Screed Kuat vs Madine Dual Liberty

After three straight losses with rebel MSUs, I decided to go over to the dark side. In this game, I tried running a Kuat ISD with Screed, Avenger, Boarding Troopers, Strategic Advisor, ACMs, and Leading Shots. I also brought a Raider 2 with DCaps and Heavy Ions. In support were a pair of Gozontis, Jendon, Steele, Morna Kee, and 2 Defenders. My opponent, Andy, brought a pair of Liberties under Madine (Star Cruiser flagship on right, Battlecruiser on left) with a pair of flotillas and three generic A-Wings. I had a large bid and went first. I chose his Fleet Ambush, which suited my aggressive list well.

During setup, I managed to cluster the asteroids in the center in order to shrink the play area, forcing him to deploy bunched up. I dropped my ISD first in a bold statement that I felt was suitable to my aggressive, heavy hitting list. Here is the setup:


During the first round, I was unable to use my DCap/HIE Raider on those Liberties without activating my Kuat first. Andy was able to ram his own flotilla to prevent his BC from being forced into close range of my ISD. I was really disappointed about that, but it was a solid move on his part. He had last activation, so I tried to position the ISD to prevent the Star Cruiser from moving, which would have given me the double arc at the top of the next round. Had I not deployed at speed 3, I would have had more success here. As it was, Madine allowed him to slide his SC between my ISD and Raider. It was ridiculously tight. He then used his engine techs to move forward further. My fighter wing did good work right out of the gate eliminating some of his cover and putting damage onto his flagship. Here is the close of round 1:


In the next round, I activated the Kuat first and put some double arc damage (Side and Rear, burning the boarding troopers) into the Star Cruiser. It wasn’t enough to finish it, but it was certainly limping. After my maneuver, the BC had a nice double arc on the Kuat, though I believe he split fire in order to take down my Raider. I also rammed his flotilla with my own in order to finish it off - a risky move as I landed on the rock as well. I don’t recall how it had taken the third damage. My other flotilla of course went down during the Star Cruiser activation. I easily mopped up his fighter cover and began hitting his Battle Cruiser with Morna and Steele. They are a brutal combination. Here is the close of round 2:


Round three began with my flotilla activation. I knew that it was doomed and it managed to do a Jendon/Steele double tap and reposition both for the next round follow-up. It went down to the BC side arc. I believe it had H9s, so that was pretty much a foregone conclusion. At this point the BC was also in fairly rough shape. Both of his liberties were working on an exit, but Morna is a persistent sort of predator. My ISD is out of the fight with unnecessary repair commands in the queue instead of the requisite nav commands. Here is the close of round 3:


Next, the BC (still on left) activated first and as a result, his SC wasn’t able to move as far as would have been healthy. Morna and Steele were both able to get some hits through in the squadron phase and finish off the flagship. At that point, we called the game. It was a respectable victory for me. Had I been running an MSU with light squads as is my habit, it would likely have ended differently.

AAR:
My asteroid positioning during setup was strong and accomplished my purpose. I would have been well served to have placed my ISD back a little further and at speed two in order to give myself more flexibility. Had I done that, I may have even used that awesome front arc firepower. Similarly, I should have placed the Raider more to the rear in order to give it more time and space to react. My squadrons were well placed to pounce on the enemy beginning in the first round. My flotillas were supposed to move quickly to come up right behind the Kuat, but I ended up placing them in an ideal place for the Liberties to mop them up after the first pass of the ISD. Those Gozantis were thoroughly ambushed. In the end, the Raider did very little, the ISD helped, but The Jendon-Steele-Morna combination was what won me this game, without a doubt.

Lessons Learned:
- When playing Fleet Ambush, do not be over-aggressive. Give yourself some space to react to enemy deployments.
- Rogues make solid finishers and Morna Kee is exceptionally good, especially with Jendon to give her a double-tap on occasion.