Armada: Rebel tournament lists for 2016

Who will be the better commander this wave?

I don't know what you really call this at this point, late summer, gearing up for Winter? I don't know.  All I know is that Wave 4 is around the corner and I got my lists ready to go for extensive playtesting.  As you guys have probably seen in the past, it takes a good amount of time for a list to be fully saturated against all the other lists in the meta.  I'm already counting on some of the brutal archetypes in Wave 2 to make its way into the new meta, so one has to be prepared to face both the old and the new.  It's definitely going to be a challenge, but this is one of the healthiest things for a growing game:  You have to be constantly challenged, and the meta should be ever-evolving and not stagnant.

With that said, here are the two Rebel lists that I'm going to be taking for Summer-Winter 2016:

ACKBAR1

Author: HERO

Faction: Rebel Alliance 

Points: 384/400 

Commander: Admiral Ackbar

Assault Objective: Most Wanted 

Defense Objective: Contested Outpost 

Navigation Objective: Superior Positions 

[ flagship ] MC80 Command Cruiser (106 points)

-  Admiral Ackbar  ( 38  points) 

-  Home One  ( 7  points) 

-  Intel Officer  ( 7  points) 

-  Engine Techs  ( 8  points) 

-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points) 

-  X17 Turbolasers  ( 6  points) 

-  Leading Shots  ( 4  points) 

= 183 total ship cost

Assault Frigate Mark II B (72 points)

-  Toryn Farr // Raymus Antilles ( 7  points) 

-  Gunnery Team  ( 7  points) 

-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points) 

-  X17 Turbolasers  ( 6  points) 

= 99 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)

-  Bright Hope  ( 2  points) 

-  Comms Net  ( 2  points) 

= 22 total ship cost

5 YT-2400s ( 80 points) 

The first list here is basically me trying to make Ackbar work in the new meta.  I'm not really sold on the Liberty-class ship and I'm still pretty sure that the space cigar is better.  It has stronger stats, good defensive options, and a solid firing arcs.  With Ackbar, I'm actually doing more damage per volley than I am with the Liberty, so I'm happy with this current selection.  The one thing you will find missing here is the fact that I no longer have the TRC90 in the list.  This means that I will not have the extra ship there to do extra damage and the GR-75 is purely in a support role.  However, this also means that I don't lose the ship activation and I gain another YT and Toryn Farr.  On paper, Farr is one of those components that still need to be tested, but on paper she will allow me to perform more accurate YT-2400 alpha strikes and will allow the MC80 to fish for whatever dice it needs from the blues.  There are three questions that need to be asked when piloting a list like this:  Is 5x YT-2400s enough even with Toryn Farr support?  Is a 384 bid enough to outrun DeMSU or Rebel Swarm?  Lastly, is the Home One title needed with only one ship that can take advantage of it.  Currently, I believe it is simply because of Gunnery Teams.  That one ship, is firing at two potential ships, which can always need that additional free accuracy on fickle red dice.

The zombies are coming.

RIEEKAN1 

Author: HERO

Faction: Rebel Alliance 

Points: 400/400 

Commander: General Rieekan

Assault Objective: Most Wanted 

Defense Objective: Contested Outpost 

Navigation Objective: Superior Positions 

[ flagship ] MC80 Command Cruiser (106 points)

-  General Rieekan  ( 30  points) 

-  Defiance  ( 5  points) 

-  Raymus Antilles  ( 7  points) 

-  Fighter Coordination Team  ( 3  points) 

-  Electronic Countermeasures  ( 7  points) 

-  X17 Turbolasers  ( 6  points) 

-  Leading Shots  ( 4  points) 

= 168 total ship cost

Nebulon-B Escort Frigate (57 points)

-  Yavaris  ( 5  points) 

-  Medical Team  ( 1  points) 

= 63 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)

-  Bright Hope  ( 2  points) 

-  Bomber Command Center  ( 8  points) 

= 28 total ship cost

GR-75 Medium Transports (18 points)

-  Comms Net  ( 2  points) 

= 20 total ship cost

1 Nym ( 21 points) 

1 Luke Skywalker ( 20 points) 

1 Wedge Antilles ( 19 points) 

1 Jan Ors ( 19 points) 

1 "Dutch" Vander ( 16 points) 

2 X-Wing Squadrons ( 26 points) 

On the other hand, I also have this list as the safety net.  I know Rieekan Carriers works well, I know the kind of damage it can do with the right kind of squadrons, and I know how ridiculous Bomber Command Center will elevate this list to.  In fact, out of all the archetypes out there, this is one of the lists that I feel most confident about because I don't see any glaring problems.  Yes, it's one of those lists that like to activate later so it can better analyze enemy movement, but that's also its biggest downside.  While you can pretty much play to your objective strengths any which way, being the one who shoots later is not always the best thing, especially when there's really dead archetypes out there that can deliver massive amounts of powerful damage.  A triple-tapping Demolisher and/or a MC30c in prime firing position will utterly wreak havoc on any ship in the game.  It gets even worse if the ship has Intel Officer to strip vital brace tokens off so it can deliver one-two punch before you can deal enough damage to it back.  Fortunately for us, Rieekan is basically anti-alpha and can basically assure that I will get to shoot back, and harder as well (e.g. Raymus + Defiance).  The key to fighting those kind of lists will be to cockblock the alpha ship with cheapest transport and then send all your fighters after it.  Hopefully between Yavaris, all the bombers and BCC, you will be able to severely maim the primary target as it tries to swim through your horde of squadrons.  In this case, it makes plenty of sense to sacrifice a pawn to take the queen.