Tournament: Screed Interdictor/Rogues vs Sloane Avenger & Aces

This was round two of my first tournament and here is 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.

My opponent, Chris, brought a Sloane list that included an ISD II with GTs, XI7s, Avenger, and ECM; a Quasar with Boosted Comms, Pursuant, EHB, and Flight Controllers; and a Gozanti. His squadrons consisted of Jendon/Steele, Mauler, Howlrunner, Dengar, Ciena, and Gar Saxon.

I had the larger bid and chose 1st, fearing the Sloane alpha with the Quasar. I chose Fighter Ambush knowing that it could benefit me just as much and that he wouldn’t be placing any squadrons too far from his ships anyways without them being crushed. We both placed most of the obstacles around the center. Here is the setup BEFORE my Grav Shift fixed the obstacles for me:

In the first round, we pushed some squadrons forward during the squadron phase to claim asteroids etc. I managed to put some early damage out with IG88 and he Used Mauler to hit half my squads. Over on the left, I pushed Demo up fast to prepare for first activation flak on his squad ball. My Interdictor was also moving at top speed with Engine Techs. I wanted to knock the Quasar out early in order to focus down the ISD without interruption. Here is the close of round 1:

In round 2, I activated Demo first as planned and shut down Mauler with flechettes. I also was able to put some damage on his whole squad ball, though many of them were obstructed. Very glad I opted for the Gladiator II. I was able to finish off Dengar and Mauler during the squad phase. Also, the Quasar was stuck at close range of Demo with the double arc. I also softened him up with a DCap HIE shot from the Interdictor. Here is the close of round 2:

In round 3, I activated Demo first again and popped the Quasar. My Gozanti had a squad command and used it to double tap with IG88/Jendon and knock out Ciena. The ISD had long range shots on both Demo and the Interdictor, but they were non-threatening. I also finished off Gar Saxon, who was rather troublesome to Jendon. Here is the close of round 3:

In round 4, I dropped the Gozanti with my Interdictor, finished off his squads (minus his Jendon), and lined up Demo for the first activation with a double arc shot. Here is the close of round 4:

Round five concluded with the destruction of his ISD. My Demo double-tapped him, he moved forward, and my Interdictor also got to double-tap. The rogues cleaned up for the total victory. Here is the close of the game:

After my previous game against another squadron heavy fleet, I was feeling fairly confident with my Flechette Demo. I had never gone up against a Sloane list so this was a very interesting matchup. My asteroid placement helped to disrupt the ISD and worked well to contain it on the opposing side, allowing Demo to contribute in that fight. The choice of Fighter Ambush gave me significant deployment advantage, which let me concentrate opposite the Quasar.

After a number of solid games with this list, or variations of this list, I have some observations on its component parts:

Screed is a fantastic choice to guarantee the black crit against the most threatening squadron and to guarantee the blue crit with HIEs on the Interdictor. His synergy with these two ships is simply amazing.

Grav Shift, Brunson, Targeting Scramblers, and the Interdictor title all exceeded my expectations for survivability on my flagship. The Grav Shift in particular is excellent as it allows me to confidently go first and move stations around to my advantage.

Demo Kallus/OEs/Flechettes has been the centerpiece of my list against anything with heavy squadrons and has allowed a relatively early victory each time. Having OEs and Screed allows me to push meaningful damage through on ships with consistency in the latter half of the game.

Engine Techs on both of my combat ships has also been worthwhile. In my second game, I was able to double ram an ISD with the Interdictor, while landing on the station. The Demolisher was also able to position for a second turn flak strike because of the Engine Techs.

IG88 has been my strongest squadron and the inclusion of Jendon is a real force multiplier. Being able to ignore counter and escort against squad heavy lists is a huge benefit.

Morna Kee has proven to be an able executioner over the course of several games. I tend to hold her back in order to land the killing blow on a key squadron after its scatter is gone or to push through the last two or three damage on a fleeing ship. She absolutely excels in this role.

Boba Fett has served primarily as a sort of bait. He tends to take the most fire, which keeps the rest of the squadron ball healthy for longer. If I needed more points or a larger bid, I would certainly consider dropping him for another generic Firespray or perhaps for Bossk, though I haven’t had any trouble dispatching squadrons.