Matchup of the Week - Fleet Commander Contest Final

 This week's "Matchup of the Week" is between two developers playing the lists of two hand picked fans.  Each list has already won its preliminary round, and we've got Craig Lincoln and his General Madine fleet vs Alexandra Smith's Special K fleet!

Craig Lincoln:

• MC80 Star Cruiser with Mon Karren, Gunner Teams, Leading Shots, and Spinal Armament
• MC30c Torpedo Frigate with Lando Calrissian, Fire-Control Team, Assault Concussion Missiles, and XX-9 Turbolasers
• Nebulon-B Escort Frigate with Yavaris, Flight Commander, and Fighter Coordination Team
• GR-75 Medium Transports with Bright Hope, Leia Organa, Repair Crews, and General Madine
• B-wing Squadron
• B-wing Squadron
• “Dutch” Vander, Y-wing Squadron
• Dash Rendar, Outrider
• Objectives: Advanced Gunnery, Fire Lanes, Intel Sweep

     Total Fleet Points: 398

Looking at the numbers:  A bid of 398, 4 activations, 6 deployments.  Only 4 squadrons, but the chance to make them count with Yavaris.  The Torpedo Frigate really wants to go first, but can still cause some havac by crashing into the middle of the board and count on Lando to keep it alive.  Bright Hope is built to be a support ship and an escape pod.  Mon Karren is a beast and an MVP of the previous game.

Alexandra Smith:

• Interdictor Suppression Refit with Interdictor, SW7 Ion Batteries, Targeting Scrambler, G-8 Experimental Projector, and Admiral Konstantine
• Victory I-class Star Destroyer with Ordnance Experts and Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams
• Victory I-class Star Destroyer with Ordnance Experts and Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams
• Gozanti-class Cruisers with Comms Net
• Gozanti-class Cruisers with Comms Net
• TIE fighter Squadron
• TIE fighter Squadron
• TIE fighter Squadron
• TIE fighter Squadron
• TIE fighter Squadron
• TIE fighter Squadron
• Objectives: Advanced Gunnery, Contested Outpost, Minefields

     Total Fleet Points: 398

Looking at the numbers:  A bid of 398, 5 activations, 8 deployments.  Enough squadrons to matter.  The Interdictor is a defensive and board control monster, while "Special K" and the two Tractor Beam victories make sure no one does anything crazy.  Enough TIEs to make a decent anti-B-Wing ball.  It's obvious what this list does, and it looks like it can do it well.

The Matchup: 

It may in fact come down to who wins the initial coin flip for initiative - and this will in fact determine more than anything else what kind of game we will see.  Craig's list feels like it wants first player more than Alexandra's, and of the objectives she has, Minefields is probably the most neutral option for him.  A bit riskier would be to go whole hog and pick Advanced Gunnery, counting on being able to splash the objective ship, or picking Contested Outpost to give a target for his slow B's to move towards, but that could easily backfire on points.

If Craig's list is Second Player, Intel Sweep is probably the safest bet for Alexandra's, as her list is all about board control, and being able to first / last with an angry Victory isn't anything to sneer at - though it does lack a bit of accuracy for taking out the escape pod Transport.

For the numbers:  Alexandra definitely has both an activation and deployment advantage, whether going first or second, and I think she matches up better in the squadron game, having faster, cheaper, and more anti-squadron based TIE Fighters to the Bomber style B-Wings and Dutch.  If Dash can be brought down quickly, Alexandra can run the table on squadrons.  That being said, Yavaris is a great equalizer as well, and can pour some anti-squadron fire into the 3 hull TIEs.

In the end it comes down to whether Special K can dictate the flow of battle, or Gen. Madine can keep his fleet maneuvering.  After all, Gen Madine outguns the Imperials by quite a bit.  Mon Karren and the Torpedo Frigate can put a hurt on any VSD, and could run the table fairly quickly if they can both get into a good range.

Biggs' Pre-Match Bet:

I like Rebels, and I am very big on the Mon Karren and Liberty Class in general.  That being said...

I am very excited by Special K and the crazy tricks you can pull with him, Interdictors, and VSDs.  I think Alexandra's fleet matches up better, and Gen Madine is being countered rather than him being the counter to Admiral Konstantine.  I don't see any reason why the Victorys can't control the pace of the battle, and pending squadron strategy, I don't see Craig's squadrons contributing a serious amount vs the TIE Fighter cover.

I'm going to give this one to Alexandra's fleet, and its commander for the game - Developer Max Brooke.