500 Point Tournament Fleet

At our local game shop, we really enjoyed the 500-point fleet building in the Corellian Conflict.  So, when it was time to run an event with the new 2017 Spring Tournament Kit we decided to run it at 500 points.

I've seen some in the Armada community advocating bumping the standard tournament size up to 500 points.  I've not been convinced we need to do that overall, but it seems fun for a one-off event.  Read more to take a look at the fleet I will be taking.



I decided to revise the Rebel fleet I was using in the Corellian Conflict.  I'd both had a lot of success and a lot of fun with the fleet.  I still felt like I could build it better given the chance to improve it.  I had only ran 4 very upgraded ships in that fleet and wanted to rebuild it to include 5 ships.  I also wanted to really tune it to my objective choices.  I also enlisted the help of the guys from the Boring Conversation Anyways show to help me brainstorm through the revision process.  We had a lot of fun coming up with some out of the box ideas.

Basic Plan & Formation

The basic plan for the fleet is one that I have had a ton of success with for a long time.  A gunline with a trailer/slasher to maneuver in late game and finish off damaged ships or keep people from outmaneuvering my gunline.  Read more on that tactic HERE.

Objectives

Gunlines lend themselves to a few different objectives.  Advanced Gunnery is almost always a solid choice and Fire Lanes is so good with gunlines that very few people will choose to play against it.  When playing with a gunline I often find that my opponents choose the Blue objective that I've chosen.  None of the core objectives really fit that well, but the new objective, Sensor Net, has some real potential as a gunline objective.  Sensor Net can potentially allow for a large number of objective points to be collected, but really requires some use of the Strategic keyword.  That will mean including a couple of VCX-100s in the fleet.

Core Ships

For the gunline itself an MC-80 Command Cruiser goes great with the Advanced Gunnery objective.  Originally I used an Assault Frigate MkIIb as it makes a solid companion to the MC-80 and can benefit from a Gunnery Team to really improve my ability to fire off broadsides.  An MC-30 could also work, you give up a little bit of firepower at long/medium ranges, but gain some at close range and can also use both the Gunnery Team and TRCs.

The other important ship in this fleet is the Trailer.  I have found that a Nebulon-B with the Salvation title is perfect in this role.  It is a good mix of firepower, maneuverability, and low cost.

Admiral

When running a gunline, Admiral Ackbar is the go-to and for good reason.  He doesn't necessarily do much for Salvation, but I have used his ability there when opponents have actively dodged its front arc.

Support Ships

A GR-75 Medium Transports flotilla is a great, cheap activation and can help by both pushing squadrons around and grabbing Sensor Net tokens.  I have used TRCR90s with this fleet in the past, but in this case the VCX-100s give me a new opportunity.  Their Relay ability works really well with Yavaris.  That is too fun not to try.  Two Neb-Bs in an Ackbar fleet is certainly unconventional, but in this case I think it is worth trying.

Upgrades

Even in a 500 point fleet I'm trying to stick to my upgrade budget.  That was a real challenge in the Corellian conflict.  Aside from Home One, the MC-80 gets Toryn Farr to help with the squadron game, Fighter Coordination Team to help the VCXs move those tokens, and Leading Shots to help with the red dice.  the MC-30 gets Gunnery Teams and TRCs to make the most of those Red Dice and Lando to help with survivabililty.  Yavaris gets a Skilled First Officer in case I need to do something other than use a Squadron Command.


Squadrons 

The 2 VCX-100s will be helpful with lots of objectives and using their Relay ability, but more will be required.  I've found the Jan/Biggs combo to be great with a gunline.  A couple of more X-Wings and YT-1300 for Biggs to pass the damage too will make a nice resilient squadron group to help the VCXs do their thing.

Here's what it looks like:

Ackbar's Mustache Ride
Faction: Rebel Alliance
Points: 498/500

Commander: Admiral Ackbar
Assault Objective: Advanced Gunnery
Defense Objective: Fire Lanes
Navigation Objective: Sensor Net

[ flagship ] MC80 Command Cruiser (106 points)
-  Admiral Ackbar  ( 38  points)
-  Home One  ( 7  points)
-  Toryn Farr  ( 7  points)
-  Fighter Coordination Team  ( 3  points)
-  Leading Shots  ( 4  points)
= 165 total ship cost

MC30c Scout Frigate (69 points)
-  Lando Calrissian  ( 4  points)
-  Gunnery Team  ( 7  points)
-  Turbolaser Reroute Circuits  ( 7  points)
= 87 total ship cost

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57 points)
-  Yavaris  ( 5  points)
-  Skilled First Officer  ( 1  points)
= 63 total ship cost

Nebulon-B Support Refit (51 points)
-  Salvation  ( 7  points)
= 58 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)
= 18 total ship cost

1 Jan Ors ( 19 points)
1 Biggs Darklighter ( 19 points)
2 VCX-100 Freighters ( 30 points)
2 X-Wing Squadrons ( 26 points)
1 YT-1300 ( 13 points)

So, that'll be the fleet I'm playing this Saturday in a 500 point tournament.  Which of course I have now spoiled for anyone else attending, but who doesn't love a challenge?

What do you think?