Basic Strategy Guide 2.2.1

[Zardnaar]

 The following is a rough guide to the various factions and a brief overview of their strengths and weaknesses. I will also include some opening moves for them and overall impressions. This is mostly geared towards Era 1 and the early game. This is because I am finding it hard to tech up by killing the imperial commanders and have not made it past era 3 with the Empire being eliminated. This is for Art of War and assuming you play on Admiral difficulty.

 Generally once you get to a certain point you more or less have the game won I find. Usually this means each choke point has a 60 point fleet defending it and you have several 60 point attack fleets and it doesn't matter if you lose two or 3 of them or if you lose your entire army. If I am referring to an Imperial faction(in general) this means everyone apart from the Empire of the Hand and the New Republic. Otherwise I will refer to the specific faction.

 If you're playing an Imperial faction of some description I recommend you get used to using Victory I and II's and ISD II, the support units you can build vary a bit. Overall I personally prefer  smaller units over things like SSD's, Praetors, Sovereigns etc. I find the big ships of limited use This kind of applies to things like Starfighter spam which seems to have been nerfed but a large pile of E wings or Defenders can eventually wear down a lot of fleets. Carriers with fighter/bombers + VSD are often useful to eliminate shields while your blaster type ships do the damage. The smaller ship thing is also because of things like Hyper Velocity cannons as it is a lot of fun having you Allegiance class Star Destroyer have its engines shot off in the opening part of a skirmish. Also sometimes hings like Praetors, SSD trip over themselves and can't fly in a straight line or your other units get int eh way so your support hips get chewed to pieces while your Praetor or whatever faces the wrong way.

Some terms I use, balanced, kill, carrier fleets.

Sample Generic 60 Point fleet.

4 ISD II's/Tectors (including any commanders) 24 Points
4 Victory VSD 20 Points
4 Strike Cruisers
2 Escort carriers
4 Corvettes/IPVs etc  4 Points

 This s a basic imperial fleet the empire and Greater Maldrood can put togather. If you have better VSD available (Procursator , Crimson Command VSD) use them. It is fairly close to a default fleet I would use. If I am running Tectors I add a few more escort carriers (-4 strike cruisers, +1 VSD, +4 escort carriers)

Kill Fleet.
 A kill fleet is one dedicated to killing other ships as fast as they can. They can sometimes come up short vs fleets with a large amount of fighters and bombers espicially vs the New Republic. Generally you build around powerful ships that have few if any fighters (Tectors, Allegiances, Praetors). Any fighters are incidental and are more used for keeping swarms off your back than used offensively.
 Sample kill fleets.

4 Tectors
12 Strike Cruisers

3 Allegiances
5 SD/Procursator / CC VSD
7 IPVs/Corvettes/Lancers

Carriers Fleet
 Carrier fleets are very good at picking apart smaller fleets and moderately defended systems. They may struggle vs large fleets, vs the New Republic and if you have raiders. The New Republic, Greater Maldrood and Pentastar Alignment excel at carrier fleets. They have been nerfed over 2.1 and large clouds of fighters and bombers are not as good as quality units like K Wings and Skipray Blastboats. You need to mix in a few more big ships now to make them work and if you're an Imperial hopefuly something that is not TIE bombers which are decent for stripping shields but bad at killing things, die horribly and are slow.

Sample Fleet (generic, some Walord factions are a lot better).

3 ISD IIs
4 VSDs I/II or unique cruisers.
5 Escort Carriers
4 Acclaimators
4 Lancers/ 4 picket ships

 There is no 100% way to design a good carrier fleet as the Empire/Warlords as it varys by faction, what units are available and what the era is. Not all factions can build Acclaimators, some factions have strike cruisers etc. Another variant.

3 ISD II's
8 Strike Cruisers
9 Escort Carriers
 More fighters and hitting power.


 Fleets will vary a bit depending on whats available due to faction or staring units. For example with Thrawn I would be more inclined to put some strike cruisers in his fleet and less carriers.

 Also the following is not gospel, its what I like and I may have built something wrong feel free to suggest your own ideas.


 

[Zardnaar]

Yevetha

I will start off with one of the "harder" factions. The Yevetha are really an imperial faction as 95% of their stuff in Era 1 is recycled Imperial stuff except for their infantry and Aramadia class thrustships. Even then they have a truncated unit roster as they can't build strikecruisers, carracks or much of anything. For the most part ISD II, VSDS I and II, and the thrust ships and Corellion corvettes are your bread and butter. Your planets are also poor and semi useless. and you are over force limits so you can't build anything. The thrustship is also semi useless at dealing damage and their commanders are weak at best they have a skill IV leader. ALso they can't build carriers, bombers, fightersm and your bomber forces are weak and few in number. However they do have a few things going for them.

1. They start with a SSD via a commander Dar Bille. I don't really like SSDs but if its free I like them a bit better.
2. Their empire is compact.
3. They can build a capital which boosts a planets income.
4. They can build Black 15 structure which gives them a discount on all units built at its location.
5. Location location location. There are some very rich planets nearby in the Empire of the Hand and they start close to Bilbringi and the core worlds.
6. A reasonably large amount of starting ISD II's.
7. D class fighters carried as default on most of your capital ships and VSD I.

 The basic strategy here is obvious. Immediate expansion into the Empire of the Hand. SInce you can't build any new units anyway may as well build some buildings. Your starting funds should be used to build the capital and 3 mines on N'Zoth while 1 planet produces a barracks and one produces a light vehicle factory.

 Mass all your units and create a fleet built around the Pride of Yevetha SSD (I use an ISD II, 4 VSD and the commander with a interdictor). Defend N'Zoth and Z'Fell with whats left over and go forth and take over the Empire of the Hand working your way up to Nirauan. Build mines and trade stations and leave behind garrisons on key worlds.

 You can get your income up to around 5000 credits and you might be better off holding off building your capital on N'zoth and placing it somewhere like Syca but that is a lot of lost income over several weeks but your initial starting forces should be enough. This is so you can build ground production buildings on N'Zoth so make full use of Black 15. For the 1st 30+ weeks of the game most of your production should probably take place at N'Zoth.


Aramadia are basically rubbish but are cheap and cheerful and have 1 great use- as a bullet sponge and can be built for 1000 credits each at N'Zoth. They have a boost weapons ability which means they can rip towards the front of the fleet and take the hits for your more important ships like VSD which are a bit squishy. They are also cheap for defensive fleets.

 Once you get up and running you have 3 commanders who are a bit below average to build fleets around. I have already mentioned the Pride of Yevetha fleet, the other ones are Vol Noorr who commands an Allegiance class SD, and Jip Toorr who commands a VSD II.

 Here are my 60 point builds for those fleets.

Vol Noorr (11 points)
2 ISD II's (12 points)
3 VSD (12 Points)
10 Aramadia Thrustships (20 points)
5 Correllion Corvettes (5 Points)

 Not a massive fan of this fleet but its what I had/could build. -2 or 3 Thrustships +1 VSD or ISD IMHO. Have I mentioned I do not like Allegiance class SD's?

 And the Yevetha "balanced" fleet.

Jip Toorr (3 points)
5 VSD (15 points)
3 ISD II (18 Points)
7 Thrustships (14 Points)
5 Corellion Corvettes (5 Points)

[Zardnaar]

Eriadu Authority (EA)

 The 1st faction I played when the 2.2 landed and I quite like it. FOr the most part this is a typical imperial faction but you can build Torpedo Spheres, Escort Carriers (the TIE Hunter one), Praetors, Executors, and Tector Class star destroyers and tartan patrol cruisers. So you more or less have your bases covered although you can't build strike cruisers.

 At the start of the GC you can't build anything like the Yevetha due to being over your force limit cap. You also have a large amount of ISD I which I more or less consider obsolete and all the older ships can eventually be scrapped. Eriadu can built the Tarkin family estates which gives you a discount on all your military hardware while Sluis Van can build Rendali Star Drive for cheap Victory I and II star destroyers. At 10k a pop I wait a few weeks before building them though.

 The EA has a decent selection of average to below average admirals and you can get some more. Not the best in the game but you have a large amounts of them with Delvardus being level III. 

 Money can be an issue as Eriadu as you do not have the richest worlds. They also do not get much in the way of decent bombers but they are very good at fighter spam as they get TIE Hunter Escort Carriers and the Acclaimator and the generic escort carriers.

 Your opening moves should be to seize Glova (its a freebie), and then Elrood which gives you additional heroes including an economic adviserone. The next goal is to nab Sullust and Moorja ASAP as it links up Yag Dhul and Adye Prittick a commander of an ISD II. Even with a moderate income you have 2 foundry worlds which you build Rendali and the Tarkin Estates on *25% off with your adviser) ain effect a 3rd one via your advisers. put 3 mines on Elrood. Utapau and Glova I turn into troop production worlds and I try to seize Thyferra and perhaps Fonder and the NR worlds to the west (Hoth, Endor etc).

 Your location is not the best and you can expect to be slammed by the NR and he Empire early and often. Have fortress worlds with a HVG + fleet defend the shipyard worlds like Fonder while low income worlds are defneding on the ground- turn them into fortress worlds.  Directly north of you you have the galactic core and Corellia+Kuat+Coruscant are great additions.

 Once you get rolling the EA has perhaps the most powerful imperial fleet options available due to unit roster. I like the Torpedo spheres and Tector class star destroyers which are basically tough ISD IIs with no starfighters ( build TIE Hunter carriers). THe Torpedo sphere is a long range platform , a pair of them can reduce Oto and Empress class space station to ruble in 4 or 5 minutes (on fast forward). Wand to use ISD I/II use torpedo spheres insterad, want to use victories for fire support use torpedo spheres instead. Build the right fleet, use torpedo spheres. Have a fleet of Praetors or Tectors add torpedo sphere etc.

 For fleets you can build around your admirals using the generic fleet template replacing ISDII with Tectors and adding in some carriers. 2 or 3 Torpedo spheres seems to be the magic number and combined with some VSD you can annihilate shields and the spheres are great on the defence as well, not the best on the offensive and horrible pushing into a defended world with a HVG as it can destroy your engines and recharge another once or twice before your expensive space junk can cross the map to engage. Otherwise build around Delvardus and his Praetor (that loves driving in circles and otherwise being useless).

Torpedo Sphere Fleet 60 Points

 Torpedo spheres need protection and the EA gets 2 TIE hunters and a light ship for 1 population point.

ISD Admiral (pick one) 6 points
3 Torpedo Spheres 24 Points
4 VSD I 16 Points
3 Escort Carriers (6 Points)
8  TIE Hunter Escort Carriers (8 points)


Balanced Fleet

1 ISD Admiral 6 Points (or replace with a Tector)
3 Tector ISD 18 Points
3 VSD I/II 12 Points
2 Torpedo Spheres 16
8 TIE Hunter Escort Carriers 8 Points

Kill Fleets

Praetor Fleet
 This may be the nastiest Praetor fleet in the game. The idea is simple 2 Praetors+ fire support from the VSD II's. TIE Interceptors and hunters cover you from fighters, if they get overwhelmed (perhaps vs the NR) retreat.

Delvardus +Praetor 32 Points (or 2 Praetors)
2 Torpedo Spheres
Interdictor
9 TIE Hunter Escort Carriers 4 Points

1 SSD
2 Torpedo Sphere
9 TIE Hunter Escort Carriers

This fleet is very simple, SSD+ fire support from topedo spheres and a pile of TIE hunters+ whatever the SSD spits out. Replacing a Torpedo Sphere with 4 normal escort carriers is also an option.

Moral of the story build torpedo spheres but remember to support them.

 The Eridus Authority niche is a heavy cruiser faction with Torpedo Spheres, Tectors and Praetors backed up with lots of TIE hunters via the TIE Hunter Escort carriers. They can go big with a single SSD and Praetor Pocket SSD's.  On the land they have the typical imperial units but pick up the lancet from the base game. They are a bit weaker vs infantry (no AT-PTs) but have stronger air units- 2 of them. I like them a lot as they more or less do what I want the imperials to do- hit hard with heavy ships (as opposed to SSD's). The EA can build a single SSD through to Era 4 SSD's era 1 or 2 not sure if that changes later. Then again you don't need them they have a very nice combination of units. They do not seem to get new units so far by era 4.

Pros

Torpedo Spheres
TIE Hunter Escort carriers
Eridau
Tectors as a default ship

Cons
Below average cruisers
Below average admirals
Bad starting location
Can only build 1 SSD ( Pentastar can field 4, Zsinj 3, Empire 2, Greater Maldrood 2)

[Zardnaar]

Greater Maldrood

Yet another Imperial Faction that is also over the fleet cap and can't build new units until they capture some new planets. This one trades the ability to build carracks for Crimson command VSD, Providence class frigates, neutron stars, arquitens light, Bellators, Allegiance class SD, Secutor and Procursator SD's. You also get IPVs which are great. Also the Secutors and Neutron Stars carry TIE Avengers which I believe are the only faction inthe game that gets them. Interestingly they also have the best ISD II out of all of the Imperials as they spawn a TIE, ARC 170, TIE Avenger and a TIE bomber vs the more traditional complements.

 They also get an economic adviser to star the game with and can get another one at Antemeridias. Antemeridias can also build a Loronar corporation which allows you to build strike cruisers for 1120 credits. With an economic adviser you can build them for 1200 credits and apart from the Empire you are the only Imperial warlord than can build them. Strike cruisers are a great escort ship as they are cheap, deal good damage, can enhance their fire, pack Ion cannons and are cheap and cheerful. You can build around 3 of them for every Crimson Command VSD. Eventually you may run out of Crimson Command ships to build as they are finate, but you can replace them with Procursator and Providence class frigates.

The opening move for GR is very basic- head straight to the Antemeridias system ASAP to get an economic adviser and admiral larm. You can also build Loronar corporation there for 1120 credit strike cruisers. Then take Garos and push into Phindar, Maridun, Lianna and up into the Corporate Sector (Telos, Essios, Etti IV, Bonadan). You do not have very may admirals but they are quite skilled (two of them are level II), and they are in smaller ships (except for the allegiance one) so leave them towards the back of your fleet and prepare to run a lot if your ships die. If you kill Zsinj you acquire Kosh Teradoc who is another level 2 admirral (that gives you 3 of them) although he is in an ISD II which I think is worse than the Allegiance or CC VSDI.

 Basically you run a balanced fleet replacing VSDs with crimson command VSD's, use ISD II and you can spam strike cruisers which come with 2 TIE interceptors. That is your bread and butter fleet, add 4 IPVs and you can more or less conquer the galaxy using those ships. Balanced fleet, add strike cruisers and CC VSD's. Did I mention I can't stand Allegiance class star destroyers?

 The other fleet they can do is a carrier fleet. This is built around spamming bombers and fighters. The Providence class carries 2 ARC 170'2 and 2 TIEs and can put out a decent amount of damage while the Secutor can carry a massive amount of replacements+ launch 9 squadrons- 3 TIE, 3 TIE Avengers, 3 TIE Bombers. THe Neutron Star bulk cruiser can carry 1 TIE, 1 TIE Avenger, 1 bomber. You still want some heavy/moderate hitters in your carrier fleet.

The carrier fleet is very simple. Use your starfighters to strip shields/distract the enemy have your strike cruisers and Providence make the kill. On occasion secutors can also get in on the fun. I sell the gladiator Star Destroyers as the GM versions fdo not seem to spawn bombers and you can turn them into an Allegiance.

Carrier Fleets.

 The carrier fleet is reasonably cheap to build as you star with a good chunk of the required ships. I would recommend this as a 1st fleet.
Early Carrier Fleet (cheap)

2 Secutors (Admirals Trier is in one) 16 Points
2 ISD II 12 Points
2 Providence 6 Points
3 Escort Carriers 10 points
6 Strike Cruisers 18 points

a variant is the TIE Avenger fleet. TIE Avengers carry missiles

3 Secutors
X12 Neutron Star Bulk Cruisers

Arc 170 fleet
4 ISD II
6 Providence Class Carriers
5 Escort Carriers
1 Admiral Lan/2 IPV's

This fleet is built around spitting out a large amount of ARC 170's. They seem a bit more durable than TIE Avengers and you get more punching power in this fleet from the Providences and ISDs over the TIE Avenger fleet.

Kill Fleets
 Greater Maldrood has several options for ship to ship combat fleets. These seem to be the best ones I have discovered.

 Bellator Fleet

1 Bellator
11 Strike Cruisers

This fleet is carried by the Bellator, the strike cruisers are here for cheap firepower. Adding 2 Secutors also works reducing the strike cruisers.

3 Allegiance
9 Strike Cruisers
 This fleet is more or less all about the pure firepower with a token amount of TIEs to keep the skies clear. A more expensive version replaces the strike cruisers with X5 CC VSD and 7 IPV's.

4 ISD II

12 Strike Cruisers
This fleet is a cheap fleet you can knock together near the star of the game. You start with a few ISDs and strike cruisers are cheap. This fleet will give you a 4 Arc 190's, TIE Avengers, and a large amount of normal TIE's.


 You can build the kill fleet reasonably early in the game due to a starting admiral. Allegiances can be had for 8250 credits each so 2 of them cost 16 500 and 9 strike cruisers clock in at 10 080 credits. A size 60 fleet for 26 580 credits or maybe a few more if you use other planets to build strike cruisers faster. Strike cruisers early on are good enough and let you come out the gate swinging hard. By week 30 you can have 4 or 5 60 point fleets with a Bellator as well or on the way.

 You can also build a balanced fleet early on around Treuton Teradoc. 3 Secutors replace 4 ISD II's.

3 Secutors
4 Crimson Command VSD
1 Treuten Teradoc
9 Strike Cruisers
1 Interdictor

 Once you have expanded and/or built up cheap 60 point defensive fleets you can start looking at building Crimson Command VSD's which are excellent I just find 3 Strike cruisers early on a bit more attractive. Something like.

4 ISDs (this is a good fleet for Kosh or Treuten to command).
5 CC VSD's
2 IPVs
2 Strike Cruisers
4 Escort Carriers


 You can mix and match your fleets as you have 3 good options in the 4 point cruiser slot (Providence, CC VSD, Procursator), the excellent strike cruisers (which can replace cruisers), replace a ISD II with a Secutor, or in an allegiance fleet replace the strike cruisers with CC VSDs and some IPVs (perhaps better vs the New Republic). Neutron Stars have a better fighter loadout than strike cruisers but are not as good at being a fighting ship as Strike Cruisers and cost more money but if you want to run a large amount of TIE avengers its one way to do it.

 The Eriadu Authority is really the capital ship imperial faction, these guys are cruisers and carriers with the option of big capital ships once you have the resources. You have the excellent crimson command VSD's with the option of building very heavy Allegiances and Bellator pocket SSD. They also have several excellent carrier type craft such as the Secutor and providence ships. Interestingly they have a different fighter/bomber load out in the Secutors than the Pentastar alignment and they have a faction exclusive TIE Avengers on some of their ISD's and Providence frigates. The Pentastar Alignment has competition for best imperial carrier faction now. Come to think of it the Pentastar Alignment is now in 2nd place. 

 On the ground they are above average but they lack the unique units other factions get that rock (hailfire droids for example). They pick up the T-16 skyhopper which is a great scout and the AT- AP walker which is a slow firing cheap long range fire support unit. They also have the TX 130 Saber tank.

Between the CC VSDs, excellent carriers and very cheap Strike Cruisers and 2 economics advisers these guys are all about the medium sized craft spam with a side helping of carriers and pocket SSD and very heavy cruisers.

Pros
Very good admirals
Crimson Command VSD's
Excellent carriers
Bellator pocket SSDs (faster I like them more than an SSD)
Allegiance super heavy ISD's
Excellent unit roster (Procurators, IPVs, Providence, Secutors etc etc etc)
TIE Avengers

Cons (not a lot)

Not the best starting location (can be rough)
Can't build anything at the start (over unit cap)
 

 Overall I think this is the best warlord faction and in the top 3 in the game. And one of the best at FTGU.

[Zardnaar]

Pentastar Alignment

Well the PA has been nerfed and buffed. They lost the 2 SSD starting combo and the ability to build the IPV and they gained the raider corvette, a starting Secutor star destroyer and they can build the Procursator star destroyer, Bellator class pocket SSD and they can summon the Vengeance for 60 000 credits (probably less with an adviser). You also lose the ability to make VSD's II and gain Procursator as a trade off.  The Procursator is also a lot better here than in the Greater Maldrood due to a lack of competition in the 4 point slot from CC VSDs and the Providence frigates. Not sure if the Procursator has been buffed from 2.2

 Well the Pentastar Alignment's niche is pocket SSDs and fighter spam as they are the preeminent imperial faction for spamming bombers and fighters. Traditionally this is because they have had access to the Venator Star Destroyer and the Munificent Star frigate. The Munificent is pants as a ship but it has the ability to launch 2 skipray blastboats.

 They have also picked up the Secutor Class Star Destroyer, and the Acclaimator now carries 2 TIEs, a V19 and a TIE bomber. Consider the carrier quality.

Venator (3)
Munificent (15)
Acclaimator (5)
Secutor (1)

 In brackets is the size of your starting fleet. Mass all your ships at Yaga Minor and build a new Venator at Yaga Minor and Muunilist. Yaga minor is key due to the annoying Empire of the Hand. Also have 2 worlds away form the front lines with light vehicle factories to build a few hailfire droids.

 At week 20 you get Grand Moff Kaine, an economic adviser and some new admirals. The opening move for the PA is very simple even on hard. You attack by week 20 you want to have an income of around 8000 credits a month. Develop Bastions and Muunilist with mines, build 2 more Venators, and spam cheap infantry and plex troopers on your border worlds and Helska/Sernipal. Anx Minor, Generis, and Ord Biniir need cheap men and a hellfire unit on each planet they will be defended on the ground.

Mass the following units into a size 60 fleet.
Admiral Grant (6 points)
Secutor clas star destroyer 8 points
2 ISD II's 12
2 Venators (8 Points)
2 Procursator (starting units) 8 points
5 Munificent frigates 15 points
1 Interdictor 3

This gives you a lot of carriers basically. This is a good enough fleet to defeat anything the AI will throw at you early in the game and its not like you are going to be invading heavily fortified worlds at this point.  Put your entire army (except the 3 border planets) on a separate fleet of 1 Acclaimator. The PA Secutor also has a different fighter load out and it has 3 TIE bombers, 3 V-19's and 3 TIEs on it for a total of 9 craft+ replacements. You also have the best bombers of the imperial facitons via the skipray blastboat via munificent frigates.

This is your attack fleet. You're using it to invade the corporate sector via Sernpidal- Eol Sha-Kauron-Telos-Etti-Bonadan- Ession- Desevro. These planets you want to build mines on Kauron-Telos-Etti-Bonadan- Ession- Desevro. You may need to disband mines on Bastion to do it and eventually sell your capital as well and place it on Telos or Etti.

 Eol Sha is an early conquest and you can put vehicle factors on its 2 slots. Funnel stormtrooper reinforcements down the tunnel to the front. Kauron is a great world to turtle up on, build up the defences and leave a few men (2 plex troopers+3 stormies) behind and a hailfire droid. Since you are not using a fleet to defend the worlds as such (yet) use cheap troops. I usually push the borders 1 planet past where I care about (lianna and tangrene) and the starting fleet is used to cover the approach from Mon Cal.

 Once week 20 lands you get Kaine and the rest of the admirals. You get Ib Dekeet who is a level 3 admiral on a Praetor and Kaine who is also level 3. Admiral Otro and Besk are also gained at week 20, Otro leans towards a carrier or Bellator SSD fleet IMHO while Besk can be used for a carrier or kill fleet (ISD II's, procursor etc).

 So that is the basic starting idea (or at least is 1 idea). Compared to the other factions you can bury your opponents in fighters and bombers and/or go big with SSD, pocket SSD's and Bellators. You do not have anything in the way of heavy ISDs like the Allegiance or Tector or Torpedo Spheres. The downside of carrier fleets is occasionally things go wrong and the AI will rush you with a 10 victories+ corvettes and summon ISDs and Allegiances as backup (combined with a raider fleet for no retreats). So lots of spam or go big. Most PA fleets should have some amount of Secutors in them its your main strength in this faction.

Suggested Fleets

Bellator Fleet

1 Bellator
2 Secutors
2 Procursator
2 Acclaimators
3 Raider Corvettes

 This fleet gives you a decent amount of fighters to protect your Bellator, a few bombers in a pinch and several cruisers and heavy cruisers (the Secutors) to aid the Bellator.


Carrier Fleet

3 ISD II
2 Secutors
2 Procursator
4 Munificent or Acclaimators (Munificent vs Empire, Acclaimators vs NR/EotH)

8 skipray blast boats+ some heavy hitters with the ISDs, Procursator, and Secutors.

Carrier Fleet Ii (Quantity)
5 Secutors (-1 Secutor +2 Venator)
2 Venators
4 Accalimators

Balanced
4 ISD
5 Procursator/ VSD I
4 Munificents/Acclaimators (or any combination)
4 Raider Corvetters

 The Pentastar Alignment is a bit weak for 3 point cruisers so you add in some carriers. The Munificent give you Skiprays for a bit more gas for bombing while the Acclaimators while squishy pack a lot of fighters, bombers, and in a pinch can be used to clear out corvettes/heavily damage ships.

or

Balanced Fleet
4 ISD 2
2 Secutor
2 Procursator
3 Venators
This fleet replaces cruisers in another faction for Secutors.

Kill Fleets (not PA kill fleets have more fighters/bombers than other factions).

1 Bellator
5 Procursator
4 Raider Corvettes
3 Acclaimators

1 SSD (hero unit)
2 Secutors or 4 Procursator
3 Munificent or Acclaimators

4 ISD
5 Procursator
2 Secutors

Pros

Procursator cruiser
Start with Admiral Grant
Very good at fighter/bomber spam (Munificient, Secutor, Acclaimators, Venators),
Very good bombers (skipray blastboats via Munificient)
Can have the most SSD's (2 heroes+ 2 Bellators)
Secutor Star Destroyer
Good starting location
Good on the ground - AT-AP, TX-130 tank and hail fire droids, AT-TE
SSD+ heroes week 20

Cons
No heavy mid range units (Allegiance, Tectors, MC 90s etc)
Weak anti starfighter picket (raider)
ISD II is basically your best capital ship
Lost the 2 SSD start
Can't build escort carriers
No AT-AT walkers

 So what is the Pentastar Alignments niche? It is the SSD faction as you can field 4 of them at once (2 heroes+2 Bellators) which is more or less double most factions. They are also tied (roughly) for 1st place in the Imperial factions for carrier fleets as they get the excellent Skipray although I suspect the Greater Maldrood might edge them out once you factor in support ships. They are also one of the best ground facitons although most of the imeprial factions aregood on the ground or make up for it in other ways such as rocket pack stormtroopers.

[Zardnaar]

Imperial Remnant

 The Emperor has fallen long live the Empire. The Empire is in a good news/bad news situation. In Era 1 its ships are arguably the worst in the game, mostly squishy although they can do decent damage. However you start with a lot of them and you have a good situation with most of the Empire being connected and you have the wealthy core worlds including the key worlds of Coruscant, Corellia and Kuat. You also have Wayland and you have the opportunity to build cheap strike cruisers at Corellia and KDY stuff at Kuat once you build the buildings that give discounts. You also have a decent variety of units on the roster. The warlords have better starting units than you however and he New Republic has been buffed and there is the Empire of the hand to your west. You also have some decent admirals.

 Thankfully you have some excellent units to help you out mosly the Strike Cruiser and Tectors and Lancers shred incoming fighters and bomber. ISD IIs are also decent and you start with a generous amount. In general imperial ships hit hard but are squishy with a few exceptions (Tectors, Allegiances, SSD). Your fighters are also weak generally and your carriers are also weak due to having to use TIE bombers as the warlords have better bomber options available era 1 and the EotH and NR carrier fleets are the best in the game.

 The bad news in everyone will likely hit you arond week 5- Zsjinj, the New Republic, and the Pentastar alignment and perhaps the Empire of the Hand at Bilbringi. Pause the game. Sell any Imperial Star Destroyers I and Dreadnought cruisers. Don't sell the Tector at Corellia.

 You can't defend everything with fleets (attrition) so withdraw all your outlying fleets to the core, on each planet on the border build 2 infantry and 2 plex troopers. Build 4 lancer frigates at Coruscant along with some infantry and send Sate Pestige to Kuat.

 While your fleets are wandering around Ysard contact you and bleets about Operation Ambition. Baiscally you can recruit her for 10500 credits. Its up to you if you want to do so but I like keeping Sae Pestige for a bit as he is an economic advisor. I use him to construct 2 Tectors KDY on Kuat, Loronar on Corellia plus various buildings 1st. Your innitial startin fleet is good enough and Blitzer Haarsk is a better Admiral than Isards contenders.

Cobble together a fleet of something as you have a few ISD IIs, strike cruisers, carracks etc. Send the fleet at Yinchorr to Bilbringi and leave the fleets in Bilbringi and Coreliia where they are. After massing the fleet you should have something like this at Kuat by week 3.


5 ISD IIs
21 Strike Cruisers
9 Lancers
6 Victory I
16 Carracks
4 Acclaimators
1 Tector

 Its enough to make 2 decent fleets and have some left overs. I create a fleet of

4 ISD II
1 Tector
4 Victory
4 Lancers
2 Acclaimators
2 Escort carriers

 No the ideal fleet but not to far off. The left over carracks and strike cruisers can also be thinned out if you really need the money, but I prefer to keep them for now as they have their uses later. You can also dens some to Bilbringi and Corellia to keep the AI in check. Cutting an ISD for 3 Escort carriers or 2 Acclaimators is also a decent option (5 can get in the way).

 The Empire Strikes Back.

 The best defence is a good offence. The rebels are annoying so the 1st world you strike at is Fondor ( quick test I lost a VSD and a lancer wiped out 2 ISD+ MC 80B+ support and facilites). The Tector is ISD "Bullet Sponge" it can soak up an impressive amount of firepower so use that to lead the charge. I key lancer to the 1 key, interceptors to the 2, TIEs to 3, TIE bombers to the 4 key.

 You can build a heavy shipyard there and it links up with Thyferra which has Blitzer on it. Also you don't want the NR near you IMHO. Fondor is an easy win. Generally I use Sate to bounce around Kalist, Kempe, Hakassi, Kuat, Corellia doing various builds but I want some heavy factories. You can use his discount ability in place of building KDY and Loronar at Corellia/Kuat. Ideally you want to start building them after you have paid for Operation Ambition but before Isard arrives.

Send some troops to Thyferra it will be defended on the ground, your navy + Blitzer is heading back to Kuat. By now your Tectors are rolling off the production lines. Around week 5 I build KDY and Loronar, the AI starts to attack destroying shipyards over planets that you evacuated. The fleet will likely arrive back to Kuat around the start of week 6.

 The main counter attack will fall on the north. You want to capture Bandomeer from Zsinj because its a chokepoint, and then push north into the Pentastar Alignment. The goal is Generis, Ord Trasir, and Ord Binii plus recapturing any Orinda/Orocco. Anything north of Wayland doesn't matter that much. You can reconfigure your main attack fleet.

Blitzer
3 Tector
4 VSD
4 Escort Carriers
3 Strike Cruisers
3 Lancer

 The idea is to get a lot of TIE Interceptors. You also have enough left over units to construct a second ISD II fleet.
4 ISD
7 Strike Cruisers
4 Acclaimators
3 Lancers

 Send them north as well. Create a 3rd fleet over left over ships (any ISDs lots of carracks whatver carriers you can find/build. Sell some of the carracks and use Sate to build more tectors, you lose access to them after era 1. Bandomeer Generis, Ord Trasir, and Ord Binii can be seized quickly in a blitzkreig before Kaine turns up and secures you resources to tangle with greater annoyances like the rebels. It also more or less locks down the core worlds and you can create ground based fortress worlds on key chokepoints.

 The Ships.

 During era 1 the empire ships are mostly garbage, you have lots of them but attrition can quickly thin them out especially carracks and strike cruisers. The Tectors are MVP and can only be built during era 1. 3 of them and Blitzer can clear out Admiral Grand, 4 ISD's and their support ships without losing a single ship, that is something the ISD II can't do (its to squishy). Otherwise use copious amounts of carriers to keep the skies clear and perhaps cut a ship for an extra couple of lancers vs the New Republic and Pentastar alignment as getting overwhelmed by fighters and bombers is annoying. Also note that early on you can build 3 strike cruisers for every victory you build and yo can get some excellent mileage out of them well into era 4 and 5. They build quick, can enhance their fire and can be built cheap on Corellia if you build Loronar Corporation there. Strike Cruisers also have Ion Cannons and are very manoeuvrable/fast relative to triangle imperial ships.The ideal early fleet compositions.

Balanced Imperial Fleet

4 ISDII/Tectors (I prefer Tectors you start with ISD II and 1 Tector 1 can be cut for an admiral).
5 Victories/Vic II (or 2/2)
4 Strike Cruisers
4 Escort Carriers
4 Lancers

 If you do not run Tectors and a a bit strapped for cash this works. Since you start with most of the needed units. The better version replaces the ISD II's with Tectors.

Basic Imperial Kill Fleet Era 1-5.

4 ISD'II's/Tectors
10 Strike Cruisers
6 Lancers

 TIE fighter swarm+ lots of damage.

 Keep the skies clear and hammer things to death with the Tectors. Lancers are slow as compared with other anti fighter options in the other factions but they are very good at clearing the skies. Strike Cruisers can also hide behind the Tectors which are there to take the hits.

 During Era2 you gain Allegiances and scimitar assault bombers, lose the option to build tectors and SSD and gain some great admirals including Thrawn who with Akbar is the best in the game. Era 3 you pick up the XR-85 tank, Palpatine and gain the ability to build Sovereigns and the Modular Task force Cruiser.

Sample fleet era 2 and 3.  If the Tector is a heavy ISD II sans fighters/bomber the Allegiance is a super tector.

Allegiance kill Fleet

3 Allegiances
8 Strike Cruisers
3 Lancers

Building around Thrawn is also an option, the more guns the merrier.

Thrawn
3 ISD II's/Tectors
10 Strike Cruisers
6 Lancer Frigates

 A few of your ships replace the meh TIE bombers with Scimitar Assault bombers which are better, fast and long range for a bomber unit.

 
Era 3 is split into 2 parts. Part one is the Dark Empire where you can build a Sovereign class SSD and get the Emperor in his Eclipse. This means you can hit and fade using the superlasers to chew through large amounts of Empress, Oto class space stations and MC 90's. You also can build world devastators which are mostly junk.  Part 2 is the Crimson Empire with Carnor Jax large bunch of misfits of the Imperial Council for 1000 credits. Most of the heroes suck but there are some nice economic type advisers (bonus credits, cost reduction on frigates and fighters) and a decent admiral (lvl 3) attached to an Allegiance. You lose the Emperor but the Crimson Empire can out produce the Dark Empire and has several useful heroes. Era 3 for the Imperials is all about big ships (Eclipse, Sovereign, World Devastators, Allegiance) and swarms of drone fighters from Modular Task Force Cruisers. Its also the last era you can build Allegiances and the only era for the modular Task Force Cruisers. A Sovereign can be carried forward into Era 4 and 5 along with any surviving Allegiances, World Devastators and Modular Task force cruisers. I tend to use them as a reserve for escorting the Sovereign.

 Sovereign Fleet

1 Sovereign SSD
1 Allegiance
9 Modular Task Force Cruisers (or 8 Strike Cruisers + 3 lancers)

Era 3 also allows the Empire to field a nasty Carrier Task Force (CTF). It looks something like this.

X4 ISDs (or 3 ISDs + 3 escort carriers)
X3 VSD II's
8 Modular Task Force Cruisers

 It gives you a large pile of TIEs, TIE bombers, and TIE Droids.

 Sovereigns are weaker than other SSD's but they have that superlaser so they excel at cracking heavily fortified systems. They spit out a few fighters and bombers as well throw in in some Modular Cruisers for more Droid fighters.

Era 4 you pick up the Crimson Command VSD, Venators, and Tectors come back and Allegiances go bye bye. Your ISD II's also upgrade and launch 4 A-9 Vigilence Interceptors, a Howlrunner, TIE and TIE bomber. Venators also launch a single A-9. This era is all about the cruisers- basically the Crimson Command VSDs and the Tectors its like the Eriadu Authority and Greater Maldrood had a baby. Daala, Pellaeon and Makati and Takel are your admirals (assuming the latter 2 survive). You can also build Venators but I find it better just to run 2 escort carriers instead. Carrier spam seems to have been nerfed and you just want fighters to keep your tectors and Crimson Command VSD's alive. This is about theonly era where cruyisers are competitive with Strike Cruisers due to the CC VSD's. just replace an early era balanced fleet VSD's with CC VSD's.

 Suggested Fleet (balanced)

4 Tectors (or 3 + Admiral)
5 CC VSD
4 Lancer Frigates
4 Strike Cruisers

Suggested Fleet (kill)

4 Tectors
5 CC VSD
4 Strike Cruisers
4 Lancers

7500 credits gets you Pelleaon and era 5. Era 5 is arguably worse than era 4 but you gain the Praetor which has lost its range advantage and has a nasty habit of spinning in circles and I do not use them. You can build I-7 Howlrunners (junk) and Preybirds (excellent), your ISD IIs also upgrade to carrying a single Howlrunner although ISD IIs are well obsolete.


Pros
Very good starting position (beaten by Zsinj and the Empire of the Hand).
Best and numerous Admirals in the game (Thrawn, Pelleaon, numerous skill 3 ones that last right through the eras).
3 planets with cheap units (Kuat, Corellia, Wayland)
High damage units
Tectors
Strike Cruisers
Very strong on land era 3+
Easy to tech up- you have more control paying credits to gain the next era.
Diverse unit roster with decent if basic units- Strike Cruisers, VSD's, lancers, ISD II, Escort carriers, Acclaimators. Gives you options on fleets (spam, carriers, cruisers, heavy etc)

Cons
Lack of economic adviser most eras (Sate doesn't last long usually, Isard is better as an SSD, otherwise era 3 Crimson Empire).
Squishy capital ships (except Tectors, Allegiances, SSD)
Below Average Cruisers  (VSD I and II)
Outclassed by the other factions era 1
Outclassed by the New Republic late eras
No unique units era 1 (except TIE defender)
Weak bombers
Weak fighters (on ships) quantity helps.
Weak Carriers
No jumbo unit era 1 (Allegiances, Praetors)
Other warlords have unique units era 1 (that are better than yours).
Triangle ships not very manoeuvrable.



 Conclusion the Empire is not that good at brawling unless you invest in Tectors and Allegiances and don't get flanked (they turn badly). They peak in era 3 (super weapons) or era 4 (Tectors + CC VSD).

[Zardnaar]

New Republic

 The New Republic is probably a strong contender for the best faction in the game. They do not have very many (if any) weaknesses that cannot be compensated for. For example they may be "weak" on the ground as they tend to lack the powerful units other factions have but they have the best ground artillery in the game with a massive range along with AAC1's. Perhaps the only major downside I cant think of is they IMHO.are not front loaded in tech like the warlords (eg Eriadu is basically era 5 empire+ torpedo spheres), and they have little control over era progression. In the late eras (4/5) they are outright the best faction IMHO. Early on their ships do not deal that much damage relative to say imperial ships but they are very very tanky and tough as guts and I consider that a more of a personal preference type deal.

 In the Art of war GC they do have a geographical disadvnatage as they do nothave a consolidated area to call home instead having roughly 3 major areas- the NE around Mon Calamari, the South west near the Eriadu Authority and the SE around Bothawui. You have 3 key planets.

1 Bothawui. This is your capital although you can sell it and move it (cost 5k+ tme to rebuild). I usually relocate it reasonably early in the game (before week 20)
2. Mon Calamari. You can build cheap units here including most of your capital ships due to the abiliuty to build engineering corporations.
3. Sullust. You can build the Soro Suub corporation here which means cheap carriers and Dauntless cruisers.

 You can link up the South but it is a bit more work to link up all 3 major pockets and you will still have the occasional isolated pocket (Fonder, perhaps Sullust). Most of your fleet is in the SW part of the map with planet defence fleets
scattered around the map. Generally mass your unit is in the Endor area and you can snipe a few Corporate Sector planets in the NE part of the map for free which provide major economic bonuses. In the SW link up with Sullust. A few planets would have to be defended on the ground as your fleets are scattered/not big enough to defend every location. Worlds like Telos, Ession, Desevro+ Nal Hutta, Da Soocha, and Kessel are easy to get and can form the backbone of your economy. I generally build mines on Bothwui as well and relocate the capital to ETTI IV for example.

 Your western fleet around Endor is bigger than your Mon Calamari heartland. You can grab Ession, Bonadan and Etti IV  for free along with Bakura and will usually have to fight Zsinj's forces for Desevro and Telos. Spam cheap infantry on worlds you need to defnd 9Bothwui, Endor, Saijo) along with some light vehicle factories. The western fleets can mass up, push through Eiattu 6, Sanrafsix and the Vergesso asteroids which more or less links up the South. Kothlis, Rodia, Ryloth are good places to produce production buildings as they are fairly secure if you push though with your biggest fleets. The west (Endor, Hoth, Bespin, Saijo are best defended on the ground and its not the end of the world if you lose them.

 Once the CSA has been secured along with Sullust look at linking up Sullust/Bothawui/Mon Calmari so you can at least transfer units to new fleets. Cheap Dauntless cruisers, carriers etc can mass up with cheap assault frigates and mon calamari cruisers. Era 1 NR ships are very tanky and a lot of them have the shield boost ability. Nebulon Bs are now good (but pricey). The backbone of our fleets should be the Mon Calamari ships, Assault frigates and Dauntless cruisers along with a few nebulon B's. Corellion corvettes are not really required your fighters are already better than the warlord and imperial versions but the corvettes are cheap so a few in a fleet is fine early on. Nebulon Bs are only 1 fleet point as well but clock in at twice the price as the Corellion Corvettes.

 If you want to tech up that more or less means assaulting the imperial core and trying to find Isard and the Lusnkaya (and then Thrawn and the Clone Emperor etc). Its usually easier just to over run Zsinj and/or the Eriadu Authority. Era 2 and 3 have E wings, Magnificent and Sacheens to look forward to. The NR niche is basically quality fighter spam as a large amount of their ships carry fighters and/or bombers. 20 or 30 X wings (or X-Wings) are very good at striping shields if not outright killing isolated ISD's and you now have a cheap interdictor to stop them running away.

Later on you have the New Class ships to look forward to (or perhaps you are playing one of the era 4 or 5 GCs). This means Nebula and Endurance star destroyers, Bothan Assault Aruisers, K wings wings and all the other goodies to look forward to. The new class ships have better fighters carried as well such as E-Wings, K-Wings, and the Defender. Your ships tend to cost more than imperial designs but are outright better and they carry better fighters as well. The Endurance and Nebula also only cost 6 and 8 fleet points now while MC90's clock in at 7 points. The ships get better the basic idea mostly stays the same- bury them in fighters/bombers/proton torpedoes use your ships to make the kill.

 Compared with the Imperials and Warlord NR ships have reasonably few weapon emplacements (MC 80bs are comparable to Procursator cruisers for example) and their capital ship weaponry is a bit anemic. They are very good at wrecking shields however (MC 80 A's and X-Wings) and most of their fighters have missiles. You can just dd Nebulon B Frigates to fleets however (anywhere between 5-60) as each one carries 2 X-Wings. NR ships however generally are very very resilient especially if you are good at micro due to the shield boost powers.

 NR ships also tend to cost more than Imperials ships and Imperial ships tend to out gun you as well. THis means your fighters and bombers have to carry the day.

Suggested Fleets
 Note most NR fleets tend to have a large amount of fighters due to most NR ships carrying them. Note Rendili Stardrive and Mon Calamari shipyards can be built on Mon Calamari for cheap units or you an park Mon Mothma/Leia/Cracken somewhere else for cheap units as well. Sullust can produce cheap Dauntless cruisers.

Era 1

Fish Fleet (balanced)
4 MC 80b's
4 MC 80's (or Dauntless)
4 MC 80a's (very good at stripping shields)
8 Nebulon B's.

The Fish fleet is reasonably cheap due to Mon Calamari. An even cheaper fleet replaces the MC 80A's with assault frigates and replaces 6 of the Nebulon B's with 2 assault frigates. That is not a bad option early in the game,

Balanced Fleet

4 MC 80b's
4 Dauntless
6 Assault Frigates
2 Nebulon B's.

Carrier Fleet

3 MC 80b's
3 MC 80's
2 Dauntless Cruiser
8Nebulon Bs
7 Quasar Fire Carriers

Carrier Fleet 2 (expensive)
60 Nebulon B's

Era 2+
Spam Fleet

60 E-Wings

 Era 3
Balanced Fleet

4 MC 90's
3 Majestics
7 Nebulon'B
3 Assault Frigates
1 CC-7700

or

5 MC 80b's
5 Assault Frigates
7 Coronas
1 CC-7700

Carrier Fleet

Era 4

4 Endurance Class Star Destroyers
4 Bothan Assault Cruisers
8 Coronas

Kill Fleet
4 Nebula Class
3 Majestics
8 Coronas
1 CC-7700

 MC 80'a's can also be replaced with assault frigates which are better at ship to ship combat, the trade off is they are squishy by NR standards. MC 80a also carry a B-Wing and use concussion missiles and ions cannons.
 This fleet gives you a large number of starfighters and very tanky ships. Dauntless deal more damage, MC80's carry more fighters and both are tough as guts. To turn this into a carrier fleet just cut an MC 80, MC 80a, MC80b and add some quasar fires and/or nebulon B's. You have a lot of good options in the 3 and 4 point frigate rosters.

 On the ground early on you can spam large amounts of AAC-1 which are a medium range artillery unit that you can micro to do drive by shootings. Half a dozen fo them can wreck an AT-AT walker and they are good at busting open bunkers as well. Not so good in a brawl with tanks though but they are cheap. YOur speeders also rock.


Pros
Very resilient ships
Great frigates/carriers/support ships
Great 4 point cruisers
X-Wing Spam (fighter spam in general)
Best carriers in the game
Best fighters/bombers in the game (except maybe TIE defender carried by 0 ships)
Best artillery and speeders in the game.
Boarding shuttles

Cons
Lacks key units era 1 and perhaps 2.
Weak infantry
Weak tanks/heavy units on the ground
Era progression can be annoying/difficult.
Not the best starting position in some GCs
No SSD equivalents until era 5.
No super heavy cruiser/ISD or pocket SSD equivalents.


 

[Zardnaar]

Zsinj

Warlord Zsinj reporting. This faction I find is kind of a hard one to play at least in terms of things like fleet composition. Zjinj faction lacks a bit in terms of cruisers vs all of the other imperial factions with the exception of the Eriadu Authority. However unlike the Eriadu authority you can't built better capital ships in the 6 -8 point range so you kind of have a deficit of good midrange ships. You do get the Super Tectors Allegiance but unlike the Greater Malrood you do not get IPVs or Strike Cruisers or Crimson Command VSDs either (see what I mean about the mid range deficit). You do get the basic imperial ISDs and VSD so they more or less have to work overtime.

 A niche where Zsinj is strong in however is carriers and smaller ships that carry fighters and bombers. For example Zjinj can build the Nebulon B escort Frigate and his one carries a TIE Raptor along with the Zsinj ISD II. This is an upgrade that is subtle over the default IS2 and might actually be the best ISD II in the game although the Greater Maldrood also have better craft on theirs. You also can not build Praetors, Bellators. You can capture Kuat and you can summon a hero unit and build a SSD. The following ships carry Raptors

ISD II (ISD I IDK I do not build them)
Neutron Star Bulk Cruiser
Quasar Fire
Nebulon B Escort Frigates


 Zsinj's faction can also build the Lucrehulk on Telos and Ession which is a big tanky carrier. A Lucrehulk disgorges 15 units (5 V-19, 5 TIE bombers, 5 TIE fighters), mostly low quality but hey. They also get Gladiator Star Destroyers which carry 2 TIE bombers as opposed to the Greater Malroods ones which seem to carry none and they also share the neutron Star bulk cruiser with the Greater Maldrood except it is better here due to a lack of better options and it also carries a TIE Raptor along with a TIE bomber and interceptor. Zsinj niche is basically TIE Raptor spam via ships and sheer amount of fighter and bomber spam although since they lack Secutors they tend to need to mix in a few ISD II or VSD I and/or II for when things go wrong. Throw enough TIE Raptors and bombers at something and you win, if the opponent is nice and tanky though they may be all over you and destroying your squishies before you can blow them up quick enough. You can try and build some carrier fleets around Raptors or go for quantity TIE Bombers (Lucrehulk, Quasar Fire, Nebulon B's, Gladiator Star Destroyers). Mixing in a Lucrehulk or 2 into an ISD II fleet also works.

 On the ground however his forces are probably the most powerful in the game. You have most of the default Imperial units but have better Raptors that replace storm troopers, hailfire droids, clone wars AT-TE, and you can build Nightsisters on Dathomir (probably overpriced).

 Your heros are also a bit meh overall but you get a nice economic adviser,

Initial strategy is to grab the Corporate Sector ASAP and send Zjinj to Ession. The Corporate sector is undefended early so using troops at Eol Sha and Lianna to grab it ASAP is a good idea. You probably want to mass your fleets somewhere and sell off the Nebulon B-2's eventually. Send Zsiinj to Ession. Defend Tangreen,Phindar and Eol Sha/Kauron on the ground. Base Zsinj on Ession, rearrange navy and sell off rubbish ships and build a cheap carrier navy. You want to get 2-3 fleets ASAP that do not have Nebulon B-2s and Imp Is in them. Short term you can use them but sell them to build ships you care about.

 Get used to using the Lucrehulks as a bullet sponge and slow and huge cruiser. They are not to bad at messing up frigates and can take a beating. Preserve your ISD IIs, even if you lose a Lucrehuulk they are cheap. The Lucrehulks and TIE Raptos are Zjinjs thing in space, later on SSD and perhaps an Allegiance fleet.

 Overall not really a fan of Zjinjs faction I don't really like the carriers he has (more the support to go with them compared with Greater Maldrood/Pentastar Alignment). I also find it hard to use the Allegiances as well as say Greater Maldrood (lack of IPVs/Strike Cruisers). Nebolon Bs die a lot if they do not hang back, and his TIE Bombers/Raptors struggle. Zjinjs redeeming feature is TIE Raptors, use them.

Sample Fleets
Kill Fleet

X3 Allegiances
X5 VSD I/II
7 Nebulon B Escort Frigates

Balanced Fleet (optional -1 ISD,-1 Quasar fire +1 Lucrehulk)
4 ISD
5 Victory II
8 Quasar Fire


Carrier Fleet (firepower)

X 4 ISD II
X4 VSD II
X10 Quasar Fire

This fleet give you a large amount of TIE Raptors+ firepower and a few TIE bombers and Interceptors as well.


Carrier Fleet (quantity)

X12 Quasar Fire
X3 Lucrehulk
X4 Neutron Star Bulk Cruiser



TIE Raptors
Carriers
Start with an SSD (Zsinj)
Great starting location (rich)
Great on the ground
Can acquire 3 Executor class SSD the most in the game.

Cons
Weak kill fleets
Average mid range ships
Lack of good cheap screens (Nebulon B are good not cheap)
Below average admirals (except for Zsinj himself)
Bad starting fleet (obsolete ships, and small/weak).
You are going to get hit from multiple locations- Pentastar, Empire, Greater Maldrood, New Republic will all want a piece.

[Zardnaar]

Empire of the Hand

 Well I thought about trying to do an in depth thing but there is a problem with the EotH. Its completely bonkers. You can stay inside your a starting borders and make over 8k credits per week. And you can build Syca Fleet Systems on Sycafor very cheap (4350) Syndic destroyers. You also start with Thrawn who is more or less the best Admiral in the game (Akbar is equal in skill, ISD I vs Mon Cal YMMV). You can more ore less roll your face on the keyboard and do alright with the Empire of the Hand

 You also start with a very good starting fleet, not as good perhaps as the Empire but its one of the best in the game. Compared to most of the factions you're looking good. Anyway I threw togather a starting fleet and built mines.

Thrawn
2 Syndics
1 Ascendency Star Destroyer
4 Chaf
3 Carriers
3 Frouro Cruisers (renamed Kariek)
3 Ormos Class carriers

 Perhaps not the ideal fleet but its what I had out of the starting units. I turtled for a bit and built some ships for the blue lady Chiss Ar'lani. The Pentastar alignment was just sitting there pants down so I did some aggressive negotiations for Yaga minor. and turtles for a few weeks.

 The EotH is fairly rich and no one really attacks you you can play passive. Then bored I decided to invade the Pentastar alignment and auto resolved every battle for the loss of 1 Vigilance gunship. Same thing happened on land for no casualties until I hit Bastion and lost a few units. Then Thrawn stumbled into a major fleet at Gabredor III with a Praetor+ commander+ secutor etc. That was a hard fight lost 3 Frouro and 3 Ormos class carriers. And this was on Admiral. Ar'lani stumbles into Grand Moff Kaine. All those fighters distract him and the Vigilance gun ships are fast enough to get behind them (12 of them). Traded 7 small ships for an SSD yes please (6 of them were Frouro cruisers).


 So what makes the EotH OP? The space units retreat in 5 seconds instead of 10, they are to fast, hit to hard and your empire is to rich. Compared to slow and clunky imperial ships and not much better off rebels they are very mobile and its not like they give up much in the way of durability, your Syndics are way tougher than an ISD and hit hard enough although I think the damage is average but it seems enough. Probably in the middle of the NR and Empire but way more mobile.

 The other thing that puts them over the top are the quality of the fighters and bombers or perhaps the quantity. It feels like you are playing an era 4 or 5 New Republic game. Furions are similar to E Wings and spawn out of several ships, 8 of them hurt while you launch clouds of fighters with 5 types spawning out of the various ships. I think some of them are new not even sure what the exact roles are except 2 of them are bombers.

 They get some new units, the Peltast Star Destroyer which might even do something (its a long range sniper it may have 1 shot a shipyard not 100% sure), and the new Afthonia fleet tender spits out 4 ships like the Acclaimator but its 2 clawcraft a furion and perhaps a TIE equivalent. Its better and its cheap. Even the cheap 1 and 2 fleet point units seem to hurt or spit out stuff and they are fast and manoeuvrable. Basically grab an Admiral , 3 capital ships, a few support ships perhaps some of the new peltasts to compensate for loss of cruisers and spam cheap stuff that carries great fighters and bombers.

Sample Fleet
4 Syndics (or 3+ Thrawn)
2 Peltasts
6 Ormos Carriers (or 4 more Afthonia fleet tenders)
4 Afthonia Fleet Tenders

 

Pros.
Everything. Seriously they are good on the ground, have great carriers, fighters, bombers, capital ships, frigates, pickets etc.

Cons (very minor easy to compensate for)

Lacks a decent early cruiser (one weak 4 point cruiser, no Victory or equivalent since you can't build Chafs).
Lacklustre admirals era 1 except Thrawn.
No big uber ships, heavy ISD, super heavy ISD , pocket SSD or SSD equivalents.


 

[Arvenski]

So Torpedo Spheres are good, then? I'm glad to hear it. I've yet to play as Eriadu, though I'd like to at some point, mainly to try out the Torpedo Spheres. They look like they could be cool, although I've been worried that they don't have enough firepower. I'd like to try making some fleets based around some of the more 'odd' units, like Torpedo Spheres for Eriadu, or World Devastators and Modular Taskforce Cruisers (I can never remember what those things are called; I had to look them up on the wiki again to see) for the Remnant.


Maldrood's the one faction I've played for any serious length of time so far in 2.2, and I still have yet to really figure them out. (Also my save is now broken. Yay.) I agree with what you said about the Arquitens; I can't really see their role. I'm not sure if they're much good at anti-fighter duties, but neither do they seem much good against bigger ships. If they had the "boost weapons power" ability, that might be different, but they don't. I'm continuing to give Procursators a chance, partly because I think they look cool and partly because their "boost weapons power" ability lets them do a lot of damage quickly, which can come in handy if I need to focus an enemy capital ship down fast. They're not up to taking a lot of hits, though. Also, Secutors seem to be awesome carriers.

Also, something I only recently discovered about Maldrood: if you're playing ground battles, AT-APs are awesome. Heavy damage with long range.

[Zardnaar]

So Torpedo Spheres are good, then? I'm glad to hear it. I've yet to play as Eriadu, though I'd like to at some point, mainly to try out the Torpedo Spheres. They look like they could be cool, although I've been worried that they don't have enough firepower. I'd like to try making some fleets based around some of the more 'odd' units, like Torpedo Spheres for Eriadu, or World Devastators and Modular Taskforce Cruisers (I can never remember what those things are called; I had to look them up on the wiki again to see) for the Remnant.


Maldrood's the one faction I've played for any serious length of time so far in 2.2, and I still have yet to really figure them out. (Also my save is now broken. Yay.) I agree with what you said about the Arquitens; I can't really see their role. I'm not sure if they're much good at anti-fighter duties, but neither do they seem much good against bigger ships. If they had the "boost weapons power" ability, that might be different, but they don't. I'm continuing to give Procursators a chance, partly because I think they look cool and partly because their "boost weapons power" ability lets them do a lot of damage quickly, which can come in handy if I need to focus an enemy capital ship down fast. They're not up to taking a lot of hits, though. Also, Secutors seem to be awesome carriers.

Also, something I only recently discovered about Maldrood: if you're playing ground battles, AT-APs are awesome. Heavy damage with long range.

They are useful and it took me a while to find a lfeet that works with them. Combined with Victories they can annihilate shields very impressively. They are slow but they don't seem to trip over each other as much as ISD's. Torpedo Spheres seem a bit squishy though. I'm not sure if the imperial factions get much after era 1.

 I have the Empire and NR to put up soon.

[Ordo]

I'm sorry, Allegiances are crap? Are you sure you are playing the game right?

[Zardnaar]

I'm sorry, Allegiances are crap? Are you sure you are playing the game right?

 I find them underwhelming for the resources required. They seem to like driving around in circles, die to fighter spam and generally get in the way. They are an 11 point unit I an have 2 Victorys+ a strike cruiser for example or ISD2+victory+ small ship so each faction usually has something they can build which I think are a better unit.

 I sometimes use them as a flagship especially if an admiral has one as a hero unit, I do not generally build many. They also cost 11 000 thats 10 strike cruisers if you're playing Greater Maldrood. 1 Allegiance vs 10 strike cruisers and 20 TIE interceptors whats going to win there? I don't mind trading ships for example I lost 2 CC VSD+a strike cruiser and killed 3 ISD II, 2 ISD 1, + smaller ships and a ship yard.

The more 60 point fleets I can field the more places I can defend so I can push on 1 front. 3 Allegiance cost 33k (probably less with economic advisers but so do my counter arguements) and eat up 33 fleet points. 33k will give me 60 E wings for example or 20 strike cruisers I can park on my border (the AI probably won't  bother attacking). 30k will also give me 30 thrust ships as the Yevetha which is another 60 point fleet.

 Yes these fleets may not be very good as such but they are a fleet in being that discourages the AI and I usually mix in other units so my fleets are still probably going to be cheaper than an Allegiance fleet. Its nice bringing them in via hyperspace reinforcements on top of something you want to blow up but I usually do not have reinforcements available. I find 60 point fleet ideal for 90% of what I want to do and the Allegiance class just bothers me to much. I might jump in a spam fleet of carriers, kill a few ships and sod off (hit and fade) and then bring in a kill/balance fleet to mop up.


And thats where cheap spam units like Strike Cruisers and Escort carriers enter the equation (or Assault Frigates and carriers etc).

 I'm happy to see the AI come at me with an Allegiance or 3 vs something horrible like Victory/Carrack/Strike Cruiser spam.

 Sometimes things do go wrong such as  a carier fleet runs into raiders so no hyperspace with an Allegiance fleet bearing down on you and the raider fleet turns out to be 3 or 4 ISDs or a large pile of battle dragons.

 An example is my current test, Greater Maldrood. I have 7 60 point fleets.

1 Crimson Command fleet (Teradoc+ CC VSD+ strike cruisers)
2 Bellator fleets
1 Carrier Fleet
2 Allegiance Fleet (1admiral+2 ISD+6 CC VSD)
1 66 point defensive fleet (static assorted junk and starting units)

 So a grand total of 2 Allegiances (1 was a free hero)

 My defensive fleets are at Thanos, Mandalore, Telos, I have a roving defensive Belator fleet, roving CC fleet and 2 offensive fleets that I can add a 3rd fleet to if needed (I pushed on Mon Calamari). The defensive fleets also channel replacements to the front lines.

 If I am not playing GR I still won't be building that many Allegiances. More guns+ decent admiral = more damage.


 

[kucsidave]

That comes from your specific playstyle, but Allegiance is far from underwhelming if you use them right.
Yes, it is true that by itself a fighter spam can easily kill it, but it is not meant to be used by itself. Put 2 anti-fighter ships next to it and a proper balanced support fleet and one of these can tear fleets apart.
You can easily use it as a bullet sponge to soak up damage as well, since it is not easy to kill a monster like this, and as long as 1 hardpoint lives, you can still keep the ship.

For you losing a ship is not that important overall, so you personally don't bother, but there are players who try to achieve minimal losses, so they can build their forces up faster and blitz, securing territories faster, and with your strategy would lose forces faster than they could build.
This all boils down to how people play and use their forces. That's why a "Basic Strategy Guide" does not work.
Especially that each faction has their uniqe playstyle, which can also change depending on era.
For example:
Early IR is all about owerwhelming firepower and capital ships by all means, Era 3 IR is all about the big guns with solid support fleets, and late IR is more about solid frigates than capitals, which are far inferior to NR counterparts by that point.

[Xethis]

Torpedo Spheres are pretty balanced, and pretty useful right now, which was quite suprising.  It feels like someone took 3-4 y wing squads, and megamorphed them into a big ship. The obvious difference is that you swap the benefits and weaknesses of a Starfighter with those of a capital ship. I'll put what I think of the TS's strengths and weaknesses compared to standard bombers below.

Strengths:
Great Range: These things don't have to be on the front line. In the case that they end up there, they can survive, but I would put a could isds or alligences as a wall between your TS and the enemy
Slow: this is a double edged sword. I like it's speed compared to bombers, as it doesn't have to be constantly circling around a ship to make bombing passes. It also doesn't outrun your tanky ships, which is a must for effecient micromanaging.
Immune to Lancers/Corvettes: I have always loved using NR bombers, but the thing that irked me the most was when I brought a bomber heavy fleet, only to find I was going up against a strike cruiser/ lancer / isd fleet, with the Lancers behind the isds as they pulled back to thier port. I hated having to wait to use my bombers until my bigger ships causght up to the covettes and took them out. With the TS, since it keeps pace with your bigger ships this problem is nullified.
Suprising tanky: they had more hours than I thought they would

Weaknesses:
Slow: it's slow. If it gets caught by a couple of frigates up close, it will probably die, especially if the firgates get on both your port and starboard side.
Feels softer hitting than bombers: might just be me, but I always remember 2 bomber squads bieng able to disable 1 hard point on a SSD each bombing pass. This thing feels like it doesn't hurt as much.
Vunerable to RNG events: Much like the Quasar Fires or escort carriers, if you happen to get a warlord jump into the system during a space battle, you will lose this thing, unless you win it before they get there.

[Arvenski]

For you losing a ship is not that important overall, so you personally don't bother, but there are players who try to achieve minimal losses

Yeah, that's me lol. (With ships, anyway. I don't care so much about ground units.) I do that partly because I can get attached to ships (a habit I picked up from Empire: Total War), and partly for roleplay: if you really were an admiral in the SW universe, you'd want to lose as few ships as possible. Partly because your ships would be valuable resources and hard to replace, and partly because a capital ship might have thousands and thousands of people serving on it. If you needed a capital ship for your campaign and you were responsible for the lives of its crew, you really wouldn't want to see that thing get blown up. That is, unless you were a Separatist and your factories were cranking out hundreds of Munificents and countless battle droids to crew them, and so you could afford to lose a bunch of ships in pursuit of victory.

[Zardnaar]

That comes from your specific playstyle, but Allegiance is far from underwhelming if you use them right.
Yes, it is true that by itself a fighter spam can easily kill it, but it is not meant to be used by itself. Put 2 anti-fighter ships next to it and a proper balanced support fleet and one of these can tear fleets apart.
You can easily use it as a bullet sponge to soak up damage as well, since it is not easy to kill a monster like this, and as long as 1 hardpoint lives, you can still keep the ship.

For you losing a ship is not that important overall, so you personally don't bother, but there are players who try to achieve minimal losses, so they can build their forces up faster and blitz, securing territories faster, and with your strategy would lose forces faster than they could build.
This all boils down to how people play and use their forces. That's why a "Basic Strategy Guide" does not work.
Especially that each faction has their uniqe playstyle, which can also change depending on era.
For example:
Early IR is all about owerwhelming firepower and capital ships by all means, Era 3 IR is all about the big guns with solid support fleets, and late IR is more about solid frigates than capitals, which are far inferior to NR counterparts by that point.

 I know I don't send them in by themselves. I do have 2 fleets with them 1 is a admiral type fleet and the other I built 1 for a defensive fleet. I'm not a fan of microing them and they often drive in circles or have trouble moving around the map. SSD do as well but they bring a lot of firepower. Its not like I am hell bent on disliking the class if anyone has advice on an Allegiance fleet to build I'll try it out. It took me a few efforts to figure out the Torpedo Sphere and Tectors.

 I went to check my Allegiance fleet, turns out both my saves are wrecked.

[Zardnaar]

Yeah, that's me lol. (With ships, anyway. I don't care so much about ground units.) I do that partly because I can get attached to ships (a habit I picked up from Empire: Total War), and partly for roleplay: if you really were an admiral in the SW universe, you'd want to lose as few ships as possible. Partly because your ships would be valuable resources and hard to replace, and partly because a capital ship might have thousands and thousands of people serving on it. If you needed a capital ship for your campaign and you were responsible for the lives of its crew, you really wouldn't want to see that thing get blown up. That is, unless you were a Separatist and your factories were cranking out hundreds of Munificents and countless battle droids to crew them, and so you could afford to lose a bunch of ships in pursuit of victory.

Depends on the Admiral, remember some perfectly rational people focused on quantity in WW2 and it was not just the Russians as the Americans built a huge amount of Shermans, bombers, C-47s etc. In some cases they had better designs available.

Updated some of the Greater Maldrood stuff I missed some things and noticed that a couple of ships have TIE Avengers on them. I normally don't built Neutron Star ships but tested them out. I also missed that the EA has Acclaimators and they are no longer rubbish as they carry 2 TIE interceptors, a bomber and fighter so the EA can bury you in fighters (weak bombers though) when combined with the TIE Hunter escort carrier and the other escort carrier. .

 Currently testing this fleet as Zjinj

2 Allegiance
3 VSD
3 VSD II
6 Corellion Corvettes
4 Escort Carriers

[t78]

I hope I'm not off topic, but with NR, I'm finding Nebulon Bs to be really useful. They can scoot behind SDs to take out engines, divert fire from other ships, and when surrounding a fighter dogfight, can shred squadrons whilst having firepower for larger ships. The same goes for the Arquitens with GM.......

[Zardnaar]

I hope I'm not off topic, but with NR, I'm finding Nebulon Bs to be really useful. They can scoot behind SDs to take out engines, divert fire from other ships, and when surrounding a fighter dogfight, can shred squadrons whilst having firepower for larger ships. The same goes for the Arquitens with GM.......

I like them because they are cheap and only cost  1 fleet point. You can use a horde of them and they come with X wings.