:
Squadrons:
• 6 x YT-2400 (96)
• Lando Calrissian (23)
• Lancer Pursuit Craft (15)
= 134 Points
TheRedScourge:
Squadrons:
• 3 x Z-95 Headhunter Squadron (21)
• Lieutenant Blount (14)
= 35 Points
Sasska:
Squadrons:
• Lando Calrissian (23)
• Shara Bey (17)
• Tycho Celchu (16)
= 56 Points
MandalorianMoose:
Squadrons:
• Colonel Jendon (20)
• Maarek Stele (21)
• Morna Kee (27)
• Black Squadron (9)
• Mauler Mithel (15)
• Saber Squadron (12)
• 2 x TIE Advanced Squadron (24)
= 128 Points
Takeaways:
A lot of Tycho, Shara and Lando for Rebels. Maarek, Jendon, Mauler for Imps (there aren't many Imp lists here though so not much of a sample size). 100+ points of squads is still taking up the majority of top lists, but Intel is much less popular. GiledPallaeon, TheRedScourge, and Sasska have held up ok against squad-heavy lists with 0-56 points of squadrons. I'm surprised to see none in the 60-90 range.
In my opinion, the Intel nerf and the ace cap are healthy for diversifying the amount of squads you can reasonably bring, but they didn't diversify which squads are brought. There's actually a really healthy variety of commanders brought to the table, because commanders' points and abilities were rebalanced (and the evade change helps commanders like Cracken). If something similar was done to squadrons, we'd see more variety.
General Grievous is always a pick in my Separatists list, but that’s because the Admiral isn’t available yet! Plus I only have ships from one core set so need to max out my squadrons.
We're finding that it's decreased the variety of aces quite severely. Both of the original factions have 3 spots spoken for by default, if not all 4, and people have figures this out pretty quick.
If you're Imperial, then you're taking Maarek, because you're not a fool, and if you're taking Maarek you're taking Jendon, and at that point you might as well take Morna, and in this new generic world Mauler's crowd control is worth more than ever.
On the Rebel side, you're taking Jan because you've got a number of generics now, and if you're taking Jan some of those generics will have escort so Biggs wants to come along to buff them further, and then you'll need Norra to make those generics more reliable when bombing, and then why would you not fly Lando as your fourth?