I needed 5 tries at normal to beat this mission. And yes, keeping Ackbar out of battle for a time is key.

Tips

• bring in an own fleet worth of approx. 400 points
  
• Focus down the standard ISDs first (you can use smaller ships, which can't be hit as good by the DS-laser and Turbo-Lasers).
  
• keep Lando and Rogue-Squadron out of battle until they should approach the DS
  
• keep Ackbar out of battle (I moved him to the upper left) until the mission says to start close combat, see following hint
  
• Keep in mind that the Executor is intantly focusing Ackbar, when he's in range. So you have to keep the Executor busy with other capital ships before bringing Ackbar in range (choose tanky ships with high shield and hull value). Smaller ships will not / can't be targeted by the Executor so they are not a viable distraction. Smaller ships will help to weaken the Executor, though.
  
• At that point of the mission, you should be able to bring in green squadron which can insta-suicide-kill the Executor. Main drawback: you get no extra money at the end of the mission.

You will lose lot's of ships. I used lot's of B-Wings (16-20 squadrons), 10 sq. of X-Wings (for Anti-fighter), 5-10 Dreadnaughts, 10-15 of those calamari-frigates (MC60?), Bakuran destroyers (max), Corellian destroyers (max), those little Ion-boats and at the end for the Exe (see tip above): 4-8 of these sullustan cigars...can't remember the name now ^^.

Remember: your ships can hyperspace in anywhere on the map, even between ships.

Originally posted by Wohngebietsuwe:

I needed 5 tries at normal to beat this mission. And yes, keeping Ackbar out of battle for a time is key.

Tips

• bring in an own fleet worth of approx. 400 points
  
• Focus down the standard ISDs first (you can use smaller ships, which can't be hit as good by the DS-laser and Turbo-Lasers).
  
• keep Lando and Rogue-Squadron out of battle until they should approach the DS
  
• keep Ackbar out of battle (I moved him to the upper left) until the mission says to start close combat, see following hint
  
• Keep in mind that the Executor is intantly focusing Ackbar, when he's in range. So you have to keep the Executor busy with other capital ships before bringing Ackbar in range (choose tanky ships with high shield and hull value). Smaller ships will not / can't be targeted by the Executor so they are not a viable distraction. Smaller ships will help to weaken the Executor, though.
  
• At that point of the mission, you should be able to bring in green squadron which can insta-suicide-kill the Executor. Main drawback: you get no extra money at the end of the mission.

You will lose lot's of ships. I used lot's of B-Wings (16-20 squadrons), 10 sq. of X-Wings (for Anti-fighter), 5-10 Dreadnaughts, 10-15 of those calamari-frigates (MC60?), Bakuran destroyers (max), Corellian destroyers (max), those little Ion-boats and at the end for the Exe (see tip above): 4-8 of these sullustan cigars...can't remember the name now ^^.

Remember: your ships can hyperspace in anywhere on the map, even between ships.

My current fleet is using the brawler mon cals to tank. How are they for tanking instead of dauntless since those are so expensive? I feel like the battle costs way to much to be even worth doing. I just want the NR stuff. For the mon cals you mentioned, are they the ones with plasma torpedoes, or the crusier class ones?

Your fleet should be brawler-oriented, as the battle will be in close range. So yeah, Dauntless and Freedom is your priority. Liberty is fine too.
MC-60 is good for depleting enemy shields and bring 6 MC-30 minimum, they can destroy enemy ISD in no time.
Carriers also should be in fleet, to counter enemy TIE-s and to destroy enemy shield generators(by using bombers)
I combined all my fleets from Galaxy Map into big one and reinforce it with few Dauntless and MC-30.
It's tough mission, i know, you suffer some casualties, but it's not impossible.

Originally posted by Kasr'kin:

Your fleet should be brawler-oriented, as the battle will be in close range. So yeah, Dauntless and Freedom is your priority. Liberty is fine too.
MC-60 is good for depleting enemy shields and bring 6 MC-30 minimum, they can destroy enemy ISD in no time.
Carriers also should be in fleet, to counter enemy TIE-s and to destroy enemy shield generators(by using bombers)
I combined all my fleets from Galaxy Map into big one and reinforce it with few Dauntless and MC-30.
It's tough mission, i know, you suffer some casualties, but it's not impossible.

In terms of fighter counterting, I've brought 3 quasar and two of those sullustan carriers. Is that enough? How are CR-90s to run picket? Any reccomendations for cap/frig/crus/car split? In terms of target priority, what comes first? Thinning the crowd of ISDs or the big ones?

I was able to complete the mission with about 200 galactic (non-tactical) pop. I moved the majority of the ships in a broadside position to the right of the empire's fleet. this gave me a chance to let the Dauntless battleships (I had about 4 or 5 in the fleet) handle close-range broadsides while I put my MC80 Liberties(I had about 6) and other cruisers and frigates behind them to take out shields and do more damage. I kept Acbar away from the fight until absolutely necessary. this allowed me to complete the mission and not have any of my ships destroyed by the death star because they were too close to the empire fleet. It also allowed me to successfully escape with my fleet after the death star was destroyed because they were all on the left side of the map.