Friday, January 25, 2019

Elimination Matchup Preview - Commander Dave vs NebulonB

**Watch this game on Vassal at around 1:30pm EST on Sunday 27th!**

Commander Dave 


Gladiator II-Class Star Destroyer (62 points)
-  Demolisher  ( 10  points)
-  Agent Kallus  ( 3  points)
-  Ordnance Experts  ( 4  points)
-  Engine Techs  ( 8  points)
-  Flechette Torpedoes  ( 3  points)
= 90 total ship cost

Gozanti-class Cruisers (23 points)
-  Hondo Ohnaka  ( 2  points)
-  Comms Net  ( 2  points)
= 27 total ship cost

[ flagship ] Interdictor-class Suppression Refit (90 points)
-  Admiral Screed  ( 26  points)
-  Interdictor  ( 3  points)
-  Captain Brunson  ( 5  points)
-  Engine Techs  ( 8  points)
-  Disposable Capacitors  ( 3  points)
-  Heavy Ion Emplacements  ( 9  points)
-  Targeting Scrambler  ( 5  points)
-  Grav Shift Reroute  ( 2  points)
= 151 total ship cost

1 Colonel Jendon ( 20 points)
1 Maarek Steele ( 21 points)
1 Ciena Ree ( 17 points)
1 Morna Kee ( 27 points)
1 Boba Fett ( 26 points)
1 Firespray-31 ( 18 points)
= 129 total squadron cost

Total Points: 397




Commander Dave brings a 3 ship imperial list and the only remaining Screed into the Elimination Round.  With 3 activations and 6 deployments, he isn't interested in gaming anything.  On the other hand what he has brought is an all around fleet that is very difficult to drop.  The Brunson / Targeting Scrambler Interdictor is very, very difficult to bring down without some kind of fighter support chipping attacks into it - in fact it excels at close range brawls with big dice ships, and Heavy Ion Emplacements / Screed melts shields off big targets like nothing else.

To protect it from fighters, and to do a bit of damage on its own, it packs a generalist fighter compliment.  There is the standard Maarek / Morna / Jendon (MMJ) as well as Ciena to hold down problem squadrons and Boba Fett and a Firespray to add anti-shipping.  Really anything but Ciena is dual use, at least passable at anti-ship / anti-fighter, which means a lot of damage to anyone willing to try no-squadron against it.  A Gozonti with Hondo and Comms Net can either push the squadrons, or pass tokens to the Interdictor to keep it flying.

For those willing to bring squadrons, a GSD-II Demo rounds out the list.  Normally a 90 point Demolisher is a ship killer, and certainly this Demo can contribute.  But it is loaded out to lock down and kill Aces.  Agent Kallus (to get the Black die), Flechette Torpedoes, Ordnance Experts, and even Screed (who works to give you the crit for that ONE SPECIFIC SQUADRON you HAVE to lock down) combine to make it very, very hard to get opposing squadrons into the fight if they don't activate first.

The only drawback is it's unlikely to get first player, running with just a 397 bid, which is more a "keep them honest" or "I wasn't sure what else could fit in for 3 points" than anything competitively hunting for First Player.


NebulonB - Call up the HH... I need my Jacuzzi


MC80 Battle Cruiser (103)
• Intel Officer (7)
• Caitken and Shollan (6)
• Engine Techs (8)
• SW-7 Ion Batteries (5)
• XI7 Turbolasers (6)
• Spinal Armament (9)
• Mon Karren (8)
= 152 Points

CR90 Corvette B (39)
• Engine Techs (8)
= 47 Points

CR90 Corvette B (39)
• Engine Techs (8)
= 47 Points

Hammerhead Torpedo Corvette (36)
• Admiral Raddus (26)
• Hondo Ohnaka (2)
= 64 Points

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Slicer Tools (7)
• Quantum Storm (1)
= 26 Points

GR-75 Medium Transports (18)
• Comms Net (2)
= 20 Points

Squadrons:
• A-wing Squadron (11)
• Tycho Celchu (16)
= 27 Points

Total Points: 383

Raddus, with a Liberty Drop.  The initial deployment is a pair of CR90B's with Engine Techs, Raddus hiding with Hondo on a Torpedo Corvette lifeboat, and a pair of GR-75's, one with Comms Net and the other with Quantum Storm / Slicer Tools, and Tycho / generic A-Wing for squadron cover.  The key drop for deployment is the Quantum Storm, which can fling a Raddus drop across the board on Turn 2.  The two CR90s are there for Ram damage and incidental Blue Dice fire, or for alternative deployment sites if Quantum Storm can't safely get into position.  Raddus likely hides in the backfield on the Hammerhead.

The drop, like in most Raddus lists, is key.  The Battle Cruiser is a christmas tree of nasty upgrades all working - almost at cross purposes - to deny the enemy effective use of defense tokens.

  • Mon Karren says you can only use one defense token.
  • XI-7s says you can't redirect more than 1 point of damage.
  • SW-7s let you ignore accuracy results on the Blue dice, they are now damage.
  • Intel Officer lets you lock down the enemy brace, giving them one use of it before it goes away forever.
  • Caitkin and Shollan let you reroll those pesky Red dice, since you can ignore the Blues
Basically, you get a choice.  Burn your Brace or take a ton of damage.  Next turn you're just getting drilled into your hull, because you have no brace and you're getting a ton of damage.  It's nasty.


Biggs' Prediction:


I've had the fortune to play Commander Dave's list, as one of my local players looked through the lists as soon as they went public and said "I want to run this."  And has for the last 3 weeks.  It feels like it's been a lot longer, because oof, it hurts.  It's particularly nasty against squadronless fleets, giving MMJ free reign to do what they want to do.  There are a lot of moving parts, and a lot of decision points, which makes it rough to play in 4 round tournaments.  In practicing for the Ohio Regionals, my friend found that he was forgetting to use key upgrades.  And in the tournament itself he left a lot of points on the table in some of his games with some of the fiddly bits, but that should be less of an issue in a Vassal tournament without mental fatigue being a factor.

I've personally played something similar to Nebulon's list at Worlds last year.  It's a beast of a Raddus drop, and relatively simple to pilot.

Both lists can easily sneak up on someone if they're not expecting it.  However, Commander Dave's list is the one with specific tech against the other.  Brunson / Targeting Scrambler is a specific counter against big attacks from one ship, and Nebulon B lacks any significant fighter coverage, meaning Commander Dave's fighters get free reign over the battlefield once they chew through 8 hull and 1 scatter worth of A-Wings.

I'm not sure if it winds up being a close battle, won on points, or if Commander Dave just blows Nebulon B out of the water (fish pun intended) but the game is his to lose.

Fun fact:  Commander Dave's current record against Raddus fleets this tournament is a perfect 20-2 / 800 MOV.


Special Guest - Ginkapo



Nebulon B is the player I know best in this match up. He is aptly named after a ship I have never seen him use. In this particular case its questionable how much time he has spent with a certain Italian, as he bring a Liberty + X list to the party. Its very simple, Raddus lets the Liberty perfectly to doubletap anything.

Well I say anything..... but he is facing Dave. Now we all know a Dave. Strong dependable Dave. The guy who'll fix the wonky shelf in your flat. And this Dave is no different bringing a strong and sturdy Interdictor. Maybe something Neb cant pound through.

I'd still back Neb B in this game but it wont be a walk in the park, however he is a good enough player to chomp through Dave without MMJ wrecking the afterparty. I hear that Neb has Barry Manilow lined up.

After all his Liberty is named Lola, she is a showgirl
With yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there
She would merengue and do the cha-cha

2 comments:

  1. If NebB can keep his ships, especially Lola at medium range for her shots, then Targeting Scramblers become useless. Dave's list becomes much more vulnerable as a result.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the preview and the great shot of Gink; that is exactly how I pictured him.

    ReplyDelete