Screed Interdictor/Rogues vs Ackbar Assault Frigates Rematch

My usual opponent, Andy, and I both went to a small tournament. We didn’t have to face each other there, but I managed to take first and he took fourth. Andy was curious to see how it may have played out with his updated list.

Here was my list: The Interdictor with Screed, HIEs, DCaps, Brunson, Targeting Scramblers, and Engine Techs; the Gladiator II with Demolisher, Kallus, flechettes, OEs, and ETs; a Gozanti with a Comms Net; and my squadrons were Morna, Jendon, IG88, Boba Fett, and a pair of Firesprays.

Here was the opposing list: A pair of Assault Frigates with Intel Officers, Gunnery Teams, XI7s, and ECMs. Ackbar was on the right most AF. He also had a Jaina’s Light TRC90; a pair of GR75s - one with Draven; and Shara, Tycho, & Blount as squadron cover.

I took first because I didn’t really want to be first/lasted. I picked Contested Outpost. I missed the setup picture, but this was the close of round 1:

In round two, I hit the enemy fighters with flak, moved Demo, and hit them again. I dropped the Interdictor down to speed zero to avoid moving into long range of all three of the enemy combat ships. In the squadron phase, I finished off the fighters and hit the CR90 to soften it up. Here is the close of round 2:

At the top of round three, I activated the Interdictor first so that I could speed up and use my tokens. I managed to destroy the CR90, who was double-arced at long range. In return, I took a bit of a beating from the Assault Frigates, but between the Scramblers, Brunson, and the burning of my brace, I managed to survive. I focused on the flagship frigate on right, but was not able to bring it down. Here is the close of round 3:

In round four, the ship to ship combat mostly ended with me disengaging. My squadrons were still fully operational and managed to bring down the flagship and then put damage through onto the remaining frigate. Here is the close of round 4:

In round five, I put some solid damage through on the remaining frigate, but he continues to limp forward with one hull remaining. Here is the close of round 5:

Round six resulted on the destruction of the last frigate by Morna, thanks to a squad token passed to the Interdictor by the Gozanti and relayed through Jendon. We each secured a victory token and I lost IG88.

After the game, Andy concluded that the better move would have been to not engage directly rather than the all-out-assault on my Interdictor. Still, had I not been able to soften the CR90 in round 2, or activate the Interdictor first in round three, then I am almost certain that I would have lost my flagship and the game would have been very close indeed. My four point bid has been quite effective at securing first player and being first has really let me move out of danger or finish off a damaged enemy, assisting in the tabling. I would be curious to see how my list does as second player, especially against a list with four or more activations.

Lessons Learned:

- Bids of 3-4 are very strong and allow me the flexibility to take first player more often than not.

- Grav Shift often completely negates the downside of going first.