Dodonna Mon Karren vs Screed BT Avenger

For this match, I brought a very balanced Dodonna list. It had two heavy hitters, but also had a significant squadron element. On the MC80, I had Mon Karren, Strategic Advisor, Gunnery Teams, SW7s, Quad Batteries, and Engine Techs. The MC30 was a standard "Landmonition" with XI7s. In support, I had a pair of flotillas, one with Leia and Comms Net, and the other with Quantum Storm and Slicer Tools. My squadrons were Hera, Wedge, Rogue Squadron, Dutch, Gold Squadron, and Shara.

On the other side of the table was a Screed list designed to knock out a major threat. The Kuat ISD had Avenger, Pryce (Set for turn 3), Boarding Troopers, Leading Shots, APTs, and ECMs. The Demo had Brunson, ETs, OEs, and APTs. In support was a Raider with Kallus and Vader as well as a Comms Net Gozanti. The squadron cover consisted of Soontir, Zertik, and Valen. 

My opponent, Andy, had the bid and chose to go first. He picked my Planetary Ion Cannon objective and I did what I could to group the asteroids on the left side while placing the tokens on the right. Here is the setup:

In the first round, I jumped my Slicer flotilla forward to change the Demo dial to a squad command. Andy placed his fighters in front of the ISD to protect it from bombers. I was able to use Wedge and Shara to knock out Zertik in one round. Here is the end of round 1:

In the second round, the ISD activated first and was able to take out Quantum Storm before it could cause any further disruption. This put the ISD at close range of Admonition however. The Demo was unable to avoid a ram at speed two thanks to the Slicer Tools from the round before. The Raider jumped forward into close range of Admonition. I moved Admonition up to double-arc the ISD and I dropped speed on the Liberty. The Raider was destroyed between a front arc volley from Admonition and the rogue bombers in the squadron phase. Here is the close of round 2:

In turn three, Pryce on the ISD came into effect. Demo activated first and hit Admonition. Both Admonition and Mon Karren hit the ISD hard and brought it down before it could fire. Here is the close of round 3:

In round four, Demo hit Admonition again and my squadrons hit Demo in return. I brought Mon Karren around to give chase. Here is the close of round 4:

Demo was able to escape Mon Karren thanks to first player advantage. It was also able to escape my speed three bombers thanks to the Engine Techs. 

This one was a commanding victory, but we discussed afterward and it seemed that two key mistakes stood prominently as deciding factors. First, in turn one, I was able to slice away the Demo nav command. This caused Demo to ram the ISD in turn two and then to not be able to contribute to the fight against Admonition in front of the ISD. If Demo had a token available, it could have jumped to speed three and get into a better position. The second deciding factor was Governor Pryce. Had Pryce been set for turn 2 or had Andy taken a Strategic Advisor instead, that would have prevented me from hitting the ISD so hard on turn three with both of my combat ships. 

In building my list, I really wanted to put together a flexible squadron component comparable to the Imperial Rogues that I’ve run previously. Hera proved remarkably effective in passing out Rogue to Wedge and Shara on round 1 and to Dutch and Gold Squadron on the following rounds. This let me neutralize the opposition squadrons and to eliminate the Raider on turn two. Compared to Imperial Rogues, my squadrons tended to put out subpar damage against ships. This allowed the Demolisher to escape. Furthermore, compared to YT2400s, my squadrons lacked the ability to chase down targets with their modest speed.

Lessons Learned:

- Pryce can backfire terribly. Do not set beyond turn 2.

- Bank extra nav tokens to mitigate slicer tools.

Thrawn Dual Victories vs Raddus Profundity

For this game, I wanted to try something radically different than anything I’d run before. My usual opponent, Andy, and I were talking about the Victory and how weak it is the other day. I decided to do a list using a pair of them as the starting point in order to see what I could do to maximize their effectiveness. Jerjerrod would have been the obvious choice, but I also enjoy the combined arms aspect of the game and wanted to run something other than rogues. I thought Thrawn would be an interesting choice to make use of all that squadron value. I also decided to use a multitude of TIEs in order to boost activations to give me an advantage in placement.

The list I settled on was a pair of Victory IIs, one with Thrawn and Brunson, the other with Needa. Otherwise they were identical: Gunnery Teams, DCaps, Leading Shots, & Quad Batteries. In support, I had a pair of Comms Net Gozantis and for squadrons I had Howlrunner, 7 TIEs, and 2 Lambdas. My objectives were Most Wanted, Salvage Run, and Fire Lanes.

On the other side of the table was a pair of TRC90s...with Raddus on board. In reserve, he had an Ordnance Cruiser with all the bells and whistles including the Profundity title and a Hammerhead with Garel’s Honor. His squadron cover consisted of Shara/Tycho and a generic A-wing. He took first and chose Most Wanted. Here is the setup with all the requisite accessories including single malt Scotch:

In the first round, I dropped my flagship down to speed 0 and attempted to reposition my second VSD to give Thrawn some backup. Here is the close of round 1:

In the second round, I continued my previously adopted course. The CR90s slowed down. Squads prepared to pounce on the following round. Here is the close of round 2:

In round three, my TIEs pounced (Thrawn Squad Command) with Howlrunner sitting on the station and the rest of them being fed into the Shara/Tycho meat-grinder. I lost four of them on the attack, but Shara went down. I also bumped my flagship up to speed 1. Here is the close of round 3:

Raddus dropped at the beginning of round 4:

In round four, I took some damage from the Hammerhead, but Profundity was out of close range and only applied minimal damage. On the squadron side, I used my second Thrawn Squad Command to finish off Tycho and the A-wing. Unfortunately, Profundity was lined up for a double-arc. Here is he close of round 4:

In round five, my flagship went down. The side arc shot was quite benign, but the front arc shot included external racks and a CF command. There was also an accuracy involved, so no brace. My flagship went down. I also lost my Most Wanted Gozanti to a structural damage dealt by the Hammerhead thanks to Garel’s Honor. Here is the close of round 5:

Round six wrapped up the game with no further losses on either side. Profundity was limping toward the end, but I just didn’t have the ability to bring it down with my blue dice non-bombers remaining.

This was a very interesting game because I made a number of clear blunders that, had I done differently would have resulted in a radically different outcome. The most clear example was the placement of my flagship at setup. Had I angled it during deployment so that it was directly facing the closest asteroid, that would have allowed me to go to the left or right of that asteroid based on the movements of the CR90s. I could have turned to the inside and been closer to the board edge, preventing Profundity from sneaking in there. This would have given my other Victory space to move in alongside for support.

My second major mistake was to send the TIE fighters against Shara rather than to hit the lead CR90 or, better yet, to spread out around the obvious Profundity drop zone to prevent it from placing favorably.

In terms of list building, I believe the dual Victories would have done better under Jerjerrod for greater counter-movement. Alternatively, had I run an ISD and Arquittens instead of the Victories, it would have been an improvement under Thrawn. Not having speed three as an option makes repositioning very difficult and it amplifies deployment mistakes.

Lessons Learned:

- The ability to finish a damaged enemy after the heavy-hitters have passed is absolutely invaluable. Bombers, Rogues, and highly maneuverable long-ranged ships (ie CR90s) are indispensable for this purpose.

- In deployment, make sure that you leave multiple directions open for movement, rather than a single, obvious pathway.

- Do not throw your generic TIE fighters against Shara. Better to "tie" her down with a single squadron at a time without actually firing on her.

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.

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.

Tournament: Screed Interdictor/Rogues vs Thrawn Dual Interdictor

For my first tournament I decided to run the Screed Interdictor list I’ve been practicing with a bit. My list had the Interdictor with HIEs, DCaps, Brunson, Targeting Scramblers, and Engine Techs. The Gladiator II had Demolisher, Kallus, flechettes, OEs, and ETs. The Gozanti simply had a Comms Net. My squadrons were Morna, Jendon, IG88, Boba Fett, and a pair of Firesprays.

My opponent, Bernie, had a pair of Interdictors - something I did not expect to face, and a naked Gozanti. His admiral was Thrawn. His squadrons consisted of Jendon/Steele, Morna, Bossk, Zertik, and Gamma Squadron.

Going into this, I felt like this could almost be something of a mirror match with the Interdictors and some squad overlap. I had a four point bid and chose to go first, knowing that he’d have a safe or advantageous objective. I chose Station Assault and we both placed our Grav Shift Tokens. He also placed his Grav Well Projectors in such a way that I had to deploy at speed 0. I was able to move the stations and some of the rocks out of range of his Grav Shift token and into a nice spot to be hit by my forces. Here is the opening of the game after deployment and obstacle manipulation:

In the first round, I dropped the station with my bombers and drew his squadrons in toward my own. Here is the close of round 1:

In the second round, I activated Demo first and hit most of his squadrons. I used Screed to activate Bossk with flechettes and managed to activate one or two others this way too. He had revealed a squadron command with Thrawn and ended up not being able to activate much. With the help from Demo, my own squadrons were able to come out ahead. Here is the close of round 2:

In the third round, I cleaned up most of his squadrons and pumped some damage into the lead Interdictor. Here is the close of round 3:

Round four saw the destruction of the first Interdictor with Demo and some heavy damage on the second as my squad superiority really began to tell. Here is the close of round:

In round five, I destroyed the Gozanti with Demo and the Interdictor with my own, completing the tabling. I lost Boba Fett and a generic Firespray in return.

My list performed admirably. Each component had an essential function, though the Flechette Torpedoes on Demo were undoubtably the star of the game. I was able to neutralize some of the most dangerous enemy squadrons, allowing my own squadrons to do their work. IG88 (with Jendon) was most certainly the MVP among the squadrons. I was able to eliminate Morna without any counter-fire and do significant damage to a number of other squadrons.

The obstacle placement was beneficial for me. I was able to pull the stations around and set up some asteroids for the Brunson effect on my flagship.

I made one minor blunder by placing Boba Fett between Bernie’s Jendon and Gamma Squadron, which resulted in his own destruction. I did this to prevent bombing of my Interdictor, but he could have taken the damage and shrugged it off with relative ease.

Lessons Learned:

- If you can take the bombing damage, don’t worry about blocking it with your own squads. The best defense is a good offense.

Screed Interdictor/Rogues vs Ackbar Assault Frigates

This was another game with my favorite Screed list. I brought the Interdictor with HIEs, DCaps, ETs, Brunson, Target Scramblers, Title, and Grav Shift as my flagship. In support, I had a Comms Net Gozanti and Demo2 with ETs, OEs, Flechette Torpedoes, and Kallus.  My fighter wing consisted of Morna, IG88, 2 Decimator, and 2 Firesprays. On the other side, Andy brought two Assault Frigates with XI7s, Intel Officers, and Gunnery Teams as the backbone of the fleet. Ackbar was on a TRC90, Draven on an otherwise naked Escort type Nebulon, and a Leia Comms Net flotilla with Shara/Tycho for cover.

I had the bid and chose second player. He chose my Station Assault, which was good because we’ve never played that one. Once he placed his flotilla, I had a very good idea of where he was setting up, knowing his penchant for formation flying. Here is the post-setup state after I’ve shifted the obstacles around to my liking:

In the first round, Andy sped his forces up to get into range of the station. He did a great job of keeping formation, not ramming himself, and avoiding my obstacle trap. I pushed Demo up to get in front of his line. Here is the close of round 1:

In the second round, the forward most AF rammed the flotilla to stay in place. The rear AF jumped to the front. I maneuvered my Demo around the flotilla, gunning for the CR90, but landed just outside of close range. Tycho jumped in to tie up my squad ball. I thought I could knock him out pretty easily in a single round, but he annoyingly stuck around with 1 health after countering all 5 of squadrons. One of the Decimators rolled all blanks, which was highly irritating. Here is the close of round 2:

On the third round, the now forward AF executed a very nice Ackbar slash. This allowed Demo to move in for the assassination attempt. The forward arc netted a single damage. I was then able to ram, shoot with my side arc - netting an extraordinarily fortuitous structural damage, and then finish the CR90 off with another ram from the Engine Techs. This was certainly the deciding factor of the game going forward. The Nebulon took pretty significant damage from the Interdictor and then got stuck ramming for the last damage. The ever annoying Tycho managed to knock out one of my Firesprays before going down. Here is the close of round 3:

The fourth round involved the destruction of the lead frigate and one of the stations. Here is the close of round 4:

In the final round, the second station took some damage, both flotillas were destroyed, and then the frigate was dropped by my Rogues. Here is the close of the round with no opposition:

In adjusting this list, decided to revert to using the anti-squadron Demolisher due to its greater flexibility over the Victory I had utilized in my previous game using Screed. The choice paid off. The ET Gladiator is weaker vs ships, but having the heavy support to my squadrons lets me drop Intel and go for a quick victory on the squadron front before hitting the ships. I was also going to bring Jendon, which would have worked well for me his game, but wanted to compare Decimator to Firespray performance.

During setup, I was able to push some asteroids toward the enemy while pulling the stations back toward my side. I could have pulled them back further, but wanted to use the stations to repair the Interdictor in the event of damage, which was likely. This turned out to be a non-factor and worked against me.

I was able to drop the Ackbar CR90 and neutralize the Assault Frigate broadsides in the process. This was primarily due to a fortunate structural damage. The outcome may have been substantially different had the CR90 activated first or not drawn that particular critical. 

Lessons Learned:

- While Decimators have statistically superior anti-squadron damage as compared to Firesprays, the latter tended to be better performers due to accuracy procurement.

- Keep your stations back during Station Assault to ensure the enemy most get in beyond the asteroids to take shots.

Sato MC75 vs Vader Dual ISDs

Never having messed around with Sato, I decided to give him try. I brought an MC75 Ordnance Cruiser with Bail, ExRacks, APTs, ECM, and Ordnance Experts as my flagships. I supported it with a Toryn Farr Combat Refit, and a pair of Hammerheads with DCaps, OEs and APTs. My fighter cover consisted of Shara/Tycho, a pair of VCXs, Dash, and Han Solo. On the other side of the table was Vader on a Cymoon, an ISD2, and a supporting flotilla with Bossk and Zertik Strom. He had a 1 point bid and took first, which suited me. He chose Opening Salvo. Here is the setup:

With some solid navigating, the ISDs were able to turn to face my incoming line of ships. My squadrons jumped into position as spotters to kick the battle off. Here is the close of round 1:

In the second round, I positioned my MC75 for the Bail Organa strike on the following round. My hammerheads were looking rather vulnerable here at the close of round 2:

In the third round, I hit hard with Bail, but both shots were braced and redirected and the ISD did not go down. My flotilla was dropped along with one of the hammerheads. The last hammerhead also took some pretty serious damage. My squadrons were pitching in and were able to clear out the opposing squadron support without much trouble. Here is the close of round 3:

In round 4, the damaged ISD was able to activate first and pop my hammerhead as well as put some pretty significant damage onto my MC75 before dropping to another double arc (rear and side). Here is the close of round 4:

Thanks to a navigate command, my flagship was able to stay on the board. The Gozanti finally lost its scatter token after avoiding a ton of damage from both the hammerheads earlier and the 75 later. It was even strategically rammed twice by an ISD. Here is the close of round 5:

In the final round, Han Solo was able to activate first and put through the final damage on the Gozanti. This allowed me to activate my MC75 after the Cymoon. Here we are at the close of the game with two hull left on the MC75 (so close):

This one felt like a marvelously close game. I was able to knock out the non-flagship ISD and run for it. I would have squeaked by with a 6-5 I believe had I not gotten a turn 6 volley that triggered APTs and gave me half points on the ISD thanks to Opening Salvo. Still, it was close and a turn 7 would have meant my tabling.

My obstacle placement was a non-factor as the ISDs deployed well away from that cluster. I really wanted to use Bail and turn three is by far the best for predicting locations with my limited expertise, so I placed my fleet right across from the ISDs (in lieu of navigating the rocks) and hoped that their starting angle would prevent them coordinating effectively. I was wrong on that count and my hammerheads ended up being knocked out without delivering any meaningful damage. I feel like Admonition on its own would have been far more effective. The squadrons were pretty solid, but I think that more rogues would have been handy. My flotilla pushed a couple squadrons, but then they were left on their own.

Lessons Learned:

- Hammerheads have a decent chance of surviving a single long range shot from an ISD, but not more.

- Against a pair of ISDs, asteroids really need to be used to break up the formation and prevent coordination. 

Screed Interdictor/Rogues vs Ackbar MC80

For this matchup, I brought Screed in an HIE/DCap Interdictor supported by a Victory I w/ Quads and a token passing Gozanti. My squadrons consisted of Morna Kee, Decimator, Boba, Firespray, Dengar, and Mauler Mithel. I could have traded in Jendon/Steele for greater efficiency, but I planned to keep the Gozanti back behind the heavies, so I’d have few spare squadron commands in range. I think Intel is a must to keep my rogue bombers concentrating fire. Mauler is so great with Dengar and synergizes well with Boba, so I tossed him in too. He doesn’t even need commands to put out that free damage.

My regular sparring partner, Andy, brought an Ackbar fleet with a very heavy MC80 (Engineering teams, redundant shields, ECM, & more), Jaina’s Light TRC, Yavaris titled TRC Nebulon with Draven (Ouch), and Toryn Farr in her usual chariot. He had light squadron cover of just Wedge & Dutch. He also had the greater bid (398 to 399). He wisely chose second player and I picked Minefields, figuring I could move the asteroids around enough to help my cause. Here is the setup after I moved three central asteroids:

I moved my Victory up to take a mine to the face, but had a repair command lined up as well as a token from the Gozanti and was able to repair that damage in the next round. Here is the close of round 1:

The second round continued the trajectory of both fleets with the notable exception of the Draven Yavaris. He moved up to speed three. I believe he wanted to find a position to fire on my bomber ball with his three dice flak. Here is the close of round 2:

In round three, Dutch and Wedge hit my squadrons. Dutch was unable to get the requisite accuracy on Mauler to cancel his scatter and move his activation slider. Wedge was therefore unable to use his ability and their alpha strike ended up being ineffectual. My fighters were able to destroy them both in the squadron phase. Andy accidentally activated his MC80 before his CR90 and was unable to turn in with the rest of the fleet, creating an ugly situation in future rounds. Here is the close of round 3:

In round four, I slowed my fleet to speed 1 and let his ships come to me. My squadrons got some solid damage through onto Yavaris. Here is the close of round 4:

The fifth round was decisive and saw the destruction of both the Nebulon and CR90. Here is the close of round 5:

At this point, the game was effectively over. We played it out with the destruction of his flotilla and a respectable salvo from the MC80 onto the Victory. Game over, with a solid victory for Screed and his fantastic Imperial rogues. The Interdictor proved sufficiently maneuverable as it Engine Teched around the Victory. There were, shockingly, no collisions throughout. I had to keep the Victory on the inside of the turn due to its terrible nav chart, which left my Interdictor vulnerable without Brunson use thanks to being too far from the asteroid. This ended up being a non-factor in the result, but it made me play more conservatively with my tank. 

Lessons Learned:

- Minefields can really mess with deployment and neutralize Brunson, watch for that.

- Rogue bombers provide flexibility and self-sufficiency, even when put into an unfavorable deployment.